Reactivity of a water molecule at the liquid sodium surface

Kikuchi, Shin  ; Kurihara, Akikazu ; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Hashimoto, Kenro*

A breach of the heat transfer tube in a steam generator (SG) of a sodium-cooled fast reactor results in sodium-water reaction (SWR) by direct contact between liquid sodium and water vapor, which generates high temperature reaction jet. This reaction jet causes damage to the surface of neighboring heat transfer tubes by thermal and chemical effects. Therefore, it is important to clearly understand the SWR for safety assessment of SG. Regarding chemical effect, the surface and gas-phase reaction model are considered. As for the surface reaction, the water vapor encounters the liquid sodium, and the reaction occurs at their interface. Subsequently, the chemical reaction heating vaporizes the liquid sodium, causing the gas-phase reaction. However, there is limited knowledge on surface reaction because of extremely rapid-reaction. Therefore, in this study, ab-initio calculation was performed to evaluate the reaction path on surface reaction in SWR. The reaction path on dissociation of a water molecule at the liquid sodium surface was obtained. In addition, we also confirmed the generation mechanism of hydrogen in the liquid sodium.