Hydrogen permeation in iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys and the effects of microstructure and surface oxide

Nathan T. Gehmlich; Thomas F. Fuerst; Hanns Gietl; Chase N. Taylor; Joshua Rittenhouse; Haiming Wen; M. Nedim Cinbiz

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155397

Hydrogen permeation in iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys and the effects of microstructure and surface oxide

Nathan T. Gehmlich, Thomas F. Fuerst, Hanns Gietl, Chase N. Taylor, Joshua Rittenhouse, Haiming Wen, M. Nedim Cinbiz

Radiation Effects and Microstructural An

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Abstract

Iron–chromium–aluminum (FeCrAl) class alloys are candidates for use as cladding for accident-tolerant fuels and moderators. In this context, hydrogen isotope permeation in FeCrAl alloys is an important material property. In the present work, the apparent permeability, effective diffusivity, and apparent solubility of hydrogen in the FeCrAl alloys C26M and Kanthal D (KD) were measured with gas-driven hydrogen permeation. Permeation measurements were conducted at temperatures of 400 to 700 °C and at gas-driven pressures from 1 to 100 kPa. In particular, the effect of grain size on hydrogen transport was studied with KD samples with three different microstructures: nanocrystalline (NC), ultra-fine grained (UFG), and coarse-grained (CG). The UFG and NC specimens had higher apparent activation energies (73.4 kJ mol^-1 and 65.2 kJ mol^-l, respectively) for hydrogen permeability than the CG sample (46.9 kJ mol^-1). An aluminum oxide layer formed on the primary- and secondary-side surfaces of all samples subjected to permeation experiments which demonstrated the propensity of FeCrAl alloys to form these innate oxide permeation barriers.

Original language	English
Article number	155397
Journal	Journal of Nuclear Materials
Volume	603
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155397
State	Published - Jan 2025

Funding

This work is supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) funding from Idaho National Laboratory, managed by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC07\u201305ID14517. H. Wen acknowledges support by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) through the NEET-NSUF (Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology \u2013 Nuclear Science User Facility) program (award number DE-NE0008524). R. K. Islamgaliev and R.Z. Valiev are thanked for providing the severely plastically deformed KD samples. Authors also are thankful Kory Linton and Yukinori Yamamato at ORNL for providing C26M material, J. Wesley Jones at INL for sample polishing and preparation, and Masashi Shimada at INL for experimental measurement advice. This work is supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) funding from Idaho National Laboratory, managed by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC07-05ID14517. H. Wen acknowledges support by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) through the NEET-NSUF (Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology \u2013 Nuclear Science User Facility) program (award number DE-NE0008524). R. K. Islamgaliev and R.Z. Valiev are thanked for providing the severely plastically deformed KD samples. Authors also are thankful Kory Linton and Yukinori Yamamato at ORNL for providing C26M material, J. Wesley Jones at INL for sample polishing and preparation, and Masashi Shimada at INL for experimental measurement advice.

Funders	Funder number
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
U.S. Department of Energy
Masashi Shimada
Idaho National Laboratory
Laboratory Directed Research and Development
Office of Nuclear Energy
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
Battelle Energy Alliance	DE-AC07-05ID14517
NEET-NSUF	DE-NE0008524

Keywords

FeCrAl
Hydrogen
Microstructure
Permeation

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10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155397

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title = "Hydrogen permeation in iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys and the effects of microstructure and surface oxide",

abstract = "Iron–chromium–aluminum (FeCrAl) class alloys are candidates for use as cladding for accident-tolerant fuels and moderators. In this context, hydrogen isotope permeation in FeCrAl alloys is an important material property. In the present work, the apparent permeability, effective diffusivity, and apparent solubility of hydrogen in the FeCrAl alloys C26M and Kanthal D (KD) were measured with gas-driven hydrogen permeation. Permeation measurements were conducted at temperatures of 400 to 700 °C and at gas-driven pressures from 1 to 100 kPa. In particular, the effect of grain size on hydrogen transport was studied with KD samples with three different microstructures: nanocrystalline (NC), ultra-fine grained (UFG), and coarse-grained (CG). The UFG and NC specimens had higher apparent activation energies (73.4 kJ mol-1 and 65.2 kJ mol-l, respectively) for hydrogen permeability than the CG sample (46.9 kJ mol-1). An aluminum oxide layer formed on the primary- and secondary-side surfaces of all samples subjected to permeation experiments which demonstrated the propensity of FeCrAl alloys to form these innate oxide permeation barriers.",

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AU - Taylor, Chase N.

AU - Rittenhouse, Joshua

AU - Wen, Haiming

AU - Cinbiz, M. Nedim

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N2 - Iron–chromium–aluminum (FeCrAl) class alloys are candidates for use as cladding for accident-tolerant fuels and moderators. In this context, hydrogen isotope permeation in FeCrAl alloys is an important material property. In the present work, the apparent permeability, effective diffusivity, and apparent solubility of hydrogen in the FeCrAl alloys C26M and Kanthal D (KD) were measured with gas-driven hydrogen permeation. Permeation measurements were conducted at temperatures of 400 to 700 °C and at gas-driven pressures from 1 to 100 kPa. In particular, the effect of grain size on hydrogen transport was studied with KD samples with three different microstructures: nanocrystalline (NC), ultra-fine grained (UFG), and coarse-grained (CG). The UFG and NC specimens had higher apparent activation energies (73.4 kJ mol-1 and 65.2 kJ mol-l, respectively) for hydrogen permeability than the CG sample (46.9 kJ mol-1). An aluminum oxide layer formed on the primary- and secondary-side surfaces of all samples subjected to permeation experiments which demonstrated the propensity of FeCrAl alloys to form these innate oxide permeation barriers.

AB - Iron–chromium–aluminum (FeCrAl) class alloys are candidates for use as cladding for accident-tolerant fuels and moderators. In this context, hydrogen isotope permeation in FeCrAl alloys is an important material property. In the present work, the apparent permeability, effective diffusivity, and apparent solubility of hydrogen in the FeCrAl alloys C26M and Kanthal D (KD) were measured with gas-driven hydrogen permeation. Permeation measurements were conducted at temperatures of 400 to 700 °C and at gas-driven pressures from 1 to 100 kPa. In particular, the effect of grain size on hydrogen transport was studied with KD samples with three different microstructures: nanocrystalline (NC), ultra-fine grained (UFG), and coarse-grained (CG). The UFG and NC specimens had higher apparent activation energies (73.4 kJ mol-1 and 65.2 kJ mol-l, respectively) for hydrogen permeability than the CG sample (46.9 kJ mol-1). An aluminum oxide layer formed on the primary- and secondary-side surfaces of all samples subjected to permeation experiments which demonstrated the propensity of FeCrAl alloys to form these innate oxide permeation barriers.

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Hydrogen permeation in iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys and the effects of microstructure and surface oxide

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