Hydrogen impurities in liquid lithium have a drastic disadvantageous impact on the used structural materials. Such a problem might occur also in the planned materials testing facility IFMIF-DONES, where hydrogen isotopes are produced by a reaction of a deuteron-beam with a target of liquid lithium. Therefore, the operation of such a Li-system requires the measurement of hydrogen (seen as impurity in the Li-melt) and the control of hydrogen removal. It is one of the excellences of the tool Electrochemistry to measure dissolved species over wide ranges of concentrations in real-time conditions. This presentation will present the physical background of determining non-metallic impurities in molten metals by measuring electrochemical potentials, outlining the development of such an H-sensor system and the transformation by Nernst correlation into concentration values. Additionally, liquid lithium is a very reactive melt, thus material compatibility is an essential topic for the developments of a durable sensor. Based on these issues a sensor design for measuring hydrogen in liquid lithium was realized under consideration of all physical, chemical and metallurgical aspects, including the successful manufacturing of the sensor as a first prototype and a further first production series. The outlook will also deal with the possibility of measurements of different hydrogen isotopes.
Development of an electrochemical sensor for hydrogen detection in liquid lithium for IFMIF-DONES
Nitti F. S.
2019-01-01
Abstract
Hydrogen impurities in liquid lithium have a drastic disadvantageous impact on the used structural materials. Such a problem might occur also in the planned materials testing facility IFMIF-DONES, where hydrogen isotopes are produced by a reaction of a deuteron-beam with a target of liquid lithium. Therefore, the operation of such a Li-system requires the measurement of hydrogen (seen as impurity in the Li-melt) and the control of hydrogen removal. It is one of the excellences of the tool Electrochemistry to measure dissolved species over wide ranges of concentrations in real-time conditions. This presentation will present the physical background of determining non-metallic impurities in molten metals by measuring electrochemical potentials, outlining the development of such an H-sensor system and the transformation by Nernst correlation into concentration values. Additionally, liquid lithium is a very reactive melt, thus material compatibility is an essential topic for the developments of a durable sensor. Based on these issues a sensor design for measuring hydrogen in liquid lithium was realized under consideration of all physical, chemical and metallurgical aspects, including the successful manufacturing of the sensor as a first prototype and a further first production series. The outlook will also deal with the possibility of measurements of different hydrogen isotopes.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.