Power supply system for the COMPASS tokamak re-installed at the IPP, Prague

The COMPASS-D tokamak, originally operated in UKAEA Culham, UK, is being reinstalled in the Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP), AS CR. COMPASS-D was designed as a flexible tokamak in the 1980s mainly to explore MHD physics. Its operation (with D-shaped vessel) began in UKAEA in 1992. In 2001 COMPASS-D had been mothballed and later offered to the Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP Prague) AS CR. The re-installation of the COMPASS-D tokamak in IPP Prague had started in 2006. Due to the low power available from the local grid, the two flywheel-generators (47 MVA, 45 MJ, 85 Hz, 6.3 kV) are installed as storage of the required energy. Four AC/DC thyristor rectifiers provide the desired current profiles in toroidal and poloidal coil systems. The start-up circuit, which provides a loop voltage necessary for the plasma generation, is based on fully solid-state switchers and two temporarily inserted resistors. This paper describes the design of the new power supply system and shows details of the commissioning procedures and installation. We also present some results of a comprehensive analysis of the circuit operation performed in Matlab Simulink.