Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Active Recycling Control Through Lithium Injection in EAST

Abstract

The coating of tokamak walls with thin layers of lithium has been demonstrated to reduce plasma recycling from the plasma-facing surfaces and to improve overall plasma performance. These effects, including reduced divertor D α emission, the elimination of edge-localized modes, and increased energy confinement have been observed in multiple experiments when lithium coatings are applied before plasma discharges. However, this coating technology does not extrapolate to future long-pulse devices, since the lithium coatings will be passivated by the continual plasma flux onto the surface. In order to provide active conditioning capability, a new technology has been developed that is capable of injecting lithium powder into the scrape-off layer plasma during plasma discharges, where it quickly liquefies and turns into an aerosol. The use of this “lithium dropper” is under study at the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), where the potential benefits of real-time wall conditioning via lithium injection are being tested. Here, we present an analysis of the recycling characteristics during EAST experiments testing active lithium injection in order to assess recycling reduction and control. Lithium aerosol was injected from the top of the machine, with one system dropping lithium near the X-point and another into the low-field side divertormore » leg. The injection of lithium into the SOL reduced divertor recycling, as evidenced by reduced Dα emission with ion flux measured by probes relatively unchanged. This effect is strongest in the active divertor, confirming the lithium is transported to strongly plasma-wetted areas. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of the recycling changes using the SOLPS edge plasma and neutral transport code indicated a ~20% reduction in recycling coefficient with lithium injection.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei (China)
  3. Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
  4. General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
  5. Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1465373
Grant/Contract Number:  
2017YFA0402500; 11625524; 11605246; 11775261; AC05-00OR22725; AC02-09CH11466; FC02- 04ER54698; SC0016553
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 46; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0093-3813
Publisher:
IEEE
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; divertor; Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST); lithium wall coatings

Citation Formats

Canik, J. M., Sun, Z., Hu, J. S., Zuo, G. Z., Xu, W., Huang, M., Wang, L., Xu, J., Zhang, T., Maingi, R., Lunsford, R., Diallo, A., Mansfield, D., Osborne, T., and Tritz, K. Active Recycling Control Through Lithium Injection in EAST. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1109/tps.2017.2789119.
Copy to clipboard
Canik, J. M., Sun, Z., Hu, J. S., Zuo, G. Z., Xu, W., Huang, M., Wang, L., Xu, J., Zhang, T., Maingi, R., Lunsford, R., Diallo, A., Mansfield, D., Osborne, T., & Tritz, K. Active Recycling Control Through Lithium Injection in EAST. United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/tps.2017.2789119
Copy to clipboard
Canik, J. M., Sun, Z., Hu, J. S., Zuo, G. Z., Xu, W., Huang, M., Wang, L., Xu, J., Zhang, T., Maingi, R., Lunsford, R., Diallo, A., Mansfield, D., Osborne, T., and Tritz, K. Thu . "Active Recycling Control Through Lithium Injection in EAST". United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/tps.2017.2789119. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1465373.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1465373,
title = {Active Recycling Control Through Lithium Injection in EAST},
author = {Canik, J. M. and Sun, Z. and Hu, J. S. and Zuo, G. Z. and Xu, W. and Huang, M. and Wang, L. and Xu, J. and Zhang, T. and Maingi, R. and Lunsford, R. and Diallo, A. and Mansfield, D. and Osborne, T. and Tritz, K.},
abstractNote = {The coating of tokamak walls with thin layers of lithium has been demonstrated to reduce plasma recycling from the plasma-facing surfaces and to improve overall plasma performance. These effects, including reduced divertor D α emission, the elimination of edge-localized modes, and increased energy confinement have been observed in multiple experiments when lithium coatings are applied before plasma discharges. However, this coating technology does not extrapolate to future long-pulse devices, since the lithium coatings will be passivated by the continual plasma flux onto the surface. In order to provide active conditioning capability, a new technology has been developed that is capable of injecting lithium powder into the scrape-off layer plasma during plasma discharges, where it quickly liquefies and turns into an aerosol. The use of this “lithium dropper” is under study at the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), where the potential benefits of real-time wall conditioning via lithium injection are being tested. Here, we present an analysis of the recycling characteristics during EAST experiments testing active lithium injection in order to assess recycling reduction and control. Lithium aerosol was injected from the top of the machine, with one system dropping lithium near the X-point and another into the low-field side divertor leg. The injection of lithium into the SOL reduced divertor recycling, as evidenced by reduced Dα emission with ion flux measured by probes relatively unchanged. This effect is strongest in the active divertor, confirming the lithium is transported to strongly plasma-wetted areas. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of the recycling changes using the SOLPS edge plasma and neutral transport code indicated a ~20% reduction in recycling coefficient with lithium injection.},
doi = {10.1109/tps.2017.2789119},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science},
number = 5,
volume = 46,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1109/tps.2017.2789119
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Fig. 1 Fig. 1: Setup of lithium droppers using upper single-null plasma shape.
All figures and tables (8 total)
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referencing / citing this record:

ELM frequency enhancement and discharge modification through lithium granule injection into EAST H-modes
journal, October 2018

Control of hydrogen content and fuel recycling for long pulse high performance plasma operation in EAST
journal, October 2019

    Sort by:
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Figures / Tables found in this record:

    Fig. 1 (p. 2)figure
    Fig. 2 (p. 2)figure
    Fig. 3 (p. 2)figure
    Fig. 4 (p. 3)figure
    Fig. 5 (p. 3)figure
    Fig. 6 (p. 3)figure
    Fig. 7 (p. 4)figure
    Fig. 8 (p. 4)figure
      [ × clear filter / sort ]
      Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.

      Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: