Quintal C Cifuentes, Reymond M, Fiorito F, Martin F, Pontillon M, Richaud J C, Doualle T, Pontillon Y, Gallais L
CEA, DES, IRESNE, DEC, Cadarache, F-13108 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance, France.
CNRS, Centrale Marseille, Institut Fresnel, Aix Marseille Univ, Marseille, France.
Rev Sci Instrum. 2023 Oct 1;94(10). doi: 10.1063/5.0139508.
Annealing tests are of utmost importance in nuclear fuel research, particularly to study the thermophysical properties of the material, microstructure evolution, or the released gas as a function of temperature. As an alternative to conventional furnace or induction annealing, we report on a laser-heating experiment allowing one to heat a nuclear fuel pellet made of uranium dioxide, UO2, or potentially other nuclear fuel pellets in an isothermal and controlled manner. For that purpose, we propose to use an indirect heating method based on a two compartment tungsten crucible, one containing the sample and the other acting as a laser susceptor for efficient and homogeneous heating of the assembly. With this concept, we demonstrate the heating of UO2 samples up to 1500 °C at a maximum heating rate of 30 °C/s with the use of two 500 W lasers. The system is, however, scalable to higher heating rates or higher temperatures by increasing the laser power up to few kW. The experiment has been designed to heat a pressurized water reactor fuel pellet, but the concept could be easily applied to other sample geometries or materials.
退火测试在核燃料研究中至关重要，特别是用于研究材料的热物理性质、微观结构演变或作为温度函数的释放气体。作为传统炉退火或感应退火的替代方法，我们报告了一项激光加热实验，该实验能够以等温且可控的方式加热由二氧化铀（UO₂）制成的核燃料芯块，或者潜在地加热其他核燃料芯块。为此，我们提议使用一种基于双隔层钨坩埚的间接加热方法，其中一个隔层放置样品，另一个隔层用作激光感受器，以实现组件的高效均匀加热。基于这一概念，我们展示了使用两台500瓦激光器将UO₂样品加热到1500°C，最大加热速率为30°C/s。然而，通过将激光功率增加到几千瓦，该系统可扩展到更高的加热速率或更高的温度。该实验旨在加热压水反应堆燃料芯块，但该概念可轻松应用于其他样品几何形状或材料。
