Oxide film was made to form on the outside surface of zircaloy-2 tube (inside diameter=12.672mm, wall thickness=0.826mm) under the following three different conditions, (a) 300°C saturated LiOH solution, (b) 450°C and 15 ata steam and (c) 450°C air. The resulting oxide presented colors ranging from white to black, depending on the oxidation temperature and duration of exposure.
Each of these oxidized specimens, together with a control specimen (unoxidized) was heated directly by alternating current in high temperature coolant water sealed in an autoclave.
The apparent thermal conductivity of the oxide film was obtained by comparison of the temperatures inside tube measured on the oxidized and clean specimens under conditions as similar as possible. The experiment was conducted under 110°, 150°, 200°, 250° and 300°C of coolant temperature.
At near 110°C of coolant temperature, the apparent thermal conductivity was not affected significantly by difference in the method adopted for oxidization, and the values obtained were distinctly lower than that of sintered ZrO
2 stabilized with CaO. At higher temperatures, the oxide films formed under different conditions each showed individual heat transfer characteristics. The apparent thermal conductivity of white oxide film was smaller than that of black oxide film at near 300°C of coolant temperature.
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