Embedded Sensors and Controls to Improve Component Performance and Reliability -- Loop-scale Testbed Design Report

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1338544· OSTI ID:1338544

Melin, Alexander M. ^[1]; Kisner, Roger A. ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Embedded instrumentation and control systems that can operate in extreme environments are challenging to design and operate. Extreme environments limit the options for sensors and actuators and degrade their performance. Because sensors and actuators are necessary for feedback control, these limitations mean that designing embedded instrumentation and control systems for the challenging environments of nuclear reactors requires advanced technical solutions that are not available commercially. This report details the development of testbed that will be used for cross-cutting embedded instrumentation and control research for nuclear power applications. This research is funded by the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology program's Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation topic. The design goal of the loop-scale testbed is to build a low temperature pump that utilizes magnetic bearing that will be incorporated into a water loop to test control system performance and self-sensing techniques. Specifically, this testbed will be used to analyze control system performance in response to nonlinear and cross-coupling fluid effects between the shaft axes of motion, rotordynamics and gyroscopic effects, and impeller disturbances. This testbed will also be used to characterize the performance losses when using self-sensing position measurement techniques. Active magnetic bearings are a technology that can reduce failures and maintenance costs in nuclear power plants. They are particularly relevant to liquid salt reactors that operate at high temperatures (700 C). Pumps used in the extreme environment of liquid salt reactors provide many engineering challenges that can be overcome with magnetic bearings and their associated embedded instrumentation and control. This report will give details of the mechanical design and electromagnetic design of the loop-scale embedded instrumentation and control testbed.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1338544
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM--2016/563; NT0107000; NENT062
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ACTUATORS
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
CONTROL SYSTEMS
DESIGN
IN CORE INSTRUMENTS
IN PILE LOOPS
LOSSES
MAGNETIC BEARINGS
MECHANICAL SHAFTS
MOLTEN SALT COOLED REACTORS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PERFORMANCE
PUMPS
RELIABILITY
SAFETY REPORTS
SENSORS
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0400-1000 K
TEST FACILITIES