An active program is a present underway to develop equipment to handle liquid metals. Among the metals being studied are sodium and sodium--potassium alloy (the latter commonly referred to as NaK). In many of the systems being studied this liquid metal is pressurized by inert gas in the lines. At times it is necessary to bleed off some of this gas from the system. Although the gas is allowed to escape at a temperature at which the vapor pressure of sodium is extremely small, it has been found that excessive amounts of sodium are present in this gas stream. Either …
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Atomic Energy Commission Report AECU-3200
Description
An active program is a present underway to develop equipment to handle liquid metals. Among the metals being studied are sodium and sodium--potassium alloy (the latter commonly referred to as NaK). In many of the systems being studied this liquid metal is pressurized by inert gas in the lines. At times it is necessary to bleed off some of this gas from the system. Although the gas is allowed to escape at a temperature at which the vapor pressure of sodium is extremely small, it has been found that excessive amounts of sodium are present in this gas stream. Either this sodium collects in the lead-off pipes from the system as a solid, threatening to block the passage in which it is found, or it passes out into the atmosphere. In order to explain the presence of such a dangerous concentration of sodium in the exit gas stream, it has been proposed that the sodium vapor present in the the system at high temperatures condenses into a mist or aerosol on cooling. This aerosol is stable and will not readily de-entrain or condense onto the surfaces over which it passes. Another possibility is that the oxygen present with the inert gas reacts with sodium vapor for form a stable aerosol of solid sodium oxide. It was the purpose of this work to evaluate three proposals for removing the sodium aerosol: (1) An electrostatic precipitator, which had previously been built and partially tested. (2) A copper-coil condenser consisting of a 16-turn, 2-inch diameter coil of 1/4-inch copper tubing mounted in an oil bath which was maintained at a temperature slightly above the melting point of sodium. (3) A bubbler of liquid NaK at room temperature through which all exit vapor from the sodium system was passed. All three types of vapor traps tested worked satisfactorily under the proper conditions.
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Erickson, A. J.; Gregory, C. L. & Lang, P. M.Vapor Traps for Handling Liquid Sodium,
report,
August 25, 1951;
Washington D.C..
(https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248588/:
accessed February 12, 2025),
University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu;
crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.