PPPL-5090


<p><strong>High Performance Discharges in the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment with Liquid Lithium Walls</strong></p>

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<b>Authors:</b> J.C. Schmitt, R.E. Bell, D.P. Boyle, B. Esposti, R. Kaita, et al.</p>

<p><b>Abstract: </b>A Liquid metal first wall for a fusion reactor has been extensively discussed. Here we report the first‐ever successful operation of a tokamak with a large area (40% of the total plasma surface area) liquid lithium wall in the Lithium Tokamak experiment (LTX). These Results were obtained with a new, electron beam‐based lithium evaporation system, which can deposit a lithium coating on the wall of LTX In a five-minute period. Preliminary analyses of diamagnetic and other data for discharges operated with a liquid lithium wall indicate that confinement times increased by 10x compared to discharges with helium-dispersed solid lithium coatings. Ohmic Energy confinement times with fresh lithium walls, solid and liquid, exceed several relevant scaling laws. Spectroscopic analysis of the discharges indicates that oxygen levels in the discharges run against liquid walls were significantly reduced compared to discharges operated against solid lithium walls. Tokamak operations with a full liquid lithium wall (85% of the total plasma surface area) have recently started. <br>
  
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<p><b>Submitted to: </b>Physics of Plasmas<br>
  
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