Spherical Torus Plasma Interactions with Large-area Liquid Lithium Surfaces in CDX-U
Description/Abstract
The Current Drive Experiment-Upgrade (CDX-U) device at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a spherical torus (ST) dedicated to the exploration of liquid lithium as a potential solution to reactor first-wall problems such as heat load and erosion, neutron damage and activation, and tritium inventory and breeding. Initial lithium limiter experiments were conducted with a toroidally-local liquid lithium rail limiter (L3) from the University of California at San Diego. Spectroscopic measurements showed a clear reduction of impurities in plasmas with the L3, compared to discharges with a boron carbide limiter. The evidence for a reduction in recycling was less apparent, however. This may be attributable to the relatively small area in contact with the plasma, and the presence of high-recycling surfaces elsewhere in the vacuum chamber. This conclusion was tested in subsequent experiments with a fully toroidal lithium limiter that was installed above the floor of the vacuum vessel. The new limiter covered over ten times the area of the L3 facing the plasma. Experiments with the toroidal lithium limiter have recently begun. This paper describes the conditioning required to prepare the lithium surface for plasma operations, and effect of the toroidal liquid lithium limiter on discharge performance.
| DOI | 10.2172/793020 |
|---|---|
| Creator/Author: | R. Kaita ; R. Majeski ; M. Boaz ; P. Efthimion ; B. Jones ; D. Hoffman ; H. Kugel ; J. Menard ; T. Munsat ; A. Post-Zwicker ; V. Soukhanovskii ; J. Spaleta ; G. Taylor ; J. Timberlake ; R. Woolley ; L. Zakharov ; M. Finkenthal ; D. Stutman ; G. Antar ; R. Doerner ; S. Luckhardt ; R. Maingi ; M. Maiorano ; S. Smith |
| Publication Date: | 2002 Jan 18 |
| OSTI Identifier: | OSTI ID: 793020 |
| Report Number(s): | PPPL-3648 |
| DOE Contract Number: | AC02-76CH03073 |
| DOI: | 10.2172/793020 |
| Other Number(s): | TRN: US0200884 |
| Resource Type: | Technical Report |
| Resource Relation: | Other Information: PBD: 18 Jan 2002 |
| Coverage: | Topical |
| Research Org: | Princeton Plasma Physics Lab., NJ (US) |
| Sponsoring Org: | USDOE Office of Science (US) |
| Subject: | 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; 72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; BORON CARBIDES; BREEDING; EXPLORATION; FIRST WALL; IMPURITIES; LITHIUM; NEUTRONS; PHYSICS; PLASMA; RECYCLING; TRITIUM |
| Country of Publication: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Format: | Size: 277 Kilobytes pages |
| Availability: | INIS; OSTI as DE00793020 To purchase this media from NTIS, click here |
| Update Date: | 2008 Feb 05 |
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