Aspects of comet-like acceleration of ablating dust in tokamak SOL

Abstract

Vertical Disruption Events (VDE) in tokamaks, may cause significant melting along tile ridges of the vessel upper dump plates with release of metallic particulate and droplets as shown in and in references therein. Accurate studies of the motion of such debris released in the vessel are important for the inventory of tritiated composites in a reactor. Recently numerical codes have been developed to track this particulate of variable mass and charge, in interaction with the Scrape-Off layer (SOL) plasma. Here a contribution is given for a more consistent discussion of the additional acceleration of the dust due to asymmetric loss of mass in flight. A simplified description is constructed in analogy with the physics of comets.

Keywords:

• Tokamak
• charged dust
• ablation
• phase transitions

Acknowledgments

This work has been carried out in 2020 at the Istituto per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Plasmi-CNR.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

E. Lazzaro

Dr E. Lazzaro is a Plasma physics theorist,presently Associate Research Director of ISTP-Cnr. Formerly Director of Institute of Plasma Physics-CNR. From 1981 to 1990 researcher in the Theory Division of JET-Joint Undertaking and since then actively involved in plasma theory (wave-plasma interactions, MHD and dusty plasma) related to Tasks of Eurofusion and and other international collaborations, authoring and co-authoring about 300 papers.