Rejection of partial-discharge-induced pulses in fission chambers designed for sodium-cooled fast reactors

Hamrita, H.; Jammes, C.; Galli, G; Lainé, Frédéric

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2016.11.055

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The current and possible future construction of the ITER and DEMO fusion reactors, as well as the construction of sodiumcooled IV th generation nuclear reactors will necessitate the use of high temperature fission chambers [1] (HTFC) to detect neutrons in the high temperature zones of these installations [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Multiple uses are envisaged such as reactor power control and fuel cladding failure detection [11][12].To operate in-core, the HTFC will have to operate under high irradiation, up to 10 10 n/cm².s and to withstand the high operating temperatures, up to 650°C, of the sodium-cooled fast reactors and, up to 1000°C, of the fusion reactors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After years of study [7][8][9][10], it is now known that an electrical signal, here referred to as a partial discharge or PD, more or less similar to the signal resulting from neutron interactions, is generated in fission chambers at temperatures above 400 °C. This unwanted signal poses challenges, especially during reactor start-up when the PD signal count may be on the same order of magnitude as the neutron signal count [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Paschen’s Law in Extreme Pressure and Temperature Conditions

Galli

Hamrita

Jammes

et al. 2019

IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.

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Paschen's law gives the inception voltage for an electrical discharge as a function of the product of gas pressure and the gap distance between two infinite planar electrodes. It is known that deviations from Paschen's law occur when temperature is increased. Historically two theoretical corrections, the Peek and Dumbar corrections, are proposed to predict the deviation from Paschen's law by increasing temperature. To carry out an experimental investigation on the deviation from Paschen's law by increasing temperature a customized system was designed which can operate at temperatures up to 400°C and at pressure up to 1MPa, calculated at room temperature; with an inter-electrode distance between 100µm and 6.6mm and with an error on the inter-electrode distance measurement of 20µm. In this article, firstly, the results from the experimental investigation on the deviation from Paschen's law at temperature up to 400°C are presented. The results are then compared with theoretical corrections, and finally a theory to explain the results is proposed and discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paschen’s Law in Extreme Pressure and Temperature Conditions

Galli

Hamrita

Jammes

et al. 2019

IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.

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“…The physics underlying creation of PD is still under investigation. Therefore, the rejection of signals induced by this phenomenon has been studied [17]. It has been experimentally proven that the neutron-induced and the partial-dischargeinduced signals have temporal differences from which it is possible to discriminate them.…”

Section: Between Neutrons and Partial Discharges With Fission Chambermentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of the Charge Comparison Method for Multiradiation Field Using Various Measurement Systems

Lynde

Montbarbon

Grabowski

et al. 2020

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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This article presents a procedure for optimizing the charge comparison method (CCM) used for pulse shape discrimination (PSD). Without prior knowledge on the signals or the readout system, our procedure automatically optimizes integration periods maximizing the discrimination ability of the radiation detector. This procedure is innovative in its adaptability and automation without being complicated to implement on a standard computer. Another advantage of this approach is the possibility to use it even if the operation of the readout system and the recording process of the signal is not fully known. Therefore, it enables all detection systems generating signals whose temporal evolution depends on the origin to optimize the integration periods of the CCM. Our procedure is based on verifying that two criteria are met in terms of the number of components and the correlation of Gaussian fits made on the distribution of the tail-to-total integral resulting from the CCM. We tested the procedure for different application cases. First, the optimization of the integration periods of the CCM was performed for the discrimination between fast neutrons and gamma rays with a plastic scintillator and a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) in the energy range [250 keVee; 4.5 MeVee]. The integration periods, from the laboratory's experience with photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) and plastic scintillators, gave a FoM of 0.58 corresponding to a rejection ratio of 8.6%. The procedure improved the FoM up to 0.88 corresponding to a rejection ratio of 1.9%. We also applied the procedure to the discrimination between beta and gamma rays with a PMT and a phoswich organic detector and to the discrimination between signals collected from neutrons or partial discharges within a fission chamber.

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“…The last two chambers listed in Table 2 are partial chambers, having no active zone but containing either both or only one of the aforementioned electrical connectors as shown in figure 3 (HTFC 3 and 4). All of the chambers are filled with pure Argon and the complete chambers were initially tested at room temperature and in the presence of neutron flux to ensure their proper operation under standard conditions [3].…”

Section: Notions Of Electric Discharge Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To operate in-core, the HTFC will have to withstand the high operating temperatures, up to 650°C, of the sodium-cooled fast reactors and also to operate under high irradiation, up to 10 10 n/cm².s. After years of study [2][3][4][5], it is now known that an electrical signal, more or less similar to the signal resulting from neutron interactions, is generated in fission chambers at temperatures above 400 °C. This unwanted signal poses challenges, especially during reactor start-up when the PD signal count may be on the same order of magnitude as the neutron signal count [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization and Localization of Partial-Discharge-Induced Pulses in Fission Chambers Designed for Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors

Galli

Hamrita

Jammes

et al. 2018

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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During the operation of the Superphenix and Phenix reactors, an aberrant electrical signal was detected from the fission chambers used for neutron flux monitoring. This signal, thought to be due to partial electrical discharge (PD) is similar to the signal resulting from neutron interactions, and is generated in fission chambers at temperatures above 400 °C. This paper reports work on the characterization and localization of the source of this electrical signal in a High Temperature Fission Chamber (HTFC). The relation between the shape of the PD signal and various parameters (nature and pressure of the chamber filling gas, electrode gap distance, and fission chamber geometry) are first described. Next, experiments designed to identify the location within the chambers where the PD are being generated are presented. After verification and refinement of the results of these localization studies, it should be possible to propose changes to the fission chamber in order to reduce or eliminate the PD signal.

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Rejection of partial-discharge-induced pulses in fission chambers designed for sodium-cooled fast reactors

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Paschen’s Law in Extreme Pressure and Temperature Conditions

Paschen’s Law in Extreme Pressure and Temperature Conditions

Optimization of the Charge Comparison Method for Multiradiation Field Using Various Measurement Systems

Characterization and Localization of Partial-Discharge-Induced Pulses in Fission Chambers Designed for Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors

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