Interaction of impurity (Li, Be, B and C) and hydrogen isotope pellet injection with reactor-relevant plasmas

Based on the two-dimensional kinetic ablation theory of the hydrogen pellet ablation developed by Kuteev [B.V. Kuteev, Nuclear Fusion, 35 (1995) 431], an algorithm of erosion speed and ablation rate calculations for Li, Be, and B impurity pellets in reactor-relevant plasma has been derived. Results show compatibilities of lithium pellet injection used in α-particle diagnostics are positive in comparison with other solid impurity pellets (e.g. Be, B and C). Using the 2-D Kuteev lentil model, including kinetic effects, we find that currently existing pellet injection techniques will not meet core-fueling requirements for ITER-FEAT. A pressure as high as 254 MPa must be applied to a pellet accelerator with a 200 cm-long single-stage pneumatic gun, in order to accelerate a pellet with a radius r_p0 = 0.5 cm to a velocity of v_p0, 24 × 10⁵ cm/s penetrating 100 cm into the ITER plasma core. Comparisons of pellet velocity- and radius-dependent penetration depth between the Neutral Gas Shielding and the Kuteev's models are made. However, we find that the isotopic effects can lead to a 33% lower pellet speed for solid DT, compared to an identical H₂ pellet penetrating the same length in ITER-FEAT plasma, and our calculations show that HFS injection will much improve core fueling efficiency.