Inspection of heat transfer tubes after mock-up tests of minituarized apparatus for the acid recovery evaporator (Contract research)

Hamada, Shozo; Fukaya, Kiyoshi*; Kato, Chiaki   ; Yanagihara, Takao; Doi, Masamitsu*; Kiuchi, Kiyoshi

The demonstration test for the acid recovery evaporator and the dissolver used in the major equipment of Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (RRP), has been carried out. The mock-up miniature equipment has been employed to it. This test had been performed from April in 1998. The total time of demonstration test using the mock-up equipment is about two and half years, which corresponds to about 20,000 hours. After that, four of the seven heat transfer tubes used in the evaporator were drawn out and the corrosion level and the mechanical properties were evaluated for one of them. As a result, intergranular corrosion was recognized in the inner surface of the heat transfer tube and the corrosion depth at the grain boundary was statistically shown to be about one grain from the inner surface. Further, no change in mechanical properties was observed and growth of intergranular cracks in the inner surface of the specimen was found after flattering test.