Pressure drop measurements on cable-in-conduit conductors of various geometries

Measurements are made of the pressure drop on various cable-in-conduit conductors with different void fractions, number of strands, and flow areas. To carry out these measurements, supercritical helium is circulated through a loop containing several conductor sections instrumented with cold pressure transducers. A cold centrifugal pump is used to force the helium through the loop at flow rates of up to several grams per second. The modular design of the flow loop allows for relatively easy insertion of different test sections. Pressure drops, measured at different temperatures and mass flow rates, are correlated using classical friction factor analysis. Some variation in friction factor appears to result from temperature or helium property changes.