Particle Control and Plasma Performance in the Lithium Tokamak Experiment (LTX)
The Lithium Tokamak eXperiment (LTX) is a small, low aspect ratio tokamak, which is fitted with a stainless steel-clad copper liner, conformal to the last closed flux surface. The liner can be heated to 350{degree}C. Several gas fueling systems, including supersonic gas injection, and molecular cluster injection have been studied, and produce fueling efficiencies up to 35%. Discharges are strongly affected by wall conditioning. Discharges without lithium wall coatings are limited to plasma currents of order 10 kA, and discharge durations of order 5 msec. With solid lithium coatings discharge currents exceed 70 kA, and discharge durations exceed 30 msec. Heating the lithium wall coating, however, results in a prompt degradation of the discharge, at the melting point of lithium. These results suggest that the simplest approach to implementing liquid lithium walls in a tokamak - thin, evaporated, liquefied coatings of lithium - does not produce an adequately clean surface.
- Research Organization:
- Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-ACO2-09CH11466
- OSTI ID:
- 1073495
- Report Number(s):
- PPPL-4852
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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