An electrochemical technique for controlled dissolution of zirconium based components of light water reactors

Chatterjee, Sayandev; Fujimoto, Meghan S.; Canfield, Nathan L.; Elmore, Monte R.; Olson, Devin W.; Buck, Edgar C.; Conroy, Michele A.; Varga, Tamas; Senor, David J.

doi:10.1039/C8RA08693A

Title: An electrochemical technique for controlled dissolution of zirconium based components of light water reactors

Journal Article · 14 January 2019 · RSC Advances

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C8RA08693A · OSTI ID:1490768

^[1];

^[1]; Canfield, Nathan L. ^[1]; Elmore, Monte R. ^[1]; Olson, Devin W. ^[1];

^[1]; Conroy, Michele A. ^[1]; Varga, Tamas ^[2]; Senor, David J. ^[1]

Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, USA
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, USA

Zircaloy-4 (Zr-4) based liners and getters are the principle functional components of Tritium-Producing Burnable Absorber Rods (TPBARs) in light water nuclear reactors where they reduce tritiated water into tritium gas. Upon tritium exposure, zirconium tritide is formed, which changes the chemical composition, structure and morphology of these materials. Their thermodynamic properties are affected by (i) the hydride phase identity, (ii) radial and spatial tritide/hydride (T/H) distribution, and (iii) the changes in structure and morphology of the material upon T/H-migration, and their comprehensive knowledge is needed to predict performance of these materials. This work demonstrates that controlled potential electrochemistry techniques to be highly efficient for controlled oxidative radial dissolution of Zr-4 based liners (both unloaded and loaded with hydride/deuteride as chemical surrogates for tritium). The electrodissolution is further combined with microscopic techniques to accurately determine the distribution of hydride phases. This work demonstrates a reliable technique for radially etching the liners after irradiation to provide insight into the radial and spatial distribution of tritium within the TPBAR, improving the fundamental understanding of tritium transport and providing a basis for validating predictive models.

View Journal Article

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1490768

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1491720

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-140123; RSCACL

Journal Information:: RSC Advances, Journal Name: RSC Advances Vol. 9 Journal Issue: 4; ISSN 2046-2069

Publisher:: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 1 work

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (30)

