Review of recent MHD activities for liquid metal blankets in the US

S. Smolentsev¹ - M. Abdou¹ - C. Courtessole¹ - G. Pulugundla¹ - F-C. Li¹ - N. Morley¹ - R. Munipalli² - P. Huang² - C. Kaczynski¹ - J. Young¹ - T. Rhodes¹ - Y. Yan¹

¹ University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
² HyPerComp Inc, Westlake Village, CA 91361, USA

Abstract
We overview current experiments and accompanying theoretical studies in the area of MHD thermofluids in the US, which are aimed at characterization of MHD flows coupled with heat and mass transfer in fusion breeding blankets. We also outline recent upgrades of the experimental MHD facility at UCLA called MaPLE (Magnetohydrodynamic PbLi Experiment) and introduce near-future experimental plans. Figs 9, Refs 16.