0000000001081906
AUTHOR
A. Quartararo
Hydraulic assessment of an upgraded pipework arrangement for the DEMO divertor plasma facing components cooling circuit
Abstract In the context of the Work Package DIVertor (WPDIV) of the EUROfusion action, a research campaign has been carried out by University of Palermo in cooperation with ENEA to assess the thermal-hydraulic performances of the DEMO divertor cooling system, concentrating the attention on its 2019 Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) configuration, relevant to DEMO baseline 2017. The research activity has been performed following a theoretical-numerical technique based on the finite volume method and adopting the well-known ANSYS CFX CFD code. The PFCs cooling circuit thermal-hydraulic performances under nominal steady-state conditions, assessed mainly in terms of coolant total pressure drop, c…
Thermal-hydraulic study of the DEMO divertor cassette body cooling circuit equipped with a liner and two reflector plates
Abstract In the framework of the Work Package DIV 1 – “Divertor Cassette Design and Integration” of the EUROfusion action, a research campaign has been jointly carried out by University of Palermo and ENEA to investigate the steady-state thermal-hydraulic performances of the DEMO divertor cassette cooling system. The research activity has been focussed onto the most recent design of the Cassette Body (CB) cooling circuit, consistent with the DEMO baseline 2017 and equipped with a liner and two Reflector Plates (RPs), whose main functions are to protect the underlying vacuum pump hole from the radiation arising from plasma and shield the PFCs inlet distributors, respectively. The research ca…
An investigation of the self- and inter-incompatibility of the olive cultivars 'Arbequina' and 'Koroneiki' in the Mediterranean climate of Sicily
In this investigation, the self-(in)compatibility of the Spanish cultivar Arbequina and the Greek cultivar Koroneiki was studied for the first time in Sicily, where these low vigour cultivars were recently introduced in super-intensive olive groves. Self- (S.P.) and openpollination (O.P.) tests, observation of fruit set and paternity test of seeds with microsatellite (SSR) markers, were performed to ascertain whether these cultivars were self-fertile and/or inter-compatible. For S.P. tests, branches with flowers at the balloon stage were bagged. For the O.P. tests, flowers were left to pollinate under natural conditions. Fruits from S.P. and O.P. were collected in November and fruit set was…
Maturation of critical technologies for the DEMO balance of plant systems
The Pre-Concept Design (PCD) of the Balance of Plant (BoP) systems of the EU-DEMO power plant is described in this paper for both breeding blanket (BB) concepts under assessment, namely the Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) BB and the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) BB. Moreover, the results of a preliminary evaluation of a number of BoP variants are discussed. This paper outlines the steps of the BoP design development, highlighting the project objectives and the strategy for their achievement under the very challenging requirements which include, among others, the intermittent nature of the DEMO plasma heat source. The main achievements during the PCD Phase will be reported together with t…
Pre-conceptual design of EU-DEMO Divertor primary heat transfer systems
Abstract In the frame of the activities promoted and encouraged by the EUROfusion Power Plant Physics and Technology (PPPT) department aimed at developing the EU-DEMO fusion reactor, strong emphasis has been recently addressed to the whole Balance of Plant (BoP) which represents the set of systems devoted to convert the plasma generated thermal power into electricity and to deliver it to the grid. Among these systems, the Divertor Primary Heat Transfer Systems (PHTSs) are intended to feed coolant to the two main components of the Divertor assembly, namely the Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) and the Cassette Body (CB). Since the DEMO Divertor must withstand high heat flux loads together with…
Pre-conceptual design of EU DEMO balance of plant systems: Objectives and challenges
Abstract The European Research Roadmap to the Realisation of Fusion Energy foresees that the DEMO reactor is going to succeed ITER in the pathway towards the exploitation of nuclear fusion, achieving long plasma operation time, demonstrating tritium self-sufficiency and producing net electric output on an industrial scale. Therefore, its design must be more oriented towards the Balance of Plant (BoP) than it is in ITER. Since the early pre-conceptual phase of the DEMO project, emphasis has been laid on identifying the main requirements affecting the overall architecture of the BoP. For instance, specific efforts and proper solutions have been envisaged to cope with the pulsed nature of the …
Root vacuolar sequestration and suberization are prominent responses of Pistacia spp. rootstocks during salinity stress
Abstract Understanding the mechanisms of stress tolerance in diverse species is needed to enhance crop performance under conditions such as high salinity. Plant roots, in particular in grafted agricultural crops, can function as a boundary against external stresses in order to maintain plant fitness. However, limited information exists for salinity stress responses of woody species and their rootstocks. Pistachio (Pistacia spp.) is a tree nut crop with relatively high salinity tolerance as well as high genetic heterogeneity. In this study, we used a microscopy‐based approach to investigate the cellular and structural responses to salinity stress in the roots of two pistachio rootstocks, Pis…
Production and transport modelling of Po-210 in DEMO reactor
