Low Conductivity SiC/SiC Ceramic Composites for Fusion Blanket Flow Channel Inserts
Dual-coolant blanket designs for fusion reactors currently under development benefit from flow channel inserts that possess low electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity. Such flow channel inserts will advance the state of fusion technology closer to producing continuous low cost, non-polluting power as is planned under DEMO. In addition to low electrical and thermal conductivity, the desired properties of the flow channel insert are compatibility with lead-lithium breeder/coolant, stability under a high neutron fluence, and mechanical robustness. Silicon carbide fiber-reinforced silicon carbide matrix composites (SiC/SiC) have been shown to meet all of these requirements with the exception of the thermal conductivity requirement. Efforts to manipulate the thermal conductivity included compositional and architectural approaches. An architecturally engineered SiC/SiC was demonstrated that met the low through-thickness thermal conductivity. An understanding of the factors controlling the through-thickness electrical conductivity was also developed and now allows engineering control of the electrical conductivity within the composite. Refinements in the design of a SiC/SiC composite flow channel insert were performed as well as identifying critical mechanical properties. Testing in molten Pb-Li was performed in a building-block manner starting with coupons and culminating in the testing of SiC/SiC flow channel insert segments at ~500ºC under 10 psig. Sections of both a simpler monocoque SiC/SiC flow channel insert and a nested flow channel insert were evaluated for compatibility and impermeability in the Pb-Li and included in situ measurements of electrical and thermal conductivity.
- Research Organization:
- Hyper-Therm High-Temperature Composites, Inc., 18411 Gothard Street, Unit B, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE SC Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (SC-24)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-07ER84717
- OSTI ID:
- 1022600
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER84717
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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