Experimental Studies of MHD Pressure Drop of PbLi Flow in Rectangular Pipes Under Uniform Magnetic Field

Liquid metal flow of blanket in fusion reactor would bear pressure drop caused by magnetic field. To investigate the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pressure drop characteristics, experiments of PbLi flow in an electrically conducting rectangular pipe subjected to a transverse magnetic field were performed on loop DRAGON-IV. A measurement approach for differential pressure in high temperature liquid PbLi was adopted, and detailed data on pressure drop in PbLi MHD flow under various magnetic fields were measured. Electric potential method in the experimental pipe was adopted to measure the flow rate. The obtained experiment results for the MHD pressure drop were in good agreement with theory calculation. Through theoretical analysis, it has been found that the temperature of experimental pipe has a remarkable impact on MHD pressure drop. The change of temperature from 430 to 650 A degrees C can lead to a decrease of MHD pressure drop by 10 %. Further experimental studies on the temperature effect on MHD pressure drop are needed.