Thermo-hydraulic analysis of PbLi ancillary system of WCLL TBM undergoing in-box LOCA

The European liquid Test Blanket Module (TBM) concept named Water Cooled Lithium Lead makes use of the liquid metal alloy PbLi as tritium breeder/neutron multiplier and water as coolant. A dedicated PbLi ancillary system feeds the detritiated liquid metal alloy to the TBM and returns the PbLi enriched with tritium. The object of this study is developing a numerical model able to simulate the thermo-hydraulic behavior of the PbLi ancillary system under both normal operation and accidental scenario, with the aim to investigate the propagation of pressure waves generated by an in-box LOCA. The accident consists of a tube rupture of the coolant circuit inside the TBM, leading to the interaction between PbLi and water. As a consequence, a pressure increase occurs inside the breeder zone. The accident might affect the ancillary systems due to the propagation of the pressure waves generated inside the TBM. The PbLi loop is modelled by means of the thermo-hydraulics system code RELAP5/Mod3.3 and an instantaneous pressure peak is applied inside the control volume simulating the TBM soon after reaching the steady state conditions inside the whole loop. The propagation of the pressure wave inside the circuit and the hydraulic behavior of the individual components is studied. The present paper represents a first step towards the investigation of the PbLi system and its safety features with the aim to support the R&D activities carried out in the framework of the ITER project.