The Design of Water Loop Facility for Supporting the WCLL Breeding Blanket Technology and Safety

Alessandra Vannoni, Pietro Arena, Bruno Gonfiotti, Marica Eboli, Pierdomenico Lorusso, Amelia Tincani, Nicolò Badodi, Antonio Cammi, Fabio Giannetti, Cristiano Ciurluini, Nicola Forgione, Francesco Galleni, Ilenia Catanzaro, Eugenio Vallone, Pietro Alessandro Di Maio, Pietro Agostini and Alessandro Del Nevo ()
Additional contact information
Alessandra Vannoni: Department of Astronautical, Electrical and Energy Engineering (DIAEE), Sapienza University of Rome, 00186 Rome, Italy
Pietro Arena: Department of Fusion and Nuclear Safety Technology, ENEA, 40032 Camugnano, Italy
Bruno Gonfiotti: Department of Fusion and Nuclear Safety Technology, ENEA, 40032 Camugnano, Italy
Marica Eboli: Department of Fusion and Nuclear Safety Technology, ENEA, 40032 Camugnano, Italy
Pierdomenico Lorusso: Department of Fusion and Nuclear Safety Technology, ENEA, 00044 Rome, Italy
Amelia Tincani: Department of Fusion and Nuclear Safety Technology, ENEA, 40032 Camugnano, Italy
Nicolò Badodi: Nuclear Engineering Division, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, 20156 Milan, Italy
Antonio Cammi: Nuclear Engineering Division, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, 20156 Milan, Italy
Fabio Giannetti: Department of Astronautical, Electrical and Energy Engineering (DIAEE), Sapienza University of Rome, 00186 Rome, Italy
Cristiano Ciurluini: Department of Astronautical, Electrical and Energy Engineering (DIAEE), Sapienza University of Rome, 00186 Rome, Italy
Nicola Forgione: Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering (DICI), University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Francesco Galleni: Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering (DICI), University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Ilenia Catanzaro: Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Eugenio Vallone: Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Pietro Alessandro Di Maio: Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Pietro Agostini: Department of Astronautical, Electrical and Energy Engineering (DIAEE), Sapienza University of Rome, 00186 Rome, Italy
Alessandro Del Nevo: Department of Fusion and Nuclear Safety Technology, ENEA, 40032 Camugnano, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-21

Abstract: The WCLL Breeding Blanket of DEMO and the Test Blanket Module (TBM) of ITER require accurate R&D activities, i.e., concept validation at a relevant scale and safety demonstrations. In view of this, the strategic objective of the Water Loop (WL) facility, belonging to the W-HYDRA experimental platform planned at C.R. Brasimone of ENEA, is twofold: to conduct R&D activities for the WCLL BB to validate design performances and to increase the technical maturity level for selection and validation phases, as well as to support the ITER WCLL Test Blanket System program. Basically, the Water Loop facility will have the capability to investigate the design features and performances of scaled-down or portions of breeding blanket components, as well as full-scale TBM mock-ups. It is a large-/medium-scale water coolant plant that will provide water coolant at high pressure and temperature. It is composed by single-phase primary (designed at 18.5 MPa and 350 °C) and secondary (designed at 2.5 MPa and 220 °C) systems thermally connected with a two-phase tertiary loop acting as an ultimate heat sink (designed at 6 bar and 80 °C). The primary loop has two main sources of power: an electrical heater up to about 1 MWe, installed in the cold side, downstream of the pump and upstream of the test section, and an electron beam gun acting as a heat flux generator. The WL has unique features and is designed as a multi-purpose facility capable of being coupled with the LIFUS5/Mod4 facility to study PbLi/water reaction at a large scale. This paper presents the status of the Water Loop facility, highlighting objectives, design features, and the analyses performed.

Keywords: fusion technology; water loop facility; design; WCLL; DEMO (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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