Head: Dr. Carsten Schroer

The unique thermophysical properties of liquid metals enable heat transfer at high flux and high temperature. They open new avenues for high-temperature processes including energy conversion and storage.

However, the liquid metals of interest strongly interact with metallic structural materials, most notably steels and nickel-base alloys. Phenomena observed are the solution of the constituent parts of the material and, for specific solid metal/ liquid metal couples, a degradation of mechanical material properties beyond simple material consumption.

Oxygen dissolved in the molten metal may significantly impact the interaction with metallic materials, whereas other dissolved non-metals impair the flow properties of the liquid. Conducting chemical or nuclear reactions in liquid metals generally requires the extraction of non-metals formed as the primary product or by-product.

The Liquid Metal Technology Group of the IAM-AWP contributes to the HGF programs FUSION, MTET and NUSAFE, with focus on: