Sodium Vapor Deposition in Inert Enclosures

Abstract

Sodium vapor deposition is acknowledged to be a potential problem in several activities associated with Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs). Attempts were made to predict sodium evaporation rates using the empirical expression Nu = 0.643 (GrSc)0.25 developed for the evaporation of water. Small scale experiments were performed which indicate the general validity of this expression for sodium evaporation. The experiments also demonstrated that deposition of sodium within inert gas filled enclosures can be substantially reduced by circulating and filtering the atmosphere of the enclosure.