In order to address the problem of heat and particle removal in tokamak-type, magnetic confinement nuclear fusion reactors, a divertor that utilizes liquid metal is suggested to replace solid tungsten divertors due to concerns regarding their structural integrity at high energy fluxes. The operation of such a device gives rise to phenomena spanning multiple disciplines of physics such as fluid dynamics, electromagnetics, thermodynamics and plasma physics. Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is a Lagrangian, mesh-free numerical method that has been proven effective in a variety of disciplines. In this work, the hydrodynamic aspect of the liquid metal divertor is simulated using SPH, paving the way to implement additional physics in future work.
Harsh heat load conditions on plasma-facing components (PFCs) in steady-state and transient phenomena (e.g., disruptions and ELMs) in DEMO fusion reactors question the feasibility of current approaches based on solid targets made of tungsten. This issue calls for the development of innovative plasma-facing components. Liquid metal PFCs with strong convection enhance heat removal capability and resilience after the transient phenomena. However, transporting liquid metal across magnetic fields gives rise to MHD drag. MHD drag for the case of uniform B, estimated analytically, is acceptable. Grad-B MHD drags with straight ducts could seriously drag the LM flow across non-uniform B. Expanding the duct along B and shrinking the duct in a perpendicular direction could make electromotive force |vBh| approximately constant along the duct and significantly reduces the grad-B MHD drag. Here v denotes the flow velocity along the duct, B is the magnetic field strength, and h is the vertical duct size. Three-dimensional simulations for internal and free surface thermo-MHD phenomena have demonstrated that the proposed duct design reduces the total pressure drop along the duct.
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