CHEMISTRY CONTROL AT NUCLEAR REACTORS

CHEMISTRY HELPS MAKING PREVENTIVE & CORRECTIVE MEASURES AT PROCESS AND NUCLEAR INDUSTRIES

kinds of nuclear reactors

Chemistry Control is necessary for OPERATIONAL SAFETY

Two ways; By affecting the integrity of barriers retaining the Radioactivity in the Nuclear Plant. By affecting the out-of-core radiation fields that in turn influence the radiation doses to which the workers are exposed.

Nuclear Plant Safety Problems;

Corrosion Processes causing a direct breech of safety barriers. Corrosion weakening the safety barriers & failures occur escalating the level of accident.

Chemistry parameters have to be maintained for smooth, efficient & trouble-free functioning of process & nuclear plants! Materials & Operational Conditions at different kinds of nuclear reactors decide the working limits of chemistry parameters

Process Water in Nuclear Plants

In nuclear reactors process water is used for transporting heat from different systems to main cooling system. Different systems include primary, secondary and related heat transport systems like thermal shield or biological shields etc. Heat exchange systems comprise of OPEN & CLOSED process water systems working under different chemistry parameter limits of pH, EC, Turbidity, temp etc.

Closed Process Systems

Heat exchange from pressure vessel i.e primary heat transport (PHT) Thermal shield heat transport system Reactor building heat transport system Heat transport of purification systems
Main heat exchange from primary heat transport (PHT) & related systems e.g., Cooling Tower, Sea/river/canal water etc. Stand by heat transport system

Open Process Systems

Chemistry Control with Chemical Treatment

Closed systems use make up /treated water and chemistry is controlled with focus on corrosion problems. The treatment include the use of corrosion inhibitors, pH conditioners, resin cleaners and biocides (where applicable). Open Systems use water available at site e.g sea, river, canal, under ground or brackish water. Therefore, chemical treatment is applied with wide range of application of algaecides, antifoams, biocides, boiler water chemicals, coagulants, corrosion inhibitors, disinfectants, flocculants, neutralizing agents, oxidants, oxygen scavengers, pH conditioners and scale inhibitors etc.

Radiation Chemistry of Water Coolant in Reactor System

Absorption of energy (alpha, beta,gamma & neutrons) by water entail upon Radiolysis forming SPURS of the order of 10-15 Ao . Radiolysis causes formation of radicals and oxidative molecules (H2O2 , D2O2 , OH, H). Radical-Molecule reaction keep the chain reaction leading to Re-combination. (p-21) LET(Linear Energy Transfer) is the measure of inter spur distances. Electron transfer or scavenging is depended on the multivalence species like Cu, Cd etc. To reduce oxidative species the dissolved hydrogen level is maintained from 28-50 cc/Kg during operational power.

 Water as solvent
A solute is a material that has been dissolved in a solvent. Solutes may be solids, liquids, or gases. Solvents frequently are liquids. When coffee is made, organic compounds extracted from the coffee grounds are the solutes, and water is the solvent. If sugar is added to coffee, the sugar is an additional solute. The coffee will contain many solutes--ions originally dissolved in the tap water used to make the coffee; numerous different organic compounds from the coffee beans; and the dissolved sugar, a well studied organic compound. Concentrations of solutes in natural waters depend on the geology of the area in which the water is found. Some regions of the earth, such as the northeastern U.S., have igneous rock as the primary geological component from which soil was made over centuries of weathering. Other regions of the country have more sedimentary rock--limestone being the predominant example. Limestone is comprised primarily of calcium carbonate that can dissolve readily and produce "hard water." The hardness ions are calcium and magnesium, both of which are positively charged. Since charges must be balanced, negative charges must also be present. The predominant negative charges are carbonate and bicarbonate. Water flowing through regions of igneous rock tend to be soft waters containing relatively little calcium, magnesium, and carbonate. Since calcium, magnesium, and carbonate were found together so frequently and early chemical detection methods could not readily distinguish the three species, all three compounds today are expressed as CaCO3 for many water treatment applications. Examples of hard water, moderate hardness water, and soft water are shown in Table 1. Note that total hardness as calcium carbonate is the sum of calcium hardness and magnesium hardness, both expressed as calcium carbonate. Since these materials can be dissolved from rock, it should not be unexpected that they would precipitate again from waters that contain appreciable c o n c e n t ra t i o n s t o p r o d u c e r o c k - l i ke s u b s t a n c e s o n s u r f a c e s .

