Mechanical support concept of the DEMO breeding blanket

Bachmann, Christian; Gliss, C.; Härtl, T.; Hernández, Francisco A.; Maione, Ivan Alessio; Steinbacher, T.; Vízváry, Z.

doi:10.1016/j.fusengdes.2021.112840

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…More recently, a concept for the BB attachment has been developed taking advantage of the ferromagnetic force that acts on the ferromagnetic BB material EUROFER, caused by the radial decay of the toroidal magnetic field, which pulls each BB towards the IB with a large radial force [55]. This concept relies on a set of vertical, toroidal and radial supports (see [56,57]), and is claimed to result in a significant reduction of in-vessel design complexity and RH operations. Figure 26 depicts this concept, where it is illustrated with the 200 mm wide DSC (in pink).…”

Section: Blanket Attachment Concept (Blanket Support Structure)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and integration studies of a diagnostics slim cassette concept for DEMO

Belo¹,

Nietiadi²,

Luís³

et al. 2021

Nucl. Fusion

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The diagnostics slim cassette (DSC) is a concept currently proposed for DEMO to host the microwave reflectometry diagnostic in a dedicated poloidal section, for the feedback control of plasma position and shape, also providing the radial edge density profile at several poloidal angles. This DSC, which is expected to house up to 100 antennas and waveguides, is to be integrated with the breeding blanket (BB) segments. Moreover, it is being designed with remote handling compatibility in mind to facilitate a ‘fast’ exchange by remote maintenance (RM) when needed, fulfiling one of the aims of the work package diagnostic and control. In this approach the pre-assembled (banana-shaped) DSC modules are inserted/removed from the upper port (UP) of the vacuum vessel (VV), at least when the BB segments are replaced. Here the main constraints related to the integration of the DSC with the BB, the UP and the equatorial port are identified and discussed in detail, with a strong focus on the required RM operations inside the VV (in-vessel), providing solutions that can be adapted to present and future blanket and UP designs.

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Section: Blanket Attachment Concept (Blanket Support Structure)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and integration studies of a diagnostics slim cassette concept for DEMO

Belo¹,

Nietiadi²,

Luís³

et al. 2021

Nucl. Fusion

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“…In [23], the BB deformation was estimated. The BB segments were assumed to be vertically constrained to the VV on the bottom [25] and their thermal expansion was allowed, to some degree, on the top by the assembly gaps. According to the outcomes of [24], the pipe interfaces of the inboard segments (location "BB side" in Figure 6) were predicted to move upwards by 70 mm and those on the outboard segments by 110 mm (Table 3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

European DEMO Fusion Reactor: Design and Integration of the Breeding Blanket Feeding Pipes

Mozzillo

Vorpahl²,

Bachmann³

et al. 2023

Energies

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This article describes the design and configuration of the DEMO Breeding Blanket (BB) feeding pipes inside the upper port. As large BB segments require periodic replacement via the upper vertical ports, the space inside the upper port needs to be maximized. At the same time, the size of the upper port is constrained by the available space in between the toroidal field coils and the required space to integrate a thermal shield between the vacuum vessel (VV) port and the coils. The BB feeding pipes inside the vertical port need to be removed prior to BB maintenance, as they obstruct the removal kinematics. Since they are connected to the BB segments on the top and far from their vertical support on the bottom, the pipes need to be sufficiently flexible to allow for the thermal expansion of the BB segments and the pipes themselves. The optimization and verification of these BB pipes inside the upper port design are critical aspects in the development of DEMO. This article presents the chosen pipe configuration for both BB concepts considered for DEMO (helium- and water-cooled) and their structural verification for some of the most relevant thermal conditions. A 3D model of the pipes forest, both for the Helium-Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) and Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) concepts, has been developed and integrated inside the DEMO Upper Port (UP), Upper Port Ring Channel, and Upper Port Annex (UPA). A preliminary structural analysis of the pipeline was carried out to check the structural integrity of the pipes, their flexibility against the thermal load, their internal pressure, and the deflection induced by the thermal expansion of the BB segments. The results showed that the secondary stress on the hot leg of the HCPB pipeline was above the limit, suggesting future improvements in its shape to increase the flexibility. Moreover, the WCLL concept did not have a critical point in terms of the secondary stress on the pipeline, since the thicknesses and the diameters of these pipes were smaller than the HCPB ones.

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