Acoustic transmission in SGUs: Plant and laboratory measurements

As part of the UK development work an experimental programme is in progress to measure the acoustic transmission through an actual reactor SGU and also through a model tube bundle in the laboratory. This paper gives an outline of the experimental arrangements and examples of the preliminary results. The data from the laboratory measurements in particular is being used for comparison with theoretical studies carried out at the University of Keele which are reported in a separate paper to this Specialist's Meeting. The plant measurements are being carried out on a Superheater unit of the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) at Dounreay. These measurements are primarily aimed at providing information for a loose parts condition monitoring system which is operated on the PFR SGU, but results obtained will make a significant contribution to the acoustic leak detection programme. The Superheater used for the experiment has six blank steam tubes for experimental purposes. An impacting device has been inserted into one of the blank tubes and acoustic signals recorded on waveguides which are attached to the SGU shell. Recordings were made during a reactor shutdown with static sodium in the superheater and with the impacting device at five axial positions in both the inner and outer legs of the 'U' tube. Results are given for signal attenuation and location of the acoustic noise source. The laboratory measurements are being made using a 721-tube model tube bundle in a water tank. The tube bundle which is approximately 0.75m diameter x 3 metres long is not modelled to a specific design but is of realistic size and construction. A piezo-electric acoustic source is mounted centrally in the tube bundle and the transmitted signal is received by underwater microphones on the periphery of the bundle. Results from the first experiments with water filled tubes are given covering a frequency range of 6KHz to 80KHz. The preliminary results of the experimental programme are encouraging and indicate that while the transmission is complex the attenuation will not be too severe for an effective acoustic leak detection system. 2 refs, 17 figs