Development of lead lithium (Pb-16Li) alloy production system and characterization of the produced alloy

A lead lithium (Pb-16Li) production facility of capacity ∼75 kg has been developed at Institute for Plasma Research (IPR). Pb-16Li ingots were produced from an in-house developed Pb-16Li production system using the MHD stirring technique. The produced ingots were characterized analytically and microstructurally to determine the composition as well as to verify the homogeneity. Inductive Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrocopy (ICP-OES) analysis result shows the eutectic Li composition of 0.59±0.04 wt% which suggests the formation of Pb-16Li eutectic. To further confirm the eutectic formation, the eutectic temperature of the produced ingots had been determined by the Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Pb-16Li solidification curve. The DSC analysis results and the solidification curve of the Pb-16Li samples indicate the melting temperature in the range of 235–238 °C which is similar to the Pb-16Li eutectic temperature ∼235 °C as reported in the literature and hence confirm the formation of Pb-16Li eutectic. A total of ∼750 kg of Pb-16Li ingots were produced from the system, and the produced Pb-16Li is being used as a process fluid in the various experimental systems at IPR.