Speaker
Description
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is currently constructing the SPARC tokamak - a high field (12T) machine designed to achieve an energy gain of Q~11 when running in H-mode with DT fuel. Many SPARC components have already been manufactured, assembly and commissioning have begun, and preparation for operations in 2027 is underway. At each phase in the design-build-operations cycle, CFS employs state-of-the-art digital engineering toolchains to balance competing constraints from physics, engineering, schedule, and budget. This presentation outlines some of the digital twin workflows deployed across the SPARC lifecycle.
During the design phase, Digital Twin Prototypes were leveraged to rapidly optimize designs for performance, manufacturability, and cost. These digital prototypes circumvent the need for expensive and time consuming physical prototype manufacturing by enabling designers to directly calculate the sensitivity of a design to the physics uncertainties and engineering tolerance stackups. Now in the assembly phase, high fidelity metrology data (ranging from microns to mm) is ingested into the digital twin for reverse engineering. Additionally, by coupling metrology data directly to the physics modules, the impact of installation misalignments and as built geometry on physics operations can be quantified.
As CFS prepares for operations, each candidate plasma scenario can be tested in an integrated physics/engineering toolchain to predict plasma and engineering component state. The high fidelity offline toolchain is also used to benchmark the plasma control system and tune calibration factors. In the control room, digital twin workflows are being developed to identify discrepancies between prediction and experiment, and to reconstruct the machine state for lifetime health monitoring. Specific examples will be provided that illustrate how these integrated data techniques accelerate the path to commercial fusion energy.
| Country or International Organisation | United States of America |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Commonwealth Fusion Systems |
| Speaker's email address | tlooby@cfs.energy |
