Prototype mitre bends of the ex-vessel waveguide system for the ITER upper launcher: Thermal hydraulic simulations and experiments with off-center mm-wave beams

On ITER, long pulse gyrotrons are required as a power source for electron cyclotron heating (ECH) and current drive (CD). The microwaves are guided from the gyrotrons, which are placed far from the Tokamak, into the plasma by transmission lines (TLs) and a launching antenna (launcher). Each of the four ECH Upper launchers features eight waveguide (WG) TLs, with at least 95% of the power from the gyrotrons coupled into in the main HE mode of the TLs. In the ex-vessel portion of the system between the port-plug closure plate and the isolation valve and diamond window, there are miter bends (MBs) that change the direction of the TL by reflecting the millimeter waves (mm-waves) using mirrors; the mirrors must handle 1.31 MW, 170 GHz, 3600 s pulses. Various MBs perform these reflections at an angle of 90 degrees, or nearly 100 degrees. As a result of the ohmic dissipation, an intensive peaked heat flux appears near the center of the MB mirror and thus, a dedicated cooling system is present to ensure the temperature control of the mirror and housing e.g. [1]. The power that is not found in the HE mode can cause the beam to be not perfectly centered, resulting in an off-centered heat flux on the mirror surface; as is the case for the experiments described here. This study presents new finite element modeling of such beams, created in CFX of ANSYS Workbench [2], compared to the experimental findings for pulses of 170 GHz, 0.5 MW and 240 s. Monitor points are placed in the same positions as TCs that have been fitted in the mirror close to the heated surface and direct comparison of the temperature values is performed. Through transient simulation the time constants are calculated and compared with those of the experiments.