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The target vessel, which enclosing liquid mercury, for the pulsed spallation neutron source at the J-PARC is severely damaged by cavitation caused by proton beam-induce pressure waves in mercury. To mitigate the cavitation damage, we adopted a double-walled structure with a narrow channel for the mercury at the beam window of the target vessel. The narrow channel disturbs the growth of cavitation bubbles due to the pressure gradient. In addition, gas microbubbles are injected into the mercury to suppress the pressure waves. After finishing service operation, the front end of the target vessel was cut out to inspect the effect of those cavitation damage mitigation technologies on the interior surface. The damage depth of the cutout specimens for the original design type and double-walled target vessels were quantitatively investigated by the replica method. The results showed that the double-walled target facing mercury with gas microbubbles operate 1812 MWh for an average power of 434 kW is equivalent to the damage of original design target operated 1048 MWh for average power of 181 kW. The erosion depth due to cavitation in the narrow channel is clearly smaller than on the wall facing bubbly mercury.

A mercury target vessel for the spallation neutron source at the J-PARC, which the mercury vessel was covered with the water shroud, was improved to realize the operation at the high beam power in two steps. In the first step to realize the stable operation at 500 kW, the basic structure of the initial design was followed and the connection method between the mercury vessel and the water shroud was changed to prevent the failure from the connection. The service operation at the beam power of 500 kW was realized in the about eight months. In the second step to realize the stable operation at 1 MW, the new structure which only rear ends of vessels were connected was investigated. The new structure which has the cooling of the mercury vessel to reduce thermal stress and the thick internal and external vessels of the water shroud to increase the stiffness for the internal pressure was adopted. The stresses in each vessel were lower than the allowable stress based on the elastic design criteria and it was confirmed that the operation with a beam power of 1 MW could be conducted.

The general control system (GCS) in the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF) at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) has a data storage (DS) server that stores operational data on the status of neutron and muon targets in the MLF. It has worked well to detect unusual situations around these target stations and to investigate the causes of accidents by checking data in the DS server for short-term operations. To pick up potential abnormalities in the slight state transitions from the target stations, however, it is necessary to introduce an abnormality sign determination system (ASDS). This ASDS requires an integral data storage (IDS) server that stores various operational data throughout the proton beams, target stations, and secondary beams for long-term operations because it judges potential abnormalities by using algorithms based on analysis of these data. This report describes a present status of the GCS, a conceptual design for the ASDS, and the installation of the IDS server.

The JSNS^2 (J-PARC Sterile Neutrino Search at J-PARC Spallation Neutron Source) experiment aims to search for oscillations involving a sterile neutrino in the eV^2 mass-splitting range. The experiment will search for the appearance of electron antineutrinos oscillated from muon antineutrinos. The electron antineutrinos are detected via the inverse beta decay process using a liquid scintillator detector. A 1MW beam of 3 GeV protons incident on a spallation neutron target produces an intense and pulsed neutrino source from pion, muon, and kaon decay at rest. The JSNS^2 detector is located 24 m away from the neutrino source and began operation from June 2020. The detector contains 17 tonnes of gadolinium (Gd) loaded liquid scintillator (LS) in an acrylic vessel, as a neutrino target. It is surrounded by 31 tonnes of unloaded LS in a stainless steel tank. Optical photons produced in LS are viewed by 120 R7081 Hamamatsu 10-inch Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs). In this paper, we describe the JSNS^2 detector design, construction, and operation., 41 pages, 29 figures

Neutron flux per pulse reached world record at neutron source in Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). In the J-PARC, mercury target system is used as a spallation neutron source. A t...

