Commissioning and first results of the OLMAT facility
F.L. Tabarés, E. Oyarzábal, D. Alegre, D. Tafalla, K. J. McCarthy, A. de Castro, E. Ascasíbar, A. Soleto, Iván Fernández, R. C. Carrasco, Fernando Martı́n, J.A. Sebastián, Jesús Gómez-Manchón, Augusto Pereira, Angel de la Peña
Abstract
The OLMAT (Optimization of Liquid Metal Advanced Targets) facility has recently undergone the commissioning and start-up phases. Solid Titanium-Zirconium- Molybdenum (TZM) alloy and liquid tin (Sn) metallic targets were exposed to a hydrogen neutral beam injector (NBI) particle flux with power densities up to 58 ± 14 MW/m2, pulse duration up to 150 ms, and repetition rates up to 2 pulses/minute. These beam parameters are well above the estimates based on the typical performance of this NBI system when used for heating plasmas in the TJ-II stellarator. The parameters of the plasma generated through the interaction of the fast (32.5 keV) neutrals and ions and the solid were characterized by spectroscopic methods while surface temperature and total absorbed power were followed using pyrometry, infrared (IR) thermography, and calorimetry, respectively. Targets were visually monitored during the exposure and microscopically analyzed ex-situ. Electrical isolation of the target permitted recording the floating voltage during irradiation as well as for active biasing tests. In this work, a description of the facility, its operating parameters, and firsts results are provided and assessed as a new High Heat Flux (HHF) Facility for testing solid and liquid metal divertor targets under reactor-relevant heat load conditions.