On the Construction of a Calibration Curve Using a Glow Discharge Emission Spectrometer for Measuring the Hydrogen Content in Zirconium Alloys

Abstract

One of the main directions of modern activity of metrology researchers is to provide the real sector of the economy of the Russian Federation with reference materials that have no analogues in the country. The article discusses the research of highly efficient materials for fuel cladding (fuel elements) in the active zones of thermal reactors, the scope of which is wide. The purpose of the study is the development of samples of the composition of the zirconium alloy to establish and control the stability of the calibration curves of spectrometers when determining the mass fraction of hydrogen, provided that the metrological and technical characteristics of the reference material meet the requirements of the measurement procedure. The main methods for determining the hydrogen content in materials are analyzed. It has been established that the method of glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy has found the widest application. It has also been established that zirconium alloys are chosen as the main material in most cases.The need to create samples for constructing a calibration curve for spectrometers for measuring the hydrogen content in a zirconium alloy is noted. Samples of zirconium alloy Zr-1Nb (grade Э110) have been developed to construct a calibration curve using a glow discharge emission spectrometer for measurements with a mass fraction of hydrogen from 0.034 to 0.498 %. Calibration is carried out using the developed samples to obtain a calibration curve using the example of an emission glow discharge spectrometer of the GD Profiler2 type. The relative error of the hydrogen mass fraction obtained during calibration does not exceed ± 10 %.The practical significance of the study lies in the development of samples that can be used to calibrate spectrometers based on the method of glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy.