High performance discharges in the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment with liquid lithium walls

J. C. Schmitt, R. E. Bell, D. P. Boyle, B. Esposti, R. Kaita, T. Kozub, B. P. LeBlanc, M. Lucia, R. Maingi, R. Majeski, E. Merino, S. Punjabi-Vinoth, G. Tchilingurian, A. Capece, B. Koel, J. Roszell, T. M. Biewer, T. K. Gray, S. Kubota, P. BeiersdorferK. Widmann, K. Tritz

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33 Scopus citations

Abstract

The first-ever successful operation of a tokamak with a large area (40% of the total plasma surface area) liquid lithium wall has been achieved in the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment (LTX). These results were obtained with a new, electron beam-based lithium evaporation system, which can deposit a lithium coating on the limiting wall of LTX in a five-minute period. Preliminary analyses of diamagnetic and other data for discharges operated with a liquid lithium wall indicate that confinement times increased by 10x compared to discharges with helium-dispersed solid lithium coatings. Ohmic energy confinement times with fresh lithium walls, solid and liquid, exceed several relevant empirical scaling expressions. Spectroscopic analysis of the discharges indicates that oxygen levels in the discharges limited on liquid lithium walls were significantly reduced compared to discharges limited on solid lithium walls. Tokamak operations with a full liquid lithium wall (85% of the total plasma surface area) have recently started.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number056112
JournalPhysics of Plasmas
Volume22
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Condensed Matter Physics

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