Development Of An Elecrostatic Detector for Tungsten Dust
Authors: Kenneth C. Hammond and Charles Skinner
Abstract:
Large inventories of dust are expected in next-step fusion reactors such as ITER, and dust
detection devices will be necessary to manage the associated hazards. Electrostatic dust detectors
have been successfully used to detect graphite dust on NSTX and Tore Supra. These detectors
consist of interlocking copper conducting combs on a circuit board that are biased to 50V.
Impinging dust particles cause temporary short circuits that produce measurable electronic
signals. We have constructed a more rugged version of this device for the detection of tungsten
particles in which the conducting combs are themselves made of tungsten wire, and the interwire
spacing and bias voltage are an order of magnitude higher. Initial tests have shown a good
response to incident tungsten particles and the tungsten wires were far more durable than the
copper traces used previously. We will present data on some electrostatic effects that became
apparent at the higher voltages used, and initial results on the detector sensitivity.
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Submitted to: PPPL Reports
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Download PPPL-4970 (pdf 1,021 KB 39 pp)
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