Corrosion Behaviour of Steels in Lead-Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) in the LINCE Loop Up to 5000 h

Lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) has been proposed as a candidate for coolant and/or as spallation target material of an Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) and as coolant for a Generation IV reactor, the Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR). Lead and lead alloys, such as lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE), are efficient heat transfer media because of high thermal conductivity and high heat capacity. However, one of the critical issues in the design of these systems is the compatibility of steels with LBE. Therefore, it is important to know the behaviour of steels under conditions similar to which can be expected during the course of reactor operation. Corrosion tests using a liquid metal loop provide result very useful. Forced convection loop in CIEMAT, LINCE, was designed for long-term corrosion tests in LBE. It consists in a centrifugal pump, an exchange heater, a refrigerator, a storage tank, two tests areas (hot and cold) and tubing to connect the previous components. The volume of LBE is 300 litres and the flow rate approximately 1m/s. The maximum temperature is 450°C and the minimum 300°C, which means a temperature gradient of 150°C, and it is controlled by 25 temperature regulators. The electrical power is 80kW. An oxygen control system (OCS) has been implemented in the loop. The corrosion behaviour of AISI 316L and T91 steels is being investigated in flowing lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) at 300 and 450 °C for 2000 and 5000 h. The tests are performed in the LINCE loop, under controlled oxygen activity in LBE. The results obtained show that neither material exhibited a weight loss after exposure to the flowing LBE at 300°C instead 5000 h. However, probes exposure at 450°C show important weight loss after 5000 h.© 2009 ASME