Results of Thermal Hydraulic Measurements on Two 15 kA ITER Style Cable in Conduit Conductors

Abstract

This paper describes the results of pressure drop and heat transfer measurements conducted on two CICC conductors similar to those proposed for the ITER project.

Both conductors consist of a conduit containing 6 petals of twisted subcables cabled around a central helium flow channel. In one conductor, a second tube separates the flow channel from the petals. This tube is absent in the second conductor. Pressure drop measurements were carried out at a mass flow rate between 0.4 & 4.3g/s. Heat transfer measurements using both single & multiple heat pulses of up to 2.5W were conducted at a flow of ≅ 1g/s. All experiments were conducted using supercritical helium (T≅5K, P≅6bar). The pressure drop results are compared with those of other CICC conductors. The heat transfer results are used to validate a numerical model developed by CE — Cadarache. In addition, the data can be used with the model to estimate the overall heat transfer coefficient from the subcables to the helium. The relative thermal hydraulic performance of the two conductors is also discussed.