Steam Oxidation Testing in the Severe Accident Test Station

Technical Report · Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1324197· OSTI ID:1324197

Pint, Bruce A. ^[1]; McMurray, Jake W. ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Since 2011, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been conducting high temperature steam oxidation testing of candidate alloys for accident tolerant fuel (ATF) cladding. These concepts are designed to enhance safety margins in light water reactors (LWR) during severe accident scenarios. In the US ATF community, the Severe Accident Test Station (SATS) has been evaluating candidate materials (including coatings) since 2012. Compared to the current UO₂/Zr-based alloy fuel system, alternative cladding materials need to offer slower oxidation kinetics and a smaller enthalpy of oxidation in order to significantly reduce the rate of heat and hydrogen generation in the core during a coolant-limited severe accident. The steam oxidation behavior of candidate materials is a key metric in the evaluation of ATF concepts and also an important input into models. However, prior modeling work of FeCrAl cladding has used incomplete information on the physical properties of FeCrAl. Also, the steam oxidation data being collected at 1200°-1700°C is unique as no prior work has considered steam oxidation of alloys at such high temperatures. In some cases, the results have been difficult to interpret and more fundamental information is needed such as the stability of alumina in flowing steam at 1400°-1500°C. This report summarizes recent work to measure the steam oxidation kinetics of candidate alloys, the evaporation rate of alumina in steam and the development of integral data on FeCrAl compared to conventional Zr-based cladding.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1324197
• Report Number(s): ORNL/LTR-2016/425; AF5810000; NEAF278; TRN: US1601916
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ACCIDENT-TOLERANT NUCLEAR FUELS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
OXIDATION
FUEL CANS
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
STEAM
TEMPERATURE RANGE 1000-4000 K
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
ALUMINIUM ALLOYS
TERNARY ALLOY SYSTEMS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
EVAPORATION
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
COATINGS
STABILITY
Accident tolerant fuel cladding
steam oxidation
Alumina
FeCrAl
Zr