Control of dissolved oxygen in liquid LBE by electrochemical oxygen pumping

• We developed an oxygen control system by using electrochemical oxygen pump for use in liquid LBE.
• The oxygen pump was fabricated using partially stabilized zirconia and LSM–GDC composite.
• Highly accurate control of the oxygen concentration in the LBE was achieved by the system.
• The feasibility of using the pumping system for measuring corrosion kinetics of structural steels in liquid LBE was also demonstrated.

Electrochemical oxygen pumping method was applied in order to control the dissolved oxygen concentration in liquid lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE). The oxygen pump was fabricated using yttria partially stabilized zirconia (YPSZ) as a solid electrolyte and LSM (strontium-doped lanthanum manganite)–GDC (gadolinium-doped ceria) composite as a cathode. An oxygen control system, comprising of the oxygen pump, an oxygen sensor and a DC current source as well as a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller for the current control, was applied to regulate the dissolved oxygen concentration in liquid LBE. Highly accurate control of the oxygen concentration was achieved by this system. In addition, the feasibility of using the pumping system for measuring corrosion kinetics of structural steels in liquid LBE was demonstrated.