Long Term Stability of Coriolis Flow Meters: DESY experience

The measurement of coolant flow is important operational parameter for reliable operation of cryogenic system with superconducting magnets or cavities as well as for the system diagnostics in case of non-steady-state operation, e.g. during cool-down/warm-up or other transients. Proper flowmeter is chosen according to the different parameters, e.g. turn-down, operating temperature range, leak-tightness, pressure losses, long-term stability, etc. For helium cryogenics, the Venturi tube or Orifice, as well as Coriolis flow meters are often applied. For the present time, the orifices are usually used due to their simplicity and low costs, however, low turn-down range, large pressure drop, restriction of flow area, susceptibility to thermoacoustic oscillations limit their useful operation range. Operational characteristics of Venturi tubes is substantially improved in comparison to orifices, however, relative high costs and susceptibility to thermoacoustic oscillations still limit their application to special cases. The Coriolis flow meters do not have typical drawbacks of Venturi tube and orifices, however long-term stability over many years was not demonstrated yet. This paper describes the long-term behaviour of Coriolis flow meters after many years of operation at AMTF and XMTS facilities.