A mercury target vessel made of 316L SS is damaged due to the cavitation caused by the pressure waves in mercury. Cavitation damage reduces the structural integrity of the target front, called "beam window", being major factor to determine the lifetime of target vessel. Aiming at mitigating the cavitation damage by faster mercury flow in narrow channel, we employed a target vessel with a double-walled structure at the beam window along with a gas microbubbles injection. After operating the double-walled target vessel with a beam power of 300 to 500 kW, we cut out the beam window using an annular cutter to examine the damage inside it, and found that damages with maximum pit depth of approximately 25 $\mu$m distributed in a belt on the specimen facing narrow channel. Furthermore, numerical simulation result showed that the distribution of negative pressure period from beam injection to 1 ms was correlated with the damage distribution in the narrow channel. It was suggested that the cavitation induced by relatively short negative pressure period contributed to the damage formation., J-PARCの核破砕中性子源の水銀ターゲット容器(SUS316L製)は、ビーム窓と呼ばれる厚さ3mmの先端部分が、陽子線励起圧力波よるキャビテーションにより壊食損傷する。この損傷は容器の構造健全性を低下させ、容器の寿命の決定因子となっている。我々は、2014年からキャビテーション損傷及びそれを誘発する圧力波を低減するために、気泡注入に加えて狭隘流路を設置することで、ビーム窓の水銀流速を速める2重壁構造を採用し、300$\sim$500kWの強度で運転を行った。使用済みの容器を切断し、内壁を観察した結果、狭隘流路の内側で最大深さ約25$\mu$mの帯状の損傷が観測された。この原因を調べるために、負圧の持続時間に着目した圧力波伝ぱ解析を実施した結果、ビーム入射直後から1msまでに生じる負圧の持続する時間をマッピングした結果と、形成された損傷の分布がよく対応しており、比較的短時間の負圧によって生じるキャビテーションが損傷形成に寄与していることを示唆した。

An examination of the structural integrity and defects of a fabricated mercury target vessel for Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) spallation neutron source is presented. Ultrasonic testing (UT) and radiographic testing (RT) were employed as nondestructive inspection methods. The mercury target vessel is composed of SUS316L stainless steel and was designed with multi-walled structures consisting of double-guard vessels with thin walls of 3-mm thickness and assembled by tungsten inert gas welding. The mercury target vessel has complex characteristic, and the weld defect for the thin walls is often very difficult to detect using conventional UT techniques. To overcome this barrier, we employed two new UT techniques, namely 1) immersion ultrasonic with a 50-MHz ultrasonic probe and 2) phased arrays ultrasonic with the full matrix capture (FMC) and the total focusing method (TFM). The examination revealed the formation of small defects and cracks wherein the wall thickness was less than 6 mm. Therefore, new UT techniques are useful for evaluating the structural integrity and defects of the new fabricated mercury vessels. The design and the fabrication process of the mercury target vessel was also evaluated and improved in this study. The use of wire electric discharge machining (EDM) in the fabrication process is desirable to reduce the amount of welding and subsequent welding deformation. The roughness and chemical compositions of the processed surface layer by wire EDM were also examined. The oxide layer was perfectly removed by two-step chemical polishing, and the chemical composition of the layer was analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. In addition, the surface roughness was reduced after polishing to enhance fatigue life and minimize internal defects caused by welding.

The spallation neutron source at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) mercury target vessel is used for various materials science studies, work is underway to achieve stable operation at 1 MW. This is very important for enhancing the structural integrity and durability of the target vessel, which is being developed for 1 MW operation. In the present study, to reduce thermal stress and relax stress concentrations more effectively in the existing target vessel in J-PARC, an optimization approach called the Taguchi method (TM) is applied to thermo-mechanical analysis. The ribs and their relative parameters, as well as the thickness of the mercury vessel and shrouds, were selected as important design parameters for this investigation. According to the analytical results of 18 model types designed using the TM, the optimal design was determined. It is characterized by discrete ribs and a thicker vessel wall than the current design. The maximum thermal stresses in the mercury vessel and the outer shroud were reduced by 14% and 15%, respectively. Furthermore, it was indicated that variations in rib width, left/right rib intervals, and shroud thickness could influence the maximum thermal stress performance. It is therefore concluded that the TM was useful for optimizing the structure of the target vessel and to reduce the thermal stress in a small number of calculation cases.

Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex experienced failures of two mercury targets, which were Target #5 and #7, in 2015 when the facility was operating with a proton beam power of 500 kW. The failures involved coolant water leak from the water shroud. In this paper, we investigate the root cause of the Target #5 failure. The results of the visual inspections, mockup tests, and analytical evaluations suggested that the water leak was caused by the possible combination of two incidents. One was the diffusion bonding failure due to the large thermal stress induced by welding of the bolt head during the fabrication process, and the other was the thermal fatigue failure of the seal weld due to the repetitive beam shutdown during beam operation. Though the investigation into the root cause of the Target #7 failure is still going on, these target failures point to the importance of eliminating initial defects and the need to secure the rigidity and stability of welded structures. The next mercury tar...

