Mechanical design and thermo-hydraulic simulation of the infrared thermography diagnostic of the WEST tokamak

Abstract The WEST (Tungsten (W) Environment in Steady state Tokamak) project is a partial rebuild of the Tore Supra tokamak to make it an X-point metallic environment machine aimed at testing ITER technologies in relevant plasma environment. For the safe operation of the WEST tokamak, infra-red (IR) thermography is a crucial diagnostic as it is a sound and reliable way to detect hotspots or abnormal heating patterns on the plasma facing components (PFCs). Thus WEST will be fitted with middle/short-IR (1.5–2 μm or 3–5 μm) cameras in the upper port plugs to get a full view of the critical PFCs (in particular the new lower divertor) and radio-frequency (RF) heating antennas and one camera at the equatorial level to monitor the new upper divertor and the first wall. This paper describes the design of the up-to-date optical system along with the hydraulic analysis and the thermal and mechanical finite element analysis conducted to ensure adequate heat extraction capabilities. Boundary conditions and simulation results will be presented and discussed as well as technological solutions retained.