Experimental Investigation of Erosion and Corrosion of Coated and Uncoated Steels Under High Velocity Lead Flow

Abstract

The choice of molten lead as a chemically inert and low-pressure coolant for a nuclear reactor can provide enhanced safety features. However, development is still necessary in areas such as materials performance and corrosion control. In this paper, we investigate the erosion/corrosion of coated and uncoated 316L and 316H stainless steels under high velocity lead flow using the newly commissioned BULLET (Bangor University Lead Loop Erosion/corrosion Testing) facility. In this loop, lead flow at a rate of 3.3 ms^-1 was established across the sample surface for a period of 500 hours, at 693K and an oxygen content of 10^-8 wt%. Post-test materials characterisation of the samples using Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) is presented. In particular, the effect of the coating on the erosion/corrosion of the candidate materials is investigated.