BULLET: Lead corrosion and erosion test facility

We present the BULLET (Bangor University Lead Loop Erosion/corrosion Test) facility which was designed and built for erosion and corrosion testing of materials in flowing and stagnant lead at temperatures, with the unique capability to reach very high lead velocities when operated in flowing conditions. In general, the aim of the facility is to carry out frontier research on erosion/corrosion effects on materials, components, and instrumentation, and on the thermal hydraulics of lead circulation loop. The facility is provided with an oxygen control system and can operate at up to 480°C in the flow loop, in which lead velocities up to 6 m/s can be achieved, and at up to 600°C in the stagnant test capsule.
In addition to describing the facility, we also present preliminary erosion/corrosion test results on uncoated and aluminised 316H samples, collected during an initial commissioning phase of the BULLET facility. The samples were exposed for 500 hours to flowing lead with a velocity of 3.3 m/s and an oxygen level of 10^-8 wt% at 420°C. The samples were characterized using Optical- and Scanning electron microscopy, Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Preliminary observations are provided while further confirmatory tests are ongoing.