Fusion Science and Technology

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Cryogenic Conduction Cooling Test of Removable

Panel Mock-Up for ITER Cryostat Thermal Shield

K. Nam, D. K. Kang, W. Chung, C. H. Noh, J. Yu, N. I. Her, C. Hamlyn-Harris, Y.

Utin & K. Ioki

To cite this article: K. Nam, D. K. Kang, W. Chung, C. H. Noh, J. Yu, N. I. Her, C. Hamlyn-Harris,
Y. Utin & K. Ioki (2013) Cryogenic Conduction Cooling Test of Removable Panel Mock-Up for ITER
Cryostat Thermal Shield, Fusion Science and Technology, 64:2, 131-135, DOI: 10.13182/FST13-
A18067

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A18067

Published online: 20 Mar 2017.

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 CRYOGENIC CONDUCTION COOLING TEST OF REMOVABLE PANEL MOCK-UP FOR ITER CRYOSTAT
THERMAL SHIELD
K. Nam,a D. K. Kang,a W. Chung,a C. H. Noh,a J. Yu,b N. I. Her,b C. Hamlyn-Harris,b Y. Utin,b and K. Iokib
a
ITER Korea, National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon 305-333, Republic of Korea, kwnam@nfri.re.kr
b
ITER Organization, CS 90 046, 13067 St Paul Lez Durance Cedex, France
This paper describes the fabrication of removable
panel for ITER cryostat thermal shield (CTS) and its
conduction cooling test at cryogenic temperature. Two
kinds of full-scale mock-ups of the removable panels have
been developed, depending on different thermal
conduction designs. Passive cooling characteristics of the
mock-ups are investigated with the measured data of
temperature jump at the joint and maximum temperature
at the panel. The passive cooling of panel with copper
insertion satisfies the design requirement of temperature
jump (< 3 K), even though the heat load condition in the
cooling test is more severe than the design condition of
CTS. It is clearly demonstrated that the copper strips
bonded on the panel attenuate the temperature gradient of
the panel. Different thermal behaviors at the joint are
also found for the two mock-ups.
I. INTRODUCTION
The ITER cryostat thermal shield (CTS) should
minimize radiation heat load transferred from the cryostat
to the superconducting magnet that operates at 4.5 K. The
CTS operating at 80 K are constructed with stainless steel
of thickness ranging between 10 and 30 mm. Silver
electroplating is to be applied to the thermal shield in
20 m
6m
15 m
5m
28 m
Fig. 1. Removable panel of ITER cryostat thermal shield
FUSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY VOL. 64 AUG. 2013
order to obtain low emissivity (< 0.05). The active
cooling is applied to most parts of the panels as first
priority. Figure 1 shows the CTS with its overall
dimensions. The design value of radiation heat flux from
the cryostat to the CTS is 24 W/m2.
Access to magnet components for maintenance is
necessary in ITER.1 As the CTS is located outside the PF
coil, a removable panel on the CTS makes access to the
magnet joint possible. There are also four removable
panels at lower CTS, which are to be opened during
tokamak assembly. Figure 1 shows typical removable
panels. Total number of the removable panel is 115 and
its individual area varies in 0.2 ~ 1.8 m2. No active
cooling is supposed and the passive cooling is introduced
locally for the removal panels. Cooling tube is not directly
attached on the removable panel, but attached on the
frame, which is connected to the panel by bolted joint.
Thermal contact resistance should be minimized at the
joint for effective passive cooling. To achieve acceptable
thermal contact conduction, an effective pre-compression
with metal-inserting such as copper gasket is required at
the joint. Design requirement for the thermal contact at
the joint is such that the temperature difference across the
joint should be lower than 3 K. The effective thermal
contact at the joint should be demonstrated by the mock-
up test.
This paper deals with the experimental study on the
passive cooling panel for the ITER CTS. Two kinds of
mock-ups are developed and their cooling tests are
performed at liquid nitrogen temperature level.
Temperature difference at the joint and the panel
temperatures are measured for different radiation heat
flux conditions. Passive cooling characteristics are
investigated with the measured temperatures concerning
different designs of two mock-ups.
II. MOCK-UP OF PASSIVE COOLING PANEL
II.A. Description
Two kinds of passive cooling panel mock-ups are
shown in Fig. 2. The mock-up consists of panel, frame
and cooling tube. The panel size is 1000 mm x 1000 mm
with 10 mm thickness. The cooling tube is attached on the
131
Nam et al. CRYOGENIC CONDUCTION COOLING TEST FOR ITER SHIELD

