Experimental data on corrosion and mass transport in lithium/12Cr-1 MoVW steel were obtained from two thermal convection loops; one operated from 360 to 505 °C for 3040 h and the other from 525 to 655 °C for 2510 h. The experimental effort was supported by analytical investigations of possible mechanisms of corrosion and mass transport. It was found that mass transfer is not a simple function of temperature and alloy component solubility. Above 580 °C mass transfer appears to be dominated by alloy solubility via the temperature gradient. Between 450 and 580 °C, mass transfer appears to be related to surface reactions involving dissolved carbon and nitrogen in lithium with chromium, and carbides on the steel surface. The corrosion rates, as interperted from weight-change as uniform dissolution, from this work, are significantly lower than those adopted in recent blanket design studies.
Corrosion characteristics of low activation ferritic steel, JLF-1, in liquid lithium in static and thermal convection conditions