Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Three-dimensional thermal-hydraulics/neutronics coupling analysis on the full-scale module of helium-cooled tritium-breeding blanket

  • Qiang Lian (Key Laboratory of Low-Grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education) ;
  • Simiao Tang (Key Laboratory of Low-Grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education) ;
  • Longxiang Zhu (Key Laboratory of Low-Grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education) ;
  • Luteng Zhang (Key Laboratory of Low-Grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education) ;
  • Wan Sun (Key Laboratory of Low-Grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education) ;
  • Shanshan Bu (Key Laboratory of Low-Grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education) ;
  • Liangming Pan (Key Laboratory of Low-Grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education) ;
  • Wenxi Tian (School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Suizheng Qiu (School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • G.H. Su (School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Xinghua Wu (Center for Fusion Science, Southwestern Institute of Physics) ;
  • Xiaoyu Wang (Center for Fusion Science, Southwestern Institute of Physics)
  • Received : 2023.02.05
  • Accepted : 2023.08.02
  • Published : 2023.11.25
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Abstract

Blanket is of vital importance for engineering application of the fusion reactor. Nuclear heat deposition in materials is the main heat source in blanket structure. In this paper, the three-dimensional method for thermal-hydraulics/neutronics coupling analysis is developed and applied for the full-scale module of the helium-cooled ceramic breeder tritium breeding blanket (HCCB TBB) designed for China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). The explicit coupling scheme is used to support data transfer for coupling analysis based on cell-to-cell mapping method. The coupling algorithm is realized by the user-defined function compiled in Fluent. The three-dimensional model is established, and then the coupling analysis is performed using the paralleled Coupling Analysis of Thermal-hydraulics and Neutronics Interface Code (CATNIC). The results reveal the relatively small influence of the coupling analysis compared to the traditional method using the radial fitting function of internal heat source. However, the coupling analysis method is quite important considering the nonuniform distribution of the neutron wall loading (NWL) along the poloidal direction. Finally, the structure optimization of the blanket is carried out using the coupling method to satisfy the thermal requirement of all materials. The nonlinear effect between thermal-hydraulics and neutronics is found during the blanket structure optimization, and the tritium production performance is slightly reduced after optimization. Such an adverse effect should be thoroughly evaluated in the future work.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge financial supports for this work provided by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2022M720563), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52276052), and National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2022YFE03160002, 2019YFE031100).

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