Speaker: Dr. Paul Wilson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Title: "Machine-Driven Optimization of Stellarator Blankets"
Abstract:
A fusion energy system blanket serves three primary functions: energy conversion, tritium fuel breeding and shielding of sensitive components. The design of stellarator blankets is complicated by the limited space between the plasma and the coils and the complex 3-D configuration of both that space and the neutron source distribution in the plasma. Some specific locations can be more important for others for tritium breeding but may also require substantial shielding. While it may be possible to fill all the available space and optimize between breeding and shielding materials, the cost of the blanket will scale, to first order, with its size, thus favoring smaller blankets.
This work will describe a workflow that can identify an optimal blanket system configuration, including varying the thicknesses of the breeder zone, high temperature shield and low temperature shield continuously over the toroidal and poloidal dimensions. The formal optimization problem will be constructed and a workflow for performing optimization will be described. To provide access to gradient-based optimization algorithms despite the lack of gradient information from the physics evaluation, two approaches are explored that rely on surrogate models to evaluate said gradients.
Bio: Paul Wilson is the Grainger Professor of Nuclear Engineering in University of Wisconsin–Madison‘s Department of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics. His research uses computer models to improve the designs of complex nuclear energy systems and to shed light on important policy aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, including nuclear waste management and non-proliferation. Paul joined UW–Madison as an assistant professor in August 2001 as part of the Energy Systems and Policy Hiring Initiative. Born in Scotland and raised Canada, Paul has a degrees from the University of Toronto (1992), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (1998), and a PhD in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics from UW–Madison (1999). He is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and was the founding president of the North American Young Generation in Nuclear [NA-YGN]. He represented the ANS and NA-YGN at the international climate change negotiations in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1998), and Bonn, Germany (1999). Paul is married and has two adult daughters. They enjoy biking around Madison’s paths, floating on its lakes, eating at its restaurants, and enjoying its theaters.
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