Simplified modeling of liquid sodium medium with temperature and velocity gradient using real thermal-hydraulic data. Application to ultrasonic thermometry in sodium fast reactor

In the framework of the French R&D program for the Generation IV reactors and specifically for the sodium cooled fast reactors (SFR), studies are carried out on innovative instrumentation methods in order to improve safety and to simplify the monitoring of fundamental physical parameters during reactor operation. The aim of the present work is to develop an acoustic thermometry method to follow up the sodium temperature at the outlet of subassemblies. The medium is a turbulent flow of liquid sodium at 550 °C with temperature inhomogeneities. To understand the effect of disturbance created by this medium, numerical simulations are proposed. A ray tracing code has been developed with Matlab© in order to predict acoustic paths in this medium. This complex medium is accurately described by thermal-hydraulic data which are issued from a simulation of a real experiment in Japan. The analysis of these results allows understanding the effects of medium inhomogeneities on the further thermometric acoustic measurement.