WorldWideScience

Sample records for integrated water cycle

  1. GEOSS Water Cycle Integrator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koike, Toshio; Lawford, Richard; Cripe, Douglas

    2013-04-01

    It is critically important to recognize and co-manage the fundamental linkages across the water-dependent domains; land use, including deforestation; ecosystem services; and food-, energy- and health-securities. Sharing coordinated, comprehensive and sustained observations and information for sound decision-making is a first step; however, to take full advantage of these opportunities, we need to develop an effective collaboration mechanism for working together across different disciplines, sectors and agencies, and thereby gain a holistic view of the continuity between environmentally sustainable development, climate change adaptation and enhanced resilience. To promote effective multi-sectoral, interdisciplinary collaboration based on coordinated and integrated efforts, the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is implementing the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). A component of GEOSS now under development is the "GEOSS Water Cycle Integrator (WCI)", which integrates Earth observations, modeling, data and information, management systems and education systems. GEOSS/WCI sets up "work benches" by which partners can share data, information and applications in an interoperable way, exchange knowledge and experiences, deepen mutual understanding and work together effectively to ultimately respond to issues of both mitigation and adaptation. (A work bench is a virtual geographical or phenomenological space where experts and managers collaborate to use information to address a problem within that space). GEOSS/WCI enhances the coordination of efforts to strengthen individual, institutional and infrastructure capacities, especially for effective interdisciplinary coordination and integration. GEO has established the GEOSS Asian Water Cycle Initiative (AWCI) and GEOSS African Water Cycle Coordination Initiative (AfWCCI). Through regional, inter-disciplinary, multi-sectoral integration and inter-agency coordination in Asia and Africa, GEOSS

  2. Power generation and heating performances of integrated system of ammonia–water Kalina–Rankine cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Zhi; Guo, Zhanwei; Chen, Yaping; Wu, Jiafeng; Hua, Junye

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Integrated system of ammonia–water Kalina–Rankine cycle (AWKRC) is investigated. • Ammonia–water Rankine cycle is operated for cogenerating room heating-water in winter. • Kalina cycle with higher efficiency is operated for power generation in other seasons. • Power recovery efficiency accounts thermal efficiency and waste heat absorbing ratio. • Heating water with 70 °C and capacity of 55% total reclaimed heat load is cogenerated. - Abstract: An integrated system of ammonia–water Kalina–Rankine cycle (AWKRC) for power generation and heating is introduced. The Kalina cycle has large temperature difference during evaporation and small one during condensation therefore with high thermal efficiency for power generation, while the ammonia–water Rankine cycle has large temperature difference during condensation as well as evaporation, thus it can be adopted to generate heating-water as a by-product in winter. The integrated system is based on the Kalina cycle and converted to the Rankine cycle with a set of valves. The performances of the AWKRC system in different seasons with corresponding cycle loops were studied and analyzed. When the temperatures of waste heat and cooling water are 300 °C and 25 °C respectively, the thermal efficiency and power recovery efficiency of Kalina cycle are 20.9% and 17.4% respectively in the non-heating seasons, while these efficiencies of the ammonia–water Rankine cycle are 17.1% and 13.1% respectively with additional 55.3% heating recovery ratio or with comprehensive efficiency 23.7% higher than that of the Kalina cycle in heating season

  3. A vision for an ultra-high resolution integrated water cycle observation and prediction system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houser, P. R.

    2013-05-01

    Society's welfare, progress, and sustainable economic growth—and life itself—depend on the abundance and vigorous cycling and replenishing of water throughout the global environment. The water cycle operates on a continuum of time and space scales and exchanges large amounts of energy as water undergoes phase changes and is moved from one part of the Earth system to another. We must move toward an integrated observation and prediction paradigm that addresses broad local-to-global science and application issues by realizing synergies associated with multiple, coordinated observations and prediction systems. A central challenge of a future water and energy cycle observation strategy is to progress from single variable water-cycle instruments to multivariable integrated instruments in electromagnetic-band families. The microwave range in the electromagnetic spectrum is ideally suited for sensing the state and abundance of water because of water's dielectric properties. Eventually, a dedicated high-resolution water-cycle microwave-based satellite mission may be possible based on large-aperture antenna technology that can harvest the synergy that would be afforded by simultaneous multichannel active and passive microwave measurements. A partial demonstration of these ideas can even be realized with existing microwave satellite observations to support advanced multivariate retrieval methods that can exploit the totality of the microwave spectral information. The simultaneous multichannel active and passive microwave retrieval would allow improved-accuracy retrievals that are not possible with isolated measurements. Furthermore, the simultaneous monitoring of several of the land, atmospheric, oceanic, and cryospheric states brings synergies that will substantially enhance understanding of the global water and energy cycle as a system. The multichannel approach also affords advantages to some constituent retrievals—for instance, simultaneous retrieval of vegetation

  4. Energy and exergy analysis of integrated system of ammonia–water Kalina–Rankine cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Yaping; Guo, Zhanwei; Wu, Jiafeng; Zhang, Zhi; Hua, Junye

    2015-01-01

    The integrated system of AWKRC (ammonia–water Kalina–Rankine cycle) is a novel cycle operated on KC (Kalina cycle) for power generation in non-heating seasons and on AWRC (ammonia–water Rankine cycle) for cogeneration of power and heating water in winter. The influences of inlet temperatures of both heat resource and cooling water on system efficiencies were analyzed based on the first law and the second law of thermodynamics. The calculation is based on following conditions that the heat resource temperature keeps 300 °C, the cooling water temperature for the KC or AWRC is respectively 25 °C or 15 °C; and the temperatures of heating water and backwater are respectively 90 °C and 40 °C. The results show that the evaluation indexes of the power recovery efficiency and the exergy efficiency of KC were respectively 18.2% and 41.9%, while the composite power recovery efficiency and the composite exergy efficiency of AWRC are respectively 21.1% and 43.0% accounting both power and equivalent power of cogenerated heating capacity, including 54.5% heating recovery ratio or 12.4% heating water exergy efficiency. The inventory flow diagrams of both energy and exergy gains and losses of the components operating on KC or AWRC are also demonstrated. - Highlights: • An integrated system of AWKRC (ammonia–water Kalina–Rankine cycle) is investigated. • NH_3–H_2O Rankine cycle is operated for cogenerating power and heating-water in winter. • Heating water with 90 °C and capacity of 54% total reclaimed heat load is cogenerated. • Kalina cycle is operated for power generation in other seasons with high efficiency. • Energy and exergy analysis draw similar results in optimizing the system parameters.

  5. The NASA Energy and Water Cycle Extreme (NEWSE) Integration Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    House, P. R.; Lapenta, W.; Schiffer, R.

    2008-01-01

    Skillful predictions of water and energy cycle extremes (flood and drought) are elusive. To better understand the mechanisms responsible for water and energy extremes, and to make decisive progress in predicting these extremes, the collaborative NASA Energy and Water cycle Extremes (NEWSE) Integration Project, is studying these extremes in the U.S. Southern Great Plains (SGP) during 2006-2007, including their relationships with continental and global scale processes, and assessment of their predictability on multiple space and time scales. It is our hypothesis that an integrative analysis of observed extremes which reflects the current understanding of the role of SST and soil moisture variability influences on atmospheric heating and forcing of planetary waves, incorporating recently available global and regional hydro- meteorological datasets (i.e., precipitation, water vapor, clouds, etc.) in conjunction with advances in data assimilation, can lead to new insights into the factors that lead to persistent drought and flooding. We will show initial results of this project, whose goals are to provide an improved definition, attribution and prediction on sub-seasonal to interannual time scales, improved understanding of the mechanisms of decadal drought and its predictability, including the impacts of SST variability and deep soil moisture variability, and improved monitoring/attributions, with transition to applications; a bridging of the gap between hydrological forecasts and stakeholders (utilization of probabilistic forecasts, education, forecast interpretation for different sectors, assessment of uncertainties for different sectors, etc.).

  6. Semantic Data Integration and Ontology Use within the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) Global Water Cycle Data Integration System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pozzi, W.; Fekete, B.; Piasecki, M.; McGuinness, D.; Fox, P.; Lawford, R.; Vorosmarty, C.; Houser, P.; Imam, B.

    2008-12-01

    The inadequacies of water cycle observations for monitoring long-term changes in the global water system, as well as their feedback into the climate system, poses a major constraint on sustainable development of water resources and improvement of water management practices. Hence, The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has established Task WA-08-01, "Integration of in situ and satellite data for water cycle monitoring," an integrative initiative combining different types of satellite and in situ observations related to key variables of the water cycle with model outputs for improved accuracy and global coverage. This presentation proposes development of the Rapid, Integrated Monitoring System for the Water Cycle (Global-RIMS)--already employed by the GEO Global Terrestrial Network for Hydrology (GTN-H)--as either one of the main components or linked with the Asian system to constitute the modeling system of GEOSS for water cycle monitoring. We further propose expanded, augmented capability to run multiple grids to embrace some of the heterogeneous methods and formats of the Earth Science, Hydrology, and Hydraulic Engineering communities. Different methodologies are employed by the Earth Science (land surface modeling), the Hydrological (GIS), and the Hydraulic Engineering Communities; with each community employing models that require different input data. Data will be routed as input variables to the models through web services, allowing satellite and in situ data to be integrated together within the modeling framework. Semantic data integration will provide the automation to enable this system to operate in near-real-time. Multiple data collections for ground water, precipitation, soil moisture satellite data, such as SMAP, and lake data will require multiple low level ontologies, and an upper level ontology will permit user-friendly water management knowledge to be synthesized. These ontologies will have to have overlapping terms mapped and linked together. so

  7. Evaluation method for regional water cycle health based on nature-society water cycle theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shanghong; Fan, Weiwei; Yi, Yujun; Zhao, Yong; Liu, Jiahong

    2017-08-01

    Regional water cycles increasingly reflect the dual influences of natural and social processes, and are affected by global climate change and expanding human activities. Understanding how to maintain a healthy state of the water cycle has become an important proposition for sustainable development of human society. In this paper, natural-social attributes of the water cycle are synthesized and 19 evaluation indices are selected from four dimensions, i.e., water-based ecosystem integrity, water quality, water resource abundance and water resource use. A hierarchical water-cycle health evaluation system is established. An analytic hierarchy process is used to set the weight of the criteria layer and index layer, and the health threshold for each index is defined. Finally, a water-cycle health composite-index assessment model and fuzzy recognition model are constructed based on the comprehensive index method and fuzzy mathematics theory. The model is used to evaluate the state of health of the water cycle in Beijing during 2010-2014 and in the planning year (late 2014), considering the transfer of 1 billion m3 of water by the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP). The results show health scores for Beijing of 2.87, 3.10, 3.38, 3.11 and 3.02 during 2010-2014. The results of fuzzy recognition show that the sub-healthy grade accounted for 54%, 49%, 61% and 49% of the total score, and all years had a sub-healthy state. Results of the criteria layer analysis show that water ecosystem function, water quality and water use were all at the sub-healthy level and that water abundance was at the lowest, or sick, level. With the water transfer from the SNWDP, the health score of the water cycle in Beijing reached 4.04. The healthy grade accounted for 60% of the total score, and the water cycle system was generally in a healthy state. Beijing's water cycle health level is expected to further improve with increasing water diversion from the SNWDP and industrial

  8. The NEWS Water Cycle Climatology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodell, M.; Beaudoing, H. K.; L'Ecuyer, T.; Olson, W. S.

    2012-12-01

    NASA's Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) program fosters collaborative research towards improved quantification and prediction of water and energy cycle consequences of climate change. In order to measure change, it is first necessary to describe current conditions. The goal of the first phase of the NEWS Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project was to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. The project was a multi-institutional collaboration with more than 20 active contributors. This presentation will describe the results of the water cycle component of the first phase of the project, which include seasonal (monthly) climatologies of water fluxes over land, ocean, and atmosphere at continental and ocean basin scales. The requirement of closure of the water budget (i.e., mass conservation) at various scales was exploited to constrain the flux estimates via an optimization approach that will also be described. Further, error assessments were included with the input datasets, and we examine these in relation to inferred uncertainty in the optimized flux estimates in order to gauge our current ability to close the water budget within an expected uncertainty range.

  9. The NEWS Water Cycle Climatology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodell, Matthew; Beaudoing, Hiroko Kato; L'Ecuyer, Tristan; William, Olson

    2012-01-01

    NASA's Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) program fosters collaborative research towards improved quantification and prediction of water and energy cycle consequences of climate change. In order to measure change, it is first necessary to describe current conditions. The goal of the first phase of the NEWS Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project was to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. The project was a multi-institutional collaboration with more than 20 active contributors. This presentation will describe the results of the water cycle component of the first phase of the project, which include seasonal (monthly) climatologies of water fluxes over land, ocean, and atmosphere at continental and ocean basin scales. The requirement of closure of the water budget (i.e., mass conservation) at various scales was exploited to constrain the flux estimates via an optimization approach that will also be described. Further, error assessments were included with the input datasets, and we examine these in relation to inferred uncertainty in the optimized flux estimates in order to gauge our current ability to close the water budget within an expected uncertainty range.

  10. An updated view of global water cycling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houser, P. R.; Schlosser, A.; Lehr, J.

    2009-04-01

    Unprecedented new observation capacities combined with revolutions in modeling, we are poised to make huge advances in water cycle assessment, understanding, and prediction. To realize this goal, we must develop a discipline of prediction and verification through the integration of water and energy cycle observations and models, and to verify model predictions against observed phenomena to ensure that research delivers reliable improvements in prediction skill. Accomplishing these goals will require, in part, an accurate accounting of the key reservoirs and fluxes associated with the global water and energy cycle, including their spatial and temporal variability, through integration of all necessary observations and research tools. A brief history of the lineage of the conventional water balance and a summary accounting of all major parameters of the water balance using highly respected secondary sources will be presented. Principally, recently published peer reviewed papers reporting results of original work involving direct measurements and new data generated by high-tech devices (e.g. satellite / airborne instruments, supercomputers, geophysical tools) will be employed. This work lends credence to the conventional water balance ideas, but also reveals anachronistic scientific concepts/models, questionable underlying data, longstanding oversights and outright errors in the water balance.

  11. Modern Estimates of Global Water Cycle Fluxes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodell, M.; Beaudoing, H. K.; L'Ecuyer, T. S.; Olson, W. S.

    2014-12-01

    The goal of the first phase of the NASA Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project was to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. Here we describe results of the water cycle assessment, including mean annual and monthly fluxes over continents and ocean basins during the first decade of the millennium. To the extent possible, the water flux estimates are based on (1) satellite measurements and (2) data-integrating models. A careful accounting of uncertainty in each flux was applied within a routine that enforced multiple water and energy budget constraints simultaneously in a variational framework, in order to produce objectively-determined, optimized estimates. Simultaneous closure of the water and energy budgets caused the ocean evaporation and precipitation terms to increase by about 10% and 5% relative to the original estimates, mainly because the energy budget required turbulent heat fluxes to be substantially larger in order to balance net radiation. In the majority of cases, the observed annual, surface and atmospheric water budgets over the continents and oceans close with much less than 10% residual. Observed residuals and optimized uncertainty estimates are considerably larger for monthly surface and atmospheric water budget closure, often nearing or exceeding 20% in North America, Eurasia, Australia and neighboring islands, and the Arctic and South Atlantic Oceans. The residuals in South America and Africa tend to be smaller, possibly because cold land processes are a non-issue. Fluxes are poorly observed over the Arctic Ocean, certain seas, Antarctica, and the Australasian and Indonesian Islands, leading to reliance on atmospheric analysis estimates. Other details of the study and future directions will be discussed.

  12. Process integration of organic Rankine cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Desai, Nishith B.; Bandyopadhyay, Santanu

    2009-01-01

    An organic Rankine cycle (ORC) uses an organic fluid as a working medium within a Rankine cycle power plant. ORC offers advantages over conventional Rankine cycle with water as the working medium, as ORC generates shaft-work from low to medium temperature heat sources with higher thermodynamic efficiency. The dry and the isentropic fluids are most preferred working fluid for the ORC. The basic ORC can be modified by incorporating both regeneration and turbine bleeding to improve its thermal efficiency. In this paper, 16 different organic fluids have been analyzed as a working medium for the basic as well as modified ORCs. A methodology is also proposed for appropriate integration and optimization of an ORC as a cogeneration process with the background process to generate shaft-work. It has been illustrated that the choice of cycle configuration for appropriate integration with the background process depends on the heat rejection profile of the background process (i.e., the shape of the below pinch portion of the process grand composite curve). The benefits of integrating ORC with the background process and the applicability of the proposed methodology have been demonstrated through illustrative examples.

  13. Global Water Cycle Diagrams Minimize Human Influence and Over-represent Water Security

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbott, B. W.; Bishop, K.; Zarnetske, J. P.; Minaudo, C.; Chapin, F. S., III; Plont, S.; Marçais, J.; Ellison, D.; Roy Chowdhury, S.; Kolbe, T.; Ursache, O.; Hampton, T. B.; GU, S.; Chapin, M.; Krause, S.; Henderson, K. D.; Hannah, D. M.; Pinay, G.

    2017-12-01

    The diagram of the global water cycle is the central icon of hydrology, and for many people, the point of entry to thinking about key scientific concepts such as conservation of mass, teleconnections, and human dependence on ecological systems. Because humans now dominate critical components of the hydrosphere, improving our understanding of the global water cycle has graduated from an academic exercise to an urgent priority. To assess how the water cycle is conceptualized by researchers and the general public, we analyzed 455 water cycle diagrams from textbooks, scientific articles, and online image searches performed in different languages. Only 15% of diagrams integrated human activity into the water cycle and 77% showed no sign of humans whatsoever, although representation of humans varied substantially by region (lowest in China, N. America, and Australia; highest in Western Europe). The abundance and accessibility of freshwater resources were overrepresented, with 98% of diagrams omitting water pollution and climate change, and over 90% of diagrams making no distinction for saline groundwater and lakes. Oceanic aspects of the water cycle (i.e. ocean size, circulation, and precipitation) and related teleconnections were nearly always underrepresented. These patterns held across disciplinary boundaries and through time. We explore the historical and contemporary reasons for some of these biases and present a revised version of the global water cycle based on research from natural and social sciences. We conclude that current depictions of the global water cycle convey a false sense of water security and that reintegrating humans into water cycle diagrams is an important first step towards understanding and sustaining the hydrosocial cycle.

  14. Water Cycle Missions for the Next Decade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houser, P. R.

    2013-12-01

    The global water cycle describes the circulation of water as a vital and dynamic substance in its liquid, solid, and vapor phases as it moves through the atmosphere, oceans and land. Life in its many forms exists because of water, and modern civilization depends on learning how to live within the constraints imposed by the availability of water. The scientific challenge posed by the need to observe the global water cycle is to integrate in situ and space-borne observations to quantify the key water-cycle state variables and fluxes. The vision to address that challenge is a series of Earth observation missions that will measure the states, stocks, flows, and residence times of water on regional to global scales followed by a series of coordinated missions that will address the processes, on a global scale, that underlie variability and changes in water in all its three phases. The accompanying societal challenge is to foster the improved use of water data and information as a basis for enlightened management of water resources, to protect life and property from effects of extremes in the water cycle. A major change in thinking about water science that goes beyond its physics to include its role in ecosystems and society is also required. Better water-cycle observations, especially on the continental and global scales, will be essential. Water-cycle predictions need to be readily available globally to reduce loss of life and property caused by water-related natural hazards. Building on the 2007 Earth Science Decadal Survey, NASA's Plan for a Climate-Centric Architecture for Earth Observations and Applications from Space , and the 2012 Chapman Conference on Remote Sensing of the Terrestrial Water Cycle, a workshop was held in April 2013 to gather wisdom and determine how to prepare for the next generation of water cycle missions in support of the second Earth Science Decadal Survey. This talk will present the outcomes of the workshop including the intersection between

  15. A novel nuclear combined power and cooling system integrating high temperature gas-cooled reactor with ammonia–water cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luo, Chending; Zhao, Fuqiang; Zhang, Na

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We propose a novel nuclear ammonia–water power and cooling cogeneration system. • The high temperature reactor is inherently safe, with exhaust heat fully recovered. • The thermal performances are improved compared with nuclear combined cycle. • The base case attains an energy efficiency of 69.9% and exergy efficiency of 72.5%. • Energy conservation and emission reduction are achieved in this cogeneration way. - Abstract: A nuclear ammonia–water power and refrigeration cogeneration system (NAPR) has been proposed and analyzed in this paper. It consists of a closed high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) topping Brayton cycle and a modified ammonia water power/refrigeration combined bottoming cycle (APR). The HTGR is an inherently safe reactor, and thus could be stable, flexible and suitable for various energy supply situation, and its exhaust heat is fully recovered by the mixture of ammonia and water in the bottoming cycle. To reduce exergy losses and enhance outputs, the ammonia concentrations of the bottoming cycle working fluid are optimized in both power and refrigeration processes. With the HTGR of 200 MW thermal capacity and 900 °C/70 bar reactor-core-outlet helium, the system achieves 88.8 MW net electrical output and 9.27 MW refrigeration capacity, and also attains an energy efficiency of 69.9% and exergy efficiency of 72.5%, which are higher by 5.3%-points and 2.6%-points as compared with the nuclear combined cycle (NCC, like a conventional gas/steam power-only combined cycle while the topping cycle is a closed HTGR Brayton cycle) with the same nuclear energy input. Compared with conventional separate power and refrigeration generation systems, the fossil fuel saving (based on CH 4 ) and CO 2 emission reduction of base-case NAPR could reach ∼9.66 × 10 4 t/y and ∼26.6 × 10 4 t/y, respectively. The system integration accomplishes the safe and high-efficiency utilization of nuclear energy by power and refrigeration

  16. WaterNet: The NASA water cycle solutions network - Danubian regional applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matthews, Dave; Brilly, Mitja; Kobold, Mira; Zagar, Mark; Houser, Paul

    2008-01-01

    WaterNet is a new international network of researchers, stakeholders, and end-users of remote sensing tools that will benefit the water resources management community. This paper provides an overview and it discusses the concept of solutions networks focusing on the WaterNet. It invites Danubian research and applications teams to join our WaterNet network. The NASA Water cycle Solutions Network's goal is to improve and optimize the sustained ability of water cycle researchers, stakeholders, organizations and networks to interact, identify, harness, and extend NASA research results to augment decision support tools and meet national needs. Our team will develop WaterNet by engaging relevant NASA water cycle research resources and community-of-practice organizations, to develop what we term an 'actionable database' that can be used to communicate and connect NASA Water cycle research Results (NWRs) towards the improvement of water-related Decision Support Tools (DSTs). Recognizing that the European Commission and European Space Agency have also developed many related Water Research products (EWRs), we seek to learn about these and network with the EU teams to include their information in the WaterNet actionable data base and Community of Practice. WaterNet will then develop strategies to connect researchers and decision-makers via innovative communication strategies, improved user access to NASA and EU - Danubian resources, improved water cycle research community appreciation for user requirements, improved policymaker, management and stakeholder knowledge of research and application products, and improved identification of pathways for progress. Finally, WaterNet will develop relevant benchmarking and metrics, to understand the network's characteristics, to optimize its performance, and to establish sustainability. This paper provides examples of several NASA products based on remote sensing and land data assimilation systems that integrate remotely sensed and in

  17. Analysis of changes in water cycle across Northern Eurasia with Rapid Integrated Mapping and Analysis System (RIMS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiklomanov, A.; Prusevich, A.

    2012-04-01

    Historical and contemporary changes in various components of the hydrological cycle across the Northern Eurasia have been investigated using multiple observational and modeled data compiled in Rapid Integrated Mapping and Analysis System (RIMS) for North Eurasian Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI). To evaluate potential future patterns of change in the Northern Eurasian water cycle we have used climate change projections simulated by several coupled Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models (AO GCMs). Future changes in hydrological regime were assessed using the UNH Water Balance and Water Transport Models (WBM/WTM) which take into account water management including irrigation and reservoir regulation. We found significant shifts in the regional hydrology and quantified potential natural and anthropogenic causes of these changes. The results of our historical and future analysis have demonstrated an intensification of hydrological cycle in many regions of the Northern Eurasia observed over 50-60 year period with accelerated rate during the last decade. Based on climate projections we can expect that the current rate of changes to continue over the course of XXI century. A significant part of the analysis and quantitative estimates of water cycle trends in Northern Eurasia has been done using RIMS online and offline data analysis tools. RIMS has been developed by the Water Systems Analysis Group at the University of New Hampshire, USA for the NEESPI program. Presently, the RIMS data pool is composed of a variety of themes including climate, hydrology, land cover, human dimension, and others. It comprises over five thousand single layer (e.g. soil type) and time series (e.g. daily runoff) raster GIS coverages, and a number of climate and hydrology station/point network datasets. The system streamlines data mining, management and model feeds in the computational environment of large and diverse data holdings. In this presentation we want to demonstrate

  18. The Mars water cycle at other epochs: History of the polar caps and layered terrain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jakosky, Bruce M.; Henderson, Bradley G.; Mellon, Michael T.

    1992-01-01

    The atmospheric water cycle at the present epoch involves summertime sublimation of water from the north polar cap, transport of water through the atmosphere, and condensation on one or both winter CO2 caps. Exchange with the regolith is important seasonally, but the water content of the atmosphere appears to be controlled by the polar caps. The net annual transport through the atmosphere, integrated over long timescales, must be the driving force behind the long-term evolution of the polar caps; clearly, this feeds back into the evolution of the layered terrain. We have investigated the behavior of the seasonal water cycle and the net integrated behavior at the pole for the last 10 exp 7 years. Our model of the water cycle includes the solar input, CO2 condensation and sublimation, and summertime water sublimation through the seasonal cycles, and incorporates the long-term variations in the orbital elements describing the Martian orbit.

  19. Integrated management of water resources in urban water system: Water Sensitive Urban Development as a strategic approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Joaquín Suárez López

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The urban environment has to be concerned with the integrated water resources management, which necessarily includes the concept of basin unity and governance.  The traditional urban water cycle framework, which includes water supply, sewerage and wastewater treatment services, is being replaced by a holistic and systemic concept, where water is associated with urbanism and sustainability policies. This global point of view cannot be ignored as new regulations demand systemic and environmental approaches to the administrations, for instance, in the management of urban drainage and sewerage systems. The practical expression of this whole cluster interactions is beginning to take shape in several countries, with the definition of Low Impact Development and Water Sensitivity Urban Design concepts. Intends to integrate this new strategic approach under the name: “Water Sensitive Urban Development” (WSUD. With WSUD approach, the current urban water systems (originally conceived under the traditional concept of urban water cycle can be transformed, conceptual and physically, for an integrated management of the urban water system in new models of sustainable urban development. A WSUD implementing new approach to the management of pollution associated with stormwater in the urban water system is also presented, including advances in environmental regulations and incorporation of several techniques in Spain.

  20. Nuclear Production of Hydrogen Using Thermochemical Water-Splitting Cycles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, L.C.; Besenbruch, G.E.; Schultz, K.R.; Marshall, A.C.; Showalter, S.K.; Pickard, P.S.; Funk, J.F.

    2002-01-01

    The purpose of this work is to determine the potential for efficient, cost-effective, large-scale production of hydrogen utilizing high-temperature heat from an advanced nuclear power station in a thermochemical water-splitting cycle. We carried out a detailed literature search to create a searchable database with 115 cycles and 822 references. We developed screening criteria to reduce the list to 25 cycles. We used detailed evaluation to select two cycles that appear most promising, the Adiabatic UT-3 cycle and the Sulfur-Iodine cycle. We have selected the Sulfur-Iodine thermochemical water-splitting cycle for further development. We then assessed the suitability of various nuclear reactor types to the production of hydrogen from water using the Sulfur-Iodine cycle. A basic requirement is to deliver heat to the process interface heat exchanger at temperatures up to 900 deg. C. We considered nine categories of reactors: pressurized water-cooled, boiling water-cooled, organic-cooled, alkali metal-cooled, heavy metal-cooled, gas-cooled, molten salt-cooled, liquid-core and gas-core reactors. We developed requirements and criteria to carry out the assessment, considering design, safety, operational, economic and development issues. This assessment process led to our choice of the helium gas-cooled reactor for coupling to the Sulfur-Iodine cycle. In continuing work, we are investigating the improvements that have been proposed to the Sulfur-Iodine cycle and will generate an integrated flowsheet describing a hydrogen production plant powered by a high-temperature helium gas-cooled nuclear reactor. This will allow us to size process equipment and calculate hydrogen production efficiency and capital cost, and to estimate the cost of the hydrogen produced as a function of nuclear reactor cost. (authors)

  1. Global water cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Franklin; Goodman, Steven J.; Christy, John R.; Fitzjarrald, Daniel E.; Chou, Shi-Hung; Crosson, William; Wang, Shouping; Ramirez, Jorge

    1993-01-01

    This research is the MSFC component of a joint MSFC/Pennsylvania State University Eos Interdisciplinary Investigation on the global water cycle extension across the earth sciences. The primary long-term objective of this investigation is to determine the scope and interactions of the global water cycle with all components of the Earth system and to understand how it stimulates and regulates change on both global and regional scales. Significant accomplishments in the past year are presented and include the following: (1) water vapor variability; (2) multi-phase water analysis; (3) global modeling; and (4) optimal precipitation and stream flow analysis and hydrologic processes.

