Thermal conductivity of SiC and PyC coatings in spherical nuclear fuel particles measured by nanosecond time domain thermoreflectance

Abstract

TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) nuclear particle fuels are intended for application in several designs of advanced high temperature nuclear reactors. Nanosecond time domain transient thermoreflectance has been applied to the silicon carbide (SiC) and the inner and outer pyrolytic carbon (PyC) coatings of surrogate TRISO particles, measuring mean thermal conductivities of 166 ± 18 W∙m−1K−1, 11.1 ± 1.9 W∙m−1K−1, and 8.6 ± 2.1 W∙m−1K−1, respectively, for each layer. The applicability of the analytical heat diffusion model used to fit the measured traces was examined and it was found that the boundary effect at the SiC/PyC interface becomes perceptible at a lateral distance approximately equal to the thermal penetration depth of SiC (7.1 µm). In addition, steady-state thermal modelling showed that the radial thermal resistance of the particle is dominated by the porous buffer layer. The thermal resistance will likely increase significantly upon circumferential detachment of the porous buffer carbon coating with irradiation. Implications for fuel design and reactor performance are discussed.