JxB-Forced Convection Effects on the Heat and Particles Transport in Liquid Li and GaInSn Under Steady State Plasma Bombardment

Abstract

It has widely been recognized that the particle control and heat removal capabilities of plasma-facing components (PFCs) such as divertor will affect the overall performance of a steady-state magnetic fusion power reactor. The existing divertor technologies developed for ITER with a heating power of ~ 100 MW may not readily allow us to expect the successful operation of DEMO reactors often with a heating power of > 500 WM if the P (heating power)/R (major radius) ratio scaling law by Kotschenreuther is applied, details of which will be described in this paper. Over the past several decades, a variety of innovative PFC concepts have been proposed to resolve these divertor issues. Conducted in the present work are proof-of-principle experiments on one of these innovative PFC concepts, employing a liquid metal as the plasma-facing material with the particular emphasis on the effects of forced liquid convection on heat and particle transport, both observed simultaneously.