  2. INTEGRATED PYROLYSIS COMBINED CYCLE BIOMASS POWER SYSTEM CONCEPT DEFINITION

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sandvig, Eric; Walling, Gary; Brown, Robert C.; Pletka, Ryan; Radlein, Desmond; Johnson, Warren

    2003-01-01

    Advanced power systems based on integrated gasification/combined cycles (IGCC) are often presented as a solution to the present shortcomings of biomass as fuel. Although IGCC has been technically demonstrated at full scale, it has not been adopted for commercial power generation. Part of the reason for this situation is the continuing low price for coal. However, another significant barrier to IGCC is the high level of integration of this technology: the gas output from the gasifier must be perfectly matched to the energy demand of the gas turbine cycle. We are developing an alternative to IGCC for biomass power: the integrated (fast) pyrolysis/ combined cycle (IPCC). In this system solid biomass is converted into liquid rather than gaseous fuel. This liquid fuel, called bio-oil, is a mixture of oxygenated organic compounds and water that serves as fuel for a gas turbine topping cycle. Waste heat from the gas turbine provides thermal energy to the steam turbine bottoming cycle. Advantages of the biomass-fueled IPCC system include: combined cycle efficiency exceeding 37 percent efficiency for a system as small as 7.6 MW e ; absence of high pressure thermal reactors; decoupling of fuel processing and power generation; and opportunities for recovering value-added products from the bio-oil. This report provides a technical overview of the system including pyrolyzer design, fuel clean-up strategies, pyrolysate condenser design, opportunities for recovering pyrolysis byproducts, gas turbine cycle design, and Rankine steam cycle. The report also reviews the potential biomass fuel supply in Iowa, provide and economic analysis, and present a summery of benefits from the proposed system

  3. INTEGRATED PYROLYSIS COMBINED CYCLE BIOMASS POWER SYSTEM CONCEPT DEFINITION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eric Sandvig; Gary Walling; Robert C. Brown; Ryan Pletka; Desmond Radlein; Warren Johnson

    2003-03-01

    Advanced power systems based on integrated gasification/combined cycles (IGCC) are often presented as a solution to the present shortcomings of biomass as fuel. Although IGCC has been technically demonstrated at full scale, it has not been adopted for commercial power generation. Part of the reason for this situation is the continuing low price for coal. However, another significant barrier to IGCC is the high level of integration of this technology: the gas output from the gasifier must be perfectly matched to the energy demand of the gas turbine cycle. We are developing an alternative to IGCC for biomass power: the integrated (fast) pyrolysis/ combined cycle (IPCC). In this system solid biomass is converted into liquid rather than gaseous fuel. This liquid fuel, called bio-oil, is a mixture of oxygenated organic compounds and water that serves as fuel for a gas turbine topping cycle. Waste heat from the gas turbine provides thermal energy to the steam turbine bottoming cycle. Advantages of the biomass-fueled IPCC system include: combined cycle efficiency exceeding 37 percent efficiency for a system as small as 7.6 MW{sub e}; absence of high pressure thermal reactors; decoupling of fuel processing and power generation; and opportunities for recovering value-added products from the bio-oil. This report provides a technical overview of the system including pyrolyzer design, fuel clean-up strategies, pyrolysate condenser design, opportunities for recovering pyrolysis byproducts, gas turbine cycle design, and Rankine steam cycle. The report also reviews the potential biomass fuel supply in Iowa, provide and economic analysis, and present a summery of benefits from the proposed system.

  4. Ammonia-water Rankine cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bo Hanliang; Ma Changwen; Wu Shaorong

    1997-01-01

    On characteristics of heating source and cooling source in nuclear heating reactor cooperation, the authors advance a new kind of power cycle in which a multicomponent mixture as the work fluid, ammonia-water Rankine cycle, describe its running principle, and compare it with steam Rankine cycle in the same situation. The result is that: the new kind of power cycle, ammonia-water Rankine cycle has higher electricity efficiency; it suits for the situation of heating source and cooling source which offered by nuclear heating reactor cooperation. For low temperature heating source, it maybe has a widely application

  5. Thermo-economic assessment of the integration of steam cycles on offshore platforms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nguyen, Tuong-Van; Tock, Laurence; Breuhaus, Peter

    2014-01-01

    thermodynamic and economic performance indicators. The results illustrate the benefits of converting the gas turbines into a combined cycle. Using seawater results in smaller power generation and greater CO2-emissions than using process water, as the additional power generation in the combined cycle......The integration of steam bottoming cycles on oil platforms is often seen as a possible route to mitigate the CO2-emissions offshore. In this paper, a North Sea platform and its energy requirements are systematically analysed. The site-scale integration of steam networks is assessed by using...... is compensated by the significant pumping demand. This work emphasises that energy improvement efforts should be analysed at the scale of the overall site and not solely at the level of the combined cycle....

  6. NEWS Climatology Project: The State of the Water Cycle at Continental to Global Scales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodell, Matthew; LEcuyer, Tristan; Beaudoing, Hiroko Kato; Olson, Bill

    2011-01-01

    NASA's Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) program fosters collaborative research towards improved quantification and prediction of water and energy cycle consequences of climate change. In order to measure change, it is first necessary to describe current conditions. The goal of the NEWS Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project is to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. The project is a multiinstitutional collaboration with more than 20 active contributors. This presentation will describe results of the first stage of the water budget analysis, whose goal was to characterize the current state of the water cycle on mean monthly, continental scales. We examine our success in closing the water budget within the expected uncertainty range and the effects of forcing budget closure as a method for refining individual flux estimates.

  7. Round and Round the Water Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradley, Barbara A.

    2017-01-01

    Children enjoy water play, and kindergarten children can learn about the water cycle. Teachers are already introducing elements of the water cycle when discussing weather and bodies of water. The water cycle also can be a springboard for teaching children about plants and animals and the importance of water for sustaining life and shaping our…

  8. The integrity management cycle as a business process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ackhurst, Trent B.; Peverelli, Romina P. [PIMS - Pipeline Integrity Management Specialists of London Ltd. (United Kingdom).

    2009-07-01

    It is a best-practice Oil and Gas pipeline integrity and reliability technique to apply integrity management cycles. This is conforms to the business principles of continuous improvement. This paper examines the integrity management cycle - both goals and objectives and subsequent component steps - from a business perspective. Traits that businesses require, to glean maximum benefit from such a cycle, are highlighted. A case study focuses upon an integrity and reliability process developed to apply to pipeline operators. installations. This is compared and contrasted to the pipeline integrity management cycle to underline both cycles. consistency with the principles of continuous improvement. (author)

  9. WaterNet: The NASA Water Cycle Solutions Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houser, P. R.; Belvedere, D. R.; Pozzi, W. H.; Imam, B.; Schiffer, R.; Lawford, R.; Schlosser, C. A.; Gupta, H.; Welty, C.; Vorosmarty, C.; Matthews, D.

    2007-12-01

    Water is essential to life and directly impacts and constrains society's welfare, progress, and sustainable growth, and is continuously being transformed by climate change, erosion, pollution, and engineering practices. The water cycle is a critical resource for industry, agriculture, natural ecosystems, fisheries, aquaculture, hydroelectric power, recreation, and water supply, and is central to drought, flood, transportation-aviation, and disease hazards. It is therefore a national priority to use advancements in scientific observations and knowledge to develop solutions to the water challenges faced by society. NASA's unique role is to use its view from space to improve water and energy cycle monitoring and prediction. NASA has collected substantial water cycle information and knowledge that must be transitioned to develop solutions for all twelve National Priority Application (NPA) areas. NASA cannot achieve this goal alone -it must establish collaborations and interoperability with existing networks and nodes of research organizations, operational agencies, science communities, and private industry. Therefore, WaterNet: The NASA Water Cycle Solutions Network goal is to improve and optimize the sustained ability of water cycle researchers, stakeholders, organizations and networks to interact, identify, harness, and extend NASA research results to augment decision support tools and meet national needs. WaterNet is a catalyst for discovery and sharing of creative solutions to water problems. It serves as a creative, discovery process that is the entry-path for a research-to-solutions systems engineering NASA framework, with the end result to ultimately improve decision support.

  10. An update technology for integrated biomass gasification combined cycle power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhattacharya, P.; Dey, S.

    2014-01-01

    A discussion is presented on the technical analysis of a 6.4 M W_e integrated biomass gasification combined cycle (IBGCC) plant. It features three numbers of downdraft biomass gasifier systems with suitable gas clean-up trains, three numbers of internal combustion (IC) producer gas engines for producing 5.85 MW electrical power in open cycle and 550 kW power in a bottoming cycle using waste heat. Comparing with IC gas engine single cycle systems, this technology route increases overall system efficiency of the power plant, which in turn improves plant economics. Estimated generation cost of electricity indicates that mega-watt scale IBGCC power plants can contribute to good economies of scale in India. This paper also highlight's the possibility of activated carbon generation from the char, a byproduct of gasification process, and use of engine's jacket water heat to generate chilled water through VAM for gas conditioning. (author)

  11. Teaching Kindergarten Students about the Water Cycle through Arts and Invention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Latisha L.; Samarakoon, Deepanee

    2016-01-01

    Research evidence for the benefits of arts integration is mounting. The purpose of this study was to determine if integration of the arts was an effective strategy for teaching the water cycle to kindergarten students. The study included lessons that supported both a science and an engineering standard of the Next Generation Science Standards and…

  12. Water scarcity assessment of steel production in national integrated steelmaking route

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Burchart-Korol

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The main goal of the study was the assessment of the water scarcity in steel production in integrated steelmaking route in Poland. The main goal of Water footprint (WF is quantifying and mapping of direct and indirect water use in life cycle of product or technology. In the paper Water Scarcity Indicators (WSI for steel production and unit processes in integrated steelmaking route was performed.

  13. Life cycle management of service water systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Egan, Geoffrey R.; Besuner, Philip M.; Mahajan, Sat P.

    2004-01-01

    As nuclear plants age, more attention must focus on age and time dependent degradation mechanisms such as corrosion, erosion, fatigue, etc. These degradation mechanisms can best be managed by developing a life cycle management plan which integrates past historical data, current conditions and future performance needs. In this paper we present two examples of life cycle management. In the first example, the 20-year maintenance history of a sea water cooling system (cement-lined, cast iron) is reviewed to develop attributes like maintenance cost, spare part inventory, corrosion, and repair data. Based on this information, the future expected damage rate was forecast. The cost of managing the future damage was compared with the cost to replace (in kind and with upgraded materials. A decision optimization scheme was developed to choose the least cost option from: a) Run as-is and repair; b) replace in kind; or c) replace with upgraded material and better design. In the second example, life cycle management techniques were developed for a ceilcote lined steel pipe cooling water system. Screens (fixed and traveling), filters, pumps, motors, valves, and piping were evaluated. (author)

  14. An integrated solar thermal power system using intercooled gas turbine and Kalina cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, Shuo; Hong, Hui; Jin, Hongguang; Wang, Zhifeng

    2012-01-01

    A new solar tower thermal power system integrating the intercooled gas turbine top cycle and the Kalina bottoming cycle is proposed in the present paper. The thermodynamic performance of the proposed system is investigated, and the irreversibility of energy conversion is disclosed using the energy–utilization diagram method. On the top cycle of the proposed system, the compressed air after being intercooled is heated at 1000 °C or higher at the solar tower receiver and is used to drive the gas turbine to generate power. The ammonia–water mixture as the working substance of the bottom cycle recovers the waste heat from the gas turbine to generate power. A concise analytical formula of solar-to-electric efficiency of the proposed system is developed. As a result, the peak solar-to-electric efficiency of the proposed system is 27.5% at a gas turbine inlet temperature of 1000 °C under the designed solar direct normal irradiance of 800 W/m 2 . Compared with a conventional solar power tower plant, the proposed integrated system conserves approximately 69% of consumed water. The results obtained in the current study provide an approach to improve solar-to-electric efficiency and offer a potential to conserve water for solar thermal power plants in arid area. -- Highlights: ► An Integrated Solar Thermal Power System is modeled. ► A formula forecasting the thermodynamic performance is proposed. ► The irreversibility of energy conversion is disclosed using an energy utilization method. ► The effect of key operational parameters on thermal performance is examined.

  15. The water cycle for kids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neno, Stephanie; Morgan, Jim; Zonolli, Gabriele; Perlman, Howard; Gonthier, Gerard

    2013-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have created a water-cycle diagram for use in elementary and middle schools. The diagram is available in many languages. This diagram is part of the USGS's Water Science School, in which the water cycle is described in detail.

  16. Integrated assessment, water resources, and science-policy communication

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davies, E.G.R.; Akhtar, M.K.; McBean, G.A.; Simonovic, S.P.

    2009-01-01

    Traditional climate change modeling neglects the role of feedbacks between different components of society-biosphere-climate system. Yet, such interconnections are critical. This paper describes an alternative, Integrated Assessment (IA) model that focuses on feedbacks not only within individual elements of the society-biosphere-climate system, but also on their interconnections. The model replicates the relevant dynamics of nine components of the society-biosphere- climate system at the sectoral, or single-component, level: climate, carbon cycle, hydrological cycle, water demand, water quality, population, land use, energy and economy. The paper discusses the role of the model in science-policy dialogue. (author)

  17. Development of life cycle water-demand coefficients for coal-based power generation technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, Babkir; Kumar, Amit

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We develop water consumption and withdrawals coefficients for coal power generation. • We develop life cycle water footprints for 36 coal-based electricity generation pathways. • Different coal power generation technologies were assessed. • Sensitivity analysis of plant performance and coal transportation on water demand. - Abstract: This paper aims to develop benchmark coefficients for water consumption and water withdrawals over the full life cycle of coal-based power generation. This study considered not only all of the unit operations involved in the full electricity generation life cycle but also compared different coal-based power generating technologies. Overall this study develops the life cycle water footprint for 36 different coal-based electricity generation pathways. Power generation pathways involving new technologies of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) or ultra supercritical technology with coal transportation by conventional means and using dry cooling systems have the least complete life cycle water-demand coefficients of about 1 L/kW h. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to study the impact of power plant performance and coal transportation on the water demand coefficients. The consumption coefficient over life cycle of ultra supercritical or IGCC power plants are 0.12 L/kW h higher when conventional transportation of coal is replaced by coal-log pipeline. Similarly, if the conventional transportation of coal is replaced by its transportation in the form of a slurry through a pipeline, the consumption coefficient of a subcritical power plant increases by 0.52 L/kW h

  18. NASA Contributions to Improve Understanding of Extreme Events in the Global Energy and Water Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lapenta, William M.

    2008-01-01

    The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) has established the water cycle goals of the Nation's climate change program. Accomplishing these goals will require, in part, an accurate accounting of the key reservoirs and fluxes associated with the global water and energy cycle, including their spatial and temporal variability. through integration of all necessary observations and research tools, To this end, in conjunction with NASA's Earth science research strategy, the overarching long-term NASA Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) grand challenge can he summarized as documenting and enabling improved, observationally based, predictions of water and energy cycle consequences of Earth system variability and change. This challenge requires documenting and predicting trends in the rate of the Earth's water and energy cycling that corresponds to climate change and changes in the frequency and intensity of naturally occurring related meteorological and hydrologic events, which may vary as climate may vary in the future. The cycling of water and energy has obvious and significant implications for the health and prosperity of our society. The importance of documenting and predicting water and energy cycle variations and extremes is necessary to accomplish this benefit to society.

  19. The integral fast reactor fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Y.I.

    1990-01-01

    The liquid-metal reactor (LMR) has the potential to extend the uranium resource by a factor of 50 to 100 over current commercial light water reactors (LWRs). In the integral fast reactor (IFR) development program, the entire reactor system - reactor, fuel cycle, and waste process - is being developed and optimized at the same time as a single integral entity. A key feature of the IFR concept is the metallic fuel. The lead irradiation tests on the new U-Pu-Zr metallic fuel in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II have surpassed 185000 MWd/t burnup, and its high burnup capability has now been fully demonstrated. The metallic fuel also allows a radically improved fuel cycle technology. Pyroprocessing, which utilizes high temperatures and molten salt and molten metal solvents, can be advantageously utilized for processing metal fuels because the product is metal suitable for fabrication into new fuel elements. Direct production of a metal product avoids expensive and cumbersome chemical conversion steps that would result from use of the conventional Purex solvent extraction process. The key step in the IFR process is electrorefining, which provides for recovery of the valuable fuel constituents, uranium and plutonium, and for removal of fission products. A notable feature of the IFR process is that the actinide elements accompany plutonium through the process. This results in a major advantage in the high-level waste management

  20. Integration of Social Aspects in Decision Support, Based on Life Cycle Thinking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pere Fullana-i-Palmer

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Recently increasing attention has been paid to complementing environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA with social aspects. The paper discusses the selection of social impacts and indicators from existing frameworks like Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA and Social Impact Assessment (SIA. Two ongoing case studies, addressing sustainability assessment within decision support, were considered: (1 Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM in Indonesia; and (2 Integrated Packaging Waste Management in Spain and Portugal (FENIX. The focus was put on social impacts occurring due to decisions within these systems, such as choice of technologies, practices or suppliers. Thus, decision makers—here understood as intended users of the studies’ results—are not consumers that buy (or do not buy a product, such as in recent SLCA case-studies, but mainly institutions that decide about the design of the water or packaging waste management system. Therefore, in the FENIX project, a list of social impacts identified from literature was sent to the intended users to be ranked according to their priorities. Finally, the paper discusses to what extent the entire life cycle is reflected in SLCA impact categories and indicators, and explains how both life-cycle and on-site-related social impacts were chosen to be assessed. However, not all indicators in the two projects will assess all stages of the life cycle, because of their varying relevance in the different stages, data availability and practical interest of decision makers.

  1. Comparison of Different Technologies for Integrated Solar Combined Cycles: Analysis of Concentrating Technology and Solar Integration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Rovira

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper compares the annual performance of Integrated Solar Combined Cycles (ISCCs using different solar concentration technologies: parabolic trough collectors (PTC, linear Fresnel reflectors (LFR and central tower receiver (CT. Each solar technology (i.e. PTC, LFR and CT is proposed to integrate solar energy into the combined cycle in two different ways. The first one is based on the use of solar energy to evaporate water of the steam cycle by means of direct steam generation (DSG, increasing the steam production of the high pressure level of the steam generator. The other one is based on the use of solar energy to preheat the pressurized air at the exit of the gas turbine compressor before it is introduced in the combustion chamber, reducing the fuel consumption. Results show that ISCC with DSG increases the yearly production while solar air heating reduces it due to the incremental pressure drop. However, air heating allows significantly higher solar-to-electricity efficiencies and lower heat rates. Regarding the solar technologies, PTC provides the best thermal results.

  2. Examining Language To Capture Scientific Understandings: The Case of the Water Cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varelas, Maria; Pappas, Christine; Barry, Anne; O'Neill, Amy

    2001-01-01

    Presents units that address states of matter and changes of states of matter linked with the water cycle and integrates literacy and science. Discusses the language in science books. Lists characteristics of good science inquiry units. (Contains 11 references.) (ASK)

  3. Life cycle assessment of water supply alternatives in water-receiving areas of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yi; Xiong, Wei; Zhang, Wenlong; Wang, Chao; Wang, Peifang

    2016-02-01

    To alleviate the water shortage in northern China, the Chinese government launched the world's largest water diversion project, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP), which delivers water from water-sufficient southern China to water-deficient northern China. However, an up-to-date study has not been conducted to determine whether the project is a favorable option to augment the water supply from an environmental perspective. The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology integrated with a freshwater withdrawal category (FWI) was adopted to compare water supply alternatives in the water-receiving areas of the SNWDP, i.e., water diversion, wastewater reclamation and seawater desalination. Beijing, Tianjin, Jinan and Qingdao were studied as representative cities because they are the primary water-receiving areas of the SNWDP. The results revealed that the operation phase played the dominant role in all but one of the life cycle impact categories considered and contributed to more than 70% of their scores. For Beijing and Tianjin, receiving water through the SNWDP is the most sustainable option to augment the water supply. The result can be drawn in all of the water-receiving areas of the middle route of the SNWDP. For Jinan and Qingdao, the most sustainable option is the wastewater reclamation system. The seawater desalination system obtains the highest score of the standard impact indicators in all of the study areas, whereas it is the most favorable water supply option when considering the freshwater withdrawal impact. Although the most sustainable water supply alternative was recommended through an LCA analysis, multi-water resources should be integrated into the region's water supply from the perspective of water sustainability. The results of this study provide a useful recommendation on the management of water resources for China. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. The water-water cycle as alternative photon and electron sinks.

    OpenAIRE

    Asada, K

    2000-01-01

    The water-water cycle in chloroplasts is the photoreduction of dioxygen to water in photosystem I (PS I) by the electrons generated in photosystem II (PS II) from water. In the water-water cycle, the rate of photoreduction of dioxygen in PS I is several orders of magnitude lower than those of the disproportionation of superoxide catalysed by superoxide dismutase, the reduction of hydrogen peroxide to water catalysed by ascorbate peroxidase, and the reduction of the resulting oxidized forms of...

  5. Observing the Global Water Cycle from Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hildebrand, P. H.

    2004-01-01

    This paper presents an approach to measuring all major components of the water cycle from space. Key elements of the global water cycle are discussed in terms of the storage of water-in the ocean, air, cloud and precipitation, in soil, ground water, snow and ice, and in lakes and rivers, and in terms of the global fluxes of water between these reservoirs. Approaches to measuring or otherwise evaluating the global water cycle are presented, and the limitations on known accuracy for many components of the water cycle are discussed, as are the characteristic spatial and temporal scales of the different water cycle components. Using these observational requirements for a global water cycle observing system, an approach to measuring the global water cycle from space is developed. The capabilities of various active and passive microwave instruments are discussed, as is the potential of supporting measurements from other sources. Examples of space observational systems, including TRMM/GPM precipitation measurement, cloud radars, soil moisture, sea surface salinity, temperature and humidity profiling, other measurement approaches and assimilation of the microwave and other data into interpretative computer models are discussed to develop the observational possibilities. The selection of orbits is then addressed, for orbit selection and antenna size/beamwidth considerations determine the sampling characteristics for satellite measurement systems. These considerations dictate a particular set of measurement possibilities, which are then matched to the observational sampling requirements based on the science. The results define a network of satellite instrumentation systems, many in low Earth orbit, a few in geostationary orbit, and all tied together through a sampling network that feeds the observations into a data-assimilative computer model.

  6. Fuel cycle flexibility in Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) with the use of Th-LEU fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thakur, A.; Singh, B.; Pushpam, N.P.; Bharti, V.; Kannan, U.; Krishnani, P.D.; Sinha, R.K.

    2011-01-01

    The Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is being designed for large scale commercial utilization of thorium (Th) and integrated technological demonstration of the thorium cycle in India. The AHWR is a 920 MW(th), vertical pressure tube type cooled by boiling light water and moderated by heavy water. Heat removal through natural circulation and on-line fuelling are some of the salient features of AHWR design. The physics design of AHWR offers considerable flexibility to accommodate different kinds of fuel cycles. Our recent efforts have been directed towards a case study for the use of Th-LEU fuel cycle in a once-through mode. The discharged Uranium from Th-LEU cycle has proliferation resistant characteristics. This paper gives the initial core, fuel cycle characteristics and online refueling strategy of Th-LEU fuel in AHWR. (author)

  7. GSFLOW - Coupled Ground-Water and Surface-Water Flow Model Based on the Integration of the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and the Modular Ground-Water Flow Model (MODFLOW-2005)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markstrom, Steven L.; Niswonger, Richard G.; Regan, R. Steven; Prudic, David E.; Barlow, Paul M.

    2008-01-01

    The need to assess the effects of variability in climate, biota, geology, and human activities on water availability and flow requires the development of models that couple two or more components of the hydrologic cycle. An integrated hydrologic model called GSFLOW (Ground-water and Surface-water FLOW) was developed to simulate coupled ground-water and surface-water resources. The new model is based on the integration of the U.S. Geological Survey Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and the U.S. Geological Survey Modular Ground-Water Flow Model (MODFLOW). Additional model components were developed, and existing components were modified, to facilitate integration of the models. Methods were developed to route flow among the PRMS Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs) and between the HRUs and the MODFLOW finite-difference cells. This report describes the organization, concepts, design, and mathematical formulation of all GSFLOW model components. An important aspect of the integrated model design is its ability to conserve water mass and to provide comprehensive water budgets for a location of interest. This report includes descriptions of how water budgets are calculated for the integrated model and for individual model components. GSFLOW provides a robust modeling system for simulating flow through the hydrologic cycle, while allowing for future enhancements to incorporate other simulation techniques.

  8. Urban water metabolism efficiency assessment: integrated analysis of available and virtual water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Chu-Long; Vause, Jonathan; Ma, Hwong-Wen; Yu, Chang-Ping

    2013-05-01

    Resolving the complex environmental problems of water pollution and shortage which occur during urbanization requires the systematic assessment of urban water metabolism efficiency (WME). While previous research has tended to focus on either available or virtual water metabolism, here we argue that the systematic problems arising during urbanization require an integrated assessment of available and virtual WME, using an indicator system based on material flow analysis (MFA) results. Future research should focus on the following areas: 1) analysis of available and virtual water flow patterns and processes through urban districts in different urbanization phases in years with varying amounts of rainfall, and their environmental effects; 2) based on the optimization of social, economic and environmental benefits, establishment of an indicator system for urban WME assessment using MFA results; 3) integrated assessment of available and virtual WME in districts with different urbanization levels, to facilitate study of the interactions between the natural and social water cycles; 4) analysis of mechanisms driving differences in WME between districts with different urbanization levels, and the selection of dominant social and economic driving indicators, especially those impacting water resource consumption. Combinations of these driving indicators could then be used to design efficient water resource metabolism solutions, and integrated management policies for reduced water consumption. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Integrated corporate structure life cycle management modeling and organization

    OpenAIRE

    Naumenko, M.; Morozova, L.

    2011-01-01

    Integrated business structure presented as complementary pool of its participants skills. The methodical approach to integrated business structure life cycle modeling proposed. Recommendations of enterprises life cycles stages correlate are submitted.

  10. Recommendations for Cycle II of National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    ,; Mallard, Gail E.; Armbruster, Jeffrey T.; Broshears, Robert E.; Evenson, Eric J.; Luoma, Samuel N.; Phillips, Patrick J.; Prince, Keith R.

    1999-01-01

    The Planning Team for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program defines a successful NAWQA Program as one that makes a balanced contribution to study-unit issues, national issues, and to the pursuit of scientific knowledge. Using this criterion, NAWQA has been a success. The program has provided important new knowledge and understanding of scientific processes, and insights into the occurrence and distribution of contaminants that have been key to local and national policy decisions. Most of the basic design characteristics of NAWQA's first decade (1991-2000), hereafter called cycle I) remain appropriate as the program enters its second decade (cycle II) in 2001. In cycle II, the program has the opportunity to build on its successful base and to evolve to take advantage of the knowledge generated in cycle I. In addition to this expected evolution, NAWQA must also make some changes to compensate for the fact that program funding has not kept pace with inflation. An important theme for the second cycle of NAWQA will be the integration of knowledge across scales and across disciplines. The question that drove the NAWQA design in the first cycle was "How is water quality related to land use?" Cycle II will build upon what was learned in cycle I and use land-use and water-quality gradients to identify and understand potential sources of various constituents and the processes affecting transport and fate of those constituents and their effects on receptors. The understanding we gain from applying this approach will be relevant to the interests of policymakers, regulatory agencies, and resource managers.

  11. Estimate for interstage water injection in air compressor incorporated into gas-turbine cycles and combined power plants cycles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kler, A. M.; Zakharov, Yu. B.; Potanina, Yu. M.

    2017-05-01

    The objects of study are the gas turbine (GT) plant and combined cycle power plant (CCPP) with opportunity for injection between the stages of air compressor. The objective of this paper is technical and economy optimization calculations for these classes of plants with water interstage injection. The integrated development environment "System of machine building program" was a tool for creating the mathematic models for these classes of power plants. Optimization calculations with the criterion of minimum for specific capital investment as a function of the unit efficiency have been carried out. For a gas-turbine plant, the economic gain from water injection exists for entire range of power efficiency. For the combined cycle plant, the economic benefit was observed only for a certain range of plant's power efficiency.

  12. Business Cycle Synchronization and Regional Integration

    OpenAIRE

    Fiess, Norbert

    2007-01-01

    Deeper trade integration between Central America and the United States, as envisaged under the Central American Free Trade Agreement, is likely to lead to closer links between Central American and U.S. business cycles. This article assesses the degree of business cycle synchronization between Central America and the United States—relevant not only for a better understanding of the influence of important trading partners on the business cycle fluctuations in the domestic economy but for evalua...

  13. An Overview of the NASA Energy and Water cycle Study (NEWS) and the North American Water Program (NAWP)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houser, P. R.

