Search results for "fusion power"
showing 10 items of 78 documents
Multiphysics Optimization for First Wall Design Enhancement in Water-Cooled Breeding Blankets
2021
Abstract The commercial feasibility of the first fusion power plant generation adopting D-T plasma is strongly dependent upon the self-sustainability in terms of tritium fuelling. Within such a kind of reactor, the component selected to house the tritium breeding reactions is the breeding blanket, which is further assigned to heat power removal and radiation shielding functions. As a consequence of both its role and position, the breeding blanket is heavily exposed to both surface and volumetric heat loads and, hence, its design requires a typical multiphysics approach, from the neutronics to the thermo-mechanics. During last years, a great deal of effort has been put in the optimization of…
A study of the potential influence of frame coolant on HCLL-TBM nuclear response
2007
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. This 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 could vary with the supporting frame configuration and composition, a parametric st…
Assessment of the Possible Lay-Out Influence on the HCLL-TBM Nuclear Response
2009
The Department of Nuclear Engineering of the University of Palermo (DIN) was involved, since several years, in the study of the nuclear response of the helium-cooled lithium lead (HCLL) test blanket module (TBM) which will be tested in ITER. In this framework a research campaign was performed, at the DIN, to asses the nuclear response of the TBM in a toroidal lay-out, with the specific aim to investigate the possible lay-out influence on the module nuclear behaviour by comparing the results obtained with those presented in a similar previous work focussed on the most recent design of the poloidal HCLL-TBM. A computational approach based on the Monte Carlo method was followed and a realistic…
On the influence of the supporting frame on the nuclear response of the Helium-Cooled Lithium Lead Test Blanket Module for ITER
2006
Abstract Within the European Fusion Technology Programme, very intense research activities have been promoted on the Helium-Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL) breeding blanket concept with the specific aim of manufacturing a Test Blanket Module (TBM) to be irradiated in ITER. HCLL-TBM is foreseen to be located in an ITER equatorial port, being housed inside a proper steel-supporting frame. In particular, since that frame has been designed to provide two cavities separated by a dividing plate and HCLL-TBM is foreseen to fill just one of them, its nuclear response could vary accordingly to the filling status of the other one, unless the dividing plate is thick enough to isolate the components housed …
Feasibility of D-D start-up under realistic technological assumptions for EU-DEMO
2021
Abstract One of the main issues in view of the realization of a DEMOnstration fusion reactor is the availability of a sufficient external supply of tritium (T) to start operation. T is an unstable nuclide, which is almost absent in nature and is currently available as by-product in e.g. CANDU, whose operation in the next decades (both in terms of life extension of existing reactors and construction of new ones) is at the moment under debate. During DEMO operation, T will be generated on-site by breeding blanket, employing the neutrons originating from D-T reaction. However, it is considered that a certain initial amount of T is needed to start operation, the so-called start-up inventory. An…
Chemical compatibility of bulk alumina in flowing PbLi alloy under magnetic field
2021
Abstract Electrically insulating flow channel inserts (FCI) may be needed in liquid-based breeding blanket concepts to electrically decouple the metal flow from the strong magnetic field in a future fusion reactor. Although the magnetohydrodynamic simulation demonstrates a reduction of the pressure drop when a sandwich-like steel-alumina-steel FCI is employed, the tritium production efficiency in the breeding zone of a breeding blanket is limited to 550 °C due to the steel corrosion. Previous theoretical thermomechanical analyses point out the possible occurrence of induced interfacial stresses between the steel and the ceramic part. Both factors motivate the actual FCI development towards …
Steady state and transient thermal–hydraulic analyses on ITER divertor module
2005
Abstract One of the most challenging components of ITER is the divertor devoted at controlling the characteristics of the plasma boundary, exhausting the α particles and reducing the impurities in the plasma. The thermal–hydraulic design of the divertor is particularly, demanding because of the high heat loads and the cooling flow margin in the plasma-facing components (PFCs). The pressure drop is limited by the pumping power and also avoiding the risk of reaching critical heat flux (CHF). Furthermore, for maintenance operation foreseen, each single divertor cassette should be drained and dried before withdrawing it out from the vacuum vessel. To address these requirements, European Fusion …
Assessment of Fatigue Effects Induced by Fast Beam Transients in the IFMIF-DONES Li Target
2020
One of the crucial steps toward the commercial exploitation of fusion energy is the availability of a high-intensity neutron source able to test and qualify structural materials to be used in future fusion power reactors. The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility-DEMO Oriented NEutron Source (IFMIF-DONES) facility, which is currently being designed within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium, represents the European effort to develop such a neutron source. It employs a liquid lithium target struck by an accelerated deuteron (D+) beam to produce fusion-like neutrons used to irradiate materials samples. So far, a detailed investigation of the thermomechanical behavior of t…
Neutronic and photonic analysis of the water-cooled Pb17Li test blanket module for ITER-FEAT
2002
Abstract Within the European Fusion Technology Program, the Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) DEMO breeding blanket line was selected in 1995 as one of the two EU lines to be developed in the next decade, in particular with the aim of manufacturing a Test Blanket Module (TBM) to be implemented in ITER. This specific goal has been maintained also in ITER-FEAT program even if the general design parameters of the TBMs have reported some changes. This paper is focused on the investigation of the WCLL-TBM nuclear response in ITER-FEAT through detailed 3D-Monte Carlo neutronic and photonic analyses. A 3D heterogeneous model of the most recent design of the WCLL-TBM has been set-up simulating reali…
On the nuclear response of the water-cooled Pb-17Li test blanket module for ITER-FEAT
2003
Abstract Within the European Fusion Technology Programme, the Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) DEMO breeding blanket line was selected in 1995 as one of the two EU lines to be developed in the next decades, in particular with the aim of manufacturing a Test Blanket Module (TBM) to be tested in ITER-FEAT. The present paper is focused on the study of the WCLL-TBM nuclear response in ITER-FEAT, being specifically oriented to the investigation of the local effects due to the typical C-shaped tubes of the breeder zone, since they could play a pivotal role in the module-relevant thermo–mechanical design. A 3D heterogeneous model of the WCLL-TBM, realistically simulating its new lay out and taking…