Patent Number: 042882915
Section: description

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The multi-sensor detector assembly 10 shown in FIG. 1 will typically comprise a dust cap 12, a connector adapter 14, and a first section of sheathing 16 connected to a seal plug 18 which is itself connected to a second sheathing portion 17. The second sheathing portion 17 may further be divided into five sections for purposes of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1 as sections 19, 20, 22, 24 and 26. These five sections are used to visually indicate that for each of the five sensors, the actual sensing portion (41, 43, 45 or 47), that is, the rhodium emitter portion of the sensor, is located at a different lengthwise position along the second sheathing portion 17. For example, a first emitter element 41 may be located in section 19, the emitter element 43 of the second sensor 52 assembly may be located lengthwise in section 20, the actual emitter element 45 of the third sensor assembly may be located within the section 22 and so forth. Each emitter element is approximately 15 inches long and of the same diameter as the lead wire. In the preferred embodiment, the background detector which consists of a length of wire (of the same diameter and material as all other lead wires) only (i.e., it has no rhodium emitter) is located in the section 26. In this manner, the level of radiation may be monitored at various positions within the core of the reactor. The background sensor 48 is used to detect the background level of radiation as averaged over the length of the background sensor element shown as 48 in FIG. 2. At the end of the second sheathing portion 17, or at the end of section 26 and forming the end of the multi-sensor detector assembly, there is a nose portion 28. This portion is suitably shaped and contoured so that it will not easily snag on any of the internal walls of the path used to guide the detector assembly through the reactor. FIG. 2 shows the cross-section as appears in the detector section 19 of FIG. 1. The sheathing 17 is shown to enclose the star-shaped common conductor 30 of the various sensor assemblies. This common conductor 30 may be made of stainless steel. The thickness of the common conductor 30 is carefully chosen such that it is thick enough to shield the sensors from one another (i.e., minimize cross talk) and yet thin enough to permit the detector assembly to negotiate the tight turns in the paths provided in nuclear reactors. This star-shaped common conductor divides the interior of the sheathing portion 17 into five equally sized wedge-shaped compartments which are each filled with a silicon dioxide insulator designated 32. The silicon dioxide is provided in the form of a slurry and is extruded over the sensors and fitted into the wedge-shaped sections. A vacuum pump and heat is used to remove moisture from the assembly. Within each of the five wedge-shaped sections there is located a sensor assembly, and the lead wires as indicated at 40, 42, 44 46, or 48. The cross-section as shown in FIG. 2 will change along the length of the sheath 17 to reflect the presence of the rhodium emitter element at the particular section where the cross-section may be taken. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, the cross-section which comprises FIG. 2 has been taken at the portion of the section 19 wherein the rhodium emitter element is attached to the lead wire 40. The remaining lead wires 42, 44, and 46, as shown in FIG. 2, are comprised of a suitable conductive material such as nickel, Inconel or stainless steel. The final sensor assembly is the background sensor 58 and it is comprised of a wire 48 of the same material as the rhodium lead wires along its full length, and thus will appear the same regardless of the position at which the cross-sectional view is taken. If the cross-sectional view corresponding to the view of FIG. 2 were taken in the section labeled detector section number 22, then the sensor assembly number 54 would at that point be comprised of rhodium rather than the stainless steel or Inconel as shown in FIG. 2. It should be noted with particularity that the five sensors comprise the sensor assemblies 50, 52, 54, 56 and 58, each of which is located within a dielectric 32 and separated from its conducting element 30, which conducting element is common to each of the sensor assemblies 50 through 58. Because of the shape of the common conductor 30 and the extrusion method of manufacture, the multiple sensor assemblies are all held in proper parallel axial alignment throughout the active detecting length of the multi-sensor detector assembly 10. The relative location of the various rhodium emitters is schematically illustrated in FIG. 3. The exterior sheath 17 houses five detector assemblies 50, 52, 54, 56 and 58, four of which comprise a pair of lead wires (40, 42, 44 and 46 respectively) and an emitter element (41, 43, 45 and 47 respectively); the fifth detector 58 comprising the background detector lead wire 48. In order to facilitate extrusion of the silicon dioxide dielectric over the lead wire and rhodium emitter, the outer diameter of the lead wire and rhodium emitter are identical. Each respective rhodium emitter element is disposed at a different distance along the length of the overall lance assembly 10. In this manner the radiation level may be monitored at different locations within the reactor. Each sensor assembly, including the background detector, is connected to a common conductor element 30, through the dielectric insulator element 32. Although the present invention has been described with reference to the particular embodiment best illustrated by FIGS. 2 and 3, it is to be expressly understood that various modification may be made to that device by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope of the invention. For example, it should be obvious that instead of using a common center conductor to divide the interior of the sheath into five portions, a suitably shaped conductor could be used to divide the interior of the sheath into a greater or lesser number of compartments as desired. Also the detector assembly may be constructed of any suitable materials and the detectors themselves may be constructed of any material that emits sufficient charged particles under the influence of nuclear radiation. The present invention is only to be viewed as limited by the attached claims and not limited to the specific embodiments discussed herein. There has thus been provided a multi-sensor detector assembly wherein all of the detector assemblies use a common conductor element which serves to divide the multi-sensor detector assembly into a plurality of equally spaced and properly aligned wedge-shaped compartments so as to maintain the sensor assemblies in proper co-axial and parallel alignment throughout the length of the active radiation detecting zone of the detector assembly. The common conductor also serves to shield each detector against the emissions of its neighbors thus minimizing cross talk among the detectors of the assembly.