Progress in Nuclear Energy, Vol. 1, pp. 41 to 61. Pergamon Press 1977.

Printed in Great Britain

ELECTROMAGNETIC FLOWMETERS FOR FAST REACTORS

Roo~ C. B ~
Mechanical Engineering Department, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, U.K.

(Received 30 November 1976)

Almtract--This paper is in four parts. Section I explains the theory of the induced-voltage electromagnetic
flowrneter and then considers various types which have been used. For the primary circuit of fast reactors
both flow-through type and probe type have been proposed, although obtaining magnets which operate
satisfactorily at high temperatures has been a problem. In the secondary circuit the high magnetic Reynolds
numbers cause the field to be swept out of the magnet gap and this has led to the use of the long saddle-coil
fiowmeter.
In Section 2 flux-distortion flowmeters are described. These have been proposed mainly for monitoring the
primary circuit flow and again both flow-through and probe types have been tested. Sections 3 and 4 continue
the discussion of the flux-distortion fiowmeter by introducing two methods of analysing its performance.
The first is a finite difference method which solves the non-linear problem by using a time marching method.
It is shown that a linear approximation is adequate for the likely levels of flow encountered in the fast reactor
and consequently two linearised solutions are used. The first method is a finite difference one and allows
the instantaneous response of a step change in velocity to be observed as well as the effect of bubbles.
In Part 4 the second linearized method uses current rings to divide up the conducting material. By con-
sidering the interaction of all the rings, it is possible to obtain the current distribution and hence the magnetic
field. In conclusion it is suggested that further development would be useful of the devices which are most
suited to the liquid metal fast breeder reactor.

NOMENCLATURE V voltages generated in secondary coils

A magnetic vector potential velocity of fluid
a typical length scale ~m mean velocity
tube internal diameter (ID) W weight function
probe radius W weight vector
coil radius Z axial coordinate
ring radius magnetic field function
B magnetic flux density 0 cylindrical coordinate
u pipe wall conductivity
b tube wall outside diameter (OD)
C coefficient in eq. (39) ff permeability o
D coefficient in eq. (48) ff p variable of integration
d diameter of tube o fluid conductivity
E electric field variable of integration for flowmeter volume
E elliptic integral contact resistance per unit area
F coefficient in eq. (56) magnetic field scalar potential function
defined by eq. (28) go excitation angular frequency
I electric current
i currents in core model
Jo primary coil current INTRODUCTION
J current density The development of the fast reactor with sodium
j~ virtual current density
K cooling circuits gave incentive in several countries to
elliptic integral
k as defined in eq. (35) the development of new instruments for monitoring
k' as defined in eq. (38) the sodium. The problems of designing such instru-
??! as defined in eq. (38) ments are severe: high temperature; radiation; restric-
tip prin~ry coil turns per metre ted access; hydraulic shock; reliability. However the
Ms secondary coil turns per metre
R right hand side of eq. (44) ff use of sodium presented the possibility of applying
R= magnetic Reynolds number electromagnetic devices. (Duncombe and Thomasson,
r radial coordinate 1970; Evans et al., 1966). In this paper we are
S sensitivity interested in the application of electromagnetic
coefficient in eq. (53) ff
flowmeters to the primary and secondary circuits.
t time coordinate
U electric potential The primary circuit items are submerged in a
AUz~ potential differences between electrodes sodium pool at about 430C. The coolant flow to

41
42 ROGER C. BAKER

the core and breeder is provided by a number of flow

loops through the core ducts. Temperatures as high
Magnetic
~Electrodes
as 700C may be experienced and must be withstood.
In the British Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR), flux
distortion (eddy-current) flow monitors were used to
obtain pump flow by insertion into a containment
pocket leading, round various curves, 40 ft down into
the reactor and they had to perform at 450C. They
were also used to monitor core flows in temperatures
for normal operation in the range 350--475C but Fig. I. Induced voltage electromagnetic flowmeter.
they were also able to operate up to 700C (Dean
et al., 1970).
equations are set down for low conductivity fluids.
The problem of monitoring the primary flow
The equations leading to the electromagnetic flow-
behaviour in future liquid-metal fast breeder reactor
meter equation are:
(LMFBR) designs is more complex still and the final
methods for doing this are still under consideration. Ohm's Law j = ~(E + v B); (1)
One obvious candidate for this is the flux-distortion
flowmeter but necessary instrument redundancy for V x E= - B; (2)
safety reasons would require large numbers of these
instruments.
The difficulties of accurate measurement of flow
in the primary circuit make accurate measurement
of prime importance for heat balance purposes in the
Field equations

I V x B ffi#uj;

V . B -- 0.
where j is current density, o is conductivity, E is
(3)

(4)

electric field, v is fluid velocity, B is magnetic flux

more accessible secondary circuit (Duncombe and
density and ~ is permeability.
Thomasson, 1970). The design which has been
For a steady magnetic field, I~ will be zero, and
favoured for the PFR is the saddle-coil flowrneter,
equation (2) will lead to
an electromagnetic induced-voltage flowmeter with
a field long in the axial direction. This is satisfactory E = - VU (5)
in performance, but its long length is rather restric-
tive for siting in a secondary circuit and there appears where U is the electricpotential.
to be a need for more accurate short flowmeters for If wc assume that the currents in the fluid are
small enough so that their effect on the magnetic
incorporation in future fast reactors.
field m a y be neglected we can obtain the magnetic
In this paper the main divisions are made by
flowmeter type and the features which are peculiar fieldwithin the fluidby solving .
to primary or secondary flow circuits have been V2,/, = 0 (6)
indicated. In Section 1 the induced-voltage flow- where
meter is described in theory and then the various B -- V~b. (7)
types which have been developed are discussed. In
Section 2 the same pattern is followed for flux- This condition is known as one of very low
distortion flowmeters. In Sections 3 and 4 analyses magnetic Reynold's number, R., where (if a is a
are presented in some detail of the behaviour of the typical length scale)
eddy-current flowmeter, one type of flux-distortion Rm= / ~ v , . a . (8)
flowmeter.
a dimensionless number which compares the
magnetic field resulting from motion induced
1. INDUCED-VOLTAGE ELECTROMAGNETIC currents with the applied magnetic field for a mean
FLOWMETERS velocity v=.
Introduction If we n o w take the divergence of equation (I) wc
In his book, Shercliff (1962) gives the basis of obtain the flowmeter equation by substituting for
operation of these flowmeters which depend on the E from equation (5)
measurement of motion-induced voltage resulting V2U = B.V x v (9)
from the flow of fluid through a magnetic field
(Fig. I). where equation (7) has been used to simplify the
The theory may be understood most simply if the right hand side.
 Electromagnetic flowmeters for fast reactors 43

One simple solution of this equation results from

introducing an axisymmetric velocity profile v(r). ) *_.._, .":':=,o
Equation (9) becomes

V~U = - B0 dv ( r ) (10)
dr
For a non-conducting pipe wall the boundary
condition is
~u
c~'-'r-= -- v (r)Bs (11)
Fig. 3. Shercliff weight function for uniform field point
and it is shown by Baker (1968) that a solution of electrode flowmeter.
this is
U = - S[{v(x/pr) + v ( a , . / p / r ) } Bs(p,O)d p function to a weight vector W where the output
(12) signal of the flowmeter was given by
for a very long field (Fig. 2 gives the geometry). If AUEE -- Sv.WdT (I 5)
and where the integration is over the whole volume of

Non

/X 1 I__I A
Magnet(c Flux
the flowmeter. He showed (Bevir, 1970) that the
weight vector is given by
W = B L (16)
where j,, is the current density which would pertain
in the fluid if unit current entered by one electrode
and left by the other. It is known as the virtual
current.
Bevir showed that for an ideal flowrneter the curl
of the weight vector must be zero and that as a
result no point electrode circular pipe flowmeter
Fig. 2. Long ttowmeter geometry.
with insulating walls is ideal in the sense of providing
a signal which is always proportional to the mean
Be (r, 1)/2) is uniform the potential difference between flow. One important design of flowmeter which is
two electrodes separated by diameter d is ideal and which is frequently used for liquid metal
flow measurement is the rectangular section flow-
AUE~ = dB)'= (13) meter with large electrodes and uniform magnetic
and a flowmeter sensitivity is defined as field. This flowmeter measures the flow correctly
whatever the velocity profile.
5" = A U ~ (14) Shercliff (1962) also discussed the effect of a con-
dBv,, " ducting tube on the flowmeter signal. This has the
effect of shorting out some of the signal and the
The deceptively simple results of equation (13), sensitivity is reduced for a uniform field flowmeter
which seems to imply that the flowmeter is ideal in to
the sense of measuring mean velocity directly, has 2a'
led to a mistaken view of theflowmeter's performance S -- (a 2 + b2 ) + (k'/o')(1 + uz/a)(b 2 - a 2) (17)
and to balance this Shercliff0954, 1962) derived his
weight function plot to show the extent to which a where ,~ is wall conductivity, , is fluid conductivity,
flowmeter with uniform field is prone to error due T is the contact resistance Ixtween fluid and wall,
to non-axisymmetric profiles(Fig. 3). This plot gives 2a is the ID of tube, and 2b is the OD of the tube
a weight function by which any velocity in the tube wall.
must IX multiplied. Thus flow near electrodes will This effect is important in sodium flowmeters
be overweighted and away from electrodes, under- where the wall is usually of conducting material and
valued. Bevir extended this concept of a weighting is not insulated from the fluid (see Fig. 4). Equation
 ROGER C. BAKER

I I ~M
Unatfogrnet.i
[
J Flux
characteristic to droop at high velocities and the
linearity of the flowmeter is lost.

Core flow-through type

~ ' \ i ~'~7"~ reslsta nce
Fig. 4. Flowrneters with conducting pipe.
17 is valid when the voltage is measured between
points on the outside of the tube wall, a common
design for this situation where the fluid has a con-
ductivity high compared with the wall. In aqueous
liquids an insulating liner on the wall is necessary to
avoid signal shorting.
Early experiments by Elrod and Fowse (1952)
which allowed for wall shorting and took some care
to avoid contact resistances generally confirmed this
theory. However they could not account for a 4 ~o
low signal. Pfister and Dunham (1957) observed the
effects of thermoelectric emf's which caused a small
error. They also discussed the problem of field
sweeping. This problem in liquid metal applications
is a result of the high currents generated and the
consequent distortion of the applied magnetic field.
This effect leads to a non-linear signal response. The
extent of the non-linearity is related to the magnetic
Reynolds number. If this is very much less than
unity then the applied field will not be disturbed, but
if it is of order unity or greater than unity we can
no more assume that the applied field is unchanged.
The effect of these high values of Rm is often referred
to as field sweeping. The magnetic field is apparently
swept in the flow direction. Since the electrodes are
normally situated at a position of maximum strength
the effect of field sweeping is to cause the signal
For flow monitoring within the core of a fast
reactor the values of R, are generally low enough
to allow field sweeping to be neglected. It has been
possible to design heads which may be inserted into
a duct to form either a modification of the conven-
tional flow-through meter, or a probe type meter
situated centrally in which flow passes around it in
an annulus.
A device of the flow-through type is described by
Popper and Glass (1967) and the calibration and
testing are discussed in Glass and Popper (1968).
A typical form of this flowmeter is shown in Fig. 5.
It is basically the well-known electromagnetic flow-
meter using permanent magnets, but designed for in-
sertion in a pipe. The magnetic field is produced
by permanent magnets which are positioned behind
the electrodes while the pole-pieces of soft iron span
the gap between these magnets. In order to fit the
small space, the pole-pieces and magnets may be
curved (the latter in the direction of magnetization)
and the electrodes make contact with the conducting
wall of the tube.
As indicated by Popper et al. (1967) this flow-
meter was at the time favoured for the in-core
application. The advantages were those common to
the electromagnetic flowmeter.
Despite its attractions it did have clear dis-
advantages for this application. All these could be
traced back in various forms to uncertainty in the
calibration. The change in temperature could affect
dimensions, resistivity of flow tube and liquid
(wetting is also important) and magnet properties.
Of these the most important was the uncertainty of
obtaining a magnet with stability up to 1200F
(Forster, 1973). A further problem with permanent
magnet flowmeters is strong neighbouring fields
which can alter the field strength in the pole gap.

MAGNETS~-ELEC
TRODE LEADS

ELECTRODES

Fig. 5. Flow-through type core flowmeter.

 Electromagnetic flowraeters for fast reactors
The tests described by Glass and Popper (1968)
showed agreement with prediction to within 4% but
a change of sensitivity of 30 ~ was experienced after
some flow rig modifications. The change was put
down to the effect of accidental and large welding
currents which had passed through the magnet.
Having adjusted the predictions to allow for the
change in magnetic field, tests at temperatures up to
1100F were promising.
The use of Alnico V magnets was based on con-
siderations of temperature, metallurgical change,
impact, nuclear radiation (Popper et al., 1967) and
its ability to be cast and machined to the required
dimensions (Forster, 1971). The flowmeters were of
all stainless steel construction apart from magnet
and soft iron polepieces, and signal cable insulation
was of high purity alumina (99.8~ Ala 0~). The
flowrneters were filled with helium to aid in initial
leak detection and to help remove gamma heat from
the magnets.
The field of these flowmeters was fairly uniform
and about 5 diameters long so that the small degree
of field sweeping would be negligible, but signals
might have been affected by variation in flow pro-
files even though the profiles were axisymmetric. In
test the signal appeared to have been lower than
calculated by as much as 6 ~o. The cause of this is
not given. Turbulence noise appears to have been
easily observable. Magnet variation could account
for discrepancies as its drift was substantial and
random.
Yada (1970) has discussed a similar instrument
and he has also used an equation for wall shorting.
This type of meter is also mentioned in Akiyama and
Yada (1969).
In both references the effect of temperature is
illustrated by the change in the calibration curve.
This change was about a 6 ~o reduction in output for
a temperature increase from 250 to 450C.
Both Yada (1970) and Akiyama and Yada (1969)
also show a more conventional design of flowmeter
for flow measurement in a liquid sodium loop. This
consists of a horse-shoe type magnet with a circular
pipe between its pole-pieces. The whole is encased
in a perforated box, presumably to reduce stray field
effects.
The use of coils to generate the magnetic field
(thus overcoming some of the problems associated
with permanent magnets) was rejected by Popper
et al. (1967) for three main reasons: (1) a large
amount of power and current is needed to produce
a modest flux; (2) the power is not easily transmitted
to the meter, and (3) the large coils cannot easily be
designed to fit within the limited space available.
45
Popper and Glass (1967) discuss the various
calibration factors required for their design. They
give the equation for wall shorting obtained from
Elrod and Fouse (1952). This is similar to the one
given by Shercliff (1962) (equation (17)) except that
he included contact resistance, an unknown which
nevertheless is likely to be significant in this applica-
tion. Other correction factors discussed by Popper
and Glass (1967) are for end-shorting for which a
graph is given and for magnet property variation.
They did not observe any thermoelectric effects.
It would be useful to know more of the effect of
bubbles on the response. Non-uniform distribution
of bubbles would presumably behave like non-
uniform conductivity in the flow head, the effects of
which have been discussed by Baker (1970) and
Bevir (1971a) and shown to be small. The effect of a
conducting wall would modify this theory and
would also cause the wall shorting to increase when
bubbles appeared.
The effect of sweeping will be small, and so the
design of these meters should benefit from the
extensive theory built up by Bevit (1970). With this
it should be possible to develop a design which had
low sensitivity to flow profile.
In-core probe-type flow sensor
An interesting variation on this design is given by
Verber et al. (1971). The magnet and electrodes are
built into a probe which can then be inserted in the
centre of the ducts leaving an annulus for the sodium
to flow in (Fig. 6). Many of the constructional
methods are common to the flow-through type
discussed above. Cast Alnico XIII was selected for
the magnet because of its high coercive force. The
performance was satisfactory and the response linear.
The disadvantage of this type of probe is that its
response is heavily dependent on the velocity in the
vicinity of the probe and little dependent on the
velocities away from the probe. It does not give a
signal proportional to mean flow rate. This is shown
by the equation for the potential difference between
the electrodes (Baker, 1968)
A UE~ = 2 ~ v ( ~/ar)Be(r,O)dr (18)
(see Fig. 7 for geometry). 0 would be ,T/= for the
usual electrode positions.
Bevir (1971b) gives a distribution of the weight
function from which it can be seen that the response
is primarily due to the flow in the vicinity of the
probe and particularly in the vicinity of the elec-
trodes.
46 ROOER C. BAKER
DUCT
Fig. 6. Probe type core flowmeter.
MAGNETIC
SURFACE
!
1 r
~ ELECTRODE
Fig. 7. Probe geometry.
Secondary circuit saddle-coil flowmeters
In the secondary circuit of the fast reactor the
magnetic Reynolds numbers are up to 5 and field
sweeping becomes an important consideration.
Correct calibration is also important since a know-
ledge of the reactor coolant flow rate is essential for
safe operation (Meshii and Ford, 1969). These
authors, using a flowmeter with a length-to-diameter
ratio of about 0.7 observed considerable non-
linearity due to field sweeping. The purpose of the
saddle-coil flowmeter is to overcome the problem of
field sweeping.
Thatcher et al. (1970) have described a meter of
this sort which was claimed would give an output
ELECT.ODE
/L CO,LSU T \
DUCT
Fig. 8. Saddle-coil flowmeter.
proportional to flow within an absolute accuracy of
4-3 ~ and requiring no calibration. This flowmeter
which is basically an induced voltage type has a
conducting wall thus allowing signal shorting.
Figure 8 shows the layout of the coils which are laid
on to a tube concentric with the flow tube of dia-
meter greater than 2.5 times that of the flow tube.
The dimensions used for pipe and coils were approxi-
mately:
pipe ID 0.30 m;
coil diameter 0.75 m;
coil length 2.34 m;
field strength at axis 5 roT.
The coil was mounted outside the pipe lagging. The
resulting field was found to be approximately
uniform across the pipe and remained uniform for
about half the length of the coil. A number of
electrode pairs were welded to the stainless steel
flowtube to allow the saddle coils to be moved to
assess the effect of a bend upstream. The test results
were in good agreement with the predictions when
these were corrected for wall shorting (using
Shercliff's (1962) equation) and field sweeping (a
small effect and tabulated in the paper). The highest
value of R . was 5. For a pipe bend in the magnetic
SADDL CO,l
 Electromagnetic flowmeters for fast reactors
field plane five diameters upstream from the measur-
ing electrodes the change in output signal of the
flowmeter was negligible. The effect on the fiowmeter
was also negligible when a venturi orifice was placed
six diameters away.
Thatcher (1971) discusses the derivation of the
field sweeping correction factor. The assumptions
made about the magnetic field are apparently
acceptable for the small amount of field distortion
which is experienced by the saddle-coil flowmeter.
But, as Thatcher points out, they are inadequate for
gross field distortion where substantial departures
from linearity are expected.
Komori et al. (1974) have also discussed the
performance of a flowmeter of a similar design to
the one just described. They give calculated values
of magnetic field distribution for the saddle-coil
type of winding. Their results using dry calibration
(deducing the velocity-voltage relationship from
measurement of magnetic field only) do not appear
to have given high accuracy. They also discuss the
use of more than one pair of electrodes as a means of
obtaining an integrated signal less sensitive to flow
profile distortion and they consider Shercliff's (1962)
two-dimensional weight function plot.
The use of a modified distribution to give a more
uniform weight function has been discussed at
length by Bevir (1971c). He has also considered the
effect of conducting walls. Since the saddle-coil
flowmeter approximates a long flowmeter it would
be an interesting exercise to optimize the field dis-
tribution using Bevir's approach. The use of multiple
electrodes or large electrodes are possibilities which
could be explored further.
Another interesting direction for future develop-
ment is in shaping the magnetic field in such a way
that with a short field a linear signal is retained at
high Rm values by positioning the electrodes down-
stream. This idea is hinted at by Meshii and Ford
(1969) and the possibility is further indicated by a
diagram in Thatcher's (1971) paper showing the
change in induced voltage for an axial array of
electrodes. Turner (1960) had earlier tried out this
idea with some success and it is rather surprising that
