Oxidation rate of nuclear-grade graphite IG-110 in the kinetic regime for VHTR air ingress accident scenarios

The oxidation rates of nuclear-grade graphite IG-110 in the kinetically-controlled temperature regime of graphite oxidation were predicted and compared in Very High Temperature Reactor air ingress accident scenarios. The oxidative mass loss of graphite was measured thermogravimetrically from 873 to 1873 K in 100% air (21 mol%). The activation energy was found to be 222.07 kJ/mol, and the order of reaction with respect to oxygen concentration is 0.76. The surfaces of the samples were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy before and after oxidation. These results are compared with those available in the literature, and our recently reported results for NBG-18 nuclear-grade graphite using the same technique.