https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-01631-5
Regular Article
A competitive study on different operational models for MHD flow balancing and thermal management inside a fusion blanket manifold
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
Received:
30
August
2020
Accepted:
1
June
2021
Published online:
6
June
2021
This study mainly wants to find some possible strategies to achieve more MHD flow balancing and better thermal energy management through a LM (liquid metal) manifold. MHD flow and heat transfer are examined for six different EMC (electromagnetic coupling) models. EMC models are defined between the LM and the manifold walls based on the direction of the magnetic field and the electrical conductivities of the walls. A system of nonlinear differential equations with eleven unknowns in accordance with the prescribed boundary conditions is solved by a developed computer code. A thorough grid study is done for different EMC models. Some comparisons are done to represent the best EMC model for the effective LM manifold operation in terms of the uniformity of velocity and temperature distributions, pressure drop, the magnitude of flow imbalance, and the percentage of thermal energy extracted from the outlets. Obtained results finally identify the best EMC model that wins the competition and gives the most MHD flow and thermal balancing at the manifold outlets. In this model, the magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to the vertical walls and the manifold walls are wholly electric conducting.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021
