Simulation Studies of the Sodium Hydraulic Behavior to Design a Mockup for Eddy Current Flowmeter Testing

Abstract

The Eddy current flowmeter sensor plays an important part in the instrumentation of the future sodium fast reactors, which will allow when located above the core to detect plugging (partial or total) of a subassembly and when located on the primary pump to measure core pressure drop and core flowrate. This article describes the predesign phase of a mockup for Eddy current flowmeter tests and qualifications under sodium conditions for the detection of a partial or full plugging of a fuel subassembly. These tests will be the first of their kind, as the Eddy current flowmeter had never been qualified at nominal conditions of a reactor core outlet (sodium temperature, velocity, and output flow).