Development of capacitance sensor for void fraction measurement in a packed bed of spheres

A capacitance void fraction sensor (CVS) is applied to measure the volumetric averaged void fraction in a packed bed of spheres. The void fraction in the packed bed is one of the most important parameters to evaluate cooling characteristics in a porous debris bed during a severe accident of nuclear reactors, and the quantitative void fraction measuring technique for such porous flow channels should be developed. The CVS is a very simple method, and the void fraction is estimated from the electrical capacitance measured between the electrodes installed on the pipe. Generally, the linear relationship or Maxwell equation could be applied to estimate the void fraction from the capacitance measured by the CVS. However, the electrical field in the packed bed becomes complex due to the existence of spheres. Therefore, they may not be applied to the void fraction estimation in the packed bed. In this study, the CVS with a ring-type electrode configuration is used for the sphere-packed beds, and the applicability of the CVS is investigated. At first, the particle size and the pipe diameter are varied in the packed test section, and X-ray transmission imaging is used to clarify the relation between the void fraction and the capacitance in the packed bed. Then, it is found that the void fraction can be obtained by the coefficient in Maxwell's equation, depending on the packed bed properties. Finally, the measurement accuracy of the CVS for the sphere-packed bed is estimated by comparing it with a volumetric method, and the availability of the proposed method is shown.