Effects of reaction temperature and inlet oxidizing gas flow rate on IG-110 graphite oxidation used in HTR-PM

The oxidation behavior of a selected nuclear graphite (IG-110) used in Pebble-bed Module High Temperature gas-cooled Reactor was investigated under the condition of air ingress accident. The oblate rectangular specimen was oxidized by oxidant gas with oxygen mole fraction of 20% and flow rates of 125–500 ml/min at temperature of 400–1200?°C. Experiment results indicate that the oxidation behavior can also be classified into three regimes according to temperature. The regime I at 400–550?°C has lower apparent activation energies of 75.57–138.59 kJ/mol when the gas flow rate is 125–500 ml/min. In the regime II at 600–900?°C, the oxidation rate restricted by the oxygen supply to graphite is almost stable with the increase of temperature. In the regime III above 900?°C, the oxidation rate increases obviously with the increase of temperature. With the increase of inlet gas flow from 125 to 500 ml/min, the apparent activation energy in regime I is increased and the stableness of oxidation rate in regime II is reduced.     

CO2 corrosion of IG-110 nuclear graphite studied by gas chromatography

The CO₂ corrosion behavior of IG-110 nuclear graphite has been investigated using the gas chromatography method which allows the continuous analysis of the CO₂/CO gas mixture at the outlet of the corrosion chamber. The effects of temperature and initial CO₂ concentration are studied based on the Arrhenius-type reaction model. From 745 to 995 °C, the Arrhenius curve shows a linear behavior. For higher temperatures, a non-linear behavior is observed. The activation energy is calculated as 210 kJ/mole and is independent of the initial CO₂ inlet concentrations of 10%, 14% and 17%. The corrosion behavior at 1145 °C, in the diffusion-controlled regime, has also been investigated. At this temperature, the interior of IG-110 graphite is severely attacked by CO₂, and the material's surface morphology is changed drastically. A measurement of the corrosion rate against corrosion time shows that the corrosion rate initially increases to a maximum value at a weight loss degree of 30%–35%, after which it begins to decline.     

Precision dilatometer analysis of neutron-irradiated nuclear graphite recovery process up to 1673 K

Specimens of two kinds of isotropic nuclear graphite, IG-110U and ETP-10, were neutron-irradiated at fluence of 1.92 × 10²⁴ n/m² (E > 1.0 MeV) at 473 K. The recoveries of the macroscopic lengths of these specimens during isothermal and isochronal annealing at temperatures of up to 1673 K were investigated in a step-wise manner by using a precision dilatometer. The macroscopic lengths after isochronal annealing for 6 h at each temperature decreased gradually as the temperature was increased to 1673 K. The recovery trends of the c-axis and a-axis lattice parameters differed from one another, and from the macroscopic length recovery trends. For the IG-110U specimen, the activation energies (E_a) of macroscopic volume recovery corresponding to annealing at 523–773, 773–923, 923–1073, and 1073–1173 K were found to be 0.15, 0.34, 0.73, and 2.59 eV, respectively. For the ETP-10 specimen, the E_a corresponding to 523–923, 923–1223, and 1223–1373 K were determined to be 0.15, 0.46, and 2.19 eV, respectively. These results indicate that both graphite specimens underwent three or four stages of macroscopic length recovery between 523 K and the annealing temperatures at which their initial lengths were recovered. It is suggested that during the first stage recovery proceeded via the migration of single interstitials along the basal plane and the resulting V-I recombination. In the middle stages, recovery occurred due to the migration of interstitial groups such as C₂ along the basal plane, while in the last stage, it proceeded via through-layer migration of interstitials or migration of single vacancies.     

Effect of temperature on graphite oxidation behavior

The temperature dependence of oxidation behavior for the graphite IG-11, used in the HTR-10, was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis in the temperature range of 400–1200 °C. The oxidant was dry air (water content <2 ppm) with a flow rate of 20 ml/min. The oxidation time was 4 h. The oxidation results exhibited three regimes: in the 400–600 °C range, the activation energy was 158.56 kJ/mol and oxidation was controlled by chemical reaction; in the 600–800 °C range, the activation energy was 72.01 kJ/mol and oxidation kinetics were controlled by in-pore diffusion; when the temperature was over 800 °C, the activation energy was very low and oxidation was controlled by the boundary layer. Due to CO production, the oxidation rate increased at high temperatures. The effect of burn-off on activation energy was also investigated. In the 600–800 °C range, the activation energy decreased with burn-off. Results of low temperature tests were very dispersible because the oxidation behavior at low temperatures is sensitive to inhomogeneous distribution of any impurity, and some impurities can catalyse graphite oxidation.     

A mass spectrometry method for quantitative and kinetic analysis of gas release from nuclear materials and its application to helium desorption from UO2 and fission gas release from irradiated fuel

A new system has been developed to determine absolute quantities of gas (mainly noble gases) released during thermal desorption in the range from 10^?12 to 10^?5 mol with a precision of few percent. The system is actually designed for simultaneous measurement of gaseous elements like He, Xe, Kr, thermally released from nuclear fuel samples and also allows the determination of the release kinetics as a function of time. This system, called Quantitative GAs MEasurement System (Q-GAMES), is based on the principle of collecting, purifying and spiking the sample gas in a “high-pressure” chamber, and continuous sampling of the gas for mass spectrometric analysis without sample depletion during the experiment. It is equipped with its own spike generator and with different gas purification systems. It is shown that this system fulfills the requirement to work with two existing very high-temperature gas desorption facilities for nuclear materials. This paper describes the Q-GAMES principle, the spiking system, its calibration, its operative mode, the different quantification techniques, as well as its technical data, in combination with some examples of typical application.     

基于主成分变换的核径迹图像噪声分析及消除

由于径迹片在生产、贮存和蚀刻过程中易形成杂质、气泡及划痕,导致所获取的核径迹图像常常伴随着各种类型的噪声,因此如何有效地去除噪声的影响,为后续核径迹图像识别、分类与计数奠定基础,是图像预处理阶段的一个重要任务.本文选择一组聚焦性能好的核径迹图像,基于主成分变换和傅立叶变换的噪声分析,使用高斯低通滤波器进行去噪处理.实验结果表明了该方法的有效性和可操作性.