The New Zealand entrepreneurship OpenStar is one of the few companies in the world that is working on using fusion energy as an alternative fuel source.Their model is based on natural processes that we know from nature. Examples of this are the earth's magnetic field, which protects the earth, and fusion, which makes the stars shine.
In contrast to conventional nuclear fusion tokamaks, the OpenStar magnet is a "levitated dipole" magnet (free-floating magnet) of a fusion reactor. This means that during operation it is decoupled from all supporting devices and is operated magnetically free-floating. When it is floating, the connections to the cold box must be disconnected. Before disconnecting, the helium flow must be stopped and the helium in the magnet must be extracted. "This is only possible with BUTTING CryoTech valves," adds Alaina Pitt, Communications Coordinator at OpenStar. For cooling, the cold box uses two Cryomech cryocoolers to cool helium gas down to approximately -253 °C and pump this gas through the superconducting magnet that is at the heart of the levitated dipole demonstrator.
BUTTING is convinced that this project offers enormous potential to establish a safe and sustainable energy source in the long term. We remain in close contact with OpenStar.
BUTTING – more than pipes – for a better quality of life
OpenStar, New Zealand & BUTTING: Shaping the future of energy generation
