Advancement Toward the Experimental Measurement of the Lead–Bismuth Eutectic Thermal Properties Using Differential Scanning Calorimetry Technique

Abstract

The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method has recently emerged as a sophisticated and precise technique for promising contributions to the thermal analysis of various materials, including heavy liquid metal (HLM) coolants. However, there is a lack of experimental studies on the thermal properties of lead-based fluids, such as lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) and lead-lithium eutectic, which are potential candidates for use as coolants, breeders, and neutron multipliers in advanced nuclear systems like the fourth-generation lead-cooled fast reactor. The available experimental data on the thermal properties of LBE and other lead-based fluids is limited, and the measurements have significant uncertainty. In addition, the composition of components used in the previous studies is inconsistent, and the environmental conditions were often unknown. Therefore, to fill these gaps and advance the thermal properties measurement technique for heavy liquid metal coolants, ENEA Brasimone, in collaboration with DICI-UNIPI, has installed a DSC instrument setup. The experiments performed at the installed DSC setup are focused on measuring some essential thermal properties of LBE using DSC. The experience gained from this work will facilitate the measurement of other fluids based on lead alloy, especially lead-lithium eutectic, a potential candidate for breeder, coolant, and neutron multiplier in DEMO fusion reactors. This study represents the first effort to advance the DSC approach for accurately measuring the thermal characteristics of heavy liquid metals that are highly reactive, such as lead-lithium, which has significant potential in advanced nuclear systems.