Behavior of liquid lithium jet irradiated by 1 MeV electron beams up to 20 kW

Abstract

Experiments were conducted to demonstrate the stable operation of the windowless liquid lithium target under extreme thermal loads that are equivalent to uranium beams from the proposed Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) driver linac. The cross section of the windowless liquid lithium target was 5mm×10mm and the velocity of the liquid lithium was varied up to 6m∕s. Thermal loads up to 20 kW within a beam spot of 1 mm in diameter were applied on the windowless liquid lithium target by 1 MeV electron beams. The maximum power density and total power deposited within the target was equivalent to that of a 200 kW, 400MeV∕u uranium beam. It was demonstrated that the windowless liquid lithium target flowing at as low as 1.8m∕s stably operates at a beam energy deposition up to 20 kW without disruption or excess vaporization.