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Latest News
Colin Judge: Testing structural materials in Idaho’s newest hot cell facility
Idaho National Laboratory’s newest facility—the Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL)—sits across the road from the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), which started operating in 1975. SPL will host the first new hot cells at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) in 50 years, giving INL researchers and partners new flexibility to test the structural properties of irradiated materials fresh from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) or from a partner’s facility.
Materials meant to withstand extreme conditions in fission or fusion power plants must be tested under similar conditions and pushed past their breaking points so performance and limitations can be understood and improved. Once irradiated, materials samples can be cut down to size in SPL and packaged for testing in other facilities at INL or other national laboratories, commercial labs, or universities. But they can also be subjected to extreme thermal or corrosive conditions and mechanical testing right in SPL, explains Colin Judge, who, as INL’s division director for nuclear materials performance, oversees SPL and other facilities at the MFC.
SPL won’t go “hot” until January 2026, but Judge spoke with NN staff writer Susan Gallier about its capabilities as his team was moving instruments into the new facility.
Weidong Ding, Hongguang Yang, Qin Zhan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 2 | February 2024 | Pages 205-214
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2216533
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The ZrCo-based alloy is considered one of the most promising materials for hydrogen isotope storage in the conceptual design of a fusion reactor. However, there are few systematic studies on the thermodynamic and kinetic models of hydrogen absorption in the new Zr0.8Ti0.2Co alloy. The aim of this study is to computationally derive the general mathematical equations for the thermodynamics and kinetics of hydrogen absorption by Zr0.8Ti0.2Co. In order to obtain the thermodynamic and kinetic data quickly, a constant-flow hydrogen absorption test was used in this study. The thermodynamic performance test revealed that the Zr0.8Ti0.2Co hydrogen absorption transition process was switched from ZrCo to ZrCoHx (metastable phase) and then to ZrCoH3 with an enthalpy of hydrogenation (ΔH) of 66.59 kJ·mol−1 H2, which was obviously lower than that of the ZrCo-based alloy due to the metastable phase.
A mathematical model of the hydrogen absorption coupled with the kinetic equations was established by kinetic process analysis. The hydrogen absorption process was divided into two stages, and the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) model could fit the two stages of the Zr0.8Ti0.2Co hydrogen absorption well. In the first stage, the JMAK index was n1 = 1.04, activation energy Ea1 = 7594.6 J/mol, and rate coefficient of reaction k01 = 1.958E-4 s−1. While in the second stage, it was n2 = 1.39, Ea2 = 5221 J/mol, and k02 = 9.938E-5 s−1. Based on the range of n values, it can be inferred that both the nucleation and growth mechanisms or the diffusion mechanism were expressed as the rate-limiting steps. Combined with the simulation software, metal hydride bed performance could be better investigated and the structural design could be guided by the obtained mathematical equation of Zr0.8Ti0.2Co hydriding.