    2014-12-01

    NEWS: 10 years ago, NASA established the NASA Energy and Water-cycle Study (NEWS), whose long-term grand challenge is to document and enable improved, observationally based, predictions of water and energy cycle consequences of Earth system variability and change. The NEWS program builds upon existing NASA-supported basic research in atmospheric physics and dynamics, radiation, climate modeling, and terrestrial hydrology. While these NASA programs fund research activities that address individual aspects of the global energy and water cycles, they are not specifically designed to generate a coordinated result. NEWS developed the first coordinated attempt to describe the complete global energy and water cycle using existing and forthcoming satellite and ground based observations, and laying the foundation for essential NEWS developments in model representations of atmospheric energy and water exchange processes. This comprehensive energy and water data analysis program exploited crucial datasets, some requiring complete re-processing, and new satellite measurements. NAWP: Dramatically changing climates has had an indelible impact on North America's water crisis. To decisively address these challenges, we recommend that NAWP coalesce an interdisciplinary, international and interagency effort to make significant contributions to continental- to decision-scale hydroclimate science and solutions. By entraining, integrating and coordinating the vast array of interdisciplinary observational and prediction resources available, NAWP will significantly advance skill in predicting, assessing and managing variability and changes in North American water resources. We adopt three challenges to organize NAWP efforts. The first deals with developing a scientific basis and tools for mitigating and adapting to changes in the water supply-demand balance. The second challenge is benchmarking; to use incomplete and uncertain observations to assess water storage and quality dynamics, and

  14. Life-cycle energy impacts for adapting an urban water supply system to droughts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lam, Ka Leung; Stokes-Draut, Jennifer R; Horvath, Arpad; Lane, Joe L; Kenway, Steven J; Lant, Paul A

    2017-12-15

    In recent years, cities in some water stressed regions have explored alternative water sources such as seawater desalination and potable water recycling in spite of concerns over increasing energy consumption. In this study, we evaluate the current and future life-cycle energy impacts of four alternative water supply strategies introduced during a decade-long drought in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. These strategies were: seawater desalination, indirect potable water recycling, network integration, and rainwater tanks. Our work highlights the energy burden of alternative water supply strategies which added approximately 24% life-cycle energy use to the existing supply system (with surface water sources) in SEQ even for a current post-drought low utilisation status. Over half of this additional life-cycle energy use was from the centralised alternative supply strategies. Rainwater tanks contributed an estimated 3% to regional water supply, but added over 10% life-cycle energy use to the existing system. In the future scenario analysis, we compare the life-cycle energy use between "Normal", "Dry", "High water demand" and "Design capacity" scenarios. In the "Normal" scenario, a long-term low utilisation of the desalination system and the water recycling system has greatly reduced the energy burden of these centralised strategies to only 13%. In contrast, higher utilisation in the unlikely "Dry" and "Design capacity" scenarios add 86% and 140% to life-cycle energy use of the existing system respectively. In the "High water demand" scenario, a 20% increase in per capita water use over 20 years "consumes" more energy than is used by the four alternative strategies in the "Normal" scenario. This research provides insight for developing more realistic long-term scenarios to evaluate and compare life-cycle energy impacts of drought-adaptation infrastructure and regional decentralised water sources. Scenario building for life-cycle assessments of water supply

  15. Human Impacts on the Hydrologic Cycle: Comparing Global Climate Change and Local Water Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, I. M.; Maxwell, R. M.

    2010-12-01

    Anthropogenic climate change is significantly altering the hydrologic cycle at global and regional scales, with potentially devastating impacts on water resources. Recent studies demonstrate that hydrologic response to climate change will depend on local-scale feedbacks between groundwater, surface water, and land surface processes. These studies suggest that local water management practices that alter the quantity and distribution of water in the terrestrial system—e.g., groundwater pumping and irrigation—may also feed back across the hydrologic cycle, with impacts on land-atmosphere fluxes and thus weather and climate. Here we use an integrated hydrologic model to compare the impacts of large-scale climate change and local water management practices on water and energy budgets at local and watershed scales. We consider three climate scenarios (hot, hot+wet, and hot+dry) and three management scenarios (pumping only, irrigation only, and pumping+irrigation). Results demonstrate that impacts of local water management on basin-integrated groundwater storage, evapotranspiration, and stream discharge are comparable to those of changing climate conditions. However, impacts of climate change are shown to have a smaller magnitude and greater spatial extent, while impacts of pumping and irrigation are shown to have a greater magnitude but are local to areas where pumping and irrigation occur. These results have important implications regarding the scales of human impacts on both water resources and climate and the sustainability of water resources.

  16. The Conceptual Design of an Integrated Nuclearhydrogen Production Plant Using the Sulfur Cycle Water Decomposition System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farbman, G. H.

    1976-01-01

    A hydrogen production plant was designed based on a hybrid electrolytic-thermochemical process for decomposing water. The sulfur cycle water decomposition system is driven by a very high temperature nuclear reactor that provides 1,283 K helium working gas. The plant is sized to approximately ten million standard cubic meters per day of electrolytically pure hydrogen and has an overall thermal efficiently of 45.2 percent. The economics of the plant were evaluated using ground rules which include a 1974 cost basis without escalation, financing structure and other economic factors. Taking into account capital, operation, maintenance and nuclear fuel cycle costs, the cost of product hydrogen was calculated at $5.96/std cu m for utility financing. These values are significantly lower than hydrogen costs from conventional water electrolysis plants and competitive with hydrogen from coal gasification plants.

  17. Technical Feasibility Study of Thermal Energy Storage Integration into the Conventional Power Plant Cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacek D. Wojcik

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The current load balance in the grid is managed mainly through peaking fossil-fuelled power plants that respond passively to the load changes. Intermittency, which comes from renewable energy sources, imposes additional requirements for even more flexible and faster responses from conventional power plants. A major challenge is to keep conventional generation running closest to the design condition with higher load factors and to avoid switching off periods if possible. Thermal energy storage (TES integration into the power plant process cycle is considered as a possible solution for this issue. In this article, a technical feasibility study of TES integration into a 375-MW subcritical oil-fired conventional power plant is presented. Retrofitting is considered in order to avoid major changes in the power plant process cycle. The concept is tested based on the complete power plant model implemented in the ProTRAX software environment. Steam and water parameters are assessed for different TES integration scenarios as a function of the plant load level. The best candidate points for heat extraction in the TES charging and discharging processes are evaluated. The results demonstrate that the integration of TES with power plant cycle is feasible and provide a provisional guidance for the design of the TES system that will result in the minimal influence on the power plant cycle.

  18. Comparative assessment of nuclear fuel cycles. Light-water reactor once-through, classical fast breeder reactor, and symbiotic fast breeder reactor cycles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hardie, R.W.; Barrett, R.J.; Freiwald, J.G.

    1980-06-01

    The object of the Alternative Nuclear Fuel Cycle Study is to perform comparative assessments of nuclear power systems. There are two important features of this study. First, this evaluation attempts to encompass the complete, integrated fuel cycle from mining of uranium ore to disposal of waste rather than isolated components. Second, it compares several aspects of each cycle - energy use, economics, technological status, proliferation, public safety, and commercial potential - instead of concentrating on one or two assessment areas. This report presents assessment results for three fuel cycles. These are the light-water reactor once-through cycle, the fast breeder reactor on the classical plutonium cycle, and the fast breeder reactor on a symbiotic cycle using plutonium and 233 U as fissile fuels. The report also contains a description of the methodology used in this assessment. Subsequent reports will present results for additional fuel cycles

  19. Combined cycle power plant with integrated low temperature heat (LOTHECO)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kakaras, E.; Doukelis, A.; Leithner, R.; Aronis, N.

    2004-01-01

    The major driver to enhance the efficiency of the simple gas turbine cycle has been the increase in process conditions through advancements in materials and cooling methods. Thermodynamic cycle developments or cycle integration are among the possible ways to further enhance performance. The current paper presents the possibilities and advantages from the LOTHECO natural gas-fired combined cycle concept. In the LOTHECO cycle, low-temperature waste heat or solar heat is used for the evaporation of injected water droplets in the compressed air entering the gas turbine's combustion chamber. Following a description of this innovative cycle, its advantages are demonstrated by comparison between different gas turbine power generation systems for small and large-scale applications, including thermodynamic and economic analysis. A commercial gas turbine (ALSTOM GT10C) has been selected and computed with the heat mass balance program ENBIPRO. The results from the energy analysis are presented and the features of each concept are discussed. In addition, the exergy analysis provides information on the irreversibilities of each process and suggested improvements. Finally, the economic analysis reveals that the combined cycle plant with a heavy-duty gas turbine is the most efficient and economic way to produce electricity at base load. However, on a smaller scale, innovative designs, such as the LOTHECO concept, are required to reach the same level of performance at feasible costs

  20. High performance integrated solar combined cycles with minimum modifications to the combined cycle power plant design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manente, Giovanni

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Off-design model of a 390 MW_e three pressure combined cycle developed and validated. • The off-design model is used to evaluate different hybridization schemes with solar. • Power boosting and fuel saving with different design modifications are considered. • Maximum solar share of total electricity is only 1% with the existing equipment. • The maximum incremental solar radiation-to-electrical efficiency approaches 29%. - Abstract: The integration of solar energy into natural gas combined cycles has been successfully demonstrated in several integrated solar combined cycles since the beginning of this decade in many countries. There are many motivations that drive investments on integrated solar combined cycles which are primarily the repowering of existing power plants, the compliance with more severe environmental laws on emissions and the mitigation of risks associated with large solar projects. Integrated solar combined cycles are usually developed as brownfield facilities by retrofitting existing natural gas combined cycles and keeping the existing equipment to minimize costs. In this work a detailed off-design model of a 390 MW_e three pressure level natural gas combined cycle is built to evaluate different integration schemes of solar energy which either keep the equipment of the combined cycle unchanged or include new equipment (steam turbine, heat recovery steam generator). Both power boosting and fuel saving operation strategies are analyzed in the search for the highest annual efficiency and solar share. Results show that the maximum incremental power output from solar at design solar irradiance is limited to 19 MW_e without modifications to the existing equipment. Higher values are attainable only including a larger steam turbine. High solar radiation-to-electrical efficiencies in the range 24–29% can be achieved in the integrated solar combined cycle depending on solar share and extension of tube banks in the heat recovery

  1. Integrated fuel-cycle models for fast breeder reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ott, K.O.; Maudlin, P.J.

    1981-01-01

    Breeder-reactor fuel-cycle analysis can be divided into four different areas or categories. The first category concerns questions about the spatial variation of the fuel composition for single loading intervals. Questions of the variations in the fuel composition over several cycles represent a second category. Third, there is a need for a determination of the breeding capability of the reactor. The fourth category concerns the investigation of breeding and long-term fuel logistics. Two fuel-cycle models used to answer questions in the third and fourth area are presented. The space- and time-dependent actinide balance, coupled with criticality and fuel-management constraints, is the basis for both the Discontinuous Integrated Fuel-Cycle Model and the Continuous Integrated Fuel-Cycle Model. The results of the continuous model are compared with results obtained from detailed two-dimensional space and multigroup depletion calculations. The continuous model yields nearly the same results as the detailed calculation, and this is with a comparatively insignificant fraction of the computational effort needed for the detailed calculation. Thus, the integrated model presented is an accurate tool for answering questions concerning reactor breeding capability and long-term fuel logistics. (author)

  2. Coupling between the continental carbon and water cycles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gentine, P.; Lemordant, L. A.; Green, J. K.

    2017-12-01

    The continental carbon adn water cycles are fundamentally coupled through leaf gas exchange at the stomata level. IN this presnetation we will emphasize the importance of this coupling for the future of the water cycle (runoff, evaporation, soil moisture) and in turn the implications for the carbon cycle and the capacity of continents to act as a carbon dioxyde sink in the future. Opprtunites from coupled carbon-water monitoring platforms will be then emphasized.

  3. Forests and water cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iovino F

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Based on a comprehensive literature analysis, a review on factors that control water cycle and water use in Mediterranean forest ecosystems is presented, including environmental variables and silvicultural treatments. This important issue is considered in the perspective of sustainable forest management of Mediterranean forests, with special regard to crucial environmental hazards such as forest fires and desertification risks related to climate change.

  4. Biomass fueled closed cycle gas turbine with water injection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bardi, Silvia [Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Technology

    2001-01-01

    Direct water injection has been studied for a small scale ({approx} 8 MW fuel input) closed cycle gas turbine coupled to a biomass fueled CFB furnace. Two different working fluids have been considered (helium-water mixture and nitrogen-water mixture). The water injection could take place between the compressor stages, as an intercooler, or after the high pressure compressor, as an aftercooler. Both this options have been studied, varying the relative humidity levels after the injection and the temperatures of the injected water. The effect of water injection on thermodynamic properties of the working fluids has been studied, together with its effect on turbomachinery isentropic efficiency. A sensitivity analysis on turbomachinery efficiency and cycle base pressure has been included. The results from this study have been compared to the performance of a dry closed cycle without water injection. The wet cycle shows an electric efficiency in the range 29-32% with helium-water mixture as working fluid and 30-32% with nitrogen-water mixture as working fluid, while the total efficiency (referring to the fuel LHV) is always higher than 100%. In the non-injected cycle the electric efficiency is 30-35% with helium and 32-36 with nitrogen. The total efficiency in the dry case with two level intercooling and postcooling is 87-89%, while is higher than 100% when only one stage inter- and postcooling is present. Aside from this, the study also includes a sizing of the heat exchangers for the different cycle variations. The heat transfer area is very sensible to the working fluid and to the amount of injected water and it's always higher when a nitrogen-water mixture is used. Compared to the cycle without water injection, by the way, the number of heat exchangers is reduced. This will lead to a lower pressure drop and a simpler plant layout. The total heat transfer area, however, is higher in the wet cycle than in the dry cycle.

  5. A Seamless Framework for Global Water Cycle Monitoring and Prediction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheffield, J.; Wood, E. F.; Chaney, N.; Fisher, C. K.; Caylor, K. K.

    2013-12-01

    The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) Water Strategy ('From Observations to Decisions') recognizes that 'water is essential for ensuring food and energy security, for facilitating poverty reduction and health security, and for the maintenance of ecosystems and biodiversity', and that water cycle data and observations are critical for improved water management and water security - especially in less developed regions. The GEOSS Water Strategy has articulated a number of goals for improved water management, including flood and drought preparedness, that include: (i) facilitating the use of Earth Observations for water cycle observations; (ii) facilitating the acquisition, processing, and distribution of data products needed for effective management; (iii) providing expertise, information systems, and datasets to the global, regional, and national water communities. There are several challenges that must be met to advance our capability to provide near real-time water cycle monitoring, early warning of hydrological hazards (floods and droughts) and risk assessment under climate change, regionally and globally. Current approaches to monitoring and predicting hydrological hazards are limited in many parts of the world, and especially in developing countries where national capacity is limited and monitoring networks are inadequate. This presentation describes the development of a seamless monitoring and prediction framework at all time scales that allows for consistent assessment of water variability from historic to current conditions, and from seasonal and decadal predictions to climate change projections. At the center of the framework is an experimental, global water cycle monitoring and seasonal forecast system that has evolved out of regional and continental systems for the US and Africa. The system is based on land surface hydrological modeling that is driven by satellite remote sensing precipitation to predict current hydrological conditions

  6. Instrumentation and control strategies for an integral pressurized water reactor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Belle R. Upadhyaya

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Several vendors have recently been actively pursuing the development of integral pressurized water reactors (iPWRs that range in power levels from small to large reactors. Integral reactors have the features of minimum vessel penetrations, passive heat removal after reactor shutdown, and modular construction that allow fast plant integration and a secure fuel cycle. The features of an integral reactor limit the options for placing control and safety system instruments. The development of instrumentation and control (I&C strategies for a large 1,000 MWe iPWR is described. Reactor system modeling—which includes reactor core dynamics, primary heat exchanger, and the steam flashing drum—is an important part of I&C development and validation, and thereby consolidates the overall implementation for a large iPWR. The results of simulation models, control development, and instrumentation features illustrate the systematic approach that is applicable to integral light water reactors.

  7. MHD Integrated Topping Cycle Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1992-01-01

    The overall objective of the project is to design and construct prototypical hardware for an integrated MHD topping cycle, and conduct long duration proof-of-concept tests of integrated system at the US DOE Component Development and Integration Facility in Butte, Montana. The results of the long duration tests will augment the existing engineering design data base on MHD power train reliability, availability, maintainability, and performance, and will serve as a basis for scaling up the topping cycle design to the next level of development, an early commercial scale power plant retrofit. The components of the MHD power train to be designed, fabricated, and tested include: A slagging coal combustor with a rated capacity of 50 MW thermal input, capable of operation with an Eastern (Illinois {number sign}6) or Western (Montana Rosebud) coal, a segmented supersonic nozzle, a supersonic MHD channel capable of generating at least 1.5 MW of electrical power, a segmented supersonic diffuser section to interface the channel with existing facility quench and exhaust systems, a complete set of current control circuits for local diagonal current control along the channel, and a set of current consolidation circuits to interface the channel with the existing facility inverter.

  8. Following the Water Cycle to Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lutz, T. M.

    2012-12-01

    systems learning model based on feedback and limits to perception. I focus on a part of the course that builds on connections that start in the hydrosphere and that includes some basic experiential learning about the water cycle and students' reliance on it. We measure and visualize aspects of the water cycle in nearby areas of campus (designated as an outdoor classroom and demonstration garden). The evapotranspiration flow is used to introduce notions of what can happen when flows are not sensed (e.g., invisible to us). Students use an online water footprint calculator to discover how large their water reliance is, particularly through energy generation, food consumption and food waste; and how far their water reach extends (virtual water trade). They consider the ethical implications of their water use in a world in which it is becoming a more rare resource and in some cases a valued commodity. They learn about non-utilitarian values of water based on an activity on the values of nature. They look at local, community-based efforts to improve water quality and to re-localize water dependence. A reading from Aldo Leopold puts the water cycle in a historical and cultural perspective. The water cycle is strongly interwoven with natural and human energy systems, the climate system, the carbon cycle, nutrient cycles, the rock cycle, and serves as a starting point to reach many other topics.

  9. Emergy evaluation of water utilization benefits in water-ecological-economic system based on water cycle process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, X.; Wu, Z.; Lv, C.

    2017-12-01

    The water utilization benefits are formed by the material flow, energy flow, information flow and value stream in the whole water cycle process, and reflected along with the material circulation of inner system. But most of traditional water utilization benefits evaluation are based on the macro level, only consider the whole material input and output and energy conversion relation, and lack the characterization of water utilization benefits accompanying with water cycle process from the formation mechanism. In addition, most studies are from the perspective of economics, only pay attention to the whole economic output and sewage treatment economic investment, but neglect the ecological function benefits of water cycle, Therefore, from the perspective of internal material circulation in the whole system, taking water cycle process as the process of material circulation and energy flow, the circulation and flow process of water and other ecological environment, social economic elements were described, and the composition of water utilization positive and negative benefits in water-ecological-economic system was explored, and the performance of each benefit was analyzed. On this basis, the emergy calculation method of each benefit was proposed by emergy quantitative analysis technique, which can realize the unified measurement and evaluation of water utilization benefits in water-ecological-economic system. Then, taking Zhengzhou city as an example, the corresponding benefits of different water cycle links were calculated quantitatively by emergy method, and the results showed that the emergy evaluation method of water utilization benefits can unify the ecosystem and the economic system, achieve uniform quantitative analysis, and measure the true value of natural resources and human economic activities comprehensively.

  10. Global Changes of the Water Cycle Intensity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosilovich, Michael G.; Schubert, Siegfried D.; Walker, Gregory K.

    2003-01-01

    In this study, we evaluate numerical simulations of the twentieth century climate, focusing on the changes in the intensity of the global water cycle. A new diagnostic of atmospheric water vapor cycling rate is developed and employed, that relies on constituent tracers predicted at the model time step. This diagnostic is compared to a simplified traditional calculation of cycling rate, based on monthly averages of precipitation and total water content. The mean sensitivity of both diagnostics to variations in climate forcing is comparable. However, the new diagnostic produces systematically larger values and more variability than the traditional average approach. Climate simulations were performed using SSTs of the early (1902-1921) and late (1979- 1998) twentieth century along with the appropriate C02 forcing. In general, the increase of global precipitation with the increases in SST that occurred between the early and late twentieth century is small. However, an increase of atmospheric temperature leads to a systematic increase in total precipitable water. As a result, the residence time of water in the atmosphere increased, indicating a reduction of the global cycling rate. This result was explored further using a number of 50-year climate simulations from different models forced with observed SST. The anomalies and trends in the cycling rate and hydrologic variables of different GCMs are remarkably similar. The global annual anomalies of precipitation show a significant upward trend related to the upward trend of surface temperature, during the latter half of the twentieth century. While this implies an increase in the hydrologic cycle intensity, a concomitant increase of total precipitable water again leads to a decrease in the calculated global cycling rate. An analysis of the land/sea differences shows that the simulated precipitation over land has a decreasing trend while the oceanic precipitation has an upward trend consistent with previous studies and the

  11. Recent Progresses in Incorporating Human Land-Water Management into Global Land Surface Models Toward Their Integration into Earth System Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pokhrel, Yadu N.; Hanasaki, Naota; Wada, Yoshihide; Kim, Hyungjun

    2016-01-01

    The global water cycle has been profoundly affected by human land-water management. As the changes in the water cycle on land can affect the functioning of a wide range of biophysical and biogeochemical processes of the Earth system, it is essential to represent human land-water management in Earth system models (ESMs). During the recent past, noteworthy progress has been made in large-scale modeling of human impacts on the water cycle but sufficient advancements have not yet been made in integrating the newly developed schemes into ESMs. This study reviews the progresses made in incorporating human factors in large-scale hydrological models and their integration into ESMs. The study focuses primarily on the recent advancements and existing challenges in incorporating human impacts in global land surface models (LSMs) as a way forward to the development of ESMs with humans as integral components, but a brief review of global hydrological models (GHMs) is also provided. The study begins with the general overview of human impacts on the water cycle. Then, the algorithms currently employed to represent irrigation, reservoir operation, and groundwater pumping are discussed. Next, methodological deficiencies in current modeling approaches and existing challenges are identified. Furthermore, light is shed on the sources of uncertainties associated with model parameterizations, grid resolution, and datasets used for forcing and validation. Finally, representing human land-water management in LSMs is highlighted as an important research direction toward developing integrated models using ESM frameworks for the holistic study of human-water interactions within the Earths system.

  12. Advanced steam cycles for light water reactors. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitchell, R.C.

    1975-07-01

    An appraisal of the potential of adding superheat to improve the overall LWR plant cycle performance is presented. The study assesses the economic and technical problems associated with the addition of approximately 500 0 F of superheat to raise the steam temperature to 1000 0 F. The practicality of adding either nuclear or fossil superheat to LWR's is reviewed. The General Electric Company Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) model 238-732 (BWR/6) is chosen as the LWR starting point for this evaluation. The steam conditions of BWR/6 are representative of LWR's. The results of the fossil superheat portion of the evaluation are considered directly applicable to all LWR's. In spite of the potential of a nuclear superheater to provide a substantial boost to the LWR cycle efficiency, nuclear superheat offers little promise of development at this time. There are difficult technical problems to resolve in the areas of superheat fuel design and emergency core cooling. The absence of a developed high integrity, high temperature fuel for operation in the steam/water environment is fundamental to this conclusion. Fossil superheat offers the potential opportunity to utilize fossil fuel supplies more efficiently than in any other mode of central station power generation presently available. Fossil superheat topping cycles evaluated included atmospheric fluidized beds (AFB), pressurized fluidized beds, pressurized furnaces, conventional furnaces, and combined gas/steam turbine cycles. The use of an AFB is proposed as the preferred superheat furnace. Fossil superheat provides a cycle efficiency improvement for the LWR of two percentage points, reduces heat rejection by 15 percent per kWe generated, increases plant electrical output by 54 percent, and burns coal with an incremental net efficiency of approximately 40 percent. This compares with a net efficiency of 36--37 percent which might be achieved with an all-fluidized bed fossil superheat plant design

  13. Effective Integration of Life Cycle Engineering in Education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oude Luttikhuis, Ellen; Toxopeus, Marten E.; Lutters, Diederick

    2015-01-01

    In practice, applying life cycle engineering in product design and development requires an integrated approach, because of the many stakeholders and variables (e.g. cost, environmental impact, energy, safety, quality) involved in a complete product life cycle. In educating young engineers, the same

  14. Salinity Remote Sensing and the Study of the Global Water Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lagerloef, G. S. E.; LeVine, David M.; Chao, Y.; Colomb, F. Raul; Font, J.

    2007-01-01

    influence of the oceanic water cycle requires more accurately resolving the net air-sea water flux. Measuring global SSS trends on seasonal to interannual timescales by satellite is fundamental to this problem because the SSS trends represent detectable time-integrated signals of the variable marine hydrological cycle. Satellite measurements, coupled with an array of in situ observations, will provide global synoptic SSS fields for the first time history. These data will provide a strong constraint on climate models and data assimilation efforts, which must properly represent the freshwater budget in terms of E-P, ocean advection and surface layer mixing in order to accurately simulate the true ocean state. The SSS fields will allow us to quantify the covariability between the SSS and the strong seasonal E-P cycle in the tropics and high latitudes. Field measurement campaigns to exploit satellite and in situ measurements to close the seasonal E-P cycle over an ocean region are being considered. Lastly the satellite systems will monitor and trace the large long-lived SSS anomalies from year to year that have the potential to influence El Nino and the large scale ocean circulation.

  15. Creative Writing and the Water Cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Rich; Virmani, Jyotika; Kusek, Kristen M.

    2001-01-01

    Uses the story "The Life of a Drop of Water" to initiate a creative writing activity and teach about the water cycle. Attempts to stimulate students' understanding of a scientific concept by using their imaginations. (YDS)

  16. Water Cycling under Climate Change. Interactions between the water cycle, vegetation and a changing (sub)tropical climate

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Boer, H.J.

    2012-01-01

    The water cycle is an essential component of the climate system because the physical properties of water in its liquid, solid and gaseous phases allow for the redistribution of energy in the oceans and atmosphere. At the scale of individual organisms, water and energy are also essential for the

  17. The thorium fuel cycle in water-moderated reactor systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Critoph, E.

    1977-05-01

    Thorium and uranium cycles are compared with regard to reactor characteristics and technology, fuel-cycle technology, economic parameters, fuel-cycle costs, and system characteristics. In heavy-water reactors (HWRs) thorium cycles having uranium requirements at equilibrium ranging from zero to a quarter of those for the natural-uranium once-through cycle appear feasible. An 'inventory' of uranium of between 1 and 2 Mg/MW(e) is required for the transition to equilibrium. The cycles with the lowest uranium requirements compete with the others only at high uranium prices. Using thorium in light-water reactors, uranium requirements can be reduced by a factor of between two and three from the once-through uranium cycle. The light-water breeder reactor, promising zero uranium requirements at equilibrium, is being developed. Larger uranium inventories are required than for the HWRs. The lead time, from a decision to use thorium to significant impact on uranium utilization (compared to uranium cycle, recycling plutonium) is some two decades

  18. Change in Water Cycle- Important Issue on Climate Earth System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Pratik

    Change in Water Cycle- Important Issue on Climate Earth System PRATIK KUMAR SINGH1 1BALDEVRAM MIRDHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,JAIPUR (RAJASTHAN) ,INDIA Water is everywhere on Earth and is the only known substance that can naturally exist as a gas, liquid, and solid within the relatively small range of air temperatures and pressures found at the Earth's surface.Changes in the hydrological cycle as a consequence of climate and land use drivers are expected to play a central role in governing a vast range of environmental impacts.Earth's climate will undergo changes in response to natural variability, including solar variability, and to increasing concentrations of green house gases and aerosols.Further more, agreement is widespread that these changes may profoundly affect atmospheric water vapor concentrations, clouds and precipitation patterns.As we know that ,a warmer climate, directly leading to increased evaporation, may well accelerate the hydrological cycle, resulting in an increase in the amount of moisture circulating through the atmosphere.The Changing Water Cycle programmer will develop an integrated, quantitative understanding of the changes taking place in the global water cycle, involving all components of the earth system, improving predictions for the next few decades of regional precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, hydrological storage and fluxes.The hydrological cycle involves evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and runoff. NASA's Aqua satellite will monitor many aspects of the role of water in the Earth's systems, and will do so at spatial and temporal scales appropriate to foster a more detailed understanding of each of the processes that contribute to the hydrological cycle. These data and the analyses of them will nurture the development and refinement of hydrological process models and a corresponding improvement in regional and global climate models, with a direct anticipated benefit of more accurate weather and

  19. IIASA's climate-vegetation-biogeochemical cycle module as a part of an integrated model for climate change

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ganopolski, A.V.; Jonas, M.; Krabec, J.; Olendrzynski, K.; Petoukhov, V.K.; Venevsky, S.V.

    1994-01-01

    The main objective of this study is the development of a hierarchy of coupled climate biosphere models with a full description of the global biogeochemical cycles. These models are planned for use as the core of a set of integrated models of climate change and they will incorporate the main elements of the Earth system (atmosphere, hydrosphere, pedosphere and biosphere) linked with each other (and eventually with the antroposphere) through the fluxes of heat, momentum, water and through the global biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen. This set of integrated models can be considered to fill the gap between highly simplified integrated models of climate change and very sophisticated and computationally expensive coupled models, developed on the basis of general circulation models (GCMs). It is anticipated that this range of integrated models will be an effective tool for investigating the broad spectrum of problems connected with the coexistence of human society and biosphere

  20. The future of integrated coal gasification combined cycle power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mueller, R.; Termuehlen, H.

