Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik

P 6: Invited talks II

P 6.2: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 11:30–12:00, P-H11

Liquid tin interaction with deuterium plasmas — •Armin Manhard, Martin Balden, Thomas Schwarz-Selinger, and Rudolf Neu — Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstr. 2, 85748 Garching, Germany

Plasma-facing components based on low-melting liquid metals such as tin are currently being investigated. They potentially alleviate some issues arising with conventional designs using solid metals (e.g., tungsten), such as embrittlement or permanent damage due to transient thermal overloading. This presentation will first briefly review the current status of the conceptual design for liquid metal divertor components (e.g., [1, 2]). It will then focus on the interaction with hydrogen isotope plasmas, which has recently been investigated by several groups of researchers (e.g., [3, 4]). In contrast to hydrogen gas, against which tin is practically inert, atoms and ions from the plasma show a considerable reactivity both with solid and liquid tin. The effects depend strongly on temperature and range from strong chemical erosion at low temperatures to growth of sponge-like structures just below the melting point. In liquid tin, the formation of gas bubbles can lead to the ejection of tin droplets as well as to the formation of large gas pockets [3, 4, 5]. Some of these adverse effects could be mitigated by containing the liquid tin in capillary porous systems (e.g., [5]).

[1] P. Rindt et al, Fusion Eng. Des. 173 (2021) 112812 [2] S. Roccella et al, J. Fusion Energy 39 (2020) 462-468 [3] A. Manhard et al, Nucl. Fusion 60 (2020) 106007 [4] W. Ou et al, Nucl. Fusion 60 (2020) 026008 [5] W. Ou et al, Nucl. Fusion 61 (2021) 066030