ABSTRACT
Understanding and controlling the chemical processes between molten salts and alloys is vital for the safe operation of molten-salt nuclear reactors. Corrosion processes in molten salts are highly dependent on the redox potential of the solution that changes with the presence of fission and corrosion processes, and as such, reactor designers develop electrochemical methods to monitor the salt. However, electrochemical techniques rely on the deconvolution of broad peaks, a process that may be imprecise in the presence of multiple species that emerge during reactor operation. Here, we describe in situ measurements of the concentration and chemical state of corrosion products in molten FLiNaK (eutectic mixture of LiF-NaK-KF) by high-resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy. We placed a NiCr foil in molten FLiNaK and found the presence of both Ni2+ ions and metallic Ni in the melt, which we attribute to the foil disintegration due to Cr dealloying.
ABSTRACT
We present the results of computer simulations on a class of percolative systems, called protected percolation, that violates the Harris criterion. The Harris criterion states whether the critical behavior at a phase transition from a disordered state to an ordered state will be altered by impurities. We incorporate impurities into our simulations to test whether the critical exponents for protected percolation are altered by impurities. We find that the critical exponents for three-dimensional protected percolation simulations indeed change with impurities in the form of missing sites and immortal sites. On the other hand, the critical exponents for both standard percolation and protected percolation in two dimensions are stable against impurities.
