{"id":757,"date":"2020-11-16T14:35:43","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T14:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/?p=757"},"modified":"2022-02-28T15:13:50","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T15:13:50","slug":"sensors-to-measure-hydrogen-partial-pressure-in-liquid-metals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/2020\/11\/16\/sensors-to-measure-hydrogen-partial-pressure-in-liquid-metals\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensors to measure hydrogen partial pressure in liquid metals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Sourcing new fusion technologies everywhere in Europe to foster your innovation… <\/em> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Leading the research on liquid metal technology for breeding blankets in close collaboration with EUROfusion, ENEA Brasimone Research Centre (Italy) has developed a new type of sensor able to perform direct measurements of the hydrogen partial pressure in liquid metals, not considering contribution from other dissolved gases. Initially developed for fusion research to measure hydrogen isotopes concentration in lead-lithium alloy, the sensors may be useful for process control for metallurgy or other industries that are interested to measure hydrogen content for purification purposes. The sensors have been qualified in lead alloys and are now open for further developments and adaptations to industrial standards.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DOWNLOAD THE TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Description of the Technology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

ENEA Laboratories in Brasimone\n(Italy) have developed and manufactured\ninnovative hydrogen permeation sensors in order to measure the concentration of\nhydrogen isotopes in liquid metals<\/strong>. In\nparticular, the sensors measure the concentration of tritium isotope in the\nlead-lithium alloy, that will be available as the fuel for the successive\nnuclear fusion reaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hydrogen permeation sensors are composed\nby a hollow capsule, permeable to hydrogen, immersed in the liquid metal<\/strong>,\nwhere hydrogen is dissolved at a certain concentration in equilibrium with a\nspecific partial pressure. The capsule is connected, through a small tube, to\nan external pressure gauge or to a vacuum pump depending on its mode of\noperation. The capsule is made of a material\nwhich is only permeable to hydrogen, such as pure alpha iron. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several sensors were manufactured and several geometries were tested in order to found the optimal shape and geometry of the sensors. The optimized geometry is a helix in order to maximize the surface over volume ratio while also minimizing welds that could represent discontinuity in the structure and possible weakness points for oxidation. The helical sensors were tested in stagnant and flowing liquid lead-lithium alloy and proved to be reliable over several orders of magnitude <\/strong>(10 to 1000 Pa of hydrogen). The sensors were tested in the temperature range 300-550\u00b0C and at a maximum pressure of about 3 bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Innovation and advantages of the offer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Currently there are no commercial solutions to measure hydrogen concentration in liquid metals. This sensor is the only method to directly measure the partial pressure of hydrogen in a liquid metal. The solution could be potentially adapted to work in different liquids. Another potential application of the technology could be the connection of the sensor to a mass spectrometer to perform hydrogen isotopes differentiation (e.g. in the presence of tritium), in nuclear sector or life sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non fusion applications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Aside from process measurement in nuclear fusion, the sensor could find promising applications in the field of metallurgy and solar thermal, as well as other industries that are interested to measure hydrogen content for purification purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EUROfusion Heritage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The\ntechnology was developed in the context of nuclear fusion by ENEA Brasimone\nfor the measurement of hydrogen isotopes concentration in lead-lithium alloy.\nThe measured value represents a key parameter to assess the capability to\nrecover tritium from the alloy and to measure the availability of hydrogen, as\nthe fuel for the fusion reaction. In fact, in fusion reactors tritium is bred\nin lead-lithium by neutron transmutation of the lithium atoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\ntechnology has been designed during several years within EUROfusion\nframework and is now the first sensor able to directly measure the hydrogen\npartial pressure in a liquid metal, while also avoiding to be affected by other\ngases or impurities dissolved in the alloy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nsensors also found application in a project funded by Fusion For Energy (F4E)\nin order to evaluate the performances of a tritium extraction technology called\nGas-Liquid Contactor (GLC), in which hydrogen isotopes are extracted by\nlead-lithium by means of a continuous flow of a stripping gas (helium or helium+hydrogen).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sourcing new fusion technologies everywhere in Europe to foster your innovation… Abstract Leading the research on liquid metal technology for breeding blankets in close collaboration with EUROfusion, ENEA Brasimone Research Centre (Italy) has developed a new type of sensor able to perform direct measurements of the hydrogen partial pressure in liquid metals, not considering contribution […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":759,"href":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions\/759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/techtransfer.euro-fusion.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}