Fibre Quantification in Water-Debris Mixtures via Chemical Digestion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for quantifying fibre content in water-debris mixtures, particularly in nuclear power plant settings, face challenges in accurately measuring low fibre concentrations due to interference from particulates and the impracticality of existing techniques for long-term ECC operation, leading to conservative and potentially overly penalizing strainer design qualifications.
Innovation Solution
A method involving chemical digestion and Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) analysis, which includes filtering with ashless filters, thermal decomposition, digestion with hydrofluoric acid, and elemental analysis of fibre samples to estimate fibre content, using walnut shell as a surrogate for particulates, allowing for more accurate determination of fibre weight even at low concentrations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the weighing technique is used to quantify fibre bypass, then the method is simple and practical for short-term high-fibre-concentration flow, but it becomes impractical for long-term ECC operation when fibre concentration is low
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary substance (burnable particulate material mixed with the fibre sample) that transforms the measurement problem. Bycombining the hard-to-detect fibres with a known amount of burnable particulates and then burning the mixture, the fibres are converted into a detectable ash residue. This intermediary transformation enables precise measurement of low fibre concentrations that would be undetectable by direct weighing methods.
2Measurement precision
If downstream filter technique is used to capture all fibres, then the total weight of captured fibres is more accurate, but the filter may get plugged by particulates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fibres from the complex water-debris mixture by using a filter that captures only the fibre-burnable particulate mixture while allowing water and fine particulates to pass through. The captured mixture is then processed separately through burning and weighing, effectively separating the measurement task from the problematic plugging issue by taking out the fibres for dedicated analysis.
3Reliability
If conservative fibre bypass limits are applied to strainer design, then safety margins are ensured, but the design may be overly penalized and not optimized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical weighing approach with a chemical transformation approach (burning the fibre-particulate mixture to convert fibres to ash). This substitution allows for more sensitive and accurate detection of fibre content, providing reliable data that can optimize strainer design without excessive conservatism by accurately measuring actual fibre bypass rather than using safety margins.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach provides a more realistic and accurate measurement of fibre bypass, reducing conservatism in strainer design assessments and ensuring compliance with fibre bypass limits, while being applicable to a wide range of industries and scientific activities.
Implementation Method 1
filtering the sample of the water, particulate and fibre mixture to produce a particulate and fibre mixture
Implementation Method 2
burning the particulate and fibre mixture to produce a fibre sample
Implementation Method 3
digestion with hydrofluoric acid
Implementation Method 4
Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) analysis
Data Source
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AI summary
With a water, particulate and fibre mixture, a method of quantifying fibre content may include providing a sample of the mixture, filtering the sample to produce a particulate and fibre mixture, burning the particulate and fibre mixture to produce a fibre sample, and dissolving the fibre sample to produce a fibre solution. The fibre solution may be analyzed to determine an elemental content of the fibre solution. The elemental content may be compared to a known elemental content to estimate the fibre content.