Active

Contract Opportunity

TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY

Advanced Materials Testing with MRTI Capsule

A revolutionary technology for advanced materials testing in the nuclear industry, providing in-situ temperature-controlled active instrumentation for versatile materials irradiation testing.

Opportunity: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), managed and operated by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA), offers the opportunity to enter into a license and/or collaborative research agreement to commercialize this Advanced Materials Testing with MRTI Capsule technology. This technology transfer opportunity is part of a dedicated effort to convert government-funded research into job opportunities, businesses, and, ultimately, an improved way of life for the American people.

Overview: The Molten-salt Research Temperature-Controlled Irradiation (MRTI) Capsule is a revolutionary technology for the nuclear industry to test advanced materials for next-generation nuclear reactors. The MRTI Capsule utilizes a custom immersion heater to allow in-situ control of testing conditions up to 1000C for various molten salt or molten metal systems while irradiating in a neutron flux field. This creates a potential for streamlined testing of various salts and coolant compositions at various temperatures. Collecting both in-situ and ex-situ data is critical to understanding structural materials' performance and nuclear fuels' performance.

Description: The MRTI Capsule is a sealed capsule made of IN625 material with a custom immersion heater to control the temperature of the tested material. Thermocouples and an optical fiber pressure sensor record the in-situ temperatures experienced by the materials throughout irradiation. Gas gap composition, radial radiative heat shield thickness, and a wide range of heater powers are used to reach the desired equilibrium temperature of the system, which can be adjusted for a wide range of testing needs. The MRTI capsule is designed for post-irradiation examination (PIE) systems for collecting off-gas and retrieving desired testing samples.

Benefits:

• Collect in-situ and ex-situ data for advanced materials testing.

• A versatile and high-temperature irradiation test vehicle

• Enables testing of fueled molten salts, a first in the industry.

• Quick turnaround for many different salt compositions

• Provides prototypic conditions for testing material behavior.

Applications:

• Advanced nuclear reactor designs using molten salt or molten metal coolants.

Development Status: TRL 4 technology has been validated in a laboratory environment.

IP Status: Provisional Patent Application No. 63/382,065, “In-situ Temperature-controlled Active Instrumentation Capsule for Versatile Materials Irradiation Testing,” BEA Docket No. BA-1451.

INL seeks to license the above intellectual property to a company with a demonstrated ability to bring such inventions to the market. Exclusive rights in defined fields of use may be available. Added value is placed on relationships with small businesses, start-up companies, and general entrepreneurship opportunities.

Please visit Technology Deployment’s website at https://inl.gov/inl-initiatives/technology-deployment for more information on working with INL and the industrial partnering and technology transfer process.

Companies interested in learning more about this licensing opportunity should contact Andrew Rankin at td@inl.gov.

Attachments/Links