Conceptual design of the water cooled ceramic breeder blanket for CFETR based on pressurized water cooled reactor technology

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design Vol. 124; pp. 865 - 870
• Main Authors: Liu, S., Ma, X., Jiang, K., Cheng, X., Huang, K., Neilsion, H., Khodak, A., Titus, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.11.2017; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Breeder reactors; Ceramics; CFETR; Conceptual design; Cooling; Design standards; Engineering test reactors; Fusion; Fusion reactor; Plasma physics; Plasmas (physics); Pressure drop; Pressurized water; Reactor technology; Reactors; Stiffening; Superconductors; Tritium; WCCB blanket; CFETR; Fusion reactor; WCCB blanket
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2017.02.065

•The WCCB blanket based on PWR conditions is being researched for CFETR.•The radial building of each module is optimized for the both two phases of CFETR.•A compact coolant manifold enlarges the breeder zone.•Purge gas is directed in the toroidal direction to reduce its pressure drop. A candidate of blanket concept for phase-I (Pf=200MW, TBR≥1.1) and phase-II (Pf=1.2GW, TBR≥1.1) of the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) extends the well-established pressurized water reactor technology. This candidate, the water cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket, is being designed at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Accounting for the neutron wall loading on each module for both phases, module radial building is optimized for tritium breeding ratio under standard design rules. These include all material temperature limits allowing 500–875°C in the breeder zone to promote tritium release. Each module has several mixed breeder zones separated by cooling and stiffening plates. A compact coolant manifold enlarges the breeder zone. Purge gas is directed in the toroidal direction to reduce its pressure drop. 3-D neutronics calculations of the blanket sector indicate TBRs of 1.21 for phase-I and 1.12 for phase-II. The thermal hydraulic analyses of each module indicate full compliance with the allowable material temperatures.