Characterization of an electrothermal plasma source for fusion transient simulations
Abstract
The realization of fusion energy requires materials that can withstand high heat and particle fluxes at the plasma material interface. In this work, an electrothermal (ET) plasma source has been designed as a transient heat flux source for a linear plasma material interaction device. An ET plasma source operates in the ablative arc regime driven by a DC capacitive discharge. The current channel width is defined by the 4 mm bore of a boron nitride liner. At large plasma currents, the arc impacts the liner wall, leading to high particle and heat fluxes to the liner material, which subsequently ablates and ionizes. This results in a high density plasma with a large unidirectional bulk flow out of the source exit. The pulse length for the ET source has been optimized using a pulse forming network to have durations of 1 and 2 ms. The peak currents and maximum source energies seen in this system are 1.9 kA and 1.2 kJ for the 2 ms pulse and 3.2 kA and 2.1 kJ for the 1 ms pulse, respectively. This work is a proof of the principal project to show that an ET source produces electron densities and heat fluxes comparable to those anticipated in transient events in largemore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[1];
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Fusion and Materials for Nuclear Systems Division
- Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Nuclear Engineering Program
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1435251
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1417522
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Applied Physics
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 123; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 0021-8979
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Citation Formats
Gebhart, T. E., Baylor, Larry R., Rapp, Juergen, and Winfrey, A. Leigh. Characterization of an electrothermal plasma source for fusion transient simulations. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1063/1.4998593.
Gebhart, T. E., Baylor, Larry R., Rapp, Juergen, & Winfrey, A. Leigh. Characterization of an electrothermal plasma source for fusion transient simulations. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4998593
Gebhart, T. E., Baylor, Larry R., Rapp, Juergen, and Winfrey, A. Leigh. Sun .
"Characterization of an electrothermal plasma source for fusion transient simulations". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4998593. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1435251.
@article{osti_1435251,
title = {Characterization of an electrothermal plasma source for fusion transient simulations},
author = {Gebhart, T. E. and Baylor, Larry R. and Rapp, Juergen and Winfrey, A. Leigh},
abstractNote = {The realization of fusion energy requires materials that can withstand high heat and particle fluxes at the plasma material interface. In this work, an electrothermal (ET) plasma source has been designed as a transient heat flux source for a linear plasma material interaction device. An ET plasma source operates in the ablative arc regime driven by a DC capacitive discharge. The current channel width is defined by the 4 mm bore of a boron nitride liner. At large plasma currents, the arc impacts the liner wall, leading to high particle and heat fluxes to the liner material, which subsequently ablates and ionizes. This results in a high density plasma with a large unidirectional bulk flow out of the source exit. The pulse length for the ET source has been optimized using a pulse forming network to have durations of 1 and 2 ms. The peak currents and maximum source energies seen in this system are 1.9 kA and 1.2 kJ for the 2 ms pulse and 3.2 kA and 2.1 kJ for the 1 ms pulse, respectively. This work is a proof of the principal project to show that an ET source produces electron densities and heat fluxes comparable to those anticipated in transient events in large future magnetic confinement fusion devices. Heat flux, plasma temperature, and plasma density were determined for each shot using infrared imaging and optical spectroscopy techniques. This paper will discuss the assumptions, methods, and results of the experiments.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4998593},
journal = {Journal of Applied Physics},
number = 3,
volume = 123,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Jan 21 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Sun Jan 21 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
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Cited by: 17 works
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Figures / Tables:
Figure 1: Basic schematic of the electrical system used for ET source operation.
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Works referencing / citing this record:
Dual laser holography for in situ measurement of plasma facing component erosion (invited)
journal, October 2018
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journal, June 2019
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journal, December 2019
- Yang, Weihong; Hang, Yuhua; Fan, Hao
- Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 53, Issue 7
Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.