Speaker
Nicola Forgione
(DICI)
Description
The Breeding Blanket is a key component in a fusion power plant in charge of ensuring tritium breeding, neutron shielding and energy extraction. Water-Cooled Lithium-Lead Breeding Blanket (WCLL) is considered a candidate option in view of the risk mitigation strategy for the realization of DEMO. Indeed, this design might benefit of efficient cooling performances of water as coolant, as well as of a power conversion system, based on conventional and reliable balance of plant. ENEA CR Brasimone has developed during 2015 a design of the equatorial outboard module based on horizontal (i.e. radial-toroidal) water cooling tubes in the Breeding Zone (BZ), and on PbLi flowing in radial-poloidal direction. Therefore, besides the caps zone, the module is composed by 14 segments having the same geometry. A CFD model by ANSYS CFX-15 is developed to investigate the thermal-hydraulic efficiency; to evaluate the temperature distribution in the structures and the thermal field and flow path in the breeding zone. The mesh models the breeding zone, the water cooling system in the breeding zone and in the first wall and the metallic structures. Periodicity conditions are imposed at the upper and lower horizontal stiffening plates. Sensitivity analyses are performed to optimize the layout of the design, thus enhancing temperature distribution in the module. Results show a margin of 30°C from the maximum allowed temperature of the EUROFER. The maximum thermal load tolerable by the first wall is also evaluated.
Co-authors
Alessandro Del Nevo
(ENEA C.R. Brasimone, 40032 Camugnano (BO), Italy)
Andrea Giovinazzi
(DICI, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 2, 56122 Pisa, Italy)
Emanuela Martelli
(DIAEE, Sapienza University of Rome, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 244, 00186 Roma, Italy)
Ivan Di Piazza
(ENEA C.R. Brasimone, 40032 Camugnano (BO), Italy)
Nicola Forgione
(DICI, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 2, 56122 Pisa, Italy)
