Thermal-hydraulic analysis of the liquid mercury target for the national spallation neutron source

The National Spallation Neutron Source (NSNS) is a high-energy, accelerator-based spallation neutron source being designed by a multi-laboratory team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to achieve very high fluxes of neutrons for scientific experiments. The NSNS is proposed to have a 1 MW beam of high-energy ({approximately}1 GeV) protons upgradable to 5 MW and operating at 60 Hz with a pulse duration of 0.5 {mu}s. Peak steady-state power density in the target is about 640 MW/m{sup 3} for 1 MW, whereas the pulse instantaneous peak power density is as high as 22,000 GW/m{sup 3}. The local peak temperature rise for a single pulse over it`s time-averaged value is only 6{degrees}C, but the rate of this temperature rise during the pulse is extremely fast ({approximately}12 million {degrees}C/s). In addition to the resulting thermal shock and materials compatibility concerns, key feasibility issues for the target are related to its thermal-hydraulic performance. These include proper flow distribution, flow reversals and stagnation zones, possible {open_quotes}hot spots{close_quotes}, cooling of the beam {open_quotes}window{close_quotes}, and the challenge of mitigating the effects of thermal shock through possible injection of helium bubbles. An analytic approach was used on the PC spreadsheet EXCEL to evaluate target design options and to determine the global T/H parameters in the current concept. The general computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code CFX was used to simulate the detailed time-averaged two-dimensional thermal and flow distributions in the liquid mercury. In this paper, an overview of the project and the results of this preliminary work are presented. Heat transfer characteristics of liquid mercury under wetting and non-wetting conditions are discussed, and future directions of the program in T/H analysis and R&D are outlined