Initial characterization of V–4Cr–4Ti and MHD coatings exposed to flowing Li

Re‐establishing the paradigm for evaluating halide salt compatibility to study commercial chloride salts at 600°C–800°C

“…A flowing experiment was conducted using a harp‐shaped (~0.75 m tall by 0.5 m wide) thermal convection loop (TCL), which has been described in detail elsewhere . All of the components in contact with salt were made from alloy 600 including the 25 mm outer diameter × 1.2 mm wall thickness tubing and the specimens in the hot and cold legs which consisted of small dogbone tensile specimens (25 mm long with a 1.5 × 0.76 mm gage, designated SS‐3) and coupons (1.8 × 19 × 25 mm).…”

“…But these results need to be considered in the context of how fluoride salts (e.g., FLiBe) were evaluated for and deployed in the molten salt reactor experiment conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) from 1965 to 1969 . It is time to re‐establish that successful compatibility evaluation paradigm where (a) salts were purified (i.e., O content minimized) before use, (b) exposures were conducted in sealed, inert capsules to prevent the ingress of O/H 2 O impurities during the experiment, (c) it was recognized that isothermal experiments were screening tests where it is not possible to determine a corrosion rate as the salt saturates with the reaction product, and (d) corrosion rates were determined in flowing experiments with a temperature gradient where the solubility changes with temperature prevents saturation and drives consistent mass transfer. The current project applies this methodology to the study of a commercial K–Mg–Na chloride salt and presents some initial isothermal capsule experiments conducted at 600°C–800°C and the first successful flowing chloride salt thermal convection loop conducted in several decades …”

Progress in the development of insulator coating for liquid lithium blankets

“…The report of the initial results showed that the corrosion loss of the V-alloy specimen was localized near the peak temperature region of Hot Leg but less than 1 m [35]. The results proved that the corrosion loss of V and V-4Cr-4Ti alloys in Li is sufficiently low once the purity of Li is controlled.…”

Conceptual design of the liquid metal laboratory of the TECHNOFUSION facility

“…The Vanadium alloys will not be able to operate at the targeted temperatures, as they have a temperature limit of 700° C on their application with liquid metals [35,36]. Some improvements are needed for such alloys regarding welding, as it is needed for refractary materials as tungsten, niobium, tantalum, beryllium [37] and their alloys, that could be selected as a structural material for the liquid metal loop, but with high cost.…”