A liquid mercury target for the pulsed spallation neutron source is installed at the J-PARC. The liquid mercury is enclosed within a multi-walled stainless-steel vessel. When the highly intense proton beams hit the target at 25 Hz, pressure waves are generated by the rapid thermal expansion of the mercury. The pressure waves causes severe erosion damage on the interior, mercury-facing surface, owing to the cavitation, as well as imposing cyclic impact on the vessel walls. A target diagnostic system, consisting of a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) and a microphone, has been installed to remotely investigate the structural integrity of the target vessel in a high-radiation environment. In this study, to investigate the applicability of the sound measurement for the alternative method of the LDV diagnostic system of the target vessel, the correlation between the proton-beam-induced sound and the operational conditions (the proton beam power, the beam profile, and the gas flow rate for injecting microbubbles) was evaluated. The results showed that the sound propagation through the piping and the gap in the radiation shield was well correlated with the operational conditions as well as the LDV results.

Mercury target vessel in the JSNS, which is made of 316L SS, is damaged owing to the pressure wave-induced cavitation resulting from the proton beam bombardment. The cavitation damage decreases the structural integrity of the target vessel and is currently a dominant factor to decide the service life in compared with the radiation damage. Injecting microbubbles into mercury is one of the prospective techniques to mitigate the pressure waves and cavitation damage. In the JSNS, a microbubble generator with a gas circulation system was installed and has been operated since October 2012. The effects of microbubble injection into mercury on pressure wave mitigation were studied using a laser Doppler vibrometer. The result showed that the vibrational velocity of the target vessel is clearly reduced according to the increase of void fraction. An average peak vibrational velocity under 340 kW operation with the void fraction of 0.1\% was reduced to 1/4 of that without injecting microbubbles., J-PARCの核破砕中性子源(JSNS)水銀ターゲット容器は、陽子線入射励起圧力波により励起されるキャビテーションによる損傷を受ける。キャビテーションによる損傷は、容器の構造健全性を低下させるため現在のところ容器の交換寿命を決める支配因子となっている。圧力波及びキャビテーションによる損傷を低減するためには、水銀中にガスマイクロバブルを注入することが効果的な手法である。JSNSでは、ガスマイクロバブルを注入するためのシステムを2012年10月に設置し、レーザードップラー振動計を用いて容器の振動をモニタリングすることによって水銀中へのバブル注入の効果をした。その結果、振動速度は気泡注入量の増加に伴って減少することを確認した。また長期間の運転では、気泡注入によって平均でバブル注入無しの1/4程度の振動速度を維持した。

A MW-class mercury target for the spallation neutron source is subjected to the pressure waves and cavitation erosion induced by high-intense pulsed-proton beam bombardment. Helium-gas microbubbles injection into mercury is one of the effective techniques to suppress the pressure waves. The microbubble injection technique was developed. The selection test of bubble generators indicated that the bubble generator utilizing swirl flow of liquid (swirl-type bubble-generator) will be suitable from the viewpoint of the produced bubble size. However, when single swirl-type bubble-generator was used in flowing mercury, swirl flow of mercury remains at downstream of the generator. The remaining swirl flow causes the coalescence of bubbles which results in ineffective suppression of pressure waves. To solve this concern, a multi-swirl type bubble-generator, which consists of several single swirl-type bubble-generators arraying in the plane perpendicular to mercury flow direction, was invented. The multi-swirl type ...

At the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), a pulsed spallation neutron source provides neutrons with high intensity and narrow pulse width pulse to promote researches on a variety of science in the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF). It was designed to be driven by a proton beam with an energy of 3 GeV, a power of 1 MW at a repetition rate of 25 Hz, that is world’s highest power level. It is still on the way towards the goal to accomplish the operation with a 1 MW proton beam. In this review, distinctive features of the target-moderator-reflector system of the pulsed spallation neutron source are presented.

A liquid mercury target system for a megawatt-class spallation neutron source is being developed in the world. Proton beam is injected to the mercury target to induce spallation reaction. The moment the proton beams bombard the target, pressure waves are generated in the mercury by the thermally shocked heat deposition. The pressure waves excite the mercury target vessel and negative pressure that may cause cavitation along the vessel wall. Gas-bubbles will be injected into the flowing mercury to mitigate the pressure waves and suppress the cavitation inception. The injected gas-bubbles conditions were examined and the effects were predicted experimentally and theoretically from the viewpoints of macroscopic time-scale and microscopic time-scale, i.e. in the former is dominant the interaction between the structural vibration and the pressure in mercury, and in the later is essential the pressure wave propagation process.

The liquid mercury target system for the Japan Spallation Neutron Source (JSNS) began operating in May 2008. A mercury target vessel composed of type 316L stainless steel suffers radiation damage in the proton and neutron environment. In addition to this damage, the inner wall of the target vessel in contact with mercury is damaged by cavitation-induced erosion, which is caused by rarefied pressure waves. The target vessel was replaced with a new target in November 2011, because the pneumatic bellow type flange was damaged during the Great East Japan Earthquake, that occurred on March 11, 2011. Before replacing the target, 50 mm diameter disk specimens were cut from the beam window of the target vessel in order to investigate the cavitation damage inside the target vessel and to evaluate the change in the mechanical properties due to radiation damage. A video camera was used to inspect the inside of the target vessel and no flow induced erosion damage was detected on the flow guide by visual inspection. Cavitation damage from the proton pulse was concentrated at the center and approximately 15 mm from the center of the beam window. In addition, the depth of the cavitation damage was quantitatively measured using a laser profilometer and a metallurgical surface replica. Based on the detailed measurements, it was concluded that the eroded damage depth of the beam window was 250 μm after 475 MW h of operation.

Various kinds of radioactivity are produced via spallation reactions by injecting high energy intense proton beam (3 GeV, 1 MW) on a mercury target in the Materials and Life science experimental Facility of J-PARC. Radioactivity handling strategy was designed based on estimations by using particle transport calculation codes NMTC/JAM, MCNP/4C and an induced radioactivity calculation code DCHAIN-SP 2001. The radiation around a mercury circulation system was estimated to be reduced by draining mercury into a shielded tank. The volatile radioactivity produced in mercury was designed to be processed by an off-gas process system. Practical experiences through facility operations were quite different from these strategies. The radiation around the mercury circulation system increased after draining mercury. Mercury radioactivity has not been detected so far in a mercury absorber of the off-gas process system while xenon-127 trapped in the absorber increased radiation dose around the absorber. The amount of tritium release was much higher at a target chamber replacement than that expected from the preceding flushing process. This paper describes how the unexpected issues have been tackled and what was understood for the differences.

In the design of MW-class spallation target system, using mercury to produce practical neutron applications, keeping the highest level of safety is vitally important. To establish the safety of spallation target system, it is essential to understand the thermal hydraulic properties of mercury. Through thermal hydraulic experiments using a mercury experimental loop, which flows at the rate of 1.2 m3/hr maximum, the following facts were experimentally confirmed. The wall friction factor was relatively larger than the Blasius correlation due to the effects of wall roughness. The heat transfer coefficients agreed well with the Subbotin correlation. Furthermore, for validation of the design analysis code, thermal hydraulic analyses were conducted by using the STAR-CD code under the same conditions as the experiments. Analytical results showed good agreement with the experimental results, using optimized turbulent Prandtl number and mesh size.

An off-gas processing system was installed in the J-PARC spallation neutron source to reduce radioactivity of xenon-127 and tritium contained in a helium cover gas in a surge tank of a mercury circulation system to obey the regulation by law. In addition to this role it has been utilized to a purging process before the target vessel replacement and an air-flow control procedure to minimize uncontrollable radioactivity release during the replacement. An standard and urgent model plans of the off-gas processing system operation were established indicating that 31 days were required at least to replace the target vessel.