    1991-01-01

    This paper examines the future of integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants as affected by various technical, economical and environmental trends in power generation. The topics of the paper include a description of natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants, IGCC plants, coal gasifier concepts, integration of gasifiers into combined cycle power plants, efficiency, environmental impacts, co-products of IGCC power plants, economics of IGCC power plants, and a review of IGCC power plant projects

  1. Nitrogen cycling in an integrated biomass for energy system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moorhead, K.K.

    1986-01-01

    A series of experiments was conducted to evaluate N cycling in three components of an integrated biomass for energy system, i.e. water hyacinth production, anaerobic digestion in hyacinth biomass, and recycling of digester effluent and sludge. Plants assimilated 50 to 90% of added N in hyacinth production systems. Up to 28% of the total plant N was contained in hyacinth detritus. Nitrogen loading as plant detritus into hyacinth ponds was 92 to 148 kg N ha -1 yr -1 . Net mineralization of plant organic 15 N during anaerobic digestion was 35 and 70% for water hyacinth plants with low and high N content, respectively. Approximately 20% of the 15 N was recovered in the digested sludge while the remaining 15 N was recovered in the effluent. Water hyacinth growth in digester effluents was affected by electrical conductivity and 15 NH 4 + -N concentration. Addition of water hyacinth biomass to soil resulted in decomposition of 39 to 50% of added C for fresh plant biomass and 19 to 23% of added C for digested biomass sludge. Only 8% of added 15 N in digested sludges was mineralized to 15 NO 3 - -N despite differences in initial N content. In contrast, 3 and 33% of added 15 N in fresh biomass with low and high N content, respectively, was recovered as 15 NO 3 - -N. Total 15 N recovery after anaerobic digestion ranged from 70 to 100% of the initial plant biomass 15 N. Total N recovery by sludge and effluent recycling in the integrated biomass for energy system was 48 to 60% of the initial plant biomass 15 N

  2. Cycle studies: material balance estimation in the domain of pressurized water and boiling water reactors. Experimental qualification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chabert, Christine

    1994-01-01

    This study is concerned with the physics of the fuel cycle the aim being to develop and make recommendations concerning schemes for calculating the neutronics of light water reactor fuel cycles. A preliminary study carried out using the old fuel cycle calculation scheme APOLLO1- KAFKA and the library SERMA79 has shown that for the compositions of totally dissolved assemblies from Pressurized Water Reactors (type 17*17) and also for the first time, for Boiling Water Reactor assemblies (type 8*8), the differences between calculation and measurement are large and must be reduced. The integration of the APOLLO2 neutronics code into the fuel cycle calculation scheme improves the results because it can model the situation more precisely. A comparison between APOLLO1 and APOLLO2 using the same options, demonstrated the consistency of the two methods for PWR and BWR geometries. Following this comparison, we developed an optimised scheme for PWR applications using the library CEA86 and the code APOLLO2. Depending on whether the information required is the detailed distribution of the composition of the irradiated fuel or the average composition (estimation of the total material balance of the fuel assembly), the physics options recommended are different. We show that the use of APOLLO2 and the library CEA86 improves the results and especially the estimation of the Pu 239 content. Concerning the Boiling Water Reactor, we have highlighted the need to treat several axial sections of the fuel assembly (variation of the void-fraction, heterogeneity of composition). A scheme using Sn transport theory, permits one to obtain a better coherence between the consumption of U 235 , the production of plutonium and burnup, and a better estimation of the material balance. (author) [fr

  3. Life Cycle Energy Analysis of Reclaimed Water Reuse Projects in Beijing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Yupeng; Guo, Erhui; Zhai, Yuanzheng; Chang, Andrew C; Qiao, Qi; Kang, Peng

    2018-01-01

      To illustrate the benefits of water reuse project, the process-based life cycle analysis (LCA) could be combined with input-output LCA to evaluate the water reuse project. Energy is the only evaluation parameter used in this study. Life cycle assessment of all energy inputs (LCEA) is completed mainly by the life cycle inventory (LCI), taking into account the full life cycle including the construction, the operation, and the demolition phase of the project. Assessment of benefit from water reuse during the life cycle should focus on wastewater discharge reduction and water-saving benefits. The results of LCEA of Beijing water reuse project built in 2014 in a comprehensive way shows that the benefits obtained from the reclaimed water reuse far exceed the life cycle energy consumption. In this paper, the authors apply the LCEA model to estimate the benefits of reclaimed water reuse projects quantitatively.

  4. Power cycles with ammonia-water mixtures as working fluid

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thorin, Eva

    2000-05-01

    It is of great interest to improve the efficiency of power generating processes, i.e. to convert more of the energy in the heat source to power. This is favorable from an environmental point of view and can also be an economic advantage. To use an ammonia-water mixture instead of water as working fluid is a possible way to improve the efficiency of steam turbine processes. This thesis includes studies of power cycles with ammonia-water mixtures as working fluid utilizing different kinds of heat sources for power and heat generation. The thermophysical properties of the mixture are also studied. They play an important role in the calculations of the process performance and for the design of its components, such as heat exchangers. The studies concern thermodynamic simulations of processes in applications suitable for Swedish conditions. Available correlations for the thermophysical properties are compared and their influence on simulations and heat exchanger area predictions is investigated. Measurements of ammonia-water mixture viscosities using a vibrating wire viscometer are also described. The studies performed show that power cycles with ammonia-water mixtures as the working fluid are well suited for utilization of waste heat from industry and from gas engines. The ammonia-water power cycles can give up to 32 % more power in the industrial waste heat application and up to 54 % more power in the gas engine bottoming cycle application compared to a conventional Rankine steam cycle. However, ammonia-water power cycles in small direct-fired biomass-fueled cogeneration plants do not show better performance than a conventional Rankine steam cycle. When different correlations for the thermodynamic properties are used in simulations of a simple ammonia-water power cycle the difference in efficiency is not larger than 4 %, corresponding to about 1.3 percentage points. The differences in saturation properties between the correlations are, however, considerable at high

  5. Progress and status of the integral fast reactor (IFR) fuel cycle development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1993-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle holds promise for substantial improvements in economics, diversion-resistance, and waste management. This paper discusses technical features of the IFR fuel cycle, its technical progress, the development status, and the future plans and directions. The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle, is based on the use of a metallic fuel alloy (U-Pu-Zr) that permits use of an innovative method for processing of spent fuel. This method, a combination of pyrometallurgical and electrochemical processes, has been termed pyroprocessing. It offers the advantages of a simple, compact processing system and limited volumes of stabilized high-level wastes. This translates to an economically viable system that is likely to receive favorable public response, particularly when combined with the other attributes of the Integral Fast Reactor. Substantial progress has been made in the development of the IFR pyroprocessing method. A comprehensive demonstration of the process will soon begin at the Argonne National Laboratory Idaho site, using spent fuel from the EBR-II reactor. An important advantage of the IFR is its ability to recycle fuel in the process of power generation, extending fuel resources by a considerable amount and assuring the continued viability of nuclear power stations by reducing dependence on external fuel supplies. Pyroprocessing is the means whereby the recycle process is accomplished. It can also be applied to the recovery of fuel constituents from spent fuel generated in the process of operation of conventional light water reactor power plants, offering the means to recover the valuable fuel resources remaining in that material

  6. Integration of the military and civilian nuclear fuel cycles in Russia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bukharin, O.

    1994-01-01

    This paper describes the close integration of the civil and military nuclear fuel cycles in Russia. Individual processing facilities, as well as the flow of nuclear material, are described as they existed in the 1980s and as they exist today. The end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union weakened the ties between the two nuclear fuel cycles, but did not separate them. Separation of the military and civilian nuclear fuel cycles would facilitate Russia's integration into the world's nuclear fuel cycle and its participation in international non-proliferation regimes

  7. The thorium fuel cycle in water-moderated reactor systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Critoph, E.

    1977-01-01

    Current interest in the thorium cycle, as an alternative to the uranium cycle, for water-moderated reactors is based on two attractive aspects of its use - the extension of uranium resources, and the related lower sensitivity of energy costs to uranium price. While most of the scientific basis required is already available, some engineering demonstrations are needed to provide better economic data for rational decisions. Thorium and uranium cycles are compared with regard to reactor characteristics and technology, fuel-cycle technology, economic parameters, fuel-cycle costs, and system characteristics. There appear to be no major feasibility problems associated with the use of thorium, although development is required in the areas of fuel testing and fuel management. The use of thorium cycles implies recycling the fuel, and the major uncertainties are in the associated costs. Experience in the design and operation of fuel reprocessing and active-fabrication facilities is required to estimate costs to the accuracy needed for adequately defining the range of conditions economically favourable to thorium cycles. In heavy-water reactors (HWRs) thorium cycles having uranium requirements at equilibrium ranging from zero to a quarter of those for the natural-uranium once-through cycle appear feasible. An ''inventory'' of uranium of between 1 and 2Mg/MW(e) is required for the transition to equilibrium. The cycles with the lowest uranium requirements compete with the others only at high uranium prices. Using thorium in light-water reactors, uranium requirements can be reduced by a factor of between two and three from the once-through uranium cycle. The light-water breeder reactor, promising zero uranium requirements at equilibrium, is being developed. Larger uranium inventories are required than for the HWRs. The lead time, from a decision to use thorium to significant impact on uranium utilization (compared to uranium cycle, recycling plutonium), is some two decades

  8. Technical comparison between Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ortiz, Pablo Andres Silva; Venturini, Osvaldo Jose; Lora, Electo Eduardo Silva [Federal University of Itajuba - UNIFEI, MG (Brazil). Excellence Group in Thermal Power and Distributed Generation - NEST], e-mails: osvaldo@unifei.edu.br, electo@unifei.edu.br

    2010-07-01

    Among the emerging clean coal technologies for power generation, Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) systems are receiving considerable attention as a potentially attractive option to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). The main reason is because these systems has high efficiency and low emissions in comparison with traditional power generation plants. Currently in IGCC and NGCC systems at demonstration stage is been considered to implement CCS technology. CO{sub 2} emissions can be avoided in a gasification-based power plant because by transferring almost all carbon compounds to CO{sub 2} through the water gas shift (WGS) reaction, then removing the CO{sub 2} before it is diluted in the combustion stage. The aim of this study is to compare the technical performance of an IGCC system that uses Brazilian coal and petroleum coke as fuel with a NGCC system, with the same fixed output power of 450 MW. The first section of this paper presents the plant configurations of IGCC systems. The following section presents an analysis of NGCC technology. (author)

  9. Optimizing water resources management in large river basins with integrated surface water-groundwater modeling: A surrogate-based approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Bin; Zheng, Yi; Wu, Xin; Tian, Yong; Han, Feng; Liu, Jie; Zheng, Chunmiao

    2015-04-01

    Integrated surface water-groundwater modeling can provide a comprehensive and coherent understanding on basin-scale water cycle, but its high computational cost has impeded its application in real-world management. This study developed a new surrogate-based approach, SOIM (Surrogate-based Optimization for Integrated surface water-groundwater Modeling), to incorporate the integrated modeling into water management optimization. Its applicability and advantages were evaluated and validated through an optimization research on the conjunctive use of surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW) for irrigation in a semiarid region in northwest China. GSFLOW, an integrated SW-GW model developed by USGS, was employed. The study results show that, due to the strong and complicated SW-GW interactions, basin-scale water saving could be achieved by spatially optimizing the ratios of groundwater use in different irrigation districts. The water-saving potential essentially stems from the reduction of nonbeneficial evapotranspiration from the aqueduct system and shallow groundwater, and its magnitude largely depends on both water management schemes and hydrological conditions. Important implications for water resources management in general include: first, environmental flow regulation needs to take into account interannual variation of hydrological conditions, as well as spatial complexity of SW-GW interactions; and second, to resolve water use conflicts between upper stream and lower stream, a system approach is highly desired to reflect ecological, economic, and social concerns in water management decisions. Overall, this study highlights that surrogate-based approaches like SOIM represent a promising solution to filling the gap between complex environmental modeling and real-world management decision-making.

  10. QA practice for online analyzers in water steam cycles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Staub, L.

    2010-01-01

    The liberalization of power markets throughout the world has resulted in more and more power stations being operated in cycling mode, with frequent load changes and multiple daily start-up and shut-down cycles. This more flexible operation also calls for better automation and poses new challenges to water chemistry in water steam cycles, to avoid subsequent damage to vital plant components such as turbines, boilers or condensers. But automation for the most important chemistry control tool, the sampling and online analyzer system, is only possible if chemists can rely on their online analysis equipment. Proof of plausibility as well as reliability and availability of online analysis results becomes a major focus. While SOP and standard QA procedures for laboratory equipment are well established and daily practice, such measures are widely neglected for online process analyzers. This paper is aiming to establish a roadmap for the implementation of SOP and QA/QC procedures for online instruments in water steam cycles, leading to reliable chemical information that is trustworthy for process automation and chemistry control in water steam cycles. (author)

  11. QA practice for online analyzers in water steam cycles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Staub Lukas

    2009-01-01

    The liberalization of power markets throughout the world has resulted in more and more power stations being operated in cycling mode, with frequent load changes and multiple daily start-up and shut-down cycles. This more flexible operation also calls for better automation and poses new challenges to water chemistry in water steam cycles, to avoid subsequent damage to vital plant components such as turbines, boilers or condensers. But automation for the most important chemistry control tool, the sampling and online analyzer system, is only possible if chemists can rely on their online analysis equipment. Proof of plausibility as well as reliability and availability of online analysis results becomes a major focus. While SOP and standard QA procedures for laboratory equipment are well established and daily practice, such measures are widely neglected for online process analyzers. This paper is aiming to establish a roadmap for the implementation of SOP and QA/QC procedures for online instruments in water steam cycles, leading to reliable chemical information that is trustworthy for process automation and chemistry control in water steam cycles. (author)

  12. Comments on the water cycle of the atmosphere and its measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benton, G.S.

    1967-01-01

    There are two major water cycles of the atmosphere: the meridional cycle, which results in a latitudinal exchange of water, and the hydrological cycle, which carries water from the oceans over the continents. In the present paper a model is used for the estimation of atmospheric water balance from direct measurements of atmospheric vapour flux and limitation of this model are discussed

  13. Using NASA Products of the Water Cycle for Improved Water Resources Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toll, D. L.; Doorn, B.; Engman, E. T.; Lawford, R. G.

    2010-12-01

    NASA Water Resources works within the Earth sciences and GEO community to leverage investments of space-based observation and modeling results including components of the hydrologic cycle into water resources management decision support tools for the goal towards the sustainable use of water. These Earth science hydrologic related observations and modeling products provide a huge volume of valuable data in both near-real-time and extended back nearly 50 years. Observations of this type enable assessment of numerous water resources management issues including water scarcity, extreme events of drought and floods, and water quality. Examples of water cycle estimates make towards the contributions to the water management community include snow cover and snowpack, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, precipitation, streamflow and ground water. The availability of water is also contingent on the quality of water and hence water quality is an important part of NASA Water Resources. Water quality activities include both nonpoint source (agriculture land use, ecosystem disturbances, impervious surfaces, etc.) and direct remote sensing ( i.e., turbidity, algae, aquatic vegetation, temperature, etc.). . The NASA Water Resources Program organizes its projects under five functional themes: 1) stream-flow and flood forecasting; 2) water consumptive use and irrigation (includes evapotranspiration); 3) drought; 4) water quality; and 5) climate impacts on water resources. Currently NASA Water Resources is supporting 21 funded projects with 11 additional projects being concluded. To maximize the use of NASA water cycle measurements end to projects are supported with strong links with decision support systems. The NASA Water Resources Program works closely with other government agencies NOAA, USDA-FAS, USGS, AFWA, USAID, universities, and non-profit, international, and private sector organizations. International water cycle applications include: 1) Famine Early Warning System Network

  14. Ammonia-lithium nitrate absorption chiller with an integrated low-pressure compression booster cycle for low driving temperatures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ventas, R.; Lecuona, A.; Zacarias, A.; Venegas, M.

    2010-01-01

    Single-effect absorption refrigeration hybridized with mechanical vapor compression in a vapor circuit is known as the absorption cycle with an integrated booster compressor. In this study, the compressor is located between the evaporator and the absorber. This paper presents a numerical model of this cycle with ammonia-lithium nitrate solution as the working pair. It is based on UA-ΔT lm models for separate regions of plate-type heat exchangers. The results are offered as a function of external circuit flow parameters. Different pressure ratios of the compressor were tested for a wide range of hot water driving temperatures (55-95 deg. C), showing that low values are more beneficial. This cycle allows for working at lower driving temperatures than the single-effect cycle, with low electricity consumption. At the same driving temperature, the capacity is augmented with an increased compressor pressure ratio, thus allowing for demand matching of the cooling. This cycle, operating with hot water at 67 deg. C with a pressure ratio of 2.0, has the capacity of a single-effect absorption cycle at 94 deg. C. The electrical COP was found to be higher than that in an ammonia vapor compression cycle for comprehensive working conditions.

  15. Thermodynamic and economic analysis on geothermal integrated combined-cycle power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bettocchi, R.; Cantore, G.; Negri di Montenegro, G.; Gadda, E.

    1992-01-01

    This paper considers geothermal integrated power plants obtained matching a geothermal plant with, a two pressure level combined plant. The purpose of the paper is the evaluation of thermodynamic and economic aspects on geothermal integrated combined-cycle power plant and a comparison with conventional solutions. The results show that the integrated combined plant power is greater than the sum of combined cycle and geothermal plant powers considered separately and that the integrated plant can offer economic benefits reaching the 16% of the total capital required

  16. Watch: Current knowledge of the terrestrial Global Water Cycle"

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Harding, R.; Best, M.; Hagemann, S.; Kabat, P.; Tallaksen, L.M.; Warnaars, T.; Wiberg, D.; Weedon, G.P.; Lanen, van H.A.J.; Ludwig, F.; Haddeland, I.

    2011-01-01

    Water-related impacts are among the most important consequences of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Changes in the global water cycle will also impact the carbon and nutrient cycles and vegetation patterns. There is already some evidence of increasing severity of floods and droughts and

  17. Conceptual model for simulating the water cycle of the Copenhagen area, Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeppesen, Jan; Christensen, Steen; Ladekarl, Ulla Lyngs

    2008-01-01

    A complete water cycle model has been constructed for the Copenhagen area (966 km2) in order to study the development of the water cycle during the period 1850-2003. The urban water cycle is quantified in terms of root zone water balance, water supply, waste water, storm water, groundwater flow......, and the interactions between these systems. The water cycle is simulated by combining a root-zone model, a grid distribution tool, and a modified Modflow-2000 model using existing flow packages and a new sewer package that simulates the interactions between ground water and sewers (or rain drains). Long time series...... cycle. It is also the hope that the model will provide a better and more complete overview of the consequences of different water management scenarios. The model concept and selected simulation results is presented....

  18. Hydrological Cycle in the Heihe River Basin and Its Implication for Water Resource Management in Endorheic Basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xin; Cheng, Guodong; Ge, Yingchun; Li, Hongyi; Han, Feng; Hu, Xiaoli; Tian, Wei; Tian, Yong; Pan, Xiaoduo; Nian, Yanyun; Zhang, Yanlin; Ran, Youhua; Zheng, Yi; Gao, Bing; Yang, Dawen; Zheng, Chunmiao; Wang, Xusheng; Liu, Shaomin; Cai, Ximing

    2018-01-01

    Endorheic basins around the world are suffering from water and ecosystem crisis. To pursue sustainable development, quantifying the hydrological cycle is fundamentally important. However, knowledge gaps exist in how climate change and human activities influence the hydrological cycle in endorheic basins. We used an integrated ecohydrological model, in combination with systematic observations, to analyze the hydrological cycle in the Heihe River Basin, a typical endorheic basin in arid region of China. The water budget was closed for different landscapes, river channel sections, and irrigation districts of the basin from 2001 to 2012. The results showed that climate warming, which has led to greater precipitation, snowmelt, glacier melt, and runoff, is a favorable factor in alleviating water scarcity. Human activities, including ecological water diversion, cropland expansion, and groundwater overexploitation, have both positive and negative effects. The natural oasis ecosystem has been restored considerably, but the overuse of water in midstream and the use of environmental flow for agriculture in downstream have exacerbated the water stress, resulting in unfavorable changes in surface-ground water interactions and raising concerns regarding how to fairly allocate water resources. Our results suggest that the water resource management in the region should be adjusted to adapt to a changing hydrological cycle, cropland area must be reduced, and the abstraction of groundwater must be controlled. To foster long-term benefits, water conflicts should be handled from a broad socioeconomic perspective. The findings can provide useful information on endorheic basins to policy makers and stakeholders around the world.

  19. Historical Business Cycles and Market Integration: Evidence from Comovement

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Uebele, Martin

    2009-01-01

    This thesis addresses historical business cycles and market integration in Europe and America in the 19th and 20th centuries. For the analysis of historical business cycles, the widely used methodology of historical national accounting is complemented with a dynamic factor model that allows for

  20. Integrated gasification and Cu-Cl cycle for trigeneration of hydrogen, steam and electricity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aghahosseini, S; Dincer, I; Naterer, G F [University of Ontario, Oshawa, ON (Canada). Institute of Technology

    2011-02-15

    This paper develops and analyzes an integrated process model of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and a thermochemical copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) cycle for trigeneration of hydrogen, steam and electricity. The process model is developed with Aspen HYSYS software. By using oxygen instead of air for the gasification process, where oxygen is provided by the integrated Cu-Cl cycle, it is found that the hydrogen content of produced syngas increases by about 20%, due to improvement of the gasification combustion efficiency and reduction of syngas NOx emissions. Moreover, about 60% of external heat required for the integrated Cu-Cl cycle can be provided by the IGCC plant, with minor modifications of the steam cycle, and a slight decrease of IGCC overall efficiency. Integration of gasification and thermochemical hydrogen production can provide significant improvements in the overall hydrogen, steam and electricity output, when compared against the processes each operating separately and independently of each other.

  1. Integral benchmarks with reference to thorium fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ganesan, S.

    2003-01-01

    This is a power point presentation about the Indian participation in the CRP 'Evaluated Data for the Thorium-Uranium fuel cycle'. The plans and scope of the Indian participation are to provide selected integral experimental benchmarks for nuclear data validation, including Indian Thorium burn up benchmarks, post-irradiation examination studies, comparison of basic evaluated data files and analysis of selected benchmarks for Th-U fuel cycle

  2. The seasonal cycle of water on Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jakosky, B. M.

    1985-01-01

    A review of the behavior of water in the Mars atmosphere and subsurface is appropriate now that data from the Mariner and Viking spacecraft have been analyzed and discussed for several years following completion of those missions. Observations and analyses pertinent to the seasonal cycle of water vapor in the atmosphere of Mars are reviewed, with attention toward transport of water and the seasonal exchange of water between the atmosphere and various non-atmospheric reservoirs. Possible seasonally-accessible sources and sinks for water include water ice on or within the seasonal and residual polar caps; surface or subsurface ice in the high-latitude regions of the planet; adsorbed or chemically-bound water within the near-surface regolith; or surface or subsurface liquid water. The stability of water within each of these reservoirs is discussed, as are the mechanisms for driving exchange of the water with the atmosphere and the timescales for exchange. Specific conclusions are reached about the distribution of water and the viability of each mechanism as a seasonal reservoir. Discussion is also included of the behavior of water on longer timescales, driven by the variations in solar forcing due to the quasi-periodic variations of the orbital obliquity. Finally, specific suggestions are made for future observations from spacecraft which would further define or constrain the seasonal cycle of water.

  3. The fate of organics in the water-steam cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huebner, P.

    2006-01-01

    The behaviour of organic matter in power plants has been examined. The samples were taken from water treatment plants producing make-up water for boilers as well as from water-steam cycles and cooling cycles. The power plants examined were Czech power plants, both fossil and nuclear, and one Slovakian nuclear plant. The tests were performed by the liquid chromatography - organic carbon detection (LC-OCD) method at a subcontractor lab. This method enables distinguishing between different groups of organic matter and from experience the effectiveness of water treatment technologies and the possible influence on the water-steam cycle of the power plant can be estimated. It has been confirmed that by using appropriate flocculation the problems in water treatment plants diminish and the VGB limit for total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of 200 μg . L -1 in boiler feedwater may be reached. The lower limit following EPRI recommendations of 100 μg . L -1 is hardly achievable using existing water treatment technology. This provides an open field for reverse osmosis technology that is able to remove organics completely. (orig.)

  4. Thermodynamic Analyses of Biomass Gasification Integrated Externally Fired, Post-Firing and Dual-Fuel Combined Cycles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saeed Soltani

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In the present work, the results are reported of the energy and exergy analyses of three biomass-related processes for electricity generation: the biomass gasification integrated externally fired combined cycle, the biomass gasification integrated dual-fuel combined cycle, and the biomass gasification integrated post-firing combined cycle. The energy efficiency for the biomass gasification integrated post-firing combined cycle is 3% to 6% points higher than for the other cycles. Although the efficiency of the externally fired biomass combined cycle is the lowest, it has an advantage in that it only uses biomass. The energy and exergy efficiencies are maximized for the three configurations at particular values of compressor pressure ratios, and increase with gas turbine inlet temperature. As pressure ratio increases, the mass of air per mass of steam decreases for the biomass gasification integrated post-firing combined cycle, but the pressure ratio has little influence on the ratio of mass of air per mass of steam for the other cycles. The gas turbine exergy efficiency is the highest for the three configurations. The combustion chamber for the dual-fuel cycle exhibits the highest exergy efficiency and that for the post-firing cycle the lowest. Another benefit of the biomass gasification integrated externally fired combined cycle is that it exhibits the highest air preheater and heat recovery steam generator exergy efficiencies.

  5. A Practical Review of Integrated Urban Water Models: Applications as Decision Support Tools and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mosleh, L.; Negahban-Azar, M.

    2017-12-01

    The integrated urban water management has become a necessity due to the high rate of urbanization, water scarcity, and climate variability. Climate and demographic changes, shifting the social attitude toward the water usage, and insufficiencies in system resilience increase the pressure on the water resources. Alongside with the water management, modeling urban water systems have progressed from traditional view to comprise alternatives such as decentralized water and wastewater systems, fit-for-purpose practice, graywater/rainwater reuse, and green infrastructure. While there are review papers available focusing on the technical part of the models, they seem to be more beneficial for model developers. Some of the models analyze a number of scenarios considering factors such as climate change and demography and their future impacts. However, others only focus on quality and quantity of water in a supply/demand approach. For example, optimizing the size of water or waste water store, characterizing the supply and quantity of urban stormwater and waste water, and link source of water to demand. A detailed and practical comparison of such models has become a necessity for the practitioner and policy makers. This research compares more than 7 most commonly used integrated urban water cycle models and critically reviews their capabilities, input requirements, output and their applications. The output of such detailed comparison will help the policy makers for the decision process in the built environment to compare and choose the best models that meet their goals. The results of this research show that we need a transition from developing/using integrated water cycle models to integrated system models which incorporate urban water infrastructures and ecological and economic factors. Such models can help decision makers to reflect other important criteria but with the focus on urban water management. The research also showed that there is a need in exploring

  6. Patterns, structures and regulations of domestic water cycle systems in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Junying; Wang, Hao; Wang, Jianhua; Qin, Dayong

    2010-05-01

    Domestic water cycle systems serving as one critical component of artificial water cycle at the catchment's scale, is so closely related to public healthy, human rights and social-economic development, and has gained the highest priority in strategic water resource and municipal infrastructure planning. In this paper, three basic patterns of domestic water cycle systems are identified and analyzed, including rural domestic water system (i.e. primary level), urban domestic water system (i.e. intermediate level) and metropolitan domestic water system (i.e. senior level), with different "abstract-transport-consume-discharge" mechanisms and micro-components of water consumption (such as drinking, cooking, toilet flushing, showering or cleaning). The rural domestic water system is general simple with three basic "abstract-consume-discharge" mechanisms and micro-components of basic water consumption such as drinking, cooking, washing and sanitation. The urban domestic water system has relative complex mechanisms of "abstract-supply-consume-treatment-discharge" and more micro-components of water consumption such as bath, dishwashing or car washing. The metropolitan domestic water system (i.e. senior level) has the most complex mechanisms by considering internal water reuse, external wastewater reclamation, and nutrient recycling processes. The detailed structures for different water cycle pattern are presented from the aspects of water quantity, wastewater quality and nutrients flow. With the speed up of urbanization and development of social-economy in China, those three basic patterns are interacting, transforming and upgrading. According to the past experiences and current situations, urban domestic water system (i.e. intermediate level) is the dominant pattern based on indicator of system number or system scale. The metropolitan domestic water system (i.e. senior level) is the idealized model for the future development and management. Current domestic water system

  7. Integration of photovoltaic and concentrated solar thermal technologies for H2 production by the hybrid sulfur cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liberatore, Raffaele; Ferrara, Mariarosaria; Lanchi, Michela; Turchetti, Luca

    2017-06-01

    It is widely agreed that hydrogen used as energy carrier and/or storage media may significantly contribute in the reduction of emissions, especially if produced by renewable energy sources. The Hybrid Sulfur (HyS) cycle is considered as one of the most promising processes to produce hydrogen through the water-splitting process. The FP7 project SOL2HY2 (Solar to Hydrogen Hybrid Cycles) investigates innovative material and process solutions for the use of solar heat and power in the HyS process. A significant part of the SOL2HY2 project is devoted to the analysis and optimization of the integration of the solar and chemical (hydrogen production) plants. In this context, this work investigates the possibility to integrate different solar technologies, namely photovoltaic, solar central receiver and solar troughs, to optimize their use in the HyS cycle for a green hydrogen production, both in the open and closed process configurations. The analysis carried out accounts for different combinations of geographical location and plant sizing criteria. The use of a sulfur burner, which can serve both as thermal backup and SO2 source for the open cycle, is also considered.

