Lifetime Testing of the Vertical Lithium Limiter with External Lithium Supply on T-11M Tokamak

The paper presents the results of tests of the vertical liquid-metal lithium CPS limiter with external lithium supply during the first two years of its operation. The capillary porous structure (CPS) is made of tungsten “felt” with an average porosity of about 50 μm. The lithium consumption during long-term operation of the limiter was determined and the processes responsible for the lithium consumption were studied. It was shown that the limiter can operate without lithium refilling for at least 500 working discharges. Refilling with lithium allows replenishing the amount of lithium in the limiter to the initial value. It was shown that the main consumption of lithium occurs during the preparation of the tokamak chamber for operating modes during induction heating of the walls and during a glow discharge due to the chemical interaction of residual water vapor with elemental lithium.