Characterization of charcoals for helium cryopumping in fusion devices

The capability of charcoal as a sorbent for helium at cryogenic temperatures depends upon charcoal characteristics that are not well understood. Previous work by the authors has indicated that the charcoals' pumping capability for helium depends as much on their source as on their particle size distributions. To develop a correlation between the physical characteristics of charcoal and helium pumping performance, different charcoals based on wood, coal, coconut, and a petroleum by-product were obtained from commercial sources. They were bonded to an aluminum substrate, and cooled to liquid-helium temperatures in a vacuum chamber. The helium pumping speed at constant throughput versus quantity of helium absorbed was measured for each charcoal grade. Porosimetry measurements on each charcoal grade using nitrogen as the sorbent gas were made that included total surface area, adsorption and desorption isotherms, and pore area and pore voiume distributions. Significant differences in helium pumping performance and in pore size distribution were observed. Comparisons are made between helium pumping performance and charcoal characteristics and a possible correlation is identified.