FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Lithium-coated walls on plasma performance in FTU and in TJ-II
F.L. Tabarés, and G. Maddaluno + the FTU and TJ-II Teams
Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión. CIEMAT.Av. Complutense 22. 28040 MadridENEA, Frascati Italy
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Lithium in Tokamaks
Why Li?
- Very low Z
- High impurity getter (O2,N2,CO, H2O,CO2…)
- Strong H retention (LiH)
- Low melting point: Liquid PFC
- Effect on C sputtering OK (H. Sugai, JNM 1998)
Very good results in Tokamaks:
TFTR, CDX-U, FTU, T-10, T-11M….
Different ways of deposition; Liquid tray, pellets, LLL, CPS, evaporation……
But : problems in reproduce beneficial effect: Total coverage??
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Progress in the FTU Liquid Lithium Limiter (LLL) experiment
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Experimental lay-out
Capillary structure made of wire meshes with pore radius 15 µm and wire diameter 30 µm (Capillary pressure ~ 105 Pa.)
• Melting point 180.6 °C• Boiling point 1342 °C• Total area of Li surface
~170 cm2
• Effective plasma interaction ~50 - 85 cm2
• Initial temperature of Li limiter > 200oC
• Inventory of lithium 80 g
Liquid lithium surface
Heater
Li source
S.S. box with a cylindrical support
Ceramic break
Thermocouples
100 mm 34 mm
Meshes w/ Li Meshes w/o Li
Mo heater accumulator
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Liquid Lithium Limiter
Langmuir probes
Thermocouples
Heater electrical cables
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Liquid Lithium Limiter
Toroidal Limiter
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Main features of lithium operations:
1. Zeff in ohmic discharges is well below 2 (0.15 1020 < ne< 3.1020m-3)
2. Radiation losses less than 30%
3. With lithium limiter much more gas has to be injected to get the same electron density with respect to boronized and fully metallic discharges > 10 times
4. Operations near or beyond the Greenwald limit are easily performed
5. Plasma operations are more reliable with good plasma reproducibility and easier recovery from plasma disruptions
6. The LLL is able to withstand heat load up to 5 MW/m2
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Recent results
See “Experiments on FTU with a liquid lithium limiter”, G. Mazzitelli, M.L. Apicella, V. Pericoli Ridolfini et al., presented at
the 34th EPS Conference
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Peaked electron density discharges
• Spontaneous peaking of the density profile for ne > 1.0 1020 m-3
w/o lithium
w/ lithium
• The SOL densities do not follow the FTU scaling law
• The strong particle depletion in the outermost plasma region is due to the strong pumping capability of lithium
46.1eeSOL nn
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
A possible theoretical explanation is proposed in which electrostatic waves excited by thermal background in the plasma core enhance the turbulence at the edge via non-linear mode coupling.
Quasi-quiescent MHD activity
R. Cesario et. al , presented at the 34° EPS Conference- Poster 2.019
Te at the edge is geneally higher than in boronized discharges
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Te [KeV]264
Ip [MA]
.5
ne[1019 m-3]3
5
7
Te [KeV]
2
64
LH
ECH#27923P [MW]1
2
P [MW]
#30620LH
ECH0.40.3 0.5 0.6
1
2
ECRH + LH Discharges
t(s)
0.54 s 0.59 s
Strong and wide ITB develops after LH injection, with very high central Te up to 8 KeV in spite of the lower value of additional power
Zeff is reduced by at least a factor 2 in lithium discharges increase of the LH current drive efficiency
#30620 With LLL
#27923 Without LLL-0,2 -0,1 0 0,10
2
4
6
8
B
0.54 s
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
-0,2 -0,1 0 0,1
0.59 s
B
R (m) R (m)
Te[keV]
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Plasma dilution
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 0,2 0,4 0,6
neutrons/s [x1011]
t(s)
#27923
#30620
The dilution is strictly correlated with the plasma start-up phase and the low value of electron density.
At higher electron densities dilution is negligible
30584 LLL Inside29919 lithized28847 metallic28833 boronized
1.0
0.5
3.02.01.02.0
1.0
4.0
2.0
0.
Ip [MA]
ne [x1020 m-3]
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Future activities
• Short term
same limiter lay-out but actively cooled and equipped with a system for lithium refilling.
• Long term
New limiter panel type actively cooled and equipped with a system for lithium refilling, able to withstand heat loads up to 10 MW/m2 for 3 s
LLL
Toroidal lmiterLLL
Top viewSide view
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Wall Conditioning in TJ-II
-Metal walls +He GD+Ar GD: He release, Enhanced Particle Confinement transition(EPC, F.L. Tabarés et al PPCF 2001)
-Boronization; O-carborane+He GD: wall saturation ( <20 discharges)+ EPC
0
10
20
1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 1250 1300
16455F
CV (a.u.)
ne (x1018
cm-3)
SXR (a.u.)
