Liquid metal integrated test system (LIMITS)

This paper describes the liquid metal integrated test system (LIMITS) at Sandia National Laboratories11Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energyʹs National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE–AC04-94AL85000. system was designed to study the flow of molten metals and salts in a vacuum as a preliminary study for flowing liquid surfaces inside of magnetic fusion reactors. The system consists of a heated furnace with attached centrifugal pump, a vacuum chamber, and a transfer chamber for storage and addition of fresh material. Diagnostics include an electromagnetic flow meter, a high temperature pressure transducer, and an electronic level meter. Many ports in the vacuum chamber allow testing the thermal behavior of the flowing liquids heated with an electron beam or study of the effect of a magnetic field on motion of the liquid. Some preliminary tests have been performed to determine the effect of a static magnetic field on stream flow from a nozzle.