General Atomics, in San Diego CA, opened the doors of its fusion reactor DIII-D to Claudia Parisuaña Barranca, Juan Fernando Guerrero Arnaiz and Julio Balbin Arias, three of our students who carried out an internship in its facilities. Thanks to the efforts of our graduate of the Physics Major, Dr. Humberto Torreblanca, who had the support of the company and the US Department of Energy. For the first time, the invitation to Peruvian students was opened. The DIII-D is a fusion reactor where they try to reproduce the conditions of the sun to fuse hydrogen atoms and thus create, practically, an unlimited energy source and, virtually, with no radioactive or toxic waste. It is currently the largest reactor operating in the USA.
How was the general application and selection process for the internship?
Juan Fernando
The call of this internship was announced through an e-mail addressed to undergraduate and graduate students of the School of Science and Engineering, majors in Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Information Science Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering and Physics. As for the selection process, the first phase consisted of sending a Curriculum Vitae and answering questions related to the interests of the applicant and, for the second phase, individual interviews were carried out where it was evaluated what was learned about plasma videos, which were previously sent to us. The initiative of this program was of Dr. Torreblanca with the support of General Atomics, the Physics Section and the School of Science and Engineering of PUCP.
What were your duties during the internship? What kind of prior knowledge did they require?
Claudia
I was working with the ECH (Electron Cyclotron Heating) group. They expected of me to know how to program and analyze data, as well as to have previous research experience. It helped me a lot to have worked in the Acoustics Laboratory of PUCP because I was familiar with the subject of signal processing, data acquisition and software management systems applied to real problems and situations. My role was to carry out a research project related to the monitoring of gyrotrons, by the ECH group; however, it was not limited to that since I also collaborated with daily operations in the ECH Control Room.
Julio
My internship was focused on collaboration and training on plasma physics, nuclear fusion and fusion technology. They required basic knowledge of plasma physics and scientific computing. My roles were to develop a software to automate the images taking from a camera in a system of neutral beams.
Juan Fernando
In my case, I worked in the operations group where prior knowledge of Solidworks software greatly facilitated my work. Through the use of this software and previous basic knowledge in plasma physics, I performed tokamak (thermonuclear reactor by magnetic confinement) modeling to analyze and compare the theoretical physical results obtained by the COMSOL software with the experimental results previously obtained.
What type of research did you conduct during your internship?
Claudia
The project I developed consisted of measuring the performance of gyrotrons, which have the same function as a microwave oven: heating a material, in this case, plasma. My goal was to use the new data acquisition system to know if they were able to operate within the safety limits given by the manufacturer. Also, I included in the data processing the behavior of the system analyzed over time because it corresponded to a description closer to reality.
Juan Fernando
The DIII-D is a fusion reactor by magnetic confinement, therefore, it uses different sets of electromagnets. The modeling and understanding of the magnetic topology is of vital importance for carrying out the fusion. My work was to model this topology in a scale reactor, and involved electromagnetic fields, as well as forces and torques derived therefrom.
What kind of new technology did you find there?
Juan Fernando
Undoubtedly, the technology used in the DIII-D is cutting-edge and made me think about the importance of keeping abreast of new technologies. In my case, the use of the COMSOL software was the biggest challenge since I had never performed such simulations, but with the help of my supervisor, patience, dedication and good training in the undergraduate studies, this could be done.
Claudia
I worked there with various monitoring and measurement equipment in real time. Due to my Physics training and the great disposition of the people I worked with, it was not difficult to me to learn about the monitoring that was done in the ECH control room and on the control systems of each of the gyrotrons with which one work. On the other hand, I found, above all, different software programs that are standard in US universities and industries, such as: LabView, COMSOL, SolidWorks, MatLab, among others. I understand that some laboratories in the University have some of these software programs, but the use of them by the students is not promoted.
What kind of new specialized knowledge did they acquire?
Julio
Management of automation programs aimed at solving Tokamak problems, handling and understanding of spectroscopic systems for plasma using the Doppler shift technique. The most challenging thing was to adapt the software to a system which I had not worked before with, but thanks to the versatility of the system, it could be achieved.
Claudia
I learned a lot in this internship. The development of my research project led me to learn how to program in new languages (Python), use new software and be able to work with gyrotrons and plasma physics. In addition, it allowed me to experience the dynamics that are lived in a research center of this magnitude and the importance of the joint collaboration of scientists and engineers with a common goal. In addition to daily work, the internship also included seminars and almost weekly lectures on the work of different groups. It was very enriching to be exposed to top-level works and researchers in a very friendly environment.
Juan Fernando
I learned the basic level management of different software, such as: LabView, for data acquisition and analysis, and COMSOL (AC / DC module) for simulations. The most challenging, but, at the same time, the most entertaining thing was, without a doubt, the optimization of the performed modeling. The potential of the COMSOL software dazzled me and is a tool that I hope to learn to use more in the near future.
[:]