Grant: Alliance Grants
Queen's University
$104,000.00
Mechanistic understanding of hydrided region overload cracking
FY 2022-23
Summary
Ontario's 18 CANada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors generate >60% of its electricity, with negligible CO2 production. It is an industry supporting 76,000 Canadian jobs with revenues in the tens of billions of dollars. Since the majority of financial and CO2 cost associated with nuclear power plants (NPPs) is during initial build, maximizing NPP lifetimes by enabling accurate maintenance, repair and refurbishment predictions provides great economic benefit, while keeping CO2 production low. The Pressure Tube (PT) is a key component of the CANDU design, acting as the pressure boundary for the heavy water coolant. The total Hydrogen (H) content of the PT increases with time in reactor, due to a slow uniform corrosion reaction. If sufficient H is present it can precipitate forming a hydride. The proposed work will develop a mechanistic understanding of a potential cracking mechanism associated with these hydrides, helping to ensure safe running of existing reactors for as long as possible, providing economic and environmental benefits. It will train several students and postdocs in key topics, in an area where industry continues to exhibit significant demand for highly trained personnel.
Program
Alliance Grants
Recipient
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
556184-2020
Name nom
Daymond, Mark MR
Department département
Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Organization id
29
Institution établissement
Queen's University
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2022
Competition year année de concours
2020
Award amount
104000
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
9999
Area of application group en
Not available
Area of application group fr
Non disponible
Area of application en
Not available
Area of application fr
Non disponible
Research subject code
2001
Research subject group en
Materials science and technology
Research subject group fr
Science et technologie des matériaux
Research subject en
Materials structure, properties and testing
Research subject fr
Structure, propriétés et essais des matériaux
Installment
inst:3
Partie
1
Nb partie
3
Application title
Mechanistic understanding of hydrided region overload cracking
Application summary
Ontario's 18 CANada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors generate >60% of its electricity, with negligible CO2 production. It is an industry supporting 76,000 Canadian jobs with revenues in the tens of billions of dollars. Since the majority of financial and CO2 cost associated with nuclear power plants (NPPs) is during initial build, maximizing NPP lifetimes by enabling accurate maintenance, repair and refurbishment predictions provides great economic benefit, while keeping CO2 production low. The Pressure Tube (PT) is a key component of the CANDU design, acting as the pressure boundary for the heavy water coolant. The total Hydrogen (H) content of the PT increases with time in reactor, due to a slow uniform corrosion reaction. If sufficient H is present it can precipitate forming a hydride. The proposed work will develop a mechanistic understanding of a potential cracking mechanism associated with these hydrides, helping to ensure safe running of existing reactors for as long as possible, providing economic and environmental benefits. It will train several students and postdocs in key topics, in an area where industry continues to exhibit significant demand for highly trained personnel.
