Honors College Thesis
 

An investigation into the design and use of a mutual inductance type fluid level probe for use in liquid sodium systems

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  • Level measurement in liquid sodium systems has been studied in the U.S.’s past during the 1970’s, but locally little was done to advance the subject until a resurgence of interest in the last few years. As a result, to create a functional continuous fluid level measurement probe for the OSU Glovebox for Experimental Liquid Sodium (GELS), further testing of a non-standard design was required. Mutual Inductance fluid level measurement probes were identified to be the most promising for fulfilling this purpose and a proof-of-concept prototype was designed and tested to confirm viability. These probes function through the introduction of an input voltage of known frequency through a primary coil that generates an emf that imparts a current on a secondary coil. This voltage output on the secondary coil is directly affected by the strength of the emf created by the primary and thus decreases as shielding of the coil increases (via rising sodium level, aluminum magnetic shielding, etc.) The probe design was modeled after modern mutual inductance probes tested at Argonne for use in their METL project. The prototype probe produced data at a range of input voltages and frequencies to determine optimal performance conditions. These were found to be at 60 and 160 MHz and 250 mV, with output voltages ranging from 60 to 70 mV over the 152.4 mm active coil. Upon reviewing this data and that of Argonne’s METL project a better understanding of potential error sources and design improvements were found. These results will prove invaluable towards the final design of a probe for In-situ testing within the GELS system and eventual installation of such a mutual inductance fluid level measurement system.
  • Keywords: Liquid Sodium, Mutual Inductance, Magnetic Flux, Magnetic Shielding
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