Analysis of Factors Influencing Measurement Accuracy for High-Temperature Liquid Metal Flow Sensors in Nuclear Power

Abstract

Permanent magnet metal flowmeters are implemented to monitor the flow of liquid metal coolant in a nuclear reactor, whose measurement accuracy plays a significant role to ensure the safety and normal operation of the nuclear reactor. According to a theoretical analysis of the permanent magnet metal flowmeter, several factors such as temperature, nonlinear degree, and zero potential will affect the accuracy of measuring the flow. However, for a heavy-caliber permanent magnet metal flowmeter, the influence of the magnetic Reynolds number provides obvious nonlinearity, which affects the measurement accuracy of the flowmeter. Consequently, we use the finite element method to calculate the magnetic field of the flowmeter and analyze the cause of the nonlinearity. Additionally, the influence of nonlinear error is significantly reduced by designing the structure of the flowmeter and the appropriate arrangement of the electrodes.