DOE OSTI2018
The objective of this effort is to identify materials and manufacturing technology that will allow the rapid construction and evaluation of computer modeled advanced reactor system designs to process specific carbon feedstock materials. Before full scale reaction systems can be built, prototypes need to be constructed and operated to validate the proposed new system performance against target criteria. The first steps, however, are to understand what type of materials are needed that can withstand the targeted process environments and determine how structures using those materials can be built. A wide range of reaction vessel conditions may exist in the processes being considered that could involve temperatures up to 1200°C, abrasive materials (high velocity coal and coal ash), different carbon feedstock materials (coal, biomass, and process wastes such as petcoke), corrosive and oxidizing/reducing gases, different material phases (solid, liquid, and gas), cyclic temperatures, microwave energy, customized vessel construction material needs (process stability, cost, weight, and compatibility with other materials), along with other known/unknown variables – all of which must be considered in selecting materials and considering manufacturing processes. The current focus of the research is to develop a reaction vessel sidewall structure consisting of a metal outer support and an inner ceramic (or cermet) protective surface. Ceramic coatings are desired because of their good corrosion and wear resistance, and because they are the material of choice to reduce metal shell temperature in high temperature processes. However significant property mismatches between metals and ceramics have been a roadblock to the joining of metals and ceramics.
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