• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.8
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• pp.1727-1732
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• 2017

Pyroprocessing is an alternative method of reprocessing spent fuel, usually involving the dissolving spent fuel in a molten salt media. The National Nuclear Laboratory designed, built, and commissioned a molten salt dynamics rig to investigate the transfer characteristics of molten lithium chloride-potassium chloride eutectic salt. The efficacy and flow characteristics of a high-temperature centrifugal pump and argon gas lift were obtained for pumping the molten salt at temperatures up to $500^{\circ}C$. The rig design proved suitable on an industrial scale and transfer methods appropriate for use in future molten salt systems. Corrosion within the rig was managed, and melting techniques were optimized to reduce stresses on the rig. The results obtained improve the understanding of molten salt transport dynamics, materials, and engineering design issues and support the industrialization of molten salts pyroprocessing.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.767-772
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• 2012

In support of optimizing electrorefining technology for treating spent nuclear fuel, lithium drawdown has been investigated for separating actinides from molten salt electrolyte. Drawdown reaction selectivity is a major issue that requires investigation, since the goal is to remove actinides while leaving the fission products and other components in the salt. A series of lithium drawdown tests with surrogate fission product chlorides was run to obtain selectivity data with non-radioactive salts, develop a predictive model, and draw conclusions about the viability of using this process with actinide-loaded salt. Results of tests with CsCl, $LaCl_3$, $CeCl_3$, and $NdCl_3$ are reported here. Equilibrium was typically achieved in less than 10 hours of contact between lithium metal and molten salt under well-stirred conditions. Maintaining low oxygen and water impurity concentrations (<10 ppm) in the atmosphere was observed to be critical to minimize side reactions and maintain stable salt compositions. An equilibrium model has been formulated and fit to the experimental data. Good fits to the data were achieved. Based on analysis and results obtained to date, it is concluded that clean separation between minor actinides and lanthanides will be difficult to achieve using lithium drawdown.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.123-127
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• 2013

The electrolytic reduction of a spent oxide fuel involves liberation of the oxygen in a molten LiCl electrolyte, which is a chemically aggressive environment that is too crosive for typical structural materials. Therefore, it is essential to choose the optimum material for the process equipment for handling a molten salt. In this study, the corrosion behavior of pyro-carbon made by CVD was investigated in a molten LiCl-$Li_2O$ salt under an oxidation atmosphere at $650^{\circ}C$ and $750^{\circ}C$ for 72 hours. Pyro-carbon showed no chemical reactions with the molten salt because of its low wettability between pyro-carbon and the molten salt. As a result of XRD analysis, pyro-carbon exposed to the molten salt showed pure graphite after corrosion tests. As a result of TGA, whereas the coated layer by CVD showed high anti-oxidation, the non-coated layer showed relatively low anti-oxidation. The stable phases in the reactions were $C_{(S)}$, $Li_2CO_{3(S)}$, $LiCl_{(l)}$, $Li_2O$ at $650^{\circ}C$ and $C_{(S)}$, $LiCl_{(l)}$, $Li_2O_{(S)}$ at $750^{\circ}C$. $Li_2CO_{(S)}$ was decomposed at $750^{\circ}C$ into $Li_2O_{(S)}$ and $CO_{2(g)}$.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 2005

The electrolytic reduction of spent oxide fuel involves the liberation of oxygen in a molten LiCl electrolyte, which results in a chemically aggressive environment that is very corrosive fir typical structural materials. So, it is essential to choose the optimum material f3r the process equipment handling molten salt. In this study, the corrosion behavior of Al-Y coated Haynes 263 in a molten salt of $LiCl-Li_2O$ under oxidation atmosphere was investigated at $650^{\circ}C$ for $72\~168$ hours. The corrosion rate of Al-Y coated Haynes 263 was low while that of bare Haynes 263 was high in a molten salt of $LiCl-Li_2O$. Al-Y coated Haynes 263 improved the corrosion resistance better than bare Haynes 263 alloy. An Al oxide layer acts as a protective film which Prohibits Penetration of oxygen. Corrosion Products were formed $Li(Ni,Co)O_2$ and $LiTiO_2$ on bare Haynes 263, but $LiAlO_2,\;Li_5Fe_5O_8\;and\;LiTiO_2$ on Al-Y coated Haynes 263.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.8
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• pp.464-471
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• 2008

The electrolyte separator for thermal battery should be easily handled and loaded a large amount of the molten salt. Ceramic fibers, especially fibrous commercial glass filters were used as an electrolyte separator and the lithium based molten salts were infiltrated into the ceramic filters. The pore structures of the ceramic filter and the melting properties of the lithium salts affected to the electrolyte loading and leakage. During the infiltration, ions of $Li^+$ and $F^-$ in the molten salts were reacted with the glass fiber and caused to be weaken the fiber strength.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.178-182
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• 2002

