Investigation On Oxidation Behavior of Nuclear Graphite IG-110 At Elevated Temperature Abu Khalid Rivai (a*), Herlina (b), and Sigit Tri Wicaksono (b)
a) Center For Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, BATAN, Kawasan PUSPIPTEK Gedung 71, Tangerang Selatan, Banten 15314, Indonesia
*rivai.abukhalid[at]batan.go.id
b) Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Jalan Teknik Kimia, Keputih, Surabaya, Jawa Timur 60111, Indonesia
Abstract
Air or water is potentially entered to the reactor core of HTGR - high temperature gas cooled reactors under normal or abnormal operation, so called air or water ingress. Therefore, the high stability and integrity of the materials used in the core is one of the critical issues for the development of HTGR which is directly influenced to the safety of the reactor. A nuclear graphite IG-110 has been tested at elevated temperature with air environment. The testing was carried out using Magnetic Suspension Balance to analyze the weight change with direct-monitoring. The testing was done up to 630 degree celcius of temperature for 420 minutes. Analysis of morphological and microstructure was performed using optical microscope, Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-ray Sprectroscope and XRD X-Ray Diffractometer. The results showed that slightly change of the crystal size of the material structure and the trace of reaction between the surface material with oxygen have been observed. Nevertheless, weight change analysis showed that the weight-loss rate of the tested material was relatively low.
