Mitigation of plasma–material interactions via passive Li efflux from the surface of a flowing liquid lithium limiter in EAST

Journal Article · Thu Mar 02 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Nuclear Fusion

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/aa5ea0· OSTI ID:1373686

Zuo, G. Z. ^[1]; Hu, J. S. ^[1]; Maingi, R. ^[2]; Ren, J. ^[1]; Sun, Z. ^[1]; Yang, Q. X. ^[1]; Chen, Z. X. ^[1]; Xu, H. ^[1]; Tritz, K. ^[3]; Zakharov, L. E. ^[4]; Gentile, C. ^[2]; Meng, X. C. ^[5]; Huang, M. ^[1]; Xu, W. ^[1]; Chen, Y. ^[1]; Wang, L. ^[1]; Yan, N. ^[1]; Mao, S. T. ^[1]; Yang, Z. D. ^[1]; Li, J. G. ^[1]

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1. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Anhui (People's Republic of China)
2. Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
3. Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)
4. LiWallFusion, Princeton, NJ (United States)
5. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Anhui (People's Republic of China); Hunan Univ., Changsha (People's Republic of China)

Here, a new flowing liquid Li limiter (FLiLi) based on the concept of a thin flowing film has been successfully designed and tested in the EAST device in 2014. A bright Li radiative mantle at the plasma edge was observed during discharges using FLiLi, resulting from passive Li injection and transport in the scrape-off layer (SOL) plasma. Li particle efflux from the FLiLi surface into the plasma was estimated at >5 × 10²⁰ atom s^–1, due to surface evaporation and sputtering, and accompanied with a few small Li droplets ~1 mm diameter that were ejected from FLiLi. The Li efflux from FLiLi was ionized by the SOL plasma and formed a Li radiation band that originated from the FLiLi surface, and then spread toroidally by SOL plasma flow. The Li radiative mantle appeared to partly isolate the plasma from the wall, reducing impurity release from the wall materials, and possibly leading to a modest improvement in confinement. In addition, strong Li radiation reduced the particle and heat fluxes impacting onto the divertor plate, with certain similarities to heat flux reduction and detachment onset via low-Z impurity injection.

• Research Organization: Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Contributing Organization: EAST Team
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-09CH11466; 11261140328; 11321092; 11625524; 11405210; 2013GB114004
• OSTI ID: 1373686
• Journal Information: Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 57, Issue 4; ISSN 0029-5515
• Publisher: IOP Science
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
flowing liquid Li
Li radiative mantle
plasma–material interactions
EAST