Fusion reactor

De fusie reactor in Caderache wordt gebouwd om aan te tonen tot kernfusie uit waterstof een schone en betrouwbare energie bron kan zijn. In een hoog temperatuur plasma worden de kernen van waterstof atomen samengesmolten tot Helium. Hierbij komt er veel energie vrij. Na een reactie wordt het plasma “vervuild” met Helium en met cryo-pompen kan dit gedeeltelijk worden afgepompt. Op deze pagina worden enkele shields getoond die onderdeel zijn cryo-pompen.

ITER

Fusion reactor

This firm has built components for a fusion reactor in France. DeMaCo in North Holland has decades of experience in cryogenic applications. Therefore DeMaCo was contracted to build cooling parts for the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project. After ignition of the fusion plasma, light components form. These have to be pumped out of the reactor, which is done by a crygenic pump. This pump functions at very low temperatures, and the light components will condensate on the cold surfaces of the pump. The pump closes after condensation and is heated to evaporate the components which are then exhausted.

Simulation of liquid Helium flow

Several components that have been simulated are depicted in the figures above. Liquid helium flows through these at very low temperatures. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were done for all these components to assess the pressure loss per component. The total pressure loss for the system could be calculated by adding up all components. Furthermore, the heating of the fluid per component was simulated. The pictures display the temperature of the helium over time. Here, a total energy loss could be calculated as well.