Deposition of a protective coating including metal-containing and chromium-containing layers on zirconium alloy for nuclear power applications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9721676-B2
Application number	US-201414287435-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 27, 2014
Priority date	May 27, 2014
Publication date	Aug 1, 2017
Grant date	Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

The invention relates to compositions and methods for coating a zirconium alloy cladding of a fuel element for a nuclear water reactor. The coating includes a first tier or layer and a second tier or layer. The first layer includes an elemental metal and the second layer is an oxidation-resistant layer that includes elemental chromium. The first layer serves as an intermediate layer between the zirconium alloy substrate and the second layer. This intermediate layer can be effective to improve adhesion of the second layer to the zirconium alloy substrate. The multilayer coating forms a protective layer which provides improved capability for the zirconium alloy cladding to withstand normal and accident conditions to which it is exposed in the nuclear reactor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A coated composite cladding for a fuel rod in a nuclear water reactor, comprising:
a zirconium alloy elongated tube having a cavity formed therein, an interior surface and an exterior surface, structured to hold nuclear fuel in the cavity;
a first coating composition deposited on the exterior surface of the elongated tube to form a first coating layer, the first coating composition comprising an elemental metal; and
a second coating composition deposited on the first coating layer to form a second coating layer, the second coating composition comprising elemental chromium.

2. The coated composite of claim 1 , wherein the elemental metal is a noble metal.

3. The coated composite of claim 1 , wherein the elemental metal is selected from the group consisting of palladium, nickel, copper and combinations thereof.

4. The coated composite of claim 1 , wherein the elemental metal has a melting point greater than coolant temperature during a nuclear reactor accident.

5. The coated composite of claim 4 , wherein the melting point is greater than 1200° C.

6. The coated composite of claim 1 , wherein the elemental metal has a low neutron absorption cross-section in a range of about 0.1 barn to about 7.0 barns.

Assignees

• Westinghouse Electric Co Llc
• Westinghouse Electric Co Llc

Inventors

• Mazzoccoli Jason P
• Xu Peng
• Ray Sumit
• Long Jr Carroll J
• Eddy Grant L

Classifications

• C23C16/45525

  Atomic layer deposition [ALD] · CPC title

• C25D5/12

  at least one layer being of nickel or chromium · CPC title

• C23C28/023 Primary

  only coatings of metal elements only · CPC title

• C23C18/1651

  Two or more layers only obtained by electroless plating · CPC title

• C23C4/134

  Plasma spraying · CPC title