Checking the seal performance of the mercury piping network is very important for the mercury target system operation of J-PARC, and the test method for leaks using the pressure change measurement is preferable for this purpose because it can be carried out easily and precisely by measuring the pressure change, and it is free from the risk of mercury contamination. The piping network is pressurized by helium gas. Thus, the correlation between the helium leak rate and mercury leak flow rate was investigated experimentally by carrying out leak tests for helium and mercury with an identical mockup flange model. The results showed that the mercury leak flow rates of the experimental data were lower than those of the estimated value by 64% on average. It was also found that the threshold of the helium leak rate at which good seal performance for mercury can be obtained exists between 2.18 × 10−4 and 1.01 × 10−2 Pa.m3/s. This fact confirmed the sufficient safety margin of the mercury target system against the m...

A liquid mercury target system for the MW-class pulsed spallation neutron source is installed at the Materials and Life science experimental Facility (MLF) of J-PARC. MW-class proton bombardment of the mercury brings about intensive pressure waves that impact on mercury target vessel repeatedly at 25 Hz and can remarkably degrade the structural integrity and the lifetime of the vessel. In order to realize the high-power mercury target, R&D on the pressure wave mitigation technology is carried out experimentally and theoretically. One of the promising methods to mitigate the pressure waves is to inject microbubbles into the mercury. The microbubbles exhibit three effects for the mitigation: absorption, attenuation and suppression. An in-situ diagnostic system for measuring the dynamic responses induced by the pressure waves is installed in the Japan Spallation Neutron Source (JSNS). In this paper, we briefly describe the strategy to realize the high-power mercury target in the JSNS.

Target vessel wall being damaged by pitting caused by pressure waves generated when pulsed high-power beams are injected is a crucial issue in the realization of a pulsed high-power mercury target for spallation neutron sources. The injection of micro-bubbles into mercury is a prospective technology for use in mitigating the pressure wave and the resulting pitting. The bubble flow field in an actual target vessel was numerically examined and the optimal conditions for bubble injection were investigated. The results indicated the possibility of the bubbles being distributed over the core regions when they are injected in the appropriate position according to their diameter.

Liquid mercury was suggested to be used as target material for high-power pulsed spallation neutron sources. In order to realize the high-power target, however, the pressure wave is a critical issue, which is caused by the thermal shock in mercury and causes cavitation at the moment when highly intense proton beams bombard mercury. RD 1MW/25 Hz). Microbubble injection into the mercury is one of prospective technologies to mitigate the pressure wave. The microbubble effect was experimentally investigated from the viewpoint of pitting damage due to the cavitation in the mercury loop with an electro-magnetic impact testing machine (MIMTM) and numerically examined from the viewpoint of bubble dynamics. In the present study, we confirmed that the microbubble injection is very effective to reduce pitting damage and the amplitude of negative pressure, which causes explosive growth of cavitation bubble.

Injection of gas microbubbles into mercury might be effective to mitigate pressure waves generating and propagating in liquid mercury target for MW-class spallation neutron sources. The effect of mitigation is very dependent on the bubble conditions; size, population, etc. It is important to make clear bubble formation behavior from a nozzle for development of making suitable gas microbubbles into mercury. Visualization of microbubbles in mercury was carried out by refraction-enhanced imaging with high-energy synchrotron radiation X-rays at SPring-8 to observe the bubble formation behavior at micro-gas nozzle of 100 μm in inner diameter and 200 μm in outer diameter. The bubble formation behavior in mercury was quite different from that in water. A constant taking account of the wettability and interfacial tension force between liquid and solid metals in an equation of force balance around bubble was identified by visualized bubble size. The bubble size under mercury flowing condition was estimated from the force balance equitation.

A liquid mercury target for MW class pulsed neutron sources is being developed in the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). Cavitation will be induced by pressure waves that are caused by highly intense proton beam injection into the mercury target. Microbubbles 50 to 200 mm in diameter injected into the mercury target are plausibly effective for mitigating cavitation. The mitigation is dependent on the conditions of the injected bubble size and population. It is, therefore, important to understand bubble formation behavior in mercury in order to develop a microbubble injection method. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out under various mercury and gas flow rates to investigate the bubble formation behavior in mercury. Moreover, bubbles in stagnant mercury were visualized with X-ray to observe the formation behavior of bubbles at a micro-gas nozzle and compared with the simulation results. It was found that high surface tension makes the bubble grow around the outer surface of the n...

To mitigate the cavitation damage of the mercury target vessel operating at the spallation neutron source of J-PARC, a double-walled structure for the target vessel was investigated and designed by numerical simulation. It was found that rapid mercury flow in the narrow channel at the beam window and sufficient cooling performance of the target wall were attained. Moreover, the rapid mercury flow might be maintained even in the case of an inner-wall fracture.

The facility has resumed since 17th February 2014 after reformation of operation safety system required from the new regulation because of the accident in the Hadron Facility in May 2013. During eight-month shutdown period various hardware components have been improved; such as installation of additional RFQs in Linac to increase its energy to achieve higher power, repairing and replacement on the mercury (Hg) cooling loops of the neutron target, improvement on the cryogenic system for stable operation, etc. In order to mitigate the pitting damage on the Hg-target container we have been injecting helium micro bubbles in the target. The laser Doppler vibrometory showed us that vibration on the proton bombardment has been drastically reduced by the injection. Twenty one instruments have been already installed. Sixteen instruments are operated for user program and four instruments are under either commissioning or construction. Now the experimental hall is almost full with instruments, leaving only 2 ports available for the future use. Operational time for user program in JFY2014 was about 170 days, and we received more than 700 general experimental proposals from users. World-class scientific outputs have been being created in various scientific fields, ranging from Li-battery science to bio-molecular science. Since J-PARC is internationally open for users, we have got experimental proposals from abroad, which are more than 15% of the whole proposals. More than 20% of proposals have come from industries and a half of them are proprietary use. This fact has revealed a new horizon has come in the neutron scattering science in the 21 century.

A cross-flow type (CFT) mercury target with flow guide blades has been developed for JSNS that suppresses the generation of a stagnant flow region near the beam window where the peak power density is generated due to the spallation reaction. In addition, a flat type beam window has been applied to the CFT target that suppresses dynamic stress caused by pressure waves, that have been estimated with an elastic model for mercury. Recent experimental results obtained by using a proton beam incident to mercury targets suggested that using a cut-off pressure model for mercury would be appropriate for predicting a dynamic stress behavior in a target vessel. Dynamic stress analyses were carried out with the cutoff pressure model in which the negative pressure less than −0.15 MPa could not be sustained. The dynamic stress generated in the flat beam window became much larger than that in a semi-cylindrical type window as a result of using the cut-off pressure model. Regardless, even the stress generated in the semi-cylindrical type beam window exceeded the allowable stress of SS316L under the peak power density of 668 MW/m 3 . In order to decrease the dynamic stress in the semi-cylindrical beam window, the incident proton beam was defocused to reduce the peak power density down to 218 MW/m 3 . Although the dynamic stress could be suppressed to less than the allowable stress, the high power density generated on the end of the flow guide blades due to defocus of the proton beam caused high thermal stress exceeding the allowable stress. Several shapes of blade ends were studied analytically to decrease the thermal stress, that did not affect the mercury flow distribution. A simple thin-end blade showed low thermal stress below the allowable stress.

One of the objectives of the high-temperature engineering test reactor (HTTR) is to demonstrate the effectiveness of high-temperature nuclear heat utilization, which aims to extend the application of nuclear heat to non-electric fields, especially to hydrogen production. As part of the development of the hydrogen production processes, laboratory-scale experiments of a high-temperature electrolysis of steam (HTES) had been carried out with a practical electrolysis tube with 12 solid-oxide cells connected in series. Using this electrolysis tube, hydrogen was produced at the maximum density of 44 N cm3/cm2 h at a electrolysis temperature of 950 °C. Thereafter, to improve hydrogen production performance, a self-supporting planar electrolysis cell with a practical size (80 mm × 80 mm of electrolysis area) was fabricated. In the preliminary electrolysis experiment carried out at 850 °C, the planar cell produced hydrogen at the maximum density of 38 N cm3/cm2 h, and the energy efficiency was almost as high as that obtained with the electrolysis tube at 950 °C. However, both electrolysis tubes and planar cells did not keep their integrity in one thermal cycle. Durability of the solid-oxide cell against the thermal cycle is one of the key issues of HTES.

