Series Supply of Cryogenic Venturi Flowmeters for the ITER Project

In the framework of the ITER project, the CEA-SBT has been contracted to supply 277 venturi tube flowmeters to measure the distribution of helium in the superconducting magnets of the ITER tokamak. Six sizes of venturi tube have been designed so as to span a measurable helium flowrate range from 0.1 g/s to 400g/s. They operate, in nominal conditions, either at 4K or at 300K, and in a nuclear and magnetic environment. Due to the cryogenic conditions and the large number of venturi tubes to be supplied, an individual calibration of each venturi tube would be too expensive and time consuming. Studies have been performed to produce a design which will offer high repeatability in manufacture, reduce the geometrical uncertainties and improve the final helium flowrate measurement accuracy. On the instrumentation side, technologies for differential and absolute pressure transducers able to operate in applied magnetic fields need to be identified and validated. The complete helium mass flow measurement chain will be qualified in four test benches: - A helium loop at room temperature to insure the qualification of a statistically relevant number of venturi tubes operating at 300K.- A supercritical helium loop for the qualification of venturi tubes operating at cryogenic temperature (a modification to the HELIOS test bench). - A dedicated vacuum vessel to check the helium leak tightness of all the venturi tubes. - A magnetic test bench to qualify different technologies of pressure transducer in applied magnetic fields up to 100mT.