Salt Bath annealing

mamalukino

Tell me about SBA; looks a bit more consistent then my torch and electric screwdriver/socket method.

orkan

I tried it once at a friends place. Not a fan.

I'll keep my bench source. :)

bull81

Man that looks like a disaster waiting to happen to me.

hypo

Reminds me of the Molten Salt Nuclear Reactor design.
LFTR, Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor is a molten Salt of Hydro Fluoric Acid and Thorium at 1200 degrees Centigrade circulating in a Beryllium lined Reactor core.
No cooling water and it can also be fed existing Nuclear Waste as a fuel once it is up and running. Needs a hot Plutonium starter or a Neutron beam particle accellerator to start it off since Thorium is Fertile but not Fissile by itself.
The Thorium absorbs the Neutrons and transmutes into Uranium 233 and then decays rapidly from there releasing heat along the way.
Self regulating design that is passively fail safe.
It requires a plug of salt to be kept cool.
If the coolant fails, the plug melts and the liquid salt drains into a shielded pit and cools until it is solid.

It is only Reactive inside of the Beryllium lining which is a Neutron reflector which increases the Neutron Flux density Hugh enough for the Thorium to catch the Neutrons.

That is also how it can "burn" Nuclear wastes.
The salts dissolves the old fuel pellets.
Then the Plutonium, Uranium, and other radioactive elements continue to break down along the decay chain.

Old technology from the late 60's .
Never was Commercialized because it didn't create Plutonium as a byproduct. It didn't have any secondary military application.
Much more efficient fuel cycle too..

hypo

Oh, they can be really small also.
Fit inside of a tractor trailer small.
Reactor vessel the size of a 55 gallon drum.
Still needs shielding though.
There is a company trying to develop them now that the system is prefabricated and fits into commercial shipping containers.

mamalukino

I have done an awful lot of work with hot lead... in a well ventilated area, so no ah ha that explains it BS from the peanut gallery. :)
By hot lead, I mean melting lead down and making ingots and fishing weights, basically from lead we recover while diving.
This doesn't look anymore hazardous than that endeavor unless I'm missing something.
Having most of the equipment already kind of makes me curious.

martino1

@mamalukino said:

I have done an awful lot of work with hot lead... in a well ventilated area, so no ah ha that explains it BS from the peanut gallery. :)
By hot lead, I mean melting lead down and making ingots and fishing weights, basically from lead we recover while diving.
This doesn't look anymore hazardous than that endeavor unless I'm missing something.
Having most of the equipment already kind of makes me curious.

Not in the health care biz, but don't you have concerns about lead fumes? Not trying to be a Smart A$$, but that's a heavy metal that reportedly does some nasty stuff to your body.

Melting salt doesn't sound that dangerous compared to melting lead. Just a thought

mamalukino

@martino1
Well aware of the lead hazards.
We do all of the work out of doors on days were there is zero chance of rain.

yukonrob

I’m intrigued by this. It seems that it would have some benefits over propane annealing in consistency and uniform results.

rr2241tx

You can use play sand in a lead pot and not have to worry about salt contamination. It works but a HF socket and a 3/8ths square drive in a drill is faster and less trouble. If consistency is your goal, then a mechanical annealed will give superior results. A Benchsource and a swirl torch is hard to beat.