Experimental investigation of thermal diffusivity and heat capacity of ceramic breeder beds

Abstract In the solid Breeder Blanket (BB) concepts both tritium release and heat recovery depend on the thermal performances of the breeding zone. Within the RD to this end the line heat source probe method was employed together with differential scanning calorimetry. An experimental facility, based on the line heat source probe method, was devised for the investigation of the thermal diffusivity of granular beds at breeder blanket relevant temperatures, mechanical state, purge gas type and pressure. Besides the experimental approach, literature values were used to estimate the specific heat capacity of the breeder materials starting from the specific heat capacity of the constituent compounds based on the mole fraction. In addition to the thermal diffusivity and heat capacity, a preliminary insight on the phase transitions of the reference and advanced ceramic breeder beds is given.