Analytical Solution on the Transient Corrosion/Precipitation in Non-Isothermal Liquid Lead Bismuth Eutectic Flow Loops Available to Purchase

Steel corrosion by liquid lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) is one of the critical problems when using the liquid-metal alloy as a coolant in advanced nuclear systems. In a non-isothermal LBE flow loop, the materials corrosion occurs at the hot legs of the circuit and precipitation occurs at some other cooler legs due to mass transfer. In the present study, the transient corrosion and precipitation phenomena in such systems were investigated. An analytical solution was obtained through solving the mass-transfer equation in the boundary layer for the diffusion-limited corrosion process. The temperature-dependent wall corrosion product concentration was a function of the stream-wise coordinate. Solutions for different wall concentration profiles were used to examine the transient process. The initial and final behaviors of the corrosion/precipitation profile are shown for different loop flows. These results reveal important differences between the initial and steady-state corrosion/precipitation phenomena, and how quickly they evolve. This new understanding will help improve the interpretation of the experimental data and the rational application of the corrosion test data to experimental and industrial systems.