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Latest ITER Newsline

  • Image of the week | The platform's quasi-final appearance

    Since preparation work began in 2007 on the stretch of land that was to host the 42-hectare ITER platform, regular photographic surveys have been organized to d [...]

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  • Cryopumps | Preparing for the cold tests

    Before being delivered to ITER, the torus and cryostat cryopumps are submitted to a  comprehensive series of factory acceptance tests. This is not sufficie [...]

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  • Fusion technologies | Closing a fusion schism

    Historically, inertial confinement and magnetic confinement approaches to fusion have been parallel, separate processes. The ITER Private Sector Fusion Workshop [...]

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  • Toroidal field coil celebration | "A good day for the world"

    A little before 2:00 a.m. on 17 April 2020 a powerful transport trailer, accompanied by dozens of technical and security vehicles, passed the gates of the I [...]

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  • Press conference | New baseline to prioritize robust start to exploitation

    At a press conference on 3 July attended by approximately 200 journalists and key ITER stakeholders, ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi answered questions [...]

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Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

Cryodistribution

One more link in the chain

Providing cryogenic fluids to the superconducting magnets, cryopumps and other "clients" in the ITER machine requires a sophisticated distribution system that ramifies to deliver the cryoplant-originating fluids to their final destinations. Last week, three of the key distribution components, the auxiliary cold boxes, were lifted from the Assembly Hall and positioned inside the Tokamak Building prior to their final installation.

The first of the five auxiliary cold boxes required to distribute cooling fluids to different ''clients'' inside the machine was transferred to the Tokamak Building on 1 December. (Click to view larger version...)
The first of the five auxiliary cold boxes required to distribute cooling fluids to different ''clients'' inside the machine was transferred to the Tokamak Building on 1 December.
There will be a sum total of five auxiliary cold boxes, all located at Level 3 of the Tokamak Building. Procured by India and designed and manufactured by Linde Kryotechnik AG in Switzerland, the 28-tonne components act like dispatchers, receiving the different fluids from the cryogenic termination cold box located inside the cryoplant and redistributing them throughout the ITER machine. Three have now been delivered; two others are expected next year.

Pending their final installation, three auxiliary cold boxes are now pre-positioned in the gallery at Level 3 of the Tokamak Building. (Click to view larger version...)
Pending their final installation, three auxiliary cold boxes are now pre-positioned in the gallery at Level 3 of the Tokamak Building.
Each of the auxiliary cold boxes serves a specific client, either cryopumps, magnet coils (toroidal field, central solenoid, poloidal field or correction), or magnet supporting structures. Looking like giant cylindrical boilers, the auxiliary cold boxes accommodate a complex network of piping, valves, cryogenic rotating machines, liquid helium phase separators and heat exchangers.

Last week's operation marked an important milestone in the linking of the cryoplant to the Tokamak Building. From producer to consumer, by way of the cryogenic termination cold box and a pair of massive cryolines that will transport the cryogenic fluids over a bridge connecting the two buildings, circuit installation is now progressing steadily.

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