MHD simulations of liquid metal flow through a toroidally oriented manifold

In fusion liquid metal (LM) blankets, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects will dominate the pressure drop and velocity profiles of the liquid metal flow, including the manifold regions needed to distribute flow. However, there is very little experimental data available for manifolds with geometry and orientation to the magnetic field similar to typical dual-coolant lead–lithium (DCLL) blanket designs—and the data that does exist indicates strong non-uniformity of flow partitioning between parallel channels can occur. In order to begin to address these issues for the US DCLL blanket design, a series of 3D MHD simulations has been performed at relevant magnetic interaction parameters. The geometry considered has a single rectangular supply channel entering a rectangular expansion with toroidal field oriented along the expansion direction, finally feeding into 3 rectangular parallel channels stacked in the field direction. These simulations match the range of experimental conditions achievable in a concurrent experimental test campaign. Various conditions of flowrate and field strength are explored. The MHD effects generally act to make the flow distribution more uniform than without a field. However flow imbalances as great as 26% from uniform are seen under the conditions analyzed.