The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 05, 1976
Filed:
May. 06, 1975
Harry Honig, Lynchburg, VA (US);
Alfred Jester, Speyer, DT;
The Babcock & Wilcox Company, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
A typical embodiment of the invention permits defective fuel rods to be identified with the fuel rods arrayed in a fuel element. A bell jacket is placed over the submerged plenum ends of the fuel rods in the fuel element and gas pressure is admitted to the jacket interior to expel water from the enclosed volume and expose the plenum ends of the fuel rods to the gas stream. The cooling effect of the flowing gas on steam rising within the interior of a defective fuel rod causes the steam to condense within the plenum and increase the temperature of the exposed end of the defective rod relative to the ends of the sound rods. An infra red or other suitable temperature detector identifies the higher temperature end of the defective rod for individual removal from the fuel element and replacement, as appropriate.