09251 Perspectives on Corrosion in Supercritical Water Environment: Materials and Novel Treatments

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Product Number: 51300-09251-SG

ISBN: 09251 2009 CP

Author: Alan Kruizenga, Yun Chen, Xiaowei Ren, Todd Allen, Kumar Sridharan, Lizhen Tan and Mark Anderson

Publication Date: 2009

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Supercritical water (SCW) is being considered as a cooling medium for the next generation nuclear reactors because it provides for high thermal efficiency and plant simplification. However, materials corrosion has been identified as a critical problem because of the oxidative nature of supercritical water. A number of Cr-containing ferritic and austenitic steels as well as Fe-Ni superalloys have been evaluated for corrosion in SCW environment at temperatures up to 600oC for exposure durations of up to 1000 hours. The ferritic steels developed a distinct two-layered oxide structure consisting of an outer magnetite layer and an inner Fe-Cr oxide spinel layer. Surface modification was noted to improve the oxidation resistance of these steels. Austenitic steels exhibited a higher oxidation resistance, but in some cases oxide spallation was observed. Oxide spallation in these steels was mitigated by thermo-mechanical treatments aimed at enhancing the population of low energy grain boundaries. Multi-phased Inconel alloys exhibited the lowest oxide layer thickness, but these alloys were subject to pitting in the vicinity of intermetallic precipitates.

Key words: supercritical water, surface modification, grain boundary engineering, steels