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

Author

Listed:
  • C. Amy

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • D. Budenstein

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • M. Bagepalli

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • D. England

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • F. DeAngelis

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • G. Wilk

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • C. Jarrett

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • C. Kelsall

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • J. Hirschey

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • H. Wen

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • A. Chavan

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • B. Gilleland

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • C. Yuan

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • W. C. Chueh

    (Stanford University)

  • K. H. Sandhage

    (School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
    School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University)

  • Y. Kawajiri

    (School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • A. Henry

    (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
    School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
    Heat Lab, Georgia Institute of Technology)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Amy & D. Budenstein & M. Bagepalli & D. England & F. DeAngelis & G. Wilk & C. Jarrett & C. Kelsall & J. Hirschey & H. Wen & A. Chavan & B. Gilleland & C. Yuan & W. C. Chueh & K. H. Sandhage & Y. Ka, 2017. "Pumping liquid metal at high temperatures up to 1,673 kelvin," Nature, Nature, vol. 550(7675), pages 199-203, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:550:y:2017:i:7675:d:10.1038_nature24054
    DOI: 10.1038/nature24054
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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Jikang & Zhang, Yuanting & Zhang, Weichen & Qiu, Yu & Li, Qing, 2022. "Design and evaluation of a lab-scale tungsten receiver for ultra-high-temperature solar energy harvesting," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    2. Wu, Junjun & Tan, Yu & Li, Peng & Wang, Hong & Zhu, Xun & Liao, Qiang, 2022. "Centrifugal-Granulation-Assisted thermal energy recovery towards low-carbon blast furnace slag treatment: State of the art and future challenges," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    3. Amy, Caleb & Pishahang, Mehdi & Kelsall, Colin C. & LaPotin, Alina & Henry, Asegun, 2021. "High-temperature Pumping of Silicon for Thermal Energy Grid Storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    4. Jing Liu & Yongqing He & Xianliang Lei, 2019. "Heat-Transfer Characteristics of Liquid Sodium in a Solar Receiver Tube with a Nonuniform Heat Flux," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, April.
    5. Amy, Caleb & Pishahang, Mehdi & Kelsall, Colin & LaPotin, Alina & Brankovic, Sonja & Yee, Shannon & Henry, Asegun, 2022. "Thermal energy grid storage: Liquid containment and pumping above 2000 °C," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    6. Zhang, Yuanting & Qiu, Yu & Li, Qing & Henry, Asegun, 2022. "Optical-thermal-mechanical characteristics of an ultra-high-temperature graphite receiver designed for concentrating solar power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).

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