Design and implementation of a dynamic system simulation framework for plasma control system verification platform

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design 2022-09, Vol.182, p.113249, Article 113249
• Main Authors: Zheng, Wei, Gan, Rui, Yuan, Qiping, Guo, Heru, Ma, Hengben, Zhang, Ming, Xiao, Bingjia, Pan, Yuan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Block diagram; Block diagrams; Control systems design; Dynamic system simulation; Dynamical systems; Engineering test reactors; Graphical user interface; Plasma control; Plasma control system; Python; Simulation; Solver; Tokamak devices; Verification
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2022.113249

•Designed for dynamical system simulation in PCS-VP of CFETR.•Based on python and open-source software.•Supporting fixed-step simulation of hierarchical block diagram models.•Supporting hierarchy flattening and system scheduling.•Equipped with fixed-step solvers for solving continuous systems. The plasma control system (PCS) is a key part in tokamak operations, which requires test and verification. Dynamic system simulation tools have been widely utilized to build a simulation environment to verify the design of plasma control systems as well as other parts of tokamak systems under various operation scenarios, save the time and cost of real discharges, improve the efficiency of deployment and reduce risks. To provide a simulation platform based on open-source software as part of the infrastructure of the PCS-VP (Verification Platform) of the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), a framework named DSSim (Dynamic System Simulation) is proposed. It is an environment for dynamic system simulation based on Python, which enables users to build and simulate hierarchical block diagram models with interconnected systems that corresponds to different dynamic systems. Solutions for special tasks that helps improve the accuracy of simulation like flattening the model hierarchy, scheduling system execution order and solving continuous systems are implemented and will be automatically invoked in different phases of simulation. A GUI client with the DSSim framework built in is developed to allow for constructing and simulating block diagram models in a more user-friendly way. A model of the vacuum field system of the Experimental and Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) is built and simulated with DSSim and the result is compared with that of the same model in MATLAB/Simulink to test the framework's precision and usability.