Publications

Magneto-hydrodynamic detection of vortex shedding for molten salt flow sensing

Kruizenga, Alan M.; Crocker, Robert W.

High temperature flow sensors must be developed for use with molten salts systems at temperatures in excess of 600ÀC. A novel magneto-hydrodynamic sensing approach was investigated. A prototype sensor was developed and tested in an aqueous sodium chloride solution as a surrogate for molten salt. Despite that the electrical conductivity was a factor of three less than molten salts, it was found that the electrical conductivity of an electrolyte was too low to adequately resolve the signal amidst surrounding noise. This sensor concept is expected to work well with any liquid metal application, as the generated magnetic field scales proportionately with electrical conductivity.