Metallic sodium cannot directly generate electricity because its cost is too high and the reaction is too violent and dangerous.
But in power plants, metallic sodium is really the cause. Mainly in nuclear reactors, metallic sodium is used as a coolant instead of ordinary water. Liquid sodium (mainly used in fast neutron reactors) and sodium-potassium alloy (mainly used in space reactors) have large thermal capacity and good heat transfer performance. Very suitable as a coolant.
The two reactors above are very advanced reactors in the modern world.
Why is the potassium-sodium alloy liquid?
In a fast reactor, water cannot be used to transfer heat into the core because it would slow down the speed of fast neutrons et reduce the heat dissipation rate. Not enough. Sodium and potassium alloys can be used as heat exchange agents in fast neutron reactors because they have low melting points, high boiling points, good thermodynamic properties, rapid heat transfer, good stability to irradiation and little. impact on basic materials
Its melting point is -11°C and it is liquid at room temperature
Sodium is the most common alkaline metallic element. It not only plays an important role in. the human body. In addition, sodium metal is also widely used in advanced technologies and daily life.
We know that to launch artificial satellites into the sky and launch space shuttles and missiles, rockets are necessary. How to determine the position of the rocket in the sky after launch? This requires steamr sodium to help. After the rocket launches, sodium vapor released into the atmosphere can produce bright orange clouds. Based on this, scientists can determine the rocket's position in the sky and calculate the density of the gas around the rocket. Currently, people can already use atomic energy to generate electricity, which has many advantages. An important device required for the production of atomic energy is the atomic reactor. During the process of atom fission, due to the release of huge energy, the temperature inside the reactor will rise very high, so the heat must be exported to cool the reactor. What acts as the thermal conductive agent (coolant) is an alloy of sodium and potassium (containing 20 to 50% sodium). This alloy is liquid at room temperature and has better thermal conductivity than sol metalsides, making it an ideal thermal conductor for atomic reactors.
Sodium is an active metal with strong reducing properties and is a good reducing agent. It is therefore used as a reducing agent in industry to produce certain rare metals, such as titanium, zirconium, etc. These metals have a wide range of applications in the aerospace industry.
Submerged submarines and breathing masks require an oxygen supplier. The oxygen supplier is sodium peroxide, which can react directly with carbon dioxide to release oxygen. To prepare Na2O2 industrially, Na2O2 can be obtained by heating sodium until it melts, passing a certain amount of dry air to remove the CO2, then increasing the amount of air and raising quickly temperature to 300℃~400℃.
In daily life, sodium is also widely used, comme sodium lamps (high pressure sodium lamps) used to make monochromatic light sources. This type of light emits yellow light, has a long range, strong fog penetration ability and high illumination on the road surface. It is widely used in the manufacture of indicator lights, street lighting, etc. In addition, sodium can also be used as a catalyst and stone for synthetic rubber.Oil desulfurizer, etc.
Extract from “New case study for quality education”