AlatticeBoltzmannmodelingofcorrosionbehaviorandoxygentransportinthenaturalconvectionlead-alloyflowOriginalResearchArticle

Corrosionofstructuralmaterialspresentsacriticalchallengeintheuseoflead–bismutheutectic(LBE)orliquidleadasanuclearcoolantinaccelerator-drivensystemsandadvancedreactors.ActivelycontrollingtheoxygenconcentrationinLBEhasbeenprovedtobeeffectivetomitigatecorrosionundercertainconditions.Formixingtheoxygenuniformlyandquickly,naturalconvectionisproposedtoenhancetheoxygentransport.Inthepresentstudy,alatticeBoltzmmansimulationofcouplednaturalconvectionandleadbismutheutecticflowinasimplifiedcontainerwascarriedouttostudycharacteristicsoftheoxygentransportandcorrosionbehaviors.Itisassumedthatthecorrosionproduct(mainlyiron)concentrationisatitsequilibriumlevelatthewall.Thewallboundaryconditionforthemasstransferofcorrosionproductionwastakenbasedontheactive-oxygen-controlmodel.Toexaminetheeffectofdifferentnatureconvectionflowpatternsoncorrosionbehaviorandoxygentransport,threeheatingcases,whichcorrespondtoone-,two-andfour-vortexflowpatterns,areexamined.BothofthelocalandaverageSherwoodnumberatthewall,distributionofcorrosionproductandoxygen,andoxygendiffusiontimeareanalyzed.SomeusefulinformationwasobtainedtounderstandthemechanismofcorrosionbehaviorandoxygentransportintheLBEsystem.