7
Engineered Surfaces for the
Lithium Tokamak Experiment—
Mr.
Mr. Timothy N. McKechnie,
Business Official, timmck@plasmapros.com
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-04ER84045
Amount: $650,000
Reactor studies have identified
liquid lithium walls as a promising solution to magnetic fusion energy first
wall problems. For near-term
applications, such as the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment (LTX), a thin-film
approach has been pursued; however, thin lithium films can become saturated
with hydrogen and form LiH, which is not attractive as a plasma facing
component. A “thick” lithium film
approach would enable hundreds of discharges without the formation of LiH. This project will develop engineered surfaces
to enable the evaluation of a thick lithium film approach for plasma facing
components. Phase I demonstrated the
feasibility of plasma-spray-formed engineered surfaces for use with liquid
lithium plasma facing components.
Testing was performed to demonstrate the excellent wetting
characteristics of the plasma-spray-formed porous deposits with liquid lithium
– plasma-sprayed porous Mo surfaces were wet at temperatures less than
300ºC. During Phase II, the engineered
surface fabrication techniques will be optimized for full scale testing of a
thick lithium plasma facing concept within LTX. Comparisons to thin films of liquid lithium
adhered to a nonporous stainless steel surface by surface tension will be made.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The thick film technology should have commercial application to heat pipes; thermal and electrical insulating coatings for the electronics industries; improved chemical compatibility for molten metal processing; and improved thermal protection systems for furnaces, turbines, incinerators, plasma torches, rocket engines, fuel injectors, hard coatings, plasma treating of materials, and thick film heaters.