Possibilities of the Detection of Boiling in the Reactor Core on the Basis of Acoustic Emission Method

摘要

A method is described of detecting the crisis of boiling in the core of PWR type reactors which may lead to fuel element failure. The method can be applied both in reactor development and operation. It is based on boiling detection by acoustic emission testing. The acoustic signal is measured by means of a piezoelectric transducer immersed in water or attached to one end of a waveguide immersed in water. Signals may be measured in either a wide frequency range or in a band approaching the transducer resonance frequency. This is selected such as to be outside the noise band. Experiments in an open water tank and in a water loop showed that under favourable conditions, the acoustic emission testing method was very sensitive, the intensity of acoustic signals was proportional to boiling intensity, and information contained in the emission spectrum shape was primarily of a qualitative nature. The method remains to be tested in an actual reactor where many spurious noise sources exist. (Atomindex citation 10:452760)