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Title: System and method for determining coolant level and flow velocity in a nuclear reactor

Abstract

A boiling water reactor includes a reactor pressure vessel having a feedwater inlet for the introduction of recycled steam condensate and/or makeup coolant into the vessel, and a steam outlet for the discharge of produced steam for appropriate work. A fuel core is located within a lower area of the pressure vessel. The fuel core is surrounded by a core shroud spaced inward from the wall of the pressure vessel to provide an annular downcomer forming a coolant flow path between the vessel wall and the core shroud. A probe system that includes a combination of conductivity/resistivity probes and/or one or more time-domain reflectometer (TDR) probes is at least partially located within the downcomer. The probe system measures the coolant level and flow velocity within the downcomer.

Inventors:
; ; ; ; ; ;
Issue Date:
Research Org.:
GE Global Research, Niskayuna, New York (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1093234
Patent Number(s):
8532244
Application Number:
11/762,986
Assignee:
General Electric Company (Niskayuna, NY)
Patent Classifications (CPCs):
Y - NEW / CROSS SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES Y02 - TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE Y02E - REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
G - PHYSICS G01 - MEASURING G01F - MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL
DOE Contract Number:  
FC07-05ID14636; FC07-05ID14635
Resource Type:
Patent
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS

Citation Formats

Brisson, Bruce William, Morris, William Guy, Zheng, Danian, Monk, David James, Fang, Biao, Surman, Cheryl Margaret, and Anderson, David Deloyd. System and method for determining coolant level and flow velocity in a nuclear reactor. United States: N. p., 2013. Web.
Brisson, Bruce William, Morris, William Guy, Zheng, Danian, Monk, David James, Fang, Biao, Surman, Cheryl Margaret, & Anderson, David Deloyd. System and method for determining coolant level and flow velocity in a nuclear reactor. United States.
Brisson, Bruce William, Morris, William Guy, Zheng, Danian, Monk, David James, Fang, Biao, Surman, Cheryl Margaret, and Anderson, David Deloyd. Tue . "System and method for determining coolant level and flow velocity in a nuclear reactor". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1093234.
@article{osti_1093234,
title = {System and method for determining coolant level and flow velocity in a nuclear reactor},
author = {Brisson, Bruce William and Morris, William Guy and Zheng, Danian and Monk, David James and Fang, Biao and Surman, Cheryl Margaret and Anderson, David Deloyd},
abstractNote = {A boiling water reactor includes a reactor pressure vessel having a feedwater inlet for the introduction of recycled steam condensate and/or makeup coolant into the vessel, and a steam outlet for the discharge of produced steam for appropriate work. A fuel core is located within a lower area of the pressure vessel. The fuel core is surrounded by a core shroud spaced inward from the wall of the pressure vessel to provide an annular downcomer forming a coolant flow path between the vessel wall and the core shroud. A probe system that includes a combination of conductivity/resistivity probes and/or one or more time-domain reflectometer (TDR) probes is at least partially located within the downcomer. The probe system measures the coolant level and flow velocity within the downcomer.},
doi = {},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {2013},
month = {9}
}

Works referenced in this record:

Shaft-Mounted Time Domain Reflectometry Probe for Water Content and Electrical Conductivity Measurements
journal, November 2002