Highly sensitive hydrogen analysis employing low pressure laser induced breakdown spectroscopy in helium surrounding gas under electric field

Highly sensitive hydrogen analysis employing low pressure laser induced breakdown spectroscopy in helium surrounding gas under electric field

Abstract We conduct an experimental study to search for the urgently needed method for routine, no sample pretreatment, in-situ, and less-destructive analysis of Hydrogen (H) content in Zircaloy-4 tube used as radioactive fuel container in light water nuclear power plant. For this purpose, we implem...

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Main Authors: Indra Karnadi, Marincan Pardede, Rinda Hedwig, Ivan Tanra, Maria Margaretha Suliyanti, Marvin Yonathan Hadiyanto, Eric Jobiliong, Ihan Martoyo, Zener Sukra Lie, Kiichiro Kagawa, Tjung Jie Lie, Koo Hendrik Kurniawan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Zircaloy-4 tube
Non-destructive H analysis
Electric field
He metastable excited states
LIBS
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-11419-7
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Summary:Abstract We conduct an experimental study to search for the urgently needed method for routine, no sample pretreatment, in-situ, and less-destructive analysis of Hydrogen (H) content in Zircaloy-4 tube used as radioactive fuel container in light water nuclear power plant. For this purpose, we implemented laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in Helium (He) surrounding gas at a relatively low pressure of around 3 kPa and low laser energy of 17 mJ. In addition, we designed a new compact and portable sample chamber accommodating an open end so the chamber can tightly fit the Zircaloy-4 tube surface. Inside the chamber we put electrodes to apply an additional electric field. We found that applying an electric field in the plasma expansion region increases the H emission intensity by a factor of 6. Consequently, the H I 656.2 nm emission line obtained from the Zircaloy-4 sample containing H of 11 ppm impurity featuring a sharp linewidth (0.1 nm) with high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N = 120). Thus, it offers potential applications to non-destructive H analysis in Zircaloy-4 tubes used in light water nuclear power plant. The detection limit of H was estimated less than 0.26 ppm, well below the sensitivity limit of around 600 ppm required for the regular inspection of Zircaloy-4 tubes in light water nuclear power plant.
ISSN:2045-2322

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