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Effect of the Fabrication Process of Ceramic Pebbles on the Porosity of Li2TiO3 Tritium Breeder

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Abstract

The Li2TiO3 pebble has been recognized as a prominent candidate breeder material. In terms of the functional requirements of the tritium breeders, the open porosity, density and lithium density, crush load, and grain size of the pebbles are important parameters. In order to investigate the effect of the fabrication process on the open porosity of Li2TiO3 pebbles, the Li2TiO3 pebbles were fabricated by three different ways: the graphite bed process, the gel-casting method, and the agar method. The microstructure, crush load, and phase of these pebbles were also investigated. In addition, it also evaluated and optimized the fabrication process for Li2TiO3 pebbles. The optimal crush load, grain size, and open porosity of the pebbles fabricated by the agar method were 86.2 N, 2.5 μm, and 10.2 %, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51372017 and 51172019), International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Project of China (No. 2014GB123000) and National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Energy Research Project (No. 2015GB121006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Maoqiao Xiang, Yingchun Zhang, Yun Zhang & Chaofu Wang

  2. Department of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, People’s Republic of China

    Yonghong Yu

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  1. Maoqiao Xiang
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  2. Yingchun Zhang
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  3. Yun Zhang
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  4. Chaofu Wang
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Correspondence to Yingchun Zhang.

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Xiang, M., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y. et al. Effect of the Fabrication Process of Ceramic Pebbles on the Porosity of Li2TiO3 Tritium Breeder. J Fusion Energ 34, 1423–1432 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10894-015-9991-7

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