Open AccessNerva Fuel Element Development Program Summary Report - July 1966 through June 1972 Impregnation Studies
Author(s) -
James Napier
Publication year - 1973
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/914546
Subject(s) - graphite , materials science , polymer , liquid fuel , composite material , process (computing) , chemistry , computer science , organic chemistry , combustion , operating system
Two methods were employed to densify graphite bodies: gaseous impregnation and liquid impregnation. Gaseous impregnation consisted of two processes: direct flow and pulse vacuum. Liquid impregnation was based on the use of a polymer of cinnamylideneindene. Both types of gaseous impregnation processes were successful in densifying the fuel element graphites; however, the process time of the pulse-vacuum method was shown to be significantly shorter than that of the direct-flow process. The liquid impregnation process was also successful. Two to four impregnation cycles were required to obtain a maximum density