Industrial technological research aimed at optimising the efficiency of a Large Fusion Science Facility such as IFMIF-DONES
On 30th December 2022, the grant for the DONES-FLUX project was published, which will take a global view of the optimisation of the different flows within IFMIF-DONES. This will make it possible to have a state-of-the-art smart facility that can eliminate inefficiencies that put its operation and maintenance at risk, especially in the current situation of the energy crisis.
This project, led by HI-Iberia, involves the companies ASE Optics Europe, DEM Barcelona, EDAIR Technologies, Leading Metal-Mechanic Solutions, and SUPRASYS.
Specifically, the following elements will be addressed:
- An intelligent system with the buffering capacity and intelligent demand management will be developed to control the power flow in the grid.
- Developments will be carried out to optimise the control of the particle beam flow (extraction systems, radio frequency cavities, and Artificial Intelligence strategies).
- The lithium flow will be controlled using non-contact measurement systems that allow real-time monitoring of both flow characteristics and argon levels with intelligent support in unique laboratories designed for this purpose.
- Finally, as a result of the facility, an AI system will be investigated to improve the efficiency of the neutron flux.
Progress on these different elements will offer solutions to priority needs identified by the IFMIF-DONES Spain Consortium (members of the project team), which guarantees their suitability for the project. In addition, many of the solutions that will be investigated can be directly extrapolated to other facilities on the fusion roadmap or in the science industry sector in general.
This project, with file number MIP-20221017, has been subsidised by the CDTI – Centro de Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación – through the ‘CDTI Missiones’ Programme 2022 and the European Union – NextGenerationEU – Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Mechanism.
