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From SPARC to ARC: CFS prepares for a first-of-a-kind fusion plant
Commonwealth Fusion Systems makes no small plans. The company wants to build a 400-MWe magnetic confinement fusion power plant called ARC near Richmond, Va., and begin operating it in the early 2030s. And the plans don’t end there. CFS wants to deploy “thousands” of fusion power plants capable of accelerating a global energy transition.
Hongdong Zhen, Songtao Yin, Lei Zhang, Ningning Wang, Bo Xu, Haijun Wang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 1 | January 2021 | Pages 54-61
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1739994
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper aims to revise the critical flow criterion and flashing inception of the analytical critical flow model and to further explore the effect of upstream conditions on critical mass fluxes. The flashing inception of the model is considered to be affected by the Reynolds number and the Jakob number. Model predictions show strong similarities with test results compared with other models, with average errors of less than 10.1% for simulated slits and 15.8% for natural cracks. Upstream parameters of the liquid, such as the stagnation pressure, subcooling, and aspect ratio, directly influence the rate of depressurization, the thermodynamic nonequilibrium constant, and the friction pressure drop, respectively, which determine the critical mass flux. This research provides the theoretical basis for accurate assessment of critical crack, providing safeguards for monitoring nuclear reactor leaks.