Implementation of a Kalman filter-based eddy current estimator for the P-EFIT magnetic equilibrium reconstruction code

This article discusses the integration of a Kalman filter in the P-EFIT equilibrium reconstruction code, with the aim of estimating the currents induced in the passive structures of a tokamak. The filter is based on a vacuum electromagnetic model of the reactor, and takes advantage of an estimate of the effect of the plasma on the magnetics, provided by the equilibrium reconstruction algorithm. On the other hand, the observer is integrated into the equilibrium reconstruction, which exploits the eddy currents estimates provided by the Kalman filter to refine the obtained solution. To analyze the interplay of the reconstruction code and the proposed observer, the ITER tokamak is considered as a case-study, and the algorithm is tested on a variety of plasma conditions, selected in such a way to maximize the relevance of an accurate knowledge of the passive currents. The code performance is evaluated in terms of convergence metrics, eddy currents estimation accuracy and reconstruction of plasma-related quantities such as plasma–wall gaps, plasma current and plasma profile parameters.