Liquid gallium jet–plasma interaction studies in ISTTOK tokamak

Liquid metals have been pointed out as a suitable solution to solve problems related to the use of solid walls submitted to high power loads allowing, simultaneously, an efficient heat exhaustion process from fusion devices. The most promising candidate materials are lithium and gallium. However, lithium has a short liquid state temperature range when compared with gallium. To explore further this property, ISTTOK tokamak is being used to test the interaction of a free flying liquid gallium jet with the plasma. ISTTOK has been successfully operated with this jet without noticeable discharge degradation and no severe effect on the main plasma parameters or a significant plasma contamination by liquid metal. Additionally the response of an infrared sensor, intended to measure the jet surface temperature increase during its interaction with the plasma, has been studied. The jet power extraction capability is extrapolated from the heat flux profiles measured in ISTTOK plasmas.