Course Name:
Fusion Technology
Code:
240NU211
Crèdits ECTS:
4.5
Responsible unit:
Barcelona
240 – ETSEIB – Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria Industrial de
Department:
721 Physics and Nuclear Engineering
Beginning course:
2011-2012
Degree:
Nuclear Engineering Master (NEM)
European Master in Innovation in Nuclear Energy (EMINE)
Docent unit kind:
Elective
Course Responsible:
Javier Dies
Lectures:
-Alfredo Portone, Fusion for Energy, BCN
-Joaquin Sanchez, Ciemat
-Carlo Sborchia, Fusion for Energy , BCN
-Paul Wouters, Fusion for Energy, BCN
-Guillem Cortes, UPC.
-Alfredo de Blas, UPC.
Competences
Specific:
CONTRIBUTION TO SPECIFIC COMPETENCES: CE7 AND CE8
CE7: The student will be able to describe the main systems of the nuclear power
plant and to indentify the main functions of theses systems.
CE8: The student will know the different reactors designs and nuclear power plants,
including the future reactors, and will be able to evaluate the advantages and
disadvantages.
Generic:
Oral and written communication
Collaborative work
Self learning
Solid use of information resources
Sustainability
x
Enterprising and innovation
English
x
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Project management
Methodology
1. LECTURES AND CASE EXAMPLES.
Lectures are devoted to form the content of the subject, and some case
examples enable to retain and quantify the presented concepts.
These lecture sessions are supported by slides that graphically complement the
main ideas of the presentations. Previous nesses to that, the slides are distributed to
the students, making easy to follow the explanations.
The “Digital Campus” will be used throughout the course.
2. MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES.
Some technological aspects of the subject are complemented by multimedia
projections:
-
Magnetic confinement Fusion.
-
Tore
Supra.
(Superconducting
materials
used
in
this
experimental fusion device).
-
JET, Joint European Torus.
3. LAB WORK.
The following lab work has been prepared with the aim of motivating the
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student:
Use of a Nuclear Fusion Reactor Simulator type Tokamak for educational
purposes.
The students individually will simulate the following cases:
P1. Reproduction of actual experiences of fusion devices (JET, Tore Supra).
P2. ITER fusion reactor operation simulation.
P3. Plasma confinement improvement in a fusion reactor. Safety factor
profile inversion, magnetic shear.
(10 hours)
Methodology for the development of the lab work:
- Presentation of the software: content, models included, and data base
required.
- Running of the simulation program: definition of input parameters and
data, output data and storage.
- Analysis of the results.
- Guidance for the answers of the stated questions, and report
elaboration.
4. TECHNICAL VISIT.
Technical visit to the reactor Tore Supra and the ITER site in CEA, France:
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-Tore Supra is a thermonuclear fusion reactor type Tokamak, builded in 1989. The
toroidal magnetic fields are created by using superconducting coils. The reactor is
operated by the “Departament de Recherches sur la Fusion Contrôlée”, of the
“Commissariat d'Energie Atomique”, “Association EURATOM-CEA sur la fusion”,
Cadarache France.
http://www-cad.cea.fr
-Visit the ITER site in Cadarache. France. This is a thermonuclear reactor of 500
MW of nominal power, is a tokamak reactor. The coils are superconducting. The
budget is more than 10.000 M€. This is the second biggest international project in
the world. With the participation of: EEUU, Japón, Europa, China, Rusia, Corea, and
India.
http://www.iter.org
(7 hours + travel)
A special relevance is given to technological aspects related to the different heating
and cooling methods as the Neutral Beam Injection (NBI), Radio Frequency (RF)
heating systems, cryogenic systems, electrical systems for the generation of magnetic
fields, and plasma diagnostics.
