Investigation of functional liquid metal with dispersing nano-particles

Ohira, Hiroaki; Ara, Kuniaki 

As it is reported that a fluid with dispersed nano-particles shows extremely high over-all heat transfer coefficient, it is expected to be used as a coolant of the next generation reactor. Although the adaptablity of the nano-fluid technology to the liquid sodium coolant is not studied, the mitigation of sodium-water and sodium-oxygen reaction with the interfacial phenomena between the dispersed nano-particles and liquid sodium can be expected. If these phenomena are confirmed, this technology is expected to be greatly contributed to the enhancement of FBR safety. In this study, metal nanofluid, the liquid sodium containing nano-particles, was prepared and the chemical reactivity and the viscosity were evaluated. The results of this study were summarized as follows; 1)It was realized to prepare the liquid sodium with metal nano-particles(Ni, Co, Fe, Mn and Si). 2)With the evaluation of sodium-water reaction, it was confirmed that Ni nano-particles dispersed into sodium mitigated the reaction. The mitigation of the reaction showed less the chemical reactivity of sodium-water by the finer Ni-particle. 3)At350deg,the Ni-nanofluid did not show extreamly high viscosity in comparison with liquid sodium.