Publication
The paper describes the operation and upgrade of the Heating Neutral Beam Injection (HNBI) system as well as the related infrastructure at the Tokamak Configuration Variable (TCV) during the last years. In 2023, the installation of new TCV neutron shielding was completed, enabling the operation of two deuterium heating beams at their full power for 30 (instead of 5) high-performance TCV plasma shots. The automation control capabilities of HNBIs have been enhanced through the integration of beam power scenario design into TCV discharge programming, along with real-time control of beams power based on real time plasma measurements of plasma during plasma discharge. The beam ducts were re-designed for minimization of power loads impact. The integration of thermocouples was modified for better monitoring of the ducts heating. Development of alternative ion optics for the first heating beam, designed for intermediate particle energies (up to ∼38 keV), has commenced. The first results of a beamlet geometry numerical optimization, based on beam formation IBSimu calculations, beam transportation through the duct, are considered respective the beam in-duct losses. The prototype of spectral multichannel measurement setup for beam profile scanning and species composition evaluation was tested. The first images of the beam's spectral profile, providing fractional divergence consideration, have been analyzed.