High-temperature liquid metal probe
Technical Field
The disclosure belongs to the technical field of detection instruments for liquid metal, and particularly relates to a multipurpose probe applied to high-temperature liquid metal liquid level detection and temperature measurement.
Background
In liquid metal installations, temperature and level etc. are important parameters related to operation and safety. Because the liquid metal has higher operating temperature, particularly the liquid metal working media such as sodium, sodium-potassium alloy, lithium, lead-bismuth alloy and the like have the characteristic of active chemical properties, the liquid metal working media cannot be in direct contact with air generally, and the requirement on the sealing performance of equipment is very high, the temperature and liquid level measurement in the liquid metal equipment is more difficult than the technical difficulty of common working media such as water and the like.
The liquid metal temperature is measured by a thermocouple trap mode, namely, a blind pipe extends into the working medium, and then an armored thermocouple is placed for temperature measurement. The sealing performance of the device can be guaranteed by the method, compared with the method that the device is higher in wall-attached measurement accuracy outside equipment, the thermocouple trap tube is specially reserved in the equipment connecting tube, and the complexity of the equipment is improved.
The liquid metal liquid level measurement can be divided into two types of continuous liquid level meters and liquid level probes, and compared with the continuous liquid level meters which are complex in structure, high in manufacturing cost and special in calibration, the liquid level probes for indicating the liquid level with a specific height are widely applied, and can be applied to multiple occasions such as safety liquid level warning of equipment such as a liquid metal loop storage tank, a measuring cylinder, an expansion tank and the like, a filling operation stop signal, flow calibration and the like. After the temperature of the liquid metal is higher than the melting point, liquid metal vapor can be generated to be dispersed above the liquid level, and is easy to condense and deposit on the surface of a liquid level measurement component with lower temperature, so that the probe material is corroded. In addition, the adhesion between the insulating part and the structural part is easy to be caused after the metal working medium is deposited, signal false alarm is formed, and the maintenance frequency is high. The highest operating temperature of the existing liquid metal loops of sodium-potassium alloy, lead-bismuth alloy and the like can reach 600 ℃, and in order to ensure the safe operation of the loops and realize the functions of calibration, warning and the like, a liquid level probe capable of working in a high-temperature liquid metal vapor environment is needed, and the liquid level probe has good sealing performance and quick maintenance function.
At present, a liquid level probe used in liquid metal generally adopts polytetrafluoroethylene and the like as insulating materials, and polytetrafluoroethylene or a vacuum flange is directly adopted for sealing, so that the probe has the advantages of more parts and components for assembly and disassembly, poorer maintenance convenience and unsatisfactory extreme vacuum tightness in actual use.
In liquid metal plants, it is often the case that one plant needs to take both temperature and level measurements. At least 3 liquid level probes are needed to be equipped in a liquid metal container such as an expansion tank, a measuring cylinder and the like for liquid level indication of different heights, and 1 to 3 thermocouple traps are arranged for temperature measurement of working media in the tank body. The sealing head is generally provided with other connecting pipes such as an exhaust pipe, a working medium inlet pipe, a working medium outlet pipe and the like, so that space is often limited, the connecting pipes are mutually easy to interfere, and the operation is difficult.
Disclosure of Invention
Object of the invention
In order to overcome the defects of the prior art, the present disclosure provides a multipurpose probe for detecting the liquid level of high-temperature liquid metal and measuring the temperature, which has a simple structure and is convenient to operate.
(II) technical scheme
The high-temperature liquid metal probe comprises a transition connecting piece, an insulating piece, a sealing piece and a structural piece for supporting and fixing, wherein the sealing piece is connected with the insulating piece through the transition connecting piece, and the insulating piece is made of high-temperature-resistant ceramic materials.
The structural member is made of stainless steel.
The structural member comprises a threaded male connector, an upper pressing piece, a threaded female connector, a lower connecting pipe and a central probe, wherein the insulating piece comprises a ceramic pipe;
The threaded male joint is a pipe fitting with external threads, the threaded female joint is a pipe fitting with internal threads, and one end of the inner surface of the threaded female joint pipe is provided with a circle of convex rings;
The threaded female joint is sleeved outside the lower connecting pipe, the threaded male joint is in threaded connection with the threaded female joint, the lower connecting pipe is compressed by an upper compressing piece, and the upper compressing piece is positioned in the threaded female joint;
The ceramic pipe is a long round pipe and sequentially passes through the threaded male joint, the upper pressing piece, the threaded female joint and the lower connecting pipe;
the center probe passes through the ceramic tube.