Eddy current pulsed phase thermography considering volumetric induction heating for delamination evaluation in carbon fiber reinforced polymers Yang, Ruizhen; He, Yunze Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4922524	journal	June 2015
Electrochemical behaviour of zirconium electrodes in acidic medium and their applications to electrowinning of copper from dilute solutions Chatelut, M.; Gobert, E.; Vittori, O. Hydrometallurgy, Vol. 43, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-386X(95)00116-X	journal	November 1996
Noncontact Sonic NDE and Defect Imaging Via Local Defect Resonance Solodov, Igor; Rahammer, Markus; Gulnizkij, Nikolai Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 35, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-016-0364-6	journal	August 2016
Electrolyte solutions in liquid ammonia—IX. Electrodeposition and electrodissolution of metals from their salts Gill, J. Bernard; Hall, Michael; MacIntosh, Douglas Electrochimica Acta, Vol. 32, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4686(87)87046-9	journal	April 1987
Hydride embrittlement in ZIRCALOY-4 plate: Part I. Influence of microstructure on the hydride embrittlement in ZIRCALOY-4 at 20 °C and 350 °C Bai, J. B.; Prioul, C.; François, D. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Vol. 25, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02652293	journal	June 1994
Rhombohedral phase produced in abraded surfaces of partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ) Hasegawa, Hideo Journal of Materials Science Letters, Vol. 2, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00722220	journal	March 1983
Hydride embrittlement in ZIRCALOY-4 plate: Part II. interaction between the tensile stress and the hydride morphology Bai, J. B.; Ji, N.; Gilbon, D. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Vol. 25, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02652294	journal	June 1994
Thermal Conductivities for Sintered and Sphere-Pac Li ₂ O and γ -LiAlO ₂ Solid Breeders with and Without Irradiation Effects Liu, Yung Y.; Tam, S. W. Fusion Technology, Vol. 7, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.13182/FST85-A24559	journal	May 1985
On the influence of tempered microstructures on magnetic Barkhausen emission in ferritic steels Moorthy, V.; Vaidyanathan, S.; Jayakumar, T. Philosophical Magazine A, Vol. 77, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1080/01418619808214266	journal	June 1998
The crystal structure of tetragonal ZrO2 Teufer, G. Acta Crystallographica, Vol. 15, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1107/S0365110X62003114	journal	November 1962
Effect of Zr Oxide on the Electrochemical Dissolution of Zircaloy-4 Cladding Tubes Lee, Chang Hwa; Jeon, Min Ku; Heo, Chul Min Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 159, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1149/2.031212jes	journal	January 2012
Assessment of hydrogen levels in Zircaloy-2 by non-destructive testing De, P. K.; John, John T.; Banerjee, S. Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 252, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3115(97)00315-2	journal	January 1998
Phase Analysis in Zirconia Systems Garvie, Ronald C.; Nicholson, Patrick S. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol. 55, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1151-2916.1972.tb11290.x	journal	June 1972
Hydride precipitation by cathodic hydrogen charging method in zirconium alloys Liu, Yanzhang; Peng, Qian; Zhao, Wenjin Materials Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 110, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2007.12.028	journal	July 2008
Structures of ZrO ₂ polymorphs at room temperature by high-resolution neutron powder diffraction Howard, C. J.; Hill, R. J.; Reichert, B. E. Acta Crystallographica Section B Structural Science, Vol. 44, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1107/S0108768187010279	journal	April 1988
Ultrasonics of non-linear contacts: propagation, reflection and NDE-applications Solodov, Igor Yu. Ultrasonics, Vol. 36, Issue 1-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0041-624X(97)00041-3	journal	February 1998
Lateral heat conduction based eddy current thermography for detection of parallel cracks and rail tread oblique cracks Yang, Ruizhen; He, Yunze; Gao, Bin Measurement, Vol. 66 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2015.01.024	journal	April 2015
Theoretical Analysis of Metal Hydride Electrodes Haran, Bala S. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 145, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.1838918	journal	January 1998
Surprising formation of quasi-stable Tc( vi ) in high ionic strength alkaline media Chatterjee, Sayandev; Hall, Gabriel B.; Johnson, Isaac E. Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Vol. 5, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1039/C8QI00219C	journal	January 2018
Magnetic Barkhausen emission to evaluate fatigue damage in a low carbon structural steel Sagar, S.; Parida, N.; Das, S. International Journal of Fatigue, Vol. 27, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2004.06.015	journal	March 2005
Monitoring mechanical damage in structural materials using complimentary NDE techniques based on thermography and acoustic emission Kordatos, E. Z.; Aggelis, D. G.; Matikas, T. E. Composites Part B: Engineering, Vol. 43, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2011.12.013	journal	September 2012
The potentiodynamic behaviour of zirconium and zircalloy-4 in chloride acid media Gardiazabal, I.; Schrebler, R.; Cordova, R. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry, Vol. 119, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0728(81)80070-8	journal	March 1981
Mechanisms of neptunium redox reactions in nitric acid solutions Chatterjee, Sayandev; Bryan, Samuel A.; Casella, Amanda J. Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1039/C6QI00550K	journal	January 2017
An assessment of low cycle fatigue damage using magnetic Barkhausen emission in 9Crâ€“1Mo ferritic steel Moorthy, V. International Journal of Fatigue, Vol. 21, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-1123(98)00079-6	journal	March 1999
An ICP-OES Method with 0.2 Expanded Uncertainties for the Characterization of LiAlO ₂ Salit, Marc L.; Vocke, Robert D.; Kelly, W. Robert Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 72, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1021/ac0000877	journal	August 2000
Identification of Crack Initiation in Aluminum Alloys using Acoustic Emission Vanniamparambil, P. A.; Guclu, U.; Kontsos, A. Experimental Mechanics, Vol. 55, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-015-9984-5	journal	January 2015
Determination of the hydrogen diffusion coefficient in metal hydrides by impedance spectroscopy Haran, Bala S.; Popov, Branko N.; White, Ralph E. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 75, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7753(98)00092-5	journal	September 1998
Anodic dissolution of metals in ionic liquids Abbott, Andrew P.; Frisch, Gero; Hartley, Jennifer Progress in Natural Science: Materials International, Vol. 25, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnsc.2015.11.005	journal	December 2015
Microstructural characterization of M250 grade maraging steel using nonlinear ultrasonic technique Viswanath, A.; Rao, B. P. C.; Mahadevan, S. Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 45, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-010-4765-0	journal	July 2010
Intramolecular NH···Pt Interactions of Platinum(II) Diimine Complexes with Phenyl Ligands Chatterjee, Sayandev; Krause, Jeanette A.; Oliver, Allen G. Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 49, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1021/ic1007582	journal	November 2010