Quantitative hydrogen analysis of zircaloy-4 in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy with ambient helium gas

Journal Article · Sat Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2007 · Applied Optics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.46.008298· OSTI ID:21013799

Ramli, Muliadi; Fukumoto, Ken-ichi; Niki, Hideaki; Abdulmadjid, Syahrun Nur; Idris, Nasrullah; Maruyama, Tadashi; Kagawa, Kiichiro; Tjia, May On; Pardede, Marincan; Kurniawan, Koo Hendrik; Hedwig, Rinda; Lie, Zener Sukra; Lie, Tjung Jie; Kurniawan, Davy Putra

This experiment was carried out to address the need for overcoming the difficulties encountered in hydrogen analysis by means of plasma emission spectroscopy in atmospheric ambient gas. The result of this study on zircaloy-4 samples from a nuclear power plant demonstrates the possibility of attaining a very sharp emission line from impure hydrogen with a very low background and practical elimination of spectral contamination of hydrogen emission arising from surface water and water vapor in atmospheric ambient gas. This was achieved by employing ultrapure ambient helium gas as well as the proper defocusing of the laser irradiation and a large number of repeated precleaning laser shots at the same spot of the sample surface. Further adjustment of the gating time has led to significant reduction of spectral width and improvement of detection sensitivity to {approx}50 ppm. Finally, a linear calibration curve was also obtained for the zircaloy-4 samples with zero intercept. These results demonstrate the feasibility of this technique for practical in situ and quantitative analysis of hydrogen impurity in zircaloy-4 tubes used in a light water nuclear power plant.

• OSTI ID: 21013799
• Journal Information: Applied Optics, Journal Name: Applied Optics Journal Issue: 34 Vol. 46; ISSN 0003-6935; ISSN APOPAI
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
BREAKDOWN
CALIBRATION
CONTAMINATION
EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY
HELIUM
HYDROGEN
LASER RADIATION
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER VAPOR
ZIRCALOY 4