Interactions between drops of molten Al-Li alloys and liquid water

Sandia National Laboratories, at the request of the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC), studied the interactions between single drops of molten aluminum-lithium alloys and water. Most experiments were performed with ``B`` alloy (3.1 w/o Li, balance A1). Objectives were to develop experimental procedures for preparing and delivering the melt drops and diagnostics for characterizing the interactions, measure hydrogen generated by the reaction between melt and water, examine debris recovered after the interaction, determine changes in the aqueous phase produced by the melt-water chemical reactions, and determine whether steam explosions occur spontaneously under the conditions studied. Although many H{sub 2} bubbles were generated after the drops entered the water, spontaneous steam explosions never occurred when globules of the ``B`` alloy at temperatures between 700 and 1000C fell freely through water at room temperature, or upon or during subsequent contact with submerged aluminum or stainless steel surfaces. Total amounts of H{sub 2} (STP) increased from about 2 to 9 cm{sup 3}/per gram of melt as initial melt temperature increased over this range of temperatures.