Feasibility study of a new fabrication method for the Li4Sio4 pebbles

In the past decades many R&D efforts have been spent in the development of a suitable Li4SiO4 fabrication method (e.g., melt spray process, graphite bed method, capillary-based microfluidic wet method etc.), nevertheless we are still far from an “industrial standard solution”. The aim of the paper is to develop a new fabrication method capable to produce stable and well-sized pebbles of lithium orthosilicate (Li4SiO4) based on the drip casting. This method is mainly based on the dripping at room temperature, which is novel in the framework of available fabrication processes requiring high temperature: this latter is demonstrated to affect the final product characteristics. It is worthy to remark that the Li4SiO4 is a candidate material for the breeding blanket material of the fusion power reactor. In the paper we will describe the experimental apparatus, designed and built at DICI-University of Pisa with the collaboration of Bitossi Industries, and the procedure adopted in order to produce pebbles of Li4SiO4.