RFX: new tools for real-time MHD control

RFX has been recently modified to improve its capability of controlling different MHD phenomena by means of fast, feedback controlled amplifiers and distributed radial field inductors. The paper, after summarizing the principal results obtained in the past by means of active control of magnetic fields in RFX, describes the recent modifications to the machine and the improvements to the power supplies and to the magnetic diagnostics. The old thick shell has been replaced by a much thinner shell, whose electromagnetic time constants are much shorter than pulse duration, and a system of 192 radial field coils has been added, covering the whole torus surface. Then the paper describes the models used to design the new real-time control system of RFX and gives some preliminary results obtained, with the same techniques, on the EXTRAP-T2R device. The basic choices about the technologies adopted for the new RFX control system are discussed with reference to the general problem of real-time control of MHD instabilities in magnetic fusion devices. Finally, the paper defines the main objectives of the RFX scientific programme aimed at exploiting these new tools.