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Temperature Measuring System of the In-core

Components for Chinese 10 MW High Temperature
Gas-cooled Reactor
a

Meisheng ZHA , Shuoping ZHONG , Renchang CHEN & Shengqiang LI

Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology , Tsinghua University , Beijing , 100084 , P.R.

China
b

Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute , Shanghai , 200233 , P.R.
China
Published online: 07 Feb 2012.

To cite this article: Meisheng ZHA , Shuoping ZHONG , Renchang CHEN & Shengqiang LI (2002) Temperature Measuring
System of the In-core Components for Chinese 10 MW High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor, Journal of Nuclear Science
and Technology, 39:10, 1086-1093, DOI: 10.1080/18811248.2002.9715297
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18811248.2002.9715297

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Journal of NUCLEAR SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY, Vol. 39, No. 10, p. 10861093 (October 2002)

TECHNICAL REPORT

Temperature Measuring System of the In-core Components for Chinese

10 MW High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor
Meisheng ZHA1, , Shuoping ZHONG1 , Renchang CHEN2 and Shengqiang LI1
2

1
Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China
Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute, Shanghai, 200233, P.R. China

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(Received December 5, 2001 and accepted in revised form June 13, 2002)
The 10 MW High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTR-10) constructed at the Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University in China reached its first criticality by the end of 2000. The temperature measuring
system of the in-core components is described in this paper. This system consists of the thermocouple penetration
assembly of the reactor pressure vessel (TPARPV), the thermocouple penetration assembly of the reactor containment
(TPARC) and the distributed computer-based data acquisition and processing system (DCS). Some new techniques were
developed and applied, such as the thermocouple penetration technology under the high temperature and high-pressure
environment and the laser welding technique. The TPARPV is the key measurement device and is described in detail.
The general behavior of the TPARPV and TPARC was confirmed under HTR-10 operating conditions. The helium leakage rate of the TPARPV is 1107 Pam3 /s while the helium leakage rate of the TPARC is less than 1102 Pam3 /s.
The insulation resistance of the sheathed thermocouple is more then 109 . The temperature measurement error of the
system is 2.3 C. The results of testing and field inspection and operation demonstrate that the design of the temperature
measuring system is reasonable and reliable and that the performance of the system satisfies the design requirements
of the HTR-10. These new techniques used in the temperature measuring system can be applied not only to other high
temperature gas-cooled reactors but to various reactor types as well.
KEYWORDS: HTGR type reactors, high temperature gas cooled and graphite moderated reactors, thermocouple
penetration assembly, temperature measurement, reactor vessel

I. Introduction
High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTR) is recognized as an advanced type of reactor incorporating many design enhancements such as inherent safety features, fuel cycle
flexibility, highly fuel utilization, highly efficient electricity
generation and process heat application. The research and
development of HTR started during the middle of the 1970s,
and came to be a part of the Chinese High Technology Program in 1986. A plan to build a 10 MW High Temperature
Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTR-10) was approved by the State
Science and Technology Commission in 1990, and in 1995
the construction was initiated at the Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University. The first criticality of HTR-10 was demonstrated in the end of 2000.
For the HTR-10 the design pressure and temperature is
3.5 MPa and 750 C respectively. Helium gas is used as
the coolant. Based on the design specification of HTR-10,
the temperature of the reactor in-core components, which
includes the core body, carbon brick, graphite block and
graphite connected structure, must be monitored. The containment of HTR-10 is designed to be a negative atmosphere
area, with an ambient temperature higher than 100 C. Because the structure of the in-core components and the requirements of the temperature measurement points in HTR-10 are
different from ones of a pressurized water reactor (PWR), the
temperature measurement methods and devices for a PWR are
not suitable and new temperature measuring technology must
be developed. With regard to the relative specifications,1, 2)

the design requirements of the temperature measuring system

of the in-core components for HTR-10 are listed as follows:
Design pressure of the TPARPV

3.5 MPa

Helium leakage rate of the TPARPV

105 Pam3 /s

Helium leakage rate of the TPARC

102 Pam3 /s

Highest measurement temperature

750 C

Measurement accuracy

1.5 C(0 C
t
375 C)

0.004t (375 C t
800 C)

Insulation resistance of the sheathed thermocouple

Earthquake resistant class of the TPARPV
Safety class of the TPARPV
Water pressure test for the TPARPV

109 
Class I
1E

5.5 MPa for 15 min

Working-life of the sheathed thermocouple

5 years

In order to meet the above requirements for the HTR-10

temperature measurement system, new measuring techniques
have been developed and some experimental studies on the
measurement technology and devices were carried out. The
main research work focused on the structural design and the
performance tests for both the TPARPV and TPARC. Following significant R&D efforts by INET, the design of a temperature measurement device and corresponding measuring
technique for the high temperature and pressure He gas environment of the HTR-10 was achieved.