Objectives
At the end of the course the student will be able to:
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a)
To know the basic physics necessary in order to understand the development
of nuclear fusion energy.
b)
To provide the state of art of the different technological ways towards the
achievement of a commercial fusion reactor.
c)
To understand the technological aspects required for the fusion energy
production
.
d)
To applied the elemental background and tools for performance evaluations
and calculations.
e)
To know the ITER project, the technological aspects, the objectives, and the
construction schedule (CE8).
Content
Dedication: 6 h
Face to face activity: 3 h
Self learning: 3 h
1. Introduction
Description:
1.1. Energy Resources.
1.2. Fusion Reactions.
1.3. Fuels.
1.4. Fusion products.
1.5. Thermonuclear fusion history.
Dedication: 6 h
Face to face activity: 3 h
Self learning: 3 h
2. Fusion reactions rate
Description:
2.1.
2.2.
2.3.
2.4.
2.5.
Plasma kinetics
Thermonuclear plasma evolution
Cross sections
Two Maxwellian distributions
A monoenergetic beam and a Maxwelliam distribution
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2.6.
2.7.
2.8.
Fusion reaction rate
Fusion reaction rate in plasmas with only one kind of particles .
Power density. Fluency.
Dedication: 2 h
Face to face activity: 1 h
Self learning: 1 h
3. Energy losses
Description:
3.1.
3.2.
3.3.
3.4.
Radiative Power losses, Bremsstrahlung
Cyclotron radiation power loss.
Recombination
Charge exchange
Dedication: 4 h
Face to face activity: 2 h
Self learning: 2 h
4. Thermonuclear plasma balance
Description:
4.1. Lawson’s criteria.
4.2. Conservation equations.
4.3. Thermal equilibrium and ignition temperature.
Dedication: 8 h
Face to face activity: 4 h
Self learning: 4 h
5. Plasma confinement systems
Description:
5.1 Introduction. Classification.
5.2. Open systems. Magnetic mirrors: confinement system; simple mirror,
lowest B mirror; baseball mirror, Ying-yang mirror.
5.3. Closed systems: Introduction, Stability, Magnetic fields (toroidal,
pooidal).
5.4. Tokamaks: JET. Tore-Supra, DIII-D. ITER.
5.5. Stellarators: TJ-II, LHD, Wendeistain 7-AS, Wendeistain 7-X.
Dedication: 4 h
Face to face activity: 2 h
Self learning: 2 h
6. Heating systems
Description:
6.1. Ohmic heating.
6.2. Neutral Beam Infection (NBI).
6.3. Adiabatic compression.
6.4. Radio Frequency (RF) heating.
6.5. Relativistic electrons heating.
Dedication: 2 h
Face to face activity: 1 h
Self learning: 1 h
7. Plasma impurity. Fuel breeding
Description:
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7.1. Impurities: effects, concentrations.
7.2. Helium accumulation.
7.3. Divertors.
7.4. Fuel breeding: gas blanking, NBI’s.
Dedication: 2 h
Face to face activity: 1 h
Self learning: 1 h
8. Energy extractor systems
Description:
8.1. Fusion reactor’s thermohydraulics.
8.2. Blanket design.
8.3. Energy Direct Conversion.
Dedication: 4 h
Face to face activity: 2 h
Self learning: 2 h
9. Diagnostic systems
Description:
9.1. Measure of density.
9.2. Measure of temperature.
9.3. Measures of fusion products.
Dedication: 2 h
Face to face activity: 1 h
Self learning: 1 h
10. Neutronics. Tritium production
Description:
10.1. Neutronic flux distribution.
10.2. Tritium production rate.
10.3. Neutron effects on reactor materials.
10.4. Shielding design.
Dedication: 2 h
Face to face activity: 1 h
Self learning: 1 h
11. Inertial fusion
Description:
11.1. Introduction.
11.2. Lawson’s criteria in ICS.
11.3. Inertial confinement steps.
11.4. Laser fusion: laser. Energy exchange with plasma.
11.5. Particles beams fusion: relativistic electrons, ions.
Dedication: 16 h
Face to face activity: 8 h
Self learning: 8 h
12. ITER project
Description:
12.1. Main characteristics.
12.2. Design.
12.3. Construction schedule and planning.
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12.4. Operation planning.
12.5. Safety and Environmental Impact.
Activities planning
Use of a Nuclear Fusion Reactor Simulator Dedication: 17 h
Laboratory : 5 h
type Tokamak for educational purposes.
Self learning: 12 h
Description:
P1. Reproduction of actual experiences of fusion devices (JET, Tore Supra).
P2. ITER fusion reactor operation simulation.
P3. Plasma confinement improvement in a fusion reactor. Safety factor profile
inversion, magnetic shear.
Objectives: The objectives 1, 3 and 5 are achieved. Contribution to competences CE 7 and
CE8.
Resources: Experimental manual: Use of a Nuclear Fusion Reactor Simulator type
Tokamak for educational purposes.
Link with the evaluation: A summative evaluation. Is the 50% of the practical qualification.
Technical visit to the reactor Tore Supra and Dedication:
Laboratory: 6 h
the ITER site in CEA, France:
Travels: 12 h
Description:
-Technical visit to the fusion reactor Tore Supra, tokamak, superconducter
-Technical visit to the ITER site.
Objectives: The objectives 1, 3 and 5 are achieved. Contribution to competences CE 7 and
CE8.
Link with the evaluation: A summative evaluation. Is the 25% of the practical qualification.
Evaluation system
The student performances are assessed both by the continuous learning exams (50%),
named NAC, and by the continuous work participation (50%), named NAEP.
On the one hand, the qualification of the theoretical knowledge is determined by two
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exams. The first one will be done after the lecture of about 4 topics (NACET), and the
second one will involve all the contents (NE). On the other hand, the qualification of
the continuous work participation will be determined by the lab work reports (MP),
the presence to the different lab works (AP), the participation to the technical visit (V),
the attendance to the invited conferences (IC).
Finally, the final qualification (NF) will be the maximum of the following qualifications:
NF = Maximum (NF1 , NF2 )
NF1 = NE
NF2 = r * NE + (1- r) * NAC
NAC = q * NAEP + (1- q) * NACET
NAEP=1/4. MP + 1/4. AP + 1/4 .V + 1/4 IC
r = 0,5
q = 0,5
NF
=Final qualification
NE
=Second exam result
NAC
=Qualification of the continuous learning exams
NAEP = Qualification of the continuous work participation
NACET = First exam result
References
Basic:
1. Raeder, J. (1986): Controlled nuclear Fusion, fundamentals of its utilization for
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energy supply, Wiley & Sons, New York, 316 págs.
2. Wesson, J. (2004): “Tokamaks”, Oxford Science publications, Clarendon pressOxford, 680 pag.
3. Dolan, J.J. (1982): Fusion research. Perganon Press, (tres volúmens).
4. Dies, J.; Albajar, F.; Fontanet, J. (2012); "Simulator of nuclear fusion reactor
,tipus tokamak, for educational proposals ", 94 pag., Barcelona.
5. Dies, J.; (2012); "Slides of Nuclear Fusion, ITER” , Barcelona.
Complimentary:
1. Hutchinson, I.H., (2000): “Principles of plasma diagnostics”, Cambridge
University press, 364 pag.
2. Masahiro Wakatami (1998) ; “Stellarators and heliotron devices”, Oxford
University Press.
3. CEA (1987), La fusion thermonucléaire contrôlée par confinement magnétique.
Masson.
4. Kammash,T.(1975): Fusion Reactor Physics, Ann Arbor Science, Ann Arbor,
Michigan.
5. Jeffrey Freidberg (2007); “Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy”, Cambridge
University press, 671 pag.
Other sources
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http://www-sen.upc.es/fusion
http://www.iter.org
http://fusionforenergy.europa.eu
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