In-core coolant flow monitoring of pressurized water reactors using temperature and neutron noise
Noise measurements were performed at the Loss-of-Fluid-Test (LOFT) and Sequoyah-1 pressurized water reactors (PWRs) in order to investigate the possibility of inferring in-core coolant velocities from cross-power spectral density (CPSD) phases of core-exit thermocouple and in-core neutron detector signals. These noise measurements were used to investigate the effects of inlet coolant temperature, core flow, reactor power, and random heat transfer fluctuations on the noise-inferred coolant velocities. The effect on the inferred velocities of varying in-core neutron detector and core-exit thermocouple locations was also investigated. Theoretical models of temperature noise were developed, and the results were used to interpret the experimental measurements. Results of these studies indicate that the neutron detector/thermocouple phase is useful for monitoring core flow in PWRs. Results show that the interpretation of the phase between these signals depends on the source of temperature noise, the response times and locations of the sensors, and the neutron dynamics of the reactor. At Sequoyah-1 we found that the in-core neutron detector/core-exit thermocouple phase can be used to infer in-core coolant velocities, provided that the measurements are corrected for the thermocouple response time.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA); Tennessee Univ., Knoxville (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 6280225
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-841017-8; ON: DE85002468
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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In-core coolant velocity measurements in a pressurized water reactor using temperature-neutron noise cross correlation
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Related Subjects
210200* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
FLUID FLOW
LOFT REACTOR
POWER REACTORS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTOR NOISE
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
SEQUOYAH-1 REACTOR
TANK TYPE REACTORS
TEST REACTORS
THERMAL REACTORS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS