A new centrifuge pellet injector for fusion experiments

This paper reports on the new pellet injection system for refueling the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak with cubic H2 or D2 pellets having alternative side lengths of 1.5, 1.75, and 2.0 mm and optional Ne doping. The system delivers series of about 100 pellets at a maximum repetition rate of more than 40 Hz. The pellets are accelerated by means of a centrifuge with an optimized straight acceleration arm. This configuration minimizes the compulsive force acting on the pellet during the acceleration process. Since this also minimizes stresses inside the pellet, high velocities—a maximum of 1211 m/s being achieved—are possible without destroying the hydrogen cubes. A special pellet feed-in technique based on a static stop cylinder interrupting the acceleration path successfully reduced the horizontal scattering angle to values of less than ±4°; a high efficiency, with more than 90% of the pellets arriving within the acceptance angle, was thus achieved. The whole system was found to work very reliably and reproducibly during the whole test operation period, covering about 105 pellet shots, and is now being integrated into the ASDEX upgrade experiment.