Corresponding author, Tel. +86-10-89796053, Fax. +86-1069771464, E-mail: qhzms@263.net

1086

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Temperature Measuring System of the In-core Components for HTR-10

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II. Temperature Measuring System

The schematic diagram of the temperature measuring system for the in-core components of HTR-10 is shown in Fig. 1.
The system consists of the thermocouple penetration assembly of the reactor pressure vessel (TPARPV), the thermocouple penetration assembly of the reactor containment (TPARC)
and the distributed computer-based data acquisition and processing system (DCS). The TPARPV is the primary measurement device of the temperature measuring system. The total
length of the sheathed thermocouple of the TPARPV is about
20 m. The sheathed thermocouples (about 10 m long) inside
the reactor pressure vessel pass through the lower core plate
and follow the grooves among in-core components. Their
measurement ends are then fixed at the measuring points. The
sheathed thermocouples (also about 10 m long) outside the reactor pressure vessel are bundled together within the reactor
containment before penetrating the containment wall (Fig. 1).
Outside the containment the TPARPV sheathed thermocouples are sealed within the TPARC and the signal is fed to the
control room through the cold-end connector and the thermocouple compensation cable. There are no cold-end connectors
of the sheathed thermocouple within the containment, so the
measuring reliability is significantly improved. The temperature measuring system of the in-core components is comprised of four sets of TPARPVs, which are fixed in the lower
header of the reactor pressure vessel by argon arc welding,
and four sets of TPARCs.
1. Thermocouple Penetration Assembly of the Reactor
Pressure Vessel (TPARPV)
The TPARPV is not only a key component of the temperature measuring system, but also a part of the reactor pressure
vessel boundary. The highest operating temperature of the
TPARPV is about 350 C. Because of the high pressure and
temperature environment, penetration of the reactor boundary
is difficult. After many tests and improvements the TPARPV
has been developed and fabricated. By means of the TPARPV
the difficulty to penetrate the reactor vessel with sheathed
thermocouples and seal the reactor pressure boundary under
severe operating conditions is solved. Its structure and main
dimensions are shown in Fig. 2.
The TPARPV consists of a penetration body, ten sheathed
thermocouples, a transitional pipe-1, a transitional pipe-2 and
a protective tube for welding. The middle flange of the transitional pipe-2 is welded to the penetration body by argon arc
welding, and both ends of the transitional pipe-2 are welded
to the shell of the sheathed thermocouple by laser welding.
Finally the penetration body is welded to the lower head of
the reactor pressure vessel. The K type sheathed thermocouple3) is selected for HTR-10. Its outer diameter is 3.17 mm,
and the wall thickness is 0.4 mm. The shell material is 316L
stainless steel and MgO is used as the insulation material.
2. Thermocouple Penetration Assembly of the Reactor
Containment (TPARC)
The TPARC is a device used to seal the sheathed thermocouples when they penetrate through the containment wall. It
consists of 10 short pipes with swage locks (Dg =10 mm), a

VOL. 39, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2002

pair of sealing flanges and a penetration pipe in the containment wall. Its structure and main dimensions are shown in
Fig. 3. In order to penetrate the reactor containment and be
sealed by the swage lock easily, the outer diameter (10 mm)
of the transitional pipe-1 of the sheathed thermocouple is a little bigger than the outer diameter of the cold-end connector.
The sealing site of the swage lock occurs at transitional pipe1. The performance of the swage lock is good at the ambient
temperature and completely satisfies the containment seal requirements.
3. DCS System
The distributed computer-based data acquisition and processing system (DCS) is used to measure temperature of the
in-core components and display the temperature data on a big
CRT. Figure 4 shows the temperature measuring points of
the in-core components.

