High-Speed Beam of Lithium Droplets for Collecting Diverted Energy and Particles in ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor).

摘要

A high-speed (160m/s) beam (0.14 (times) 0.86m) of liquid-lithium droplets passing through the divertor region(s) below (and above) the main plasma has the potential to replace and out-perform ''conventional'' solid divertor plates in both heat and particle removal. In addition to superior heat-collection properties, the lithium beam would: remove impurities; require low power to circulate the lithium; exhibit low-recycle divertor operation compatible with lower-hybrid current drive, H-mode plasma confinement, and no flow reversal in the edge plasma; be insensitive to plasma shifts; and finally protect solid structures from the plasma thermal energy for those disruptions that deposit energy preferentially into the divertor while simultaneously being rapidly re-established after a major disruption. Scoping calculations identifying the beam configuration and the droplet dynamics, including formation, MHD effects, gravitational effects, thermal response and hydrodynamics, are presented. Limitations and uncertainties are also discussed. 20 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.