Qualifying Elbow Meters for High Pressure Flow Measurements in an Operating Nuclear Power Plant

To support the installation and use of elbow meters to measure the high pressure emergency coolant injection flow in an operating nuclear station, a test program was performed to qualify: (i) the “hot” tapping procedure for field application and (ii) the use of elbow meters for accurate flow measurements over the full range of station ECI flow conditions. This paper describes the design conditions and major components of a flow loop used for the elbow meter calibrations. Typical test results are presented and discussed.