SIMULATION-DRIVEN CALIBRATION OF MHD SENSORS CONSIDERING VARIATIONS IN REYNOLDS NUMBER, TEMPERATURE, AND MAGNETIC FIELD STRENGTH

Abstract

Liquid metal flow measurement is a challenging task in nuclear and metallurgical industries, due to the high-temperature corrosive environment. Magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) flow meters are a good choice for such applications, due to their inherent safety, less pressure drop, bi-directional, and accurate flow measurements. In this study, sodium metal flow measurement is investigated in a circular pipe at different temperatures (T) and Reynolds number (Re), using the computational fluid dynamics tool (ANSYS Fluent®) with the MHD module, to benchmark the calibration for flow meters. Simulations are performed for T = 150 to 450°C up to Re 400, for various magnetic field strengths (B) (i.e., 0.05 to 0.4 T). It is noted that the M-shaped velocity profile develops at B ≥ 0.2 T and the
maximum velocity decreases with increasing T, at a given Re and B, and it increases with increasing Re, at a given T and B. Moreover, a systematic parametric study for Re, T, and B is performed in which it is found that the voltage and Lorentz force, increases with increasing Re and decreases with increasing T, at a given B. Our results suggest that the optimum window of operation for the magnetic sensor is at T ≤ 300 and Re ≥ 200 for better performance.