About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Materials and Chemistry for Molten Salt Systems
|
| Presentation Title |
Rationalizing the Corrosion in Flowing Molten Salt Loops From the Computational Thermodynamics and Kinetics Perspectives |
| Author(s) |
Seongwon Ham, Ho Lee, Sangtae Kim |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Seongwon Ham |
| Abstract Scope |
Flowing molten salts accelerate the corrosion of structural materials in molten salt reactors (MSRs), typically resulting in mass loss in hot legs and mass gain in cold legs. This degradation mechanism significantly reduces reactor lifetime, yet its fundamental origins remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate several plausible mechanisms including solubility gradient-driven corrosion through computational thermodynamics and kinetics modeling. We first show from free energy calculations that neither thermogalvanic nor solubility gradient-driven corrosions are plausible under a 100 K thermal gradient within a molten chloride loop. Yet, the thermal gradient amplifies redox asymmetry across the loop, promoting chromium dissolution in hot legs and iron reduction in cold legs, consistent with experimental findings from SS316 flowing salt exposure tests. We note that this model assumes pre-existing Fe2+ ions in the melt, presumably caused by the corrosion via moisture-derived impurities. The implications of impurity-driven redox couples amplified by thermal gradients will be discussed. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Computational Materials Science & Engineering, |