SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Statement of the problem or situation that is being addressed in your application. One obstacle for reactor scale nuclear fusion blanket and tritium fuel cycle progress is lack of a long-term solution for forevacuum roughing vacuums and pellet injection system (PIS) mechanical pump hardware. Whereas the international fusion consensus agrees all-metal, oil-free vacuum technology is the standard for radioactive tritium gas handling, the state-of-the-art falls short of delivering a long-term solution for demonstrative reactor scale electricity production at institutions including the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Additionally, legacy pumps are currently obsolete, difficult to machine, and prohibitively expensive. General statement of how this problem is being addressed. From twenty years understanding the demands of tritium handling and the inadequacy of the alternative reactor scale solutions, Air Squared would like to proposal an novel dual 75 m 3 /hr all-metal, liquid-cooled, oil- and tip seal- free, optional dual or triple-containment scroll pump development to support fusion development on a demonstrative reactor scale in Phase I. What is to be done in Phase I? Three technical objectives are targeted in Phase I: ? Objective One: Concept design 75 m 3 /hr tritium compatible pump, ? Objective Two: Complete instrumented and systems level design of the proposed 75 m 3 /hr tritium compatible pump ? Objective Three: Final 75 m 3 /hr scroll vacuum pump design for fabrication in Phase II. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits Successful development of the 75 m 3 /hr tritium scroll vacuum pump will propel continued international research across all nuclear fusion institutions. Hundreds of these all-metal pumps are estimated to be installed across the fusion industry, but no existing pump meets the precise specifications of tritium pumping for magnetic fusion. A successful project would meet this industry need, providing the necessary infrastructure to achieve thermonuclear power. Further, successful development of an innovative liquid cooled design may be integrated into several existing and future scroll technologies, increasing scroll performance, efficiency, and competitiveness. Given industry recognition of an all-metal liquid cooled scroll roughing vacuums, tertiary market opportunities would open in the corrosive and toxic etching processes fundamental to semiconductor microfabrication for the proposed solution.
