Session: FSI-04-02 FSI Design for Industry and Renewable Energy Transport - 2

Paper Number: 105960

105960 - A Check Valve Rotor Concept to Form an Imploding Liquid Liner for the Magnetized Target Fusion Application 

Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) is an approach to fusion energy generation through the implosion of a liquid metal cavity to compress a deuterium-tritium plasma. We propose a method to drive a cavity collapse using fast-response check valves to provide a cost-effective and partially reversible process of collapse generation.  A sub-scale cylindrical rotating cavity experiment was designed and constructed to analyze the performance of the concept using pressurized air and a water liner.  A high-speed camera and image processing methods were used to identify the trajectory of the free surface of the water liner and identify the impact of rotational speed and gas pressure on the cavity collapse. A numerical model coupling a flow orifice network with a spring-mass model for the check valve and equation of motions derived from potential flow theory for the water liner has been developed to predict the trajectory of the free-surface. A methodology using two-dimensional axisymmetric computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with the commercial code Ansys Fluent is proposed to study the characteristics of the check valve design that might influence the trajectory of the liner and the gas recovery. Both numerical approaches show agreement with experiment within measurement uncertainty.  Finally, we discuss how our results will inform the design of larger-scale prototypes.

Presenting Author: Jean-Sebastien Dick General Fusion Inc.

Presenting Author Biography: Jean-Sebastien Dick did his PhD in fluid mechanics at Polytechnique Montreal on the simulation of aeroengine powertrain systems. After working 6 years for Pratt & Whitney Canada, he decided to jump in the fusion energy industry and joined General Fusion. Now, he works with Chief Scientist and Chief Technology officers on the next generation of plasma compression scheme for fusion energy generation.

Authors:

Jean-Sebastien Dick General Fusion Inc.
Scott Bernard General Fusion
Ivan Khalzov General Fusion