Elaboration of a Hydrogenation Procedure for Zirconium Alloys

Abstract—A setup for the gas-phase hydrogenation of zirconium alloys using an Ar + 8 wt % H2 nonexplosive mixture in the presence of zirconium iodide as a getter is developed. The temperature–time dependences of the dissolved hydrogen amount are determined from the results of the first experiments in this setup on the hydrogenation of an E110 (Zr–1Nb) nonirradiated alloy. A temperature of 400°C is chosen as an optimum for hydrogenation to necessary concentrations and is rather close to the operating temperature of products from zirconium alloys. Specimens with a hydrogen content of 20–600 ppm without surface oxidation are prepared by controlling the holding time from 15 to 90 min.