Research on Eccentricity Performance of Capacitance Rod Position Measurement Sensor for Measuring Non-Metallic Rod

Rod position measurement sensor is the key equipment of control rod hydraulic drive line, the measurement accuracy of the sensor is directly related to the safety and reliability of the reactor. Capacitance rod position measurement sensor is generally composed of excitation and detection electrodes, ceramic tube, outer shielding layer and measuring rod. For the double helix capacitance rod position measurement sensor with non-metallic measuring rod, the static characteristic experiment of the sensor was completed, the finite element method was used to establish the calculation model and the model was verified by the experimental results. By the calculation model, the influence of electrode angle, pitch, thickness and relative permittivity of ceramic tube on the eccentricity error of the sensor was systematically analyzed, the optimal combination of design parameters were obtained by orthogonal test method. The results show that the calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental results, the eccentricity error can be reduced by reducing the electrode angle, increasing the electrode pitch, increasing the thickness and reducing the relative permittivity of the ceramic tube. The design scheme of the sensor obtained by the orthogonal test can greatly reduce the eccentricity error and realize the requirement of rod position measurement without losing step. The research results provide guidance for the design and optimization of capacitance rod position measurement sensor.