MHD (magnetohydrodynamic) thermal hydraulic analysis of three-dimensional liquid metal flows in fusion blanket ducts

Conference · Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5117658

Hua, T A; Picologlou, B F; Reed, C B; Walker, J S

Magnetohydrodynamic flows of liquid metals in thin conducting ducts of various geometries in the presence of strong nonuniform transverse magnetic fields are examined. The interaction parameter and Hartmann number are assumed to be large, whereas the magnetic Reynolds number is assumed to be small. Under these assumptions, viscous and inertial effects are confined in very thin boundary layers adjacent to the walls. At walls parallel to the magnetic field lines, as at the side walls of a rectangular duct, the boundary layers (side layers) carry a significant fraction of the volumetric flow rate in the form of high velocity jets. The presence of these jets strongly enhances heat transfer performance. In addition, heat transfer can be further improved by guiding the flow toward a heated wall by proper variation of wall thicknesses, duct cross sectional dimensions and/or shape. Flows in nonconducting circular ducts are also examined. Experimental results obtained from the ALEX experiments at the Argonne National Laboratory are used to validate the numerical predictions. 6 refs., 7 figs.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA); Illinois Univ., Urbana (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31-109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5117658
• Report Number(s): CONF-880417-10; CONF-880417-; ON: DE88009929
• Resource Relation: Conference: International symposium on fusion nuclear technology, Tokyo, Japan, 10 Apr 1988
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
LIQUID METALS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
BOUNDARY LAYERS
BREEDING BLANKETS
DUCTS
HEAT TRANSFER
MAGNETIC FIELDS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUID MECHANICS
FLUIDS
HYDRODYNAMICS
LAYERS
LIQUIDS
MECHANICS
METALS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
700201* - Fusion Power Plant Technology- Blanket Engineering