Diffuse-interface modelling of multicomponent diffusion and phase separation in the U-O-Zr ternary system

The ternary mixture of uranium, oxygen and zirconium is investigated as a minimal model for corium, the mixture that forms after the meltdown of a nuclear reactor. Like corium, U-O-Zr exhibits a liquid–liquid phase separation between a metal-rich and an oxide-rich phase at high temperatures. A CALPHAD database built on an associate model is used to set up a ternary Cahn–Hilliard model, which can describe two-phase patterns in U-O-Zr. The interface structure and properties, which depend on the choice on the gradient energy coefficients in the free-energy functional, are studied in detail. It is found that interface adsorption is generally present due to the diffuse character of the interface, but that its magnitude is small, such that the model remains a robust and useful tool for future simulations of corium pool stratification dynamics.