Oxidation kinetics of SPS-densified U3Si2 fuels—Microstructure impact

Gong, Bowen; Yang, Kun; Zhao, Dong; Nelson, Andrew T.; Lian, Jie

doi:10.1063/5.0086630

Title: Oxidation kinetics of SPS-densified U₃Si₂ fuels—Microstructure impact

Journal Article · 08 June 2022 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0086630 · OSTI ID:1872825

Gong, Bowen ^[1]; Yang, Kun ^[1]; Zhao, Dong ^[1];

^[2];

^[1]

Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Here, U₃Si₂ is a potential candidate for accident tolerant fuels because of its high uranium density and excellent thermal conductivity in comparison to UO₂. However, U₃Si₂ suffers from oxidation, steam corrosion, and subsequent disintegration/pulverization. The detailed investigation of kinetics that incorporates fundamental treatment of oxidation of U₃Si₂ is scarcely reported, and the oxidation mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In this paper, the oxidation behavior of microcrystalline (mc^-) and nanocrystalline (nc^-) U₃Si₂ have been systematically investigated using a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) apparatus through a series of isothermal and non-isothermal kinetic studies. The isothermal kinetic study with a model-fitting approach indicates oxidation activation energy of 85 kJ/mol for dense mc^-U₃Si₂ and 96.4 kJ/mol for nc^-U₃Si₂ pellets, while the isoconversional approach leads to an activation energy in the range of 70–85 kJ/mol for mc^-U₃Si₂ and 75–86 kJ/mol for nc^-U₃Si₂ with three most common model-free methods, including Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa, and Friedman methods. The derivation of oxidation activation energies using both isothermal and isoconversional methods highlights the approach to evaluate the oxidation resistance of nuclear materials using TGA quantitatively and makes it possible to compare among various nuclear fuels.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; NE0008532

OSTI ID:: 1872825

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 131; ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
U3Si2
accident tolerant fuels
oxidation activation energy
oxidation kinetics
oxidation resistance

Title: Oxidation kinetics of SPS-densified U3Si2 fuels—Microstructure impact

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Title: Oxidation kinetics of SPS-densified U₃Si₂ fuels—Microstructure impact