III. Tests for the TPARPV

In order to define the fabricating specifications for the
TPARPV, the following tests were carried out.
1. Thermoelectric Performance Test of the Sheathed
Thermocouple
In order to ensure that the thermoelectric performance was
unchanged after the transition pipe-2 was welded in the middle of the sheathed thermocouple, comparison tests of the
thermoelectric performance were made before and after welding.
Three K type sheathed thermocouples with an outer diameter of 3.17 mm and a length of 2 m were used as test samples.
In the middle of the sheathed thermocouple, the transition
pipe-2 was welded to the thermocouple shell by laser welding. Comparison tests of the thermoelectric performance were
made at 400 C, 600 C and 800 C. The results (Table 1) show
that the welding process has no influence on the thermoelectric performance of the sheathed thermocouple. In Table 1,
deviation means the difference between the criterion temperature and the temperature measured by the tested sheathed
thermocouple. Due to the use of laser welding, welding heat
is limited to a small area. Hence the thermoelectric performance of the thermocouple will remain stable.
2. Tests for Laser Welding Technology
The specifications for laser welding will directly influence
the weld quality and strength as well as the seal performance
due to welding heat on the affected area. The parameters
to be studied include the welding voltage, the welding frequency, the amount of overlapping ratio of the welded seam,
the protective gas, etc. The experiments showed that the overlapping ratio of the welded seam is very important for the
strength of the seam and the seal performance. The overlapping ratio must be kept between 0.5 and 0.6 of welded seam.
A larger amount of overlapping ratio results in a larger area
being influenced by the welding heat, which could then influence the thermoelectric performance of the thermocouple.
After the specifications for the laser welding process were
defined, various welded samples were subjected to metallo-

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M. ZHA et al.

1:
2:
3:
4:

Core
Temperature measuring points
Reactor pressure vessel
TPARPV

5: TPARC
6: DCS system
7: Containment

Fig. 1 Temperature measuring system of the in-core components for HTR-10

graphic analysis, water pressure tests and helium leakage rate

tests. Figure 5 shows the metallographic analysis photograph
of a laser-welded seam between the sheathed thermocouple
shell and the transitional pipe-2. It clearly shows that there are
no bubbles and impurities in the seam. In addition there was
no necking present in the welded section. When the thickness
of the sheathed thermocouple shell and transitional pipe-2 is
0.4 mm, the thickness of the welded seam is between 0.22 mm

and 0.25 mm. This demonstrates that the specifications for the
laser welding process and the structure and dimensions of the
transitional pipe-2 are reasonable. The structure and main dimensions of the transitional pipe-2 are shown in Fig. 2. The
inner diameter of the transitional pipe-2 is 3.3 mm, allowing easy penetration by the sheathed thermocouple. It is important to note that after both ends of the transitional pipe-2
are tightly fit with the shell of the sheathed thermocouple by

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Temperature Measuring System of the In-core Components for HTR-10

1: Protective pipe for welding

2: Penetration body
3: Transitional pipe-2

4: Sheathed thermocouple
5: Transitional pipe-1
6: Cold-end connector

Fig. 2 Structure and main dimensions of the TPARPV for HTR-10

1:
2:
3:
4:

Containment wall
Penetration pipe in the wall
Sheathed thermocouple
Sealing flange

5: Swage lock
6: Chock sleeve
7: Cold-end connector
8: Compensation lead

Fig. 3 Structure of the TPARC

means of a special tool, laser welding can then be carried out.

In this way the quality of the laser welding process, which is
carried out automatically, can be ensured.

VOL. 39, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2002

3. Strength Test and Helium Leakage Rate Test for the

TPARPV Sample
The real samples of the TPARPV are tested under 5.5 MPa
water pressure for 15 min to check their compressive strength.
Helium leakage rate tests were also carried out using a special
device. All of the tested samples have passed these tests. The

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M. ZHA et al.

Fig. 4 Temperature measuring points of the in-core components

JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

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Temperature Measuring System of the In-core Components for HTR-10

Table 1 Results of comparison tests of the thermoelectric performance

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Test
item

Temperature
( C)

Sample 1
Max. deviation ( C)

Sample 2
Max. deviation ( C)

Sample 3
Max. deviation ( C)