  8. Water footprint of European cars: potential impacts of water consumption along automobile life cycles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berger, Markus; Warsen, Jens; Krinke, Stephan; Bach, Vanessa; Finkbeiner, Matthias

    2012-04-03

    Due to global increase of freshwater scarcity, knowledge about water consumption in product life cycles is important. This study analyzes water consumption and the resulting impacts of Volkswagen's car models Polo, Golf, and Passat and represents the first application of impact-oriented water footprint methods on complex industrial products. Freshwater consumption throughout the cars' life cycles is allocated to material groups and assigned to countries according to import mix shares or location of production sites. Based on these regionalized water inventories, consequences for human health, ecosystems, and resources are determined by using recently developed impact assessment methods. Water consumption along the life cycles of the three cars ranges from 52 to 83 m(3)/car, of which more than 95% is consumed in the production phase, mainly resulting from producing iron, steel, precious metals, and polymers. Results show that water consumption takes place in 43 countries worldwide and that only 10% is consumed directly at Volkswagen's production sites. Although impacts on health tend to be dominated by water consumption in South Africa and Mozambique, resulting from the production of precious metals and aluminum, consequences for ecosystems and resources are mainly caused by water consumption of material production in Europe.

  9. Increasing water cycle extremes in California and in relation to ENSO cycle under global warming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, Jin-Ho; Wang, S-Y Simon; Gillies, Robert R.; Kravitz, Ben; Hipps, Lawrence; Rasch, Philip J.

    2015-01-01

    Since the winter of 2013–2014, California has experienced its most severe drought in recorded history, causing statewide water stress, severe economic loss and an extraordinary increase in wildfires. Identifying the effects of global warming on regional water cycle extremes, such as the ongoing drought in California, remains a challenge. Here we analyse large-ensemble and multi-model simulations that project the future of water cycle extremes in California as well as to understand those associations that pertain to changing climate oscillations under global warming. Both intense drought and excessive flooding are projected to increase by at least 50% towards the end of the twenty-first century; this projected increase in water cycle extremes is associated with a strengthened relation to El Niño and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO)—in particular, extreme El Niño and La Niña events that modulate California's climate not only through its warm and cold phases but also its precursor patterns. PMID:26487088

  10. Highly efficient 6-stroke engine cycle with water injection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szybist, James P; Conklin, James C

    2012-10-23

    A six-stroke engine cycle having improved efficiency. Heat is recovered from the engine combustion gases by using a 6-stroke engine cycle in which combustion gases are partially vented proximate the bottom-dead-center position of the fourth stroke cycle, and water is injected proximate the top-dead-center position of the fourth stroke cycle.

  11. Space-Charge Simulation of Integrable Rapid Cycling Synchrotron

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eldred, Jeffery [Fermilab; Valishev, Alexander [Fermilab

    2017-05-01

    Integrable optics is an innovation in particle accelerator design that enables strong nonlinear focusing without generating parametric resonances. We use a Synergia space-charge simulation to investigate the application of integrable optics to a high-intensity hadron ring that could replace the Fermilab Booster. We find that incorporating integrability into the design suppresses the beam halo generated by a mismatched KV beam. Our integrable rapid cycling synchrotron (iRCS) design includes other features of modern ring design such as low momentum compaction factor and harmonically canceling sextupoles. Experimental tests of high-intensity beams in integrable lattices will take place over the next several years at the Fermilab Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA) and the University of Maryland Electron Ring (UMER).

  12. Thermodynamic Analysis of an Integrated Gasification Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Plant with a Kalina Cycle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pierobon, Leonardo; Rokni, Masoud

    2015-01-01

    % is achieved; plant size and nominal power are selected based on the required cultivation area. SOFC heat recovery with SKC is compared to a Steam Cycle (SC). Although ammonia-water more accurately fits the temperature profile of the off-gases, the presence of a Hybrid Recuperator enhances the available work......-treated fuel then enters the anode side of the SOFC. Complete fuel oxidation is ensured in a burner by off-gases exiting the SOFC stacks. Off-gases are utilized as heat source for a SKC where a mixture of ammonia and water is expanded in a turbine to produce additional electric power. Thus, a triple novel......A hybrid plant that consists of a gasification system, Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) and a Simple Kalina Cycle (SKC) is investigated. Woodchips are introduced into a fixed bed gasification plant to produce syngas, which is then fed into an integrated SOFC-SKC plant to produce electricity. The pre...

  13. Integrated gasification gas combined cycle plant with membrane reactors: Technological and economical analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amelio, Mario; Morrone, Pietropaolo; Gallucci, Fausto; Basile, Angelo

    2007-01-01

    In the present work, the capture and storage of carbon dioxide from the fossil fuel power plant have been considered. The main objective was to analyze the thermodynamic performances and the technological aspects of two integrated gasification gas combined cycle plants (IGCC), as well as to give a forecast of the investment costs for the plants and the resulting energy consumptions. The first plant considered is an IGCC* plant (integrated gasification gas combined cycle plant with traditional shift reactors) characterized by the traditional water gas shift reactors and a CO 2 physical adsorption system followed by the power section. The second one is an IGCC M plant (integrated gasification gas combined cycle plant with membrane reactor) where the coal thermal input is the same as the first one, but the traditional shift reactors and the physical adsorption unit are replaced by catalytic palladium membrane reactors (CMR). In the present work, a mono-dimensional computational model of the membrane reactor was proposed to simulate and evaluate the capability of the IGCC M plant to capture carbon dioxide. The energetic performances, efficiency and net power of the IGCC* and IGCC M plants were, thus, compared, assuming as standard a traditional IGCC plant without carbon dioxide capture. The economical aspects of the three plants were compared through an economical analysis. Since the IGCC* and IGCC M plants have additional costs related to the capture and disposal of the carbon dioxide, a Carbon Tax (adopted in some countries like Sweden) proportional to the number of kilograms of carbon dioxide released in the environment was assumed. According to the economical analysis, the IGCC M plant proved to be more convenient than the IGCC* one

  14. Life-cycle assessments in the South African water sector: A review ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Therefore, in South Africa it is important to promote the use of LCAs for the water sector in order to improve efficiency of processes and systems, but also to promote life-cycle based water footprinting and to include differentiated water consumption data into life-cycle inventories to make more efficient use of water as a ...

  15. Physics studies of weapons plutonium disposition in the Integral Fast Reactor closed fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hill, R.N.; Wade, D.C.; Liaw, J.R.; Fujita, E.K.

    1995-01-01

    The core performance impact of weapons plutonium introduction into the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) closed fuel cycle is investigated by comparing three disposition scenarios: a power production mode, a moderate destruction mode, and a maximum destruction mode, all at a constant heat rating of 840 MW(thermal). For each scenario, two fuel cycle models are evaluated: cores using weapons material as the sole source of transuranics in a once-through mode and recycle cores using weapons material only as required for a makeup feed. In addition, the impact of alternative feeds (recycled light water reactor or liquid-metal reactor transuranics) on burner core performance is assessed. Calculated results include mass flows, detailed isotopic distributions, neutronic performance characteristics, and reactivity feedback coefficients. In general, it is shown that weapons plutonium does not have an adverse effect on IFR core performance characteristics; also, favorable performance can be maintained for a wide variety of feed materials and fuel cycle strategies

  16. Integrated manure utilization system life-cycle value assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Row, J.; Neabel, D. [Pembina Inst. for Appropriate Development, Drayton Valley, AB (Canada)

    2005-10-15

    A life-cycle assessment of the Alberta Research Council (ARC) and Highmark Renewables' development of an integrated manure utilization system (IMUS) were presented. The assessment focused on an evaluation of factors of primary importance to government, investors and the livestock industry. IMUS technology uses manure as a resource to produce electricity, heat, bio-based fertilizer and reusable water. Results of the assessment indicated that IMUS plants have the potential to be financially viable if a power purchase of $90 MWh on average can be purchased from a 30,000 head livestock operation. A capital cost of under $11 million is necessary, and an established biofertilizer price of $50 per tonne should be established. An IMUS plant was estimated to reduce life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 70 to 80 per cent when compared to land spreading. Reductions are accomplished through displacing electricity from the provincial grid and reducing nitrous oxide (N{sub 2}O) emissions from spreading of manure The IMUS plants lessen environment impacts by reducing the extraction and consumption of non-renewable resources, and by displacing an estimated 11,700 GJ of coal and natural gas per 1000 head of cattle per year. In addition, various pathogens within manure are eliminated. The plants have the potential to eliminate the environmental hazards associated with the disposal of deadstock. The systems reduce manure odour, lessen truck traffic and are expected to contribute to rural economic diversification. Barriers to further implementation of IMUS were discussed, as well as emerging opportunities for IMUS developers. It was concluded that the initial assessments of the IMUS were positive. Further investigation is needed to determine actual life-cycle performance of the operations. 18 refs., 3 tabs., 3 figs.

  17. Vertical integration in the nuclear fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mommsen, J.T.

    1977-01-01

    Vertical integration in the nuclear fuel cycle and its contribution to market power of integrated fuel suppliers were studied. The industry subdivision analyzed is the uranium raw materials sector. The hypotheses demonstrated are that (1) this sector of the industry is trending toward vertical integration between production of uranium raw materials and the manufacture of nuclear fuel elements, and (2) this vertical integration confers upon integrated firms a significant market advantage over non-integrated fuel manufacturers. Under microeconomic concepts the rationale for vertical integration is the pursuit of efficiency, and it is beneficial because it increases physical output and decreases price. The Market Advantage Model developed is an arithmetical statement of the relative market power (in terms of price) between non-integrated nuclear fuel manufacturers and integrated raw material/fuel suppliers, based on the concept of the ''squeeze.'' In operation, the model compares net profit and return on sales of nuclear fuel elements between the competitors, under different price and cost circumstances. The model shows that, if integrated and non-integrated competitors sell their final product at identical prices, the non-integrated manufacturer returns a net profit only 17% of the integrated firm. Also, the integrated supplier can price his product 35% below the non-integrated producer's price and still return the same net profit. Vertical integration confers a definite market advantage to the integrated supplier, and the basic source of that advantage is the cost-price differential of the raw material, uranium

  18. Research progress of socio-economic water cycle in China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2002-01-01

    China has made great progress in the study of socio-economic water cycle. She has completed national water resources appraisement and medium to long-term water supply planning. She has been engaging in study on water-deficient regions in North China and Northwest China for about half a century. For solving water shortage problem in northern China, she has put forward the famous South-to-North Water Transferring Projects, which has been set as one of the four biggest national projects in the Tenth Five-Year-Plan period although there are still debates. For promoting water use efficiency, China has been reforming her water management system, including water right system and water price system. There has already been a case of water right purchase. China has also done a lot of research on the interaction between human activity, water and ecosystem. For meeting the need of sustainability and coordinating water resources development and environmental protection, the study of ecological water requirement became very hot in recent years. There are three focuses of socio-economic water cycle study now in China: water transfer projects from the south to the north, water resources management and ecological water requirement.

  19. Exergetic Analysis of an Integrated Tri-Generation Organic Rankine Cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ratha Z. Mathkor

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports on a study of the modelling, validation and analysis of an integrated 1 MW (electrical output tri-generation system energized by solar energy. The impact of local climatic conditions in the Mediterranean region on the system performance was considered. The output of the system that comprised a parabolic trough collector (PTC, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC, single-effect desalination (SED, and single effect LiBr-H2O absorption chiller (ACH was electrical power, distilled water, and refrigerant load. The electrical power was produced by the ORC which used cyclopentane as working fluid and Therminol VP-1 was specified as the heat transfer oil (HTO in the collectors with thermal storage. The absorption chiller and the desalination unit were utilize the waste heat exiting from the steam turbine in the ORC to provide the necessary cooling energy and drinking water respectively. The modelling, which includes an exergetic analysis, focuses on the performance of the solar tri-generation system. The simulation results of the tri-generation system and its subsystems were produced using IPSEpro software and were validated against experimental data which showed good agreement. The tri-generation system was able to produce about 194 Ton of refrigeration, and 234 t/day distilled water.

  20. INTRODUCTION: Anticipated changes in the global atmospheric water cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allan, Richard P.; Liepert, Beate G.

    2010-06-01

    The atmospheric branch of the water cycle, although containing just a tiny fraction of the Earth's total water reserves, presents a crucial interface between the physical climate (such as large-scale rainfall patterns) and the ecosystems upon which human societies ultimately depend. Because of the central importance of water in the Earth system, the question of how the water cycle is changing, and how it may alter in future as a result of anthropogenic changes, present one of the greatest challenges of this century. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on Climate Change and Water (Bates et al 2008) highlighted the increasingly strong evidence of change in the global water cycle and associated environmental consequences. It is of critical importance to climate prediction and adaptation strategies that key processes in the atmospheric water cycle are precisely understood and determined, from evaporation at the surface of the ocean, transport by the atmosphere, condensation as cloud and eventual precipitation, and run-off through rivers following interaction with the land surface, sub-surface, ice, snow and vegetation. The purpose of this special focus issue of Environmental Research Letters on anticipated changes in the global atmospheric water cycle is to consolidate the recent substantial advances in understanding past, present and future changes in the global water cycle through evidence built upon theoretical understanding, backed up by observations and borne out by climate model simulations. Thermodynamic rises in water vapour provide a central constraint, as discussed in a guest editorial by Bengtsson (2010). Theoretical implications of the Clausius-Clapeyron equation are presented by O'Gorman and Muller (2010) and with reference to a simple model (Sherwood 2010) while observed humidity changes confirm these anticipated responses at the land and ocean surface (Willett et al 2008). Rises in low-level moisture are thought to fuel an

  1. Advances In Understanding Global Water Cycle With Advent of GPM Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Eric A.

    2002-01-01

    During the coming decade, the internationally organized Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission will take an important step in creating a global precipitation observing system from space based on an international fleet of satellites operated as a constellation. One perspective for understanding the nature of GPM is that it will be a hierarchical system of datastreams beginning with very high caliber combined dual frequency radar/passive microwave (PMW) rain-radiometer retrievals, to high caliber PMW rain-radiometer only retrievals, and then on to blends of the former datastreams with additional lower-caliber PMW-based and IR-based rain retrievals. Within the context of the now emerging global water & energy cycle (GWEC) programs of a number of research agencies throughout the world, GPM serves as a centerpiece space mission for improving our understanding of the Earth's water cycle from a global measurement perspective and on down to regional scales and below. One of the salient problems within our current understanding of the global water and energy cycle is determining whether a change in the rate of the water cycle is accompanying changes in climate, e.g., climate warming. As there are a number of ways in which to define a rate-change of the global water cycle, it is not entirely clear as to what constitutes such a determination. This paper first presents an overview of the GPM Mission and how its overriding scientific objectives for climate, weather, and hydrology flow from the anticipated improvements that are being planned for the constellation-based measuring system. Next, the paper shows how the GPM observations can be used within the framework of the oceanic and continental water budget equations to determine whether a given perturbation in precipitation is indicative of an actual rate change in the water cycle, consistent with required responses in water storage and/or water flux transport processes, or whether it is simply part of the natural

  2. Optimal integration of organic Rankine cycles with industrial processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hipólito-Valencia, Brígido J.; Rubio-Castro, Eusiel; Ponce-Ortega, José M.; Serna-González, Medardo; Nápoles-Rivera, Fabricio; El-Halwagi, Mahmoud M.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • An optimization approach for heat integration is proposed. • A new general superstructure for heat integration is proposed. • Heat process streams are simultaneously integrated with an organic Rankine cycle. • Better results can be obtained respect to other previously reported methodologies. - Abstract: This paper presents a procedure for simultaneously handling the problem of optimal integration of regenerative organic Rankine cycles (ORCs) with overall processes. ORCs may allow the recovery of an important fraction of the low-temperature process excess heat (i.e., waste heat from industrial processes) in the form of mechanical energy. An integrated stagewise superstructure is proposed for representing the interconnections and interactions between the HEN and ORC for fixed data of process streams. Based on the integrated superstructure, the optimization problem is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming problem to simultaneously account for the capital and operating costs including the revenue from the sale of the shaft power produced by the integrated system. The application of this method is illustrated with three example problems. Results show that the proposed procedure provides significantly better results than an earlier developed method for discovering optimal integrated systems using a sequential approach, due to the fact that it accounts simultaneously for the tradeoffs between the capital and operating costs as well as the sale of the produced energy. Also, the proposed method is an improvement over the previously reported methods for solving the synthesis problem of heat exchanger networks without the option of integration with an ORC (i.e., stand-alone heat exchanger networks)

  3. Oil and gas platforms with steam bottoming cycles: System integration and thermoenvironomic evaluation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nguyen, Tuong-Van; Tock, Laurence; Breuhaus, Peter

    2014-01-01

    The integration of steam bottoming cycles on oil and gas platforms is currently regarded as the most promising option for improving the performance of these energy-intensive systems. In this paper, a North Sea platform is taken as case study, and a systematic analysis of its energy requirements...... cooling utility, and (iv) the weight limitations on the platform are quantitatively assessed. The results illustrate the benefits of converting the gas turbine process into a combined cycle, since the fuel gas consumption and the total CO2-emissions can be reduced by more than 15 %. Using the cooling...... water from the processing plant reveals to be more profitable than using seawater, as the additional pumping power outweighs the benefit of using a cooling medium at a temperature of about 8 °C lower. This study highlights thereby the importance of analysing energy savings and recovery options...

  4. Growth scenarios with thorium fuel cycles in pressurised heavy water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balakrishnan, M.R.

    1991-01-01

    Since India has generous deposits of thorium, the availability of thorium will not be a limiting factor in any growth scenario. It is fairly well accepted that the best system for utilisation of thorium is the heavy water reactor. The growth scenarios possible using thorium in HWRs are considered. The base has been taken as 50,000 tons of natural uranium and practically unlimited thorium. The reference reactor has been assumed to be the PHWR, and all other growth scenarios are compared with the growth scenario provided by the once-through natural cycle in the PHWR. Two reactor types have been considered: the heavy water moderated, heavy water cooled, pressure tube reactor, known as the PHWR; and the heavy water moderated and cooled pressure vessel kind, similar to the ATUCHA reactor in Argentina. For each reactor, a number of different fuel cycles have been studied. All these cycles have been based on thorium. These are: the self-sustaining equilibrium thorium cycle (SSET); the high conversion ratio high burnup cycle; and the once through thorium cycle (OTT). The cycle have been initiated in two ways: one is by starting the cycle with natural uranium, reprocessing the spent fuel to obtain plutonium, and use that plutonium to initiate the thorium cycle; the other is to enrich the uranium to about 2-3% U-235 (the so-called Low Enriched Uranium or LEU), and use the LEU to initiate the thorium cycle. Both cases have been studied, and growth scenarios have been projected for every one of the possible combinations. (author). 1 tab

  5. Solar High Temperature Water-Splitting Cycle with Quantum Boost

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Taylor, Robin [SAIC; Davenport, Roger [SAIC; Talbot, Jan [UCSD; Herz, Richard [UCSD; Genders, David [Electrosynthesis Co.; Symons, Peter [Electrosynthesis Co.; Brown, Lloyd [TChemE

    2014-04-25

    A sulfur family chemical cycle having ammonia as the working fluid and reagent was developed as a cost-effective and efficient hydrogen production technology based on a solar thermochemical water-splitting cycle. The sulfur ammonia (SA) cycle is a renewable and sustainable process that is unique in that it is an all-fluid cycle (i.e., with no solids handling). It uses a moderate temperature solar plant with the solar receiver operating at 800°C. All electricity needed is generated internally from recovered heat. The plant would operate continuously with low cost storage and it is a good potential solar thermochemical hydrogen production cycle for reaching the DOE cost goals. Two approaches were considered for the hydrogen production step of the SA cycle: (1) photocatalytic, and (2) electrolytic oxidation of ammonium sulfite to ammonium sulfate in aqueous solutions. Also, two sub-cycles were evaluated for the oxygen evolution side of the SA cycle: (1) zinc sulfate/zinc oxide, and (2) potassium sulfate/potassium pyrosulfate. The laboratory testing and optimization of all the process steps for each version of the SA cycle were proven in the laboratory or have been fully demonstrated by others, but further optimization is still possible and needed. The solar configuration evolved to a 50 MW(thermal) central receiver system with a North heliostat field, a cavity receiver, and NaCl molten salt storage to allow continuous operation. The H2A economic model was used to optimize and trade-off SA cycle configurations. Parametric studies of chemical plant performance have indicated process efficiencies of ~20%. Although the current process efficiency is technically acceptable, an increased efficiency is needed if the DOE cost targets are to be reached. There are two interrelated areas in which there is the potential for significant efficiency improvements: electrolysis cell voltage and excessive water vaporization. Methods to significantly reduce water evaporation are

  6. The governance of major innovation in the water cycle : Examining three prominent technologies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lulofs, Kris R.D.; Bressers, Hans

    The growing absolute and relative water scarcity requires drastic change in the water cycle in order to target an efficient and robust water supply. The water cycle consists of the production of water, water use, collection of wastewater and its treatment. This article addresses whether the market

  7. Integrated design strategy for product life-cycle management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, G. Patrick

    2001-02-01

    Two major trends suggest new considerations for environmentally conscious manufacturing (ECM) -- the continuation of dematerialization and the growing trend toward goods becoming services. A diversity of existing research could be integrated around those trends in ways that can enhance ECM. Major research-based achievements in information, computation, and communications systems, sophisticated and inexpensive sensing capabilities, highly automated and precise manufacturing technologies, and new materials continue to drive the phenomenon of dematerialization - the reduction of the material and energy content of per capita GDP. Knowledge is also growing about the sociology, economics, mathematics, management and organization of complex socio-economic systems. And that has driven a trend towards goods evolving into services. But even with these significant trends, the value of material, energy, information and human resources incorporated into the manufacture, use and disposal of modern products and services often far exceeds the benefits realized. Multi-disciplinary research integrating these drivers with advances in ECM concepts could be the basis for a new strategy of production. It is argued that a strategy of integrating information resources with physical and human resources over product life cycles, together with considering products as streams of service over time, could lead to significant economic payoff. That strategy leads to an overall design concept to minimize costs of all resources over the product life cycle to more fully capture benefits of all resources incorporated into modern products. It is possible by including life cycle monitoring, periodic component replacement, re-manufacture, salvage and human factor skill enhancement into initial design.

  8. Secondary cycle water chemistry for 500 MWe pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) plant: a case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhandakkar, A.; Subbarao, A.; Agarwal, N.K.

    1995-01-01

    In turbine and secondary cycle system of 500 MWe PHWR, chemistry of steam and water is controlled in secondary cycle for prevention of corrosion in steam generators (SGs), feedwater system and steam system, scale and deposit formation on heat transfer surfaces and carry-over of solids by steam and deposition on steam turbine blades. Water chemistry of secondary side of SGs and turbine cycle is discussed. (author). 8 refs., 2 tabs., 1 fig

  9. Signal of Acceleration and Physical Mechanism of Water Cycle in Xinjiang, China

    OpenAIRE

    Feng, Guo-Lin; Wu, Yong-Ping

    2016-01-01

    Global warming accelerates water cycle with features of regional difference. However, little is known about the physical mechanism behind the phenomenon. To reveal the links between water cycle and climatic environment, we analyzed the changes of water cycle elements and their relationships with climatic and environmental factors. We found that when global warming was significant during the period of 1986-2003, the precipitation in Tarim mountains as well as Xinjiang increased rapidly except ...

  10. Outside-in control -Does plant cell wall integrity regulate cell cycle progression?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gigli-Bisceglia, Nora; Hamann, Thorsten

    2018-04-13

    During recent years it has become accepted that plant cell walls are not inert objects surrounding all plant cells but are instead highly dynamic, plastic structures. They are involved in a large number of cell biological processes and contribute actively to plant growth, development and interaction with environment. Therefore, it is not surprising that cellular processes can control plant cell wall integrity while, simultaneously, cell wall integrity can influence cellular processes. In yeast and animal cells such a bi-directional relationship also exists between the yeast/animal extra-cellular matrices and the cell cycle. In yeast, the cell wall integrity maintenance mechanism and a dedicated plasmamembrane integrity checkpoint are mediating this relationship. Recent research has yielded insights into the mechanism controlling plant cell wall metabolism during cytokinesis. However, knowledge regarding putative regulatory pathways controlling adaptive modifications in plant cell cycle activity in response to changes in the state of the plant cell wall are not yet identified. In this review, we summarize similarities and differences in regulatory mechanisms coordinating extra cellular matrices and cell cycle activity in animal and yeast cells, discuss the available evidence supporting the existence of such a mechanism in plants and suggest that the plant cell wall integrity maintenance mechanism might also control cell cycle activity in plant cells. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  11. Water Cycle Dynamics in a Changing Environment: Advancing Hydrologic Science through Synthesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sivapalan, M.; Kumar, P.; Rhoads, B. L.; Wuebbles, D.

    2007-12-01

    As one ponders a changing environment -- climate, hydrology, land use, biogeochemical cycles, human dynamics -- there is an increasing need to understand the long term evolution of the linked component systems (e.g., climatic, hydrologic and ecological) through conceptual and quantitative models. The most challenging problem toward this goal is to understand and incorporate the rich dynamics of multiple linked systems with weak and strong coupling, and with many internal variables that exhibit multi-scale interactions. The richness of these interactions leads to fluctuations in one variable that in turn drive the dynamics of other related variables. The key question then becomes: Do these complexities lend an inherently stochastic character to the system, rendering deterministic prediction and modeling of limited value, or do they translate into constrained self- organization through which emerges order, and a limited group of "active" processes (that may change from time to time) that determine the general evolution of the system through a series of structured states with a distinct signature? This is a grand challenge for predictability and therefore requires community effort. The interconnectivity and hence synthesis of knowledge across the fields should be natural for hydrologists since the global water cycle and its regional manifestations directly correspond to the information flows for mass and energy transformations across the media, and across the disciplines. Further, the rich history of numerical, conceptual and stochastic modeling in hydrology provides the training and breadth for addressing the multi- scale, complex system dynamics challenges posed by the evolution question. Theory and observational analyses that necessitate stepping back from the existing knowledge paradigms and looking at the integrated system are needed. In this talk we will present the outlines of a new NSF-funded community effort that attempts to forge inter- disciplinary

  12. Waste management in IFR [Integral Fast Reactor] fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, T.R.; Battles, J.E.

    1991-01-01

    The fuel cycle of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) has important potential advantage for the management of high-level wastes. This sodium-cooled, fast reactor will use metal fuels that are reprocessed by pyrochemical methods to recover uranium, plutonium, and the minor actinides from spent core and blanket fuel. More than 99% of all transuranic (TRU) elements will be recovered and returned to the reactor, where they are efficiently burned. The pyrochemical processes being developed to treat the high-level process wastes are capable of producing waste forms with low TRU contents, which should be easier to dispose of. However, the IFR waste forms present new licensing issues because they will contain chloride salts and metal alloys rather than glass or ceramic. These fuel processing and waste treatment methods can also handle TRU-rich materials recovered from light-water reactors and offer the possibility of efficiently and productively consuming these fuel materials in future power reactors

  13. Optimised heat recovery steam generators for integrated solar combined cycle plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterseim, Jürgen H.; Huschka, Karsten

    2017-06-01

    The cost of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants is decreasing but, due to the cost differences and the currently limited value of energy storage, implementation of new facilities is still slow compared to photovoltaic systems. One recognized option to lower cost instantly is the hybridization of CSP with other energy sources, such as natural gas or biomass. Various references exist for the combination of CSP with natural gas in combined cycle plants, also known as Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) plants. One problem with current ISCC concepts is the so called ISCC crisis, which occurs when CSP is not contributing and cycle efficiency falls below efficiency levels of solely natural gas only fired combined cycle plants. This paper analyses current ISCC concepts and compares them with two optimised designs. The comparison is based on a Kuraymat type ISCC plant and shows that cycle optimization enables a net capacity increase of 1.4% and additional daily generation of up to 7.9%. The specific investment of the optimised Integrated Solar Combined Cycle plant results in a 0.4% cost increase, which is below the additional net capacity and daily generation increase.

  14. SMART MANAGEMENT OF THE WATER URBAN CYCLE

    OpenAIRE

    Sánchez Zaplana, Antonio

    2014-01-01

    Aguas Municipalizadas de Alicante, AMAEM, is the company in charge of managing the urban water cycle in Alicante and several neighbour towns: San Vicente, Sant Joan, Petrer, Monforte and El Campello. More specifically, AMAEM provides the water distribution service in all of them, and is responsible for the sewage service in Alicante, Sant Joan and Monforte. The population served amounts to 750,000 inhabitants, supplied by a 2,000 km water distribution network and 700 km of sewage drains. AMAE...

