Thermohydraulic experimental design for the European Helium-Cooled-Pebble-Bed Test Blanket Module

Abstract The peculiarities of the coolant flow in Helium-Cooled-Pebble-Bed Test Blanket Module (TBM) are (i) very intensive heating of the first wall from the plasma side and (ii) very complicated geometry of flow domain consisting of large coolant collectors with numerous flow obstacles and long narrow channels meandering in the first wall, cap, stiffening and cooling plates. In relation to this, at the Institute for Reactor Safety in Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe two thermohydraulic aspects of TBM coolant system are investigated: heat removal from the first wall in the framework of HETRA experiment and mass flow distribution among different components of the TBM coolant system in GRICAMAN experiments. This paper presents the design of corresponding experimental facilities.