The lifetime of plasma-facing components (PFCs) will have a strong influence on the efficiency and viability of future fusion power plants. However, the PFCs suffer from thermal stresses and physical sputtering induced by edge-localized modes (ELMs). ELMs in future fusion devices are expected to occur with a high plasma density compared to current day devices such that coupling of recycling neutrals and plasma ions will be strong. Because of the scale hierarchy of future fusion devices compared to the present ones, the influence of this coupling is difficult to predict. Here, we investigate the ELM-like hydrogen plasma induced heat loads on tungsten in the linear device Magnum-PSI, producing ∼1 ms plasma pulses with electron densities up to 3.5 × 1021 m−3. A combination of time-resolved Thomson scattering and coherent Thomson scattering was used to acquire plasma parameters in front of the target. Moreover, a fast infrared camera coupled to finite element thermal analyses allowed to determine the deposited heat loads on the target. We found a significant inconsistency between the plasma power calculated with a conventional collisionless sheath model and the absorbed power by the target. Moreover, plasma stagnation upstream and plasma cooling downstream were observed during the pulses. The observations are explained based on ionization and elastic collisions between the recycling neutrals and plasma ions. The results highlight the impact of plasma-neutral interaction on the power deposition behavior of ELM-like hydrogen plasma on tungsten.
Industrial plasmas in academia