  15. Land surface water cycles observed with satellite sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nghiem, Son V.; Njoku, E. G.; Brakenridge, G. R.; Kim, Y.

    2005-01-01

    Acceleration of the global water cycle may lead to increased global precipitation, faster evaporation and a consequent exacerbation of hydrologic extreme. In the U.S. national assessment of the potential consequences of climate variability and change, two GCMs (CGCM1 and HadCM2) show a large increase in precipitation in the future over the southwestern U.S. particularly during winter (Felzer and Heard, 1999). Increased precipitation potentially has important impacts on agricultural and water use in the southeast U.S. (Hatch et al., 1999) and in the central Great Plains (Nielsen, 1997). A hurricane model predicts a 40% precipitation increase for severe hurricanes affecting southeastern Florida, which provokes substantially greater flooding that could negate most of the benefits of present water-management practices in this basin (Gutowski et al., 1994). Thus, it is important to observe the hydroclimate on a continuous longterm basis to address the question of increased precipitation in the enhanced water cycle.

  16. Isotopes in the Arctic atmospheric water cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonne, Jean-Louis; Werner, Martin; Meyer, Hanno; Kipfstuhl, Sepp; Rabe, Benjamin; Behrens, Melanie; Schönicke, Lutz; Steen Larsen, Hans Christian; Masson-Delmotte, Valérie

    2016-04-01

    The ISO-ARC project aims at documenting the Arctic atmospheric hydrological cycle, by assessing the imprint of the marine boundary conditions (e.g. temperature variations, circulation changes, or meltwater input) to the isotopic composition of the atmospheric water cycle (H218O and HDO) with a focus on North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. For this purpose, two continuous monitoring water vapour stable isotopes cavity ring-down spectrometers have been installed in July 2015: on-board the Polarstern research vessel and in the Siberian Lena delta Samoylov research station (N 72° 22', E 126° 29'). The Polarstern measurements cover the summer 2015 Arctic campaign from July to mid-October, including six weeks in the Fram Strait region in July- August, followed by a campaign reaching the North Pole and a transect from the Norwegian Sea to the North Sea. These vapour observations are completed by water isotopic measurements in samples from the surface ocean water for Polarstern and from precipitation in Samoylov and Tiksi (120 km south-east of the station). A custom-made designed automatic calibration system has been implemented in a comparable manner for both vapour instruments, based on the injection of different liquid water standards, which are completely vaporised in dry air at high temperature. Subsequent humidity level can be adjusted from 2000 to at least 30000 ppm. For a better resilience, an independent calibration system has been added on the Samoylov instrument, allowing measurements of one standard at humidity levels ranging from 2000 to 15000 ppm: dry air is introduced in a tank containing a large amount of liquid water standard, undergoing evaporation under a controlled environment. The measurement protocol includes an automatic calibration every 25 hours. First instrument characterisation experiments depict a significant isotope-humidity effect at low humidity, dependant on the isotopic composition of the standard. For ambient air, our first isotope

  17. Safeguards operations in the integral fast reactor fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goff, K.M.; Benedict, R.W.; Brumbach, S.B.; Dickerman, C.E.; Tompot, R.W.

    1994-01-01

    Argonne National Laboratory is currently demonstrating the fuel cycle for the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR), an advanced reactor concept that takes advantage of the properties of metallic fuel and liquid metal cooling to offer significant improvements in reactor safety, operation, fuel-cycle economics, environmental protection, and safeguards. The IFR fuel cycle employs a pyrometallurgical process using molten salts and liquid metals to recover actinides from spent fuel. The safeguards aspects of the fuel cycle demonstration must be approved by the United States Department of Energy, but a further goal of the program is to develop a safeguards system that could gain acceptance from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and International Atomic Energy Agency. This fuel cycle is described with emphasis on aspects that differ from aqueous reprocessing and on its improved safeguardability due to decreased attractiveness and diversion potential of all process streams, including the fuel product

  18. Life cycle assessment of biofuels from an integrated Brazilian algae-sugarcane biorefinery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Souza, Simone P.; Gopal, Anand R.; Seabra, Joaquim E.A.

    2015-01-01

    Sugarcane ethanol biorefineries in Brazil produce carbon dioxide, electricity and heat as byproducts. These are essential inputs for algae biodiesel production. In this paper, we assessed ethanol's life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and fossil energy use produced in an integrated sugarcane and algae biorefinery where biodiesel replaces petroleum diesel for all agricultural operations. Carbon dioxide from cane juice fermentation is used as the carbon source for algae cultivation, and sugarcane bagasse is the sole source of energy for the entire facility. Glycerin produced from the biodiesel plant is consumed by algae during the mixotrophic growth phase. We assessed the uncertainties through a detailed Monte-Carlo analysis. We found that this integrated system can improve both the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and the fossil energy use of sugarcane ethanol by around 10% and 50%, respectively, compared to a traditional Brazilian sugarcane ethanol distillery. - Highlights: • A high diesel consumption is associated to the ethanol sugarcane life-cycle. • Sugarcane industry can provide sources of carbon and energy for the algae growing. • The sugarcane-algae integration can improve the ethanol life-cycle performance. • This integration is a promising pathway for the deployment of algae biodiesel. • There are still significant techno-economic barriers associated with algae biodiesel

  19. The role of water ice clouds in the Martian hydrologic cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, Philip B.

    1990-01-01

    A one-dimensional model for the seasonal cycle of water on Mars has been used to investigate the direction of the net annual transport of water on the planet and to study the possible role of water ice clouds, which are included as an independent phase in addition to ground ice and water vapor, in the cycle. The calculated seasonal and spatial patterns of occurrence of water ice clouds are qualitatively similar to the observed polar hoods, suggesting that these polar clouds are, in fact, an important component of water cycle. A residual dry ice in the south acts as a cold trap which, in the absence of sources other than the caps, will ultimately attract the water ice from the north cap; however, in the presence of a source of water in northern midlatitudes during spring, it is possible that the observed distribution of vapor and ice can be in a steady state even if a residual CO2 cap is a permanent feature of the system.

  20. Children's Views about the Water Cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bar, Varda

    1989-01-01

    Israeli children's (kindergarten to grade nine) explanations about the water cycle are described. Reports the children's views about the source of clouds and the mechanism of rainfall. It was concluded that understanding evaporation is a necessary condition for explaining a mechanism of rain containing the ideas of condensation and heaviness. (YP)

  1. A CloudSat Perspective of the Atmospheric Water Cycle and Precipitation: Recent Progress and Grand Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephens, Graeme L.; Im, Eastwood; Vane, Deborah

    2012-01-01

    Summary Global - mean precipitation - is controlled by Earth's energy balance and is a quantifiable consequence of the water vapor feedback. Predictability rests on the degree to which the water vapor feedback is predictable. Regional scale - to a significant extent, changes are shaped by atmospheric circulation changes but we do not know the extent to which regional scale changes are predictable. The impacts of changes to atmospheric circulation on regional scale water cycle changes can be dramatic. Process - scale - significant biases to the CHARACTER of precipitation (frequency and intensity) is related to how the precipitation process is parameterized in models. Aerosol - We still do not know the extent to which the water cycle is influenced by aerosol but anecdotal evidence is building. The character of precipitation is affected by the way aerosol influence clouds and thus affects the forcing of the climate system through the albedo effect. Observations - we still have a way to go and need to approach the problem in a more integrated way (tie clouds, aerosol and precipitation together and then link to soil moisture, etc). Globally our capabilities seriously lag behind the science and model development.

  2. The heat engine cycle, the heat removal cycle, and ergonomics of the control room displays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beltracchi, L.

    1986-01-01

    This paper discusses and illustrates the ergonomics of an integrated display, which will allow operators to monitor the heat engine cycle during normal operation of the plant, and the heat removal cycle during emergency operation of the plant. A computer-based iconic display is discussed as an overview to monitor these cycles. Specific emphasis is placed upon the process variables and process functions within each cycle, and the action of control systems and engineered safeguard systems within each cycle. This paper contains examples of display formats for the heat engine cycle and the heat removal cycle in a pressurized water reactor

  3. Understanding future emissions from low-carbon power systems by integration of life-cycle assessment and integrated energy modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pehl, Michaja; Arvesen, Anders; Humpenöder, Florian; Popp, Alexander; Hertwich, Edgar G.; Luderer, Gunnar

    2017-12-01

    Both fossil-fuel and non-fossil-fuel power technologies induce life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, mainly due to their embodied energy requirements for construction and operation, and upstream CH4 emissions. Here, we integrate prospective life-cycle assessment with global integrated energy-economy-land-use-climate modelling to explore life-cycle emissions of future low-carbon power supply systems and implications for technology choice. Future per-unit life-cycle emissions differ substantially across technologies. For a climate protection scenario, we project life-cycle emissions from fossil fuel carbon capture and sequestration plants of 78-110 gCO2eq kWh-1, compared with 3.5-12 gCO2eq kWh-1 for nuclear, wind and solar power for 2050. Life-cycle emissions from hydropower and bioenergy are substantial (˜100 gCO2eq kWh-1), but highly uncertain. We find that cumulative emissions attributable to upscaling low-carbon power other than hydropower are small compared with direct sectoral fossil fuel emissions and the total carbon budget. Fully considering life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions has only modest effects on the scale and structure of power production in cost-optimal mitigation scenarios.

  4. WaLA, a versatile model for the life cycle assessment of urban water systems: Formalism and framework for a modular approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loubet, Philippe; Roux, Philippe; Bellon-Maurel, Véronique

    2016-01-01

    The emphasis on the sustainable urban water management has increased over the last decades. In this context decision makers need tools to measure and improve the environmental performance of urban water systems (UWS) and their related scenarios. In this paper, we propose a versatile model, named WaLA (Water system Life cycle Assessment), which reduces the complexity of the UWS while ensuring a good representation of water issues and fulfilling life cycle assessment (LCA) requirements. Indeed, LCAs require building UWS models, which can be tedious if several scenarios are to be compared. The WaLA model is based on a framework that uses a "generic component" representing alternately water technology units and water users, with their associated water flows, and the associated impacts due to water deprivation, emissions, operation and infrastructure. UWS scenarios can be built by inter-operating and connecting the technologies and users components in a modular and integrated way. The model calculates life cycle impacts at a monthly temporal resolution for a set of services provided to users, as defined by the scenario. It also provides the ratio of impacts to amount of services provided and useful information for UWS diagnosis or comparison of different scenarios. The model is implemented in a Matlab/Simulink interface thanks to object-oriented programming. The applicability of the model is demonstrated using a virtual case study based on available life cycle inventory data. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Heavy water reactors on the once-through uranium cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1978-05-01

    This paper presents preliminary technical and economic data to INFCE on the once-through uranium fuel cycle for use in early comparisons of alternate nuclear systems. The denatured thorium fuel cycle is discussed in a companion paper. Information for this paper was developed under an ongoing program, and more complete reporting of the evaluation of the heavy water reactor and its fuel cycles is planned toward the end of the year

  6. Pressure cycling monitoring helps ensure the integrity of energy pipelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Song, Peter; Lawrence, Doug; Keane, Sean; Ironside, Scott; Sutton, Aaron [Enbridge Pipelines Inc., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    Enbridge Pipelines Inc. undertook a pressure cycling monitoring (PCM) program to see how pressure cycling severity (PCS) changes during line operations. The main purpose of this program is to make sure the integrity assessment interval is valid and to identify changes in operations that cause fatigue damage. The estimated fatigue life is obtained through fatigue analysis, which is based on Paris Law and uses certain data such as the operating pressure data from Enbridge's SCADA system. It serves as a measure of the PCS. When applied in an integrity management program, PCM helps maintain the integrity of pipelines by pinpointing segments whose operations have changed significantly. Among useful conclusions, it was found that a comparison between crack threat susceptibility indicators and PCS fluctuations help identify a change to crack threat susceptibility; also, the program helps identify notable changes to PCS that are caused by certain operational practices.

  7. Simultaneous heat integration and techno-economic optimization of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for multiple waste heat stream recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu, Haoshui; Eason, John; Biegler, Lorenz T.; Feng, Xiao

    2017-01-01

    In the past decades, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) has become a promising technology for low and medium temperature energy utilization. In refineries, there are usually multiple waste heat streams to be recovered. From a safety and controllability perspective, using an intermedium (hot water) to recover waste heat before releasing heat to the ORC system is more favorable than direct integration. The mass flowrate of the intermediate hot water stream determines the amount of waste heat recovered and the final hot water temperature affects the thermal efficiency of ORC. Both, in turn, exert great influence on the power output. Therefore, the hot water mass flowrate is a critical decision variable for the optimal design of the system. This study develops a model for techno-economic optimization of an ORC with simultaneous heat recovery and capital cost optimization. The ORC is modeled using rigorous thermodynamics with the concept of state points. The task of waste heat recovery using the hot water intermedium is modeled using the Duran-Grossmann model for simultaneous heat integration and process optimization. The combined model determines the optimal design of an ORC that recovers multiple waste heat streams in a large scale background process using an intermediate heat transfer stream. In particular, the model determines the optimal heat recovery approach temperature (HRAT), the utility load of the background process, and the optimal operating conditions of the ORC simultaneously. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated with a case study that uses a refinery as the background process. Sensitivity of the optimal solution to the parameters (electricity price, utility cost) is quantified in this paper. - Highlights: • A new model for Organic Rankine cycle design optimization is presented. • Process heat integration and ORC are considered simultaneously. • Rigorous equation oriented models of the ORC are used for accurate results. • Impact of working

  8. [Nitrogen and water cycling of typical cropland in the North China Plain].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pei, Hong-wei; Shen, Yan-jun; Liu, Chang-ming

    2015-01-01

    Intensive fertilization and irrigation associated increasing grain production has led to serious groundwater depletion and soil/water pollution in the North China Plain (NCP). Intensive agriculture changes the initial mass and energy balance, and also results in huge risks to the water/soil resources and food security regionally. Based on the research reports on the nitrogen cycle and water cycle in typical cropland (winter wheat and summer corn) in the NCP during the past 20 years, and the meteorological data, field experiments and surveys, we calculated the nitrogen cycle and water-cycle for this typical cropland. Annual total nitrogen input were 632 kg N . hm-2, including 523 kg N . hm-2 from commercial fertilizer, 74 kg N . hm-2 from manure, 23 kg N . hm-2 from atmosphere, and 12 kg N . hm-2 from irrigation. All of annual outputs summed to 532 kg N . hm-2 including 289 kg N . hm-2 for crop, 77 kg N . hm-2 staying in soil profile, leaching 104 kg N . hm-2, 52 kg N . hm-2 for ammonia volatilization, 10 kg N . hm-2 loss in nitrification and denitrification. Uncertainties of the individual cases and the summary process lead to the unbalance of nitrogen. For the dominant parts of the field water cycle, annual precipitation was 557 mm, irrigation was 340 mm, while 762 mm was for evapotranspiration and 135 mm was for deep percolation. Considering uncertainties in the nitrogen and water cycles, coupled experiments based on multi-disciplines would be useful for understanding mechanisms for nitrogen and water transfer processes in the soil-plant-atmosphere-continuum (SPAC) , and the interaction between nitrogen and water, as well as determining the critical threshold values for sustainability of soil and water resources in the NCP.

  9. Perceptions of the Water Cycle among Primary School Children in Botswana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taiwo, A. A.; Motswiri, M. J.; Masene, R.

    1999-01-01

    Describes qualitative and quantitative methods used to elucidate the nature of the perception of the water cycle held by Botswana primary-grade pupils in three different geographic areas. Concludes that the students' perception of the water cycle was positively influenced by schooling but negatively impacted upon, to some extent, by the untutored…

  10. Grid Integration | Water Power | NREL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grid Integration Grid Integration For marine and hydrokinetic technologies to play a larger role in supplying the nation's energy needs, integration into the U.S. power grid is an important challenge to address. Efficient integration of variable power resources like water power is a critical part of the

  11. Integration of energy-efficient empty fruit bunch drying with gasification/combined cycle systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aziz, Muhammad; Prawisudha, Pandji; Prabowo, Bayu; Budiman, Bentang Arief

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Novel integrated drying, gasification and combined cycle for empty fruit bunch. • Application of enhanced process integration to achieve high total energy efficiency. • The technology covers exergy recovery and process integration. • High overall energy efficiency can be achieved (about 44% including drying). - Abstract: A high-energy-efficient process for empty fruit bunch drying with integration to gasification and combined cycle processes is proposed. The enhancement is due to greater exergy recovery and more efficient process integration. Basically, the energy/heat involved in a single process is recovered as much as possible, leading to minimization of exergy destruction. In addition, the unrecoverable energy/heat is utilized for other processes through process integration. During drying, a fluidized bed dryer with superheated steam is used as the main evaporator. Exergy recovery is performed through exergy elevation via compression and effective heat coupling in a dryer and heat exchangers. The dried empty fruit bunches are gasified in a fluidized bed gasifier using air as the fluidizing gas. Furthermore, the produced syngas is utilized as fuel in the combined cycle module. From process analysis, the proposed integrated processes can achieve a relatively high energy efficiency. Compared to a standalone drying process employing exergy recovery, the proposed integrated drying can reduce consumed energy by about 1/3. In addition, the overall integrated processes can reach a total power generation efficiency of about 44%

  12. Global water cycle amplifying at less than the Clausius-Clapeyron rate

    OpenAIRE

    Skliris, Nikolaos; Zika, Jan D.; Nurser, George; Josey, Simon A.; Marsh, Robert

    2016-01-01

    A change in the cycle of water from dry to wet regions of the globe would have far reaching impact on humanity. As air warms, its capacity to hold water increases at the Clausius-Clapeyron rate (CC, approximately 7%?°C?1). Surface ocean salinity observations have suggested the water cycle has amplified at close to CC following recent global warming, a result that was found to be at odds with state-of the art climate models. Here we employ a method based on water mass transformation theory for...

  13. NASA Remote Sensing Technologies for Improved Integrated Water Resources Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toll, D. L.; Doorn, B.; Searby, N. D.; Entin, J. K.; Lee, C. M.

    2014-12-01

    This presentation will emphasize NASA's water research, applications, and capacity building activities using satellites and models to contribute to water issues including water availability, transboundary water, flooding and droughts for improved Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). NASA's free and open exchange of Earth data observations and products helps engage and improve integrated observation networks and enables national and multi-national regional water cycle research and applications that are especially useful in data sparse regions of most developing countries. NASA satellite and modeling products provide a huge volume of valuable data extending back over 50 years across a broad range of spatial (local to global) and temporal (hourly to decadal) scales and include many products that are available in near real time (see earthdata.nasa.gov). To further accomplish these objectives NASA works to actively partner with public and private groups (e.g. federal agencies, universities, NGO's, and industry) in the U.S. and international community to ensure the broadest use of its satellites and related information and products and to collaborate with regional end users who know the regions and their needs best. Key objectives of this talk will highlight NASA's Water Resources and Capacity Building Programs with their objective to discover and demonstrate innovative uses and practical benefits of NASA's advanced system technologies for improved water management in national and international applications. The event will help demonstrate the strong partnering and the use of satellite data to provide synoptic and repetitive spatial coverage helping water managers' deal with complex issues. The presentation will also demonstrate how NASA is a major contributor to water tasks and activities in GEOSS (Global Earth Observing System of Systems) and GEO (Group on Earth Observations).

  14. Potential advantages of coupling supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle to water cooled small and medium size reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Ho Joon; Ahn, Yoonhan; Lee, Jeong Ik; Addad, Yacine

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► S-CO 2 cycle as candidate for SMS. ► MATLAB code used for S-CO 2 cycle analysis. ► Pressure ratio and split ratio comparison analyzed. - Abstract: The supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO 2 ) Brayton cycle is being considered as a favorable candidate for the next generation nuclear reactors power conversion systems. Major benefits of the S-CO 2 Brayton cycle compared to other Brayton cycles are: (1) high thermal efficiency in relatively low turbine inlet temperature, (2) compactness of the turbomachineries and heat exchangers and (3) simpler cycle layout at an equivalent or superior thermal efficiency. However, these benefits can be still utilized even in the water-cooled reactor technologies under special circumstances. A small and medium size water-cooled nuclear reactor (SMR) has been gaining interest due to its wide range of application such as electricity generation, seawater desalination, district heating and propulsion. Another key advantage of a SMR is that it can be transported from one place to another mostly by maritime transport due to its small size, and sometimes even through a railway system. Therefore, the combination of a S-CO 2 Brayton cycle with a SMR can reinforce any advantages coming from its small size if the S-CO 2 Brayton cycle has much smaller size components, and simpler cycle layout compared to the currently considered steam Rankine cycle. In this paper, SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor), a 330 MW th integral reactor developed by KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Institute) for multipurpose utilization, is considered as a potential candidate for applying the S-CO 2 Brayton cycle and advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system will be discussed in detail. In consideration of SMART condition, the turbine inlet pressure and size of heat exchangers are analyzed by using in-house code developed by KAIST–Khalifa University joint research team. According to the cycle evaluation, the maximum cycle efficiency

  15. Proposed fuel cycle for the Integral Fast Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burris, L.; Walters, L.C.

    1985-01-01

    One of the key features of ANL's Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) concept is a close-coupled fuel cycle. The proposed fuel cycle is similar to that demonstrated over the first five to six years of operation of EBR-II, when a fuel cycle facility adjacent to EBR-II was operated to reprocess and refabricate rapidly fuel discharged from the EBR-II. Locating the IFR and its fuel cycle facility on the same site makes the IFR a self-contained system. Because the reactor fuel and the uranium blanket are metals, pyrometallurgical processes (shortned to ''pyroprocesses'') have been chosen. The objectives of the IFR processes for the reactor fuel and blanket materials are to (1) recover fissionable materials in high yield; (2) remove fission products adequately from the reactor fuel, e.g., a decontamination factor of 10 to 100; and (3) upgrade the concentration of plutonium in uranium sufficiently to replenish the fissile-material content of the reactor fuel. After the fuel has been reconstituted, new fuel elements will be fabricated for recycle to the reactor

  16. Life cycle assessment of hydrogen and power production by supercritical water reforming of glycerol

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galera, S.; Gutiérrez Ortiz, F.J.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The environmental performance of the supercritical water reforming (SCWR) of glycerol was assessed. • Biogenic CO 2 emissions allowed quantifying a realistic GHG inventory of 3.8 kg CO 2 -eq/kg H 2 . • The environmental profile of SCWR process was compared to those of other technologies. • A good environmental performance of H 2 and power production by SCWR of glycerol was obtained. - Abstract: The environmental performance of hydrogen and electricity production by supercritical water reforming (SCWR) of glycerol was evaluated following a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. The heat-integrated process was designed to be energy self-sufficient. Mass and energy balances needed for the study were performed using Aspen Plus 8.4, and the environmental assessment was carried out through SimaPro 8.0. CML 2000 was selected as the life cycle impact assessment method, considering as impact categories the global warming, ozone layer depletion, abiotic depletion, photochemical oxidant formation, eutrophication, acidification, and cumulative energy demand. A distinction between biogenic and fossil CO 2 emissions was done to quantify a more realistic GHG inventory of 3.77 kg CO 2 -eq per kg H 2 produced. Additionally, the environmental profile of SCWR process was compared to other H 2 production technologies such as steam methane reforming, carbon gasification, water electrolysis and dark fermentation among others. This way, it is shown that SCWR of glycerol allows reducing greenhouse gas emissions and obtaining a favorable positive life cycle energy balance, achieving a good environmental performance of H 2 and power production by SCWR of glycerol

  17. Dual Pressure versus Hybrid Recuperation in an Integrated Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cycle – Steam Cycle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rokni, Masoud

    2014-01-01

    A SOFC (solid oxide fuel cell) cycle running on natural gas was integrated with a ST (steam turbine) cycle. The fuel is desulfurized and pre-reformed before entering the SOFC. A burner was used to combust the remaining fuel after the SOFC stacks. The off-gases from the burner were used to produce...... pressure configuration steam cycle combined with SOFC cycle (SOFC-ST) was new and has not been studied previously. In each of the configuration, a hybrid recuperator was used to recovery the remaining energy of the off-gases after the HRSG. Thus, four different plants system setups were compared to each...... other to reveal the most superior concept with respect to plant efficiency and power. It was found that in order to increase the plant efficiency considerably, it was enough to use a single pressure with a hybrid recuperator instead of a dual pressure Rankine cycle....

  18. Advances in Global Water Cycle Science Made Possible by Global Precipitation Mission (GPM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Eric A.; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    Within this decade the internationally sponsored Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) will take an important step in creating a global precipitation observing system from space. One perspective for understanding the nature of GPM is that it will be a hierarchical system of datastreams from very high caliber combined dual frequency radar/passive microwave (PMW) rain-radiometer retrievals, to high caliber PMW rain-radiometer only retrievals, and on to blends of the former datastreams with other less-high caliber PMW-based and IR-based rain retrievals. Within the context of NASA's role in global water cycle science and its own Global Water & Energy Cycle (GWEC) program, GPM is the centerpiece mission for improving our understanding of the global water cycle from a space-based measurement perspective. One of the salient problems within our current understanding of the global water and energy cycle is determining whether a change in the rate of the water cycle is accompanying changes in global temperature. As there are a number of ways in which to define a rate-change of the global water cycle, it is not entirely clear as to what constitutes such a determination, This paper presents an overview of the Global Precipitation Mission and how its datasets can be used in a set of quantitative tests within the framework of the oceanic and continental water budget equations to determine comprehensively whether substantive rate changes do accompany perturbations in global temperatures and how such rate changes manifest themselves in both water storage and water flux transport processes.

  19. Integrating Product Water Quality Effects In Holistic Assessments Of Water Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Rygaard, Martin

    2011-01-01

    While integrated assessments of sustainability of water systems are largely focused on quantity issues, chemical use, and energy consumption, effects of the supplied water quality are often overlooked. Drinking water quality affects corrosion rates, human health, applicability of water and aesthetics. Even small changes in the chemical composition of water may accumulate large impacts on city scale. Here, a method for integrated assessment of water quality is presented. Based on dose-response...

  20. Progress and status of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1993-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle holds promise for substantial improvements in economics, diversion-resistance, and waste management. This paper discusses technical features of the IFR fuel cycle, its technical progress, the development status, and the future plans and directions

  1. Progress and status of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1993-03-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle holds promise for substantial improvements in economics, diversion-resistance, and waste management. This paper discusses technical features of the IFR fuel cycle, its technical progress, the development status, and the future plans and directions.

  2. Progress and status of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1993-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle holds promise for substantial improvements in economics, diversion-resistance, and waste management. This paper discusses technical features of the IFR fuel cycle, its technical progress, the development status, and the future plans and directions.

  3. Adsorption characteristics of water vapor on ferroaluminophosphate for desalination cycle

    KAUST Repository

    Kim, Youngdeuk

    2014-07-01

    The adsorption characteristics of microporous ferroaluminophosphate adsorbent (FAM-Z01, Mitsubishi Plastics) are evaluated for possible application in adsorption desalination and cooling (AD) cycles. A particular interest is its water vapor uptake behavior at assorted adsorption temperatures and pressures whilst comparing them to the commercial silica gels of AD plants. The surface characteristics are first carried out using N2 gas adsorption followed by the water vapor uptake analysis for temperature ranging from 20°C to 80°C. We propose a hybrid isotherm model, composing of the Henry and the Sips isotherms, which can be integrated to satisfactorily fit the experimental data of water adsorption on the FAM-Z01. The hybrid model is selected to fit the unusual isotherm shapes, that is, a low adsorption in the initial section and followed by a rapid vapor uptake leading to a likely micropore volume filling by hydrogen bonding and cooperative interaction in micropores. It is shown that the equilibrium adsorption capacity of FAM-Z01 can be up to 5 folds higher than that of conventional silica gels. Owing to the quantum increase in the adsorbate uptake, the FAM-Z01 has the potential to significantly reduce the footprint of an existing AD plant for the same output capacity. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

  4. Carbon footprint estimation of municipal water cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakhshi, Ali A.

    2009-11-01

    This research investigates the embodied energy associated with water use. A geographic information system (GIS) was tested using data from Loudoun County, Virginia. The objective of this study is to estimate the embodied energy and carbon emission levels associated with water service at a geographical location and to improve for sustainability planning. Factors that affect the carbon footprint were investigated and the use of a GIS based model as a sustainability planning framework was evaluated. The carbon footprint metric is a useful tool for prediction and measurement of a system's sustainable performance over its expected life cycle. Two metrics were calculated: tons of carbon dioxide per year to represent the contribution to global warming and watt-hrs per gallon to show the embodied energy associated with water consumption. The water delivery to the building, removal of wastewater from the building and associated treatment of water and wastewater create a sizable carbon footprint; often the energy attributed to this water service is the greatest end use of electrical energy. The embodied energy in water depends on topographical characteristics of the area's local water supply, the efficiency of the treatment systems, and the efficiency of the pumping stations. The questions answered by this research are: What is the impact of demand side sustainable water practices on the embodied energy as represented by a comprehensive carbon footprint? What are the major energy consuming elements attributed to the system? What is a viable and visually identifiable tool to estimate the carbon footprint attributed to those Greenhouse Gas (GHG) producing elements? What is the embodied energy and emission associated with water use delivered to a building? Benefits to be derived from a standardized GIS applied carbon footprint estimation approach include: (1) Improved environmental and economic information for the developers, water and wastewater processing and municipal

  5. Progress and status of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1991-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle holds promise for substantial improvements in economics, diversion-resistance, and waste management. This paper discusses technical features of the IFR fuel cycle, its technical progress, the development status, and the future plans and directions. 10 refs

  6. Progress and status of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1991-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle holds promise for substantial improvements in economics, diversion-resistance, and waste management. This paper discusses technical features of the IFR fuel cycle, its technical progress, the development status, and the future plans and directions. 10 refs.

