High heat flux limits of the fusion reactor water-cooled first wall

The water-cooled WCLL blanket is one of the possible candidates for the blanket of the fusion power reactors. The plasma-facing first wall manufactured from the reduced-activation ferritic-martensitic steel Eurofer97 will be cooled with water at a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) conditions. According to new estimates, the first wall will be exposed to peak heat fluxes up to $7MW/m^2$ while the maximum operated temperature of Eurofer97 is set to $550^{\circ}C$. The performed analysis shows the capability of the designed flat first wall concept to remove heat flux without exceeding the maximum Eurofer97 operating temperature only up to $0.75MW/m^2$. Several heat transfer enhancement methods (turbulator promoters), structural modifications, and variations of parameters were analysed. The effects of particular modifications on the wall temperature were evaluated using thermo-hydraulic three-dimensional numerical simulation. The analysis shows the negligible effect of the turbulators. By the combination of the proposed modifications, the permitted heat flux was increased up to $1.69MW/m^2$ only. The results indicate the necessity of the re-evaluation of the existing first wall concepts.