Design and implementation of an Electronic Load for Emulating Frequency-Dependent Impedances in the Vertical Stabilization Coils of the Divertor Tokamak Test Facility

The study will focus on investigating Power Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) and Load Emulators (LE) for high-current applications. It will aim to identify DUT testing requirements and analyze gaps in literature.

Description

Proper design of power converters is crucial for applications requiring precise current control, especially in high-current scenarios (tens of kiloamperes) such as plasma confinement and particle acceleration. These applications demand multiple power supplies to accurately energize inductive loads, which exhibit complex and time-variable behaviors due to interactions within the system. A notable example is the Vertical Stabilization (VS) coils in tokamaks, which have frequency-dependent resistance and inductance (RL) characteristics. Effective testing of the power supplies, or Devices Under Test (DUTs), necessitates a Load Emulator (LE) capable of replicating such dynamic behaviors. A Load Emulator (LE) simulates electrical loads to assess system performance under controlled conditions. Given the complexity of high-current applications, Power Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) systems are widely adopted. PHIL consists of a Real-Time System (RTS) simulator, which models the target load, and a power amplifier that interfaces with the DUT. Various control strategies, including hysteresis switching and PID controllers, have been explored for PHIL-based load emulation. However, existing PHIL solutions primarily focus on grid emulation, achieving high voltage but lacking high-current capabilities and real-time adaptability to frequency-dependent RL characteristics. The study will focus on investigating Power Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) and Load Emulators (LE) for high-current applications. It will aim to identify DUT testing requirements and analyze gaps in literature, particularly in reproducing complex loads via Real-Time Systems (RTS) and designing high-speed power amplifiers. A low-power setup and a scaled-down prototype will be used to finally validate results.

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