Manufacturing reducing cost with cells

The shielding blanket is composed of water-cooled steel modules, which are directly supported by the vacuum vessel and are effective in moderating the 14MeV neutrons, with a water-cooled copper mat bonded to the surface of the modules on the plasma side, and protected from interaction with the plasma by beryllium. Manufacturing considerations can be found elsewhere [48]. The first wall incorporates two start-up limiters located in two equatorial ports. With the aim to reduce cost and nuclear waste, the design includes a modular and separable first wall. This allows damaged or eroded blanket modules to be repaired inside the hot cell either by replacement of panels or by plasma spraying or other methods. 

One cornerstone provision of cGMPs is validation, a concept introduced to assure product consistency [84], The validation of downstream processing operations aims to prove that they are capable of consistently removing impurities (e.g., host cell components, process-related materials, adventitious agents) to acceptable levels. Additionally, acceptance limits and operating ranges for each step must be determined [84]. Validation studies usually lead to optimized processes with reduced variability and, as a consequence, to a decrease in the number of failed batches. Thus, the development of adenovirus manufacturing processes (and associated facility) should be undertaken with validation in mind, not only to improve quality assurance and accelerate approval, but also to reduce costs [85, 86]. 

The primary focus of ongoing research has been to improve performance and reduce cost. The principal areas of development are improved cell membranes, CO removal from the fuel stream, and improved electrode design. There has been a move toward operation with zero humidification at ambient pressure, increased cell temperature, and direct fuel use. DuPont now produces a membrane of 2 mils or less thickness that performs (at lower current densities) similar to the Dow Chemical Company membrane, the XUS 13204.10 depicted in the top curve of Figure 3-5 (42). There is ongoing work to investigate alternative membranes and MEAs that not only exhibit durability and high performance, but also can be manufactured inexpensively in high volume. 

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