Abstract
In the frame of the pre-conceptual design activities of the DEMO work package DIV-1 “Divertor Cassette Design and Integration” of the EUROfusion program, a mock-up of the divertor outer vertical target (OVT) was built, mainly in order to: (i) demonstrate the technical feasibility of manufacturing procedures; (ii) verify the hydraulic design and its capability to ensure a uniform and proper cooling for the plasma facing units (PFUs) with an acceptable pressure drop; and (iii) experimentally validate the computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) model developed by the University of Palermo. In this context, a research campaign was jointly carried out by the University of Palermo and ENEA to experimentally and theoretically assess the hydraulic performances of the OVT mock-up, paying particular attention to the coolant distribution among the PFUs and the total pressure drop across the inlet and outlet sections of the mock-up. The paper presents the results of the steady-state hydraulic experimental test campaign performed at ENEA Brasimone Research Center as well as the relevant numerical analyses performed at the Department of Engineering at the University of Palermo. The test facility, the experimental apparatus, the test matrix and the experimental results, as well as the theoretical model, its assumptions, and the analyses outcomes are herewith reported and critically discussed.
Highlights
The pursuit of fusion power is propelled by a call for sustainable and foreseeable low-carbon sources of energy due to the increasing global electricity needs
To perform a validation campaign on the methodologies adopted for computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) simulation, steady-state isothermal CFD analyses were carried out on the outer vertical target (OVT) mock-up cooling circuit, whose geometry is reported in Figure 8, considering the assumptions and boundary conditions (BCs) reported in Tables 3 and 4
Among the wide range of operative conditions tested on the OVT mock-up cooling circuit at ENEA Brasimone Labs, attention was placed on the experimental tests performed at ≈20 ◦ C inlet temperature
Summary
The pursuit of fusion power is propelled by a call for sustainable and foreseeable low-carbon sources of energy due to the increasing global electricity needs. Demonstrate the technical feasibility of manufacturing procedures, focusing the attention on the joining/welding techniques, and optimizing costs of each component applying standard practices; Experimentally characterize the hydraulic behavior of the plasma facing components; Validate the computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) model developed at the University of Palermo against experimental data. In this context, a research campaign was jointly carried out by the University of Palermo and ENEA to experimentally and theoretically assess the hydraulic performances of the OVT mock-up, paying particular attention to the coolant distribution among the PFUs and the total pressure drop across the inlet and outlet sections of the mock-up. 2020 R2 commercial CFD code [7]
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