Characterization and irradiation performance of HTGR Biso-coated fertile particles in HFIR experiments HT-28, -29, and -30

Technical Report · Tue Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5324584· OSTI ID:5324584

Long, Jr., E. L.; Krautwasser, P.; Beatty, R. L.; Kania, M. J.; Morgan, Jr., C. S.; Yust, C. S.

Capsules HT-28, -29, and -30 were irradiated in the target region of the High Flux Isotope Reactor at ORNL to determine the relative fast-neutron stability of pyrolytic carbons that had been prepared in a small laboratory coating furnace with various deposition conditions. The pyrolytic carbon coatings of 22 batches of particles of HTGR design were characterized by various methods, including optical anisotropy measurements, hot gaseous chlorine leaching, plasma oxidation, small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements, mercury intrusion, immersion density, and, in a few cases, neon-helium permeability measurements. The results of the above measurements were used to quantify microstructural differences between pyrolytic coatings derived at various conditions and to correlate the performance of the coatings with the measured properties. The most consistent results were obtained by comparing various pore size distributions within the coatings (determined from SAXS measurements) with immersion density, mercury intrusion, chlorine leaching, and neon-helium permeability results and with irradiation performance of the coatings. This study also demonstrated that care must be exercised if experiments on coatings containing inert carbon kernels that were codeposited along with dense thoria kernels are to yield meaningful results.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 5324584
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-7298
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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