MULTI-SCALE THERMAL-HYDRAULIC ISSUES IN NUCLEAR FUSION SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNET SYSTEMS AND RELATED CRYOGENICS: A MODELER’S PERSPECTIVE

by Laura SAVOLDI (Politecnico di Torino), Roberto ZANINO (politecnico di torino)

Thursday 6 Nov 2014, 14:00 → 15:00 Europe/Zurich

30/7-010 (CERN)

ABSTRACT Thermal-hydraulic modelling, specifically numerical modelling, can be a very useful, sometimes even essential ancillary technology, in the design and analysis of superconducting magnet and cryogenic systems, in the interpretation of experimental results, in the planning of the operation of future machines. Superconducting magnet systems, e.g. in a tokamak fusion reactor, are intrinsically multi-scale, which constitutes a big challenge for the modeler: characteristic lengths go from the 10-3 m diameter of the strands to the several 10+2 m hydraulic length of the cable in conduit conductors used to wind the coils; characteristic times go from the 10-3 s stability scales to the several 10+6 s needed for the cool down of the largest magnets. Here an overview will be given of the tools developed, benchmarked and validated at Politecnico di Torino for the multi-scale analysis of thermal-hydraulic transients in superconducting magnet and cryogenic systems, with particular reference to ITER. The main aim of the talk is to stimulate a discussion on if and how this kind of know-how could be used for the benefit of the accelerator community, in particular CERN.

Slides CERN_06nov2014.pdf PoliTO_presentation_-_official_short_version_eng.pdf