We manufacture highly reliable indirect electrical heaters which are designed and built to meet the particular requirements of each customer application. We have used such heaters with excellent results as nuclear fuel simulators in Critical Heat Flux experiments (with heat flux >300 Watts/cm²) and loss of coolant, or emergency cooling, experiments (for operating temperatures over 1100°C, with low heat flux). We have supplied North American, European and Asian laboratories with heaters for use in their laboratories. We are continually developing new processes and investigating better materials in an effort to improve their quality. Sheath materials used include Zircaloy and nickel alloys. Thermocouples can be installed internally in the insulation, internally in dual layer sheaths, externally in grooves in the sheath, or externally with spot welded tabs. Axial heat flux profiles can be varied with great design flexibility.
Clean Room for Fabrication of High Quality Heater Elements
We have also built many directly heated fuel assembly simulations for use in our customers' and our own laboratories. Directly heated (Joule heated sheath) fuel simulators are usually made from high nickel alloy tubing and include internal thermocouples which can slide and rotate to monitor temperatures over most of the heater surface. We have also designed and built specialty fuel simulators, containing hollow UO2 pellets, with the electric heater passing through the pellets, capable of very steep temperature ramps to over 1100°C (2000°F).
Typical Facilities
Custom computer software for design of heaters and components.
Equipment and technology for joining exotic metals, (Zircaloy, Tantalum, Molybdenum, Titanium etc.).
Automatic TIG welding equipment for rapid and consistent fabrication.
Induction brazing equipment.
Clean room for assembly of heater elements in controlled environment.
Laboratory swaging machine to enable precise dimensional control.
Wire EDM machine for precise machining of heater filaments.
Helium leak testing equipment for the detection of defects.
