Wendelstein 7-X and fusion - Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik

Plansee SE, Reutte, Austria
The high load Wendelstein 7-X wall
„10,000 hotplates on one square metre”
Heating fusion plasmas to temperatures of roughly 100 million degrees Celsius requires
very high power outputs in the range of 10 million watts. Although the heated plasma
inside the vessel will be confined by the magnetic field, contact between the plasma
boundary and the wall segments cannot be avoided. The temperature of the plasma
decreases dramatically from its centre to its outer boundary where it is “only” about
100,000 degrees Celsius. To protect the wall of the plasma vessel from damage, the
huge heat flow from the plasma has to be conducted through the wall. The sections of
the wall will be protected by water cooled wall elements made of carbon or metal. The
high-performance heat exchangers are known as ”divertors”. Using the Wendelstein 7-X
experiment the suitability of stellarators for continuous operation will be tested.
High-performance, water-cooled wall elements
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