Protection of zirconium by alumina- and chromia-forming iron alloys under high-temperature steam exposure

Kurt A. Terrani, Chad M. Parish, Dongwon Shin, Bruce A. Pint

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146 Scopus citations

Abstract

The viability of advanced oxidation-resistant Fe-base alloys to protect zirconium from rapid oxidation in high-temperature steam environments has been examined. Specimens were produced such that outer layers of FeCrAl ferritic alloy and Type 310 austenitic stainless steel were incorporated on the surface of zirconium metal slugs. The specimens were exposed to high-temperature 0.34 MPa steam at 1200 and 1300 C. The primary degradation mechanism for the protective layer was interdiffusion with the zirconium, as opposed to high-temperature oxidation in steam. The FeCrAl layer experienced less degradation and protected the zirconium at 1300 C for 8 h. Constituents of the Fe-base alloys rapidly diffused into the zirconium and resulted in the formation of various intermetallic layers at the interface and precipitates inside the bulk zirconium. The nature of this interaction for FeCrAl and 310SS has been characterized by use of microscopic techniques as well as computational thermodynamics. Finally, a reactor physics discussion on the applicability of these protective layers in light-water-reactor nuclear fuel structures is offered.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)64-71
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Nuclear Materials
Volume438
Issue number1-3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013

Funding

The authors would like to thank C. Schaich, A. Frederick, J. Mayotte, and J. Keiser at ORNL for assistance with the experimental work. The reactivity calculations presented here were performed by Nathan George of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Use of the JEOL 6500 FEG-SEM was supported by ORNL’s Shared Research Equipment (ShaRE) User Facility, which is sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. The work presented in this paper was supported partially by the Advanced Fuels Campaign of the Fuel Cycle R&D program in the Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy as well as by Laboratory Directed R&D funds at ORNL.

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