Thermal Characteristic Analysis of Sodium in Diluted Oxygen via Thermogravimetric Approach

Abstract

As the main reactor type of the fourth-generation nuclear power systems, sodium-cooled fast reactors are now designed and built worldwide. A sodium pool cooling circulation process is indispensable in a sodium-cooled fast reactor. However, the sodium pool fire design is the basis of accidents in sodium-cooled fast reactors. The fire hazard caused by the sodium–oxygen reaction and fast reactor safety have attracted extensive attention. Dry powder is widely used as an effective fire-extinguishing agent to control sodium fire. The sodium will burn in an oxygen-depleted atmosphere when using dry powder to cover fire. In this study, the change law of thermogravimetry of melted sodium is studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the apparent activation energy (Ea) is obtained, which has a linear relationship with the oxygen concentration. The results can provide a reference for improving the engineering design standards of sodium fire suppression systems and can also be incorporated into simulation software to improve the accuracy of fire suppression sim-ulations.