Plasma-Facing Component Innovations by Advanced Manufacturing and Design

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Program:
GAMOW
Award:
$1,125,000
Location:
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Status:
ACTIVE
Project Term:
01/11/2021 - 05/31/2024
Website:

Technology Description:

Robust, affordable, and durable plasma-facing components (PFCs) are key to commercial fusion energy. PFCs must maintain the capability to handle the extreme heat, high-density plasma, high-energy neutrons, and fuel cycling in safe and economical operation. So far, a solution does not exist. Solid PFCs with a tungsten (W) armor, helium (He) cooling, and reduced-activation steel structure may satisfy the demanding requirements. This ORNL-led team will use laser powder-bed-fusion and electron-beam melting to create high-quality, W alloys (crack-free, high-density with acceptable properties) as the armor and reduced-activation, ferritic/martensitic steels as the base structure, with compositionally graded interlayers. They will use computational alloy design to integrate the materials with additive manufacturing. A high-quality integrated structure will promote cost-effective PFC designs for a range of fusion-energy concepts, with unprecedented flexibility for performance and reliability.

Potential Impact:

Successful development of fusion energy science and technology could lead to a safe, carbon-free, abundant energy source for developed and emerging economies.

Security:

The GAMOW program will advance American leadership in fusion energy science and technology.

Environment:

If successfully developed and commercialized, fusion energy can provide abundant, zero-carbon energy.

Economy:

Advances in GAMOW’s technical areas will help accelerate progress toward commercial fusion energy and a new zero-carbon energy economy.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Ahmed Diallo
Project Contact:
Dr. Yutai Katoh
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
katohy@ornl.gov

Partners

University of Tennessee
Texas A&M University
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
University of California, Los Angeles
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Georgia Tech Research Corporation
Sandia National Laboratory

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• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - Plasma-Facing Component Innovations by Advanced Manufacturing and Design
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) - Microstructure Optimization and Novel Processing Development of ODS Steels for Fusion Environments
• Phoenix - Application of Plasma-Window Technology to Enable an Ultra-High-Flux DT Neutron Source
• Princeton Fusion Systems - Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Amplifiers for Plasma Heating and Control
• Savannah River National Laboratory - EM-Enhanced HyPOR Loop for Fast Fusion Fuel Cycles
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• Stony Brook University - ENHANCED Shield: A Critical Materials Technology Enabling Compact Superconducting Tokamaks
• University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - AMPERE - Advanced Materials for Plasma-Exposed Robust Electrodes
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• University of Houston - Advanced HTS Conductors Customized for Fusion

Release Date:
02/13/2020