Performance evaluation of a developed orifice type heater for thermal compensation control at J-PARC cryogenic hydrogen system

Supercritical hydrogen with a temperature of less than 20 K and a pressure of 1.5 MPa is used as moderator material at J-PARC. Total nuclear heating of 3.75 kW is generated by three moderators for a 1-MW proton beam operation. We have developed an orifice-type high-power heater for thermal compensation to mitigate hydrogen pressure fluctuation caused by the abrupt huge heat load and to reduce the fluctuation in the temperature of the supply hydrogen to less than 0.25 K. Through a performance test, we confirmed that the developed orifice-type heater could be heated uniformly and showed fast response, as expected. Furthermore, a simulation model that can describe heater behaviors has been established on the basis of the experimental data. The heater control approach was studied using the aforementioned heater simulation model and a dynamic simulation code developed by the authors.