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• The progresses of the Primary Heat Transfer System of the HCPB Breeding Blanket for the DEMO reactor are outlined. • The main components of Ex-Vessel PHTS has been sized to be compliant with the new In-Vessel requirements. • Results highlights that the 2017 HCPB BB PHTS has reached improved thermal-hydraulic and safety characteristics. • Further efforts are still needed to reduce PHTS pressure drops and volumes as well as to improve IHXs performance. In the frame of the activities promoted and encouraged by the EURO-fusion Power Plant Physics and Technology (PPPT) department aimed at developing the EU-DEMO fusion reactor, strong emphasis has been recently posed to the whole Balance of Plant (BoP) which represents the set of systems devoted to convert the plasma generated thermal power into electricity and to deliver it to the grid. Among these systems, a very important role is played by the Breeding Blanket (BB) Primary Heat Transfer System (PHTS) as it is responsible to extract more than 80% of the fusion plasma power. In this framework, University of Palermo, Ansaldo Nucleare and CREATE have focused their work to improve thermal-hydraulic, safety and integration features of the Ex-Vessel PHTS for the Helium-Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) BB concept of DEMO. Starting from the outcomes obtained in 2016 that have allowed to highlight some criticalities which needed design changes, the paper describes progress and developments of the 2017 HCPB PHTS as well as the goals which have been achieved. The results of the research activity carried out show, in fact, i) an increase of the thermal-hydraulic performances, since a reduction in both total coolant inventory and total pressure drop has been respectively reached, ii) a potential improvement of the overall safety characteristics of the system. Nevertheless a critical assessment of these key parameters reveals that some issues are still open in terms of design integration and feasibility of the whole DEMO BoP for the helium-cooled blanket option, indicating that additional efforts are required to make this technology more attractive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The Primary Heat Transfer System of the HCPB Breeding Blanket for the DEMO reactor has been preliminary designed. • A thermo-hydraulic assessment of Ex-Vessel PHTS has been carried out in order to size its main components. • Results show that HCPB BB PHTS is characterized by large IHXs heat transfer area, high coolant inventory, huge pumping power. • Further efforts are needed to reduce PHTS pressure drops and volumes as well as to improve IHXs performance. Abstract The European DEMO conceptual design foresees four Breeding Blanket (BB) concepts that rely on different cooling and breeding technologies. As DEMO has been conceived to deliver net electricity to the grid, the choice of the blanket coolant plays a pivotal role in the reactor design having a strong influence on plant operation, safety and maintenance. Moreover, the machine pulsed operation makes the BB Primary Heat Transfer System (PHTS) the main hub of the DEMO Balance of Plant (BoP). Within this framework, a study has been carried out to design the Ex-Vessel PHTS of the Helium-Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) BB concept. The paper describes criteria and rationale followed with the aim to achieve a simple PHTS design based on the adoption of easy-to-manufacture main components. Results of preliminary thermal-hydraulic calculations carried out to size heat exchangers, piping and compressors are presented and critically discussed. Finally, the evaluation of PHTS key parameters as total pressure drops and total coolant inventory is reported to provide input relevant to the assessment of the impact of helium technology on the design integration and feasibility of DEMO BoP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • EU- DEMO shall be strongly Balance of Plant oriented. • Two BOP options are considered for both WCLL BB and HCPB BB BoP with the aim to minimize technological risks. • Preliminary design of HCPB/WCLL BB PHTS, IHTS, ESS and conceptual design of PCS have been perfomed. • BB PHTS, IHTS, ESS and PCS are considered to be feasible, but further investigations need before drawing any firm conclusions. • The direct coupling of the BB PHTS to PCS is under analysis with the help of the Industry. Abstract DEMO in Europe is considered to be the nearest-term reactor design to follow ITER and capable of demonstrating production of electricity, operating with a closed fuel-cycle and to be a facilitating machine between ITER and a commercial reactor. The aim of this paper is to show the design progress of the complex system's "chain" devoted to the extraction of the plasma generated pulsed thermal power and its conversion into electricity delivered to the grid, including the Primary Heat Transport System (PHTS), the Power Conversion System (PCS) and the Intermediate Heat Transport System (IHTS) – provided by an Energy Storage System (ESS) – in between PHTS and PCS, which is introduced for the scope of smoothing the generated pulsed plasma power removed by PHTS transmitted to PCS for a more continuous conversion/production of electricity and to guaranty plant lifetime. This will be done with reference to two breeding blanket concepts: the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) Breeding Blanket (BB) and the Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) BB. The PHTS design criteria and the system design finalization through a descriptive 3D CAD model which shows the system inside the tokamak building are presented. The design and operational challenges as well as the on-going development plans to investigate possible design simplifications (e.g. the direct coupling of Breading Blanket PHTS to PCS) and improved technology readiness actions potentially leading to better plant reliability and cost minimisation are briefly described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two models are currently taken as reference for the breeding blanket (BB) of DEMO, the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) and the Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL). For both the models two Balance of Plant (BOP) configurations are currently investigated. They are all based on four independent primary heat transfer systems (PHTSs). The largest PHTS is devoted to remove the BB thermal power, two PHTSs for the divertor (DIV) and one for the vacuum vessel (VV) heat removals. Both DIV loops and VV loop transfer their thermal power directly to the power conversion system (PCS). The two BOP configurations are investigated to cope with the pulsed operation of the reactor. The first configuration consists of an "indirect coupling" of the BB PHTS to the PCS by an Intermediate Heat Transfer System placed in between them. The second configuration consists in a "direct-coupling" of the BB PHTS to the PCS. Reliability, availability, maintainability and inspectability (RAMI) analyses for the four PHTS and PCS configurations are presented in this paper. The Failure Mode, Effect Analysis (FMEA) and the Reliability Block Diagram (RBD) methodologies have been used to perform the studies. As main result can be highlighted that even the low reliability of the systems to operate without failure and the large number of requests of corrective maintenance, all the systems are in compliance with an operational availability target of 30 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the frame of the activities promoted and encouraged by the EUROfusion Power Plant Physics and Technology (PPPT) department aimed at developing the EU-DEMO fusion reactor, strong emphasis has been recently addressed to the whole Balance of Plant (BoP) which represents the set of systems devoted to convert the plasma generated thermal power into electricity and to deliver it to the grid. Among these systems, the Divertor Primary Heat Transfer Systems (PHTSs) are intended to feed coolant to the two main components of the Divertor assembly, namely the Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) and the Cassette Body (CB). Since the DEMO Divertor must withstand high heat flux loads together with a considerable neutron deposited power, very tight tolerances may be allowed to the coolant inlet conditions. Therefore, the design of reliable PHTSs is of the utmost importance towards the development of an EU-DEMO fusion reactor. Within this framework, a study has been jointly carried out by University of Palermo, Ansaldo Nucleare and CREATE to design the Ex-Vessel PHTSs of both the PFCs and the CB for a DEMO reactor equipped with a Helium Cooled Pebble Bed Breeding Blanket. The paper describes criteria and rationale followed with the aim to achieve simple PHTS designs based on the adoption of easy-to-manufacture main components avoiding too much extrapolation from the state-of-art technology. Results of preliminary thermal-hydraulic calculations carried out to size heat exchangers, pressurizers, piping and pumps are presented and critically discussed, with particular attention to those integration, safety and feasibility constraints that may deeply affect the design of such components. Finally, the evaluation of PHTS key parameters as total pumping power and coolant inventory is reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]