DS 6/2/04 1

Concepts for In-line Characterization of IFE Targets

High Average Power Laser Program WorkshopUCLA

June 2-3, 2004

Diana Schroen, Jon Streit1

Leonard J. Bond, Morris S. Good, Ronald L. Hockey2

1Schafer Corporation, Livermore, CA 945512Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, Richland, WA

DS 6/2/04 2

Micro-encapsulation

Heat Curing

Isopropanol Exchange

Tritium Filling

Oil Exchange

Overcoating

Isopropanol ExchangeCO2 Drying

The GA Plant Design Did Not Specify When Characterization Would Occur.A

B

DS 6/2/04 3

• Statistical sampling was assumed. This could be problematic because:– Statistics may not be valid for all processes. For example,

variation within microencapsulation batches is the norm. – Consequences may be difficult to deal with – the chamber

conditions will be very different after a “dud” than after a fire.

• Instead, consider in-line automated every capsule characterization especially at points A and B.

• This is the approach that PNNL is using for the TRISO fuel pellet.

DS 6/2/04 4

• Characterizing a bare foam 4 mm OD capsule.300 micron DVB Foam Wall, 20 - 120 mg/cc density

• QA at this point reduces useless effort in overcoating step.• Less solvent waste from overcoating process• Less difficult analysis as results are not confused by

overcoating.• Two possible techniques – same principle.

Point A Characterization

Fail

PassShells Flow

Through Tube

Analysis (2 Views

Minimum)

DS 6/2/04 5

• Optical Characterization requires several process steps and creates much solvent waste.

• Benzyl Salicylate is an effective index match making characterization easier and more accurate.

• DBP = Dibutyl Phthalate, IPA = Isopropyl Alcohol, BSA = Benzyl Salicylate

DBPWaterAfter

Gelation

Water

Rinse Away Water with

IPA

IPA BSAExchange into BSA

BSAReady to

CharacterizeRinse Away BSA with

IPA

IPA

A1 Optical Characterization

DS 6/2/04 6

A2 Ultrasonic Characterization

• Ultrasonic waves couple well in 60°C aqueous solutions.• No exchanges would be required.• Non-contact Go/No Go Analysis.

Ultrasonic Transducer

Profile of Focused

Field

Measured Interfaces & Thicknesses

DBPWaterAfter

Gelation

Water

Rinse Away Water with

IPA

IPADBP

WaterCharacterize

Water

DS 6/2/04 7

• Characterization of a completed target.

• QA at this point reduces failure rate in the chamber.• With a shot rate of 500,000 per day even a small percentage of failures is a large number.• The concept is to do multiple characterizations to improve the probability of detecting defects.

Point B Characterization

• Wall, CH + Au• DVB foam• DT ice layer

DS 6/2/04 8

B1 Ultrasonic Characterization

• High Speed• Non-Contact• Liquid Helium is Used as

Ultrasonic Couplant• Target is Inspected on-line

using suite of Ultrasonic Transducers– Pulse-echo (one

transducer)– Transmission (pair)

• Real-time data processing• Unacceptable Targets are

Ejected

Ultrasonic Transducer

Measured Interfaces & Thicknesses

Profile of Focused

Field

DVB Sphere with Inner Deuterium Ice Layer

DS 6/2/04 9

B2 EM In-Line Characterization

Eddy Current(Conductivity

&Permeability)

Electric Field(Dielectric Constant)

PassFail

QA/QCMeter

ThroughputUp to ~ 200 particle/sec

DS 6/2/04 10

Development of Cryogenic Measurement Concept

Properties of Cryogenic FluidsFluid Acoustic Temp. Relative Velocity Attenuation (m/s) (K)Water 1480 298 22 Nitrogen 860 77 14 Neon 600 27 23 Helium 227 2 70 Helium 238 0.4 2

The proof of cryogenic ultrasonic characterization

can be done now.

Measured Properties•Concentricity, Thickness of

Deuterium Ice Layer•Detection and Quantification

of Non-Bond Regions or Voids•Detailed Imaging of Internal

Structure

Cryogenic Cryogenic LiquidLiquid

Acoustic Acoustic TransducerTransducer

SampleSample

Support FrameSupport Frame

Heat ShieldHeat Shield

DewarDewar

Cryogenic Cryogenic LiquidLiquid

Acoustic Acoustic TransducerTransducer

SampleSample

Support FrameSupport Frame

Heat ShieldHeat Shield

DewarDewar

Cryogenic Cryogenic LiquidLiquid

Acoustic Acoustic TransducerTransducer

SampleSample

Support FrameSupport Frame

Heat ShieldHeat Shield

DewarDewar

DS 6/2/04 11

PNNL is Automating QA/QC of Coated Fuel Particle• Gen IV reactors require TRISO coated fuel particles.

