Characterization of MHD pressure losses in a mock-up of the WCLL Test Blanket Module

Abstract

Liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows in a scaled mock-up of the water-cooled lead-lithium test blanket module (TBM) were investigated experimentally in the MEKKA laboratory at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The test section faithfully replicates the complex geometry of the current TBM design where liquid metal is distributed to breeder units (BUs) through long electrically coupled manifolds oriented along the poloidal direction, orthogonally to the magnetic field direction. During the experiments, pressure was recorded at various points of the mock-up for several liquid metal flow rates and magnetic fields. The overall pressure drop of the mock-up was analyzed, along with the diverse contributions to the total pressure loss from different components, based on characteristic flow parameters. A correlation for the total MHD pressure drop in the WCLL TBM was derived.