Structural Alloys For Power Plants

Current fleets of conventional and nuclear power plants face increasing hostile environmental conditions due to increasingly high temperature operation for improved capacity and efficiency, and the need for long term service. Additional challenges are presented by the requirement to cycle plants to meet peak-load operation. This book presents a comprehensive review of structural materials in conventional and nuclear energy applications. Opening chapters address operational challenges and structural alloy requirements in different types of power plants. The following sections review power plant structural alloys and methods to mitigate critical materials degradation in power plants.

Current fleets of conventional and nuclear power plants face increasing hostile environmental conditions due to increasingly high temperature operation for improved capacity and efficiency, and the need for long term service. Additional challenges are presented by the requirement to cycle plants to meet peak-load operation. This book presents a comprehensive review of structural materials in conventional and nuclear energy applications. Opening chapters address operational challenges and structural alloy requirements in different types of power plants. The following sections review power plant structural alloys and methods to mitigate critical materials degradation in power plants.

High-performance alloys that can withstand operation in hazardous nuclear environments are critical to presentday in-service reactor support and maintenance and are foundational for reactor concepts of the future. With commercial nuclear energy vendors and operators facing the retirement of staff during the coming decades, much of the scholarly knowledge of nuclear materials pursuant to appropriate, impactful, and safe usage is at risk. Led by the multi-award winning editorial team of G. Robert Odette (UCSB) and Steven J. Zinkle (UTK/ORNL) and with contributions from leaders of each alloy discipline, Structural Alloys for Nuclear Energy Applications aids the next generation of researchers and industry staff developing and maintaining steels, nickel-base alloys, zirconium alloys, and other structural alloys in nuclear energy applications. This authoritative reference is a critical acquisition for institutions and individuals seeking state-of-the-art knowledge aided by the editors’ unique personal insight from decades of frontline research, engineering and management. Focuses on in-service irradiation, thermal, mechanical, and chemical performance capabilities. Covers the use of steels and other structural alloys in current fission technology, leading edge Generation-IV fission reactors, and future fusion power reactors. Provides a critical and comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art experimental knowledge base of reactor materials, for applications ranging from engineering safety and lifetime assessments to supporting the development of advanced computational models.

Due to their continuing role in electricity generation, it is important that coal power plants operate as efficiently and cleanly as possible. Coal Power Plant Materials and Life Assessment reviews the materials used in coal plants, and how they can be assessed and managed to optimize plant operation. Part I considers the structural alloys used in coal plants. Part II then reviews performance modelling and life assessment techniques, explains the inspection and life-management approaches that can be adopted to optimize long term plant operation, and considers the technical and economic issues involved in meeting variable energy demands. Summarizes key research on coal-fired power plant materials, their behavior under operational loads, and approaches to life assessment and defect management Details the range of structural alloys used in coal power plants, and the life assessment techniques applicable to defect-free components under operational loads Reviews the life assessment techniques applicable to components containing defects and the approaches that can be adopted to optimize plant operation and new plant and component design

Operating at a high level of fuel efficiency, safety, proliferation-resistance, sustainability and cost, generation IV nuclear reactors promise enhanced features to an energy resource which is already seen as an outstanding source of reliable base load power. The performance and reliability of materials when subjected to the higher neutron doses and extremely corrosive higher temperature environments that will be found in generation IV nuclear reactors are essential areas of study, as key considerations for the successful development of generation IV reactors are suitable structural materials for both in-core and out-of-core applications. Structural Materials for Generation IV Nuclear Reactors explores the current state-of-the art in these areas. Part One reviews the materials, requirements and challenges in generation IV systems. Part Two presents the core materials with chapters on irradiation resistant austenitic steels, ODS/FM steels and refractory metals amongst others. Part Three looks at out-of-core materials. Structural Materials for Generation IV Nuclear Reactors is an essential reference text for professional scientists, engineers and postgraduate researchers involved in the development of generation IV nuclear reactors. Introduces the higher neutron doses and extremely corrosive higher temperature environments that will be found in generation IV nuclear reactors and implications for structural materials Contains chapters on the key core and out-of-core materials, from steels to advanced micro-laminates Written by an expert in that particular area

This book addresses structural material corrosion in coolant circuits, simulation of erosion corrosion of carbon and low-alloy steels, and simulation of stress corrosion. It also discusses corrosion of copper alloys, zirconium corrosion, optimization of water chemistry at operating nuclear power plants, coolant tendency to deposit hardness salts on heat-transfer surfaces, and inspection of metallic components. In addition, there are two appendixes, the first showing the chemical composition of steels, the second discussing solubility of iron, cobalt, zinc and copper corrosion products under conditions simulating power unit water chemistry.

FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF STRUCTURAL ALLOY DESIGN is the proceedings of the tenth Battelle Colloquium in the Materials Sciences, held in Seattle, Washington, and Harrison Hot Springs, B.C., September 15-19, 1975. The theme of the conference was the emerging science of alloy design. Although the relationships of properties of alloys to their composition and structure have long been a dominant theme in physical metallurgy, it is only recently that metallurgists have turned their attention from the analytical, post hoc study of the structure-property relationship to the synthesis approach of alloy design. As usual in the Battelle colloquia, the first day started with a group of introductory lectures presented by leaders in the field, each emphasizing his personal approach to the problem. This provided a historical perspective for the colloquium. These papers, together with the banquet address of Professor J. R. Low, Jr., who was honored at the colloquium, comprise the introductory section of these proceedings. Alloy design is generally specific to a given application. Thus, the needs in alloy design in a number of important applications, gas turbines, electrical-power-generation equipment, airframes, pressure vessels, and nuclear applications were presented in a group of papers. An agenda discus sion on "Needs in Alloy Design" followed. These papers give the external constraints on alloy design applications, and criteria for mechanical, physical, and chemical properties for which the alloys must be designed.