Abstract One of the generic designs of the nuclear fusion DEMO reactor proposed by the EUROfusion consortium foresees the development of a tritium breeding blanket (BB) relying on the use of the liquid-metal PbLi eutectic alloy as both neutron multiplier and tritium breeder, namely the water-cooled lithium lead (WCLL) BB, whose strengths and weaknesses are well known. This paper focuses the attention on one of the possible disadvantages of such a technology: the production of the highly radiotoxic radionuclide 210Po, which could become a safety issue to be accounted for. The 210Po concentration within the PbLi circuit has been assessed by solving a modified version of Bateman’s equations to…
Genetic diversity of fig (Ficus caricaL.) genotypes grown in Southern Italy revealed by the use of SSR markers
The genetic variability among 181 fig (Ficus carica L.) accessions found in small farms located in Campania, Basilicata, Apulia, Calabria and Sicily was investigated analysing the polymorphism of 18 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The SSR analysis revealed a large genetic diversity among accessions. A total of 117 alleles were detected with a mean of 6.5 locus-1. The average expected (He) and observed heterozygosity (Ho) were 0.56 and 0.66, respectively. The mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.51, suggesting a significant molecular diversity among the fig accessions taken into consideration. The UPGMA cluster analysis discriminated 174 genotypes and allowed to find 8 grou…
Thermofluid-dynamic assessment of the EU-DEMO divertor single-circuit cooling option
Until 2019, the thermo-hydraulic development of the EU-DEMO divertor was based on the “double-circuit” concept, in which two independent cooling circuits served by two different Primary Heat Transfer Systems were used to cool the Plasma-Facing Components (PFC) and the Cassette Body (CB). During the Divertor Final Design Review Meeting, held in May 2020, the possibility to adopt a single cooling circuit to serve both components was suggested. This new cooling circuit was originally conceived with the aim of simplifying remote maintenance, with potential benefits for some aspects of safety and balance of plant design and integration. During the years from 2020 to 2022, in the fram…
Microspore Culture in eleven Cultivars of Loquat
In plant breeding, microspore embryogenesis via isolated microspore culture is increasing as a method to obtain in a single-step doubled haploids and homozygosity. In this study, isolated microspore culture of eleven cultivars of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.) has been carried out. An analysis of anthers from different flower bud sizes, has been carried out, to identify and to select the flower bud size with anthers containing the highest quantity of vacuolated microspores. After a pre-treatment of the panicles at 4°C in dark for 4 days, flower buds were sterilized and microspores were isolated and cultured in two different media (P and MB). Moreover, only the isolated microsp…
Genetic diversity of early ripening breba accessions (Ficus caricaL.) found in the “Pomona” Apulian collection
In order to study fig (Ficus carica L.) biodiversity in Southern Italy, a study was performed in a private Apulian collection, "I Giardini di Pomona", in which 350 different native and international cultivars were recovered in the last 15 years. This collection is located in middle part of Apulia region inside an area of great charm called "Valle D'Itria". In the region, fig is an important edible fruit tree species and it has been used for fresh fruit production, for centuries. Moreover, fig is considered as an important element of natural landscape and as significant cultural heritage. In this study, the Apulian breba cultivars, characterized by interesting agronomic traits, such as early…
Morphological and molecular variability within the fig cultivar 'Dottato' in the Italian protected designation origin area "fichi di Cosenza"
The morphological and molecular diversity among fig accessions of 'Dottato', found in the PDO "Fichi di Cosenza" area was studied by evaluating 24 morphological traits and by genotyping with 18 microsatellite markers. The microsatellite allelic profiles among the putative clones of 'Dottato' indicated a moderate genetic variability, discriminating unambiguously most of the accessions. Only two groups of identity were found. The average expected and observed heterozygosity were 0.43 and 0.62, respectively. The mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.4, varying from 0.08 (LMFC26) to 0.067 (FCUP 38-6). The morphological clustering allowed the distinction of all genotypes. Some genotyp…
Tokamak cooling systems and power conversion system options
DEMO will be a fusion power plant demonstrating the integration into the grid architecture of an electric utility grid. The design of the power conversion chain is of particular importance, as it must adequately account for the specifics of nuclear fusion on the generation side and ensure compatibility with the electric utility grid at all times. One of the special challenges the foreseen pulsed operation, which affects the operation of the entire heat transport chain. This requires a time-dependant analysis of different concept design approaches to ensure proof of reliable operation and efficiency to obtain nuclear licensing. Several architectures of Balance of Plant were conceived and dev…
Evaluation of morphological and genetic diversity of loquat accessions grown in sicily
In this study 20 accessions of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) that originated from Sicily and other countries were characterized phenotypically and genotyped using seven microsatellite markers. The microsatellites clearly distinguished 14 accessions; three pairs of local accessions were not differentiated, and three accessions from abroad can be considered bud sport mutations of the main Spanish cultivar âAlgerieâ. The mean alleles per locus was four, ranging from two with the marker EJ075 and five with EJ012 and EJ271; the mean Polymorphic Information Content was 0.53; the average expected and observed heterozygosities resulted 0.62 and 0.59, respectively. These values revealed a …