Manufacture and Testing of a Large Zirconium Clad Vessel

David Clift, P.Eng. Production Manager Ellett Industries September 14, 2005

Abstract
Serviceability depends upon the quality of the clad corrosion liner Careful application of design details, skilled trades & systematic application of manufacturing controls and non-destructive examination.

Zirconium Clad Steel Reactor

3.6m diameter x 6.5m length (11 10 x 21 2

Shells are 22mm (7/8) thick SA516-70 with 3mm (0.12) nominal, 2.28mm (0.090) minimum, thickness Zirconium 702 explosion clad liner. The hot pressed heads are of 37mm (1.5) SA516-70 with a 4.7mm (3/16) nominal thickness of clad liner

Design Details
Separation of Longitudinal & Circumferential Welds
Advantages
Containment of possible breaches Efficient gas purging Simplified helium testing

Material Procurement
Base Metal N.D.E.
ASME SA 578 Level C grid pattern or continuously scanned - grid pattern is standard three inspection levels
A- least , B - moderate, C - most demanding; allows a discontinuity smaller than can be contained within a 25mm circle

Cladding N.D.E.
full compliance with ASME Section VIII & IX
production bend tests, PT examination and 100% RT before bonding PT after bonding and, in the case of the heads, after forming. All clad surfaces were visually examined

Ultrasonic Examination of Bonding

ASTM B 898 Acceptance Criteria
Inspection Class A B C Inspection 100% 100% 230 mm grid Single Indication Allowable Size <25mm <75mm < 58cm2 Minimum Area of Sound Bond 99% 97% 95%

Class C is the standard Inspection Class of B 898 Class B was specified for this project

Explosive Cladding
Current Practice
an interlayer of titanium when zirconium cladding exceeds 6.4 mm (1/4) nominal thickness Explosion detonation (booster) locations
corner, side or center of plates an area of ultrasonic non-bond is typically located under the detonation point non-bond related to the size of charge

Vessel Plate Manufacture

Central explosion detonation points for both shell and head plates on this unit
thin cladding, thick backing plates ASTM B 898 Inspection Class B ultrasonic inspection (75mm maximum indication size)

Results
non-bond areas in shell plate were acceptable head plate detonation points were removed as cut-outs for centrally located nozzles

Plate Surface Defects

Damaged areas of clustered gouges were noted on three of the six shell plates
Gouge depth ranged from 1.2mm (0.047) to 2.4mm ( 0.094) deep Gouge size varied less than 13 cm2 (2 in2) in area

Root cause - rock fall that occurred during underground explosive blasting

Repair Plan
Weld repair
shallow gouges (<1.2mm deep) were weld repaired in conformance with ASTM B 898.

Controls
customer approval carbide burr removal qualified weld overlay repair PT inspect fully documented

Repair Plan - contd

Deep gouges Individually ported batten style covers

Vessel Seam Weld & Test Sequence

Carbon steel welds are applied and specified NDE performed prior to batten strap attachment UT the cladding bond adjacent to the end of the longitudinal seam filler strips to find potential leak paths Fit & weld longitudinal batten strips, silver braze to isolate and helium bubble test @ 1 bar pressure Circumferential welds performed in a similar manner Confirming PT of all ZR welds per ASME

Fabrication - Cleanliness
Tool surfaces to be of alloy, plated or hardened steel Rolls & brake forming surfaces - confirmed free of all surface defects & contamination Weld joint design should minimize carbon steel welding & grinding on process surfaces Zirconium weld zones are mechanically and chemically cleaned prior to welding

Final Cleaning
Contaminated areas abrasively ground Acid wash with HF/HNO3 Ferroxyl test per ASTM A 380
spray application of the potassium ferricyanide test solution on suspect areas reacts with free iron to form a blue indication

Helium and Hydro Testing

Helium Mass Spectrometer testing per ASME Section V, Article 10, Appendix IV was performed before and after hydro testing Purging batten strip cavities
helium from bubble testing conducted up to a month earlier had to be purged with clean & dry air to eliminate false indications

Test conditions
25% of the vessels maximum allowable working pressure (50 psig) approx 20% helium concentration

Test Results
Results All purge vents located behind nozzle liners, seams and internal batten style patches were vacuum sniffed All readings remained at a background or atmospheric helium concentration - equivalent to a leak of 5 x 10-6 atm cc/sec

Additional Research
Preparation and analysis of a zirconium weld overlaid coupon to assess built-up metal quality CS - TI - ZR construction
Prepared block ready to weld overlay After welding and step machining

Results
ZR overlay welding on both the titanium interlayer and the zirconium cladding, min thickness .76mm Test results confirm a composition containing titanium and zirconium No detectable iron was present in any of the test samples 100% Zr when a 0.76mm thick layer was applied over a combined thickness of Ti and ZR of 3.05mm. The actual thickness of the ZR alone in this case was 1.3mm

Questions