ECE5
ECE9
HD4 (a.u.)
H A5_TOP
BARATRON
BOLO
Time(ms)
ECRH (GR1+GR2)
cut-off
ne-crit. B walls: saturation
shot # 16455
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
- HV: line of sight
- 10-3-10-5mbar: diffusion- Ne GD+ ovens
How?
- 4 ovens, symmetric,tangential LOS- 4 g deposited each time
- Role of background pressure:
As deposited (HV)
After 2 days
Re-distribution by plasma: Improving with operation time!!
Lithium coating in TJ-II
Deposition on top of B-coated
walls
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Li Coating Technique
4 Lithium ovens: 2 fixed (side windows) and 2 in retractable manipulators (top windows)4 Lithium ovens: 2 fixed (side windows) and 2 in retractable manipulators (top windows)
1 gr of Li per oven, heated to ~600 ºC during Ne GD
1 gr of Li per oven, heated to ~600 ºC during Ne GD
Emission of Li injected froma retractable oven
Emission of Li injected froma retractable oven
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Particle Control Li vs B
He GD
Factor 2-4 more gas required for similar densities in Li walls
Total wall inventory> 4times, no sign of
saturation
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Dynamic particle balance
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3lin
e d
en
sit
y (
101
2 cm
-3)
H wall (a.u)
EPC Trans.
0
2
4
1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 1250 1300
H D4H A5_TOP
ne
VALBARATRON
0
2
4
6
8
10
Time(ms)
dN/dt= f. Qin-N/(p/1-R)For ECRH plasmas:
f ~1, peff ~30 ms, R~0.6-0.7 Always in the EPC mode?
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Impurity behavior
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
16440 16460 16480 16500 16520 16540 16560 16580
Li/n
e,
Prad
/ne C
V/n
e
Series
Limiter insertion
New Li depos.
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Impurity behavior
0
50
100
150
0
2 1012
4 1012
6 1012
8 1012
1 1013
0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1
Te(e
V)
ne
(cm-3)
r/a
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Zeff
16370# B
16503# Li
r/a
Hotter edge, similar density
Te in Boron
Higher central Zeff?
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Ion confinement
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Ti/(T
e-T
i)
nuei s
-1
Metal
Boron
Lithium
i-e.Ti-e.ne- (Ti/i+Kcxn0Ti).ni=0 , for high
i-e , CX losses neglected
•Similar i
•No discontinuity at critical collision frequency(EPC aborted?)
- Similar Ti in ECRH plasmas, but higher Te(0)
EPC Critical collis. (Guimaraes et al, P2-014), shear layer develop.( Pedrosa O-03,P2-012…)
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
NBI Plasmas
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1000 1050 1100 1150 1200
Li walls
edge emissivity (Wcm -3 )
Central emissivity (W cm -3 )
Line density (10 13cm-3 )IACCEL1 NBI
<Te> (keV)
BO
21
3-1
70
21
time(ms)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1000 1050 1100 1150 1200
B walls
<Te
>
time(ms)
•Density control: Still limited by density ramp up: NBI fuelling enhanced by PWI, but lower dN/dt obtained in Li•Record density and W dia at collapse obtained in Li walls•Strong change of edge/core radiation ratio: Thermal vs radiative collapse(?) (M. A Ochando et al Nucl.Fus.1997
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
System Upgrade
Searching for homogeneity:
-8 ovens, loaded for repetitive, in situ evaporation ( 6-8 cycles)
- Diffusion can help: dif.= 1/3 .v.n/a @10-5 mbar He ~80cm
parallel. = 1/2 n.v
He
n (x)~1/x2.exp(-x/)
diff (x) = n0exp(-x/)/.2a, ~1/PHe
Free Parameters:-Type of gas-Bkgnd pressure-Distance between ovens
Li beam
Long term: LLL in TJ-II(?)
a x
FL Tabarés et al. EU PWI TF..CIEMAT Oct. 2007 Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión
Conclusions
•Li coating by evaporation was performed in TJ-II.
• Only a partial coverage initially achieved, but evolved with plasma interaction
• Machine operation more reliable and reproducible
•Density control highly improved, long lasting effect
• Strong change in particle recycling
• Good impurity control, but hotter edge problematic if C(Me) is exposed to the plasmas: homogeneity problem?
• No major changes in confinement, but transition to EPC hindered
• Better control of NBI plasmas, but still to improve
• Change in radiation profiles may prevent radiation instability-driven collapse
• Improvement of technique in progress