MHD flow in a prototypical manifold of DCLL blankets (KIT Scientific Reports ; 7673)

Critical issues for the feasibility of dual coolant lead lithium blankets are large pressure drop and flow imbalance in parallel ducts due to 3D induced electric currents and 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) phenomena that occur in liquid metal manifolds. In the present work we simulate MHD flows in a manifold where the liquid metal is distributed from a single duct into three parallel channels. The aim is identifying sources of flow imbalance, predicting velocity and pressure distribution

Activation Analysis for a He/LiPb dual Coolant Blanket for DEMO Reactor

The objective of the Spanish national project TECNO_FUS is to generate a conceptual design of a DCLL (Dual-Coolant Lithium-Lead) blanket for the DEMO fusion reactor. The dually-cooled breeding zone is composed of He/Pb-15.7 6Li and SiC as liquid metal flow channel inserts. Structural materials are ferritic-martensitic steel (Eurofer-97) for the blanket and austenitic steel (316LN) for the Vacuum Vessel (VV). The goal of this work is to analyze the radioactive waste production by the neutron-induced activation and the back-end of the blanket and the VV (SS316LN) materials (Eurofer, SiC, LiPb, and SS316LN). Furthermore, the radioactive waste production in the cryostat (SS316LN) and the bioshielding (concrete) has been estimated. Following the current approach to the back-end of the materials in fusion facilities, the radioactive waste has been subdivided according to the activity-level classification (EW, exempted waste, LILW, low and intermediate level waste, and HLW, high level waste) and according to the radiological complexity of operations (handling and cooling). The activation calculations have been carried out with the ACAB code

SiC-based sandwich material for Flow Channel Inserts in DCLL blankets: Manufacturing, characterization, corrosion tests

This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014–2018 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.Flow Channel Inserts (FCIs) are key elements in a DCLL blanket concept for DEMO, since they provide the required thermal insulation between the He cooled structural steel and the hot liquid PbLi flowing at ≈700 °C, and the necessary electrical insulation to minimize MHD effects. In this work a SiC-based sandwich material is proposed for FCIs, consisting of a porous SiC core covered by a dense CVD-SiC layer. A method to produce the porous SiC core is presented, based on combining a starting mixture of SiC powder with a spherical carbonaceous sacrificial phase, which is removed after sintering by oxidation, in such a way that a microstructure of spherical pores is achieved. Following this technique, a porous SiC material with low thermal and electrical conductivities, but enough mechanical strength was produced. Samples were covered by a 200 μm thick CVD-SiC coating to form a SiC-sandwich material. Finally, corrosion tests under static PbLi were performed, showing that such a dense layer offers a reliable protection against static PbLi corrosion.Horizon 2020 Framework Programme 633053; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Development, Characterization, and Testing of a SiC-Based Material for Flow Channel Inserts in High-Temperature DCLL Blankets

This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.Flow channel inserts (FCIs) are the key elements in the high-temperature dual-coolant lead-lithium blanket, since in this concept the flowing PbLi reaches temperatures near 700 °C and FCIs should provide the necessary thermal and electrical insulations to assure a safe blanket performance. In this paper, the use of a SiC-sandwich material for FCIs consisting of a porous SiC core covered by a dense chemical vapor deposition-SiC layer is studied. A fabrication procedure for porous SiC is proposed and the resulting materials are characterized in terms of thermal and electrical conductivities (the latter before and after being subjected to ionizing radiation) and flexural strength. SiC materials with a wide range of porosities are produced; in addition, preliminary results using an alternative route based on the gel-casting technique are also presented, including the fabrication of hollow samples to be part of future lab-scale FCI prototypes. Finally, to study the corrosion resistance of the material in hot PbLi, corrosion tests under static PbLi at 700 °C and under flowing PbLi at 10 cm/s and 550 °C, with and without a 1.8-2T magnetic field, were performed to materials coated with a 200-400- μm -thick dense SiC layer, obtaining promising results.Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Assessment of Component Level Tritium Transport for Fission and Fusion Systems

Tritium transport behavior in component-level models of fission and fusion systems was simulated and assessed using the hydrogen transport code in the BISON fuel performance code. Models of different conditions which were of an ITER heat exchanger, LWR cladding, and FHR heat exchanger were conducted. Comparable results between reported values and BISON predictions demonstrated the ability of the models to predict tritium transport behavior through different steel materials for three different model conditions. Next, a method for sensitivity and uncertainty analysis was implemented to calibrate the models as well as demonstrate the ability to apply this approach in multiphysics models in BISON. This calibration method resulted in improving BISON predictions. Overall, the capabilities of the BISON code for component-level modeling of tritium transport are promising and BISON predictions showed good agreement for the three cases