Acoustic Boiling Detection in Reactor Vessels

Reactor coolant which boils in a fast reactor or high-flux research reactor, endangering reactor safety, can be detected acoustically. As a contribution to design of acoustic boiling detectors, the tank wall of a reactor is shown theoretically to affect standing waves in that tank. Experimental resonance frequencies of a 3-ft-diameter tank demonstrate that for low-pressure reactor tanks, the pressure at standing-wave frequencies is nearly zero at the tank wall, in contrast to the results for a perfectly rigid wall.