• Developing and maintaining the TRISO coating process requires characterization of each constituent material.

• Production must be ~200 particles/sec to sustain each reactor with the 109’s of particles required at refueling.

• Present day QA/QC cannot meet these challenges.• Automated NDE methods are being developed.

– High-speed electrical, optical, ultrasonic and X-ray methods.

The DOE-NERI Program is supporting this work involving a research team lead by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, with collaborators at General Atomics, Iowa State University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

FuelKernel

Carbide Barrier100µm

Pyrolytic Carbon

* R. Hockey, L.J. Bond, C. Batishko, J.N. Gray, J. Saurwein, and R. Lowden, “Advances in Automated QA/QC for TRISO Fuel Particle Production,” Proceedings of ICAPP ’04, Pittsburgh, PA USA, June 13-17, 2004; Paper 4213

DS 6/2/04 12

Their Concept Is to Use Multiple Techniques.

• Sorting technology options– Optical– Ultrasonic– Electromagnetic

• Use multiple on-line technologies to give rapid go/no-go sorting– Increase reliability of

defect detection (POD)

Optical

Ultrasound

Electromagnetic

Reject

Reject

Reject

ACCEPT

Completed targets

DS 6/2/04 13

TRISO Fuel EM In-Line Characterization Concept

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

TRISO Coated Fuel ParticleCutaway shows coating layers

800-950 µm

Eddy Current(Conductivity

&Permeability)

Electric Field(Dielectric Constant)

PassFail

QA/QCMeter

Throughput200 particle/sec

DS 6/2/04 14

EC Signal vs. Dimensions,Normal TRISO & Thin SiC Layer

E CA

O

Ker

nel

kern

el+b

uf

kern

el+b

uf+I

PC

kern

el+b

uf+I

PC+S

iC

kern

el+b

uf+I

PC+S

iC+O

PC

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

R2

(from

line

ar re

gres

sion

)

• Dimensions determined by X-ray analysis.

• EC signal is affected primarily by conductivity & volume of each material

EE

E

E

E

E

E

E

E

CC

C

C

C

C

C

C

C

AA

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

OO

O

O

O

OO

O

O

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24

X-ra

y D

eter

min

ed D

iam

eter

(µm

)

Normalized Coil Impedance Amplitude (%/100)

r13A1

r13A17r13A18

r5B2r5B5 r5B10

r5B11

r5B18

r5B20

KernelE kernel+bufC kernel+buf+IPCA kernel+buf+IPC+SiCO kernel+buf+IPC+SiC+OPC

R^2 = 3.953861E-1

R^2 = 8.473120E-1

R^2 = 8.506932E-1

R^2 = 6.332113E-1

R^2 = 7.815958E-1

DS 6/2/04 15

Capacitance of TRISO Particles with SiC Present (5) & Absent (12)

005-

B-B

100

5-B

-B3

005-

B-B

400

5-B

-B6

005-

B-B

700

5-B

-B8

005-

B-B

900

5-B

-B12

005-

B-B

1300

5-B

-B14

005-

B-B

1500

5-B

-B16

005-

B-B

1700

5-B

-B19

012-

B-B

301

2-B

-B5

012-

B-B

601

2-B

-B8

012-

B-B

901

2-B

-B10

012-

B-B

1101

2-B

-B12

012-

B-B

1301

2-B

-B14

012-

B-B

1501

2-B

-B16

012-

B-B

1701

2-B

-B19

012-

B-B

200

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25%

Cap

acita

nce

& EC

impe

danc

e am

plitu

de c

hang

e /1

00

Particle No.

Run 5 cap

Run 12 cap

Run 5 ec

Run 12 ec

• Fully coated, variable diameter particles to left.

• Minus SiC layer, variable diameter particles to right.

• Eddy current and electric field measurement compared for each particle.

Normal TRISO Missing SiC

DS 6/2/04 16

Conclusions

• Advanced inspection technologies provide potential to give on-line accept/reject for targets at multiple points in the creation of the target.

• This eliminates the assumption of statistical sampling.

• Characterization can be done at cryogenic temperatures when required.

• At the critical point before injection, multiple characterizations can improve probability of fielding a good target.

• Proposed technologies have history of successful application, currently being developed for TRISO fuel particles.