Vertical flow in the Thermoelectric Liquid Metal Plasma Facing Structures (TELS) facility at Illinois

Xu, Wei; Fiflis, P.; Szott, Matthew; Kalathiparambil, Kishor; Jung, Sungmoon; Christenson, Michael; Haehnlein, Ian; Kapat, Aveek; Andruczyk, Daniel; Curreli, Davide; Ruzic, D. N.

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2014.12.045

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…This would be a P DT = 23-26 MW machine with a Q DT of 5-7 [51]. This device is designed to have a slow FLiLi device [53,54], but could also be just as well built with a LiMIT style device [55,56] based on thermo-electric magneto hydrodynamic drive [57,58].…”

Section: Possible Implications For Reactor and Pfc Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

First lithium experiments in HIDRA and evidence of helium retention during quasi-steady-state stellarator plasma operations

Andruczyk

Koyn

Allain

et al. 2022

Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion

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Experiments in HIDRA have had operational discharges between tdischarge = 60 – 1000 s using ECRH heating. This means that quasi-steady-state plasma discharges reach conditions to study long-pulse plasma material interactions. The HIDRA-MAT PMI diagnostic is used to place a drop of lithium onto a heated tungsten surface, transfer the sample in-vacuo and expose it in a helium plasma. Helium is of interest as there is an open question to whether lithium will be able to remove helium ash in real fusion devices. It was also observed that the plasma density and temperature increased by over 2.5 times. During lithium evaporation, as significant lithium ionization occurs, there is a 91% drop in the neutral pressure that is injected into the vessel, despite a constant flow of He gas. This is backed up by the fact that the helium neutral light intensity also drops. At one point in the discharge a lithium plasma is created, as indicated by an increase in Li+ emission and a complete reduction in He+ emission, but the electron density jumps from ne = 3×1018 m-3 to over ne = 8×1018 m-3 while the core temperature stays relatively constant between Te = 16 eV – 20 eV. Once the source of lithium is expired, residual Li and Li+ in the plasma maintain a low neutral He background which allows a He plasma to re-establish and be more efficiently heated. Here the density drops down to ne = 2×1018 m-3 and the electron temperature increases from Te = 20 eV to over Te = 50 eV. This is also indicated by the He+ emission re-establishing and having a higher intensity. In this paper we show the results from the first lithium campaign in HIDRA. In the presence of lithium, the helium disappears from the plasma via an as of yet unknown complex relationship that needs to be further studied.

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Section: Possible Implications For Reactor and Pfc Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

First lithium experiments in HIDRA and evidence of helium retention during quasi-steady-state stellarator plasma operations

Andruczyk

Koyn

Allain

et al. 2022

Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion

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“…The liquid metal infused trench (LiMIT) concept pioneered at the University of Illinois harnesses the heat and magnetic fields already present in fusion devices to drive lithium flow via thermoelectric magnetohydrodynamics (TEMHD) [16,17]. Proof of concept testing at the Center for Plasma Material Interactions [18][19][20][21] and larger scale testing in the HT-7 and EAST tokamaks [22][23][24] and the Magnum PSI linear plasma device [25] have shown sustained flow and improved plasma performance. Continued development of the system has focused on mitigating potential concerns of an open surface liquid metal PFC, including multiphysics system modeling [20,26], defining stability criteria [27], enhancing ability to control lithium wetting and flow [28][29][30], and designing systems to recover the hydrogenic fuel species from lithium [31][32][33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structured large-pore foams improve thermal performance of LiMIT-style liquid lithium PFC

Szott¹,

Stemmley²,

Moynihan³

et al. 2021

Nucl. Fusion

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As magnetically confined fusion devices improve, the conditions at the walls become increasingly intense. Plasma facing components (PFCs) must withstand these extreme heat and particle loads without damage or degradation. Liquid lithium PFCs are known to be quite resilient, and the presence of lithium also serves to improve plasma properties. The Liquid Metal Infused Trench (LiMIT) concept is an open surface liquid lithium PFC design that has been tested extensively at the University of Illinois and in fusion devices around the world. LiMIT utilizes thermoelectric magnetohydrodynamics (TEMHD) to passively drive liquid lithium flow. This work demonstrates an extension of the LiMIT trench geometry to 3 dimensions. Additively manufactured large pore metallic foams maintain TEMHD drive while drastically improving heat flux handling and resistance to lithium dryout, a phenomenon where locally high TEMHD forces depresses the lithium level and exposes underlying solid structure. COMSOL Multiphysics modeling of the system yields insight into the forces at play in dryout development, and shows the 3-D structures can eliminate dryout. Low heat proof-of-concept experimental testing of the system matches computational results, and high heat flux electron beam tests more than double the proven operational range of a LiMIT-style PFC, to 6.8 MW/m2, with no indications of dryout or impending damage.

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2-D moving mesh modeling of lithium dryout in open surface liquid metal flow applications

Szott

Ruzic

2020

Fusion Engineering and Design

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Vertical flow in the Thermoelectric Liquid Metal Plasma Facing Structures (TELS) facility at Illinois

Cited by 6 publications

References 22 publications

First lithium experiments in HIDRA and evidence of helium retention during quasi-steady-state stellarator plasma operations

First lithium experiments in HIDRA and evidence of helium retention during quasi-steady-state stellarator plasma operations

Structured large-pore foams improve thermal performance of LiMIT-style liquid lithium PFC

2-D moving mesh modeling of lithium dryout in open surface liquid metal flow applications

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