APPLICATION OF A VORTEX-SHEDDING FLOWMETER TO THE WIDE-RANGE MEASUREMENT OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE GAS FLOW.

A SINGLE FLOWMETER WAS REQUIRED FOR HELIUM GAS MEASUREMENT IN A GAS-COOLED FAST BREEDER REACTOR CORE FLOW SIMULATOR. VOLUMETRIC FLOW ACCURACY OF +- 1. 0 PERCENT OF READING WAS REQUIRED OVER THE PIPE REYNOLDS NUMBER RANGE 6 * 10**3 TO 1 * 10**6 AT PRESSURES FROM 0. 2 TO 9 MPA AND AT 350 D. TEMPERATURE. A VORTEX-SHEDDING FLOWMETER WITH A REMOTELY LOCATED THERMAL SENSOR WAS EMPLOYED. THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THERMAL SENSOR SIGNAL, SENSOR CONNECTING TUBING GEOMETRY, AND FLOWING CONDITIONS WERE DETERMINED EMPIRICALLY FOR BOTH AIR AND HELIUM GAS FLOW. THE GEOMETRY FOR REMOTELY LOCATING THE SENSOR WAS OPTIMIZED TO PROVIDE WIDE FLOW RANGEABILITY FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE HELIUM GAS FLOW. VOLUMETRIC FLOW ACCURACY WAS MEASURED OVER A RANGE OF 348:1 IN FLOW AND 46:1 IN DENSITY. VOLUMETRIC FLOW ACCURACY OF +- 1. 75 PERCENT OF READING WAS DEMONSTRATED OVER A RANGE OF 288:1 IN FLOW.