Helium-flow measurement using ultrasonic technique

Conference · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:5824430

Sondericker, J H

While designing cryogenic instrumentation for the Colliding Beam Accelerator (CBA) helium-distribution system it became clear that accurate measurement of mass flow of helium which varied in temperature from room to sub-cooled conditions would be difficult. Conventional venturi flow meters full scale differential pressure signal would decrease by more than an order of magnitude during cooldown causing unacceptable error at operating temperature. At sub-cooled temperatures, helium would be pumped around cooling loops by an efficient, low head pressure circulating compressor. Additional pressure drop meant more pump work was necessary to compress the fluid resulting in a higher outlet temperature. The ideal mass flowmeter for this application was one which did not add pressure drop to the system, functioned over the entire temperature range, has high resolution and delivers accurate mass flow measurement data. Ultrasonic flow measurement techniques used successfully by the process industry, seemed to meet all the necessary requirements. An extensive search for a supplier of such a device found that none of the commercial stock flowmeters were adaptable to cryogenic service so the development of the instrument was undertaken by the CBA Cryogenic Control and Instrumentation Engineering Group at BNL.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5824430
• Report Number(s): BNL-33591; CONF-830841-16; ON: DE83017765
• Resource Relation: Conference: Cryogenic engineering conference and international cryogenic materials conference, Colorado Springs, CO, USA, 15 Aug 1983
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
HELIUM DILUTION REFRIGERATORS
FLOWMETERS
ACOUSTIC MONITORING
COOLING SYSTEMS
ISABELLE STORAGE RINGS
SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS
ULTRASONIC WAVES
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTROMAGNETS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
EQUIPMENT
MAGNETS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METERS
MONITORING
REFRIGERATORS
SOUND WAVES
STORAGE RINGS
SUPERCONDUCTING DEVICES
430400* - Particle Accelerators- Storage Rings
420201 - Engineering- Cryogenic Equipment & Devices