Aerodynamic levitator for in situ x-ray structure measurements on high temperature and molten nuclear fuel materials.
Rev Sci Instrum
; 87(7): 073902, 2016 Jul.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27475566
ABSTRACT
An aerodynamic levitator with carbon dioxide laser beam heating was integrated with a hermetically sealed controlled atmosphere chamber and sample handling mechanism. The system enabled containment of radioactive samples and control of the process atmosphere chemistry. The chamber was typically operated at a pressure of approximately 0.9 bars to ensure containment of the materials being processed. Samples 2.5-3 mm in diameter were levitated in flowing gas to achieve containerless conditions. Levitated samples were heated to temperatures of up to 3500 °C with a partially focused carbon dioxide laser beam. Sample temperature was measured using an optical pyrometer. The sample environment was integrated with a high energy (100 keV) x-ray synchrotron beamline to enable in situ structure measurements to be made on levitated samples as they were heated, melted, and supercooled. The system was controlled from outside the x-ray beamline hutch by using a LabVIEW program. Measurements have been made on hot solid and molten uranium dioxide and binary uranium dioxide-zirconium dioxide compositions.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2016
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos