07/22/2025
By Danielle Fretwell
The Francis College of Engineering, Department of Energy Engineering - Nuclear, invites you to attend a Doctoral Dissertation defense by Anthony Bowers on: "Tritium Extraction from Fusion Energy Liquid Breeder Materials."
Candidate Name: Anthony Bowers
Degree: Doctoral
Defense Date: Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Time: 2 - 2:45 p.m.
Location: Teams. Please email the faculty advisor for the link.
Committee:
- Advisor: Subash L. Sharma, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Jerome Delhommelle, Associate Professor, Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Thomas F. Fuerst, Staff Scientist, Idaho National Laboratory
- Dongming Xie, Associate Professor, Chemical engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Abstract:
Fusion energy, particularly via the deuterium-tritium (D-T) reaction, holds great promise but remains heavily dependent on a limited global tritium supply. To support future fusion reactors, in-situ tritium breeding from lithium-based materials such as PbLi, coupled with efficient extraction methods like gas–liquid contactors (GLCs), is essential. This thesis advances tritium extraction by developing system-level and computational models of packed-bed and bubble column GLC designs. The research identifies solubility uncertainty as a major factor influencing GLC performance and emphasizes the importance of accurately modeling PbLi spreading in packed beds to align simulations with experimental results. In bubble column GLCs, hydrogen transport behavior closely followed liquid-side mass transfer resistance theory but was highly sensitive to solubility assumptions. To address these challenges, a pre-conceptual experimental GLC loop was developed to bridge the gap between simulation and practical validation. Finally, the thesis presents ongoing work involving some novel high-fidelity models aimed at resolving key uncertainties in tritium solubility, PbLi wetting behavior, and hydrogen transport in molten systems.