A Study on Applicability of Ultrasonic Flowmeter to Feedwater Flow Measurements in Nuclear Power Plants

The measurement uncertainties of an ultrasonic flowmeter were analyzed to evaluate its applicability to the measurement of the steam generator feedwater flow-rate in a nuclear power plant. The analyses of measurement uncertainties of a reactor power were also performed with the analyses of feedwater flow measurement uncertainties. Two ultrasonic flowmeters based on a cross-correlation technique and a transit time method were used in this study. The ultrasonic flowmeters were installed on a feedwater pipe line of a typical 1000 MWe Korea-standardized nuclear power plant to take the necessary data. The results have shown that the measurement uncertainties of the ultrasonic flowmeters are adequately smaller than those or a venturi meter. The research has also indicated that the measurement uncertainties of the reactor power based on the ultrasonic flowmeter uncertainties are sufficiently bounded by the uncertainty range usually assumed in nuclear safety analyses.

원자력발전소의 급수유량 측정에 대한 초음파유량계의 적용성 연구