Simulation of High-Temperature Zirconium Alloy Oxidation in a Nitrogen, Oxygen and Steam Mixture

Abstract

The paper presents a correlation model of high-temperature zirconium alloy oxidation in a mixture of gases (steam, nitrogen and oxygen) for the weight gain calculation of the oxidized sample. The essence of the model consists in using the linear interpolation between the kinetic constants of oxidation in pure gases to describe the oxidation kinetics in gas mixtures. The approach allows one to describe the oxygen weight gain with different contents of gases in steam, nitrogen and oxygen mixtures. The model was validated against experimental data on oxidation in an air-steam mixture in a proportion of 50% to 50% of the volume. For temperatures of 1200 °C and 1400 °C, prior to the 625th second, the deviation between the experimental data and the simulation results is not more than 18%; for 800 °C, prior to the 14th hour, the deviation between the experimental data and the simulation results is not more than 40%. Besides the air-steam mixture, the paper presents the results of the weight gain calculation using the proposed model for oxidation in an oxygen-nitrogen mixture and in a steam-oxygen mixture at 800 °C and 1400 °C.