ICONE15-10588 APPLICATION OF PROTON CONDUCTORS TO HYDROGEN MONITORING FOR LIQUID METAL AND MOLTEN SALT SYSTEMS

Abstract

The chemical control of impurity such as hydrogen and oxygen in coolants is one of the critical issues for the development of liquid metal cooled fast reactors and self-cooled liquid breeder blankets for fusion reactors. Especially, hydrogen (isotopes) level is the key parameter for corrosion and mechanical properties of the in-reactor components. For fission reactors, the monitor of hydrogen level in the melt is important for safety operation. In addition, the control of tritium is essential for the tritium breeding performance of the fusion reactors. Therefore, on-line hydrogen sensing is a key technology for these systems. In the present study, conceptual design for the on-line hydrogen sensor to be used commonly in liquid sodium (Na), lead (Pb), lead-bismuth (Pb-Bi), lithium (Li), lead-lithium (Pb-17Li) and molten salt LiF-BeF_2 (Flibe) was performed. The cell of hydrogen sensor is made of a solid electrolyte. The solid electrolyte proposed in this study is the CaZrO_3-based ceramics, which is well-known as proton conducting ceramics. In this concept, the cell is immersed into the melt which is containing the hydrogen at the partial pressure of P_<H1>. Then, the cell is filled with Ar-H_2 mixture gas at regulated hydrogen partial pressure of P_<H2>. The electromotive force (EMF) is obtained by the proton conduction in the electro chemical system expressed as P_<H1> (melt) | solid electrolyte | P_<H2> (reference gas). The Nernst equation is used for the evaluation of the hydrogen partial pressure from the obtained EMF. The evaluations of expected performance of the sensor in Na, Pb, Pb-Bi, Pb-17Li, Li and Flibe and experimental validation at hydrogen pressures equivalent to those for the melts in the reactor conditions were carried out.