Search

This paper summarizes the latest progress in the ITER blanket system design as it proceeds through its final design phase with the Final Design Review planned for Spring 2013. The blanket design is constrained by demanding and sometime conflicting design and interface requirements from the plasma and systems such as the vacuum vessel, in-vessel coils and blanket manifolds. This represents a major design challenge, which is highlighted in this paper with examples of design solutions to accommodate some of the key interface and integration requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The ITER blanket is in the final stage of design completion. [•] Issues raised about the blanket heat loads and remote handling strategy are addressed, while integrating the in-vessel coils. [•] Key design justifications are presented, followed by a summary of the current status of the manufacturing plan and R&D activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As a consequence of its position and functions, the ITER blanket system will be subjected to significant heat loads under nominal reference conditions. Therefore, the design of its cooling system is particularly demanding. Coolant water is distributed individually to the 440 blanket modules (BMs) through manifold piping, which makes it a highly parallelized system. The mass flow rate distribution is finely tuned to meet all operation constraints: adequate margin to burn out in the plasma facing components, even distribution of water flow among the so-called plasma-facing “fingers” of the Blanket First Wall panels, high enough water flow rate to avoid excessive water temperature in the outlet pipes, maximum allowable water velocity lower than 7 m/s in manifold pipes. Furthermore the overall pressure drop and flow rate in each BM shall be within the fixed specified design limit to avoid an unduly unbalance of cooling among the 440 modules. Analyses have to be carried out following a computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) approach based on the finite volume method and adopting a CFD commercial code to assess the thermal-hydraulic behaviour of each single circuit of the ITER blanket cooling system. This paper describes the code benchmarking needed to determine the best method to get reliable and timely results. Since experimental tests are available in ITER Organization on full scale prototypes of Shield Blocks #08 and #14, CFD analyses have been performed to investigate their fluid-dynamic behaviour under steady state conditions and compare the numerical and experimental results. Results obtained are presented and critically discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The blanket system is the ITER reactor component devoted to providing a physical boundary for plasma transients and contributing to thermal and nuclear shielding of vacuum vessel, magnets and external components. It is expected to be subjected to significant heat loads under nominal conditions and its cooling system has to ensure an adequate cooling, preventing any risk of critical heat flux occurrence while complying with pressure drop limits. At the University of Palermo a study has been performed, in cooperation with the ITER Organization, to investigate the steady state hydraulic behaviour of the ITER blanket standard sector cooling system. A theoretical–computational approach based on the finite volume method has been followed, adopting the RELAP5 system code. Finite volume models of the most critical blanket cooling circuits have been set-up, realistically simulating the coolant flow domain. The steady state hydraulic behaviour of each cooling circuit has been investigated, determining its hydraulic characteristic function and assessing the spatial distribution of coolant mass flow rates, velocities and pressure drops under reference nominal conditions. Results obtained have indicated that the investigated cooling circuits are able to provide an effective cooling to blanket modules, generally meeting ITER requirements in term of pressure drop and velocity distribution, except for a couple of circuits that are being revised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the main activities carried out in the frame of EU-DA prequalification for the supply of Normal Heat Flux (NHF) First Wall (FW) panels to ITER. A key part of these activities is the manufacturing development, the fabrication and the factory acceptance tests of a reduced scale FW prototype (Semi-Prototype (SP)) of the NHF design. The SP has a dimension of 221 mm × 665 mm, corresponding to about 1/6 of a full-scale panel, with six full-scale “fingers” and bearing a total of 84 beryllium tiles. It has been manufactured by the AREVA Company in France. The manufacturing process has made extensive use of Hot Isostatic Pressing, which was developed over more than a decade during the ITER Engineering Design Activity phase. The main manufacturing steps for the Semi-Prototype are recalled, with a summary of the lessons learned and the implications with regard to the design and manufacturing of the full-scale prototype and of the series fabrication of the EU-DA share of the ITER first wall (215 NHF panels). The fabricated SP is then tested under High Heat Flux (HHF) in the dedicated test facility of JUDITH-II in Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. The objective of the HHF testing is the demonstration of achieving the requested performance under thermal fatigue. The test protocol and facility qualification are presented and the behaviour of the fingers under the 7500 cycles at 2 MW/m 2 is described in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ITER in-vessel components have experienced a major redesign since the ITER Design Review of 2007. A set of in-vessel vertical stabilization (VS) coils and a set of in-vessel Edge Localized Mode (ELM) control coils have been implemented. The blanket system has been redesigned to include first wall (FW) shaping, to upgrade the FW heat removal capability and to allow for an “in situ” replacement. The blanket manifold system has been redesigned to improve leak detection and localisation. The introduction of a new set of in-vessel coils and the design evolution of the blanket system while the ITER project was entering the procurement phase have proven to be a major engineering challenge. This paper describes the status of the redesign of the in-vessel components and the associated integration issues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Detailed design development plan for the ITER tungsten divertor. [•] Latest status of the ITER tungsten divertor design. [•] Brief overview of qualification program for the ITER tungsten divertor and status of R&D activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Budget restrictions have forced the ITER Organization to reconsider the baseline divertor strategy, in which operations would begin with carbon (C) in the high heat flux regions, changing out to a full-tungsten (W) variant before the first nuclear campaigns. Substantial cost reductions can be achieved if one of these two divertors is eliminated. The new strategy implies not only that ITER would start-up on a full-W divertor, but that this component should survive until well into the nuclear phase. This paper considers the risks engendered by such an approach with regard to known W plasma-material interaction issues and briefly presents the current status of a possible full-W divertor design. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]