Abstract
Corrosion Protection of Structural Materials in Liquid Lead Alloys by Pulsed Electron Beam Facility (GESA)
(A. Weisenburger, G. Müller, A. Heinzel, G. Schumacher)
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Institut für Hochleistungsimpuls- und Mikrowellentechnik
Postfach 3640
76021 Karlsruhe
Liquid lead alloys are intended to be used as a
coolant in a so called ADS (Accelerator Driven System). The ADS consists
of a subcritical core and an
accelerator delivering the protons used in a spallation target to generate the
necessary neutrons. This target will also consist of lead or lead alloy.
One main problem is the enhanced corrosion of
metals in these liquid lead alloys. Especially at higher temperatures stable
oxide scales are vital to protect the steels. To the growth of the oxide scales
can be controlled by the oxygen content in the liquid lead alloy. This can be
done by controlling the cover gas composition. Stable oxide scales on steels,
that are already approved for nuclear industry, can be obtained by alloying
oxide formers like Al into the steel surface. The alloying procedure should not
change the properties of the steel itself. An intensive pulsed electron beam
(GESA) is one method which was successfully applied for this purpose. Steels
treated with the GESA show a very promising behaviour in liquid lead alloys
even at higher temperatures.