Energy and Power Transmission

The radiofrequency plasma source is a tool developed at Consorzio RFX (Italy) whose main research field is magnetically confined fusion plasmas. The plasma source is a handheld device producing a helium low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma that creates active chemical species enabling biological and therapeutic effect with no direct contact. RFX holds a European patent on the device and seeks companies willing to get a license to develop a commercial product.

The development of modular high temperature superconducting magnets offers significant benefits to fusion by reducing the risk of failure while facilitating the maintenance and enabling the construction of very large complex components. University of Durham and CCFE have worked on the soldered joints which are essential components of this concept. This technology could open new possibilities in existing and promising applications of superconductivity such as : Magnets for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Low and high field magnets for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), low and high field magnets for physical sciences and research, Accelerators for high-energy physics, Industrial magnets for materials magnetic separation, Superconducting Sensors, Power Cables…

Connected to DIFFER’s unique facility Magnum-PSI (the only laboratory experiment in the world which can expose materials to the harsh plasma conditions near the walls of fusion reactors), Ion Beam facility provide an accelerator is a high beam-stability with low ripple and high beam-current. The accelerator is used for ion beam analysis (IBA) and ion-irradiation (for defect engineering). IBA is a none-destructive, quantitative, quick, and cheap method of elemental depth profiling. IBA and ion-irradiation can be applied to a plethora of cases; e.g. elemental depth profiling in areas such as fusion and fission, solar cells, semiconductors, optoelectronics, as well as archeology and cultural heritage, meteorology, forensic, geology, and biological sciences

The  innovation  relates  to  a  device  for preventing  parasitic  oscillations  in  electron beam  tubes.  It  comprises  a  beam  tunnel subject  to  an  axial  static  magnetic  field.  The  tunnel  is  equipped  with  ceramic  and  metal rings arranged alternately in the axial direction. These rings yield a structure on the inner surface preventing the harmonic rise of spurious oscillations that could otherwise  damage  the  tube.  The  technology  is  ready  for  use  in  the  non-­‐fusion  domain and was patented by the inventors Manfred Thumm and Gerd Gantenbein.

Research is underway into the use of nanofluids to improve the cooling of surfaces within fusion reactors that are exposed to extreme heat fluxes. Nanofluids are a mixture of liquids (typically water) with nanoparticles (<100nm) in a concentration that is usually less than 1% by volume. Nanoparticles being investigated are alumina, ceramics, and carbon nanotubes, as these are known to increase both the conductive and convective heat transfer coefficients by up to half an order of magnitude (5x), and the critical heat flux of current coolants by up to an order of magnitude (10x) for boiling heat transfer. Due to this, cooling systems that are based on nanofluids could deliver a step‐change in the power handling performance of heat exchangers and other components.