Imbalance of the liquid-metal flow and heat extraction in a manifold with sub-channels having locally different eletric conductivity

In this study, the characteristics of liquid metal (LM) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow and convective heat transfer in a manifold with three sub-channels having locally different electric conductivity are investigated with the use of commercial code CFX, allowing an imbalance in flow rate among the sub-channels, which can be used for intensive cooling of the region with higher heat load in the blanket. In a manifold with co-flow multiple sub-channels, the electrical current can cross the fluid regions and channel walls, thus influencing the flow distribution in each sub-channel. In the present study, cases with various arrangements of the electric conductivity in different parts of the channel walls are investigated, yielding different distributions of the current and fluid flow in different cases. Here, the mechanism governing the imbalance in mass flow rate among the sub-channels is discussed. The interdependency of the fluid velocity, current and electric potential of LM MHD flows in the three sub-channels are analyzed in detail. The results show that, in the sub-channel surrounded by the walls with lower electric conductivity, higher axial velocity and superior heat extraction can be obtained, with an effective cooling associated with higher velocity, where the higher velocity is closely related to the distribution of the electromotive component of the current in the flow field.