Pumping liquid metal at high temperatures up to 1,673 kelvin

Pumping liquid metal at high temperatures up to 1,673 kelvin

Heat is fundamental to power generation and many industrial processes, and is most useful at high temperatures because it can be converted more efficiently to other types of energy. However, efficient transportation, storage and conversion of heat at extreme temperatures (more than about 1,300 kelvi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) Vol. 550; no. 7675; pp. 199 - 203
Main Authors: Amy, C., Budenstein, D., Bagepalli, M., England, D., DeAngelis, F., Wilk, G., Jarrett, C., Kelsall, C., Hirschey, J., Wen, H., Chavan, A., Gilleland, B., Yuan, C., Chueh, W. C., Sandhage, K. H., Kawajiri, Y., Henry, A.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12-10-2017
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
639/166/988
639/301/1005
639/4077/4079
639/4077/909/4101/4103
706/4066/4069
Ceramics
Electric power
Electric power generation
Electric power production
Electricity distribution
Energy storage
Fluids
Gases
Heat conductivity
Heat transfer
Heavy metals
High temperature
Humanities and Social Sciences
Liquid metals
Materials processing
Metals
multidisciplinary
Plasma sintering
Production processes
Pumping
Science
Solar energy
Temperature extremes
Thermal properties
Thermal storage
Tin
Titanium nitride
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Summary:Heat is fundamental to power generation and many industrial processes, and is most useful at high temperatures because it can be converted more efficiently to other types of energy. However, efficient transportation, storage and conversion of heat at extreme temperatures (more than about 1,300 kelvin) is impractical for many applications. Liquid metals can be very effective media for transferring heat at high temperatures, but liquid-metal pumping has been limited by the corrosion of metal infrastructures. Here we demonstrate a ceramic, mechanical pump that can be used to continuously circulate liquid tin at temperatures of around 1,473–1,673 kelvin. Our approach to liquid-metal pumping is enabled by the use of ceramics for the mechanical and sealing components, but owing to the brittle nature of ceramics their use requires careful engineering. Our set-up enables effective heat transfer using a liquid at previously unattainable temperatures, and could be used for thermal storage and transport, electric power production, and chemical or materials processing. By using ceramics for the mechanical and sealing components of a mechanical pump, liquid metal can be circulated continuously at temperatures at least as high as 1,673 kelvin. Hot tin proof The ability to manipulate molten metals is not just of interest for materials processing: at extremely high temperatures a molten metal could become a medium for the efficient storage and transport of energy. But the high temperatures involved place severe limitations on the materials available for constructing a pumping apparatus. Caleb Amy et al . now show that usually brittle ceramics can, through careful engineering, be used to construct the mechanical and sealing components of a molten metal pump that is capable of continuous operation at temperatures up to a record 1,673 kelvin (1,400 degrees Celsius).
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content type line 23
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/nature24054