The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 04, 1997
Filed:
Mar. 10, 1994
Samson Hettiarachchi, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Robert L Cowan, II, Livermore, CA (US);
Thomas P Diaz, San Martin, CA (US);
Gary P Wozadlo, Los Gatos, CA (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
A method for mitigating crack growth on the surface of stainless steel or other metal components in a water-cooled nuclear reactor. A compound containing a noble metal, e.g., palladium, is injected into the water of the reactor in the form of a solution or suspension. This compound has the property that it decomposes under reactor thermal conditions to release ions/atoms of the noble metal which incorporate in or deposit on the interior surfaces of the crack. The compound may be organic, organometallic (e.g., palladium acetylacetonate) or inorganic in nature. The palladium deposited inside a crack should exhibit catalytic behavior even if the bulk surface palladium is depleted under high fluid flow conditions. As a result, the electrochemical potential inside the crack is decreased to a level below the critical potential to protect against intergranular stress corrosion cracking.