The Effect of Oxygen Impurities on the Behaviour of Type 316 Stainless Steel in Pb-17Li

PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE INDICATED THAT THE CORROSION OF TYPE 316 STANILESS STEEL IN PB-17LI IS INCREASED IN THE PRESENCE OF OXYGEN IMPURITIES IN THE LIQUID EUTECTIC ALLOY. THIS PAPER REPORTS FURTHER EXPERIMENTAL TESTS CARRIED OUT JOINTLY BETWEEN JRC ISPRA AND THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM TO VERIFY THIS EAR- LIER OBSERVATION. IN THE PRESENT STUDY SEVERAL DIFFERENT APPROACHES HAVE BEEN ADOPTED. CORROSION TESTS HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT IN WHICH OXYGEN HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE ALLOY AT A VERY SLOW RATE THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF THE TEST. BY MONI- TORING THE GAS PHASE ABOVE THE ALLOY BY MASS SPECTROMETRY IT HAS BEEN POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE EXACT QUANTITY OF OXYGEN ADDED TO THE ALLOY AND THUS TO EVA- LUATE ITS INFLUENCE ON THE CORROSION RATE. AS TERNARY OXIDE FORMATION IS POS- SIBLE IN THE PB-17LI-STEEL SYSTEM, THE REACTIONS OF SEVERAL METAL OXIDES WITH PB-17LI WILL BE REPORTED AS WELL AS THE IDENTIFICATION OF CORROSION PRODUCTS ON THE SURFACE OF STEELS. THE INFLUENCE OF OXIDE LAYERS PRESENT ON THE STEEL ON THE WETTING TEMPERATURE OF PB-17LI HAS ALSO BEEN STUDIED

COEN Vittorio;  ORECCHIA Luigi;  BARKER Marten G.;  LEES J.;  SAMPLE A.T.; 

1995-03-15

JRC5223

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC5223,