Using the sound of nuclear energy

Journal Article · Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Nuclear Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.13182/NT16-8· OSTI ID:1294273

Garrett, Steven ^[1]; Smith, James ^[2]; Smith, Robert ^[3]; Heidrich, Benden ^[2]; Heibel, Michael ^[4]

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1. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
2. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
3. Pennsylvania State Univ., State College, PA (United States)
4. Westinghouse Electric Company, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

The generation of sound by heat has been documented as an “acoustical curiosity” since a Buddhist monk reported the loud tone generated by a ceremonial rice-cooker in his diary, in 1568. Over the last four decades, significant progress has been made in understanding “thermoacoustic processes,” enabling the design of thermoacoustic engines and refrigerators. Motivated by the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster, we have developed and tested a thermoacoustic engine that exploits the energy-rich conditions in the core of a nuclear reactor to provide core condition information to the operators without a need for external electrical power. The heat engine is self-powered and can wirelessly transmit the temperature and reactor power level by generation of a pure tone which can be detected outside the reactor. We report here the first use of a fission-powered thermoacoustic engine capable of serving as a performance and safety sensor in the core of a research reactor and present data from the hydrophones in the coolant (far from the core) and an accelerometer attached to a structure outside the reactor. These measurements confirmed that the frequency of the sound produced indicates the reactor’s coolant temperature and that the amplitude (above an onset threshold) is related to the reactor’s operating power level. Furthermore, these signals can be detected even in the presence of substantial background noise generated by the reactor’s fluid pumps.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 1294273
• Report Number(s): INL/JOU-15-37508; TRN: US1601832
• Journal Information: Nuclear Technology, Vol. 195, Issue 3; ISSN 0029-5450
• Publisher: American Nuclear Society (ANS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
thermoacoustics
in-core sensing
wireless telemetry