Engineering study of gas flow in breeder pebble bed for fusion blanket

Seki, Yohji; Yoshikawa, Akira; Tanigawa, Hisashi; Hirose, Takanori; Ezato, Koichiro; Enoeda, Mikio; Sakamoto, Kensaku

Dai-17-Kai Doryoku, Enerugi Gijutsu Shimpojiumu Koen Rombunshu, p.265 - 266, 2012/06

In the case of a water cooled ceramic breeder in a blanket, pebbles of a ceramic tritium breeder are packed in a container constituted by a partition plate. Helium purge gas is applied as a transport fluid in a tritium recovery system. It is of importance to build database of a pressure drop as part of a design of the tritium recovery system. In this experimental study, the pressure drops of He gas through pebble bed were measured within the wide range of a flow rate up to 100 L/min. The results indicate that a laminar flow is dominant and the pressure drop was correctly predicted by the empirical equation within a part of flow rate. Reliability of prediction ability of pressure drop was established by this experiment within the flow rate which is less than 60 L/min. Moreover, this paper describes that slight difference between the experimental result and the empirical equation within a range of flow rate from 60 L/min to 100 L/min.