The lithium reaction rates with the constituent gases were measured and characterized for a wide range of lithium temperatures and gas compositions. Forty-two kinetics experiments were more » performed in which a stream of steam-nitrogen or steam-air was passed over and reacted with approximately three grams of lithium heated to a predetermined temperature.
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The code was also equipped with the capability to determine the effects of decay heat and lithium fire on the temperature response of the reactor first wall in the event of a coolant disturbance. Models were introduced in the LITFIRE code to describe lithium fires in the presence of steam inside the containment building and plasma chamber of a hypothetical fusion reactor. Experiments were performed to characterize the chemical reactions of lithium with steam-nitrogen and steam-air mixtures. This work involved the experimental and analytical determination of the consequences of lithium fires in the presence of steam. Calculations of the maximum flame temperature resulting from lithium fire indicate that none of the radioactive first wall materials under consideration would vaporize, and only a few could possibly = , The EBTR modular design was found to limit the consequences of a lithium spill, and hence offers a potential safety advantage. These consequences were found to diminish greatly by the incorporation of a number of design strategies including initially subatmospheric containment pressures, enhanced structural surface heat removal capability, initially low oxygen concentrations, and active post-accident cooling of the containment gas. Temperatures as high as 2000/sup 0/F would also be experienced by some of the containment structures. Calculations show that without any special fire protection measures, the containment may reach pressures of up to 32 psig when one coolant loop is spilled inside the reactor building. The model was used to study the effectiveness of various design strategies for mitigating the consequences of lithium fire, using the UWMAK-III features as a reference design. A lithium combustion model (LITFIRE) was developed to describe the physical and chemical processes which occur during a hypothetical lithium spill and fire.