47
Helium Cooled Refractory Metal Divertor Panel (P12-2557)--Thermacore, Inc., 780 Eden Road, Lancaster, PA 17601-4275; 717-569-6551
Dr. Mark T. North, Principal Investigator
Mr. Donald M. Ernst, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-99ER82906
Amount: $99,990
The cooling of high heat flux components provides a significant challenge to designers of plasma facing components. In a tokamak fusion reactor, divertor plates are used to remove waste heat and particles. If distributed non-uniform1y over the plasma-facing surface of the divertor panel, the peak heat flux could exceed 30MW/m2. At 30MW/m2, the heat removal is limited by the critical heat flux of the coolant, the maximum permissible temperature of the coolant channel, and the maximum temperature of the plasma facing material. This project will develop a helium-cooled, refractory-metal, porous metal heat exchanger (PMHX). A helium-cooled, refractory-metal divertor panel will be able to reach temperatures of up to 2800°C at the surface of the armor and the helium exit temperatures can approach 700°C. Phase I will develop and demonstrate the technology to use PMHXs to remove the heat absorbed by a divertor panel in a fusion reactor environment.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Porous metal cooling should surpass all competing technologies for cooling applications in high power optics, aircraft avionics, and laser diode devices. At the high temperatures permitted, the heated outlet gas can be used to drive an industrial gas turbine with a high thermal efficiency.