Throat Coil & Mirror Maintenance

The 17 T throat coils and expander region are maintained to preserve the field profile that feeds the direct converter.

The throat coils (17 T) sit at the transition between the central cell and the expander, shaping the diverging field that carries the plasma stream to the direct converter. Their maintenance preserves the field profile and the mechanical integrity of the expander region, which is central to conversion performance.

Throat coils

• Field integrity and alignment at the throat
• Cooling and current-lead condition
• Quench protection health, as for all superconducting coils
• Structural condition under the field gradient

Expander region

Downstream of the throat, the expander tank and the diverging field region are inspected for surface condition and alignment, because the geometry sets how cleanly the plasma stream reaches the collector. Any drift in field profile or geometry affects how efficiently energy is captured.

Coordination with the DEC end

Throat and expander maintenance is coordinated with direct-converter servicing, since they form one continuous path from central cell to collector. Access and remote-handling provisions are designed so the region can be inspected without a full machine disassembly. This maintenance is engineered at design stage against the frozen 17 T throat configuration.