Duplex accident tolerant coating for nuclear fuel rods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11043308-B2
Application number	US-201715722167-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2017
Priority date	Oct 3, 2016
Publication date	Jun 22, 2021
Grant date	Jun 22, 2021

Abstract

A method is described for forming duplex layers including an interlayer and a corrosion resistant boundary layer on a nuclear fuel rod cladding tube for use in a water cooled nuclear reactor. The method includes forming, by thermal deposition or physical vapor deposition, on the exterior of a substrate, an inner interlayer with Mo, Ta, W or Nb or other particles, and forming, by thermal deposition or physical vapor deposition, on the interlayer, an outer corrosion resistant layer with particles selected from the group consisting of Cr, a Cr alloy, and combinations thereof. The interlayer prevents eutectic formation between the corrosion resistant layer and the substrate.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of forming a corrosion resistant boundary on a substrate of a component for use in a water cooled nuclear reactor, the method comprising:
providing a zirconium alloy substrate;
forming on the zirconium alloy substrate, an interlayer with particles selected from the group consisting of Mo, Ta, W, and Nb; and
forming a corrosion resistant layer on the interlayer with particles selected from the group consisting of Cr, a Cr alloy, and combinations thereof;
wherein the interlayer is formed by a physical vapor deposition process and the corrosion resistant layer is formed by a cold spray thermal deposition process.

2. The method recited in claim 1 wherein Cr alloy of the corrosion resistant layer comprises one of FeCrAl or FeCrAlY.

3. The method recited in claim 1 wherein the cold spray process comprises:
heating a pressurized carrier gas to a temperature between 100° C. and 1200° C.;
adding the particles to the heated carrier gas; and
spraying the carrier gas and entrained particles at a velocity of 800 to 4000 ft./sec. (about 243.84 to 1219.20 meters/sec.).

4. The method recited in claim 3 wherein the carrier gas is selected from the group consisting of nitrogen (N 2 ), hydrogen (H 2 ), argon (Ar), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and helium (He) and combinations thereof.

5. The method recited in claim 1 wherein the physical vapor deposition process is selected from the group consisting of cathodic arc vapor deposition, magnetron sputtering deposition, and pulsed laser deposition.

6. The method recited in claim 1 further comprising, following the formation of the interlayer, at least one of grinding, buffing, and polishing to increase the smoothness of the coating.

7. The method recited in claim 1 further comprising, following the formation of the corrosion resistant layer, at least one of grinding, buffing, and polishing to increase the smoothness of the coating.

8. The method recited in claim 1 wherein the particles forming the corrosion resistant layer are pure chromium particles.

9. The method recited in claim 1 wherein the particles forming the corrosion resistant layer are Cr alloy particles.

10. The method recited in claim 1 wherein the particles forming the corrosion resistant layer are selected from the group consisting of FeCrAl and FeCrAlY particles.

11. The method recited in claim 1 wherein the particles forming the interlayer are Mo particles.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the interlayer is between 100 and 300 microns and the thickness of the corrosion resistant layer is between 100 and 300 microns.

13. A method of forming a corrosion resistant boundary on a substrate of a component for use in a water cooled nuclear reactor, the method comprising:
providing a zirconium alloy substrate;
forming on the zirconium alloy substrate, an interlayer with particles selected from the group consisting of Mo, Ta, W, and Nb; and
forming a corrosion resistant layer on the interlayer with particles selected from the group consisting of Cr, a Cr alloy, and combinations thereof;
wherein the interlayer is formed by a cold spray thermal deposition process and the corrosion resistant layer is formed by physical vapor deposition.

Assignees

• Westinghouse Electric Co Llc
• Wisconsin Alumni Res Found

Inventors

• Lahoda Edward J
• Xu Peng
• Oelrich Robert
• Sridharan Kumar
• Maier Benjamin
• Johnson Greg

Classifications

• C23C24/08

  by application of heat or pressure and heat (C23C24/04 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C23C28/023

  only coatings of metal elements only · CPC title

• B32B15/01

  all layers being exclusively metallic {(making layered metal workpieces by pressure cladding B23K20/22; making coatings with a metallic material characterised by its composition C23C30/00)} · CPC title

• G21C3/07 Primary

  characterised by their material, e.g. alloys · CPC title

• C23C14/34

  Sputtering · CPC title