Performance of a liquid Sn divertor target during ASDEX upgrade L-mode and H-mode operation

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61389021%3A_____%2F23%3A00584071" target="_blank" >RIV/61389021:_____/23:00584071 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352179123001618?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" >https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352179123001618?via%3Dihub</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2023.101522" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.nme.2023.101522</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Performance of a liquid Sn divertor target during ASDEX upgrade L-mode and H-mode operation

Original language description

One of the ways to extend the lifetime of the divertor for DEMO could be to replace the solid tungsten plasma-facing components with liquid tin (Sn) confined in a tungsten capillary porous structure (CPS). Testing a CPS in a divertor plasma configuration is crucial for the development of a liquid metal divertor (LMD) to understand how the main plasma is affected. Only a limited Sn concentration is allowed in the plasma core, due to the high radiative losses associated with the high atomic number of Sn (50). Therefore, it is necessary to test a small-scale LMD filled with Sn in a tokamak environment, which has not previously been done. In ASDEX Upgrade, a liquid tin module (LTM) has been exposed by means of the divertor manipulator. During plasma flat-top, the outer strike point (OSP) was placed onto the pre-heated LTM and held there for a time interval between 2 and 3.4s over multiple discharges. Photographs of the LTM taken after each discharge, revealed macroscopic Sn leakage onto the adjacent tile. Simulations with the HeatLMD code predicted an acceptable tin erosion near the LTM with thermal sputtering dominating over evaporation. However, spectroscopic measurements revealed an order of magnitude higher erosion. Since this remained constant when the OSP was held on the LTM so that the surface temperature increased, evaporation could be excluded as the main source of Sn erosion. Comparison between discharges with different durations of OSP location on the LTM revealed an increase in core radiation up to 1.5MW due to Sn. The 1.5D-impurity transport code STRAHL was used to interpret this increase in total plasma radiation and revealed a Sn concentration in the main plasma of up to 1.4×10-4. Given that the LTM only covered about 1/650 of the outer divertor circumference, extrapolating to a full toroidal divertor implies erosion is above acceptable limits. The unexpectedly high Sn fraction in the main plasma is attributed to the ejection of Sn droplets reaching the main plasma, which may have originated from either the CPS or leaked tin. This conclusion is also supported by splashes of tin droplets, which were observed on the adjacent divertor tile and one ∼0.5m downstream. Therefore, to make a Sn-filled LMD a viable alternative to solid tungsten, the formation of droplets must be reduced by two orders of magnitude.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10305 - Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics)

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA22-03950S" target="_blank" >GA22-03950S: Plasma interaction with fusion reactor heat shields</a><br>

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Nuclear Materials and Energy

ISSN

2352-1791

e-ISSN

2352-1791

Volume of the periodical

37

Issue of the periodical within the volume

December

Country of publishing house

NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS

Number of pages

11

Pages from-to

101522

UT code for WoS article

001109743400001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85173601729