The Challenge

At the University of New Mexico, the Extreme Materials Group is researching advanced alloy development. This group, led by Dr. Osman Anderoglu, seeks to support the next generation of nuclear reactors which will require materials that can withstand high doses of irradiation, high service temperatures, outstanding corrosion resistance, and high thermal conductivity. The investigation requires a study of long-term corrosion and erosion effects of molten lead on structural materials. The test loop will need to run for long periods of time and operate in a safe and reliable manner. The liquid lead requires a fully heated system with selection of materials, design methods, instrumentation, and a pump that can operate with the molten metal. Minimizing the potential for leaks is a key design constraint. A process control and data acquisition system will be required to monitor key features of the system and provide detailed data logging to allow researchers to analyze the data.

The Solution

Dr. Osman and his team created the Lobo Lead Loop Lab to facilitate this important work. This test loop is built using an Electro-Magnetic pump from Creative Engineers, materials testing section, main and secondary melt tanks, and heat exchanger section. The all-welded design and lack of any moving parts or mechanical seals in the EM pump create a very leak-proof system. The pump features a removable pumping tube section that can be changed to different materials of construction should the need arise. An automated vari-stat variable transformer operates with local closed-loop control of pump current so that the researchers can “dial in” a desired current to the pump, with the voltage fixed at 240VAC, to vary the energy and therefore the pumping force. The lead velocity is adjustable for different tests. It is nominally 1 m/s while the velocity in the specimen holders can reach more than 3 m/s depending on the configuration of the test articles. The system utilizes NI Compact RIO hardware and LabVIEW software for control, monitoring, and data logging of the system.