Design of the Flowing LIquid Torus (FLIT)

Abstract

The design of the Flowing LIquid Torus (FLIT) at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is presented. FLIT will focus on the development of a liquid metal (LM) diagnostics and divertor system (without a plasma source) suitable for implementation in present-day fusion systems, such as NSTX-U. FLIT is intended to provide proof-of-concept for fast-flowing LM divertor designs for heat fluxes > 10 MW/m2. The toroidal test article (ID ≈ 0.56 m, OD ≈ 1.9 m, h ≈ 0.61 m) consists of 12 rectangular coils that can generate a centerline magnetic field of 1 T magnetic for greater than 10 s. Initially, 30 gallons Galinstan (Ga-In-Sn eutectic) will be recirculated within the test article using six jxB pumps to achieve flow velocities of up to 10 m/s across the fully annular radial test section. FLIT is designed to be a flexible machine that will allow experimental testing of various LM injection techniques, the study of flow instabilities, and electromagnetic control concepts to prove the feasibility of the LM divertors within fusion reactors.