no developments have taken place so far.
Further work might also be useful on the response
time of large flowmeters (Griffin, 1971). This author
describes experiments using an aluminium cylinder.
The results indicated a fast response.
In a recent report (Raptis and Forster, 1975)
experiments are described in which a cross-correla-
tion technique was used with a permanent magnet
flowrneter and two pairs of electrodes to provide an
in-service meter calibration. This technique looks
47
promising but initial accuracies would need to be
improved.
2. FLUX-DISTORTION FLOWMETERS
Introduction
The basic principle of this type of meter is that the
distortion of the magnetic field due to sweeping by a
moving conductor may be sensed by a search coil
or other means and used as a flow signal. Although
a device of this kind was originally patented by
Lehde and Lang (1948), and in one example proposed
for ship speed measurement, its early use was mainly
in ionized gases. The magnetic Reynolds number
must be of order 0.1 or greater to obtain adequate
signals. This occurs in the high speed flow of ionized
gas and was exploited for this purpose by Lin et al.
(1958), Pain and Smy (1960) and Cowley (1961). One
feature is that the output signal has a similar
dependence on both velocity and conductivity and
these authors were mainly interested in measuring
the latter. Meyer (1961) also discussed its use for
conductivity measurement at the skin of a missile as
it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. Fuhs in a
number of papers (1964) developed the idea of a
conductivity/velocity probe.
Mayer (1964) patented a flowmeter which used the
change of inductance of the applied field windings
resulting from the flow. Cowley (1965) analysed a
device for flow measurement either for installation
in the wall of a duct or across the duct in an aerofoil-
section capsule. He examined the effects of high
values of Rm and a skin effect parameter uo~a z
where ~ is the fluid permeability, a the fluid con-
ductivity, ,o the excitation frequency for the field and
a is a typical dimension.
Baker (1969) analysed a design in whichthe field
was produced by two concentric opposed coils
spaced axially along a circular pipe, external to the
pipe, and field sweeping was sensed by an axial Hall
effect probe midway between these coils. At low
values of R,, the response was found to be linear and
for a certain spacing of the coils it could be shown
to be almost insensitive to flow profile. This work
was extended (Baker, 1970b) to allow for higher
values of R,, although it was shown there that
linearity persists for the optimum design, to values
of R,, .--, 5. This work was primarily concerned with
d.c. fields. Apart from the magnetometer flowmeter
to be discussed later, interest for reactor applications
has been directed towards the a.c. version, the eddy-
current flow sensor.
Popper et al. (1967) saw a number of advantages
in using this flowraeter in the Fast Flux Test Facility
48 Rc~
and additional advantages if further developed.
Apart from those common to electromagnetic flow-
meters there was the compact size; the satisfactory
construction; large a.c. signals; sufficient transient
response, and no necessity for ferromagnetic
materials. However, calibration was likely to be
sensitive to velocity profile and temperature (because
of conductivity changes). The electronics were also
considered complex.
Eddy-current flow-through type fiowmeter
Wiegand (1976) discussed a version in which the
coils are outside the tube, the sodium flowing
through, rather than around, the coils (Fig. 9). It was
DUCT
Fig. 9. Eddy-current flow-through type flowrneter.
expected to give better coil/fluid coupling. Wiegand's
analysis of this device made the following assump-
tions.
(1) The axial components of the magnetic field
within the fluid at the ends of the primary coil is
one-half of that at the centre of a long thin solenoid
with equivalent current-turns per unit length and
equivalent fluid conditions.
(2) The secondary coils are sufficiently long and
sufficiently close to the primary that essentially all
the flux in the fluid, which issues from the ends of
the primary coil, threads through the surfaces of the
fluid within the lengths of the secondary coils. That
is, a negligible amount of the primary flux reaches
the far ends of the secondary coils.
(3) If an a.c. current is made to flow in the
secondary coils, the resulting eddy-currents in the
fluid within the secondary coils are one half of those
within a long thin solenoid of equivalent current-
turns per unit length.
(4) The velocity profile in the fluid is axisym-
metric.
With these assumptions Wiegand obtained the
force on the fluid when alternating currents flow in
C. BAg~a
both primary and secondary coils. It is then possible
to deduce from the reciprocity principle the second-
ary voltages resulting from fluid motion.
As a result of his analysis (described in more
detail in Wiegand (1969)) he obtained operating
frequencies which gave peak signals. By operating at
such a peak the maximum signal would be obtained
and temperature errors reduced. He also gave curves
showing the variation of signal with Reynolds
number. This is a result of the changing profile. It
was found that signals increase with Reynolds
number which is intuitively reasonable since the
signal will be more affected by velocity near to the
pipe wall than elsewhere, and this is increased pro-
portionally with increased Reynolds number.
Wiegand chose to analyse a five-coil version of the
flowmeter, the two additional end coils being
primary coils. This device was tested (Wiegand and
Michels, 1969) first by using an alumininm rod. The
agreement was very good. The errors in the sodium
loop tests were higher (about 10~) but peak
response position was fairly well confirmed. The
errors seem to have been adequately explained by
test and design problems, but could also have
resulted from anomalous velocity profiles. One
major problem experienced in this work was due to
imbalance in the secondary coils. This was a par-
ticular problem at low flow rates. If the dry test
agreement which they achieved is an indication of
the prediction accuracy, then the authors suggest
that calibration may not be required.
Feng et al. (1975) describe a finite difference
relaxation method for the analysis of this meter
using complex notation for quhdrature signals. They
also conclude that if the velocity across the pipe is
to be measured with reasonable accuracy a low
frequency should be used (5 kHz).
Eddy-current probe-type flow sensor
Popper et al. (1967) in their review of flow
measurement techniques discussed a device of this
type. One possible design is illustrated by Fig. 10.
In this form it comprises one central and two outer
field or primary coils which excite an alternating
magnetic field around the probe. The probe is
inserted coaxially into a duct and the sodium
flowing through the annulus between the probe and
the duct wall sweeps the field downstream. Coaxial
with and between the primary coils are two balanced
search or secondary coils. With no flow their induced
voltages exactly balance. But when flow distorts the
magnetic field, the induced signals in the search coils
are unbalanced and the imbalance is used as a flow
signal.
 Electromagnetic flowmetcrs for fast reactors
SECONDARY
FLOW
~ COILS
/
DUCT
Fig. 10. Eddy.current probe-type flowmeter.
Libby and Jensen (1969) appear to have built a
range of designs of probe: two-coil, in which both
coils produce the field and sense the distortion;
three-coil in which the centre coil produces the
field and the outer coils are balanced against each
other; a multiple-coil probe (three primaries and
three secondaries). The test procedure was to move
the probe inside a solid tube. As a result of these
tests, one of the two-coil probes was tested by moving
it vertically in a cylinder of Wood's metal. The
authors saw potential in this type of flow sensor, but
suggested that the three-coil system might be
preferable.
Brewer et al. (1971) tested further designs. Three-
coil versions were tested using an oscillating alu-
minium tube around the probe to simulate a
uniform profile. Three- and five-coil probes were
tested in a sodium loop. They gave a number of
results for their latest flow sensor, a three-coil type.
Linearity and stability were good.
Costello et al. (1972) have shown the change in
sensitivity resulting if a sensor of this type is un-
pocketed (in contact with sodium) or inserted in a
pocket. A 58 % drop in sensitivity for the latter case
was observed. Ohgushi et al. (1972) also report
results of tests on a five-coil probe.
Dean et al. (1970) have described three-coil probes
for use in the British PFR as pump flowmeters and
core flowmeters. The pump flowmeter has stainless
steel main body construction and is surrounded by
a stainless steel tube. A stainless steel straining wire
is strapped together with the connecting cables to
give flexibility to negotiate the path, and strength for
safe withdrawal. Operating frequency was 700 Hz.
Sensitivity variation of 1.2% was found between
sensors, and the pocket affects the calibration. For
these reasons it was decided to calibrate the probes
in position in the reactor. Diagrams of drive and
amplifier units are given. Careful cable twisting
reduced pick-up (primary at 1 turn/it and secondary
at 1.6 turns/it).
49
The core flowmeter of robust design will operate
up to 500C and can be inserted and withdrawn from
a containment pocket which extends 40 ft down into
a reactor. The excitation frequency was 600 Hz. The
response was linear in the required range.
Thatcher (1971) derives an equation to analyse the
behaviour of this device and also gives some pre-
liminary results. Sheff and Lessor (1972) have also
developed analytical methods to describe the per-
formance of this meter.
Two further methods of analysing this device
numerically will be discussed in Sections 3 and 4 of
this paper.
Magnetometer flow sensor
Recently Wiegand (1972) has proposed a related
device in which the applied magnetic field is produced
by two opposed permanent magnets and a fluxgate
magnetometer is set between them at the null point
of the applied field to sense the induced field due to
motion (Fig. 11). One problem with such a device
MAGNETS
/ ~,,..%M/AGNETOMETE
R
CAPS~/UIE POC~KET ~'~
SHEATHED
CABLE
Fig. l 1. Magnetometer flowsensor.
is the effect of stray fields, and to avoid these Wiegand
has suggested a variant consisting of one permanent
magnet with magnetometers positioned at each end,
so that under no flow or strong fields their signals
cancel, but for flow-induced fields their signals add.
This device has had less development than those
mentioned earlier, and would seem to suffer from the
problems of inadequate magnet stability.
However the device appears to have advantages
in being less susceptible to design imbalance (and
this can be corrected with the fluxgate magneto-
meter), in having higher signal levels, and, since it is
a d.c. device, penetration problems which result from
the skin effect are avoided.
Other flow-sensing devices using field ch'stortion
A number of devices have been suggested and
tested in Riga, Latvian S.S.R. and have been
reported in the literature. One family of these is
50 ROGER C. B~d~R
dependent on travelling magnetic fields, the relative Under these conditions the governing equation for
velocity of field and fluid being sensed (Ulmanis, the magnetic field function ), is given by
1962; Kalnin et al., 1966). Another type depends on
a pulsed magnetic field. The rapidly changing field
r~r ~r~r) + ~z2
induces a current ring in the fluid which is convected
with the fluid. The time of transit of this ring can
then be sensed by a search coil downstream (Zepgir =
(0, 0,)
/1~ ~- + vN (21)
and Sermons, 1965). These and other devices are
where
covered by Kisis (1968) and Tsivkunov etal. (1973).
Although these devices could well yield useful Or = - rB, (22)
flowmeters for the fast reactor circuits they do not
appear to have been exploited for this purpose and
either in the United Kingdom or in the U.S.A.
dy rB,. (23)
Oz
This equation is valid everywhere except in the
3. FINITE DIFFERENCE ANALYSIS OF THE vicinity of the primary coils, where the current is
EDDY-CURRENT FLOWMETER WITH TIME
MARCHING h. For these regions we have
Introduction f l dy'~ d27 IzrJs. (24)
In Section 2 we discussed the application of the
eddy-current flowrneter to the fast reactor core flow. These equations may be rewritten in finite-difference
In this section and the following one we analyse the form making use of the conditions that ~, ----0 on all
behaviour of this device. The particular geometry boundaries.
of interest is shown in Fig. 12. The probe is posi-
tioned axially in the centre of a duct, so that the Finite-difference method for full solution
A time-marching solution is used which follows
PRIMARY the time varying field. Consider first the time deriva-
FLOW ,/COIL tive. This may be written in approximate finite-
-- / difference form as
CE CORE
7o - 7eL,, (25)
i i i i i 6t
\\ / where yo and Y0-ASTare the values of ~, for the centre
St- CONDARY of a finite-difference molecule for two successive
COIL
Fig. 12. Geometry of flux-distortion-flow meter. time steps and 8t is the length of the time step. The
values of y at the other four points of the molecule
are indicated by y+,, y_,, y+., v-,. Equation 21 may
sodium flows around it in an annular passage. The now be rewritten in finite-difference form using this
central coil produces an a.c. field, and as the flow notation
increases, so this is distorted. The outer coils are
r),_, [ 1 /zav'~
balanced at no flow and produce no signal. When
the flow increases and distorts the field, a signal is 6r2(r - 6r/2) + ~ z 2 + "~-z/~'-=-
produced by the imbalance. Combining equations
(1) and (3) -- + 6rl------~2+ + + Yo
V x B =/z(r(E + v u B) (19) 1 laav~ r7 +,
and the curl of this, using equation (2), gives + 6Z 2 6Z ] y += + &2(r + 6r/2)
V x V x B = wrG7 x (v x B) - B). (20) le /aaron,,. (26)
= ~r 6r6z 6t
If however we can assume that the geometry is
axisymmetric which is a reasonable assumption we h is the current at lattice points which coincide with
can simplify the equation. the primary coils. Elsewhere h will be zero.
 Electromagnetic flowmeters for fast reactors
The ocffichmt matrix resulting from the solution
of this set o f finite-differenoc equations is solved for
each time step substituting from the previous step
in the term containing ~'O~sT. Although the solution
takes place at each time step, the matrix m a y be
set up once only and part o f the Gaussian elimina-
tion procedure also need be done once only. The
values of ~, are calculated for a series of times and
they are found to converge to a sinusoidal repeating
pattern. The values may then be used to obtain the
secondary signal. The time derivative may be
obtained as
t ~ = t~?ct(t<~t) - tO?o~..cosec(t~t) (27)
where w is the angular frequency o f excitation. This
form of the derivation was applied to the stepping
process first, but was found to cause instability.
Tests for accuracy
The computer program that resulted from this
approach to the solution was first tested against the
exact theory for an infinitely long core*. The duct
geometry is shown in Fig. 13 with a typical lattice
spacing. The response of the secondary coils to a
flow of 2 m s - 1 when there is no conducting pocket
surrounding them is shown in Fig. 14 for a range of
frequencies. The values are in terms of F which is
given by
V = 8npnpn~alF (28)
where V is the voltage generated by the flow, n~ and
n, are turns per metre for primary and secondary
coils, a is the coil radius and I is the primary current.
*Thatcher, G. Private communication.
,"0
, l PM~Dh~E
II 15mfT~ 4m.~
i i i
[I
44. ii;i
l/
H
I i i I ~I I ]!oCJCKET iru~eO ) 0;1042xt0'
II l l l l II I I L .,t,c I
I I I I I I I I I T~r
I J 1 Ill t t I I I I tO"=I042xI0 ~:r
IIIZ4-
I 4 $ 12 16 "[--
4 0 mm
Fig. 13. Dimensions and lattice for finite difference solutions.
5]
There is a discrepancy between the two sets of values,
numerical and exact, of as much as 20~o. Some
likely reasons for this arc the coarseness of the lattice,
the finite extent of the lattice (increasing the error at
low frequencies) and the simple time stepping
procedure. The lattice is not easily adjusted as the
actual duct geometry must fall at acceptable lattice
positions and computer storage adds a further
restraint. Shorter time steps will increase computing
time. In the values shown in Fig. 14 the lattice
dimensions were 20 35 and there were 32 time
steps per cycle.
Applications of the numerical solution
We shall discuss later a further development of
this solution. Here we confine our discussion to
applications which are relevant to this form of the
solution only.
The first feature of this solution is that it allows
variation over the whole length of the flowmeter.
It is of interest to examine the effect on the signal
o f the passage of a bubble through the device. F o r
this purpose we have chosen an excitation frequency
of 150 Hz and we use a flow rate of 2 ms-1. The
axisymmetry requires that wc consider a ring bubble
which would be an extreme case. The effect of a
small bubble moving along the probe wall is shown
in Fig. 15. The bubble is a ring of section 3.1 mm
radially by 8.0 mm axially (Fig. 13 gives the duct
dimensions). Signal variation of up to about 20%
is apparent from Fig. 15. In comparison the effect
of a bubble which fills the annulus radially is very
severe. Figure 16 shows the effect o f the passage of
such a bubble which fills the annulus radially and
has an axial length of 20 mm. The signal rises to
three or four times the normal size. A distribution
of bubbles with spacing approximating to the overall
coil length could cause an apparent large increase in
NON-CONDUCTING
NON-MAGNETIC
MATERIAL
SOXu~ FLOW
Vs 2 m / s 0".4 545~10 L
I | I ~3s~m/ '
e gsmm I ] } I "
I=r..,.,~
t~--,,m ~7mm I [
I "1L I, [ ;* Z
- - 34m~.
~ 14 n ~ m
L 10mm SHORmT C)ORE END
52 ROGER C. BAKER

Making use of this linearity, which had previously

been noted by Thatcher* and, in a somewhat
different geometry of flowmeter, by the author
0'3 (Baker, 19701)) the solution described above was
p"
moditicd, as described below, thus avoiding the need
x 10"2
to obtain the flow signal as the difference of two
larl~ numbers.

02 Modified method for linear solution

0 Exact Theory
Nurri@f-/cal Values
0.1
I I I ~
100 200 300 400 500
E x c i t a t i o n Frequency. Hz
Fig. 14. Full finite difference solution compared with
exact theory.
the flow signal which if responded to by the reactor
controls would reduce the flow and possibly accen-
tuate the problem.
It is of interest to examine the effect on the signal
of the meter being half filled (axially) with sodium.
The program was run with 150 Hz excitation
frequency at zero velocity and with sodium covering
the lattice up to and including the central plane
lattice points. The resulting signal was F = 0.017 or
six times the signal for a flow of 2 ms- ~.
The second test for which this program was used
gave the response against magnetic Reynolds
number (R,) for 150 Hz excitation (Fig. 17). Note
the approximate linearity of the signal up to a value
of R , of 0.7 at which the velocity is over 10 ms -z,
well in excess of the likely velocities in a fast reactor.
If it is assumed that the flow will have only a small
effect on the magnetic field, it is possible first to
obtain the magnetic field distribution for zero flow
which will have reverse symmetry about the mid-
plane and then to use this distribution to find the
distribution of the flow-induced perturbation field
which will be symmetrical about the mid-plane. One
benefit of this symmetry is in the reduction of lattice
points which require separate consideration. Thus
I in the first part of the solution the velocity term in
equation (21) is omitted while in the second part of
the solution it becomes a part of the excitation trrn.
In the original solution the value of ~ for the core
could be specified, but the finite-difference boundary
condition was not entirely satisfactory. In the
modified program an infinite value of ~ was taken
as being an adequate approximation.
Test of accuracy
The computer program resulting from this
linearized solution was also tested against the exact
theory for an infinitely long magnetic core. The
results for the geometry of Fig. 13, without a con-
ducting pocket, are shown in Fig. 18. The lattice
dimensions for the values at ~00, 200 and 300 Hz
were 33 radially by 20 axially with the same spacing
as for the original program. This indicates a larger
*Thatcher, G. Private communication.

-0.4

x F'2

Flow slqnal tnthe

, -.o...~__~ ~ absence ot bubbles

-oli

-01

I l l l t l I I I I I I I I I I I i i I
-~ -40 40 oO
Distance of bubble f r o m nnJd plane, m m

Fig. 15. Signal variation for the passage of a small bubble past the probe.
 Electromagnetic flowmeters for fast reactors 53

X IF'0-21 .4

~ ~owbgoal,nme

-8(:~ -40 0 40 80
Distanceof bol:~tefrom mid I~ane~mm
Fig. 16. Signal variation for the passage of a large bubble past the probe.

F F~
xlO"=
O3
0.3

OP
02

ExaCt Theory
0 Numerical Values
"0~
0.1

I I t I I I I
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I I t I I I
Rm 100 2OO 30O aOO50O
Excitation Frequency, Hz
Fig. 17. Response of probe to increasing magnetic
Reynolds number. Fig, 18. Linearized finite difference solution compared
with exact theory.

lattice in both radial and axial directions than was

possible using the original solution. F o r the value at
500 Hz the lattice size was 20 18, considerably
smaller to match the lower field penetration at the
higher frequency. In all cases there were 32 steps per
cycle. The agreement is satisfactory considering the
coarseness of lattice and time marching.
Effect o f a short core and a pocket
In Fig. 19 we show three curves. The first of these
is a repeat o f that shown in Figure 18, and gives the
numerical values for the response of the eddy-current
flowmeter with no pocket and an infinitely long core
of very high relative permeability. The next curve
plotted shows the change o f response when the
magnetic core is short (see Fig. 13). It is interesting
to note how small the changes in the signal size are.
The third curve in Fig. 19 gives the flowmeter
response when a conducting pocket surrounds the
coils and the core is o f short length. All these results
arc for a 33 x 20 lattice except the one value at
500 Hz and in all oases 32 steps per cycle were used
in the time marching system.
54 ROGER C. BAKER

F F
x 10"2
x I(3-:

0 -3 0-3

02-- 02
~ Uniform profile

O Long core pocketles$ V Boundary layer !profile

A Short core Docketless

17 ShOrt core w=thpOckets

0.1 0.1

i,
100 200
Excitation
300 400 500
Frequency, Hz
Fig. 19. Effect of core length and pocket on probe response.
t
100
I
200
I I I
300 400 500
E x c i t a t i o n Frequency. HZ

Fig. 20. Effect of boundary layer on probe response.

Effect of a boundary layer pocketed flowmeter with 100 Hz excitation. The

The linear approximation used in this modified
solution implies that we can treat the movement of
each layer of the fluid separately since the magnetic
field perturbation resulting from the movement will
be negligible compared to the zero flow field. Thus
from a knowledge of the response of individual layers
we can build up the response to any profile. In Fig.
20 two curves are shown. In one the velocity is
uniform at 2 ms-1 (the response is for a short-core
unpocketed flowmeter). In the other a step velocity
profile is used to simulate the effect of a boundary
layer. The inside annulus with inner and outer radii
of 11.6 mm and 13.2 mm has a velocity of I ms -1.
The middle annulus with radii 13.2 mm and 14.7 mm
has a velocity of 1.667 m s - 1 and the remaining fluid
with annulus radii of 1.47 mm and 25.6 mm has a
velocity of 2 m s - 1. The mean velocity in the bound-
ary layer profile is 1.90 ms-1, a 5 % reduction over
the uniform profile. However the reduction in signal
is about 20~. and as for the pocketed flowmeter
provides an indication of the sensitivity of the flow-
meter to velocity changes close to the coils.
Response to flow changes
The time marching solution provides an indication
of the signal change following a sudden flow change
from rest to 1 ms-1. The change takes place at a
point in time when the primary coil current is at a
peak and the subsequent signal change is shown in
Fig. 21 for a uniform velocity, short core, un-
response under these conditions can be seen to settle
down very quickly.
4. CURRENT RING ANALYSIS OF THE
EDDY-CURRENT FLOWMETER
Introduction
In this section we discuss another approach to the
solution of the eddy-current flowrneter. The flow-
meter geometry is axisymmetric and all currents
generated flow in circular paths. It is therefore
possible to divide up the flowmeter material into a
number of current loops. In each of these a current
flows generated by the motion and the a.c. field, and
these currents generate their own field. It is possible
to set up a matrix of in-phase and quadrature
currents in these loops and by solving it, to obtain
the current in each and the induced flow signal.
The current induced in one member of this array
of current rings is due to the sum of the fields of all
the Hngs inducing a current in the one ring either
due to frequency or due to motion. Thus we can set
up a matrix which gives the effect of one ring on
another. If this effect is due to frequency we have
that
Jo = ~Eo (29)
and
VxE---B---V xD, (30)
giving
Jo = - #"~o (31)
 Electromagnetic flowmeters for fast reactors 55

0.6
1 0 -2

0.3

-06f
Fig. 21. Probe response for a step change of velocity.

where jo, Eo and .40 are components of current
density, electric field and vector potential in the
circumferential direction. Thus for the interaction of
one ring on another due to frequency we need to
compute Ao. If the effect is due to flow then
Jo = ~rvB,.
In this ease we need to know the value of B, the
radial component of the magnetic field. These two
functions are given by Smythe (1968) as:
Ao=rtk,r] [(1 - ' ~ ) K - E 1
#1 z directly proportional to velocity. If we make use of
B, = 2"n r[(a + r) 2 + z2] ~
[ a2+r2+z2E]
-- K + (a- r) 2 + z 2
where K and E are complete elliptic integrals of the
first and second kind, I is the loop current, a is the
ring radius, r and z give the position of field measure-
ment relative to the ring and
4ar
k2 = (a + r) 2 d- 22.
The elliptic integrals may be calculated from
infinite series given by Dwight (1961) in the form
where m = (1 - k')/(l + k') /
(38)
and k' x/(l - k2). /
With this information we may now set up the
field of any array of current rings. First however we
(32) consider a simplification of the solution which
reduces the amount of computer storage required.
Perturbationapproxhnation
In Section 3 it was shown that for velocities of the
(33) magnitude to be expected in fast reactor flows the
approximation may be made that the signal is
that approximation here, we obtain a considerable
simplification of the problem. It now becomes
(34) possible to solve for the field without flow first, and
then to use this solution to obtain the small pertur-
bation due to flow. The advantages of this are that
both fields individually have a kind of symmetry while
the combined field does not. We are therefore
enabled to solve for one half of the axis only and
thereby reduce the computer storage. We also obtain
the output signal directly rather than as the small
(35)
difference of two large quantities. We now set up the
form of the current ring interaction as a series of
equations.

7~ + m)
K=..~(I The unperturbedfield
I 12 12.3 2 12"32"52 1 For the following discussion reference should be
l + ~m" + ~-~m" + 22.42.62 m6 + . . . made to Fig. 22 which illustrates the current ring
interaction. In this diagram two fluid current rings
(36) P and Q are shown and their symmetrical counter-
E= 2(1
- -+ m) parts P' and Q'. R and R ' are symmetrical primary
field coil rings and S and S' symmetrical secondary
m2 12 12"32 1
I + - ~ + ~-~.42 m " + ~ rn6 + . . . (37) search coil rings. We consider first the current
generated in Q by all the current rings P and P', R
56 Roo~a C. BAgvat
,~, = - ~.(co,+ co,.)n"
C~
D p,
0 - ~(co, + co,.)z~/', (4o)
p D
O []
SODIUM
where (?or and Coy, give the effects of induction due
8 . = S__ C~IL$ to equations (31) and (33) of P' on Q. F o r this pur-
CORE pose the cross-sectional area of the ring Q is also used.
.-z Since the coefficients Cot and CQr, always appear
together we may replace their sum by C'op, and with
Fig. 22. Diagram of current ring interaction. C'op we can rewrite equations (39) and (40) as
1~/2 = ZC~pI + EC~, I u, (41)
and R'. I f we use superscripts o to indicate in-phase P R
components o f the current in these rings and s/2 to I~ = - ~Copl~/2 - ~Co,I~/'. (42)
indicate quadrature components, we obtain:
These form a set of simultaneous equations in
I~'~ = E ( c o ~ + Co,.)~ +
P unknowns I and I "/2 which may be written in
(Cox + C o , . ) ~ , (39) matrix form as:

1 o ... o cl, Clz... c;. I0 -- ECI R l~/2

R

o l ... o c;, c;,... c;,. - Zc;, I~ :2

o 0... , C... io - y c ' , z ~ :2

R

c;, C12... C',. - l 0 . . 0 11 'z -Y.cl, 10

R

C'2... C~. 0 -l ... - Z c h 10

R

c:, c;,.., c;o o o ... -1 -Xc;,,

R
a

(43)

and it is apparent that the square matrix is made up
o f two identical quadrants and two unit bands, one
positive and one negative. Replacing the vector
matrices on the right by - - R and - - R "/" we obtain
It is now possible to treat this matrix equation as
a pair of simultaneous equations in matrices, the
solution of which permits us to compute the currents
from a matrix one quarter the original size and
consequently to re4uce the required computer
storage. We achieve this as follows:

1 f ,o 1 I "/2
C'P/" --
+ C'l =

I =
- R ,
- R "/z
(45)

(46)
Premultiplying equation (46) by C' and adding the
-- I R (44) result to equation (45) gives
R,/2 (CC' + I)1=12 = - (R + C'R"/2). (47)
 Electromagnetic flowmeters for fast reactors 57

Having obtained I"/2 by the solution of this equation
it is then possible to substitute back into equation
(46) to obtain I .
By this procedure the values of 1 and I ~/2 for the
unperturbed field have been found. It should be noted
that these values are symmetrical with respect to the
mid-plane, so that current rings positioned at
symmetrical points upstream and downstream will
have current circulation on the same sense. We now
proceed to apply the same procedure to obtain the
flow perturbation. But in this case, although sym-
metrically placed points will have current rings of the
same size, they will now be of opposite sign. The
reason for thb difference is that the symmetry of the
unperturbed rings stemmed from the symmetry of
the primary coil currents, whereas the excitation for
the perturbed field is current rings generated by the
interaction of the flow with the radial component of
the unperturbed magnetic field, and it is this which
caused the sign change.
The flow-perturbed field
For the perturbation currents we replace equa-
tions (39) and (40) by
I~/2 = ~(Cop- Cop.)l
+ y'
P and R
(Do + (48)
The solution of this follows the same course as used
in equations (44), (45) and (46). Thus we obtain the
set of currents due to the flow perturbation and we
can compute the signal induced in the secondary
coils due to them as:
V "/" = 4 n a ~ ~ ( S s p - Ssr)I (53)
V = -- 4 t t a ~ ( $ s ~ -- Ss~,)I~,/2 (54)
$ P
where J"ttt/2 and V are the induced voltages, a is the
secondary coil radius, and S is obtained from
equations (30) and (33). The 4 includes a factor of
two to allow for the two secondary coils.
This concludes the discussion of the theory and
we now present some results which show the
accuracy of this method.
Test of accuracy
The output signal was computed in terms of F
which is defined by
V = 8npn~aIF. (28)
The array of current rings used in the computation
is shown in Fig. 23. Although conductivity and
velocity could be varied for each ring, it was assumed
that the velocity in the fluid was uniform for these

I~ = - ~ ( C o p - CQr)I~,/2

+ ~, (Doe + DQp,)I^ (49) Tr NON-M&GNETIC TUBE (FOR OOCKETLESS CASE)

PandR v 2m/$ 6
Cr , 4.545 10 (FOR POCKETED CASE )
, tl!ilt~!i * i
the main differences being that the two terms with
C coefficients are subtracted due to the symmetry
change, that the D coefficients give the effects of F iii! , soo,uM
flow due to equations (32) and (34), and that the I,.. ] i i i i J
I [ r ] I I I r I ] ~OCKETt,FVSED1 o.l.o4v,'~0~
"
8 !
'

summation of the D terms is now taken over both [ co,s; , ' II

the primary field coil currents and also the induced ] T i] I i } I~
I / ! .q,-M.G.E,T,C CO~E
currents calculated already in the absence of a flow
perturbation. --. L~_~10~m$4mm ~ 34t~m
I i i |J
~ Z
We therefore write:
Fig. 23. Typical current loop arrangement with
I~/2 = E C o p I + pa~.d D'QpI~,/2 (50) dimensions.

.z?, = -
P tests and that the conductivity was uniform within
+ E D,pIO (51) each region with the values given in Fig. 23, since
Pandg
these were the conditions for Thatcher's values.
giving
One hundred rings were used, of axial length 4 ram.
The results of this computation are shown by the

I I (52)
circles in Fig. 24 and 25 which provide a comparison
with Thatcher's exact theory shown by the lines.
Fig. 24 gives the response for varying frequency
when the oofls are contained in a conducting pocket,
58 ROGER C. BAKER

while Fig. 25 shows the same but for a flowmeter discrepancy which seems most likely is that the
without a pocket and with fluid surrounding the restricted region of conducting material which has
coils in to a radius equal to the radius of the inside been used, while adequate at higher frequencies at
of the pocket. The radial dimensions of current which the field has less penetration, is inadequate in
rings for the results in Fig. 24 was 1.55 mm for core Fig. 24 at low frequencies since for this graph the
rings, 1.8 mm for pocket rings and 2.0 mm thick for fluid in Thatcher's solution was supposed to extend
fluid rings. For Fig. 25 all rings had a radial dimen- to infinity.
sion of 1.55 mm.
The agreement in Fig. 25 is very satisfactory, but Notes on the solution
that in Fig. 24 is less so. The explanation of this
The extent of the current rings in the z-direction is
quite limited. In order to test the effect of this, a
0"3 fluid RnnB]us USing only four layers radially, again
F of 1.55 ram thickness, was analysed first with nine
x ld: Exact Theory axial rings and then with fourteen axial rings and it
Coml~JteO Values
was found that the signal change was only about
O
0.3%.
02 The program was found to be highly sensitive to
the arrangement of the current rings. Large cross-
sectional area rings caused the program to give
spurious results. A similar problem also occurred
O under certain conditions when some coils with low
0"1
conductivity were used. The reason for this appeared
to lie in the pivotting procedure used in the Gaussian
elimination when solving the matrix equation. Since
in any row of the matrix the elements around the
leading diagonal predominate, it is possible by
pivotting to cause the matrix to become ill-condi-
500 1000 2000 tioned. It has been found that one way to overcome
Excitation Frequency, HZ
this problem is to arrange the matrix rows in the
Fig. 24. Cm'rent ring model compared with exact theory order of decreasing product of area and conductivity:
for pocketed flowmeter (non-magnetic core). Another way around the problem is to omit the
pivotting routine from the solution to avoid up-
setting the inherent physical order of the matrix.
03--

F Exact Theory Possible extension to magnetic materials

x l O ":
The current ring model has much to commend it
0 ComputeO Values
but as described above it is unable to allow for a
core of magnetic material. Two important modi-
0.2-
fications to the solution as described are apparent if
it is to be suitable for this. It will be necessary to
model the core and its boundary conditions using
current rings and it will then be necessary to manipu-
late the resulting, and more complex, matrix. Other
O.t- modifications may appear but we suggest here an
approach to these two.

Modelling the magnetic core

We shall consider only a nonconducting core in
s [oo 1
looo I
2000 l
3000 which ~ can be taken as infinite. As a first step this
ExcJlalion Frequency, Hz core is removed and in its place current rings are set
Fig. 25. Current ring model compared with exact theory where the core surface was. These are imagined to
for immersed flowmeter (non-magnetic core). be of finite surface length defined by their spacip.g
 Electromagnetic flowmete~ for fast reactors
(axially or radially) and of negligible thickness. The
problematic step is now to obtain the right boundary
condition. We require that the magnetic field entering
the core shall be perpendicular to the core surface.
In other words we require that the combined
tangential field of all the current rings which
simulate the core shall at every point of the core
surface exactly balance the tangential field from all
other sources.
Modified equations
Equations (39) and (40), (48) and (49) will now
be modified to include the core terms. However we
now have to consider the equations for IQ separately
for currents in real conducting material and for
currents in the core model. We will distinguish these
by giving the latter the symbol tu. We now write for
the equations
ffi Z(co, + CQ .)I
p
+ (cQ. + cQ.,)1
+ + cQ ,)x (55)
- (Ew + Eup,)l 12
+ ~(EuR + EuRo)I~/2
+ ~(EUT 4- EuT.)i~/2 (56)
and similar equations for Io and i . In these equa-
tions E is obtained from an equation like equation
(34) which provides the axial field component for
the cylindrical surface and from equation (34) for
the end surfaces of the core. The value of E also
includes the boundary condition discussed briefly in
the previous section. A further similar set of equa-
tions will also replace equations (48) and (49).
Modified matrix
We can now construct the general form which the
resulting matrix will take
1 0 CI
c2 C3 --OI--
cl ---1-
0 0 2 C3 J
59
The various regions of this may be identified.
c, is the effect of core-model currents on the field in
the fluid and other conducting material, ca is that
part of the core boundary condition which relates the
tangential field at the core ~u-face due to currents in
the fluid and conducton to the core currem ring
strength at that point, c, is the other part of the core
boundary condition which relates the tangential field
at the core surface due to core current rings to the
core current ring strength at that point.
It is reasonably straightforward to reduce equation
(57) to the form of equation (44). It is first necessary
to find the reciprocal matrix of c3 and with this it is
possible to eliminate/o and i "/2. Once the form of
equation (44) is recovered, the solution may proceed
as before.
CONCLUSIONS
In this paper we have reviewed the state of the art
of electromagnetic induced-voltage and flux-distor-
tion finwmeters. We have also looked in some detail
at methods of analysing the eddy-current fiowmeter
(one type of flux-distortion flowmeter) using numeri-
cal techniques.
The design of fast reactors for the future is still
developing. The fiowmeters which have been dis-
cussed have certainly not arrived at their ultimate
design and ff the fast reactor programme proceeds
there is room for some useful further development
of several types of flowmeter. The displaced electrode
type of large finwmeter for secondary circuits has
been mentioned. Other types such as the pulsed
field type may also be useful. Recent experiments on
correlation techniques look particularly promising
for the future of in-core calibration and accurate
flow measurement.
The methods of analysis discussed in Sections 3
and 4 provide tools which could prove useful in
this future development and the current ring model,
in particular, which should be extended to magnetic
cores, may have wider applications in pumps and
other devices with axial symmetry.
Acknowledgements Sections 3 and 4 of this paper were
undertaken as part of an agreement (5R52107B) with
the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Reactor
o Ro
_0
-- -- R~/2 (57)
-7-
i=/ r./2
60 Rotter C. BAr~R
Group, Risley, Warrington, Cheshire, England. I am
grateful to UKAEA for permission to publish, to Mr.
E. Duncombe for his interest and support and to Mr. G.
Thatcher for many useful discussions. Sections 1 and 2
could not have been written without the co-operation and
patience of Miss Edna Archer and her colleagues in the
Mechanical Engineering Library at Imperial College and
I acknowledge my indebtedness to them. I am also grateful
to Mr. R. Puddy for producing the excellent diagrams.
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