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
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Specialists' meeting on reactor noise - SMORN IV, Dijon, France, 15 Oct 1984; Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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PWR TYPE REACTORS
FLUID FLOW
LOFT REACTOR
REACTOR NOISE
SEQUOYAH-1 REACTOR
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
POWER REACTORS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
TANK TYPE REACTORS
TEST REACTORS
THERMAL REACTORS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
210200* - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled