Helium-cooled lithiuim compound suspension blanket concept for ITER

Conference · Mon Aug 01 04:00:00 UTC 1988

OSTI ID:6689102

Gohar, Y; Baker, C C; Attaya, H; Billone, M; Clemmer, R C; Finn, P A; Hassanein, A; Johnson, C E; Majumdar, S; Mattas, R F

This blanket concept uses a dilute suspension of fine solid breeder particles (Li/sub 2/O, LiAlO/sub 2/, or Li/sub 4/SiO/sub 4/) in a carrier gas (He) as the coolant and the tritium breeding stream. A small fraction of this stream is processed outside the reactor for tritium recovery. The blanket consists of a beryllium multiplier and carbon/steel reflector. A steel clad is used for all materials. A carbon reflector is employed to reduce the beryllium thickness used in the blanket for a specific tritium breeding ratio. The breeder particle size has to exceed few microns (greater than or equal to2 microns) to avoid sticking problems on the cold surfaces of the heat exchanger. The helium gas pressure is in the range of 2 to 3 MPa to carry the blanket and the heat exchanger loop. The solid breeder concentration in the helium stream is 1 to 5 volume percent. A high lithium-6 enrichment is used to produce a high tritium breeding ratio and to reduce the breeder concentration in the helium gas. At a lithium-6 enrichment of 90%, the local tritium breeding ratio is 2.03 based on a one-dimensional poloidal model. The total thickness of the helium stream is only 4 cm out of the 50 cm total blanket thickness. The blanket uses a 35 cm of beryllium for neutron multiplication. A simple multi-layer design is employed where the blanket sector has the helium coolant flowing in the poloidal direction. The blanket concept has several unique advantages which are very beneficial for fusion reactors including ITER. 10 refs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6689102
• Report Number(s): CONF-881031-37; ON: DE89003595
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700201* -- Fusion Power Plant Technology-- Blanket Engineering
ALKALI METALS
ALLOYS
BREEDING BLANKETS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CHROMIUM STEELS
CHROMIUM-NICKEL STEELS
COOLING SYSTEMS
CORROSION RESISTANT ALLOYS
DESIGN
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
FIRST WALL
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HEAT RESISTANT MATERIALS
HEAT RESISTING ALLOYS
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
LITHIUM
MATERIALS
METALS
MOLYBDENUM ALLOYS
NICKEL ALLOYS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
STAINLESS STEEL-316
STAINLESS STEELS
STEELS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR COOLING SYSTEMS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR WALLS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TOKAMAK TYPE REACTORS