Verification and Validation of COMSOL Magnetohydrodynamic Models for Liquid Metal Breeding Blankets Technologies
Name
energies-14-05413-v2.pdf
Size
3.47 MB
Format
Unknown
Checksum (MD5)
60b92f093391721f9441676d97bfb20a
Author(s)
Alberghi, Ciro
Candido, Luigi
Testoni, Raffaella
Utili, Marco
Zucchetti, Massimo
Date Issued
August 2021
Journal
Energies
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Citation
Energies 14 (17): 5413 (2021)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Liquid metal breeding blankets are extensively studied in nuclear fusion. In the main proposed systems, the Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) and the Dual Coolant Lithium Lead (DCLL), the liquid metal flows under an intense transverse magnetic field, for which a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effect is produced. The result is the alteration of all the flow features and the increase in the pressure drops. Although the latter issue can be evaluated with system models, 3D MHD codes are of extreme importance both in the design phase and for safety analyses. To test the reliability of COMSOL Multiphysics for the development of MHD models, a method for verification and validation of magnetohydrodynamic codes is followed. The benchmark problems solved regard steady state, fully developed flows in rectangular ducts, non-isothermal flows, flow in a spatially varying transverse magnetic field and two different unsteady turbulent problems, quasi-two-dimensional MHD turbulent flow and 3D turbulent MHD flow entering a magnetic obstacle. The computed results show good agreement with the reference solutions for all the addressed problems, suggesting that COMSOL can be used as software to study liquid metal MHD problems under the flow regimes typical of fusion power reactors.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3390/en14175413