frame by intermittent welding with pitch 100 mm. The

tube diameter is 13.72 mm and its thickness is 2.24 mm.
The panel is assembled with the frame by stud bolts. The
overall size of the removable panel mock-up including the
frame is 1200 mm x 1200 mm. Two mock-ups are
distinguished as follows.
- Mock-up A: Copper gasket (2 mm thickness, 50 mm
width) is inserted between the panel and the frame at the
joint.
- Mock-up B: Copper plate with 2 mm thickness is
bonded on one side of the stainless steel panel by
explosive bonding. Then the bonded copper plate is
partially removed by machining to obtain a copper bridge
pattern as shown in Fig. 2. Three copper bridges across
the panel are remained after the machining to attenuate
temperature gradient at the panel.
Silver coating is applied to the panel and the frame,
respectively. Detailed process of the silver coating is
described in the previous paper.2 Typical photos of the
mock-up are shown in Fig. 3.

II.B. Measurement of Contact Pressure at the Joint

Fig. 4. Joint specimen for contact pressure
Contact pressure at the joint is directly measured by measurement
the pressure sensitive film (FUJIFILM PRESCALE
model LW). The target value for the contact pressure at
the joint is 10 MPa. Figure 4 shows the drawing of a
specimen for the contact pressure measurement. The
pressure sensitive film (Film thickness: 0.24 mm) is
inserted between the copper gasket and the frame. The
Fig. 5. Contact pressure distribution (torque = 600
kgf-cm, pressure = 10 MPa)
measurement range of the film is 2.5 MPa ~ 10 MPa. The
Frame (20t)
fastening torque of nut is measured by a torque wrench.
304L plate
(10t) Surface distortion of the specimen is minimized and
maximum deviation of surface level for the specimen is
Stud bolt (M16) measured as 0.06 mm. The torque increases sequentially
Copper gasket (2t)
from 100 kgf-cm to 1600 kgf-cm. After the stud bolt is
Cooling tube
Mock-up A fastened by the torque wrench, the specimen is
1000 disassembled and contact pressure distribution on the film
20

Bonded copper is examined based on the color density code supplied by

304L plate (10t) 80 the film manufacturer. Figure 5 shows the representative
20

with bonded
1000

copper (2t)
contact pressure distribution illustrated by the film. The
50
fastening torque for mock-up assembly is set to be 600
304L plate (10t)
kgf-cm for which the contact pressure reaches 10 MPa.
Bottom view of panel
Mock-up B
III. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS

Fig. 2. Two mock-ups for the removable panel III.A. Temperature Measurement

Temperature is measured by resistance temperature

detector (RTD, pt100). The RTDs are connected to the
multi-channel recorder (GRAPHTEC model GL820). The
calibration of RTD is conducted with the reference sensor
(Lakeshore model DT-670), which has ±22 mK accuracy.
The RTDs and the reference sensor are dipped into liquid
nitrogen (77.4 K) and liquid argon (87.3 K). As the RTD
has excellent linearity with respect to temperature, linear
Panel (mock-up B) Assembly
equation is used with two temperature points for
Fig. 3. Photos of mock-up calibration correlation.

132 FUSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY VOL. 64 AUG. 2013

 Nam et al.
Fig. 6. Mount design of temperature sensor
Fig. 7. Temperature sensor locations on the mock-up
Figure 6 shows the dimensions of RTD and its
mounting design. The RTD is attached on the panel and
the frame surfaces by mechanical fixation. Stainless steel
bracket is welded on the mock-up surface by spot welding.
G10 bolt penetrates the bracket and presses the sensor
directly. Quick-drying glue is injected into the gap
between the G10 bolt and the bracket in order to prevent
self-loosening. Silver paste is inserted between the sensor
and the surface for effective thermal contact. Aluminum
tape (not shown in the photo) covers the bracket opening
to minimize thermal radiation into the sensor. One point
of sensor signal wire is also fixed at the surface by the
similar mechanical pressing.
Figure 7 shows sensor locations on the mock-up.
Channel 1 and 2 are assigned to cooling tube surface to
FUSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY VOL. 64 AUG. 2013
CRYOGENIC CONDUCTION COOLING TEST FOR ITER SHIELD
Fig. 8. The mock-up assembled with the screen and the
top flange of a vacuum chamber
monitor coolant temperature. Channel 11 is the
temperature at the center of panel and channel 12 sensor
is located between the panel center and the panel edge.
For the measurement of temperature jump at the joint, two
pairs of sensors are attached on several positions along
the joint. Figure 7 also shows the cross section of the joint
indicating the sensor locations.
III.B. Test Set-up for Conduction Cooling
The mock-up is suspended underneath the top flange
of vacuum chamber with supports and side guides. The
mock-up is entirely enclosed by the stainless steel screen
structure (thickness = 1 mm) as Fig. 8. Flexible bend
heaters are attached on the outer surface of the vacuum
chamber with glass fiber insulation. The purpose of the
heater is to raise the screen temperature by radiation. Two
temperature sensors are attached on the inner surface of
screen. Input power for the heater is controlled according
to the set value of screen temperature. The mock-up is
cooled down by liquid nitrogen, which flows inside the
cooling tube attached on the frame. The cooling tube is
connected to a liquid nitrogen supplying chamber through
the top flange. The open-loop of liquid nitrogen
circulation is adopted for the cooling of the mock-up.
133
Nam et al. CRYOGENIC CONDUCTION COOLING TEST FOR ITER SHIELD

