Towards the optimization of the thermal–hydraulic performance of gyrotron collectors

Different configurations of water-cooled Cu collector for gyrotrons are investigated using the StarCCM+CFD code, aimed at optimizing its thermal-hydraulic (TH) performance. Although the current collectors show a good performance, the collector can be subjected to transient heat loads, due to the spent electron beam, of up to several tens of MW/m2, and there is an interest to increase the gyrotron output power in the future. Furthermore, an optimized cooling will lead to improved reliability and lifetime of the collector. Starting from a hypervapotron (HV)-like collector, characterized by 100+ deep rectangular cavities with aspect ratio (AR)=3, we present in the first part of the paper a single-cavity steady-state parametric analysis of the effect of AR on the heat exhaust capabilities. The investigation is then extended to other collector designs, including circumferential ribs and dimples, in order to assess the options for further improvements of the TH performance. The peak Cu temperature is computed by the code and its minimization is the target of the present optimization exercise. A self-consistent estimate of the heat transfer coefficient between collector and coolant is also obtained, which could be useful for fatigue and lifetime assessments. In the second part of the paper the most promising collector geometries identified in the first part are analyzed in the case of a transient heat load (vertical sweeping), first at the level of a single spatial period of the collector structure, then at the full-collector level. The results of the TH transient analysis are compared with both the results of the first part and with the transient purely thermal analysis of the full collector, showing for all geometries considered in this study a room for cooling efficiency improvement with respect to the HV-like design with AR=3, at least in the operating conditions considered for this study (V ~4m/s, almost 100°C sub-cooling).