Effects of Oxide Additions on the Corrosion Behaviour of Cr2O3 Based Ceramics in High Temperature Supercritical Water Environment

• Author / Creator

  Wang, Renfei

• This investigation is aimed at developing ceramic materials applied in supercritical water, which is being considered as coolant for one of the next generation nuclear reactors. Cr2O3, a primary protective film on stainless steels, was found to be unstable in SCW due to the formation of soluble Cr6+ species, which can be severed by increasing the oxygen content in SCW or by reducing the ceramic’s grain size. To enhance the stability of Cr2O3 in SCW, various amounts of other oxides including MgO, CeO2 and SiO2 additives were added into Cr2O3 and these ceramics were exposed to an SCW environment at 650°C/25 MPa for up to 600 hours. The results showed that adding a proper amount (less than 5 wt. %) of CeO2 and MgO into Cr2O3 can increase the corrosion resistance of Cr2O3 based ceramics in SCW environments, whereas high additions content can deteriorate the stability of Cr2O3 based ceramics.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Corrosion
  • Cr2O3
  • Supercritical water
  • Ceramics

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R34X59

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.