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Hot hydrogen testing of direct current sintered NbC and (ZrNbW)C for nuclear thermal propulsion

Nuclear Materials and Energy, ISSN: 2352-1791, Vol: 34, Page: 101402
2023
  • 3
    Citations
  • 0
    Usage
  • 5
    Captures
  • 1
    Mentions
  • 0
    Social Media
Metric Options:   Counts1 Year3 Year

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  • Citations
    3
  • Captures
    5
  • Mentions
    1
    • News Mentions
      1
      • News
        1

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Studies from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Further Understanding of Nuclear Materials and Energy [Hot hydrogen testing of direct current sintered NbC and (ZrNbW)C for nuclear thermal propulsion]

2023 MAR 17 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Energy Daily News -- Research findings on nuclear materials and energy are discussed

Article Description

Refractory carbides are promising materials for use in nuclear thermal propulsion, either as the primary material in nuclear fuel elements or as protective coatings. In particular, NbC and ZrC have high melting points, relatively low vapor pressures at elevated temperatures, and low thermal neutron cross sections. In this study, NbC and (Zr 0.4 Nb 0.4 W 0.2 )C were fully consolidated by direct current sintering, and relative densities of 98% were achieved. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction before and after hydrogen testing. The samples were exposed to hot flowing hydrogen gas at a pressure of 1 atm and a flow rate of 8 SLPM, at temperatures up to 2500 K, and for durations up to 3 h. The mass loss rate (MLR) of NbC decreased with increasing exposure, before reaching a steady state value of about 1 mg/m 2 s. For (ZrNbW)C, a comparison was made by exposing samples to either hot flowing hydrogen or argon gas. The mass loss rates decreased with increasing exposure to either gas, but the final steady-state MLR was one to two orders of magnitude greater for those samples exposed to hydrogen. As evidenced by X-ray data, small amounts of residual oxygen in the (ZrNbW)C samples were preferentially removed upon hydrogen exposure.

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