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Abstract
A construction of the spallation neutron source is in progress under the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) Project. A mercury circulation system has been designed to supply mercury to the target stably. In the design of the mercury circulation system, it was necessary to test a mercury pump performance. An erosion rate under the mercury flowing condition and an amount of remaining mercury after draining mercury from the system also must be made clear from viewpoints of evaluating life time of mercury piping. In addition, these data play essential roles in establishing remote handling scenario of components used in the system, because mercury would be highly activated. The mercury pump performance, the erosion rates and the amount of remaining mercury were investigated by using a mercury experimental loop with an experimental gear pump. As a result, it was demonstrated that the discharged flow rates of the pump were sufficient. The flow rate increased linearly with the rotation speed as expected. With conservative assumption, a decreased amount of piping wall thickness was estimated 660 mm after 30-year operation under the rated mercury velocity of 0.7 m/s based on the obtained erosion rate. For the amount of remaining mercury in the loop, remaining rates of weight was estimated to be 50.7 g/m2.
