Mattingly, Gavin E; Garner, James R; Whitaker, Michael
Page Number:
1-9
Issue Number:
1
Book Title:
Proceedings of 58th Annual Institute of Nuclear Materials Management Meeting
Publication Date:
July 2017
Publisher Location:
Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, Illinois, United States of America
Conference Name:
INMM 58th Annual Meeting
Conference Location:
Indian Wells, California, United States of America
Conference Sponsor:
INMM
Abstract
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory subjected load cells to a range of temperatures beyond their compensated range to characterize the temperature effect on the minimum dead load output over their entire operating temperature range. In modern front-end nuclear fuel cycle facilities, load cells are often used in UF6 feed and withdrawal stations to monitor the material being fed to or withdrawn from the cylinders. Load cells exhibit some temperature dependence; however, manufacturers try to minimize temperature effects by compensating load cells over a range of temperatures (typically from -10 °C to +40 °C (+14 °F to +104 °F)). Load cells in modern UF6 feed and withdrawal stations tend to operate beyond this range: down to -25 °C and up to 80 °C (-13 °F to 176 °F). While load cell data sheets often include specifications for the temperature effect on the minimum dead load output and the sensitivity over the compensated range, they do not include specifications for expected effects outside of this range. In this paper, we discuss our test setup and preliminary results of testing load cells representative of those that may be used in UF6 feed and withdrawal stations.
