Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Electrochemical method for determining the solubility of impurities in lead-bismuth eutectic using molten salt electrolytes

  • Taiqi Yin (Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Data-Driven High-Safety Energy Materials and Applications, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences) ;
  • Yongcheng Zhang (Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Data-Driven High-Safety Energy Materials and Applications, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences) ;
  • Lei Zhang (Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Data-Driven High-Safety Energy Materials and Applications, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences) ;
  • Tao Bo (Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Data-Driven High-Safety Energy Materials and Applications, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences) ;
  • Xiaoli Tan (MOE Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental System Optimization, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University) ;
  • Weiqun Shi (Laboratory of Nuclear Energy Chemistry, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
  • Received : 2024.03.26
  • Accepted : 2024.05.17
  • Published : 2024.10.25
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Abstract

Traditional physical methods for measuring solubility were often affected by viscosity, density, and surface tension. In this study, we selected appropriate electrolytes to determine the solubility of impurities in the lead-bismuth circuit at reactor operating temperatures using electrochemical methods. Taking the measurement of the solubility of impurity Ce in liquid Bi as an example, we demonstrated that electrochemical methods can accurately determine its solubility in the LiCl-KCl molten salt. Furthermore, the successful measurement of other impurities such as La, Ce, U, and Mn in lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) using the designed system has confirmed the universality of this method.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was financially supported by the National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (BX2021327), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22206194 and U2267222), the Ningbo Natural Science Foundation of China (2023J337), and Yongjiang Talent Introduction Programme (2021A-161-G).

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