Theses and Dissertations Collection

The research described herein explores the development of an acoustically driven flowmeter for use with liquids in extreme environments; with a specific interest of applicability for use in nuclear reactors such as Molten Salt, Molten Sodium, and High Temperature Gas Reactors. The environments in these reactors are extremely hostile, especially to the sensitive electronics that are typically required of sensory equipment. The acoustic signal generation component of the flow meter is solid state, void of moving parts and electronics, and can be either machined or 3D printed from virtually any material, thereby offering suitability to practically any single phase fluid and environ- ment. Acoustic signals are allowed to propagate through the pipes, fittings, and structural framework where they are measured using piezoelectric sensors some distance from the device, allowing the sensitive electronics to be safe from harmful conditions. The flow meter utilizes edge tone phenomena which produce a tone in which frequency is dependant on the volumetric flow rate through the device. The device was tested on a test loop where temperature and actual flow rate (measured with a Coriolis flowmeter) were controlled allowing generated frequencies to be correlated with their respective flow rates. The flow meter was tested with both water (30 ◦C) and Therminol 66 (100 ◦C) to provide the necessary data for the non-dimensional analysis which relates the flow rate, fluid properties, and geometry of the device to the tone produced by the flow meter.