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Pour les actualités en français, voir la page News in French.

In India, "a demonstration of excellence"

21 Mar 2016 - R.A.
Pearce_shielding_blocks.jpg
At Avasarala Technologies Ltd, an impressive view awaited the pair of ITER vacuum experts: thousands upon thousands of in-wall shielding plates to be fitted between the inner and outer walls of the vacuum vessel to provide radiation protection for the magnets.

For an ITER vacuum expert travelling to India, a collection of in-wall shielding blocks, a cryostat pedestal ring or the full-scale mockup of a cryoline section can more than match in awe and excitement the Taj Mahal, the Khajuraho Temples or the Jaipur Palace.

Pearce_Larsen_Toubro.jpg
Nine people can easily stand in the cryostat opening for the torus cryopump housing. At the Larsen & Toubro factory in Hazira, ITER vacuum experts witnessed progress in the testing of the welds and in the manufacturing of the pedestal ring and the lower cylinder of the cryostat. In the first row, Eamonn Quinn (left) and Robert Pearce.
Like ordinary visitors, vacuum experts try to pack as many destinations as possible into their schedule. Why not take advantage of the start of manufacturing on a vacuum sealing test rig in Bangalore to visit other factories manufacturing ITER's vacuum-related components? Or once in Mumbai, why not take the local train and auto rickshaw to visit the Larsen & Toubro Ltd factory in Hazira, less than half an hour away, before continuing further north to Gandhinagar to work with colleagues at the Institute of Plasma Research?

The trip that ITER Vacuum Section Leader Robert Pearce and vacuum mechanical engineer Eamonn Quinn took to India a few weeks ago was of course not about tourism. As India is involved with many of the industrial components that have vacuum requirements or implications it was important, in Robert's words, "to see for ourselves how our standards are applied and to help to improve efficiency in manufacturing."

At Avasarala Technologies Ltd, where in-wall shielding blocks have entered production; at Larsen & Toubro Ltd, where vacuum leak tests are being performed on kilometre-long lengths of cryostat welds; and in other factories and labs, "the demonstration of engineering excellence was truly refreshing to see," says Eamonn.

The initial reason for travelling to India was the port plug sealing test rig, which is expected to be built at Vacuum Techniques (P) Ltd—one of India's largest and most experienced suppliers of high vacuum equipment.

In the ITER Tokamak, some 30 port plugs will provide the interface between the vacuum vessel and systems such as heating and diagnostics. They are large (2 x 2.5 metres), heavy (45 tons), and the quality of the sealing is critical to maintaining high vacuum inside the plasma chamber. "No one has ever done rectangular metallic demountable sealing of the size required by the ITER port plugs," explains Robert.

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