Helium cooling of plasma-facing components is preferred in fusion energy devices because it is highly efficacious as a safety mechanism. However, divertors must be designed to absorb large heat flux levels without failure. The heat flux on a divertor component is in the range of 10-20 mw/m2. DMS in collaboration with Ultramet has designed and built specialized heat exchangers made of molybdenum alloys, with internal cooling through a porous network of moly and tungsten foam that acts both as fins and micro-nozzles to enhance the heat transfer capabilities of the divertor plate. The developed components were successfully tested with electron beams at Sandia National Laboratories.
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