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Superconducting magnets used in tokamaks undergo periodic heat load caused by cycling plasma operations inducing AC losses, neutrons fluxes and eddy currents in magnet structures. In the cryogenic system of JT60-SA tokamak, the Auxiliary Cold Box (ACB) distributes helium from the refrigerator to the cryogenic users and in particular to the superconducting magnets. ACB comprises a saturated helium bath with immersed heat exchangers, extracting heat from independent cooling loops. The supercritical helium flow in each cooling loop is driven by a cold circulator. In order to safely operate the refrigerator during plasma pulses, the interface between the ACB and the refrigerator shall be as stable as possible, with well-balanced bath inlet and outlet mass flows during cycling operation. The solution presented in this paper relies on a combination of regulations to smooth pulsed heat loads and to keep a constant refrigeration power during all the cycle. Two smoothing strategies are presented, both regulating the outlet mass flow of the bath: the first one using the bath as a thermal buffer and the second one storing energy in the loop by varying the cold circulator speed. The bath outlet mass flow is also controlled by an immersed resistive heater which enables a constant evaporation rate in the bath when power coming from the loops is decreasing. The refrigeration power is controlled so that the compensating power remains within an acceptable margin. Experimental validation is achieved using the HELIOS facility. This facility running at CEA Grenoble since 2010 is a scaled down model of the ACB bath and Central Solenoid magnet cooling loop of the JT60-SA tokamak. Test results show performances and robustness of the regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CEA is involved in large helium refrigeration applied to the future experimental fusion reactors (e.g. ITER or JT-60SA). Pulsed operation of such machines results in heat load variations which the refrigerators have to cope with. One solution to smooth pulsed loads is to use a large thermal buffer, and in the case of JT-60SA cryogenic system, a saturated thermal bath is one of the investigated solutions. A 1D thermo hydraulic model describing the cooling loop associated with TF (Toroidal Field) coils and TF casing has been developed using Vincenta code to calculate the heat load arriving to the buffer (saturated bath). However, the liquid helium buffer itself and its coupling with the primary loop was not modelized. This paper shows results obtained using the existing functionalities in Vincenta code to model a saturated bath. For very large bath volumes, bath temperature remains almost steady and the power removed is equal to those previously calculated. On the other side, for smaller buffer volumes (e.g. JT-60SA scheme), it has been found that the increase of temperature fluctuations does not vary proportionally with the decrease of the buffer volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results on helium co-current two-phase flow experiments at high vapor velocity obtained with the use of the new CEA/SBT 400 W/1.8 K refrigerator. For vapor velocities larger than typically 4 m/s, a mist of droplets develops from the bulk liquid interface accompanied by an increase in heat transfer at the wall. Experiments were conducted in a 10 m long, 40 mm I.D. straight pipe, both in helium II and in helium I to compare these two situations. The respective roles of vapor density, vapor velocity and liquid level on atomization were systematically investigated. Light scattering experiments were performed to measure sizes, velocities and interfacial areas of droplets in a complete cross section. In-house-made heat transfer sensors located in the mist allowed us to deduce an upper value of the extra cooling power of the dispersed phase. The practical interest of atomized flow for cooling large cryogenic facilities is discussed by considering the balance between increase in heat transfer and pressure drops it induces. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new test facility with a cooling capacity respectively of 400W at 1.8K or 800W at 4.5K, is now under nominal operation in SBT (Low Temperature Department) at CEA Grenoble. It has been recently used for thermohydraulic studies of two phase superfluid helium in autumn 2004. In the near future, this test bench will allow: - to test industrial components at 1.8K (magnets, cavities of accelerators) - to continue the present studies on thermohydraulics of two phase superfluid helium - to develop and simulate new cooling loops for ITER Cryogenics, and other applications such as high Reynolds number flows This new facility consists of a cold box connected to a warm compressor station (one subatmospheric oil ring pump in series with two screw compressors). The cold box, designed by AIR LIQUIDE, comprises two centrifugal cold compressors, a cold turbine, a wet piston expander, counter flow heat exchangers and two phase separators at 4.5K and 1.8K. The new facility uses a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) connected to a bus for the measurements. The design is modular and will allow the use of saturated fluid flow (two phase flow at 1.8K or 4.5K) or single phase fluid forced flow. Experimental results and cooling capacity in different operation modes are detailed. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the framework of LHC studies, we have performed several experiments on HeII co-current two-phase flow. It was found that for high vapor velocities, the heat exchange capacity between the HeII flow and the pipe wall is significantly better than what can be accounted for by the liquid to wall interface of a stratified two-phase flow pattern. This seems to indicate a transition from a pure stratified two-phase flow into either a partially annular two-phase flow or a stratified two-phase flow including liquid droplets in the vapor flow or a combination of the two. In the last two cases, it is assumed that liquid droplets which get dispersed on the tube wall increase the wetted surface. A new facility has been designed to analyze this flow behavior. High sensitivity capacitive liquid level sensors glued onto the inner wall of the pipe were used in order to detect a possible semi-annular flow pattern whereas light diffraction and scattering were used to detect liquid droplets. Finally, in addition to a circumferential heat exchange box, local heat exchange boxes located at different azimuth positions are added. Description of this new facility, calibration of the local heat exchange boxes and first results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the optical techniques we used to detect droplets in the Hell two phase flow of the Cryoloop experiment. These include quantitative light scattering, imaging, and laser phase sensitive anemometry and granulometry (PDPA). We demonstrate that droplets appear for vapor velocities larger than 5 m/s, and that they progressively invade the entire pipe cross section as the vapor velocity is increased. Estimates are given for the droplet size and density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the performances of a capacitive sensor designed to probe the wetting by a liquid film in a pipe-flow experiment. Two 0.2 µm thick inter-digitised gold electrodes deposited on a single thin kapton foil constitute a soft capacitor that can conveniently fit onto the pipe walls without disturbing the flow. Selectivity on the minimum thickness of the film to be observed is achieved by properly choosing the distance between the two electrodes, and we discuss the case of a 100 µm gap capacitor. Some results in the specific situation of a cryogenic two-phase helium flow experiment for which a typical resolution of 0.2% in wetted perimeter is obtained are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]