Qualification and Commissioning of Helium Flow Loop Experiment for Blanket Design Measurements

Cody S. Wiggins, Dennis L. Youchison, Fayaz Rasheed, Charles Kessel, Monica Gehrig, Michael Harper, Adam Carroll, Dean McGinnis, Michael Morrow, Chase Joslin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sufficient cooling of plasma-facing materials remains an outstanding challenge in the design of fusion reactor blankets in commercial power demonstration plants. Due to its chemical inertness and low neutron interaction cross section, pressurized helium is a candidate coolant fluid for such systems; however, helium has a small thermal mass compared to liquid coolants, potentially reducing heat removal performance. To address this need, a number of heat transfer enhancements have been proposed to improve the cooling efficiency of such components, thereby decreasing pumping power needs and improving overall plant efficiency. Toward this end, a helium flow loop experiment (HFLE) has been designed and commissioned to test advanced passive heat transfer enhancements in unit-cell test sections, providing necessary data for model validation and subsequent system design. The HFLE is designed to provide flow of pressurized (up to 4 MPa) helium at flow rates up to 80 g/s, enabling heat transfer and pressure drop measurements in test pieces at Reynolds numbers in excess of 180 000. To explore the effects of novel and complex heat transfer enhancements, test sections are produced via additive manufacturing, providing geometries not typically obtainable by conventional machining. In this work, we present results from HFLE commissioning and the initial thermal-hydraulic tests of an additively manufactured rifled-rib test section. Results are compared to smooth pipe correlations, and plans are described for future HFLE measurements. These preliminary experiments indicate the utility of the HFLE for heat transfer enhancement testing and simulation validation activities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1187-1196
Number of pages10
JournalFusion Science and Technology
Volume79
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

Funding

This paper has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The U.S. government retains and the publisher, by accepting this paper for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce this paper, or allow others to do so, for U.S. government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). This paper has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The U.S. government retains and the publisher, by accepting this paper for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce this paper, or allow others to do so, for U.S. government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy .gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).

FundersFunder number
DOE Public Access Plan
U.S. Government
U.S. Department of Energy

    Keywords

    • Helium flow loop
    • first-wall cooling
    • fusion blanket
    • heat transfer enhancement

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