Corrosion of Nickel-base Heat Resistant Alloys in Simulated VHTR Coolant Helium at very High Temperatures

Abstract

A comparative evaluation was made on three commercial nickel-base heat resistant alloys exposed to helium-base atmosphere at 1000°C, which contained several impurities in simulating the helium cooled very high temperature nuclear reactor (VHTR) environment. The choice of alloys was made so that the effect of elements commonly found in commercial alloys were typically examined. The corrosion in helium at 1000°C was characterized by the sharp selection of thermodynamically unstable elements in the oxidizing process and the resultant intergranular penetration and internal oxidation. Ni-Cr-Mo-W type solution hardened alloy such as Hastelloy-X showed comparatively good resistance. The alloy containing Al and Ti such as Inconel-617 suffered adverse effect in contrast to its good resistance to air oxidation. The alloy nominally composed only of noble elements, Ni, Fe and Mo, such as Hastelloy-B showed least apparent corrosion, while suffered internal oxidation due to small amount of active impurities commonly existing in commercial heats. The results were discussed in terms of selection and improvement of alloys for uses in VHTR and the similar systems.