The electrochemical behavior of binder-free carbon anode, comprising of only artificial and natural graphite (AG and NG) particles, for intercalation and deintercalation of lithium ion $(Li^+)$ in aluminum chloride (AICI_3)-I-ethyl­3-methylimidazolium chloride (EMIC)-lithium chloride (LiCl)-thionyl chloride $(SOCI_2)$ room-temperature molten salt (RTMS) was studied. Binder-free carbon electrodes were fabricated using electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method. The binder-free carbon anodes provided a relatively flat charge and discharge potentials $(0\;to\;0.2V\;vs.\;Li/Li^+)$ and current capabilities $(250-340mAh{\cdot}g^{-1})$ for the intercalation and deintercalation of $Li^+$. Stability of the binder-free carbon anodes for intercalation and deintercalation of 50 cycles was confirmed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.251-259
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• 2004

In the development of the advanced spent fuel management process based on the molten salt technology, it is essential to choose the optimum material for the process equipment handling molten salt. Corrosion behavior of Ni 200 and Ni-base alloys in molten salt of LiCl-$Li_2$O under oxidation atmosphere was investigated in the temperature range of $650～800^{\circ}C$ for 24～312 hrs. The order of corrosion rate was Ni 200 > Inconel 690 > Inconel 601 > Inconel 600. Inconel 600 alloy showed the highest corrosion resistance among the examined alloys, but Ni 200 exhibited the highest corrosion rate. Corrosion products of Inconel 600 and Inconel 601 were $Cr_2$$O_3$ and $NiFe_2$$O_4$. In case of Inconel 690, a single layer of $CrO_2$$O_3$ was formed in the early stage of corrosion and an outer layer of $NiFe_2$O$_4$ and inner layer of $Cr_2$$O_3$ were formed with increase of corrosion time. Inconel 600 showed local corrosion behavior and Inconel 601, 690 showed uniform corrosion behavior.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.648-652
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• 2009

Ceramic fiber separator is the promising material for thermal battery system because it reduces the production cost and offers the potential to a new application compared to a pellet type electrolyte. The electrolyte separator for thermal battery should be easily handled and loaded a large amount of the molten lithium salt. Ceramic fibers were used as an electrolyte separator and the lithium based molten salts were infiltrated into the ceramic filters. Leakage of molten salt (several lithium salts) leads to short-circuit during the thermal battery operation. In this study, a uniform and fine SiOC mat with fibers ranging from 1 to 3 ${\mu}m$ was obtained by electrospinning of polycarbosilane and pyrolysis. The optimum spinning conditions for obtaining fine diameters of SiOC fiber were controlled by the solution composition and concentration, applied voltage and spinning rate, release rate by porosity. The pore structures of the ceramic filter and the melting properties of the lithium salts affected to the electrolyte loading and leakage. The importance of the fiber size and porosity and their control was discussed and the mechanical properties were also discussed.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.10
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• pp.646-651
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• 2008

The electrolytic reduction of spent oxide fuel involves the liberation of oxygen in a molten LiCl electrolyte, which results in a chemically aggressive environment that is too corrosive for typical structural materials. It is essential to choose the optimum material for the process equipment handling molten salt. IN713LC is one of the candidate materials proposed for application in electrolytic reduction process. In this study, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) top coat was applied to a surface of IN713LC with an aluminized metallic bond coat by an optimized plasma spray process, and were investigated the corrosion behavior at $675^{\circ}C$ for 216 hours in the molten salt $LiCl-Li_2O$ under an oxidizing atmosphere. The as-coated and tested specimens were examined by OM, SEM/EDS and XRD, respectively. The bare superalloy reveals obvious weight loss, and the corrosion layer formed on the surface of the bare superalloy was spalled due to the rapid scale growth and thermal stress. The top coatings showed a much better hot-corrosion resistance in the presence of $LiCl-Li_2O$ molten salt when compared to those of the uncoated superalloy and the aluminized bond coatings. These coatings have been found to be beneficial for increasing to the hot-corrosion resistance of the structural materials for handling high temperature lithium molten salts.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.557-563
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• 2006

The electrolytic reduction of spent oxide fuel involves the liberation of oxygen in a molten LiCl electrolyte, which results in a chemically aggressive environment that is too corrosive for typical structural materials. So, it is essential to choose the optimum material for the process equipment handling molten salt. In this study, corrosion behavior of Inconel 713LC, MA 754, X-750 and 718 in the molten salt $LiCl-Li_2O$ under an oxidizing atmosphere was investigated at $650^{\circ}C$ for $72{\sim}216$ hours. Inconel 713LC alloy showed the highest corrosion resistance among the examined alloys. Corrosion products of Inconel 713LC were $Cr_2O_3,\;NiCr_2O_4$ and NiO, and those of Inconel MA 754 were $Cr_2O_3\;and\;Li_2Ni_8O_{10}$ while $Cr_2O_3,\;NiFe_2O_4\;and\;CrNbO_4$ were produced from Inconel 718. Also, corrosion products of Inconel X-750 were found to be $Cr_2O_3,\;NiFe_2O_4\;and\;(Cr,Nb,Ti)O_2$. Inconel 713LC showed local corrosion behavior and Inconel MA 754, 718, X-750 showed uniform corrosion behavior.