Performance of liquid-lithium-filled 3D-printed tungsten divertor targets under deuterium loading with ELM-like pulses in Magnum-PSI

A fusion reactor divertor must withstand heat flux densities <10 MW m−2. Additionally, it may have to withstand millisecond pulses on the order of 0.5 to 30 MJ m−2 due to (mitigated) edge-localized modes (ELM) occurring with 30 to 60 Hz. We investigate if these requirements can be met by capillary porous system (CPS) liquid lithium divertors (LLD). 3D-printed tungsten CPS targets were exposed in the linear plasma device Magnum-PSI, to deuterium plasma discharges lasting 15 s, generating 1.5 to 16 MW m−2, and T e ∼ 1.5 eV. Additionally, ELM-like pulses were superimposed on top of the steady state for 3 s with a frequency of 2 and 100 Hz, power flux densities of 0.3 to 1 GW m−2, and T e up to ∼14 eV. All Li targets survived without damage. The surface temperature (T s) was locked at ∼850 °C, which was attributed to power dissipation via vapor shielding. Meanwhile, unfilled reference targets melted during the severest pulsed loading. A blue grayish layer of presumably LiD formed when T s < 500 °C, but disappeared when the locking temperature was reached. This implies that LiD formation can be avoided, but that it may require a surface temperature at which Li evaporation excessively contaminates the core plasma in a tokamak. During pulsed loading the plasma facing surface remained wetted in all conditions. Bolometry indicated that, only during pulses, there was a large increase in radiative power dissipation compared to targets without Li. A high speed camera with a Li-I filter showed that strong Li evaporation continued up to 5 ms after a pulse. Overall, the liquid-lithium-filled 3D-printed tungsten targets were found to be highly robust, and 3D-printing can be considered as a promising manufacturing technique for LLDs. Further research is needed particularly on the formation of LiD and the associated tritium retention, as well as the impact of enhanced evaporation during and after ELMs on the core plasma.

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