Search results for "Neutron transport"
showing 10 items of 18 documents
Study of a water-cooled convective divertor prototype for the DEMO fusion reactor
2000
The plasma facing components of a fusion power reactor have a large impact on the overall plant design, its performance and availability and on the cost of electricity. The present work concerns a study of feasibility for a water-cooled prototype of the convective divertor component of the DEMO fusion reactor. The study has been carried out in two steps. In the first one thermal-hydraulic and neutronic parametric analyses have been performed to find out the prototype optimized configuration. In the second step thermo-mechanical analyses have been carried out on the obtained configuration to investigate the potential and limits of the proposed prototype, with a particular reference to the ma…
A study of the potential influence of frame coolant distribution on the radiation-induced damage of HCLL-TBM structural material
2008
Abstract Within the European Fusion Technology Programme, the Helium-Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL) breeding blanket concept is one of the two EU lines to be developed for a Long Term fusion reactor, in particular with the aim of manufacturing a Test Blanket Module (TBM) to be implemented in ITER. The HCLL-TBM is foreseen to be located in an ITER equatorial port, being housed inside a steel-supporting frame, actively cooled by pressurized water. That supporting frame has been designed to house two different TBMs, providing two cavities separated by a dividing Plate 20 cm thick. As the nuclear response of HCLL-TBM might vary accordingly to the supporting frame configuration and composition, at t…
Study of the helium-cooled lithium lead test blanket module nuclear behaviour under irradiation in ITER
2009
Abstract The present paper deals with the detailed investigation of the helium-cooled lithium lead test blanket module (HCLL-TBM) nuclear behaviour under irradiation in ITER, carried out at the Department of Nuclear Engineering of the University of Palermo adopting a numerical approach based on the Monte Carlo method. A realistic 3D heterogeneous model of the HCLL-TBM was set-up and inserted into an ITER 3D semi-heterogeneous model that realistically simulates the reactor lay-out up to the cryostat. A Gaussian-shaped neutron source was adopted for the calculations. The main features of the HCLL-TBM nuclear response were assessed, paying a particular attention to the neutronic and photonic d…
A multi-physics integrated approach to breeding blanket modelling and design
2019
Abstract Often, for the design of a component, several kinds of analyses are needed. Even more frequently, the different fields of study, to be taken into account for the design verification, have to be examined minutely until the final results are satisfying. Furthermore, when geometry modifications are required, for instance to fulfill the component functions, the analyses cycle has to be restarted and an iterative process has to be carried out. This procedure may be time-consuming and herald of errors, in particular if it is demanded to the human activity. Therefore, it is more convenient for the scientific community to adopt a numerical tool that can combine various computational codes.…
WCLL breeding blanket design and integration for DEMO 2015: status and perspectives
2017
Abstract Water-cooled lithium-lead breeding blanket is considered a candidate option for European DEMO nuclear fusion reactor. ENEA and the linked third parties have proposed and are developing a multi-module blanket segment concept based on DEMO 2015 specifications. The layout of the module is based on horizontal (i.e. radial-toroidal) water-cooling tubes in the breeding zone, and on lithium lead flowing in radial-poloidal direction. This design choice is driven by the rationale to have a modular design, where a basic geometry is repeated along the poloidal direction. The modules are connected with a back supporting structure, designed to withstand thermal and mechanical loads due to norma…
A neutron point kinetic model for fusion relevant calculations
2012
Abstract In the framework of research activities on fusion reactors a great effort is dedicated by the scientific community to the development of tritium breeding blankets. One of the main goals is to assess the neutronic behaviour of such devices to analyse their tritium breeding performance and to evaluate the required data for their thermal–mechanic and thermal–hydraulic design. Many papers have been published on this topic considering some stationary condition to calculate such important quantities as heating power, gas production and dpa rates, tritium breeding ratio, etc., but not much attention has been focussed to neutronic transport analyses in transient conditions. The present pap…
Automated parametric neutronics analysis of the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed breeder blanket with Be 12 Ti
2017
The Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) breeder blanket is being developed as part of the European Fusion Programme. Part of the programme is to investigate blanket designs relevant for future demonstration fusion power plants. This paper presents neutronics analyses of the HCPB with an alternative neutron multiplier, Be12Ti which is incorporated into the design, replacing the current Be multiplier. A parameter study was performed for a range of geometries to identify the optimal heights of the lithium ceramic and neutron multiplier pebble beds. Automated creation of CAD models followed by conversion to constructive solid geometry (CSG) and unstructured mesh (UM) geometry allows the models to b…
Investigation of the DEMO WCLL Breeding Blanket Cooling Water Activation
2020
Abstract Within the framework of the activities foreseen by the EUROfusion action on the cooling water activation assessment for a DEMO reactor equipped with a Water Cooled Lithium Lead Breeding Blanket (WCLL BB), the University of Palermo is involved in the assessment of dose rates induced by the decay of nitrogen radioisotopes produced by water activation, nearby the main components (e.g. isolation valves) of both First Wall (FW) and Breeder Zone (BZ) cooling circuits. In particular, the aim of this work is to evaluate the spatial distribution of nitrogen isotopes (16N and 17N) in the WCLL BB cooling circuits. To this purpose, a coupled neutronic/fluid-dynamic problem is solved following …
Computational thermofluid-dynamic analysis of DEMO divertor cassette body cooling circuit
2018
Abstract Within the framework of the Work Package Divertor, Subproject: Cassette Design and Integration (WPDIV-Cassette) of the EUROfusion action, a research campaign has been jointly carried out by ENEA and University of Palermo to investigate the thermal-hydraulic performances of the DEMO divertor cassette cooling system. The research activity has been carried out following a theoretical-computational approach based on the finite volume method and adopting a qualified Computational Fluid-Dynamic (CFD) code. Fully-coupled fluid-structure CFD analyses have been carried out for the recently-revised cassette body cooling circuit under nominal steady state conditions, imposing a non-uniform sp…
The n2EDM experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute
2018
We present the new spectrometer for the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) search at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), called n2EDM. The setup is at room temperature in vacuum using ultracold neutrons. n2EDM features a large UCN double storage chamber design with neutron transport adapted to the PSI UCN source. The design builds on experience gained from the previous apparatus operated at PSI until 2017. An order of magnitude increase in sensitivity is calculated for the new baseline setup based on scalable results from the previous apparatus, and the UCN source performance achieved in 2016.