|
|
 |
|
ph: 604-688-2398 fx: 604-688-1963
CAN'T FIND SOMETHING? |
Business in Vancouver May 6-12, 2008; issue 967 TRIUMF taps Richmond company’s superconductor welding technology Pavac’s electron beam expertise to help unlock secrets of the universe Curt Cherewayko In the early stages of building its new particle accelerator, TRIUMF contracted an Italian metal fabricator, one of the few companies in the world with the electron beam welding technology needed to meet its precision specifications. Back then, TRIUMF, a nuclear physics research laboratory run by a co-op of universities, didn’t know there was an electron beam welder in its own backyard: Richmond’s Pavac Industries. TRIUMF later hired Pavac to build the operational version of radio frequency cavities that have superconducting capabilities. The partnership will build 20 more cavities, which are used to expand TRIUMF’s heavy-ion superconducting accelerator. It’s a milestone for TRIUMF. The lab claims it’s now one of only five organizations worldwide that have the superconducting accelerator technology. Nigel Lockyer, TRIUMF’s director, could identify only a handful of companies that have the technology for building its cavities. They include Germany’s ACCEL Instruments, Chicago’s Sciaky Inc. and Italy’s Ettore Zanon – which worked with TRIUMF in the first half of the accelerator project. “If you want to make these cavities, there are only a few places in the world you can go to do it,” said Lockyer. “We now have the ability to design … and make them locally.” Pavac’s “Lastron” laser technology generates electrons that travel at ultra-high-speeds. Focused into a beam, they can penetrate the niobium used to make TRIUMF’s cavities. Inside the material, the electrons slow down rapidly. In doing so, they generate the intense heat needed for precision welding in superconducting cavities. One of the beam’s advantages, said Pavac president Ralf Edinger, is that it generates heat inside a material, not just on its surface, as is the case in traditional welding. The Lastron welding is also done inside a vacuum, which eliminates oxides, nitrites and other impurities. Pavac’s contract with TRIUMF translates into a $600,000 paycheque for the company. Pavac has so far been financed by Edinger, who founded the company in 1999, and by friends-and-family- level investments. Edinger plans to take the company public in the next 12 to 24 months to raise $10 million. With $2.5 million in revenue thus far this year, the company has surpassed the $1.8 million it generated in 2007. Pavac’s largest market is aerospace, where its customers include Vector Aerospace and Heli-One. For aerospace customers, Pavac is typically contracted to weld jet engine and other precision parts. But Pavac’s electron beam system has other applications. For example, it can be used to evaporate compounds to form thermal coatings used in jet engines. McGill University’s Aerospace Materials and Alloy Development Centre in Montreal invested just over $2 million in one of Pavac’s systems for this purpose in 2006. The beam can also be scanned through gases to cause a chemical reaction. Pavac is consequently developing a flue gas treatment system to convert fossil fuels into fertilizer. Pavac’s business is split roughly between contracted service work and sales of complete electron beam systems, which Pavac builds at its Richmond plant. The company is finalizing a $1.7 million sale of a welding system to an Indian aerospace firm. Edinger said that, with Pavac requiring only an export permit, the deal is 90% complete. Inside the superconducting cavities that Pavac is welding, TRIUMF will recreate micro-versions of a supernova – the explosion that occurs in a collapsing star’s final dying seconds – to gain a better understanding of how chemical elements are produced. TRIUMF’s research is trying to validate the theory that supernovas create an abundance of elements. “Copper in your body, for example, has been made in a supernova explosion,” said Lockyer. “Our solar system is believed to be the remnants of about 10 supernovas in this area of the galaxy.” • cgc@biv.com |
|
||||
|
Comments about this site should be sent to: | ||||||