A construction of the spallation neutron source is in progress under the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) Project. A mercury circulation system has been designed to supply mercury to the target stably. In the design of the mercury circulation system, it was necessary to test a mercury pump performance. An erosion rate under the mercury flowing condition and an amount of remaining mercury after draining mercury from the system also must be made clear from viewpoints of evaluating life time of mercury piping. In addition, these data play essential roles in establishing remote handling scenario of components used in the system, because mercury would be highly activated. The mercury pump performance, the erosion rates and the amount of remaining mercury were investigated by using a mercury experimental loop with an experimental gear pump. As a result, it was demonstrated that the discharged flow rates of the pump were sufficient. The flow rate increased linearly with the rotation speed as ex...

A mercury target is used in the spallation neutron source driven by a high-intensity proton accelerator. In this study, the effectiveness of the cross-flow type mercury target structure was evaluated experimentally and analytically. Prior to the experiment, the mercury flow field and the temperature distribution in the target container were analyzed assuming a proton beam energy and power of 1.5 GeV and 5 MW, respectively, and the feasibility of the cross-flow type target was evaluated. Then the average water flow velocity field in the target mock-up model, which was fabricated from Plexiglass for a water experiment, was measured at room temperature using the PIV technique. Water flow analyses were conducted and the analytical results were compared with the experimental results. The experimental results showed that the cross-flow could be realized in most of the proton beam path area and the analytical result of the water flow velocity field showed good correspondence to the experimental results in the case when the Reynolds number was more than 4.83×10 5 at the model inlet. With these results, the effectiveness of the cross-flow type mercury target structure and the present analysis code system was demonstrated.

The flow patterns in the mock-up model of the cross-flow type mercury target were measured using the PIV technique under water flow conditions at room temperature. The experimental results were compared with the analytical results conducted with the thermal hydraulic analysis code, STAR-CD. As a result, it was confirmed experimentally that the cross-flow could be realized in most of the proton beam path area, where the removal of the high density heat is important, with the proper flow rate distribution along the proton beam path. The analytical result showed the good correspondence to the experimental result. Then the mercury flow field and the temperature distribution were analyzed taking the volumetric heat generation by the spallation reaction into consideration. The volumetric heat generation calculated for the proton beam energy and power of 1.5GeV and 5MW were assumed in the analysis.The mercury flow analysis showed that the maximum mercury temperature less than the design criteria of 300 deg C can be attained with the inlet mercury velocity of more than 1.1m/s and that the recirculation flow seen in the rear of the proton beam path is considered to cause no excessive temperature rise.

A permanent magnet rotating type induction pump (PM pump) was developed to provide mercury to a liquid mercury target system in Japan Spallation Neutron Source (JSNS). Mechanical pumps, such as a gear pump and a centrifugal pump, have risk of leakage of mercury from the seal parts. Induction pumps can avoid mercury leakage because they have no seal parts. The PM pump could be compact compared with a conventional induction pump; however, power loss must be reduced to avoid overheating of the system. Then optimizations for the thickness of mercury duct wall and width of the duct were carried out to reduce heat loss due to the eddy current in the duct generated by the induction, and to reduce flow-induced loss. As for the flow-induced loss, backflow would occur at the outside of the duct because of the difference in the Lorentz force between inside and outside of the duct. Consequently, the developed PM pump could have sufficient performance for the target system in JSNS and operate with low vibration.

The purpose of the present study is to improve methane conversion for an HTGR-steam reforming system by recycling of residual methane. The residual methane in a product gas after steam reforming was recycled with a gas separator of polyimide membrane. Gas separation characteristics of the separator were investigated experimentally and numerically, and an experimental study on recycling system was carried out. The results showed that the recycling system improves apparent methane conversion, ratio of methane conversion to methane supply from a cylinder, from 20 to 32% compared with those without recycling.

The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) are promoting a plan to construct a 1MW neutron source facility at the Tokai Research Establishment, JAERI, under the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) Project. In the facility, 1 MW pulsed proton beam from a high-intensity proton accelerator will be injected into a mercury target in order to produce high-intensity pulse neutrons for use in the fields of life and material sciences. In order to realize such a high-power neutron source, the design activity of a cross flow type (CFT) mercury target and its peripheral devices has continued and the results is reflected in the ordering specifications of the facility construction. The arrangement of each component and their structure was optimized through experimental and analytical studies. In this paper, the present design of the mercury target components for 1MW spallation neutron source including the target vessel, a mercury circulation system, and a target trolley will be reported.Copyright © 2004 by ASME