NUMERICAL STUDY OF THERMAL MIXING IN T-JUNCTION FOR

FUSION REACTOR TOKAMAK APPLICATION

Sandeep Rimza, Paritosh Chaudhuri, Brijesh Kumar Yadav. Sayantan Mukherjee
Fusion Blanket Division (FBD), Blanket Cooling Section (BCS)
Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Bhat - 382428, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
E-mail: sandeep.rimza@ipr.res.in

Abstract
The development of an efficient Fusion Blanket Module (FBM) concept for a future fusion power plant is challenging because extraction of high heat flux from core plasma. To test various
blanket design concepts, the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) is building an Experimental Helium Cooling Loop (EHCL). Helium is employed as a coolant due to its better safety
characteristics. The helium flow field is complicated due to the thermal mixing of hot and cold streams in the T-junction, which is a crucial component of the ECHL. Temperature
variations that occur during the thermal mixing process might lead to pipe structural failure due to thermal fatigue. The objective is to investigate the effect of momentum ratio and
impact of the injection angle of on the turbulent thermal-hydraulic performance in the main flow. Initially, a CFD simulation of the numerical flow field is performed and validated against
experimental data. The findings demonstrate that the injection angle has a significant impact on the thermal mixing and reduces the temperature gradient in the main pipe flow.

1. Design Concept of Fusion Blanket Module 2. Process Flow Diagram of Experimental Helium Cooling Loop

Schematic Diagram of Fusion Reactor

Design of Lead Lithium Cooled Test Blanket (LLCTB )

3. Numerical Approach

Branch Pipe

Main Pipe

Back side view and Pb–Li flow arrangement in Fusion Blanket Module (FBM) Concept

Schematic Diagram of T-junction

3. Benchmark Experimental Validation 4. Turbulence Model & Momentum Ratio Sensitivity Analysis
(Momentum ratio)
(Momentum branch pipe )
(Momentum main pipe)

(a)   (b)  
Comparison of the present simulation result against experimental data (a) Normalized temperature profile Fig. 5 2D FE model for Steady-state thermal analysis
(b) Velocity profile with mesh size of 0.1 mm

5. Turbulence Model Sensitivity

  Analysis For T-Junction

T-junction at a
different
incident angle  
Distributions of streamline of different Distributions of temperature contour (lateral plane) plot at
turbulence models at Mr = 0.047. different momentum ratio.

Conclusions
The effects of critical thermal-hydraulic parameters and geometrical modification on the
thermal mixing performance of T-junction are analyzed as a function of Mr. The following are
the detailed major conclusions of the present study:

Velocity (U) contours at a
different incident angle (θ°)
Streamline distribution for
θ°=0, φ˚=10
• The downstream mixing pattern in the T-junction is found reliant on Mr number values and
can be: impacting jet flow; if Mr < 0. 56, deflecting jet flow; if 0.56 < Mr < 1.94 and wall jet
flow; if Mr > 1.94.
• The findings demonstrate that the injection angle has a significant impact on the thermal
mixing and reduces the mixing length in the main pipe at incident angle θ°=0, φ˚=10,
compared to 90° T-junction.
References
1. P. Chaudhuri, S. Ranjithkumar, D. Sharma, C. Danani, E. R. Kumar Thermal-hydraulics of LLCB TBM
under different ITER operational conditions, Fusion Engineering and Design, 109–111 (2016) 906–911.
2. B.K. Yadav, K.T. Sandeep, A. Gandhi, A. Saraswat, D. Sharma, P. Chaudhuri, Design updates for helium
cooling system of Indian LLCB blanket, Fusion Engineering and Design 167 (2021) 112342.