Optimization Study of the Coolant Routing in the ITER Divertor

The performance of the current design of the ITER divertor cooling system is examined. Various combinations of the plasma facing components in series and/or in parallel are studied and the most suitable cooling scheme is selected in terms of the pumping power, the overall pressure drop, the coolant temperature rise, and the coolant flow rate. The proposed scheme not only meets all the requirements for an acceptable hydraulic arrangement, but also requires over 25% less pumping power than the Joint Central Team (JCT) current design.