A Liquid Metal Facility for the Analysis of MHD Effects in Fusion-Related Systems†
Fusion Science and Technology / Volume 8 / Number 1P2A / July 1985 / Pages 251-256
Blanket and First-Wall Engineering / Proceedings of the Sixth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (San Francisco, California, March 3-7, 1985) / dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST85-A40053
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A liquid metal facility using the eutectic composition of sodium and potassium (NaK) as the working fluid has been designed and constructed at The University of Texas at Austin. The facility is capable of experimentally modeling magnetohydrodynamic flow through many of the geometries envisioned for fusion related systems, particularly blanket designs. A study currently in progress involves the measurement of the magnetohydraulic pressure drop across a packed bed of electrically conducting spheres. Reynolds numbers based on volume flow rate and sphere diameter range from 5 to 300, and Hartmann numbers range from 0 to 200, resulting in an interaction parameter range up to 4000.
