Mitternight Industries Awarded Innovative DOE Fusion Project

MOBILE, Ala., Sept. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of a $1.15 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant awarded to KVA Stainless by the U.S. Department of Energy, Mitternight Industries announced a partnership with KVA Stainless. This partnership will collaborate to develop a new welding process for the U.S. Department of Energy's continued research and development efforts towards clean and sustainable energy. 

Mitternight Industries will provide design engineering and fabrication of the prototype reactor which will implement KVA Stainless's integrated welding and thermal processing procedures. This SBIR project will develop integrated joining methods to enable fabrication of complex structures while maintaining required dimensional accuracy, material and physical properties. The 24-month project is scheduled to commence in Q4 of 2021 with plans for a working prototype to be complete by Q1 of 2023.

"A fusion reactor's structural components must withstand extreme heat, radiation and temperature which is why it's critical to develop procedures that mitigate against metallurgical strength degradation due to these harsh conditions," said Lance Covan, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Mitternight. "We congratulate KVA on being awarded this grant by the U.S. DOE and are excited to be their partner in this project. For decades, the world's great powers have been in a race to develop nuclear fusion, and advances in technology have progressed us closer than ever to achieving this process once thought to be only in science fiction novels."

About Mitternight

Founded in 1927, Mitternight Industries is a comprehensive industrial solution provider and manufacturer of ASMEcode vessels including heat exchangers, chemical reactors, distillation columns and other pressure vessels, utilizing materials ranging from carbon steel to titanium. Mitternight's unique, market-based approach of self-performed services which include EPC operations, original equipment manufacturing (OEM) fabrication and construction, and field services have propelled Mitternight to be a recognized turnkey solution provider for many of most sophisticated projects for Fortune 500 customers around the world. For more information, visit mitternight.com. 

SOURCE Mitternight Industries