Design of liquid lead-bismuth eutectic flow velocity measurement based on contactless inductive flow tomography

liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) serves as the coolant for lead-cooled fast reactors (LFR), its velocity distribution is a critical parameter in thermal-hydraulic research. However, the high-temperature corrosivity and opacity of LBE pose significant challenges to the application of traditional flow velocity measurement methods. To address this issue, this study applies Contactless Inductive Flow Tomography (CIFT) and designs a measurement system applicable for LBE flow velocity measurement. The validity of the proposed measurement scheme is verified by comparing the reference velocity field with the velocity field reconstructed via the reconstruction algorithm. Maintaining a comparable total number of sensors, we compare three spatial arrangements: 12×4, 10×5, and 8×6. The results indicate that the 8×6 arrangement achieves the highest degree of agreement between the reconstructed and reference velocity field. Furthermore, the applicability of this measurement system is verified under noisy condition and within complex flow field. The proposed design scheme and sensor configuration analysis provide a valuable reference for the future application of CIFT in LBE flow measurement.