  7. Progress and status of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1991-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle holds promise for substantial improvements in economics, diversion-resistance, and waste management. This paper discusses technical features of the IFR fuel cycle, its technical progress, the development status, and the future plans and directions. (author)

  8. Whole life cycle of femtosecond ultraviolet filaments in water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarnac, Amélie; Tamosauskas, Gintaras; Majus, Donatas; Houard, Aurélien; Mysyrowicz, André; Couairon, Arnaud; Dubietis, Audrius

    2014-03-01

    We present measurements fully characterizing the whole life cycle of femtosecond pulses undergoing filamentation in water at 400 nm. The complete pulse dynamics is monitored by means of a four-dimensional mapping technique for the intensity distribution I (x,y,z,t) during the nonlinear interaction. Measured events (focusing or defocusing cycles, pulse splitting and replenishment, supercontinuum generation, conical emission, nonlinear absorption peaks) are mutually connected.The filament evolution from laser energy deposition in water, which is of paramount importance for a wide range of technological and medical applications, is interpreted in light of simulation results.

  9. The Observed State of the Water Cycle in the Early Twenty-First Century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodell, M.; Beaudoing, H. K.; L'Ecuyer, T. S.; Olson, W. S.; Famiglietti, J. S.; Houser, P. R.; Adler, R.; Bosilovich, M. G.; Clayson, C. A.; Chambers, D.; hide

    2015-01-01

    This study quantifies mean annual and monthly fluxes of Earth's water cycle over continents and ocean basins during the first decade of the millennium. To the extent possible, the flux estimates are based on satellite measurements first and data-integrating models second. A careful accounting of uncertainty in the estimates is included. It is applied within a routine that enforces multiple water and energy budget constraints simultaneously in a variational framework in order to produce objectively determined optimized flux estimates. In the majority of cases, the observed annual surface and atmospheric water budgets over the continents and oceans close with much less than 10% residual. Observed residuals and optimized uncertainty estimates are considerably larger for monthly surface and atmospheric water budget closure, often nearing or exceeding 20% in North America, Eurasia, Australia and neighboring islands, and the Arctic and South Atlantic Oceans. The residuals in South America and Africa tend to be smaller, possibly because cold land processes are negligible. Fluxes were poorly observed over the Arctic Ocean, certain seas, Antarctica, and the Australasian and Indonesian islands, leading to reliance on atmospheric analysis estimates. Many of the satellite systems that contributed data have been or will soon be lost or replaced. Models that integrate ground-based and remote observations will be critical for ameliorating gaps and discontinuities in the data records caused by these transitions. Continued development of such models is essential for maximizing the value of the observations. Next-generation observing systems are the best hope for significantly improving global water budget accounting.

  10. Conceptual design of a thermo-electrical energy storage system based on heat integration of thermodynamic cycles – Part A: Methodology and base case

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morandin, Matteo; Maréchal, François; Mercangöz, Mehmet; Buchter, Florian

    2012-01-01

    The interest in large scale electricity storage (ES) with discharging time longer than 1 h and nominal power greater than 1 MW, is increasing worldwide as the increasing share of renewable energy, typically solar and wind energy, imposes severe load management issues. Thermo-electrical energy storage (TEES) based on thermodynamic cycles is currently under investigation at ABB corporate research as an alternative solution to pump hydro and compressed air energy storage. TEES is based on the conversion of electricity into thermal energy during charge by means of a heat pump and on the conversion of thermal energy into electricity during discharge by means of a thermal engine. The synthesis and the thermodynamic optimization of a TEES system based on hot water, ice storage and transcritical CO 2 cycles, is discussed in two papers. In this first paper a methodology for the conceptual design of a TEES system based on the analysis of the thermal integration between charging and discharging cycles through Pinch Analysis tools is introduced. According to such methodology, the heat exchanger network and temperatures and volumes of storage tanks are not defined a priori but are determined after the cycle parameters are optimized. For this purpose a heuristic procedure based on the interpretation of the composite curves obtained by optimizing the thermal integration between the cycles was developed. Such heuristic rules were implemented in a code that allows finding automatically the complete system design for given values of the intensive parameters of the charging and discharging cycles only. A base case system configuration is introduced and the results of its thermodynamic optimization are discussed here. A maximum roundtrip efficiency of 60% was obtained for the base case configuration assuming turbomachinery and heat exchanger performances in line with indications from manufacturers. -- Highlights: ► Energy storage based on water, ice, and transcritical CO 2 cycles is

  11. Evolution of the global water cycle on Mars: The geological evidence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, V. R.; Gulick, V. C.

    1993-01-01

    The geological evidence for active water cycling early in the history of Mars (Noachian geological system or heavy bombardment) consists almost exclusively of fluvial valley networks in the heavily cratered uplands of the planet. It is commonly assumed that these landforms required explanation by atmospheric processes operating above the freezing point of water and at high pressure to allow rainfall and liquid surface runoff. However, it has also been documented that nearly all valley networks probably formed by subsurface outflow and sapping erosion involving groundwater outflow prior to surface-water flow. The prolonged ground-water flow also requires extensive water cycling to maintain hydraulic gradients, but is this done via rainfall recharge, as in terrestrial environments?

  12. Thermodynamic investigation of an integrated gasification plant with solid oxide fuel cell and steam cycles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rokni, Masoud [Technical Univ. of Denmark, Lyngby (Denmark). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Energy System

    2012-07-01

    A gasification plant is integrated on the top of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cycle, while a steam turbine (ST) cycle is used as a bottoming cycle for the SOFC plant. The gasification plant was fueled by woodchips to produce biogas and the SOFC stacks were fired with biogas. The produced gas was rather clean for feeding to the SOFC stacks after a simple cleaning step. Because all the fuel cannot be burned in the SOFC stacks, a burner was used to combust the remaining fuel. The off-gases from the burner were then used to produce steam for the bottoming steam cycle in a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The steam cycle was modeled with a simple single pressure level. In addition, a hybrid recuperator was used to recover more energy from the HRSG and send it back to the SOFC cycle. Thus two different configurations were investigated to study the plants characteristic. Such system integration configurations are completely novel and have not been studied elsewhere. Plant efficiencies of 56% were achieved under normal operation which was considerably higher than the IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) in which a gasification plant is integrated with a gas turbine and a steam turbine. Furthermore, it is shown that under certain operating conditions, plant efficiency of about 62 is also possible to achieve. (orig.)

  13. An integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of electricity generation in Turkey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Atilgan, Burcin; Azapagic, Adisa

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents for the first time an integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of the electricity sector in Turkey, considering environmental, economic and social aspects. Twenty life cycle sustainability indicators (11 environmental, three economic and six social) are used to evaluate the current electricity options. Geothermal power is the best option for six environmental impacts but it has the highest capital costs. Small reservoir and run-of-river power has the lowest global warming potential while large reservoir is best for the depletion of elements and fossil resources, and acidification. It also has the lowest levelised costs, worker injuries and fatalities but provides the lowest life cycle employment opportunities. Gas power has the lowest capital costs but it provides the lowest direct employment and has the highest levelised costs and ozone layer depletion. Given these trade-offs, a multi-criteria decision analysis has been carried out to identify the most sustainable options assuming different stakeholder preferences. For all the preferences considered, hydropower is the most sustainable option for Turkey, followed by geothermal and wind electricity. This work demonstrates the importance for energy policy of an integrated life cycle sustainability assessment and how tensions between different aspects can be reconciled to identify win-win solutions. - Highlights: •First integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of the electricity sector in Turkey. •11 environmental, three economic and six social sustainability indicators estimated. •Multi-criteria decision analysis carried out to identify most sustainable options. •Hydro is the most sustainable option for Turkey, followed by geothermal and wind. •This work demonstrates how tensions among sustainability aspects can be reconciled.

  14. Numerical simulation and performance investigation of an advanced adsorption desalination cycle

    KAUST Repository

    Thu, Kyaw

    2013-01-01

    Low temperature waste heat-driven adsorption desalination (AD) cycles offer high potential as one of the most economically viable and environmental-friendly desalination methods. This article presents the development of an advanced adsorption desalination cycle that employs internal heat recovery between the evaporator and the condenser, utilizing an encapsulated evaporator-condenser unit for effective heat transfer. A simulation model has been developed based on the actual sorption characteristics of the adsorbent-adsorbate pair, energy and mass balances applied to the components of the AD cycle. With an integrated design, the temperature in the evaporator and the vapor pressurization of the adsorber are raised due to the direct heat recovery from the condenser, resulting in the higher water production rates, typically improved by as much as three folds of the conventional AD cycle. In addition, the integrated design eliminates two pumps, namely, the condenser cooling water and the chilled water pumps, lowering the overall electricity consumption. The performance of the cycle is analyzed at assorted heat source and cooling water temperatures, and different cycle times as well as the transient heat transfer coefficients of the evaporation and condensation. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

  15. The Mars water cycle at other epochs - Recent history of the polar caps and layered terrain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jakosky, Bruce M.; Henderson, Bradley G.; Mellon, Michael T.

    1993-01-01

    A numerical model is presented of the integrated role of seasonal water cycle on the evolution of polar deposits on Mars over the last 10 million years. From the model, it is concluded that the only major difference between the polar caps which affects their long-term behavior is ultimately the difference in their elevations. Because of that difference, there is a preference for CO2 frost to stay longer on the northern polar cap. The average difference in sublimation at the caps results in a net south-to-north transport of water ice over long time scales. Superimposed on any long-term behavior is a transfer of water ice between the caps on the 10 exp 5 - 10 exp 6 yr time scales. The amount of water exchanged is small compared to the total ice content of the polar deposits.

  16. Preparations for the Integral Fast Reactor fuel cycle demonstration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lineberry, M.J.; Phipps, R.D.

    1989-01-01

    Modifications to the Hot Fuel Examination Facility-South (HFEF/S) have been in progress since mid-1988 to ready the facility for demonstration of the unique Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) pyroprocess fuel cycle. This paper updates the last report on this subject to the American Nuclear Society and describes the progress made in the modifications to the facility and in fabrication of the new process equipment. The IFR is a breeder reactor, which is central to the capability of any reactor concept to contribute to mitigation of environmental impacts of fossil fuel combustion. As a fast breeder, fuel of course must be recycled in order to have any chance of an economical fuel cycle. The pyroprocess fuel cycle, relying on a metal alloy reactor fuel rather than oxide, has the potential to be economical even at small-scale deployment. Establishing this quantitatively is one important goal of the IFR fuel cycle demonstration

  17. Advanced modeling and simulation of integrated gasification combined cycle power plants with CO2-capture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rieger, Mathias

    2014-01-01

    The objective of this thesis is to provide an extensive description of the correlations in some of the most crucial sub-processes for hard coal fired IGCC with carbon capture (CC-IGCC). For this purpose, process simulation models are developed for four industrial gasification processes, the CO-shift cycle, the acid gas removal unit, the sulfur recovery process, the gas turbine, the water-/steam cycle and the air separation unit (ASU). Process simulations clarify the influence of certain boundary conditions on plant operation, performance and economics. Based on that, a comparative benchmark of CC-IGCC concepts is conducted. Furthermore, the influence of integration between the gas turbine and the ASU is analyzed in detail. The generated findings are used to develop an advanced plant configuration with improved economics. Nevertheless, IGCC power plants with carbon capture are not found to be an economically efficient power generation technology at present day boundary conditions.

  18. DIRECT-CYCLE, BOILING-WATER NUCLEAR REACTOR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrer, J.M.; Fromm, L.W. Jr.; Kolba, V.M.

    1962-08-14

    A direct-cycle boiling-water nuclear reactor is described that employs a closed vessel and a plurality of fuel assemblies, each comprising an outer tube closed at its lower end, an inner tube, fuel rods in the space between the tubes and within the inner tube. A body of water lying within the pressure vessel and outside the fuel assemblies is converted to saturated steam, which enters each fuel assembly at the top and is converted to superheated steam in the fuel assembly while it is passing therethrough first downward through the space between the inner and outer tubes of the fuel assembly and then upward through the inner tube. (AEC)

  19. Advances in Understanding Global Water Cycle with Advent of Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Eric A.; Starr, David (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Within this decade the internationally organized Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission will take an important step in creating a global precipitation observing system from space. One perspective for understanding the nature of GPM is that it will be a hierarchical system of datastreams beginning with very high caliber combined dual frequency radar/passive microwave (PMW) rain-radiometer retrievals, to high caliber PMW rain-radiometer only retrievals, and then on to blends of the former datastreams with additional lower-caliber PMW-based and IR-based rain retrievals. Within the context of the now emerging global water & energy cycle (GWEC) programs of a number of research agencies throughout the world, GPM serves as a centerpiece space mission for improving our understanding of the global water cycle from a global measurement perspective. One of the salient problems within our current understanding of the global water and energy cycle is determining whether a change in the rate of the water cycle is accompanying changes in climate, e.g., climate warming. As there are a number of ways in which to define a rate-change of the global water cycle, it is not entirely clear as to what constitutes such a determination. This paper presents an overview of the GPM Mission and how its observations can be used within the framework of the oceanic and continental water budget equations to determine whether a given perturbation in precipitation is indicative of an actual rate change in the global water cycle, consistent with required responses in water storage and/or water flux transport processes, or whether it is the natural variability of a fixed rate cycle.

  20. Integrated Modeling System for Analysis of Watershed Water Balance: A Case Study in the Tims Branch Watershed, South Carolina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Setegn, S. G.; Mahmoudi, M.; Lawrence, A.; Duque, N.

    2015-12-01

    The Applied Research Center at Florida International University (ARC-FIU) is supporting the soil and groundwater remediation efforts of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) by developing a surface water model to simulate the hydrology and the fate and transport of contaminants and sediment in the Tims Branch watershed. Hydrological models are useful tool in water and land resource development and decision-making for watershed management. Moreover, simulation of hydrological processes improves understanding of the environmental dynamics and helps to manage and protect water resources and the environment. MIKE SHE, an advanced integrated modeling system is used to simulate the hydrological processes of the Tim Branch watershed with the objective of developing an integrated modeling system to improve understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes within the Tims Branch watershed. MIKE SHE simulates water flow in the entire land based phase of the hydrological cycle from rainfall to river flow, via various flow processes such as, overland flow, infiltration, evapotranspiration, and groundwater flow. In this study a MIKE SHE model is developed and applied to the Tim branch watershed to study the watershed response to storm events and understand the water balance of the watershed under different climatic and catchment characteristics. The preliminary result of the integrated model indicated that variation in the depth of overland flow highly depend on the amount and distribution of rainfall in the watershed. The ultimate goal of this project is to couple the MIKE SHE and MIKE 11 models to integrate the hydrological component in the land phase of hydrological cycle and stream flow process. The coupled MIKE SHE/MIKE 11 model will further be integrated with an Ecolab module to represent a range of water quality, contaminant transport, and ecological processes with respect to the stream, surface water and groundwater in the Tims

  1. Ocean water cycle: its recent amplification and impact on ocean circulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vinogradova, Nadya

    2016-04-01

    Oceans are the largest reservoir of the world's water supply, accounting for 97% of the Earth's water and supplying more than 75% of the evaporated and precipitated water in the global water cycle. Therefore, in order to predict the future of the global hydrological cycle, it is essential to understand the changes in its largest component, which is the flux of freshwater over the oceans. Here we examine the change in the ocean water cycle and the ocean's response to such changes that were happening during the last two decades. The analysis is based on a data-constrained ocean state estimate that synthesizes all of the information available in the surface fluxes, winds, observations of sea level, temperature, salinity, geoid, etc., as well as in the physical constraints, dynamics, and conservation statements that are embedded in the equations of the MIT general circulation model. Closeness to observations and dynamical consistency of the solution ensures a physically realistic correspondence between the atmospheric forcing and oceanic fluxes, including the ocean's response to freshwater input. The results show a robust pattern of change in the ocean water cycle in the last twenty years. The pattern of changes indicates a general tendency of drying of the subtropics, and wetting in the tropics and mid-to-high latitudes, following the "rich get richer and the poor get poorer" paradigm in many ocean regions. Using a closed property budget analysis, we then investigate the changes in the oceanic state (salinity, temperature, sea level) during the same twenty-year period. The results are discussed in terms of the origin of surface signatures, and differentiated between those that are attributed to short-term natural variability and those that result from an intensified hydrological cycle due to warming climate.

  2. Improvement of Taihu water quality by the technology of immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Zhengkui; Zhang Weidong; Zhu Jiating; Pu Peimin; Hu Weipin; Hu Chunhua; Chen Baojun; Li Bo; Cheng Xiaoying; Zhang Shengzhao; Fan Yunqi

    2002-01-01

    Experimental studies were carried out on the purification of eutrophic Taihu Lake water by dynamic experiment using immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria (INCB). The results showed that the eutrophic water of Taihu Lake can be purified effectively as it passes through the experimental reactor into which some immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria were put. The removal efficiencies for Total N (TN), NH 4 + -N with immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria were 72.4% and 85.6%, respectively. It was found that the immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria also have purificatory effect on eutrophic water of Taihu Lake at winter temperature (7 degree C), and that the removal efficiencies for Total N (TN), NH 4 + -N were 55.6%, and 58.9%, respectively. The removal efficiencies for TN and NH 4 + -N depend on the time the water stays in the experimental reactor

  3. Multi-objective optimization integrated with life cycle assessment for rainwater harvesting systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yi; Huang, Youyi; Ye, Quanliang; Zhang, Wenlong; Meng, Fangang; Zhang, Shanxue

    2018-03-01

    The major limitation of optimization models applied previously for rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems is the systematic evaluation of environmental and human health impacts across all the lifecycle stages. This study integrated life cycle assessment (LCA) into a multi-objective optimization model to optimize the construction areas of green rooftops, porous pavements and green lands in Beijing of China, considering the trade-offs among 24 h-interval RWH volume (QR), stormwater runoff volume control ratio (R), economic cost (EC), and environmental impacts (EI). Eleven life cycle impact indicators were assessed with a functional unit of 10,000 m2 of RWH construction areas. The LCA results showed that green lands performed the smallest lifecycle impacts of all assessment indicators, in contrast, porous pavements showed the largest impact values except Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP) elements. Based on the standardization results, ADP fossil was chosen as the representative indicator for the calculation of EI objective in multi-objective optimization model due to its largest value in all RWH systems lifecycle. The optimization results for QR, R, EC and EI were 238.80 million m3, 78.5%, 66.68 billion RMB Yuan, and 1.05E + 16 MJ, respectively. After the construction of optimal RWH system, 14.7% of annual domestic water consumption and 78.5% of maximum daily rainfall would be supplied and controlled in Beijing, respectively, which would make a great contribution to reduce the stress of water scarcity and water logging problems. Green lands have been the first choice for RWH in Beijing according to the capacity of rainwater harvesting and less environmental and human impacts. Porous pavements played a good role in water logging alleviation (R for 67.5%), however, did not show a large construction result in this study due to the huge ADP fossil across the lifecycle. Sensitivity analysis revealed the daily maximum precipitation to be key factor for the robustness of the

  4. Disturbances in closed water cycle papermaking; Vaehaevetisen paperinvalmistuksen haeirioetekijaet - MPKY 01

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nyblom, I.; Asikainen, J.; Salerma, M.; Schlupp, K. [Finnish Pulp and Paper Research Institute, Espoo (Finland)

    1998-12-31

    There are fears that reducing water consumption at paper mills will make the papermaking process more susceptible to disturbances. Substances accumulating in the circulating water will give rise to fouling and precipitates as well as flaws in the paper web. A wet end simulator, to be built at KCL (The Finnish Pulp and Paper Research Institute) this year, will be used to test water cycle closure equivalent to a specific water consumption of 3-4 m{sup 3}/t of pulp. The first part of the investigation will examine fouling and precipitate formation due to temperature and pH disturbances. In the second part, tests will be made on the use of on-line measuring instruments in contaminated water cycles. (orig.)

  5. Disturbances in closed water cycle papermaking; Vaehaevetisen paperinvalmistuksen haeirioetekijaet - MPKY 01

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nyblom, I; Asikainen, J; Salerma, M; Schlupp, K [Finnish Pulp and Paper Research Institute, Espoo (Finland)

    1999-12-31

    There are fears that reducing water consumption at paper mills will make the papermaking process more susceptible to disturbances. Substances accumulating in the circulating water will give rise to fouling and precipitates as well as flaws in the paper web. A wet end simulator, to be built at KCL (The Finnish Pulp and Paper Research Institute) this year, will be used to test water cycle closure equivalent to a specific water consumption of 3-4 m{sup 3}/t of pulp. The first part of the investigation will examine fouling and precipitate formation due to temperature and pH disturbances. In the second part, tests will be made on the use of on-line measuring instruments in contaminated water cycles. (orig.)

  6. Life cycle water use for electricity generation: a review and harmonization of literature estimates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meldrum, J; Nettles-Anderson, S; Heath, G; Macknick, J

    2013-01-01

    This article provides consolidated estimates of water withdrawal and water consumption for the full life cycle of selected electricity generating technologies, which includes component manufacturing, fuel acquisition, processing, and transport, and power plant operation and decommissioning. Estimates were gathered through a broad search of publicly available sources, screened for quality and relevance, and harmonized for methodological differences. Published estimates vary substantially, due in part to differences in production pathways, in defined boundaries, and in performance parameters. Despite limitations to available data, we find that: water used for cooling of thermoelectric power plants dominates the life cycle water use in most cases; the coal, natural gas, and nuclear fuel cycles require substantial water per megawatt-hour in most cases; and, a substantial proportion of life cycle water use per megawatt-hour is required for the manufacturing and construction of concentrating solar, geothermal, photovoltaic, and wind power facilities. On the basis of the best available evidence for the evaluated technologies, total life cycle water use appears lowest for electricity generated by photovoltaics and wind, and highest for thermoelectric generation technologies. This report provides the foundation for conducting water use impact assessments of the power sector while also identifying gaps in data that could guide future research. (letter)

  7. Power ramping, cycling and load following behaviour of water reactor fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-05-01

    The present meeting was scheduled by the International Atomic Energy Agency upon proposal of the Members of the International Working Group on Water Reactor Fuel Performance and Technology. Sixty-three participants representing 15 countries and one international organization attended the meeting. Twenty papers were presented during three technical sessions, followed by panel discussions which allowed to formulate the conclusions of the meeting and recommendations to the Agency. The objective of this Technical Committee Meeting is to review the ''State-of-the-Art'', make critical comments and recommendations with the aim of improving fuel reliability and assure integrity of the cladding and core materials when subjected to ramping and cycling sequences. The Meeting was organized in three sessions: Session 1. ''Mechanical Behaviour and Fission Gas Release'' (7 papers); Session 2. ''Power Ramping and Power Cycling Demonstration Programmes in Research Reactors'' (5 papers); Session 3. ''Fuel Behaviour in Power Reactors'' (9 papers). Between the sessions, the session chairmen, together with the speakers, prepared and presented reports with summary, conclusions and recommendations of the individual sessions. These reports are added to this summary report. A separate abstract was prepared for each of these 21 presentations. Refs, figs and tabs

  8. Evaluating the hydrological consistency of satellite based water cycle components

    KAUST Repository

    Lopez Valencia, Oliver Miguel; Houborg, Rasmus; McCabe, Matthew

    2016-01-01

    observation. Basin-scale studies have shown considerable variability in achieving water budget closure with any degree of accuracy using satellite estimates of the water cycle. In order to assess the suitability of this type of approach for evaluating

  9. Improvement of chemical control in the water-steam cycle of thermal power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rajakovic-Ognjanovic, Vladana N.; Zivojinovic, Dragana Z.; Grgur, Branimir N.; Rajakovic, Ljubinka V.

    2011-01-01

    A more effective chemical control in the water-steam cycle (WSC) of thermal power plants (TPP) is proposed in this paper. Minimization of corrosion effects by the production of ultra pure water and its strict control is the basis of all the investigated processes. The research involved the analysis of water samples in the WSC through key water quality parameters and by the most convenient analytical tools. The necessity for the stricter chemical control is demonstrated through a concrete example of the TPP Nikola Tesla, Serbia. After a thorough analysis of the chemical control system of the WSC, diagnostic and control parameters were chosen for continuous systematic measurements. Sodium and chloride ions were recognized as the ions which indicate the corrosion potential of the water and give insight into the proper production and maintenance of water within the WSC. Chemical transformations of crucial corrosion elements, iron and silica, were considered and related to their quantitative values. - Research highlights: → The more effective chemical control in the water-steam cycle of thermal power plant Nikola Tesla, Serbia. → In chemical control the diagnostic and control parameters were optimized and introduced for the systematic measurements in the water-steam cycle. → Sodium and chloride ions were recognized as ions which indicate corrosion potential of water and give insight to proper function of production and maintenance of water within water-team cycle. → Chemical transformations of crucial corrosion elements, iron and silica are considered and related with their quantitative values.

  10. Once-through cycle, supercritical-pressure light water cooled reactor concept

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oka, Y.; Koshizuka, S. [Tokyo Univ., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Nuclear Engineering Research Lab

    2001-07-01

    Concept of once-through cycle, supercritical-pressure light water cooled reactors was developed. The research covered major aspects of conceptual design such as cores of thermal and fast reactors, plant system and heat balance, safety system and criteria, accident and transient analysis, LOCA, PSA, plant control and start-up. The advantages of the reactor lie in the compactness of the plant from high specific enthalpy of supercritical water, the simplicity of the once-through cycle and the experiences of major component technologies which are based on supercritical fossil-fired power plants and LWRs. The operating temperatures of the major components are within the experience in spite of high coolant outlet temperature. The once-through cycle is compatible with the tight fuel lattice fast reactor because of high head pumps and small coolant flow rate. (author)

  11. Once-through cycle, supercritical-pressure light water cooled reactor concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oka, Y.; Koshizuka, S.

    2001-01-01

    Concept of once-through cycle, supercritical-pressure light water cooled reactors was developed. The research covered major aspects of conceptual design such as cores of thermal and fast reactors, plant system and heat balance, safety system and criteria, accident and transient analysis, LOCA, PSA, plant control and start-up. The advantages of the reactor lie in the compactness of the plant from high specific enthalpy of supercritical water, the simplicity of the once-through cycle and the experiences of major component technologies which are based on supercritical fossil-fired power plants and LWRs. The operating temperatures of the major components are within the experience in spite of high coolant outlet temperature. The once-through cycle is compatible with the tight fuel lattice fast reactor because of high head pumps and small coolant flow rate. (author)

  12. Integrated Urban Water Quality Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rauch, W.; Harremoës, Poul

    1995-01-01

    The basic features of integrated urban water quality management by means of deterministic modeling are outlined. Procedures for the assessment of the detrimental effects in the recipient are presented as well as the basic concepts of an integrated model. The analysis of a synthetic urban drainage...... system provides useful information for water quality management. It is possible to identify the system parameters that contain engineering significance. Continuous simulation of the system performance indicates that the combined nitrogen loading is dominated by the wastewater treatment plant during dry...

  13. Performance analysis of an integrated gas-, steam- and organic fluid-cycle thermal power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oko, C.O.C.; Njoku, I.H.

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents the performance analysis of an existing combined cycle power plant augmented with a waste heat fired organic Rankine cycle power plant for extra power generation. This was achieved by performing energy and exergy analysis of the integrated gas-, steam- and organic fluid-cycle thermal power plant (IPP). Heat source for the subcritical organic Rankine cycle (ORC) was the exhaust flue gases from the heat recovery steam generators of a 650 MW natural gas fired combined cycle power plant. The results showed that extra 12.4 MW of electricity was generated from the attached ORC unit using HFE7100 as working fluid. To select ORC working fluid, ten isentropic fluids were screened and HFE7100 produced the highest net power output and cycle efficiency. Exergy and energy efficiencies of the IPP improved by 1.95% and 1.93%, respectively. The rate of exergy destruction in the existing combined cycle plant was highest in the combustion chamber, 59%, whereas in the ORC, the highest rate of exergy destruction occurred in the evaporator, 62%. Simulations showed exergy efficiency of the IPP decreased with increasing ambient temperature. Exit stack flue gas temperature reduced from 126 °C in the combined cycle power plant to 100 °C in the integrated power plant. - Highlights: • Combined cycle plant retrofitted with ORC produced extra 12.4 MW electric power. • ORC is powered with low temperature flue gas from an existing combined cycle plant. • Exergy destruction rate in integrated plant(IPP) is less than in combined plant. • Exit stack temperature of the IPP has less environmental thermal pollution. • Exergy and energy efficiencies of the IPP improved by 1.95% and 1.93%, respectively.

