Wall conditioning effects of boron powder injection in KSTAR with a tungsten divertor

Schamis, Hanna; Gilson, Erik P.; Lee, Hyungho; Maingi, Rajesh; Kim, SangKyeun; Snipes, Joseph A.; Yang, SeongMoo; Bortolon, Alessandro; Jang, Juhyeok; Kim, Boseong; Seo, Dongcheol; Song, Jaein; Lee, Hyunmyeong

doi:10.1088/1741-4326/adf123

Wall conditioning effects of boron powder injection in KSTAR with a tungsten divertor

Journal Article · Fri Jul 25 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Nuclear Fusion

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/adf123· OSTI ID:2586608

^[1]; ^[1]; Lee, Hyungho ^[2]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[2]; Kim, Boseong ^[2]; Seo, Dongcheol ^[2]; Song, Jaein ^[2]; Lee, Hyunmyeong ^[2]

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Korea Institute of Fusion Energy, Daejeon (South Korea)

Boron powder dropped into KSTAR plasmas decreased the radiated power, core electron density, and Z_eff, indicating that the ablated and redeposited boron powder helped to condition the plasma-facing surfaces. Visible line emission of oxygen and tungsten were also reduced by 50% (80%) with boron injection into H-mode (L-mode) discharges that used the new KSTAR tungsten monoblock lower divertor. Dynamic particle balance analysis found a negligible difference in the inferred wall pumping rate during the steady portion of the discharges. It is inferred that the observed conditioning effects were principally caused by a reduction in intrinsic impurities as opposed to a reduction in wall recycling. These results are in qualitative agreement with low-Z injected powder experiments across many fusion devices, confirming the utility of low-Z powder injection as a real-time wall conditioning tool.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Korean Ministry of Science and ICT; USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-09CH11466

OSTI ID:: 2586608

Journal Information:: Nuclear Fusion, Journal Name: Nuclear Fusion Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 65; ISSN 0029-5515; ISSN 1741-4326

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (64)

