Improving accuracy of ET measurement of LISS nozzle to calandria tube clearance

The AECL Fuel Channel Inspection System (AFCIS) has been used in an in-reactor field trial to successfully measure the clearance between Liquid Injection Shutdown System (LISS) nozzles and calandria tubes. Each measurement over the full length of a channel added only 15 minutes to the on-channel inspection time. No changes were required to the inspection heads. The only equipment changes made were the addition of a Remote Field Eddy Current (RFEC) module to the eddy current instrument, and minor wiring changes, at the instrument, to achieve a RFEC configuration. With the experience gained from the field trial, factors potentially limiting accuracy were identified. These, and other factors, were investigated and are discussed herein. The RFEC probe is delivered inside the pressure tube. Magnetic fields from the RFEC probe extend through the conducting walls of the pressure tube and calandria tube to interact with the LISS nozzle. Data acquired during the field trial showed the LISS nozzle signal is distinct and the signal-to-noise ratio is very favourable. Nevertheless, comparison of the RFEC measurements to a visual examination, made during the same outage, had the RFEC method underestimating the clearance by 2.5 mm on average. By way of laboratory tests, the following factors were investigated as potential sources of error: resistivity and geometry of LISS nozzle reference/calibration pieces, pressure-tube wall thickness, diameter and resistivity variations, pressure-tube to calandria-tube gap, and radial offsets of the probe within the pressure-tube. The sensitivity to these various noise sources was established. A model, based on fundamental electromagnetic principles, was developed and was used to normalize the effects of LISS nozzle conductivity and geometry. This enabled compensation for various sources of error, and made it possible to produce a correction factor for the field trial data, reducing the average difference from the visual inspection of LISS nozzle clearance to a 0.9 mm overestimate. (author)