Nonlinear Lyapunov-based burn control in fusion reactors

Control of plasma density and temperature magnitudes, as well as their profiles, are among the most fundamental problems in fusion reactors. Existing efforts on model-based control use control techniques for linear models. In this work, a zero-dimensional (0-D) nonlinear model involving approximate conservation equations for the energy and the densities of the species was used to synthesize a nonlinear feedback controller for stabilizing the burn condition of a fusion reactor.