CFD simulation of the pulsed neutron activation technique for water flow measurements

A pulse neutron activation (PNA) flowmeter uses a radioactive substance to measure water flow in pipes. The water in the pipe is bombarded with neutron pulses, thus introducing activity into the pipe. The activity is then transported and mixed with the flow. Gamma radiation emitted from the activity is measured with one or two detectors downstream from the activation point. The average velocity of the water is calculated using the time-resolved signal from the detector. The CFD program FLUENT was used to simulate the transport and mixing of the activity induced in the pipe. The turbulence of the flow is described with the k-ε model. Some parameters affecting a PNA measurement have been investigated. From the calculations it was possible to quantify how much the average initial velocity of the activity differs from the average velocity of the water. Results also show that activity initially produced far away from the wall has a substantial effect on the detector signal. To accurately simulate the detector signal it is necessary to include activity produced in a large part of the pipe. The results also indicate that the collimation of the detectors have a significant impact on the data and should be included when evaluating simulated data. Three different response functions were also tested. (authors)