Advanced Plasma Gun Development for Simulating Edge-Localized-Mode Plasma Disruptions with Application to Free Surface Flowing Liquid Metal PFCs

75105-Edge-localized modes in tokamak fusion reactors cause significant erosion of plasma-facing components, limiting device lifetime. Free-flowing liquid surfaces offer self-healing resistance to permanent physical damage, high heat removal capability, and potential advantageous hydrogen recycling properties. Next generation devices require plasma-surface interaction scaling data; however, no representative data or experimental facilities exist for testing free-surface-flowing liquids under edge-localized mode plasmas. This project will develop a compact plasma gun to simulate the intense plasma loading conditions at walls and divertors, based on latest edge-localized mode physics. Phase I will design, construct, and evaluate a representative edge-localized mode plasma gun for application to a static pool of lithium. Experiments will be conducted with and without an externally applied transverse magnetic field for recreating plasma-surface interactions in a tokamak reactor. An integrated free-surface-flowing liquid facility will be designed for follow-on Phase II testing of innovative liquid surfaces in edge-localized mode plasma environments. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: A compact edge-localized mode plasma simulator should have application to fusion energy science for the characterization and evaluation of not only liquid surface heat removal innovations but also solid plasma-facing materials. Other benefits include knowledge gained for tokamak heating and fueling, advanced-fuel field-reversed configuration research, space propulsion system development, and material surface modification.