220

200
Tube inlet
Panel (Ch 3)
Panel (Ch 11)
Temperature (K) (K)

180
Panel (Ch 12)
Frame (Ch 13)
Temperature

160

140

120

100

80
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (hr)
Time (hr)
Fig. 9. Temperature history during cool-down of
mock-up A (no heating of screen)
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
IV.A. Mock-up A
The temperatures of panel, frame and tube inlet/outlet
are monitored and recorded until steady state is reached.
The steady state is determined when the panel center
temperature is maintained as constant (< 0.1 K variation)
during 2 hours. Figure 9 shows a typical temperature
history during cool-down of mock-up A. Coolant
temperature is maintained near liquid nitrogen
temperature. Panel center temperature (Ch 11) reaches
100.3 K. Table I-(a) summarizes the measurement of
temperature difference at the joint for no heating
condition. The temperature difference varies from 0.4 K
to 2 K and its average value is 1.1 K.
Radiation heat load is increased by heating the screen
using the heaters around the vacuum chamber to
investigate the effect of heat flux on conduction cooling.
The heat flux to the mock-up is measured indirectly from
the measured temperature of panel. Square panel is
analyzed with inputs such as edge temperature (average
value from the experiment) and heat flux into the panel.
The heat flux is obtained by matching the panel center
14 16 18 20 22 24
Edge temperature (K) 84.1 98.8 110.1
Center temperature (K) 100.3 127.7 172.8
Heat flux (W/m2) 11.4 22.2 52.9
Fig. 10. Estimation of heat flux into the mock-up by
the analysis with temperature measurement result
temperatures between the analysis and the measurement.
Figure 10 shows the heat flux value obtained from the
analysis and temperature measurement. Temperature
differences at the joint for the increased heat flux are
summarized in Table I-(b), (c). The average temperature
difference is below 3 K when the heat flux increases up to
22.2 W/m2. Two sides of the mock-up face the warm
surface, while one side of the ITER CTS is exposed to the
cryostat. Therefore, for the heat flux 22.2 W/m2 in the test,
about two times larger heat load is transferred to the
mock-up compared with the design load of CTS
removable panel. The temperature difference is still below
3 K under larger heat load condition than ITER CTS.
IV.B. Mock-up B
Table II-(a) summarizes the temperature
measurement result of the mock-up B under no heating of
vacuum chamber. The screen temperature is measured as
258 K. Total 7 points at the joint are measured for the
mock-up B. By comparing with the mock-up A result,
temperature gradient at the panel decreases approximately
from 16 K to 10 K due to the bonded copper plate on the

TABLE I. Temperature Difference at the Joint for Mock-up A (Unit in K)

Panel (Ch3~10) 84.6 83.7 84.7 83.5 84.5 83.6 84.1 84.6 Ch11 = 100.3
Frame (Ch13~20) 84.0 83.2 84.3 82.5 82.6 82.6 82.5 82.6 Ch12 = 97.3
ǻT 0.6 0.5 0.4 1.0 1.9 1.0 1.6 2.0 Averaged ǻT = 1.1
(a) Heat flux = 11.4 W/m2 (No heating of screen)
Panel (Ch3~10) 104.6 100.8 99.9 96.0 97.4 95.7 97.1 99.4 Ch11 = 127.7
Frame (Ch13~20) 103.1 98.4 97.8 94.2 94.2 94.5 94.6 96.0 Ch12 = 121.1
ǻT 1.5 2.4 2.1 1.8 3.2 1.2 2.5 3.4 Averaged ǻT = 2.3
(b) Heat flux = 22.2 W/m2
Panel (Ch3~10) 120.0 113.4 113.1 105.3 107.8 103.2 106.6 111.7 Ch11 = 172.8
Frame (Ch13~20) 116.4 107.4 108.2 101.6 101.7 101.0 101.9 105.0 Ch12 = 157.6
ǻT 3.6 6.0 4.9 3.7 6.1 2.2 4.7 6.7 Averaged ǻT = 4.7
(c) Heat flux = 52.9 W/m2

