B₄C-limiter experiments at TEXTOR

In the TEXTOR tokamak the five top and five bottom poloidal carbon limiter blocks have been replaced by inertially cooled copper blocks coated with a 170 μm VPS-B4C layer. Similar limiter blocks have been inserted through lock systems, extensively diagnosed in situ as well as ex situ. During the thermal load by the plasma, the surface temperature rose and decayed extremely fast which can be explained by a different thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the coating. For heat loads below 8 MW m-2 no severe cracking or delamination of the B4C-coating were observed. Due to the insulating behaviour of the layer, distinct craters developed on both limiter types, which reached down to the copper surface and are assumed to be caused by electrical arcs. An oscillation of the evolution of the surface temperature has been observed under certain conditions, which is clearly correlated to the use of the coated test limiter. Particle fluxes as well as hydrogen inventory turned out to be very similar to those from a low-Z surface in a carbon surrounding. No significant impact of the plasma on the coating and vice versa was observed