The Numerical Simulation for the Heat Transfer Enhancement Experiments of the HCCB-TBM First Wall

Abstract

The first wall (FW) of helium gas-cooled ceramic breeder test blanket module for ITER need bears the loads like high-power density heat flux from plasma, nuclear heat from neutron deposition on the structure, and the transient high heat loads like plasma disruption. To enhance the helium gas cooling efficiency and security in FW, heat transfer enhancement technology should be used to improve and optimize the design scheme of helium flow channel for meeting the functional requirements of FW. Based on this objective, the filling–evacuating high-pressure helium-cooled loop (HPHCL) was built to test and prove the heat transfer enhancement schemes of helium gas cooling FW. In this paper, the design scheme of the filling–evacuating HPHCL was presented, and the key issues of engineering manufacture and the test cases are calculated and analyzed. Numerical simulation results are compared to acquire optimizational heat transfer enhancement schemes like placing transversal ribs and V-shaped ribs in the flow channel of front wall of FW. The helium gas turbulence intensity and the heat transfer area are improved through optimizing the distance and angle between V-shaped ribs and other coefficients to enhance heat transfer. The calculation results are used as reference for the verification experiments, which the 8–10-MPa high pressure helium gas will be selected as coolant.