Metal, liquid

Anta J A, Jesson B J and Madden P A 1998 Ion-electron correlations In liquid metals from orbital-free ab initio molecular dynamics Phys. Rev. B 58 6124-32... 

Liquid metals, however, present several disadvantages. Their weights must be considered with regard to equipment design. Additionally, Hquid metals are difficult to contain and special pumps must be used for system safety. Alkali metals react violentiy with water and bum ia air. Liquid metals also may become radioactive whea used for cooling auclear reactors (qv). 

Liquid Metals. If operating temperatures rise above 250—300°C, where many organic fluids decompose and water exerts high vapor pressure, hquid metals have found some use, eg, mercury for limited appHcation in turbines sodium, especially its low melting eutectic with 23 wt % potassium, as a hydrauhc fluid and coolant in nuclear reactors and potassium, mbidium, cesium, and gallium in some special uses. 

Liquid metal selection is usually limited to the lower melting point metals in Table 15. Figure 17 shows that Hquid metal viscosity generally is similar to water at room temperature and approaches the viscosities of gases at high temperature. Hydrodynamic load capacity with both Hquid metals and water in a bearing is about 1/10 of that with oil, as indicated in Table 2. 

Reduction to Liquid Metal. Reduction to Hquid metal is the most common metal reduction process. It is preferred for metals of moderate melting point and low vapor pressure. Because most metallic compounds are fairly insoluble in molten metals, the separation of the Hquified metal from a sohd residue or from another Hquid phase of different density is usually complete and relatively simple. Because the product is in condensed form, the throughput per unit volume of reactor is high, and the number and si2e of the units is rninimi2ed. The common furnaces for production of Hquid metals are the blast furnace, the reverberatory furnace, the converter, the flash smelting furnace, and the electric-arc furnace (see Furnaces, electric). 

Chemical Properties. Molybdenum has good resistance to chemical attack by mineral acids, provided that oxidizing agents ate not present. The metal also offers excellent resistance to attack by several liquid metals. The approximate temperature limits for molybdenum to be considered for long-time service while in contact with various metals in the hquid state ate as follows ... 

For turbulent flow of a fluid past a solid, it has long been known that, in the immediate neighborhood of the surface, there exists a relatively quiet zone of fluid, commonly called the Him. As one approaches the wall from the body of the flowing fluid, the flow tends to become less turbulent and develops into laminar flow immediately adjacent to the wall. The film consists of that portion of the flow which is essentially in laminar motion (the laminar sublayer) and through which heat is transferred by molecular conduction. The resistance of the laminar layer to heat flow will vaiy according to its thickness and can range from 95 percent of the total resistance for some fluids to about I percent for other fluids (liquid metals). The turbulent core and the buffer layer between the laminar sublayer and turbulent core each offer a resistance to beat transfer which is a function of the turbulence and the thermal properties of the flowing fluid. The relative temperature difference across each of the layers is dependent upon their resistance to heat flow. 

The analogy has been reasonably successful for simple geometries and for fluids of very low Prandtl number (liquid metals). For high-Prandtl-number fluids the empirical analogy of Colburn [Trans. Am. Tn.st. Chem. Ting., 29, 174 (1933)] has been veiy successful. A J factor for momentum transfer is defined asJ =//2, where/is the friction fac tor for the flow. The J factor for heat transfer is assumed to be equal to the J factor for momentum transfer... 

Further information on liquid-metal heat transfer in tube banks is given by Hsu for spheres and elliptical rod bundles [Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 8, 303 (1965)] and by Kahsh and Dwyer for oblique flow across tube banks [Int. ]. Heat Ma.ss Transfer, 10, 1533 (1967)]. For additional details of heat transfer with liqmd metals for various systems see Dwyer (1968 ed., Na and Nak supplement to Liquid Metals Handbook) and Stein ( Liquid Metal Heat Transfer, in Advances in Heat Transfer, vol. 3, Academic, New York, 1966). 

Liquid-Metal Corrosion Liquid metals can also cause corrosion failures. The most damaging are liqmd metals which penetrate the metal along grain boundaries to cause catastrophic failure. Examples include mercury attack on aluminum alloys and attack of stainless steels by molten zinc or aluminum. A fairly common problem occurs when galvanized-structural-steel attachments are welded to stainless piping or eqmpment. In such cases it is mandatoty to remove the galvanizing completely from the area which will be heated above 260°C (500°F). 

A special form of crevice attack can occur at a waterline or at the edges of water droplets. At the water surface, a meniscus region is present where surface tension causes water to climb up the metal surface it contacts. In effect, a crevice is formed between the air-liquid and liquid-metal interface at the meniscus. Oxygen concentration is high at the meniscus due to the greater accessibility of this region to the air. The meniscus region becomes cathodic to the adjacent metal surface. Corrosion occurs just below the meniscus, and chloride, if present, is... 

Example. The Pechini method for fuel cell electrode preparation. La, Ba, Mn niU ates - - CgHgO — citrate complex - - C2FI6O2 — gel. Metal nitrates are complexed with citric acid, and then heated with ethylene glycol to form a transparent gel. This is then heated to 600 K to decompose the organic content and then to temperatures between 1000 and 1300K to produce tire oxide powder. The oxide materials prepared from the liquid metal-organic procedures usually have a more uniform particle size, and under the best circumstances, this can be less than one micron. Hence these particles are much more easily sintered at lower temperatures than for the powders produced by tire other methods. 

Table 10.1 Self diffusion coefficients of some liquid metals expressed by an Arrhenius equation...

The viscosities of liquid metals vaty by a factor of about 10 between the empty metals, and the full metals, and typical values are 0.54 x 10 poise for liquid potassium, and 4.1 x 10 poise for liquid copper, at dreir respective melting points. Empty metals are those in which the ionic radius is small compared to the metallic radius, and full metals are those in which the ionic radius is approximately the same as tire metallic radius. The process was described by Andrade as an activated process following an AiThenius expression... 

A furtlier empiiical expression, due to Andrade, for die viscosity of liquid metals at tlreir melting points, which agrees well with experimental data is... 

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