Study of hydrogen sorption and desorption processes of zirconium beryllide ZrBe2

One of the promising intermetallic compounds for use in nuclear and fusion reactors, as well as in hydrogen energy technology, are intermetallic compounds of beryllium with metals such as Ti, V, Zr and Nb. Beryllium-based intermetallics are not only a promising material for blankets of future fusion reactors, but can also be utilized in other areas of the nuclear industry, including fission reactor reflectors, rocket and space technology. The interest in studies of the interaction of hydrogen isotopes with beryllides is related to the accumulation of tritium and helium in the material, formed as a result of nuclear reactions under neutron irradiation, and is caused by the need for understanding the processes arising from such interaction.In this work, hydrogen sorption and desorption processes of zirconium beryllide ZrBe2 produced by industrial technologies at JSC “Ulba Metallurgical Plant” (JSC UMP) were investigated. The experiments were performed by the Sievert’s and thermal desorption spectrometry (TDS) methods. In TDS experiments deuterium was chosen for samples saturation to reduce the possible error in determining fluxes associated with the release of hydrogen from the elements of the vacuum chamber.An equation for hydrogen solubility in zirconium beryllide ZrBe2 was obtained by processing the experimental data obtained by the Sievert’s method:S=0.46±0.1molm3∙Pa12∙exp-13.3±0.5RTkJmol.The temperature intervals of formation and decomposition of two different hydride phases (deuterides) of zirconium beryllide ZrBe2 at ∼ 600 K and ∼ 900 K have been established in TDS experiments.