Water corrosion is one of the most commonly found, and therefore one of the most important, corrosion phenomena. It is particularly important in nuclear applications, where high temperature, pressurized water (over 300 °C) can cause significant corrosion to fuel cladding and structural materials in both the current fleet of reactors and next generation LWR SMRs. The water corrosion lab works to study this process to better predict and prevent aqueous corrosion under relevant temperatures and pressures.
The Water Corrosion Lab is located in Engineering Centers Building 2005.
Autoclaves
The water corrosion lab is equipped with three autoclaves (BB8, Jabba, and R2D2) for high pressure, high temperature corrosion experiments. Two autoclaves are equipped with feedthroughs for in-situ electrochemical analysis. The largest of the three autoclaves has an internal volume 5 L, with a maximum operating temperature of 360 °C and operating pressure of 200 bar (2.9 ksi). This autoclave is also equipped with 3 sapphire windows to enable in-situ UV irradiation and RAMAN spectroscopy measurements. The re-circulation loop can also be connected for further chemical control.
Re-circulation Loop
The water corrosion lab is equipped with a re-circulation loop that can be connected to two of the three autoclaves, enabling flowing corrosion tests as well. The re-circulation loop allows for the precise control of water conditions during operation, the injection of hydrogen and oxygen, and the sampling of water chemistry for additional data collection during corrosion.