Fouling Of Steam Generator Tubes In Nuclear Power Plants: Laboratory Tests To Reproduce Oxides Deposition And Chemical Cleanings

摘要

In the secondary circuit of nuclear Pressurized Water Reactors, magnetite (Fe_3O_4) deposits lead to Steam Generators (SG) fouling decreasing thermal performances. As a counteraction, chemical cleanings, started in 1989, have become since 2006 the priority strategy to remove oxides deposited in SG of the EDF fleet. The use of chelating agents in chemical cleaning processes could affect the passive layer of SG tubes, and then modify their surface reactivity. To investigate this impact, a three steps R&D program was established: (i) reproduce deposits on SG tube surfaces using several techniques, (ii) apply industrial chemical cleaning procedures and (iii) study the redeposition of magnetite. First, SG tubes were fouled in a specific experimental loop, FORTRAND. In this device, magnetite and soluble iron were formed by carbon steel pipes corrosion in feedwater circuit representative conditions and released in the fluid. Then, corrosion products were flow-carried to the autoclave where their precipitation and deposition on heated SG tubes led to tubes fouling. Additional nickel base alloys substrates were also fouled by magnetite electrodeposition. Second, chemical cleaning processes were applied on fouled substrates and tubes in a specific experimental device, ECCLIPS. SG industrial cleaning processes timing and thermochemical conditions were strictly respected during these operations. Finally, fouling of cleaned substrates and tubes was performed in FORTRAND in the same experimental conditions as in the first step. At each step of the study, oxide composition and properties were investigated by surface characterizations. Comparison of oxide deposits before and after cleaning highlights the impact of chemical cleanings on tubes surface reactivity.