Ni-based ODS alloys for Molten Salt Reactors

熔盐反应堆用镍基 ODS 合金

• 批准号: EP/T002441/1
• 负责人: David Armstrong
• 金额: $ 63.68万
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FT002441%2F1
• 关键词: Ni; based; ODS; alloys; Molten

Although light water reactors (nuclear reactors cooled with water) have historically been the most popular type of reactor, the threat of a nuclear meltdown and hydrogen gas explosion is a continuous concern, especially in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in 2011. One nuclear reactor design that is safer and more efficient than the light water reactors designs is the molten salt reactor (MSR) where molten salt is used as a coolant and in many designs, as a liquid fuel. There is no worry of a nuclear meltdown because the fuel is already in liquid form and with liquid fuel, the reactor can be operated at much higher temperatures up to around 750 C leading to a higher reactor efficiency. These molten salts make excellent coolants due to a higher volumetric heat capacity compared to pressurized water. Furthermore, since the liquid salt is used as a coolant instead of water, there is no risk hydrogen production that could lead to a hydrogen explosion. Whilst there are many advantages to these reactors they have major materials challenges. The molten salt is corrosive and will attack and essentially dissolve some materials, including many common grades of steel, it comes into contact with. This has limited the use of these reactors to test reactors, initially developed for use in nuclear planes! There is now much interest in using these reactors for power generation and several companies actively developing new designs and working to build concept plants. If these reactors are to be used commercially then new grades of nickel alloys (which do not suffer such corrosive attack in contact with the salt) need to be developed. Previous grades of nickel alloy have suffered from embrittlement caused by the helium which is produced by nuclear reaction in the reactor. This work will design, develop and process new nickel alloys which contain nano-meter sized oxide based particles which effectively capture the helium, trap it and stop it causing premature failure. In addition these particles make the nickel stronger at high temperature allowing more efficient reactor operation. By developing this material we will accelerate the development and deployment of this safer and potentially cheaper reactor design.

尽管在历史上，轻水反应堆（用水冷却的核反应堆）一直是最受欢迎的反应堆，但核崩溃和氢气爆炸的威胁是一个不断的关注，尤其是在2011年福岛daiichi核电站事故发生后，核反应堆的设计更安全，比许多液压水的设计是摩尔盐反应器（MSRETTER ASR）。液体燃料。不必担心核崩溃，因为燃料已经处于液态形式，使用液体燃料，可以在更高的温度下运行，直到750 C左右，导致反应器效率较高。与加压水相比，由于较高的容量热容量，这些熔融盐的冷却液可产生优质的冷却液。此外，由于将液态盐用作冷却液代替水，因此没有风险产生可能导致氢爆炸的风险。尽管这些反应堆具有许多优势，但它们面临着主要的材料挑战。熔融盐具有腐蚀性，将攻击并基本上溶解一些材料，包括许多常见的钢等级，它与之接触。这限制了这些反应堆用于测试反应堆的使用，该反应器最初开发用于核平面！现在，有很大的兴趣将这些反应堆用于发电，几家公司积极开发新的设计并致力于建造概念工厂。如果要在商业上使用这些反应器，则需要开发新等级的镍合金（与盐接触时不会遭受这种腐蚀性攻击）。先前的镍合金年级遭受了由反应堆中核反应产生的氦气引起的益处。这项工作将设计，开发和处理新的镍合金，其中包含纳米尺寸的氧化物颗粒，可有效捕获氦气，捕获它并阻止其导致早产。另外，这些颗粒使镍在高温下更强，从而使反应堆更有效。通过开发这种材料，我们将加速这种更安全，更便宜的反应堆设计的开发和部署。