Resilience of uranium mononitride/zirconium carbide composites and uranium-zirconium carbonitride in hot hydrogen for nuclear thermal propulsion

被引：0

作者：

Hamilton, Sarah R. ^{[1
,4
]}

Zillinger, James ^{[1
]}

Scott, Randall ^{[1
]}

Jerred, Nathan ^{[1
]}

Palomares, Kelsa ^{[2
]}

Salasin, John ^{[3
]}

Miller, Victoria M. ^{[4
]}

机构：

[1] Idaho Natl Lab, POB 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415 USA

[2] Analyt Mech Assoc, 1500 Perimeter Pkwy Suite 110, Huntsville, AL 35806 USA

[3] BWX Technol Inc, 800 Main St, Lynchburg, VA 24504 USA

[4] Univ Florida, 1949 Stadium Rd, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA

来源：

JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS | 2024年 / 596卷

关键词：

Hot hydrogen; Uranium nitride; Zirconium carbide; Uranium-zirconium carbonitride; Ceramic composite; Nuclear thermal propulsion; Corrosion;

D O I：

10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155101

中图分类号：

T [工业技术];

学科分类号：

08 ;

摘要：

Nuclear thermal rockets require fuels capable of withstanding flowing hydrogen propellant up to 3200 K. Presently, there has not been a fuel type that reliably operates at these conditions. A promising candidate anticipated to endure this demanding environment is a ceramic-ceramic composite comprising of uranium mononitride and zirconium carbide. This investigation assesses the behavior and resilience of variations of this composite and its resultant homogenized form (uranium-zirconium carbonitride) under two hot hydrogen conditions (2273 K and 3000 K). The findings revealed that composites that homogenize into UZrCN exhibit superior structural integrity in hydrogen compared to heterogeneous counterparts. Consequently, this study underscores the potential of homogenized uranium-zirconium carbonitride for enhanced performance in nuclear thermal propulsion applications.

引用

页数：15