134 FUSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY VOL. 64 AUG. 2013

 Nam et al. CRYOGENIC CONDUCTION COOLING TEST FOR ITER SHIELD

TABLE II. Temperature Difference at the Joint for Mock-up B (Unit in K)

Panel (Ch3,4,5,6,7,9,10) 87.5 86.5 89.4 89.1 86.8 89.8 89.7 Screen temperature = 258.0
Frame (Ch13,14,15,16,17,19,20) 86.1 85.9 86.9 87.0 85.7 86.2 87.1 Ch11 = 98.6, Ch12 = 95.2
ǻT 1.4 0.6 2.5 2.1 1.1 3.6 2.6 Averaged ǻT = 2.0
(a) Heat flux = 11.7 W/m2 (No heating of screen)
Panel (Ch3,4,5,6,7,9,10) 92.9 91.6 95.5 95.4 91.9 96.1 95.9 Screen temperature = 299.8
Frame (Ch13,14,15,16,17,19,20) 90.7 90.3 92.1 92.3 90.3 91.0 92.3 Ch11 = 108.8, Ch12 = 103.7
ǻT 2.2 1.3 3.4 3.1 1.6 5.1 3.6 Averaged ǻT = 2.9
(b) Heat flux = 21.1 W/m2
Panel (Ch3,4,5,6,7,9,10) 94.9 93.8 97.6 97.8 94.5 98.2 97.9 Screen temperature = 329.4
Frame (Ch13,14,15,16,17,19,20) 92.8 92.2 94.0 94.6 92.5 92.6 93.9 Ch11 = 112.5, Ch12 = 106.1
ǻT 2.1 1.6 3.6 3.2 2.0 5.6 4.0 Averaged ǻT = 3.2
(c) Heat flux = 30.9 W/m2

(3,13) (4,14) conduction cooling experiments were performed. Table

III summarizes the temperature differences at the joint.
The measured temperature differences at the joint for two
(5,15)
mock-ups satisfy the design requirement (< 3 K), even
(10,20) 12 though the experimental heat load is more severe than the
design load to CTS. It is also found that the joint with
11 extended copper bridges shows larger temperature
(6,16) difference compared with the joint without the copper
(9,19) bridges. Simpler manufacturing of the removable panel
without the bonded copper is also favorable.

(7,17)
TABLE III. Temperature Difference at the Joint for
Different Heat Loads
Fig. 11. Measurement points at the joint of mock-up B
Heat load ǻT at the joint
panel. Figure 11 shows measurement points at the joint 0.95൮Q* 1.1 K
Mock-up A
for the mock-up B. It is revealed that top and bottom 1.85൮Q* 2.3 K
edges show smaller temperature difference (0.6 ~ 1.4 K), 0.98൮Q* 2.0 K
while side edges show larger values (2.1 ~ 3.6 K). The Mock-up B
1.76൮Q* 2.9 K
main distinction is that the copper plates are extended *Q is the design heat load corresponding to the heat
from the side edges to the center. Radiation heat into the flux (24 W/m2) of ITER CTS.
panel mostly flows through the extended copper plate due
to its large thermal conductance. Therefore, left and right ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
sides of the joint shows larger temperature difference due
to the larger heat flow through the bonded copper plates. This work is supported by the Ministry of Education,
Table II-(b), (c) show the results for the heating of Science and Technology of Republic of Korea under an
screen around the mock-up. The heat flux to the mock-up ITER Project Contract.
is estimated using the modified Stefan-Boltzmann
radiation equation3 with the measured screen temperature. REFERENCES
The emissivity of the mock-up and the screen are set as
0.05 and 0.3 respectively in the equation. When the screen 1. V. BYKOV et al, ³The ITER thermal shields for the
temperature is maintained near room temperature by magnet system: Design evolution and analysis,´
heating, the average temperature difference is still below Fusion Engineering and Design, 75-79, 155 (2005).
the design requirement (< 3 K). In this case, the heat load 2. C. H. NOH, K. NAM et al, ³Manufacture and Test of
is about 1.8 times bigger than the design load for the Mock-up for ITER Thermal Shield,´ Fusion
ITER CTS because two sides of the mock-up are exposed Engineering and Design, 85, 1880 (2010).
to the warm surface. 3. R. F. BARRON, Cryogenic Systems, pp. 386±387, 2nd
Ed., Oxford University Press, New York (1985).
V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Experimental study has been carried out for the

passive cooling of the removable panel for the ITER CTS.
Two kinds of removable panels were fabricated and their

FUSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY VOL. 64 AUG. 2013 135