Fusion Nuclear Science Facility blanket unit cell

[cticenhour]

Model Description

A unit cell of a Fusion Nuclear Science Facility outboard blanket module was recently presented at the UKAEA School on Open-Source Software for Fusion Engineering Simulation in August 2024. This model contained multiple layers of representative materials:

1. First wall armor (tungsten)
2. First wall (F82H steel)
3. Multiplier (Be12Ti)
4. Toroidal plate (holding a cooling channel, F82H steel)
5. Breeder (Li2ZrO3)
6. Toroidal plate (holding a second cooling channel, F82H steel)

Within this assembly, 3D heat conduction was used to describe heat transfer across all material layers, with a constant heat generation source applied to the armor boundary to simulate the heat deposition of a fusion plasma source. Each cooling channel was modeled by a 1D thermal hydraulics solve, which was coupled to the 3D heat conduction model using the MOOSE MultiApp system.

Project description

This model was funded under the United States Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences Early Career Award program as part of the project entitled "Toward a Technology-Inclusive Whole Device Model" led by PI Dr. Paul Humrickhouse at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

This model was created by Virginia Commonwealth University PhD student Trevor Franklin (@FranklinTrevor) under the direction of Prof. Lane Carasik (@lcarasik) and under the mentorship of myself and Pierre-Clément Simon (@simopier). It serves as the simplest version of a larger model simulating a full blanket region of the FNSF, using only those objects currently in MOOSE as of 01 August 2024.

Impact

This brings the first fusion blanket model to the VTB and serves as an example of multiphysics coupling (heat conduction, thermal hydraulics) relevant to a fusion blanket assembly and teachable to a general MOOSE audience.