David F. McLaughlin

Isotope separation and yield calculations for vibrationally enhanced oxidation of nitrogen

The separation of nitrogen isotopes by low temperature reaction of vibrationally excited nitrogen gas with oxygen has been studied, in which the formation of 15NO is theoretically favored. The potential yield and isotope separation coefficient β for this process were examined using a numerical simulation of the kinetic processes, which incorporated a steady‐state isothermal model of the 14N2 and 14N15N vibrational distribution functions coupled with a non‐steady‐state kinetic model of the chemical system including N*2, O*2, N, O, and their reaction products. In the absence of O2, the vibrationally enhanced rate coefficient for the reaction N*2+O → NO+N was observed to be inversely proportional to the concentration of O atoms, due to VT loading of the N*2 distribution function. O2 was also found to greatly reduce the rate coefficient due to efficient depletion of the highly excited species via the reaction N2(v)+O2(0) → N2(v−1) +O2(1). Computed reaction yield increases dramatically if both the O*2 and N*2 ...

Corrosion behavior of silicon nitride, magnesium oxide, and several metals in molten calcium chloride with chlorine

In this paper corrosion studies are described in a molten calcium chloride environment sparged with chlorine gas at 850{degrees}C, both in the melt and in the gas phase above the salt, in support of efforts at Westinghouse Savannah River Company to develop more resistant materials of construction for molten salt processing of plutonium. Corrosion rates and electron microscope analyses are reported for Inconel alloys 601 and 617, tantalum, tungsten, magnesium oxide, and silicon nitride. Silicon nitride exhibited the greatest resistance, showing {lt}0.1 mg/cm{sup 2} {center dot} h loss in both melt and vapor None of the metallic coupons withstood the chlorine vapor environment, although Inconel indicated resistance immersed in the melt if protected from chlorine gas.