Fission Product Sorptivity in Graphite
Both adsorption and absorption (sorption) of fission product (FP) gases on/into graphite are issues of interest in very high temperature reactors (VHTRs). In the original proposal, we proposed to use packed beds of graphite particles to measure sorption at a variety of temperatures and to use an electrodynamic balance (EDB) to measure sorption onto single graphite particles (a few μm in diameter) at room temperature. The use of packed beds at elevated temperature is not an issue. However, the TPOC requested revision of this initial proposal to included single particle measurements at elevated temperatures up to 1100 °C. To accommodate the desire of NEUP to extend the single particle EDB measurements to elevated temperatures it was necessary to significantly revise the plan and the budget. These revisions were approved. In the EDB method, we levitate a single graphite particle (the size, surface characteristics, morphology, purity, and composition of the particle can be varied) or agglomerate in the balance and measure the sorption of species by observing the changes in mass. This process involves the use of an electron stepping technique to measure the total charge on a particle which, in conjunction with the measured suspension voltages for the particle, allows for determinations of mass and, hence, of mass changes which then correspond to measurements of sorption. Accommodating elevated temperatures with this type of system required a significant system redesign and required additional time that ultimately was not available. These constraints also meant that the grant had to focus on fewer species as a result. Overall, the extension of the original proposed single particle work to elevated temperatures added greatly to the complexity of the proposed project and added greatly to the time that would eventually be required as well. This means that the bulk of the experimental progress was made using the packed bed sorption systems. Only being able to recruit one graduate student meant that data acquisition with the packed bed systems ended up competing for the graduate student’s available time with the electrodynamic balance redesign and assembly portions of the project. This competition for available time was eventually mitigated to some extent by the later recruitment of an undergraduate student to help with data collection using the packed bed system. It was only the recruitment of the second student that allowed the single particle balance design and construction efforts to proceed as far as they did during the project period. It should be added that some significant time was also spent by the graduate student cataloging previous work involving graphite. This eventually resulted in a review paper being submitted and accepted. Our specific revised objectives in this project were as follows: Experimentally obtain isotherms of Iodine for reactor grade IG-110 samples of graphite particles over a range of temperatures and pressures using an EDB and a temperature controlled EDB; Experimentally obtain isotherms of Iodine for reactor grade IG-110 samples of graphite particles over a range of temperatures and pressures using a packed column bed apparatus; Explore the effect that charge has on the adsorption isotherms of iodine by varying the charges on and the voltages used to suspend the microscopic particles in the EDB; and To interpret these results in terms of the existing models (Langmuir, BET, Freundlich, and others) which we will modify as necessary to include charge related effects.