Design simulation studies of pipe mounted boron concentration meter

Design simulation studies on pipe mounted on line boron meter is carried out using FLUKA Monte Carlo package. The boron meter works on the principle of neutron absorption by B-10 atoms. The inverse relationship of boron concentration versus neutron count rate is fitted using a mathematical function to derive the calibration curve. In reactors, boron concentration is required to be measured for different dimension pipes carrying boron solutions. Hence, there is a need to evolve a mechanically simple and generic design boron meter. The studies showed that compared to conventional source attenuation geometry, the backscatter geometry boron meter is better suited for reactor applications. Generic calibration curves can be obtained by optimizing the distance between the solution pipe and the neutron source. Experiments conducted in backscatter geometry for two different diameter solution pipes generated overlapping count rate versus B-10 concentration curves. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.