The center probe comprises a probe fixed end and a probe adjusting end, wherein the probe fixed end is an elongated circular tube, the probe fixed end penetrates through the ceramic tube, the probe adjusting end is an elongated cylinder, and the beginning end of the probe adjusting end is fixedly connected with the probe fixed end.
The central probe is a long straight circular tube, the bottom end of the central probe is welded and sealed by a plug, and an armored thermocouple wire is placed inside the central probe.
The fixed connection of the probe fixed end and the probe adjusting end is welding.
The transition connecting piece comprises an upper connecting piece, a middle connecting piece and a lower connecting piece, wherein the upper connecting piece, the middle connecting piece and the lower connecting piece are all of circular ring structures;
the fixed end of the probe is connected with the upper end and the lower end of the ceramic tube by an upper connecting piece and a lower connecting piece respectively;
the ceramic tube is connected with the upper pressing piece through the middle connecting piece;
a gasket is arranged between the upper pressing piece and the lower connecting pipe.
(III) beneficial effects
The high-temperature liquid metal probe adopts a ceramic tube, is a structural member and an insulating member, and adopts a metal gasket as a sealing member, and the highest use temperature can reach 650 ℃ when stainless steel materials are used for other structural members and connecting members. If nickel-based alloy or refractory metal materials are used to replace the probe and threaded connection, the temperature resistance can be further improved to 1000 ℃.
The high-temperature liquid metal probe provided by the disclosure adopts quick threaded connection, is convenient and quick to maintain, and can be quickly disassembled through threads if a liquid metal adhesion false alarm signal occurs. The maintenance process can use the blind plug to seal temporarily, install rapidly after cleaning up, reduce the pollution that equipment caused because of introducing air.
The high-temperature liquid metal probe material provided by the disclosure can be manufactured by adopting a solid stainless steel rod material, can also use a stainless steel tube subjected to bottom sealing welding as a thermocouple well, is internally provided with an armored thermocouple wire for temperature measurement, has the functions of probe and temperature measurement, reduces equipment top connection pipe, and is convenient to operate. For example, when a straight pipe with the diameter phi of 5 multiplied by 0.5mm is adopted, the bottom can be used as a thermocouple well with the inner diameter phi of 4mm after being welded and sealed. The height of the thermocouple wires in the thermocouple well can be adjusted at will, and the temperature of the liquid metal at different positions can be measured, so that the thermocouple wires are very convenient and flexible to use. By the mode, the multifunctional use of the probe can be realized, namely, liquid level detection and liquid metal temperature measurement are simultaneously carried out, and the space utilization rate of equipment is greatly improved.
The high-temperature liquid metal probe provided by the disclosure has high reliability and is not easy to leak. A plurality of welding points are arranged between the probe and the connecting piece, and after the sealing performance of the welding points between the lower connecting piece and the ceramic tube fails, the sealing performance can be kept through the welding points between the upper connecting piece and the ceramic tube, so that single-point failure is avoided. The sealing gasket can be made of different materials such as iron, copper, nickel and the like according to the requirement of working medium compatibility, and the leakage rate can be controlled within 1 multiplied by 10 -11Pa·m3/s. The sealing element and the insulating element are not in axial pressure transmission, so that the situation that the ceramic element is directly pressed too much to crack in the common probe pressing process can be avoided.
