Update of the Latest Operational Results from HIDRA and MEME

Steady-state operation in HIDRA has been achieved with individual discharges lasting between 3600 to 5400 s. This is now standard operation for HIDRA. This is an important feature to have for future PMI and Li operations. A Li evaporation experimental campaign has been undertaken to understand He plasma-Li interactions and low recycling operation. The first H₂ experiments have also been performed in HIDRA as part of a long-term study on steady state operation. It has been observed that the characteristic time-scale of recycling and/or plasma-chemistry is on the order of ~30 minutes. Studying the impact of the recycling and/or plasma-chemistry is essential before constructing a long pulse fusion demonstrator device. Li operation with hydrogen has achieved low recycling operation resulting in improved performance. Plasma parameters are measured using spectroscopy and a reciprocating Langmuir probe. As part of the domestic liquid metal program experiments on MAGNUM-PSI and HIDRA experiments have been undertaken to measure and characterize vapor shielding effects. In MEME a steady-state liquid Li loop has been built and is operating. Experiments are underway with bulk surface wetting experiments of PFC surfaces. This presentation will show the latest results from these experiments.