HELCZA—High heat flux test facility for testing ITER EU first wall components
Introduction
The plasma-facing components comprising the first wall (FW) and divertor targets will be the most heat-loaded components of ITER. Among other challenges, they must accommodate a high heat flux from the plasma. The ITER FW panels must extract heat loads of about 2 MW/m2 (normal heat flux design) and 4.7 MW/m2 (enhanced heat flux design). The panels will be qualified through high heat flux cyclic testing in a dedicated facility before their installation in ITER [1].
In Europe there exists several electron beam facilities for cyclic heat load testing. FE200 in France [2] for mock-up testing, JUDITH II in Germany [3] for semi-prototypes of FW panels testing, IDTF in Russia [4] for full scale divertor component testing are all electron-beam based test facilities. Furthermore, some other smaller facilities are or have been in operation [5], [6]. However, their characteristics do not allow full-scale FW testing, which is the primary goal of HELCZA.
The experimental complex HELCZA is dedicated to the series of acceptance tests of the FW panels, divertor inner vertical targets and ICRF antenna screens, which are part of the EU contribution to the ITER project. The FW panel prototypes will undergo full-power tests followed by the pre-series and finally the series panels tests. HELCZA has recently been completed and is now in its commissioning phase.
Section snippets
Test facility description
HELCZA is an electron-beam based test facility for cyclic high heat flux loading of plasma-facing components, thermohydraulic testing with preheated water and infrared thermography. The device is equipped with an electron beam gun with a maximum output power of 800 kW. At the maximum acceleration voltage of 55 kV the electron current exceeds 14 A. HELCZA is primarily intended for full-size testing of the ITER FW modules, divertor inner vertical targets and ICRF antenna screens with a surface area
Main objectives of HELCZA for ITER qualification tests
The objective of the tests is high heat flux cyclic loading of the plasma-facing full-scale FW components and their qualification for their later use in the ITER tokamak. The basic criterion for evaluation of the high heat flux testing is the absorbed heat flux by the coolant of the sample. The absorbed heat flux is measured by calorimetry across the inlet and outlet pipes of the sample connected to the high-pressure cooling branch of the test facility. The prescribed heat flux corresponds to
Conclusion and perspectives
The experimental complex HELCZA has reached the commissioning stage. The goal of the commissioning is to prove that all projected parameters and all requirements for the ITER EU FW panel testing, divertor inner vertical target testing and ICRF antenna screen testing are met. The very first results from the facility operation have already been obtained [10], the sample irradiated during first phase of commissioning is depicted in Fig. 3. The end of the commissioning is expected by 2017.
Acknowledgments
The opinions expressed herein are those of Centrum výzkumu Řež s.r.o. only and do not represent Fusion for Energy's official position.
This work has been supported by the SUSEN Project CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0108 realized in the framework of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
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