Modeling of oxidation of structural materials in LBE systems

In recent years, liquid metal alloys have been examined in the light of various applications in technical systems the most famous example is the sodium cooled Fast Breeder Reactor. One major problem in non-isothermal heavy liquid metal systems lies in the corrosion of their structural components. The formation of oxide scales on the structural components is considered as a viable measure in limiting the dissolution rates in the hot parts in lead and lead–bismuth loops. Models for oxide scale growth under the action of flowing liquid metals have been implemented in the newly developed code MATLIM, which allow calculating the evolution of the oxide scales on structural materials in multi-modular loops. There are thermo-hydraulic limitations on oxygen supply from the liquid metal to the structural materials, the oxygen mass transfer coefficient in the liquid metal, which depends on the flow conditions, being rate-determining. This seems to explain, for example, why in the first stage of oxidation of stainless steels slowly growing, dense single layer Fe/Cr spinel scales are formed.