Conceptual and preliminary engineering design of experimental helium loop for China HCCB TBM components test

Chinese Helium Cooled Ceramic Breeder Test Blanket Module (CN HCCB TBM) had been confirmed to be one of the leader concepts, which will be tested in half of ITER equatorial port. It is responsible for each TBM does not jeopardize ITER operation. In order to ensure the future CN HCCB TBM safely and effectively operating in ITER, components and even full scale of TBM should be tested before delivery to ITER site. Therefore, a new high temperature and high pressure experimental helium loop will be constructed to validate the thermal-hydraulic and thermal-mechanical capability of those components. In this article, a rational conceptual design of the experimental helium loop was presented. At the same time, preliminary engineering design includes thermal-hydraulics assessment of equipments, thermal stress of pipes in the loop were performed. The assessment results show that technical issues of helium loop construction are expected to be solved successfully. Finally, possible test strategies have been presented to fulfill the TBM thermo-hydraulics campaigns. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.