[Table of Contents]

Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 8, 2405086 (2013)

Regular Articles

Heat-Pulse Flowmeter for a Liquid Breeder Blanket
Masatoshi KONDO, Kyohei SHIBANO, Teruya TANAKA1) and Takeo MUROGA1)
Tokai University, Department of Nuclear Engineering, 4-1-1 Hiratukashi, Kanagawa 259-1292, Japan
1)
National Institute for Fusion Science, 322-6 Oroshi-cho, Toki 509-5292, Japan
(Received 6 December 2012 / Accepted 19 March 2013 / Published 15 August 2013)

Abstract

Liquid metals Li, Pb-17Li and Sn-20Li are candidate liquid breeders in fusion reactors. The development of a flowmeter that can be applied to high-temperature liquid metals is an important issue. A heat-pulse flowmeter is proposed in the present study. Its basic performance was investigated by means of a loop experiment with Pb-17Li and a numerical simulation. The temperature distribution in flowing Pb-17Li was obtained by local transient heating of the outer surface of a loop tube. The temperature distribution gradually changed and resembled the movement of a hot spot, which had a higher temperature than its surroundings. This hot spot moved along the flow and passed through the tips of the thermocouples. The change in temperature distribution with the movement of the hot spot was monitored by three thermocouples exposed to the Pb-17Li flow. The results of the loop experiments were numerically simulated by assuming a certain flow rate, and the temperature profile obtained in the loop experiment was in agreement with the simulation results. The time taken by the hot spot to pass through the tips of the thermocouples was measured and simulated, and the correlation between this time and the average flow velocity was evaluated. The results indicated the average flow velocity can be obtained using the heat-pulse flowmeter proposed in this study.

Keywords

liquid breeder blanket, flowmeter, natural convection loop, Pb-17Li

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.8.2405086

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This paper may be cited as follows:

Masatoshi KONDO, Kyohei SHIBANO, Teruya TANAKA and Takeo MUROGA, Plasma Fusion Res. 8, 2405086 (2013).