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In transition: Commercializing fusion power
Commercial fusion power is closer than ever. There are now around 30 U.S. fusion companies, several of which claim to be on track to connect to the grid as early as the 2030s.
Tokamak and laser inertial confinement approaches benefit from decades of research at facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and ITER, with alternative concepts including stellarator, magnetic mirror, and Z-pinch confinement also making notable progress as private and government funding for fusion increases.
Gung-Huei Chou, Jyh-Chen Chen
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 127 | Number 2 | October 1997 | Pages 220-229
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE97-A28598
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An analytical study is conducted of condensation heat transfer characteristics under reflux-cooling modes with both constant temperature and constant heat flux (CHF) at the inner wall of a single vertical tube. The effects of interfacial shear stress and convection on the reflux condensation heat transfer are examined analytically. The results indicate that interfacial shear retards the condensate flow and thickens the liquid film layer, which in turn decreases the condensation heat transfer coefficient (HTC). The dimensionless film thickness and local HTC with zero convection varies with an increase in the interfacial shear and has a remarkable effect on the condensation process, especially with a larger condensation length. However, the film Reynolds number has the opposite effect. Additionally, the interfacial shear thickens the film and retards the liquid flow relatively more distinctly for the CHF case. Finally, compared with the experimental data from previous study, the observed trend of the condensation heat transfer can be reasonably described by the present model at moderate film Reynolds numbers.