Saving $20K per day is watt it's about...

A nuclear power plant's operating limit is tied to its thermal power production. The measured value of feedwater flow rate is used in the estimation of reactor thermal power. The flowmeters commonly used contact the flow medium and accumulate corrosion products over time causing them to drift upwards in reading. Consequently, the reactor's measured thermal power is overestimated. To stay within regulatory limits, reactor operators are required by the regulating authority to derate their plants (from the thermal power output indicated by the overestimate) by as much as three percent of full power. More accurate flow information would provide a better estimate of reactor thermal power and would enable the plant to confidently operate closer to full power. The cost of the derate is typically $20K per day of foregone power generation for a 600 Megawatt plant.

RPC has been working to perfect a non-intrusive ultrasonic flowmeter for the past decade. Key advances have been the development of transducers that are stable at temperatures up to 550 degrees Centigrade, the emergence of powerful computers that have enabled progressive refinement of the measurement of the time difference between upstream and downstream propagation times of ultrasound through the pipe walls and flow medium, and advances in signal processing technology.

This year we took the final step. We had the flowmeter calibrated in a world-class calibration facility at Alden Labs, Mass. The instrument was clamped on the outside of a 20 inch diameter pipe. Water was pumped through the pipe at a rate of about 5000 USGPM and collected in a large tank on a weigh scale. The RPC flowmeter produced a new level of accuracy with results of 0.23% of actual flow. This level of accuracy is well within that required for the intended application in the nuclear power industry.

We sold two flowmeters in 2003-2004, to Japan Nuclear Cycle and GE Panametrics of Boston, Massachusetts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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