Sources of Water
Sea Water River / Canal water Rain & Storm water Natural Pond water Under-ground water

Chemistry of Water
Water is composed of molecule having an oxygen atom covalently bonded with two hydrogen atoms. Pure water is a colorless liquid between 0-100 oC and at 100 oC and 1 atm pressure it changes to steam. At about 218 bar& at 374 oC reached to critical point beyond which the liquid phase is no longer distinguishable from vapor phase. Water undergoes auto-protolysis in liquid form at all temperatures. (0-100 oC). At STP, the ion product of hydrogen & hydroxide is 10-14 . This implies the pH of neutral (pure) water 7 The impurities in water make it behave like acid or base.

Chemistry of Water & Properties

Molecular Formula: H2O; f.w: 18 amu
Temp 0C 0 0C 50 0C 100 0C

Vapour Pressure: mbar Evaporation Heat: KJ/Kg Specific Heat: KJ/Kg.K Viscosity: mPa.s Heat Conductivity: W/m.K Density: g/cm3 E.C : mic moh/Cm Surface Tension : milN/m B.P 0C (stp) F.P 0C (stp)

6.108 2501.6 4.217 1.791 0.536 0.99982 1.58 75.64 0

123.35 2382.9 4.181 0.5471 0.6432 0.9881 18.9 67.94

1013.3 2256.9 4.216 0.2819 0.679 0.95834

58.91 100

Quality of Water
Quality of water is dependent on many parameters like pH, EC, TDS, Turbidity etc. that are related to the levels of inorganic & organic impurities in the water. Metal impurities are generally of Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, As etc. similarly the anionic impurities include HCO3, CO3, SO4, PO4, Cl, F, NH4 etc.. Organic impurities come from dead debris, leaves, branches or roots of plants, fungi & algae etc.

Related Chemistry Parameters

Hardness Alkalinity (M & P alkalinity) Acidity Dissolved Oxygen Dissolved Carbon dioxide TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) BOD (Biological Oxygen Command) COD (Chemical Oxygen Command) Microbial Counts Algae & Fungi

Assignments
Write definitions with Units in MKS & BES & mathematical expression (where applicable); Assignment # 1: Temperature, Pressure, Area, Volume, Density, Surface Area, Cross-sectional area, Flow, Flow rate , Viscosity, Surface Tension, Refractive Index, radioactivity, radiation dosimetry and permissible limits for human body, Fission Products produced in nuclear reactors and radiation associated with these products. (due on 17-04-2012) Assignment # 2: Atomic wt. Formula wt. Molecular wt. Units of concentration i.e Molarity, Molality, Normality, Equivalent wt, % Solution (V/V, mass/V, mass/mass) , ppm, ppb, Conversion from % concentration, molar wt, equivalent wt to ppm, ppb, mole fraction, Solubility and its units for solubility of gases & liquids in Liquids. Henrys Law, Solubility Product and its values for at least 5 sparingly soluble salts. Colligative Properties. (due on 18-04-2012) Assignment # 3: pH, E.C, Turbidity, Hardness, Concentration of Ca, Mg, HCO3 , CO3 , Cl, Na as CaCO3 Alkalinity (p-alkalinity, malkalinity/total alkalinity), Acidity, TDS, BOD, COD, Bacteria, Algae, Fungi. (due on 19-04-2012)