Before
welding

400
600
800

0.8
0.8
0.7

1.0
1.1
1.2

1.0
0.9
1.2

After
welding

400
600
800

0.6
0.9
0.8

0.7
0.8
1.1

1.0
1.1
0.9

1: Shell of the sheathed thermocouple,

2: Laser-welded seam,

3: Shell of the transitional pipe-2

Fig. 5 Metallographic analysis photograph of the laser-welded seam

water pressure of 5.5 MPa was kept constant for 15 min, and
the corresponding helium leakage rate was 1107 Pam3 /s.
These test results prove that the compressive strength and seal
performance of the TPARPV satisfy the design requirements
of HTR-10. They also demonstrate that the structure and dimensions of the TPARPV and the specifications of the laser
welding process are reasonable.
4. Tests for Structure of the Transition Pipe-2
Both ends of transition pipe-2 are welded to the shell of a
sheathed thermocouple, and the flange in the middle of the
transition pipe-2 is welded to the penetration body. The structure of the transition pipe-2 has obvious influence on the weld
heat area and weld quality. In order to ensure the weld quality
the shape, length and the diameter tolerance of the transition
pipe-2 must be carefully designed and tested. The tested items
were described in the above sections. Based on these tests, the
final dimensions of the transition pipe-2 are shown in Fig. 2.
The laser-welded sections are at both ends of the transitional
pipe-2, where the dimension is 40.8 mm (diameterlength).

VOL. 39, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2002

During laser welding the laser beam is focused on this section

and caused this part to melt. The inner diameter of the transitional pipe-2 is 3.3 mm, so that the long sheathed thermocouple (about 10 m long) can penetrated it easily. Both ends of
the transitional pipe-2 must be tightly fit with the shell of the
sheathed thermocouple by a special tool before welding. In
this way the laser welding quality can be ensured. The dimensions of the angularity (10 and 25 ) of the middle flange of
the transitional pipe-2 were also carefully selected and tested.
This permitted the argon arc welding to be easily performed
and helped to ensure both welding intensity and weld quality.

IV. Analysis of Stress Intensity and Earthquake Resistance of TPARPV

1. Calculating Programs and Model
The ANSYS program, which is a large finite element structure analysis program and has been identified by ISO9001, is
used to analyze the stress intensity and earthquake resistance
of the TPARPV.

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The axial symmetrical finite element model (Fig. 6(a)) is

used to calculate the stress intensity of the TPARPV under the
pressure and temperature loads in the reactor pressure vessel.
The results are used to judge the stress intensity of the welded
seam A-0 and A-1 (Fig. 2 and Fig. 6(a)). The 3-D finite element model (Fig. 6(b)) of the TPARPV is used to calculate
the stress intensity under earthquake load. On the basis of the
shape and dimensions of the TPARPV, the calculating net grid
is made by the ANSYS program automatically.
The analyzed parameters include primary membrane stress
(Pm ), partial primary membrane stress (PL ), primary membrane plus bending stress (PL +Pb ), range of stress intensity
(Pm +Pb +Q)r , secondary stress (Q), design stress intensity
values (Sm ), yield strength values (S y ) and tensile strength
values (Sb ).
2. Load Compound and Restriction for Application
According to the ASME stress-classified definition of NB3000,4, 5) the stress judgment of the TPARPV is carried out.
The load compounding and restriction criteria for application
are shown in Table 2.

Laser weld seam A-0

Argon arc weld seam A-1

Penetration body

Transitional pipe-2

(a) Axial symmetrical finite element model

3. Calculation Results
(1) Dynamic Character Calculation
The girder vibration model was used as the TPARPV vibration model. The assumption is that one end of the TPARPV
connected to the reactor pressure vessel is fixed while the
other end is freely supported. The calculation results of the
natural frequency of the TPARPV and the sheathed thermocouple are shown in Table 3. The results of Table 3 indicate
that the TPARPV structure is safe and reliable.
(2) Stress Intensity and Stress Judgment
Cross-sections A-0 (i.e. the laser welded seam) and A-1
(i.e. the argon arc welded seam) are the cross-sections of most
concern in the TPARPV design. The stress intensity is calculated under earthquake load at the operating temperature
and pressure of the reactor vessel. The stress judgments are
made according to the ASME stress-classified definition of
NB-3000.4, 5) The calculation and judgment results are shown
in Tables 4 and 5.
When stress judgment is applied on the welded seam of the
TPARPV and the sheathed thermocouple, the welding quality
coefficient of n=0.9 for a groove welded seam, and n=0.6 for
a diagonal welded seam are assumed.
The judgment results in Tables 4 and 5 indicate that the
TPARPV structure meets the specifications for stress intensity
and earthquake-resistance of HTR-10. Hence it is safe and
reliable.

