Year
1988
Abstract
Calorimetry is a technique for measuring the thermal power of heat producing samples and it has specific application in the area of nuclear materials safeguards and accounting. Calorimetric measurements of the thermal power of plutonium samples, when combined with a knowledge of the Plutonium isotopic mass ratios, provide a convenient, accurate and non-destructive measure of the total plutonium mass. The principle limitation of the technique is the long time required to perform measurements. As a means of studying this problem in order to seek ways to reduce measurement times, a prototype demountable calorimeter test-bed has been developed. The device is designed as a facility to test and evaluate materials, heat transfer media, operating modes, control schemes and calorimeter measurement procedures. The test- bed thermal element consists of three cylindrical temperature controlled regions and an associated preheater. A demountable inter-cylinder heat transfer medium and adjustable set point temperatures allow the range of measured sample powers to be varied. The power supplies and measurement electronics are controlled by an IBM compatible personal computer which serves as a data acquisition and logging system. The performance of the test-bed calorimeter has been evaluated using measurements of both plutonium and non-heat producing samples.