Nucleation and growth of lead oxide particles in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic

Gladinez, Kristof; Rosseel, Kris; Lim, Jun; Marino, Alessandro; Heynderickx, Geraldine; Aerts, Alexander

doi:10.1039/c7cp05068b

Cited by 25 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In an experiment in which the temperature of the LBE was cycled between 300 °C and 450 °C, the trend of the oversaturation can be attributed to nucleation and growth (upon temperature decrease) and dissolution (upon temperature increase) of lead oxide particles in the LBE. The observed trends were well-described by a model based on classical nucleation and growth theory ( Figure 6) [16].…”

Section: Impurity Chemistry and Managementsupporting

confidence: 56%

The LBE Coolant Chemistry R&D Programme for the MYRRHA ADS: Chemistry and Control of Oxygen, Corrosion and Spallation Products

Aerts

Gladinez

Prieto

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the 14th International Workshop on Spallation Materials Technology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Compatibility with structural materials and activation are major challenges of the use of heavy liquid metal (HLM) spallation targets and coolants such as lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE). Steel exposed to HLM is prone to corrosion which results in the release of steel elements in the HLM coolant. A commonly accepted strategy to reduce corrosion rates is to maintain a sufficiently elevated dissolved oxygen concentration in order to stabilize a protective oxide layer on the steel surface in contact with HLM. We present a brief overview of the oxygen sensing and control technology for LBE, developed in the frame of the MYRRHA accelerator driven system (ADS) demonstrate its performance on a large scale in the MEXICO chemistry loop (Mass Exchanger In Continuous Operation). MYRRHA stands for Multipurpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications accelerator driven system and is currently under development at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, and will operate between 200 °C and 400 °C with a target oxygen concentration level of 10-7 wt-%. Numerical simulations allowed mapping of the local oxygen concentration in MYRRHA, enabling identification of the regions in the core which could be prone to corrosion. On the other hand, oxygen concentrations must be sufficiently low to avoid formation of solid lead oxide (PbO) in the primary circuit. When designing a nuclear system such as an ADS, one must take into account accidents that may lead to increase of the oxygen concentration in the LBE and assess the probability for PbO formation and its consequences. In this context, we have studied the formation of lead oxide from oxygen-oversaturated LBE and determined the metastable limit for PbO nucleation. Corrosion products that are released in the LBE will interact with dissolved oxygen in LBE to form corrosion product oxides. These interactions influence the concentration of both dissolved oxygen and dissolved corrosion products. This in turn can cause changes in the corrosion process itself by altering the driving force for steel element dissolution or protective oxide layer decomposition. Experimental results will be presented which provide evidence for the precipitation and dissolution of oxides of iron impurities in LBE. Numerical simulations based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and chemical equilibrium complement experiments in understanding the interactions between coolant chemistry and reactor thermal-hydraulics. A similar approach was adopted for simulating the chemistry of spallation and other radioactive impurities in the primary LBE of MYRRHA. Simulations allow the prediction of released fraction, vapor composition and precipitation/dissolution phenomena in the LBE, as function of the oxygen concentration in the LBE and of the oxygen and humidity content of the cover gas in contact with the LBE. Simulations of the chemical behavior of several critical

show abstract

Section: Impurity Chemistry and Managementsupporting

confidence: 56%

The LBE Coolant Chemistry R&D Programme for the MYRRHA ADS: Chemistry and Control of Oxygen, Corrosion and Spallation Products

Aerts

Gladinez

Prieto

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the 14th International Workshop on Spallation Materials Technology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This slow decrease could be attributed either to the oxidation process of structural steels or to the precipitation of PbO. According to oxygen supersolubility 17 and solubility 18 in LBE, the dissolved oxygen concentration and the temperature range of the loop allow the nucleation and growth of PbO. The expected temperature range for the nucleation and growth during this period is given in Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance of Electrochemical Oxygen Pump in a Liquid Lead-Bismuth Eutectic Loop

Lim

Manfredi

Rosseel

et al. 2019

J. Electrochem. Soc.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Control of the dissolved oxygen concentration is crucial for the use of liquid lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) as a coolant of advanced nuclear reactors. An electrochemical oxygen pumping (EOP) system was applied to a non-isothermal liquid LBE loop in order to evaluate its capability to control oxygen in 700 liters of flowing LBE. Oxygen pumps were fabricated using one end closed tube of yttria partially stabilized zirconia (YPSZ) as the solid electrolyte and LSCF (lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite) as electrode. The oxygen transfer through the oxygen pump was regulated by controlling the applied electric current using a PID controller with feedback from a potentiometric oxygen sensor. The oxygen was added to or removed from the LBE by oxygen pumps depending on target oxygen concentration and a process value given by the oxygen sensor. At low oxygen concentrations, oxygen removal rates were limited by oxygen mass transfer. This limitation could be overcome by operating the pumps above the decomposition potential of zirconia.

show abstract

“…The formation of PbO(s) from liquid Pb and dissolved oxygen (in Pb) involves the creation of a new solid surface in contact with liquid Pb. This process is known as nucleation and has been described for PbO formation from LBE by Gladinez et al 8 The chemical equilibrium condition of Eq. 3 is therefore not expected to hold when describing the onset of PbO formation in liquid Pb.…”

Section: Measurement Of Solubility Of Oxygen In Pbmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was therefore decided to perform thermal cycling of liquid lead at 0.1°C/min to ensure good and reliable measurements. 8 The temperature was controlled by regulating the heating power using a proportional-integral-differential (PID) controller. No oxygen was added or removed via the oxygen pump during these cycles.…”

Section: Measurement Of Metastable Limit In Pbmentioning

confidence: 99%