Cr-doped U3Si2 composite fuels under steam corrosion

Bowen Gong; Lu Cai; Penghui Lei; Kathryn E. Metzger; Edward J. Lahoda; Frank A. Boylan; Kun Yang; Jake Fay; Jason Harp; Jie Lian

doi:10.1016/j.corsci.2020.109001

Cr-doped U₃Si₂ composite fuels under steam corrosion

Bowen Gong, Lu Cai, Penghui Lei, Kathryn E. Metzger, Edward J. Lahoda, Frank A. Boylan, Kun Yang, Jake Fay, Jason Harp, Jie Lian

Nuclear Fuel Element Performance

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Dense Cr-doped U₃Si₂ composite fuels were manufactured by spark plasma sintering, and the effects of Cr addition on mechanical properties and oxidation resistance were investigated. Dynamic oxidation testing by thermogravimetric analysis revealed significantly improved oxidation resistance of U₃Si₂ with minimal doping of 3 wt% Cr. The onset oxidation temperature increased to above 550 °C in air and ∼520 °C in steam conditions for the 5 wt% and 10 wt% Cr-doped composites. Steam corrosion testing under 360 °C for 24 hours indicated well-maintained pellet integrity without pulverization for the 10 wt% Cr-doped U₃Si₂ pellet which only showed minor surface oxidation. The first promising results open up the possibility of designing and manufacturing metal additive-doped U₃Si₂ composite fuels with significantly-improved corrosion resistance as a potential candidate for accident tolerant fuels.

Original language	English
Article number	109001
Journal	Corrosion Science
Volume	177
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.corsci.2020.109001
State	Published - Dec 2020

Funding

This work was supported by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy under a Nuclear Engineer University Program (award number: DE-NE0008532 ) and by Westinghouse Electric Company under the DOE ATF program. We also acknowledge valuable discussions with Dr. Andrew T. Nelson of Oak Ridge National Laboratory on experiment design and data interpretation, including water steam testing and corrosion resistance of the silicide fuels.

Funders	Funder number
Nuclear Energy
Westinghouse Electric Company
U.S. Department of Energy
Nuclear Energy University Program	DE-NE0008532

Keywords

A. Corrosion resistance
B. Spark plasma sintering (SPS)
C. Accident tolerant fuel (ATF)
D. Cr doped USi
E. Composite fuel
F. Steam oxidation test

Access to Document

10.1016/j.corsci.2020.109001

Cite this

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title = "Cr-doped U3Si2 composite fuels under steam corrosion",

abstract = "Dense Cr-doped U3Si2 composite fuels were manufactured by spark plasma sintering, and the effects of Cr addition on mechanical properties and oxidation resistance were investigated. Dynamic oxidation testing by thermogravimetric analysis revealed significantly improved oxidation resistance of U3Si2 with minimal doping of 3 wt% Cr. The onset oxidation temperature increased to above 550 °C in air and ∼520 °C in steam conditions for the 5 wt% and 10 wt% Cr-doped composites. Steam corrosion testing under 360 °C for 24 hours indicated well-maintained pellet integrity without pulverization for the 10 wt% Cr-doped U3Si2 pellet which only showed minor surface oxidation. The first promising results open up the possibility of designing and manufacturing metal additive-doped U3Si2 composite fuels with significantly-improved corrosion resistance as a potential candidate for accident tolerant fuels.",

keywords = "A. Corrosion resistance, B. Spark plasma sintering (SPS), C. Accident tolerant fuel (ATF), D. Cr doped USi, E. Composite fuel, F. Steam oxidation test",

author = "Bowen Gong and Lu Cai and Penghui Lei and Metzger, {Kathryn E.} and Lahoda, {Edward J.} and Boylan, {Frank A.} and Kun Yang and Jake Fay and Jason Harp and Jie Lian",

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year = "2020",

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doi = "10.1016/j.corsci.2020.109001",

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AU - Gong, Bowen

AU - Cai, Lu

AU - Lei, Penghui

AU - Metzger, Kathryn E.

AU - Lahoda, Edward J.

AU - Boylan, Frank A.

AU - Yang, Kun

AU - Fay, Jake

AU - Harp, Jason

AU - Lian, Jie

PY - 2020/12

Y1 - 2020/12

N2 - Dense Cr-doped U3Si2 composite fuels were manufactured by spark plasma sintering, and the effects of Cr addition on mechanical properties and oxidation resistance were investigated. Dynamic oxidation testing by thermogravimetric analysis revealed significantly improved oxidation resistance of U3Si2 with minimal doping of 3 wt% Cr. The onset oxidation temperature increased to above 550 °C in air and ∼520 °C in steam conditions for the 5 wt% and 10 wt% Cr-doped composites. Steam corrosion testing under 360 °C for 24 hours indicated well-maintained pellet integrity without pulverization for the 10 wt% Cr-doped U3Si2 pellet which only showed minor surface oxidation. The first promising results open up the possibility of designing and manufacturing metal additive-doped U3Si2 composite fuels with significantly-improved corrosion resistance as a potential candidate for accident tolerant fuels.

AB - Dense Cr-doped U3Si2 composite fuels were manufactured by spark plasma sintering, and the effects of Cr addition on mechanical properties and oxidation resistance were investigated. Dynamic oxidation testing by thermogravimetric analysis revealed significantly improved oxidation resistance of U3Si2 with minimal doping of 3 wt% Cr. The onset oxidation temperature increased to above 550 °C in air and ∼520 °C in steam conditions for the 5 wt% and 10 wt% Cr-doped composites. Steam corrosion testing under 360 °C for 24 hours indicated well-maintained pellet integrity without pulverization for the 10 wt% Cr-doped U3Si2 pellet which only showed minor surface oxidation. The first promising results open up the possibility of designing and manufacturing metal additive-doped U3Si2 composite fuels with significantly-improved corrosion resistance as a potential candidate for accident tolerant fuels.

KW - A. Corrosion resistance

KW - B. Spark plasma sintering (SPS)

KW - C. Accident tolerant fuel (ATF)

KW - D. Cr doped USi

KW - E. Composite fuel

KW - F. Steam oxidation test

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