Nucleation of helium in liquid lithium at 843 K and high pressures
Fusion energy stands out as a promising alternative for a future decarbonised energy system. In order to be sustainable, future fusion nuclear reactors will have to produce their own tritium. In the so-called breeding blanket of a reactor, the neutron bombardment of lithium will produce the desired...
| Autores: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2022 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/366089 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/366089 https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma15082866 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Nucleation Fusion reactors Helium Lithium Breeding blankets Helium–lithium mixtures Nucleació Reactors de fusió Heli Liti Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física |
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Nucleation of helium in liquid lithium at 843 K and high pressuresMartí Rabassa, Jordi|||0000-0002-3721-9634Mazzanti Castrillejo, Fernando Pablo|||0000-0001-6641-0609Astrakharchik, Grigori|||0000-0003-0394-8094Batet Miracle, Lluís|||0000-0003-1882-6313Portos-Amill, LauraPedreño, BorjaNucleationFusion reactorsHeliumLithiumNucleationBreeding blanketsFusion reactorsHelium–lithium mixturesNucleacióReactors de fusióHeliLitiÀrees temàtiques de la UPC::FísicaFusion energy stands out as a promising alternative for a future decarbonised energy system. In order to be sustainable, future fusion nuclear reactors will have to produce their own tritium. In the so-called breeding blanket of a reactor, the neutron bombardment of lithium will produce the desired tritium, but also helium, which can trigger nucleation mechanisms owing to the very low solubility of helium in liquid metals. An understanding of the underlying microscopic processes is important for improving the efficiency, sustainability and reliability of the fusion energy conversion process. The spontaneous creation of helium droplets or bubbles in the liquid metal used as breeding material in some designs may be a serious issue for the performance of the breeding blankets. This phenomenon has yet to be fully studied and understood. This work aims to provide some insight on the behaviour of lithium and helium mixtures at experimentally corresponding operating conditions (843 K and pressures between 108 and 1010 Pa). We report a microscopic study of the thermodynamic, structural and dynamical properties of lithium–helium mixtures, as a first step to the simulation of the environment in a nuclear fusion power plant. We introduce a new microscopic model devised to describe the formation of helium droplets in the thermodynamic range considered. Our model predicts the formation of helium droplets at pressures around 109 Pa, with radii between 1 and 2 Å. The diffusion coefficient of lithium (2 Å2/ps) is in excellent agreement with reference experimental data, whereas the diffusion coefficient of helium is in the range of 1 Å2/ps and tends to decrease as pressure increases.Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)20222022-04-1320222022-04-19journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501AMhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aainfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2117/366089https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma15082866reponame:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPCinstname:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spainhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/3660892026-05-27T15:37:01Z |
| dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Nucleation of helium in liquid lithium at 843 K and high pressures |
| title |
Nucleation of helium in liquid lithium at 843 K and high pressures |
| spellingShingle |
Nucleation of helium in liquid lithium at 843 K and high pressures Martí Rabassa, Jordi|||0000-0002-3721-9634 Nucleation Fusion reactors Helium Lithium Nucleation Breeding blankets Fusion reactors Helium–lithium mixtures Nucleació Reactors de fusió Heli Liti Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física |
| title_short |
Nucleation of helium in liquid lithium at 843 K and high pressures |
| title_full |
Nucleation of helium in liquid lithium at 843 K and high pressures |
| title_fullStr |
Nucleation of helium in liquid lithium at 843 K and high pressures |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Nucleation of helium in liquid lithium at 843 K and high pressures |
| title_sort |
Nucleation of helium in liquid lithium at 843 K and high pressures |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Martí Rabassa, Jordi|||0000-0002-3721-9634 Mazzanti Castrillejo, Fernando Pablo|||0000-0001-6641-0609 Astrakharchik, Grigori|||0000-0003-0394-8094 Batet Miracle, Lluís|||0000-0003-1882-6313 Portos-Amill, Laura Pedreño, Borja |
| author |
Martí Rabassa, Jordi|||0000-0002-3721-9634 |
| author_facet |
Martí Rabassa, Jordi|||0000-0002-3721-9634 Mazzanti Castrillejo, Fernando Pablo|||0000-0001-6641-0609 Astrakharchik, Grigori|||0000-0003-0394-8094 Batet Miracle, Lluís|||0000-0003-1882-6313 Portos-Amill, Laura Pedreño, Borja |
| author_role |
author |
| author2 |
Mazzanti Castrillejo, Fernando Pablo|||0000-0001-6641-0609 Astrakharchik, Grigori|||0000-0003-0394-8094 Batet Miracle, Lluís|||0000-0003-1882-6313 Portos-Amill, Laura Pedreño, Borja |
| author2_role |
author author author author author |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
Nucleation Fusion reactors Helium Lithium Nucleation Breeding blankets Fusion reactors Helium–lithium mixtures Nucleació Reactors de fusió Heli Liti Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física |
| topic |
Nucleation Fusion reactors Helium Lithium Nucleation Breeding blankets Fusion reactors Helium–lithium mixtures Nucleació Reactors de fusió Heli Liti Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física |
| description |
Fusion energy stands out as a promising alternative for a future decarbonised energy system. In order to be sustainable, future fusion nuclear reactors will have to produce their own tritium. In the so-called breeding blanket of a reactor, the neutron bombardment of lithium will produce the desired tritium, but also helium, which can trigger nucleation mechanisms owing to the very low solubility of helium in liquid metals. An understanding of the underlying microscopic processes is important for improving the efficiency, sustainability and reliability of the fusion energy conversion process. The spontaneous creation of helium droplets or bubbles in the liquid metal used as breeding material in some designs may be a serious issue for the performance of the breeding blankets. This phenomenon has yet to be fully studied and understood. This work aims to provide some insight on the behaviour of lithium and helium mixtures at experimentally corresponding operating conditions (843 K and pressures between 108 and 1010 Pa). We report a microscopic study of the thermodynamic, structural and dynamical properties of lithium–helium mixtures, as a first step to the simulation of the environment in a nuclear fusion power plant. We introduce a new microscopic model devised to describe the formation of helium droplets in the thermodynamic range considered. Our model predicts the formation of helium droplets at pressures around 109 Pa, with radii between 1 and 2 Å. The diffusion coefficient of lithium (2 Å2/ps) is in excellent agreement with reference experimental data, whereas the diffusion coefficient of helium is in the range of 1 Å2/ps and tends to decrease as pressure increases. |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2022 2022-04-13 2022 2022-04-19 |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv |
journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 AM http://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aa |
| dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| format |
article |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv |
https://hdl.handle.net/2117/366089 https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma15082866 |
| url |
https://hdl.handle.net/2117/366089 https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma15082866 |
| dc.language.none.fl_str_mv |
Inglés eng |
| language_invalid_str_mv |
Inglés |
| language |
eng |
| dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv |
open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/ |
| dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| rights_invalid_str_mv |
open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/ |
| eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
| dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
| dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) |
| publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) |
| dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC instname:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
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Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| reponame_str |
UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
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UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
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