An Innovative Fuel Design for HTGRs: Evaluating a 10-Hour High-Temperature Oxidation of the SiC Fuel Matrix During Air Ingress Accident Conditions

Yosuke Nishimura (), Anna Gubarevich, Katsumi Yoshida () and Koji Okamoto
Additional contact information
Yosuke Nishimura: The Department of Nuclear Engineering and Management, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan
Anna Gubarevich: Laboratory for Zero-Carbon Energy, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1, Ookayama, Meguro-Ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
Katsumi Yoshida: Laboratory for Zero-Carbon Energy, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1, Ookayama, Meguro-Ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
Koji Okamoto: The Department of Nuclear Engineering and Management, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-13

Abstract: Preventing severe corrosion incidents caused by air ingress accidents in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) while improving heat removal efficiency from the core is of paramount importance. To enhance both safety and efficiency, a sleeveless silicon carbide (SiC)-matrix fuel compact has been proposed. This study evaluates the 10-hour oxidation of reaction-sintered SiC (RS-SiC)-matrix fuel compact under the conditions of an air ingress accident within the temperature range of 1000 to 1400 °C. The oxidation tests were conducted in a stagnant air environment without flow. As a result, it is demonstrated that RS-SiC exhibits exceptional resistance to air oxidation up to 1400 °C, as shown by the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), with minimal mass loss due to the oxidation of free carbon. Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDX) analysis reveals that the morphology and thickness of the SiO 2 layer formed on the RS-SiC surface vary with temperature. At 1400 °C, uniform oxide layer thickness ranging from 1.59 to 4.10 μm and localized nodule-like oxide formations of approximately 10 μm are observed. In contrast, at 1000–1200 °C, thinner oxide layers are identified, indicating that oxide growth accelerates at higher temperatures. The oxidation rates measured provide insights into the mechanisms of oxide growth.

Keywords: silicon carbide; reaction sintering; oxidation; corrosion resistance; high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/21/5366/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/21/5366/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:21:p:5366-:d:1508532

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().