Abstract
Fusion reactors are one of the best possible solutions to produce sustainable power. In these reactors, by-product helium needs to be continuously removed as they might react with the fuel (tritium) thereby affecting the reaction kinetics. To achieve the same, clean, vibration free and ultra-high vacuum pumps are used which are also unaffected by external electrical and magnetic fields. Considering these limitations, cryosorption pump is the most effective solution. These pumps remove helium molecules by adsorbing them on a cold adsorbent which is maintained at a low temperature by conducting heat from it to a cryopanel via an adhesive. Hence, there is a need for adhesives with high thermal conductivity (T.C.) and optimum bonding strength (B.S.). Towards this, here, we have mixed two different metallic fillers particles namely silver and copper in the epoxy adhesive in different volume fractions. The thermal conductivity and bonding strength of epoxy-silver and epoxy-copper composite adhesives are measured experimentally at the temperatures of 4 K and 7 K, and the latter is found to be the better option. Thus, epoxy-copper adhesive is selected for the development of the cryosorption pump and subsequent measurement of the helium gas pumping speed to achieve the required favourable conditions.
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