Thermal hydraulic characteristics study of prototype NET and CEA cable-in-conduit conductors (CICCs)

The thermal hydraulic characteristics of low temperature helium in a Cable-in-Conduit Conductor (CICC) significantly affects the overall design and performance of the associated large scale superconducting magnet system. It is essential to understand the transient and steady state behavior of the helium in the conductor. Throughout the development of CICCs, the reduction of flow impedance has been one of the key factors to improving the overall pressure drop. The newly developed CICC for the ITER project has a hybrid cooling scheme: a central channel that is surrounded by bundles, for which the thermal hydraulic characteristics are not well understood. This thesis describes an experimental and analytical investigation of thermal hydraulic characteristics of low temperature helium in conventional and hybrid CICCS. Pressure drop measurements for both NET and CEA conductors have been conducted, using low temperature helium and liquid nitrogen to obtain a range of Reynolds numbers. The results are correlated with classical friction factor and Reynolds number analysis. The flow impedance reduction of the CEA conductor is described by measures of a developed flow model. Thermally induced flow in the CEA conductor has been studied with an inductive heating method. The induced velocity in the central channel is measured by a Pitot tube with steady state Reynolds number up to {approximately}7000. The transient pressure wave propagation has been recorded with pressure transducers placed equally along the conductor. The supercritical helium temperature in the central channel has been measured with the thermometer probe. However, the reduction of the central channel area significantly affects the overall thermal hydraulic characteristics of the conductor. The results suggest the importance of the central channel. A transient heat transfer experiment studied the.transverse heat transfer mechanism in the CEA conductor. The temperatures in the central channel and bundle region were measured with different sized heat pulses. The results are discussed in terms of a heat transfer model which is based upon the communication of the helium in the central channel and bundle