Design and implementation of the integral system of acquisition and control (S.I.A.C.) for the project of LOOP of CHF tests

The purpose of this work is to present the development and implementation of the acquisition system, the automated positioning of sensors and the power control of a test section for the measurement of critical heat flux in nuclear fuel elements (FE). This experiment is mandatory to certify the use of FEs in the reactor core. In the Thermal-hydraulic Laboratory of the Bariloche Atomic Center, an experimental facility is installed to carry out these tests. The fuel element is formed by an arrangement of hollow heating elements within which sliding thermocouples are able to be positioned in both axial and angular directions. This allows mapping wall temperatures of a complete FE for different operating conditions. The positioning system of the sliding thermocouples uses servomotors and synchronized linear drive spindle axes. The power required to perform the tests is supplied by high power sources which can be programmed in order to obtain a suitable power profile inside the FE. The complete system was designed to be controlled by dedicated hardware and monitored from a control room. This requires modular programming techniques and compatibility in the communication protocol of the involved devices. As a result, high-precision positioning of the sensors, high data storage capacity, cross-platform communication, fault robustness, high response and acquisition speed, and controlled power control were achieved. (author)