High performance discharges in the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment with liquid lithium walls

Journal Article · Fri May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4921153· OSTI ID:22410392

Schmitt, J. C.; Bell, R. E.; Boyle, D. P.; Esposti, B.; Kaita, R.; Kozub, T.; LeBlanc, B. P.; Lucia, M.; Maingi, R.; Majeski, R.; Merino, E.; Punjabi-Vinoth, S.; Tchilingurian, G. ^[1]; Capece, A.; Koel, B.; Roszell, J. ^[2]; Biewer, T. M.; Gray, T. K. ^[3]; Kubota, S. ^[4]; Beiersdorfer, P. ^[5] ; others, and

---

1. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States)
2. Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544 (United States)
3. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States)
4. University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)
5. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)

The first-ever successful operation of a tokamak with a large area (40% of the total plasma surface area) liquid lithium wall has been achieved in the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment (LTX). These results were obtained with a new, electron beam-based lithium evaporation system, which can deposit a lithium coating on the limiting wall of LTX in a five-minute period. Preliminary analyses of diamagnetic and other data for discharges operated with a liquid lithium wall indicate that confinement times increased by 10× compared to discharges with helium-dispersed solid lithium coatings. Ohmic energy confinement times with fresh lithium walls, solid and liquid, exceed several relevant empirical scaling expressions. Spectroscopic analysis of the discharges indicates that oxygen levels in the discharges limited on liquid lithium walls were significantly reduced compared to discharges limited on solid lithium walls. Tokamak operations with a full liquid lithium wall (85% of the total plasma surface area) have recently started.

• OSTI ID: 22410392
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRON BEAMS
EVAPORATION
FIRST WALL
HELIUM
LITHIUM
OXYGEN
PLASMA
SURFACE AREA
SURFACE COATING
TOKAMAK DEVICES