ELM Suppression by Boron Powder Injection and Comparison with Lithium Powder Injection on EAST Maingi, R.; Hu, J. S.; Sun, Z. Journal of Fusion Energy https://doi.org/10.1007/s10894-020-00256-3	journal	October 2020
Conditioning of asdex by glow discharge Poschenrieder, W.; Staudenmaier, G.; Staib, P. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 93-94 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3115(80)90342-6	journal	October 1980
Boronization in textor Winter, J.; Esser, H. G.; Könen, L. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 162-164 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3115(89)90352-8	journal	April 1989
A comparison of tokamak operation with metallic getters (Ti, Cr, Be) and boronization Winter, J. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 176-177 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3115(90)90025-I	journal	December 1990
ELM energy and particle losses and their extrapolation to burning plasma experiments Loarte, A.; Saibene, G.; Sartori, R. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 313-316 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3115(02)01398-3	journal	March 2003
Boronization in DIII-D Jackson, G. L.; Winter, J.; Burrell, K. H. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 196-198 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3115(06)80038-3	journal	December 1992
Oxygen gettering properties of boron film produced by diborane dc glow discharge Hino, T.; Mochizuki, T.; Hirohata, Y. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 248 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3115(97)00114-1	journal	September 1997
Design and test of the KSTAR vacuum pumping system Yu, In-Keun; In, Sang-Ryul; Lim, Jong-Yeun Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 83, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2007.09.007	journal	January 2008
First boronization in KSTAR Hong, S. H.; Lee, K. S.; Kim, K. M. Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 85, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2010.04.064	journal	November 2010
Configuration and installation design of optical diagnostic systems on KSTAR Na, H. K.; Sajjad, S.; Park, J. M. Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 86, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2010.08.014	journal	January 2011
Commissioning of the first KSTAR neutral beam injection system and beam experiments Bae, Y. S.; Park, Y. M.; Kim, J. S. Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 87, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2012.05.011	journal	September 2012
Control and operation of the gas injection systems for KSTAR tokamak Kim, Young Ok; Song, Jae In; Kim, Kwang Pyo Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 88, Issue 6-8 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2013.01.053	journal	October 2013
The WEST project: Testing ITER divertor high heat flux component technology in a steady state tokamak environment Bucalossi, J.; Missirlian, M.; Moreau, P. Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 89, Issue 7-8 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.01.062	journal	October 2014
Commissioning of vacuum pumping devices of the second KSTAR neutral beam injection system Kim, K. P.; Park, H. T.; Kim, H. T. Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 146 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2019.03.035	journal	September 2019
New boronization system at ASDEX Upgrade Dibon, M.; Rohde, V.; Stelzer, F. Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 165 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2021.112233	journal	April 2021
Design and operation results of KSTAR ECH system Joung, Mi; Wang, Sonjong; Kim, Sunggug Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 203 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2024.114461	journal	June 2024
Vacuum commissioning and operation result after the KSTAR PFC upgrade Kim, Kwangpyo; Lee, Hyunmyung; Lee, Hyung ho Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 219 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2025.115249	journal	October 2025
Influence of boronization on operation with high-Z plasma facing components in Alcator C-Mod Lipschultz, B.; Lin, Y.; Marmar, E. S. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 363-365 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2007.01.227	journal	June 2007
Global particle balance measurements in DIII-D H-mode discharges Unterberg, E. A.; Allen, S. L.; Brooks, N. H. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 415, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2011.02.028	journal	August 2011
Overview on plasma operation with a full tungsten wall in ASDEX Upgrade Neu, R.; Kallenbach, A.; Balden, M. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 438 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2013.01.006	journal	July 2013
Advances in boronization on NSTX-Upgrade Skinner, C. H.; Bedoya, F.; Scotti, F. Nuclear Materials and Energy, Vol. 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2016.11.024	journal	August 2017
Effect of boronization on plasma-facing graphite surfaces and its correlation with the plasma behavior in NSTX-U Bedoya, F.; Allain, J. P.; Scotti, F. Nuclear Materials and Energy, Vol. 17 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2018.10.010	journal	December 2018
Real-time wall conditioning by controlled injection of boron and boron nitride powder in full tungsten wall ASDEX Upgrade Bortolon, A.; Rohde, V.; Maingi, R. Nuclear Materials and Energy, Vol. 19 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2019.03.022	journal	May 2019
First impurity powder injection experiments in LHD Nespoli, F.; Ashikawa, N.; Gilson, E. P. Nuclear Materials and Energy, Vol. 25 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2020.100842	journal	December 2020
Wall conditioning and ELM mitigation with boron nitride powder injection in KSTAR Gilson, E. P.; Lee, H. H.; Bortolon, A. Nuclear Materials and Energy, Vol. 28 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2021.101043	journal	September 2021
Utilization of boron particulate wall conditioning in the full tungsten environment of WEST Lunsford, R.; Gallo, A.; Moreau, Ph. Nuclear Materials and Energy, Vol. 40 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2024.101726	journal	September 2024
Full W ITER: Assessment of expected W erosion and implications of boronization on fuel retention Schmid, K.; Wauters, T. Nuclear Materials and Energy, Vol. 41 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2024.101789	journal	December 2024
Initial design concepts for solid boron injection in ITER Snipes, J. A.; Baylor, L. R.; Bortolon, A. Nuclear Materials and Energy, Vol. 41 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2024.101809	journal	December 2024
Plasma-wall interaction impact of the ITER re-baseline Pitts, R. A.; Loarte, A.; Wauters, T. Nuclear Materials and Energy, Vol. 42 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2024.101854	journal	March 2025
Observation of a reduced-turbulence regime with boron powder injection in a stellarator Nespoli, F.; Masuzaki, S.; Tanaka, K. Nature Physics, Vol. 18, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01460-4	journal	January 2022
Effect of deuterium irradiation on graphite boronized in the NSTX-U tokamak Bedoya, F.; Allain, J. P.; Dominguez-Gutierrez, F. J. Scientific Reports, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-38941-9	journal	February 2019
Calibration of electron cyclotron emission radiometer for KSTAR Kogi, Y.; Jeong, S. H.; Lee, K. D. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 81, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3491304	journal	October 2010
A multi-species powder dropper for magnetic fusion applications Nagy, A.; Bortolon, A.; Mauzey, D. M. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 89, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5039345	journal	October 2018
Multi-chord IR–visible two-color interferometer on KSTAR Juhn, June-Woo; Lee, K. C.; Lee, T. G. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 92, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0043811	journal	April 2021
Characterization of injection and confinement improvement through impurity induced profile modifications on the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator Lunsford, R.; Killer, C.; Nagy, A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 28, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0047274	journal	August 2021
Hyperdiffusion of dust particles in a turbulent tokamak plasma Nespoli, F.; Kaganovich, I. D.; Autricque, A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 28, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0051332	journal	July 2021
Enhancement of edge turbulence concomitant with ELM suppression during boron powder injection in EAST Sun, Z.; Maingi, R.; Diallo, A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 28, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0058809	journal	August 2021
Calibration of toroidal visible bremsstrahlung diagnostics and reconstruction of effective charge profiles in Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) Jang, Juhyeok; Seo, Dongcheol; Lee, Jong-Ha Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 95, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0176471	journal	January 2024
Control of wall particle inventory with divertor pumping on DIII-D Maingi, R.; Jackson, G. L.; Wade, M. R. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 36, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/36/2/I11	journal	February 1996
Interaction of charge exchange neutrals with the main chamber walls of plasma machines Verbeek, H.; Stober, J.; Coster, D. P. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 38, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/38/12/305	journal	December 1998
Design and construction of the KSTAR tokamak Lee, G. S.; Kwon, M.; Doh, C. J. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 41, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/41/10/318	journal	October 2001
Plasma-material interactions in current tokamaks and their implications for next step fusion reactors Federici, G.; Skinner, C. H.; Brooks, J. N. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 41, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/41/12/218	journal	December 2001
Effect of boronization on ohmic plasmas in NSTX Skinner, C. H.; Kugel, H. W.; Maingi, R. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 42, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/42/3/313	journal	March 2002
Gas balance and fuel retention in fusion devices Loarer, T.; Brosset, C.; Bucalossi, J. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 47, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/47/9/007	journal	August 2007
Non-boronized compared with boronized operation of ASDEX Upgrade with full-tungsten plasma facing components Kallenbach, A.; Dux, R.; Mayer, M. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 49, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/49/4/045007	journal	March 2009
Deuterium inventory in Tore Supra: reconciling particle balance and post-mortem analysis Tsitrone, E.; Brosset, C.; Pégourié, B. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 49, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/49/7/075011	journal	June 2009
Overview of KSTAR initial operation Kwon, M.; Oh, Y. K.; Yang, H. L. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 51, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/51/9/094006	journal	August 2011
Fuel retention studies with the ITER-Like Wall in JET Brezinsek, S.; Loarer, T.; Philipps, V. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 53, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/53/8/083023	journal	July 2013
2D/3D electron temperature fluctuations near explosive MHD instabilities accompanied by minor and major disruptions Choi, M. J.; Park, H. K.; Yun, G. S. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 56, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/56/6/066013	journal	May 2016
Wall conditioning in fusion devices and its influence on plasma performance Winter, J. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Vol. 38, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1088/0741-3335/38/9/001	journal	September 1996
First comprehensive particle balance study in KSTAR with a full graphite first wall and diverted plasmas Yu, Yaowei; Hong, Suk-Ho; Yoon, Si-Woo Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Vol. 54, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/0741-3335/54/10/105006	journal	August 2012
Wall conditioning in fusion devices with superconducting coils Wauters, T.; Borodin, D.; Brakel, R. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Vol. 62, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/ab5ad0	journal	January 2020
Fuel retention under elevated wall temperature in KSTAR with a carbon wall Cao, B.; Hong, S. H. Physica Scripta, Vol. 93, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/aab172	journal	March 2018
Wall conditioning at the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator operating with a graphite divertor Goriaev, A.; Wauters, T.; Brakel, R. Physica Scripta, Vol. T171 https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/ab60fa	journal	January 2020
Relationship between locked modes and thermal quenches in DIII-D Sweeney, R.; Choi, W.; Austin, M. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 58, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/aaaf0a	journal	March 2018
Active conditioning of ASDEX Upgrade tungsten plasma-facing components and discharge enhancement through boron and boron nitride particulate injection Lunsford, R.; Rohde, V.; Bortolon, A. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 59, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ab4095	journal	October 2019
Observations of wall conditioning by means of boron powder injection in DIII-D H-mode plasmas Bortolon, A.; Maingi, R.; Nagy, A. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 60, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/abaf31	journal	September 2020
Suppression of edge localized modes with real-time boron injection using the tungsten divertor in EAST Sun, Z.; Diallo, A.; Maingi, R. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 61, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/abc763	journal	December 2020
Parametric dependencies of locked mode thresholds in KSTAR L-mode plasmas Yang, S. M.; Park, J. -K.; Na, Y. S. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 61, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ac0165	journal	June 2021
Initial results from boron powder injection experiments in WEST lower single null L-mode plasmas Bodner, G.; Gallo, A.; Diallo, A. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 62, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ac70ea	journal	June 2022
Mitigation of plasma–wall interactions with low-Z powders in DIII-D high confinement plasmas Effenberg, F.; Bortolon, A.; Casali, L. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 62, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ac899d	journal	August 2022
Boronization during the first plasma operation on EAST No authors listed Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 100, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/100/6/062011	journal	March 2008
Advances in Low-Temperature Tungsten Spectroscopy Capability to Quantify DIII-D Divertor Erosion Abrams, Tyler; Thomas, Daniel M.; Unterberg, Ezekial A. IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 46, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1109/TPS.2018.2797691	journal	May 2018
Physics Design of Poloidal Field, Toroidal Field, and External Magnetic Diagnostics in KSTAR Lee, Bongju; Pomphrey, Neil; Lao, Lang L. Fusion Technology, Vol. 36, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.13182/FST99-A108	journal	November 1999

Similar Records

Data for: "Wall conditioning effects of boron powder injection in KSTAR with a tungsten divertor"

Dataset · Thu Jun 05 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · OSTI ID:2589039

Wall conditioning and ELM mitigation with boron nitride powder injection in KSTAR

Dataset · Wed May 25 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · OSTI ID:1888253

Real-time wall conditioning by controlled injection of boron and boron nitride powder in full tungsten wall ASDEX Upgrade

Journal Article · Thu Mar 28 20:00:00 EDT 2019 · Nuclear Materials and Energy · OSTI ID:1506117

Related Subjects

boron powder injection
plasma-material interactions
wall conditioning

Wall conditioning effects of boron powder injection in KSTAR with a tungsten divertor

Citation Formats

References (64)

Similar Records

Related Subjects