One centimeter spatial resolution temperature measurements in a nuclear reactor using Rayleigh scatter in optical fiber

Sang, Alex K.; Gifford, Dawn K.; Dickerson, Bryan D.; Fielder, Bob; Froggatt, Mark E.

doi:10.1117/12.738575

Cited by 21 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Radiation darkening in silica glasses, and particularly those doped with Germanium, is most strongly observed in the UV and visible range Spencer et al 1994). Studies using COTS optical fiber have been demonstrated in vessel temperature measurements, at near infrared wavelengths where negligible photodarkening (Sang et al 2008). …”

Section: Silica Radiation Darkeningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical Readiness and Gaps Analysis of Commercial Optical Materials and Measurement Systems for Advanced Small Modular Reactors

Anheier¹,

Suter²,

Qiao³

et al. 2013

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Energy Research and Development Roadmap and industry stakeholders by evaluating optically based instrumentation and control (I&C) concepts for advanced small modular reactor (AdvSMR) applications. These advanced designs will require innovative thinking in terms of engineering approaches, materials integration, and I&C concepts to realize their eventual viability and deployment. The primary goals of this report include:1. Establish preliminary I&C needs, performance requirements, and possible gaps for AdvSMR designs based on best-available published design data.2. Document commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) optical sensors, components, and materials in terms of their technical readiness to support essential AdvSMR in-vessel I&C systems.3. Identify technology gaps by comparing the in-vessel monitoring requirements and environmental constraints to COTS optical sensor and materials performance specifications.4. Outline a future research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) program plan that addresses these gaps and develops optical-based I&C systems that enhance the viability of future AdvSMR designs.The DOE-NE roadmap outlines RD&D activities intended to overcome technical barriers that currently limit advances in nuclear energy. As part of this strategy, DOE-NE is sponsoring research on advanced reactor supportive technologies to reduce the identified barriers. Key challenges that must be overcome include the high capital costs to develop nuclear power plants, maintaining safety performance as the reactor fleet expands, minimizing nuclear waste, and maintaining strong proliferation resistance. AdvSMR designs are a major component of this strategy, because these designs offer a number of unique advantages. The modular and small size of AdvSMR designs naturally lead to reduced capital investments and, potentially, construction savings through factory fabrication. However, new economic and technical challenges accompany the many attractive features offered by AdvSMR designs. Specifically, the modest power output of AdvSMRs does not provide the economy of scale afforded by large reactors. In addition, many of the AdvSMR designs operate at much higher temperatures than lightwater reactors and require instrumentation to withstand harsh, in-vessel environments arising from unconventional, chemically aggressive coolants and unique reactor system configurations.Addressing these I&C challenges will be critically important to the AdvSMR development program to ensure the viability and future success of advanced reactor designs. Solutions will likely be found through evolution of conventional reactor technology, and the development of entirely new concepts. Early pressure/boiling water reactors used conventional I&C technologies (e.g., thermocouples, ionchambers, strain-gauge pressure sensors) to satisfy design requirements. Because these technologies worked well in the relatively low-temperature reactor designs, the demand for alternate I&C technologies was limited. At the time, optical-based reactor monitoring concepts were g...

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Section: Silica Radiation Darkeningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical Readiness and Gaps Analysis of Commercial Optical Materials and Measurement Systems for Advanced Small Modular Reactors

Anheier¹,

Suter²,

Qiao³

et al. 2013

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“…Figure 2a shows the temperature profile of a piece of electrically heated fiber from OFDR Rayleigh measurements without the gas flow with various input electrical heating power. Effective temperature response coefficient of −0.67GHz/°C [13] is used for the 20-µm thick copper-alloy coated fiber to correlate the measured Rayleigh spectral shifts with distributed temperature changes. The non-uniform temperature profile can be attributed to the coating imperfection.…”

Section: Sensing Principle and Experimental Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The OFDR scheme utilizes a sweep-wavelength interferometry to spatially resolve the measurement location, this requires an elastic process such as Rayleigh scattering to ensure the optical coherence. Recently, integration of in-fiber Rayleigh backscattering measurements with OFDR technology were reported by M. Froggatt, et al, and has been employed for a variety of applications including fiber diagnosis [11] and distributed sensing of multiple parameters such as temperature [12,13], strain [12,14,15], and pressure [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distributed flow sensing using optical hot -wire grid

Chen¹,

Wang²,

Zhang³

et al. 2012

Opt. Express

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An optical hot-wire flow sensing grid is presented using a single piece of self-heated optical fiber to perform distributed flow measurement. The flow-induced temperature loss profiles along the fiber are interrogated by the in-fiber Rayleigh backscattering, and spatially resolved in millimeter resolution using optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR). The flow rate, position, and flow direction are retrieved simultaneously. Both electrical and optical on-fiber heating were demonstrated to suit different flow sensing applications.

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“…It is based on the optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) measurement of in-fiber Rayleigh scattering. This technology has been applied to provide a distributed sensing solution for in-fiber temperature, axial strain, pressure, gas flows, and hydrogen gas detection [12][13][14][15][16][17]. In this paper, both electrically and optically heated optical fibers are used to extend its application for liquid level sensing for both the room temperature and cryogenic environments down to 4 K. Distinct heating response of liquid is discriminated from gas to measure the liquid level with millimeter spatial resolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distributed liquid level sensors using self-heated optical fibers for cryogenic liquid management

et al. 2012

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We present a continuous liquid level sensing system for both room temperature and cryogenic fluids with millimeter spatial resolution. Change of in-fiber Rayleigh backscattering signal from the distinct thermal response of the heated sensing fiber in liquid and in air were interrogated and spatially resolved using the optical frequency domain reflectometry. Both electrical and optical heating techniques were investigated for cryogenic liquid applications at 4 K, 77 K, and the room temperature. The successful combination of self-heated fiber and wavelength-swept Rayleigh scattering interferometry provides, for the first time to our best knowledge, a truly distributed fuel gauge with high spatial resolution for cryogenic fuel storage, transportation, and management on ground and in space.

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One centimeter spatial resolution temperature measurements in a nuclear reactor using Rayleigh scatter in optical fiber

Cited by 21 publications

References 7 publications

Technical Readiness and Gaps Analysis of Commercial Optical Materials and Measurement Systems for Advanced Small Modular Reactors

Technical Readiness and Gaps Analysis of Commercial Optical Materials and Measurement Systems for Advanced Small Modular Reactors

Distributed flow sensing using optical hot -wire grid

Distributed liquid level sensors using self-heated optical fibers for cryogenic liquid management

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