A heat pipe concept for cooling a liquid-pool blanket of a tandem mirror fusion reactor

Journal Article · Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1983 · Nucl. Technol./Fusion; (United States)

OSTI ID:6295204

Schwertz, N L; Hoffman, M A

The performance potential of a heat pipe designed specifically to operate in the high magnetic fields of a fusion reactor is investigated analytically. The heat pipe has a thin, flat cross section aligned parallel to the magnetic field so as to reduce the eddy currents and the resultant magnetohydrodynamic pressure drops in the liquid wick flow. The flat heat pipes are used to cool a pool of liquid lithium (or lithium-lead eutectic) in the blanket that surrounds the central-cell plasma of a tandem mirror fusion reactor. Calculations indicate that this new heat pipe design may be able to transport up to about6800 W/cm/sup 2/ of condenser cross-sectional area in a 2-T magnetic field. This is considerably higher than the 420 W/cm/sup 2/ capability of a conventional cylindrical heat pipe of similar dimensions employing a channel wick and operating in the same 2-T field.

• Research Organization: University of California, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Davis, California
• OSTI ID: 6295204
• Journal Information: Nucl. Technol./Fusion; (United States), Vol. 4:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
HEAT PIPES
HYDRAULICS
PERFORMANCE
TMR REACTORS
HEAT PIPE WICKS
LITHIUM COOLED REACTORS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
PRESSURE DROP
THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR COOLING SYSTEMS
COOLING SYSTEMS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
FLUID MECHANICS
HYDRODYNAMICS
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
MAGNETIC MIRROR TYPE REACTORS
MECHANICS
REACTORS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
700204* - Fusion Power Plant Technology- Cooling Systems