MHD pressure drops and thermal hydraulics analysis for ITER breeding blanket design

A parametric study of the MHD pressure drop and thermal hydraulics of the inboard blanket is carried out subject to pressure, temperature, and stress considerations. In the absence of flow perturbations, such as those due to mixing manifolds, the flow is practically fully developed in the main coolant channels; thus, slug flow profile is assumed for the three dimensional heat transfer analysis. Radial distribution of nuclear heating is obtained from the neutronics calculations. Pressure drops in the entrance and exit regions are computed using the ANL three dimensional MHD code for insulating circular duct. MHD pressure drop in the manifolds are conservatively estimated from three-dimensional calculations. Pressure drops for fully-developed flow in the poloidal channels are easily calculated. Results from this analysis show that the breeding blanket design meets both the MHD and thermal hydraulic requirements with comfortable margins for power excursion