The high-temperature liquid metal probe provided by the disclosure has the advantages of simple structure, low cost, suitability for batch manufacturing, small sectional area of the probe, flexible arrangement on equipment, free interception and welding of the length of the probe according to requirements, and capability of exceeding 2m under the condition of ensuring perpendicularity.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a probe structure;
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the use of a probe in a liquid metal vessel;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a high temperature liquid metal detection system;
the device comprises a connector 1, a threaded male connector 2, a connector 3, a pressing part 4, a threaded female connector 5, a lower connecting pipe 6, a ceramic pipe 7, a lower connector 8, a probe fixing end 9, a probe adjusting end 10, a gasket 11, a working medium inlet and outlet pipe 12, a 13 overflow port, a 14 liquid metal liquid level 15, a low-level probe 16, a middle-level probe 17, a high-level probe 18, a power supply 19, a loudspeaker warning device 20, an indicator lamp 21, a thermocouple temperature display 22, an armored thermocouple wire 23, a high-temperature liquid metal probe 24 and a liquid metal container;
Detailed Description
In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the high-temperature liquid metal probe of the present disclosure, the following details of the probe provided by the present disclosure are described with reference to fig. 1,2 and 3 and the specific embodiments:
The high-temperature liquid metal probe comprises a structural member, a transition connecting piece, an insulating piece and a sealing piece, wherein the insulating piece is made of a high-temperature resistant ceramic material. The structural member is made of stainless steel. The structural part comprises a threaded male connector 2, an upper compression part 4, a threaded female connector 5, a lower connecting pipe 6 and a central probe, wherein the insulating part comprises a ceramic pipe 7, the threaded male connector 2 is a pipe with external threads, the threaded female connector 5 is a pipe with internal threads, one end of the inner surface of the pipe of the threaded female connector 5 is provided with a circle of convex ring, one end of the outer surface of the lower connecting pipe 6 is provided with a circle of convex ring, the threaded female connector 5 is sleeved outside the lower connecting pipe 6, the threaded male connector 2 is in threaded connection with the threaded female connector 5 and compresses the lower connecting pipe 6 through the upper compression part 4, the upper compression part 4 is positioned in the threaded female connector 5, the threaded male connector 2 is in threaded connection with the threaded female connector 5 and fixes the lower connecting pipe 6 through the upper compression part 4, the ceramic pipe 7 is a long circular pipe, the ceramic pipe 7 sequentially penetrates through the threaded male connector 2, the upper compression part 4, the threaded female connector 5 and the lower connecting pipe 6, and the central probe penetrates the ceramic pipe 7. The center probe comprises a probe fixing end 9 and a probe adjusting end 10, wherein the probe fixing end 9 is an elongated circular tube, the probe fixing end 9 penetrates through the ceramic tube 7, the probe adjusting end 10 is an elongated cylinder, and the beginning end of the probe adjusting end 10 is fixedly connected with the probe fixing end 9. The central probe is a long straight circular tube, the bottom end of the central probe is welded and sealed by a plug, and an armored thermocouple wire 22 is placed inside the central probe. The fixed connection of the probe fixing end 9 and the probe adjusting end 10 is welding. The transition connecting piece comprises an upper connecting piece 1, a middle connecting piece 3 and a lower connecting piece 8, the sealing piece comprises a gasket 11, the fixed end 9 of the probe is connected with the upper end and the lower end of the ceramic tube 7 respectively through the upper connecting piece 8 and the lower connecting piece 8, the ceramic tube 7 is connected with the upper pressing piece 4 through the middle connecting piece 3, and the gasket 11 is arranged between the upper pressing piece 4 and the lower connecting piece 6.
When the probe provided by the disclosure is applied, only half parts, namely the threaded female connector 5 and the lower connecting pipe 6 in fig. 1, need to be reserved in the equipment manufacturing stage, and the lower part of the lower connecting pipe 6 and the equipment sealing head can be directly welded, and also can be welded after a guide pipe is reserved. Before the upper part with the probe is installed, the probe should be cleaned by wiping all parts possibly contacting with liquid metal with gauze dipped with alcohol or acetone, and then be provided with a metal gasket 11 for installation. After screwing the nut, leakage detection should be performed in time, and if leakage is found, the screwing force should be increased. The probe has no risk of crushing the sealing element due to the adoption of all-metal sealing, so the screwing force can be slightly larger.
With reference to fig. 2, a typical application scenario of the liquid level probe is that a plurality of probes are installed simultaneously, the length of the probe can be flexibly adjusted by adjusting the length of the probe adjusting end 10 in fig. 1 in a welding manner, and different liquid level indications of high, medium and low are set in the container. For example, when the liquid metal loop is used as an expansion tank at a high position, liquid metal working medium enters from an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe in fig. 2, a low-position probe 15 is used for indicating the stop of filling, a middle-position probe 16 is used for monitoring, and a high-position probe 17 is used as an overflow valve opening signal.
