Demonstrating electromagnetic control of free-surface, liquid-metal flows relevant to fusion reactors

Hvasta, M. G. ; Kolemen, E. ; Fisher, A. E. ; Ji, H.
Issue date: 2018
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY)
Cite as:
Hvasta, M. G., Kolemen, E., Fisher, A. E., & Ji, H. (2018). Demonstrating electromagnetic control of free-surface, liquid-metal flows relevant to fusion reactors [Data set]. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University. https://doi.org/10.11578/1561998
@electronic{hvasta_m_g_2018,
  author      = {Hvasta, M. G. and
                Kolemen, E. and
                Fisher, A. E. and
                Ji, H.},
  title       = {{Demonstrating electromagnetic control of
                 free-surface, liquid-metal flows releva
                nt to fusion reactors}},
  publisher   = {{Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Pri
                nceton University}},
  year        = 2018,
  url         = {https://doi.org/10.11578/1561998}
}
Description:

Plasma-facing components (PFC's) made from solid materials may not be able to withstand the large heat and particle fluxes that will be produced within next-generation fusion reactors. To address the shortcomings of solid PFC's, a variety of liquid-metal (LM) PFC concepts have been proposed. Many of the suggested LM-PFC designs rely on electromagnetic restraint (Lorentz force) to keep free-surface, liquid-metal flows adhered to the interior surfaces of a fusion reactor. However, there is very little, if any, experimental data demonstrating that free-surface, LM-PFC's can actually be electromagnetically controlled. Therefore, in this study, electrical currents were injected into a free-surface liquid-metal that was flowing through a uniform magnetic field. The resultant Lorentz force generated within the liquid-metal affected the velocity and depth of the flow in a controllable manner that closely matched theoretical predictions. These results show the promise of electromagnetic control for LM-PFC's and suggest that electromagnetic control could be further developed to adjust liquid-metal nozzle output, prevent splashing within a tokamak, and alter heat transfer properties for a wide-range of liquid-metal systems.

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1 readme.txt 484 Bytes
2 Ark_Data.xlsx 50.6 KB