Maintenance of Process Instrumentation in Nuclear Power Plants

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XXII

   PDF

2. Introduction

   Pages 1-18

3. Origins of This Book

   Pages 19-26

4. Maintenance of Nuclear Plant Instrumentation

   Pages 27-27

5. Nuclear Plant Temperature Instrumentation

   Pages 29-50

6. Cross-Calibration Technique

   Pages 51-87

7. Response-Time Testing of RTDs and Thermocouples

   Pages 89-142

8. Nuclear Plant Pressure Transmitters

   Pages 143-176

9. Characteristics of Pressure Sensing Lines

   Pages 177-194

10. Measurement of Pressure Sensor and Sensing-Line Dynamics

    Pages 195-225

11. On-line Detection of Sensing Line Problems

    Pages 227-236

12. Back Matter

    Pages 237-304

    PDF

This book is written for the instrumentation and control engineers, technicians, and managers in nuclear power plants. It focuses on process temperature and pressure sensors and the veri?cation of these sensors’ calibration and response time. It also provides examples of typical problems and solutions with temperature and pressure measurements in nuclear power plants. Contents 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. 1 Reference Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. 2 On-Line Monitoring of Process Instruments Calibration . . . . . . . . . . 3 1. 3 Dynamic Testing of Pressure Transmitters and Sensing Lines . . . . . . 3 1. 4 On-Line Detection of Venturi Fouling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1. 5 Measuring the Vibration of Reactor Internals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1. 6 Detecting Core Flow Anomalies . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1. 7 CANDU Reactor Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1. 8 In-Situ Response-Time Testing of Temperature Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1. 9 Testing Cables In-Situ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1. 10 Automated Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 2 Origins of This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 2. 1 Collaborative R&D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 2. 2 Government R&D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2. 3 Utility R&D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 2. 4 IAEA Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 2. 5ISA and IEC Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 3 Maintenance of Nuclear Plant Instrumentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4 Nuclear Plant Temperature Instrumentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 4. 1 History of RTDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 4. 2 Nuclear-Grade RTDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 4. 3 Nuclear Plant Temperature Measurement Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . 34 4. 4 Problems with Nuclear-Grade RTDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 4. 4. 1 Dynamic Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 4. 4. 2 Failure of Extension Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 4. 4. 3 Low Insulation Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 4. 4. 4 Premature Failure . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 4. 4. 5 Wrong Calibration Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 X Contents 4. 4. 6 Loose or Bad Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Actuators
• Power Plants
• maintenance
• measurement
• plants
• pressure
• sensor
• sensors
• temperature
• quality control, reliability, safety and risk

• Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation, AMS, Knoxville, USA

  H. M. Hashemian

Policies and ethics