Primary sodium pump bypass instrumentation modules
AssigneeTerraPower, LLC
InventorStephen Moore
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a sodium fast reactor, a bypass pipe is fluidly coupled to the primary sodium pump discharge and diverts a portion of the primary sodium coolant to an instrument assembly. The bypass pipe routes flowing sodium upward toward the reactor head where it fluidly couples to the instrument assembly. The instrument assembly includes an instrument tank and selectively swappable instrument modules. The instrument modules can be configured to measure flow, pressure, temperature, and fluid level, among other things. The instrument assembly is located relatively close to the reactor head and close to the sodium level in the sodium pool and is accessible from above the reactor head for quick and efficient removal and replacement of the entire instrument assembly or individual instruments.
Claims18
A system for measuring sodium in a sodium fast reactor, comprising:
- a primary sodium pump configured to circulate primary sodium coolant within a reactor vessel, the primary sodium pump having a discharge;
- a bypass pipe fluidly coupled to the discharge at a first bypass end and having a second bypass end;
- an instrument tank coupled to a reactor head at a first instrument tank end and having a second instrument tank end open to a pool of sodium within the reactor vessel;
- and
- an instrument module insertable through an aperture in the reactor head into the instrument tank and selectively coupled to the second bypass end at a coupling, the instrument module comprising one or more instruments configured to measure a characteristic of sodium within the bypass pipe.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.