In the scenario of fig. 2, if a straight stainless steel pipe of Φ5×0.5mm is used as the probe, 3 probes can be used as thermocouple wells with an inner diameter of 4mm, and armored thermocouples with a diameter of Φ3 or less can be very smoothly inserted into the bottom of the thermocouple wells. The thermocouple well is most suitable to be arranged in the low-level probe 15, so that the temperature of the liquid metal can be accurately measured when the liquid level is higher or lower, and the measured temperature can be used for control signals of a heater and heat preservation heat tracing.
The probe insulation section provided by the present disclosure is a longer ceramic tube 7 section, and even if metal vapor deposition adhesion occurs between a part and an equipment cylinder, short circuit is not caused, and signal false alarm occurs. In extreme cases, if the probe does generate a signal false alarm phenomenon, the upper half part of the probe is unscrewed by using a spanner under the protection of internal argon or other inert gas micro positive pressure, the probe is slowly extracted, and then a common blind plug is used for temporary sealing. Then dipping the probe and the metal deposited on the ceramic tube 7 by using gauze to dip acetone or alcohol, slowly wiping the probe and the metal deposited on the ceramic tube, and reinstalling the probe and the ceramic tube after confirming no adhesion.
Because the connecting piece and the ceramic tube 7 both have the high temperature resistance exceeding 1000 ℃, the liquid level can be measured when the temperature below the liquid level 14 of the liquid metal reaches 1000 ℃ through the temperature reduction of the guide tube or the replacement of stainless steel by using a high temperature resistant material as a structural member and the selection of a welding material with the temperature resistance exceeding 1000 ℃. At this temperature, the sealing structure of the present disclosure is still reliable.
The probe provided by the disclosure is successfully applied to sodium-potassium alloy, a potassium storage tank, an expansion tank and a measuring cylinder, and is used as a liquid level probe and a thermocouple trap, so that the space on the upper part of the seal head is greatly saved, and the disassembly and assembly process is very convenient.
Taking a sodium-potassium alloy loop expansion tank as an example, the expansion tank is arranged at the highest point of the loop, 3 probes with thermocouple wells are arranged in the expansion tank, the distances between the 3 probes and the bottom of the end socket are respectively 80mm (low-level probe 15), 280mm (middle-level probe 16) and 480mm (high-level probe 17), and 3K-type armored thermocouple wires 22 are inserted in the thermocouple wells. When the loop is initially filled, the working medium in the storage tank is pressed into the loop by adopting a differential pressure method at normal temperature, and when the low-position probe 15 in the expansion tank is lightened to indicate the lamp 20 and beeps, the working medium in the loop is considered to be full, the probe signal is a signal for stopping the filling operation, and the temperature display in the thermocouple trap is still at the room temperature. Then the temperature of the loop is slowly increased to 550 ℃, the volume of the working medium in the loop is expanded, the liquid level is slowly increased to the position of the middle position probe 16, and the indicator lamp 20 is lightened, at the moment, the thermocouple temperature of the middle position probe 16 is displayed to reach about 547 ℃, which indicates that the temperature difference between the temperature of the working medium in the expansion tank and the main loop is small, and the heat preservation of the system is good. During stable operation, the thermocouple in the low-level probe 15 is used as a temperature control point, and the outer wall surface of the expansion tank is wound with a heating wire to perform thermal compensation, so that the temperature is maintained at 550 ℃, and the circuit temperature is prevented from being uneven due to excessive heat dissipation of the expansion tank. The high-position probe 17 is arranged at the height near the overflow port 13, and once the liquid level of the working medium in the expansion tank is abnormally increased due to misoperation or other reasons, the high-position probe 17 sends out an alarm signal and is used as an opening signal of an overflow valve to discharge the working medium back, so that the high-temperature working medium is prevented from entering a gas covering system. After the set test is carried out, the system is cooled, the middle probe 16 is turned from the on state to off, the working medium is discharged back after being cooled to 100 ℃, the signal of the low probe 15 is turned to off, and the liquid metal detection system on the expansion tank completes a complete liquid level and temperature detection process.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is intended to include such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof. The foregoing examples or embodiments are merely illustrative of the present disclosure, which may be embodied in other specific forms or with other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The described embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure should be indicated by the appended claims, and any changes that are equivalent to the intent and scope of the claims are intended to be encompassed within the scope of the present disclosure.