Method and apparatus for measuring wall thickness of a vessel
First Claim
1. A method of measuring a thickness of a wall, the method comprising:
- irradiating at least a portion of the wall with a plurality of 14-MeV neutrons, the wall emitting gamma rays with photon energies characteristic of the atomic nuclei in response thereto;
detecting at least a portion of the gamma rays emitted from the wall and measuring the photon energies of the detected gamma rays with an energy resolution better than approximately 0.5%, the detected gamma rays having a first range of photon energies;
selecting a second range of photon energies which is a subset of the first range of photon energies;
calculating a number of detected gamma rays having measured photon energies within the selected second range of photon energies; and
determining the wall thickness using the calculated number of detected gamma rays.
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Abstract
A method measures a thickness of a wall. The method includes irradiating at least a portion of the wall with a plurality of 14-MeV neutrons. The wall emits gamma rays with photon energies characteristic of the atomic nuclei in response thereto. The method further includes detecting at least a portion of the gamma rays emitted from the wall and measuring the photon energies of the detected gamma rays with an energy resolution better than approximately 0.5%. The detected gamma rays have a first range of photon energies. The method further includes selecting a second range of photon energies which is a subset of the first range of photon energies. The method further includes calculating a number of detected gamma rays having measured photon energies within the selected second range of photon energies. The method further includes determining the wall thickness using the calculated number of detected gamma rays.
69 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of measuring a thickness of a wall, the method comprising:
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irradiating at least a portion of the wall with a plurality of 14-MeV neutrons, the wall emitting gamma rays with photon energies characteristic of the atomic nuclei in response thereto;
detecting at least a portion of the gamma rays emitted from the wall and measuring the photon energies of the detected gamma rays with an energy resolution better than approximately 0.5%, the detected gamma rays having a first range of photon energies;
selecting a second range of photon energies which is a subset of the first range of photon energies;
calculating a number of detected gamma rays having measured photon energies within the selected second range of photon energies; and
determining the wall thickness using the calculated number of detected gamma rays.
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2. A method of measuring a thickness of a wall, the method comprising:
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irradiating at least a portion of the wall with a plurality of neutrons, the wall emitting gamma rays with photon energies characteristic of the atomic nuclei in response thereto;
detecting at least a portion of the gamma rays emitted from the wall and measuring the photon energies of the detected gamma rays, the detected gamma rays having a first range of photon energies;
selecting a second range of photon energies which is a subset of the first range of photon energies;
calculating a number of detected gamma rays having measured photon energies within the selected second range of photon energies; and
determining the wall thickness using the calculated number of detected gamma rays. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for measuring a thickness of a wall, the method comprising:
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positioning a source of neutrons in proximity to the wall;
directing the neutrons at the wall, the neutrons causing the wall to emit gamma rays with photon energies characteristic of atomic nuclei within the wall;
detecting at least a portion of the gamma rays;
determining a photon energy distribution of the detected gamma rays; and
calculating the thickness of the wall from a subset of the photon energy distribution of the detected gamma rays. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification