Breeding blanket: Difference between revisions
m add link to new article |
Maxymczech (talk | contribs) mNo edit summary |
||
| (25 intermediate revisions by 18 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Liner in fusion reactors for tritium fuel production, typically made of lithium sheets}} |
|||
{{more footnotes|date=June 2019}} |
|||
The tritium '''breeding blanket''' (also known as a '''fusion blanket''', '''lithium blanket''' or simply '''blanket'''), is a key part of many proposed [[fusion reactor]] designs. It serves several purposes; primarily it is to produce (or "breed") further [[tritium]] fuel for the [[nuclear fusion]] reaction, which owing to the scarcity of tritium would not be available in sufficient quantities, through the reaction of [[neutron]]s with [[lithium]] in the blanket.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thermal Discrete Element Analysis of EU Solid Breeder Blanket Subjected to Neutron Irradiation |url=https://hal.science/hal-02356062v1/file/1406.4199.pdf |website=HAL archives ouvertes |publisher=Fusion Science and Technology |access-date=24 March 2024}}</ref> The blanket may also act as a cooling mechanism, absorbing the energy from the neutrons produced by the reaction between [[deuterium]] and [[tritium]] ("[[deuterium–tritium fusion|D-T]]"), and further serves as shielding, preventing the high-energy neutrons from escaping to the area outside the reactor and protecting the more radiation-susceptible portions, such as ohmic<!-- Helion Energy is using regular copper magnets, water cooled --> or [[superconductor|superconducting]] magnets, from damage. |
|||
| ⚫ | Of these three duties, it is only the breeding portion that cannot be replaced by other means. For instance, a large quantity of water makes an excellent cooling system and neutron shield, as in the case of a conventional [[nuclear reactor]]. However, tritium is not a naturally occurring resource, and thus is difficult to obtain in sufficient quantity to run a reactor through other means, so if commercial fusion using the D-T cycle is to be achieved, successful breeding of the tritium in commercial quantities is a requirement. |
||
The '''breeding blanket''', also known as the '''lithium blanket''' or simply '''blanket''', is a key part of many proposed [[fusion reactor]] designs. It serves several purposes; one is to act as a cooling mechanism, absorbing the energy from the [[neutron]]s produced within the [[plasma (physics)|plasma]] by the [[nuclear fusion]] reaction between [[deuterium]] and [[tritium]] (D-T), another is to "breed" further tritium fuel, that would otherwise be difficult to obtain in sufficient quantities, through the reaction of neutrons with [[lithium]] in the blanket. The breeder blanket further serves as shielding, preventing the high-energy neutrons from escaping to the area outside the reactor and protecting the more radiation-susceptible portions, like the superconducting magnets, from damage. |
|||
[[ITER]] runs a major effort in blanket design and will test a number of potential solutions.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is ITER? |url=http://www.iter.org/proj/inafewlines |access-date=2021-09-14 |website=ITER |language=en}}</ref> Concepts for the breeder blanket include helium-cooled lithium lead (HCLL), helium-cooled pebble bed (HCPB), and water-cooled lithium lead (WCLL) methods.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Federici |first1=G. |last2=Boccaccini |first2=L. |last3=Cismondi |first3=F. |last4=Gasparotto |first4=M. |last5=Poitevin |first5=Y. |last6=Ricapito |first6=I. |title=An Overview of the EU breeding blanket design strategy as an integral part of the DEMO design effort |journal=[[Fusion Engineering and Design]] |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam, Netherlands |date=2019-04-01 |volume=141 |pages=30–42 |doi=10.1016/j.fusengdes.2019.01.141 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2019FusED.141...30F }}</ref> Six different tritium breeding systems, known as Test Blanket Modules (TBM) will be tested in ITER.<ref>{{cite web |last=Giancarli |first=Luciano |title=Committee Reviews Progress on Test Blanket Modules |url=https://www.iter.org/newsline/-/2572 |magazine=ITER Newsline |publisher=ITER |location=St. Paul-lez-Durance, France |date=2016-11-07 |access-date=2021-03-20}}</ref> |
|||
| ⚫ | Of these three duties, it is only the breeding portion that cannot be replaced by other means. For instance, a large quantity of water makes an excellent cooling system and neutron shield, as in the case of a conventional [[nuclear reactor]]. However, tritium is difficult to obtain in sufficient quantity to run a reactor through other means, so if commercial fusion using the D-T cycle is to be achieved, successful breeding of the tritium in commercial quantities is a requirement. |
||
Some breeding blanket designs are based on lithium containing ceramics, with a focus on [[lithium titanate]] and [[lithium orthosilicate]].<ref>[https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02307643/document Lithium breeder ceramics] Journal of the European Ceramic Society</ref> These materials, mostly in a pebble form, are used to produce and extract tritium and helium; must withstand high mechanical and thermal loads; and should not become excessively radioactive upon completion of their useful service life. |
|||
To date |
To date no large-scale breeding system has been attempted, and it is an open question whether such a system is possible to create. |
||
A [[fast breeder reactor]] uses a blanket of [[uranium]] or [[thorium]]. |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
{{Reflist}} |
|||
<references /> |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
{{sci-stub}} |
|||
==External links== |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
[[Category:Nuclear fusion]] |
[[Category:Nuclear fusion]] |
||
[[Category:Lithium]] |
|||
Latest revision as of 18:46, 23 December 2024
The tritium breeding blanket (also known as a fusion blanket, lithium blanket or simply blanket), is a key part of many proposed fusion reactor designs. It serves several purposes; primarily it is to produce (or "breed") further tritium fuel for the nuclear fusion reaction, which owing to the scarcity of tritium would not be available in sufficient quantities, through the reaction of neutrons with lithium in the blanket.[1] The blanket may also act as a cooling mechanism, absorbing the energy from the neutrons produced by the reaction between deuterium and tritium ("D-T"), and further serves as shielding, preventing the high-energy neutrons from escaping to the area outside the reactor and protecting the more radiation-susceptible portions, such as ohmic or superconducting magnets, from damage.
Of these three duties, it is only the breeding portion that cannot be replaced by other means. For instance, a large quantity of water makes an excellent cooling system and neutron shield, as in the case of a conventional nuclear reactor. However, tritium is not a naturally occurring resource, and thus is difficult to obtain in sufficient quantity to run a reactor through other means, so if commercial fusion using the D-T cycle is to be achieved, successful breeding of the tritium in commercial quantities is a requirement.
ITER runs a major effort in blanket design and will test a number of potential solutions.[2] Concepts for the breeder blanket include helium-cooled lithium lead (HCLL), helium-cooled pebble bed (HCPB), and water-cooled lithium lead (WCLL) methods.[3] Six different tritium breeding systems, known as Test Blanket Modules (TBM) will be tested in ITER.[4]
Some breeding blanket designs are based on lithium containing ceramics, with a focus on lithium titanate and lithium orthosilicate.[5] These materials, mostly in a pebble form, are used to produce and extract tritium and helium; must withstand high mechanical and thermal loads; and should not become excessively radioactive upon completion of their useful service life.
To date no large-scale breeding system has been attempted, and it is an open question whether such a system is possible to create.
A fast breeder reactor uses a blanket of uranium or thorium.
References
[edit]- ^ "Thermal Discrete Element Analysis of EU Solid Breeder Blanket Subjected to Neutron Irradiation" (PDF). HAL archives ouvertes. Fusion Science and Technology. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- ^ "What is ITER?". ITER. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
- ^ Federici, G.; Boccaccini, L.; Cismondi, F.; Gasparotto, M.; Poitevin, Y.; Ricapito, I. (2019-04-01). "An Overview of the EU breeding blanket design strategy as an integral part of the DEMO design effort". Fusion Engineering and Design. 141. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier: 30–42. Bibcode:2019FusED.141...30F. doi:10.1016/j.fusengdes.2019.01.141.
- ^ Giancarli, Luciano (2016-11-07). "Committee Reviews Progress on Test Blanket Modules". ITER Newsline. St. Paul-lez-Durance, France: ITER. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
- ^ Lithium breeder ceramics Journal of the European Ceramic Society
External links
[edit]- "Tritium Breeding". ITER. 19 June 2023.
- Giancarli, Luciano (5 June 2017). "Tritium breeding systems enter preliminary design phase". ITER.