The infrared thermography system on the MAST-U tokamak

J M Stobbs; A Tookey; A J Thornton; T Farley; MAST-U Team

doi:10.1063/5.0219544

The infrared thermography system on the MAST-U tokamak

Rev Sci Instrum. 2024 Nov 1;95(11):113509. doi: 10.1063/5.0219544.

Authors

J M Stobbs¹, A Tookey¹, A J Thornton¹, T Farley¹; MAST-U Team

Affiliation

¹ United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Campus, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB, United Kingdom.

PMID: 39556001
DOI: 10.1063/5.0219544

Abstract

Power loading from plasma in the scrape-off layer limits the lifetime of plasma-facing components in tokamak-based power plants. The Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak Upgrade [W. Morris et al., IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 46(5), 1217-1226 (2018)] (MAST-U) features four divertor strike points (SP) owing to its up-down symmetry. This paper introduces the five-camera infrared thermography system, covering all four SPs and their mode of operation on MAST-U. The system employs both medium and long wavelength cameras, offering high frame rates up to 4 kHz and spatial resolutions of down to 3 mm. Postprocessing involves artifact elimination and heat flux calculation using in-house analysis software that incorporates the inverse heat transfer code, THEODOR (THermal Energy Onto DivertOR).