Application of PLC to dynamic control system for liquid He cryogenic pumping facility on JT-60U NBI system

The control system of the cryogenic facility in the JT-60 NBI system has been replaced by employing the PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system. The original control system was constructed about 20 years ago by specifying the DCS (Distributed Control System) computer to deal with ∼400 feedback loops. Recently, troubles on this control system have increased due to its age-induced deterioration. To maintain the high reliability of the cryogenic facility, a new control system has been planned with the PLC and SCADA systems. Their attractive features include high market availability and cost-effectiveness, however, the use of PLC for such a large facility with ∼400 feedback loops has not been established because of insufficient processing capability of the early PLC. Meanwhile, the recent progress in the PLC enables to use the FBD (function block diagram) programming language for 500 function blocks. By optimizing the function blocks and connecting them in the FBD language, the feedback loops have been successfully replaced from DCS to PLC without a software developer. Moreover, an oscillation of the liquid He level, which often occurs during the cooldown mode of the cryopumps, can be automatically stabilized by easily adding a new process program in the PLC. At present, the new control system has worked well.