Deposition of ZrC-coated particle for HTR with ZrCl4 powder

As the most promising candidate of SiC-coated fuel particles used in HTR fuel element, ZrC-coated particle has excellent irradiation performance. In this paper, ZrC coating is deposited by CVD with ZrCl4 powder supply method. ZrCl4 powder supply equipment and the saturation vapor pressure are studied, which show that saturation vapor pressure of ZrCl4 is enough to satisfy deposition of ZrC coating in fluidized bed. Several deposition parameters such as C/Zr ratio and deposition temperature are investigated theoretically and experimentally, which have influence on ZrC coating key properties, such as mol ratio of Zr/C, and density. The results show that in a given temperature, C/Zr ratio in raw gas has more influence on ZrC structure, and high quality ZrC coating can be deposited by optimal condition with this method.

► ZrC-coated particle used for HTR is deposited by fluidized bed CVD method.
► ZrCl4 vapor is used for Zr precursor in this deposition.
► The ZrC coating properties and microstructure are studied in different conditions.