Kinetics of hydrogen permeation through a Ni-base alloy membrane exposed to primary medium of pressurized water reactors

Loic Marchetti (1, 2) , Frantz Martin (2) , Frédéric Datcharry (2) , Jacques Chêne (3, 4)

1 LCLT - Laboratoire d'Etudes du Comportement à Long Terme des matériaux de conditionnement
2 SCCME - Service de la Corrosion et du Comportement des Matériaux dans leur Environnement
3 LAMBE - Laboratoire Analyse et Modélisation pour la Biologie et l'Environnement
4 LECA - Laboratoire d'Etude de la Corrosion Aqueuse

Hydrogen permeation kinetics through a Ni-base alloy exposed to simulated pressurized water reactors primary medium at 325 °C has been investigated. In situ measurements exhibit a strong decrease of H flux during the first 50 h of exposure; it has been related to the oxide scale growth at the alloy surface. A kinetic model has been proposed to describe this link. Comparing modelling and experimental results indicates that high H transient activities are generated at the alloy surface during the first hours of oxide scale growth, suggesting that H could play a role in stress corrosion cracking of Ni-base alloys.

Mots clés: Hydrogen; Kinetics; Permeation; Pressurized water reactors; Residual stresses; Scale (deposits); Stress corrosion cracking; Hydrogen permeation; In-situ measurement; Kinetic modeling; Modelling studies; Ni-base alloys; Oxide scale growth; Reactor conditions; Stress corrosion; Nickel alloys

Domaines: Chimie théorique et/ou physique; Chimie-Physique [physics.chem-ph]

Loic Marchetti, Frantz Martin, Frédéric Datcharry, Jacques Chêne. Kinetics of hydrogen permeation through a Ni-base alloy membrane exposed to primary medium of pressurized water reactors. Corrosion Science, 2018, 144, pp.1-12. ⟨10.1016/J.CORSCI.2018.05.027⟩. ⟨hal-02110433⟩