Recent Progress in the WCLL Breeding Blanket Design for the DEMO Fusion Reactor

The water-cooled lithium-lead (PbLi) breeding blanket is one of the candidate systems considered for the implementation in the European Demonstration Power Plant (DEMO) nuclear fusion reactor. This concept employs PbLi liquid metal as tritium breeder and neutron multiplier, water pressurized at 15.5 MPa as the coolant, and EUROFER as the structural material. The current design is based on the single module segment approach and follows the requirements of the DEMO-2015 baseline design. The module is constituted by a basic toroidal–radial cell that is recursively repeated along the poloidal direction where the liquid metal flows along a radial–poloidal path. The heat generated by the fusion reactions is extracted by means of separate cooling systems for the breeding zone and the first wall. A back supporting structure is dedicated to withstand loads of the module during normal and off-normal operations. Water and PbLi manifolds are integrated with primary heat transport and tritium extraction systems. The status of the conceptual design is presented, critically discussing its rationale and main features as supported by neutronic, thermal-hydraulic, magneto-hydrodynamic, and thermo-mechanic analyses. Recent results are outlined, pointing out open issues and development needs.

[1]  Gianfranco Caruso,et al.  Numerical study of the MHD flow around a bounded heating cylinder: Heat transfer and pressure drops , 2018 .

[2]  G. Bongiovì,et al.  On the optimization of the first wall of the DEMO water-cooled lithium lead outboard breeding blanket equatorial module , 2016 .

[3]  P. Sardain,et al.  Objectives and status of EUROfusion DEMO blanket studies , 2016 .

[4]  Fabio Giannetti,et al.  Advancements in DEMO WCLL breeding blanket design and integration , 2018 .

[5]  Fabio Giannetti,et al.  WCLL breeding blanket design and integration for DEMO 2015: status and perspectives , 2017 .

[6]  Giacomo Aiello,et al.  Development of the Helium Cooled Lithium Lead blanket for DEMO , 2014 .

[7]  Sergey Smolentsev,et al.  MHD thermofluid issues of liquid-metal blankets: Phenomena and advances , 2010 .

[8]  G. Bongiovì,et al.  Optimization of the breeder zone cooling tubes of the DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium Lead breeding blanket , 2016 .

[9]  P. A. Di Maio,et al.  Structural analysis of the back supporting structure of the DEMO WCLL outboard blanket , 2017 .

[10]  P. A. Di Maio,et al.  On the thermo-mechanical behaviour of DEMO water-cooled lithium lead equatorial outboard blanket module , 2017 .

[11]  G. Bongiovì,et al.  Analysis of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium Lead breeding blanket module under normal operation steady state conditions , 2015 .

[12]  P. Barabaschi,et al.  Fusion electricity: a roadmap to the realization of fusion energy , 2012 .

[13]  Yican Wu,et al.  CAD-based interface programs for fusion neutron transport simulation , 2009 .

[14]  Christian Bachmann,et al.  Preliminary structural assessment of DEMO vacuum vessel against a vertical displacement event , 2016 .

[15]  G. Bongiovì,et al.  Assessment of the Thermo-mechanical Performances of a DEMO Water-Cooled Liquid Metal Blanket Module , 2015 .

[16]  Christian Bachmann,et al.  Neutronic analyses and tools development efforts in the European DEMO programme , 2014 .

[17]  Fabio Giannetti,et al.  Analysis of the secondary circuit of the DEMO fusion power plant using GateCycle , 2017 .

[18]  T. Franke,et al.  Overview of the design approach and prioritization of R&D activities towards an EU DEMO , 2016 .

[19]  Rosaria Villari,et al.  Neutronic performance issues of the breeding blanket options for the European DEMO fusion power plant , 2016 .

[20]  Gianfranco Caruso,et al.  Magnetohydrodynamic flow and heat transfer around a heated cylinder of arbitrary conductivity , 2017 .

[21]  Christian Bachmann,et al.  Development of a master model concept for DEMO vacuum vessel , 2016 .

[22]  Alessandro Del Nevo,et al.  Rationale and method for design of DEMO WCLL breeding blanket poloidal segmentation , 2017 .

[23]  David Ward,et al.  Power plant conceptual study: WCLL concept , 2003 .

[24]  Alessandro Del Nevo,et al.  CFD simulation of the magnetohydrodynamic flow inside the WCLL breeding blanket module , 2017 .