V. Field Inspection and Operation

The TPARPV and TPARC of HTR-10 were fabricated following rigid specifications under a quality control program.
Finally the field inspection of the TPARPV and TPARC were
carried out according to the specifications of HTR-10. The
field inspecting results show that the performance of the temperature measuring system meets the design requirements of
HTR-10. The insulation resistance of the sheathed thermocouple is more then 109 , the helium leakage rate of the
TPARPV is 1107 Pam3 /s and the helium leakage rate of
the TPARC is less than 1102 Pam3 /s. The temperature
measurement error of the entire measurement system was also
checked, and it is 2.3 C. The temperature measuring system of the in-core components of HTR-10 passed the tests for
stress intensity and air leakage rate of the reactor primary loop
in the middle of 2000. Now the temperature measuring system plays an important role during testing and confirming the
functions of various equipments in the reactor primary loop.

VI. Conclusion

(b)

3-D finite element model

Fig. 6 Axial symmetrical and 3-D finite element model of the

TPARPV

The design of the temperature measuring system of the incore components of 10 MW High Temperature Gas-cooled
Reactor (HTR-10) is reasonable, and the performance of the
temperature measuring system meets the design requirements
of HTR-10.
The design of the thermocouple penetration assembly of
the reactor vessel (TPARPV) and thermocouple peretration
assembly of the reactor containment (TPARC) used in the
temperature measuring system is reasonable and reliable.
Some new techniques used in this temperature measuring
system, such as the thermocouple penetration technology unJOURNAL OF NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

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Temperature Measuring System of the In-core Components for HTR-10

Table 2 Load compounding, restriction and limited value of stress
Restriction

Load compounding

Stress intensity

Stress limited

Pm
PL
PL +Pb

Sm
1.5Sm
1.5Sm

(PL +Pb +Q)r

PL +Pb +Q+F

3Sm
U
1

Design

DW+P

A, B operation
condition

DW+P+Th+So

C operation
condition

DW+P+So

Pm
PL
PL +Pb

Max {1.2Sm , Sv }
Max {1.8Sm , 1.5Sv }
Max {1.8Sm , 1.5Sv }

D operation
condition

DW+P+Ss

Pm
PL
PL +Pb

Min {2.4Sm , 0.7SU }

Min {3.6Sm , 1.5SU }
Min {3.6Sm , 1.5SU }

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DW: Deadweight, Th: Effect under thermocouple, P: Pressure inside,

So: OBE earthquake, Ss: SSE earthquake, Subscript r means max. range.

Table 3 Natural frequencies of the TPARPV and the sheathed thermocouple

Object

Modal number

TPARPV
Sheathed thermocouple
(span 800 mm)

Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)

265.7
14.09

265.7
14.09

897.2
45.67

Stress intensity

Calculation value Limited value

(MPa)
(MPa)

Operating
condition

103.5
155.2

(PL +Pb +Q)r

94.5

310.5

Class C

Pm
PL +Pb

10.64
35.11

186.3
279.5

Class D

Pm
PL +Pb

10.64
35.11

248.4
372.6

69.0
103.5

Design

(PL +Pb +Q)r

41.87

207.0

Class A, B

Class C

Pm
PL +Pb

0.22
62.53

124.2
186.3

Class D

Pm
PL +Pb

0.25
73.25

165.6
248.4

der a high temperature and high-pressure environment and the

laser welding process, can be applied not only to high temperature gas-cooled reactors but to other various reactor types as
well.
References
1) Qualification of Electrical Items of the Safety Systems for Nuclear Power Generating Stations, IEEE 323, (1974).

VOL. 39, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2002

Calculation value Limited value

(MPa)
(MPa)
10.63
35.10

0.11
20.48

Class A, B

Stress intensity
Pm (PL )
PL +Pb

Pm (PL )
PL +Pb

Design

1,480.2
45.67

Table 5 Judgment result of A-1 section

Table 4 Judgment result for A-0 section

Operating
condition

2) Seismic Qualification of Electrical Equipment of the Safety System for Nuclear Power Plants, IEEE 344, (1975).
3) Standard Specification for Thermocouples, Sheathed, Type K,
for Nuclear or for Other High-reliability Applications, ASTM
E235, (1988).
4) ASME Specification, Vol. 3, Book 1, NB part, first-order facility, (1989).
5) ASME Specification, Vol. 3, Book 1, and appendix, (1989).