Optical Fier Based System for Multiple Thermophysical Properties for Glove Box, Hot Cell and In-Pile Application
Thermal diffusivity of materials is of interest in nuclear applications at temperatures in excess of 2000°C. Commercial laser flash apparatus (LFA) that heats samples with a furnace typically do not reach these elevated temperatures nor are they easily adapted to a glove-box or hot cell environment. In this research, we performed work on an experimental technique using single laser surface heating, i.e. heating the disk sample only at its front surface with the continuous wave (CW) laser, to allow measurement of thermal diffusivity at very high temperatures within a small chamber. Thermal diffusivity is measured using a separate pulsed laser on the front side and IR detector on the rear side. The new way of heating provides easy operation in comparison to other heating methods. The measurement of sample reference temperature is needed for the measured thermal diffusivity. A theoretical model was developed to describe transient heat transfer across the sample due to the laser pulse, starting from the steady state temperature of the sample heated by the CW laser. The experimental setup was established with a 500W CW laser and maximum 50 Joule pulse laser irradiated at the front surface of the sample. The induced temperature rise at the rear surface, along with the steady-state temperature at the front surface, was recorded for the determination of thermal diffusivity and the sample temperature. Three samples were tested in vacuum over a wide temperature range of 500°C to 2100°C, including graphite, Inconel 600 and tungsten. The latter two samples were coated with sprayed graphite on their front surfaces in order to achieve surface absorption/emission needs, i.e. high absorptivity of the front surface against relatively low emissivity of the rear surface. Thermal diffusivity of graphite determined by our system are within a 5% difference of the commercial LFA data at temperatures below 1300°C and agree well with its trend at higher temperatures. Good agreement would also exist for Inconel 600 and tungsten. Despite large uncertainty of measuringthe sample temperature, the uncertainties of thermal diffusivity are less than 6% for all samples at elevated temperatures. The results indicate that single laser surface heating could be convenient and practical for the application of the LFA measurements without extra uncertainty, as temperature dependence of thermal diffusivity is usually negligible in the sample. Moreover, it is concluded that unequal surface treatment, i.e., high absorption on the front side and low emission on the rear side, greatly improves the measurement in serval aspects: less power requirement of the CW laser, less uncertainty of measured thermal diffusivity, and more uniform temperature distribution in the sample. The result of this research can be used as a general guideline for the design of this type of measurement system for nuclear applications. It can also be used directly to design and build a system similar to the one implemented in this project.