A kinetic model for corrosion and precipitation in non-isothermal LBE flow loop

A kinetic model was developed to estimate the corrosion/precipitation rate in a non-isothermal liquid lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) flow loop. The model was based on solving the mass transport equation with the assumptions that convective transport dominates in the longitudinal flow direction and diffusion dominates in the transverse direction. The species concentration at wall is assumed to be determined either by the solubility of species in LBE in the absence of oxygen or by the reduction reaction of the protective oxide film when active oxygen control is applied. Analyses show that the corrosion/precipitation rate depends on the flow velocity, the species diffusion rate, the oxygen concentration in LBE, as well as the temperature distribution along a loop. Active oxygen control can significantly reduce the corrosion/precipitation of the structural materials. It is shown that the highest corrosion/precipitation does not necessarily locate at places with the highest/lowest temperature. For a material testing loop being constructed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the highest corrosion occurs at the end of the heater zone, while the highest precipitation occurs in the return flow in the recuperator.