International Journal of Energy Research, Vol.39, No.3, 370-376, 2015
Thermal hydraulic analysis of the HECLIC blanket breeder unit for CFETR
China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) is proposed by the China National Integration Design Group. A helium-cooled lithium ceramic (HECLIC) blanket for CFETR has been designed by Institute of Plasma Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) and University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). The HECLIC blanket includes the tungsten armor, first wall (FW), breeder units (BUs), caps, stiffening grids and back plates. The BU consists of the beryllium pebble beds, lithium ceramic pebble beds and cooling plates. The stiffening grid reinforces the blanket structure and also cools the BU together with cooling plates. Thermal hydraulic analysis has been performed to assess the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and temperature distribution. The results indicate that the velocity is fairly uniform in the cooling loops, and the HTC is high enough to remove the heat timely. The maximum temperatures are within the design temperature limits. Besides, optimization has been done to improve the layout of the cooling channels. In addition, thermal mechanical analysis has been carried out. The maximum stress can satisfy design limits, and it proves the feasibility of the design. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.