Need and procedure for calibration of fuel rod simulators

An experimental thermocouple calibration procedure and four-part calibration program, ORTCAL (ORNL Thermocouple Calibration), have been developed to supply FRS performance information to the inverse heat conduction model and program ORINC. Case studies have shown that failure to fully classify FRSs with regard to component physical properties, gaps, etc., can result in severe errors during inverse calculations of the driving potential at the surface of the FRS (ΔT), the spatial and temporal history of the heat flow within the FRS, and the surface heat flux