Engineering Papers⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Hosemann, Peter

Publications and source records attributed to Hosemann, Peter.

62 records · Page 4

Electrical properties of thermal oxide scales on pure iron in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic

Here, the impedance behavior of pre-oxidized iron in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) at 200 °C is studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The structures and resistance of oxide grown on iron oxidized in air at different temperatures and durations are compared. The results show that the resistance of the oxide film increases with increasing oxidizing temperature, due to the formation of a thicker scale and fewer defects. At the same temperature (600 °C), increasing the oxidation time can also reduce the defect concentration in the oxide film and improve the impedance of the oxide scale in LBE.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Status Report on Development of a Cask to Enable Pulsed Neutron Characterization of Irradiated Fuel

We present the design of a shielding cask that allows pulsed neutron characterization of irradiated fuel rodlets prior to their destructive examination in hot cells. The goal is to provide complementary and informative measurements that will inform subsequent hot cell PIE examinations by identifying typical and atypical regions with respect to microstructure, tomographic data, or isotope densities. Time-of-flight neutron diffraction has the potential to offer efficient, non-destructive and non-contact microstructural characterization of irradiated fuel pins with spatial resolution of 1 mm3 to 1 cm3 while for energy-resolved neutron imaging (and by extension tomography) a resolution of 100 μm was demonstrated. The potential results include crystallinity vs. amorphous volumes and microstructural information such as phase compositions and textures from the diffraction data as well as distances (e.g. pellet to cladding), cracks, and isotopic distributions of minor actinides, fission products as well as fission gas partial pressures e.g. in the plenum from energy resolved neutron imaging. The capability will identify regions of atypical behavior and provide cost effective bulk characterization of entire samples prior to destructive evaluation in hot cells. This effort is a collaboration between LANL, INL, ORNL, and UC Berkeley. A key facet of the initiative is the ability to cost effectively ship irradiated fuels from INL to the pulsed spallation neutron source at LANSCE. The irradiated fuel would be loaded in the custom designed cask (designated RaMHaM) at INL hot cells which then could be shipped in a BRR Type B shipment container between INL and LANL. No hot cell is required after the loading of the sample at INL in the pathway laid out in this report, greatly simplifying handling at LANL.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Experimental methodology and theoretical framework in describing constrained plastic flow of FCC microscale tensile specimens

Small scale mechanical testing (SSMT) allows for the quantification of the mechanical responses for microscale and nanoscale material volumes. It has significant potential in improving our fundamental understanding of plastic deformation and in providing an engineering solution for testing complex and/or critical materials. Importantly, previous studies have revealed that plastic intermittency, manifested as strain bursts, are characteristic of the plastic flow behavior at the small length scale. In this work, interfacial constraint has been utilized to suppress strain bursts in order to stabilize plasticity. A new parameter, blocked volume ratio (BVR), is introduced to quantify the degree of constraint for a microscale specimen due to an interface. Here, we showed that the plastic flow behavior in FCC Ni-based metals is highly dependent on the BVR of the specimen.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Chemical manipulation of hydrogen induced high p-type and n-type conductivity in Ga 2 O 3

Advancement of optoelectronic and high-power devices is tied to the development of wide band gap materials with excellent transport properties. However, bipolar doping (n-type and p-type doping) and realizing high carrier density while maintaining good mobility have been big challenges in wide band gap materials. Here P-type and n-type conductivity was introduced in β-Ga 2 O 3 , an ultra-wide band gap oxide, by controlling hydrogen incorporation in the lattice without further doping. Hydrogen induced a 9-order of magnitude increase of n-type conductivity with donor ionization energy of 20 meV and resistivity of 10 -4 Ω.cm. The conductivity was switched to p-type with acceptor ionization energy of 42 meV by altering hydrogen incorporation in the lattice. Density functional theory calculations were used to examine hydrogen location in the Ga 2 O 3 lattice and identified a new donor type as the source of this remarkable n-type conductivity. Positron annihilation spectroscopy measurements confirm this finding and the interpretation of the experimental results. This work illustrates a new approach that allows a tunable and reversible way of modifying the conductivity of semiconductors and it is expected to have profound implications on semiconductor field. At the same time, it demonstrates for the first time p-type and remarkable n-type conductivity in Ga 2 O 3 which should usher in the development of Ga 2 O 3 devices and advance optoelectronics and high-power devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

High operating temperature heat transfer fluids for solar thermal power generation. Final report

This is the final technical report for the DOE MURI project on developing high-operating temperature heat transfer fluids for solar thermal power generation. This project aimed to evaluate liquid metals as a heat-transport fluid and potential energy storage medium for concentrated solar powered (CSP) systems. The project consisted of five phases, starting with fluid selection and screen and ending with potential CSP integration. The initial fluid selection arrived at heavy liquid metals as candidate fluids such as lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) as the prime liquid-alloy candidate to be studied, given the conditions above. Fifty-seven liquid compositions were initially identified with liquidus temperatures lower than 200°C, composed of elements that provide no driving force to the reduction of Cr 2 O 3 or Al 2 O 3 passivation layers in pipe material which is required for corrosion prevention. LBE was identified as the primary candidate fluid after these compositions were compared against computational thermodynamic modeling to screen all of the selected systems that would be compatible with our design objectives. Twenty-eight of these compositions were also investigated with the rapid characterization methods; the accuracies of the liquidus temperature and the specific heats predicted by the computations were better than 3 percent and 9 percent, respectively. We conducted numerus corrosion tests of various Fe-Cr-Al based steels in LBE and its variants at temperate as high as 800°C. It was found that minor additions to the liquid did not provide sufficient corrosion protection to warrant their use in real applications. Furthermore, we investigated the detailed mechanism of corrosion between heavy liquid metal and the pipe material at these very high temperatures. A liquid metal loop was constructed to operate at these high temperatures. The loop construction and operation lead to valuable lessons learned that will be needed for industrial scale loops. Furthermore, we learned that electromagnetic pumps at these extreme temperatures will have to be reengineered and redesigned to be used for CSP applications.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