Numerical Investigation on Cooling Performance of Breeding Zone in HCCR TBM

Abstract

The helium cooled ceramic reflector (HCCR) test blanket module (TBM) has been designed to be installed in ITER and to verify the tritium production and the heat extraction in Korea. Lithium, beryllium, and graphite are used as a breeder, a neutron multiplier, and a reflector, respectively, which called as breeding zone (BZ) including cooling plate. The BZ was operated with the highest temperature in the TBM due to the nucler heating not only in breeding material but also structure. The margin to the allowable temperature for the breeder is very small in the current conceptual design of HCCR TBM. In the present study, feasible methods were investigated to lower the maximum temperature of the BZ. The thermal resistance and the effect of each factor were studied with a conventional CFD code, ANSYS-CFX v14.5. It is found that the thermal resistance related to the pebble beds layer was main factor to determine the breeder temperature, and the installation of the cooling fins could reduce the heat transfer resistance and lower the maximum temperature of breeder about 80°C.

Keywords:

• Test blanket module
• ITER
• breeder

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by R&D Program through National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of the Republic of Korea (NFRI-IN1603).