  14. Solar Hydrogen Production via a Samarium Oxide-Based Thermochemical Water Splitting Cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rahul Bhosale

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The computational thermodynamic analysis of a samarium oxide-based two-step solar thermochemical water splitting cycle is reported. The analysis is performed using HSC chemistry software and databases. The first (solar-based step drives the thermal reduction of Sm2O3 into Sm and O2. The second (non-solar step corresponds to the production of H2 via a water splitting reaction and the oxidation of Sm to Sm2O3. The equilibrium thermodynamic compositions related to the thermal reduction and water splitting steps are determined. The effect of oxygen partial pressure in the inert flushing gas on the thermal reduction temperature (TH is examined. An analysis based on the second law of thermodynamics is performed to determine the cycle efficiency (ηcycle and solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency (ηsolar−to−fuel attainable with and without heat recuperation. The results indicate that ηcycle and ηsolar−to−fuel both increase with decreasing TH, due to the reduction in oxygen partial pressure in the inert flushing gas. Furthermore, the recuperation of heat for the operation of the cycle significantly improves the solar reactor efficiency. For instance, in the case where TH = 2280 K, ηcycle = 24.4% and ηsolar−to−fuel = 29.5% (without heat recuperation, while ηcycle = 31.3% and ηsolar−to−fuel = 37.8% (with 40% heat recuperation.

  15. Evaluation of fuel fabrication and the back end of the fuel cycle for light-water- and heavy-water-cooled nuclear power reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carter, W.L.; Olsen, A.R.

    1979-06-01

    The classification of water-cooled nuclear reactors offers a number of fuel cycles that present inherently low risk of weapons proliferation while making power available to the international community. Eight fuel cycles in light water reactor (LWR), heavy water reactor (HWR), and the spectral shift controlled reactor (SSCR) systems have been proposed to promote these objectives in the International Fuel Cycle Evaluation (INFCE) program. Each was examined in an effort to provide technical and economic data to INFCE on fuel fabrication, refabrication, and reprocessing for an initial comparison of alternate cycles. The fuel cycles include three once-through cycles that require only fresh fuel fabrication, shipping, and spent fuel storage; four cycles that utilize denatured uranium--thorium and require all recycle operations; and one cycle that considers the LWR--HWR tandem operation requiring refabrication but no reprocessing

  16. Evaluation of fuel fabrication and the back end of the fuel cycle for light-water- and heavy-water-cooled nuclear power reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carter, W.L.; Olsen, A.R.

    1979-06-01

    The classification of water-cooled nuclear reactors offers a number of fuel cycles that present inherently low risk of weapons proliferation while making power available to the international community. Eight fuel cycles in light water reactor (LWR), heavy water reactor (HWR), and the spectral shift controlled reactor (SSCR) systems have been proposed to promote these objectives in the International Fuel Cycle Evaluation (INFCE) program. Each was examined in an effort to provide technical and economic data to INFCE on fuel fabrication, refabrication, and reprocessing for an initial comparison of alternate cycles. The fuel cycles include three once-through cycles that require only fresh fuel fabrication, shipping, and spent fuel storage; four cycles that utilize denatured uranium--thorium and require all recycle operations; and one cycle that considers the LWR--HWR tandem operation requiring refabrication but no reprocessing.

  17. Issues and Solutions for Bringing Heterogeneous Water Cycle Data Sets Together

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acker, James; Kempler, Steven; Teng, William; Belvedere, Deborah; Liu, Zhong; Leptoukh, Gregory

    2010-01-01

    The water cycle research community has generated many regional to global scale products using data from individual NASA missions or sensors (e.g., TRMM, AMSR-E); multiple ground- and space-based data sources (e.g., Global Precipitation Climatology Project [GPCP] products); and sophisticated data assimilation systems (e.g., Land Data Assimilation Systems [LDAS]). However, it is often difficult to access, explore, merge, analyze, and inter-compare these data in a coherent manner due to issues of data resolution, format, and structure. These difficulties were substantiated at the recent Collaborative Energy and Water Cycle Information Services (CEWIS) Workshop, where members of the NASA Energy and Water cycle Study (NEWS) community gave presentations, provided feedback, and developed scenarios which illustrated the difficulties and techniques for bringing together heterogeneous datasets. This presentation reports on the findings of the workshop, thus defining the problems and challenges of multi-dataset research. In addition, the CEWIS prototype shown at the workshop will be presented to illustrate new technologies that can mitigate data access roadblocks encountered in multi-dataset research, including: (1) Quick and easy search and access of selected NEWS data sets. (2) Multi-parameter data subsetting, manipulation, analysis, and display tools. (3) Access to input and derived water cycle data (data lineage). It is hoped that this presentation will encourage community discussion and feedback on heterogeneous data analysis scenarios, issues, and remedies.

  18. Advanced modeling and simulation of integrated gasification combined cycle power plants with CO{sub 2}-capture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rieger, Mathias

    2014-04-17

    The objective of this thesis is to provide an extensive description of the correlations in some of the most crucial sub-processes for hard coal fired IGCC with carbon capture (CC-IGCC). For this purpose, process simulation models are developed for four industrial gasification processes, the CO-shift cycle, the acid gas removal unit, the sulfur recovery process, the gas turbine, the water-/steam cycle and the air separation unit (ASU). Process simulations clarify the influence of certain boundary conditions on plant operation, performance and economics. Based on that, a comparative benchmark of CC-IGCC concepts is conducted. Furthermore, the influence of integration between the gas turbine and the ASU is analyzed in detail. The generated findings are used to develop an advanced plant configuration with improved economics. Nevertheless, IGCC power plants with carbon capture are not found to be an economically efficient power generation technology at present day boundary conditions.

  19. Integrated waste and water management system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, R. W.; Sauer, R. L.

    1986-01-01

    The performance requirements of the NASA Space Station have prompted a reexamination of a previously developed integrated waste and water management system that used distillation and catalytic oxydation to purify waste water, and microbial digestion and incineration for waste solids disposal. This system successfully operated continuously for 206 days, for a 4-man equivalent load of urine, feces, wash water, condensate, and trash. Attention is given to synergisms that could be established with other life support systems, in the cases of thermal integration, design commonality, and novel technologies.

  20. Three-Dimensional Water and Carbon Cycle Modeling at High Spatial-Temporal Resolutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, C.; Zhuang, Q.

    2017-12-01

    Terrestrial ecosystems in cryosphere are very sensitive to the global climate change due to the presence of snow covers, mountain glaciers and permafrost, especially when the increase in near surface air temperature is almost twice as large as the global average. However, few studies have investigated the water and carbon cycle dynamics using process-based hydrological and biogeochemistry modeling approach. In this study, we used three-dimensional modeling approach at high spatial-temporal resolutions to investigate the water and carbon cycle dynamics for the Tanana Flats Basin in interior Alaska with emphases on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) dynamics. The results have shown that: (1) lateral flow plays an important role in water and carbon cycle, especially in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) dynamics. (2) approximately 2.0 × 104 kg C yr-1 DOC is exported to the hydrological networks and it compromises 1% and 0.01% of total annual gross primary production (GPP) and total organic carbon stored in soil, respectively. This study has established an operational and flexible framework to investigate and predict the water and carbon cycle dynamics under the changing climate.

  1. Integrated Solution Support System for Water Management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kassahun, A.; Blind, M.; Krause, A.U.M.; Roosenschoon, O.R.

    2008-01-01

    Solving water management problems involves technical, social, economic, political and legal challenges and thus requires an integrated approach involving people from different backgrounds and roles. The integrated approach has been given a prominent role within the European Union¿s Water Framework

  2. Water system integration of a chemical plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng Pingyou; Feng Xiao; Qian Feng; Cao Dianliang

    2006-01-01

    Water system integration can minimize both the freshwater consumption and the wastewater discharge of a plant. In industrial applications, it is the key to determine reasonably the contaminants and the limiting concentrations, which will decide the freshwater consumption and wastewater discharge of the system. In this paper, some rules to determine the contaminants and the limiting concentrations are proposed. As a case study, the water system in a chemical plant that produces sodium hydroxide and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is integrated. The plant consumes a large amount of freshwater and discharges a large amount of wastewater, so minimization of both the freshwater consumption and the wastewater discharge is very important to it. According to the requirements of each water using process on the water used in it, the contaminants and the limiting concentrations are determined. Then, the optimal water reuse scheme is firstly studied based on the water network with internal water mains. To reduce the freshwater consumption and the wastewater discharge further, decentralized regeneration recycling is considered. The water using network is simplified by mixing some of the used water. After the water system integration, the freshwater consumption is reduced 25.5%, and the wastewater discharge is reduced 48%

  3. Adaptive and integrated water management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pahl-Wostl, C.; Kabat, P.; Möltgen, J.

    2007-01-01

    Sustainable water management is a key environmental challenge of the 21st century. Developing and implementing innovative management approaches and how to cope with the increasing complexity and uncertainties was the theme of the first International Conference on Adaptive and Integrated Water

  4. Development of an Air-Source Heat Pump Integrated with a Water Heating / Dehumidification Module

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rice, C Keith [ORNL; Uselton, Robert B. [Lennox Industries, Inc; Shen, Bo [ORNL; Baxter, Van D [ORNL; Shrestha, Som S [ORNL

    2014-01-01

    A residential-sized dual air-source integrated heat pump (AS-IHP) concept is under development in partnership between ORNL and a manufacturer. The concept design consists of a two-stage air-source heat pump (ASHP) coupled on the air distribution side with a separate novel water heating/dehumidification (WH/DH) module. The motivation for this unusual equipment combination is the forecast trend for home sensible loads to be reduced more than latent loads. Integration of water heating with a space dehumidification cycle addresses humidity control while performing double-duty. This approach can be applied to retrofit/upgrade applications as well as new construction. A WH/DH module capable of ~1.47 L/h water removal and ~2 kW water heating capacity was assembled by the manufacturer. A heat pump system model was used to guide the controls design; lab testing was conducted and used to calibrate the models. Performance maps were generated and used in a TRNSYS sub-hourly simulation to predict annual performance in a well-insulated house. Annual HVAC/WH energy savings of ~35% are predicted in cold and hot-humid U.S. climates compared to a minimum efficiency baseline.

  5. Proposal of a nuclear cycle research and development plan in Tokai works. The roadmap from LWR cycle to FBR cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, Hirofumi; Abe, Tomoyuki; Kashimura, Takuo; Nagai, Toshihisa; Maeda, Seichiro; Yamaguchi, Toshiya; Kuroki, Ryoichiro

    2003-07-01

    The Generation-II Project Task Force Team has investigated a research and development plan of a future nuclear fuel cycle in Tokai works for about three months from December 19, 2002. First we have discussed about the present condition of Japanese nuclear fuel cycle and have recognized it as the following. The relation of the technology between the LWR-cycle and the FBR-cycle is not clear. MOX Fuel Use in Light Water Reactors is important to establish technology of the FBR fuel cycle. Radioactive waste disposal issue is urgent. Next we have proposed the three basic policies on R and D plan of nuclear fuel cycle in consideration of the F.S. on FBR-cycle. Establishment and advancement of 'the tough nuclear fuel cycle'. Early establishment of the FBR cycle technology to be able to supply energy stably for long-term. Establishment of the radioactive waste treatment and disposal technology, and optimization of nuclear fuel cycle technology from the viewpoint of radioactive waste. And we have proposed the Japanese technical holder system to integrate all LWR and FBR cycle technology. (author)

  6. Light water breeder reactor using a uranium-plutonium cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radkowsky, A.; Chen, R.

    1990-01-01

    This patent describes a light water receptor (LWR) for breeding fissile material using a uranium-plutonium cycle. It comprises: a prebreeder section having plutonium fuel containing a Pu-241 component, the prebreeder section being operable to produce enriched plutonium having an increased Pu-241 component; and a breeder section for receiving the enriched plutonium from the prebreeder section, the breeder section being operable for breeding fissile material from the enriched plutonium fuel. This patent describes a method of operating a light water nuclear reactor (LWR) for breeding fissile material using a uranium-plutonium cycle. It comprises: operating the prebreeder to produce enriched plutonium fuel having an increased Pu-241 component; fueling a breeder section with the enriched plutonium fuel to breed the fissile material

  7. Predicting Impacts of Increased CO2 and Climate Change on the Water Cycle and Water Quality in the Semiarid James River Basin of the Midwestern USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yiping; Liu, Shu-Guang; Gallant, Alisa L.

    2012-01-01

    Emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols from human activities continue to alter the climate and likely will have significant impacts on the terrestrial hydrological cycle and water quality, especially in arid and semiarid regions. We applied an improved Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to evaluate impacts of increased atmospheric CO2 concentration and potential climate change on the water cycle and nitrogen loads in the semiarid James River Basin (JRB) in the Midwestern United States. We assessed responses of water yield, soil water content, groundwater recharge, and nitrate nitrogen (NO3–N) load under hypothetical climate-sensitivity scenarios in terms of CO2, precipitation, and air temperature. We extended our predictions of the dynamics of these hydrological variables into the mid-21st century with downscaled climate projections integrated across output from six General Circulation Models. Our simulation results compared against the baseline period 1980 to 2009 suggest the JRB hydrological system is highly responsive to rising levels of CO2 concentration and potential climate change. Under our scenarios, substantial decrease in precipitation and increase in air temperature by the mid-21st century could result in significant reduction in water yield, soil water content, and groundwater recharge. Our model also estimated decreased NO3–N load to streams, which could be beneficial, but a concomitant increase in NO3–N concentration due to a decrease in streamflow likely would degrade stream water and threaten aquatic ecosystems. These results highlight possible risks of drought, water supply shortage, and water quality degradation in this basin.

  8. Continental Scale research of the coupled carbon and water cycles in Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cleugh, Helen; van Gorsel, Eva; Held, Alex; Huete, Alfredo; Karan, Mirko; Liddell, Michael; Phinn, Stuart; Prentice, Colin

    2013-04-01

    It is essential to understand the drivers and processes that regulate uptake and release of carbon and water by the terrestrial biosphere to quantify the sink and source strengths under current climatic conditions. In addition, understanding the consequences of a changing climate on the capacity of the biosphere to sequester carbon by using a certain amount of water and the impacts of disturbances on resilience and thresholds of the terrestrial biosphere is critical. Recently there has been increasing general interest in how human activities may be affecting Australia's natural carbon cycles. Quantification of carbon and water exchanges requires process understanding over long temporal and large spatial scales, but at fine levels of detail. This requires integration of long term, high frequency observations, models and information from process studies and can only be achieved through research infrastructure that can provide easy access to meta-data and data that have been collected in a systematic and standardized way. The Australian Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) provides such nationally networked infrastructure, along with multi-disciplinary capabilities and end-user-focused products to deliver better ways of measuring and estimating Australia's current and future environmental carbon stocks and flows. Multiple Facilities in TERN are studying carbon and water dynamics across a range of distance and time scales. OzFlux, the Australasian arm of the global initiative Fluxnet, is the most obvious deployment of field hardware in TERN with close to 30 flux towers and their associated micrometeorological instrumentation in place around the country, from Central Australia to the Alps, covering ecosystems ranging from rainforest to alpine grasslands to mulga. Intensive monitoring is carried out at the 10 TERN Supersites which carry a suite of environmental instrumentation and perform standardised vegetation, faunal, soil and water monitoring.TERN Aus

  9. Numerical Simulation of the Water Cycle Change Over the 20th Century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosilovich, Michael G.; Schubert, Siegfried D.

    2003-01-01

    We have used numerical models to test the impact of the change in Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration on the global circulation, particularly focusing on the hydrologic cycle, namely the global cycling of water and continental recycling of water. We have run four numerical simulations using mean annual SST from the early part of the 20th century (1900-1920) and the later part (1980-2000). In addition, we vary the CO2 concentrations for these periods as well. The duration of the simulations is 15 years, and the spatial resolution is 2 degrees. We use passive tracers to study the geographical sources of water. Surface evaporation from predetermined continental and oceanic regions provides the source of water for each passive tracer. In this way, we compute the percent of precipitation of each region over the globe. This can also be used to estimate precipitation recycling. In addition, we are using the passive tracers to independently compute the global cycling of water (compared to the traditional, Q/P calculation).

  10. The efficiency of the heat pump water heater, during DHW tapping cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gużda Arkadiusz

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses one of the most effective systems for domestic hot water (DHW production based on air-source heat pump with an integrated tank. The operating principle of the heat pump is described in detail. Moreover, there is an account of experimental set-up and results of the measurements. In the experimental part, measurements were conducted with the aim of determining the energy parameters and measures of the economic efficiency related to the presented solution. The measurements that were conducted are based on the tapping cycle that is similar to the recommended one in EN-16147 standard. The efficiency of the air source heat pump during the duration of the experiment was 2.43. In the end of paper, authors conducted a simplified ecological analysis in order to determine the influence of operation of air-source heat pump with integrated tank on the environment. Moreover the compression with the different source of energy (gas boiler with closed combustion chamber and boiler fired by the coal was conducted. The heat pump is the ecological friendly source of the energy.

  11. The efficiency of the heat pump water heater, during DHW tapping cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gużda, Arkadiusz; Szmolke, Norbert

    2017-10-01

    This paper discusses one of the most effective systems for domestic hot water (DHW) production based on air-source heat pump with an integrated tank. The operating principle of the heat pump is described in detail. Moreover, there is an account of experimental set-up and results of the measurements. In the experimental part, measurements were conducted with the aim of determining the energy parameters and measures of the economic efficiency related to the presented solution. The measurements that were conducted are based on the tapping cycle that is similar to the recommended one in EN-16147 standard. The efficiency of the air source heat pump during the duration of the experiment was 2.43. In the end of paper, authors conducted a simplified ecological analysis in order to determine the influence of operation of air-source heat pump with integrated tank on the environment. Moreover the compression with the different source of energy (gas boiler with closed combustion chamber and boiler fired by the coal) was conducted. The heat pump is the ecological friendly source of the energy.

  12. Adaptation to climate-induced regional water constraints in the Spanish energy sector: An integrated assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, Zarrar; Linares, Pedro; García-González, Javier

    2016-01-01

    The energy sector depends on water in all phases of its life-cycle, including raw material extraction, power plant cooling, irrigation of biofuel crops and directly in hydropower generation. In the coming decades, several regions of the world are expected to experience a decrease in water resource availability, in part due to climate change. The dependence of the energy sector on water resources calls for an active effort to adapt to the possible scenarios. This paper presents a novel model that addresses the direct impacts of regional and temporal water shortages on energy operation and investment decisions. The paper investigates the costs and benefits of adapting the energy sector to climate-induced water scarcity. The results show that the increase in costs for an energy plan that considers future water stress is relatively small as compared to one which ignores it. A plan which ignores water constraints, however, may lead to significant economic damages when actually exposed to water shortages. The results also highlight the value of the availability of water for the energy sector, which is significantly higher than existing prices. The paper concludes that the potential benefits to be gained by integrating energy and water models can be considerable. - Highlights: • Spatial and temporal water constraints are added to an energy planning model. • Integrated water-energy planning can lead to significant savings in future water-stressed scenarios. • Actual value of water for the energy sector may be much higher than existing prices.

  13. A hydroeconomic modeling framework for optimal integrated management of forest and water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Prats, Alberto; del Campo, Antonio D.; Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel

    2016-10-01

    Forests play a determinant role in the hydrologic cycle, with water being the most important ecosystem service they provide in semiarid regions. However, this contribution is usually neither quantified nor explicitly valued. The aim of this study is to develop a novel hydroeconomic modeling framework for assessing and designing the optimal integrated forest and water management for forested catchments. The optimization model explicitly integrates changes in water yield in the stands (increase in groundwater recharge) induced by forest management and the value of the additional water provided to the system. The model determines the optimal schedule of silvicultural interventions in the stands of the catchment in order to maximize the total net benefit in the system. Canopy cover and biomass evolution over time were simulated using growth and yield allometric equations specific for the species in Mediterranean conditions. Silvicultural operation costs according to stand density and canopy cover were modeled using local cost databases. Groundwater recharge was simulated using HYDRUS, calibrated and validated with data from the experimental plots. In order to illustrate the presented modeling framework, a case study was carried out in a planted pine forest (Pinus halepensis Mill.) located in south-western Valencia province (Spain). The optimized scenario increased groundwater recharge. This novel modeling framework can be used in the design of a "payment for environmental services" scheme in which water beneficiaries could contribute to fund and promote efficient forest management operations.

  14. Glacial-interglacial water cycle, global monsoon and atmospheric methane changes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guo, Zhengtang; Wu, Haibin [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Beijing (China); Zhou, Xin [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Beijing (China); University of Science and Technology of China, School of Earth and Space Sciences and Institute of Polar Environment, Hefei (China)

    2012-09-15

    The causes of atmospheric methane (CH{sub 4}) changes are still a major contention, in particular with regards to the relative contributions of glacial-interglacial cycles, monsoons in both hemispheres and the late Holocene human intervention. Here, we explore the CH{sub 4} signals in the Antarctic EPICA Dome C and Vostok ice records using the methods of timeseries analyses and correlate them with insolation and geological records to address these issues. The results parse out three distinct groups of CH{sub 4} signals attributable to different drivers. The first group ({proportional_to}80% variance), well tracking the marine {delta}{sup 18}O record, is attributable to glacial-interglacial modulation on the global water cycle with the effects shared by wetlands at all latitudes, from monsoonal and non-monsoonal regions in both hemispheres. The second group ({proportional_to}15% variance), centered at the {proportional_to}10-kyr semi-precession frequency, is linkable with insolation-driven tropical monsoon changes in both hemispheres. The third group ({proportional_to}5% variance), marked by millennial frequencies, is seemingly related with the combined effect of ice-volume and bi-hemispheric insolation changes at the precession bands. These results indicate that bi-hemispheric monsoon changes have been a constant driver of atmospheric CH{sub 4}. This mechanism also partially explains the Holocene CH{sub 4} reversal since {proportional_to}5 kyr BP besides the human intervention. In the light of these results, we propose that global monsoon can be regarded as a system consisting of two main integrated components, one primarily driven by the oscillations of Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in response to the low-latitude summer insolation changes, anti-phase between the two hemispheres (i.e. the ITCZ monsoon component); and another modulated by the glacial-interglacial cycles, mostly synchronous at the global scale (i.e. the glacial-interglacial monsoon

  15. Actinide recycle potential in the integral fast reactor (IFR) fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Y.I.; Till, C.E.

    1991-01-01

    In the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) development program, the entire reactor system -- reactor, fuel cycle, and waste process is being developed and optimized at the same time as a single integral entity. The use of metallic fuel in the IFR allows a radically improved fuel cycle technology. Based on the recent IFR process development, a preliminary assessment has been made to investigate the feasibility of further adapting pyrochemical processes to directly extract actinides from LWR spent fuel. The results of this assessment indicate very promising potential and two most promising flowsheet options have been identified for further research and development. This paper also summarizes current thinking on the rationale for actinide recycle, its ramifications on the geologic repository and the current high-level waste management plans, and the necessary development programs

  16. Cavitation and water fluxes driven by ice water potential in Juglans regia during freeze-thaw cycles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charra-Vaskou, Katline; Badel, Eric; Charrier, Guillaume; Ponomarenko, Alexandre; Bonhomme, Marc; Foucat, Loïc; Mayr, Stefan; Améglio, Thierry

    2016-02-01

    Freeze-thaw cycles induce major hydraulic changes due to liquid-to-ice transition within tree stems. The very low water potential at the ice-liquid interface is crucial as it may cause lysis of living cells as well as water fluxes and embolism in sap conduits, which impacts whole tree-water relations. We investigated water fluxes induced by ice formation during freeze-thaw cycles in Juglans regia L. stems using four non-invasive and complementary approaches: a microdendrometer, magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray microtomography, and ultrasonic acoustic emissions analysis. When the temperature dropped, ice nucleation occurred, probably in the cambium or pith areas, inducing high water potential gradients within the stem. The water was therefore redistributed within the stem toward the ice front. We could thus observe dehydration of the bark's living cells leading to drastic shrinkage of this tissue, as well as high tension within wood conduits reaching the cavitation threshold in sap vessels. Ultrasonic emissions, which were strictly emitted only during freezing, indicated cavitation events (i.e. bubble formation) following ice formation in the xylem sap. However, embolism formation (i.e. bubble expansion) in stems was observed only on thawing via X-ray microtomography for the first time on the same sample. Ultrasonic emissions were detected during freezing and were not directly related to embolism formation. These results provide new insights into the complex process and dynamics of water movements and ice formation during freeze-thaw cycles in tree stems. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

  17. Contribution of Heavy Water Board in nuclear fuel cycle technologies. Contributed Paper IT-03

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohanty, P.R.

    2014-01-01

    The three stage Indian nuclear power programme envisages use of closed nuclear fuel cycle and thorium utilization as its mainstay for long term energy security on sustainable basis. India is committed to realize this objective through the development and deployment of frontier technologies pertaining to all aspects of a closed nuclear fuel cycle. Comprehensive indigenous capabilities have been developed in all aspects of nuclear power and associated fuel cycles. Heavy Water Board (HWB), with its abiding objective of fulfilling demand of heavy water for India's flourishing nuclear power program, is one of the frontrunner in Nuclear Fuel Cycle Technology. HWB is now engaged in wide spectrum of activities in various facets of fuel cycle covering all the three stages of Indian Nuclear Power Programme. HWB is contributing to Nuclear Fuel Cycle through large scale production and sustained supply of key input materials including heavy water, solvents for nuclear hydrometallurgy, 10 B enriched boron etc

  18. Integrated Microfluidic Gas Sensors for Water Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, L.; Sniadecki, N.; DeVoe, D. L.; Beamesderfer, M.; Semancik, S.; DeVoe, D. L.

    2003-01-01

    A silicon-based microhotplate tin oxide (SnO2) gas sensor integrated into a polymer-based microfluidic system for monitoring of contaminants in water systems is presented. This device is designed to sample a water source, control the sample vapor pressure within a microchannel using integrated resistive heaters, and direct the vapor past the integrated gas sensor for analysis. The sensor platform takes advantage of novel technology allowing direct integration of discrete silicon chips into a larger polymer microfluidic substrate, including seamless fluidic and electrical interconnects between the substrate and silicon chip.

  19. eWaterCycle: A global operational hydrological forecasting model

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Giesen, Nick; Bierkens, Marc; Donchyts, Gennadii; Drost, Niels; Hut, Rolf; Sutanudjaja, Edwin

    2015-04-01

    Development of an operational hyper-resolution hydrological global model is a central goal of the eWaterCycle project (www.ewatercycle.org). This operational model includes ensemble forecasts (14 days) to predict water related stress around the globe. Assimilation of near-real time satellite data is part of the intended product that will be launched at EGU 2015. The challenges come from several directions. First, there are challenges that are mainly computer science oriented but have direct practical hydrological implications. For example, we aim to make use as much as possible of existing standards and open-source software. For example, different parts of our system are coupled through the Basic Model Interface (BMI) developed in the framework of the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS). The PCR-GLOBWB model, built by Utrecht University, is the basic hydrological model that is the engine of the eWaterCycle project. Re-engineering of parts of the software was needed for it to run efficiently in a High Performance Computing (HPC) environment, and to be able to interface using BMI, and run on multiple compute nodes in parallel. The final aim is to have a spatial resolution of 1km x 1km, which is currently 10 x 10km. This high resolution is computationally not too demanding but very memory intensive. The memory bottleneck becomes especially apparent for data assimilation, for which we use OpenDA. OpenDa allows for different data assimilation techniques without the need to build these from scratch. We have developed a BMI adaptor for OpenDA, allowing OpenDA to use any BMI compatible model. To circumvent memory shortages which would result from standard applications of the Ensemble Kalman Filter, we have developed a variant that does not need to keep all ensemble members in working memory. At EGU, we will present this variant and how it fits well in HPC environments. An important step in the eWaterCycle project was the coupling between the hydrological and

  20. Process integrated modelling for steelmaking Life Cycle Inventory analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iosif, Ana-Maria; Hanrot, Francois; Ablitzer, Denis

    2008-01-01

    During recent years, strict environmental regulations have been implemented by governments for the steelmaking industry in order to reduce their environmental impact. In the frame of the ULCOS project, we have developed a new methodological framework which combines the process integrated modelling approach with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method in order to carry out the Life Cycle Inventory of steelmaking. In the current paper, this new concept has been applied to the sinter plant which is the most polluting steelmaking process. It has been shown that this approach is a powerful tool to make the collection of data easier, to save time and to provide reliable information concerning the environmental diagnostic of the steelmaking processes

  1. Integrated water management system - Description and test results. [for Space Station waste water processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elden, N. C.; Winkler, H. E.; Price, D. F.; Reysa, R. P.

    1983-01-01

    Water recovery subsystems are being tested at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center for Space Station use to process waste water generated from urine and wash water collection facilities. These subsystems are being integrated into a water management system that will incorporate wash water and urine processing through the use of hyperfiltration and vapor compression distillation subsystems. Other hardware in the water management system includes a whole body shower, a clothes washing facility, a urine collection and pretreatment unit, a recovered water post-treatment system, and a water quality monitor. This paper describes the integrated test configuration, pertinent performance data, and feasibility and design compatibility conclusions of the integrated water management system.

  2. Life cycle water consumption and wastewater generation impacts of a Marcellus shale gas well.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Mohan; Hendrickson, Chris T; VanBriesen, Jeanne M

    2014-01-01

    This study estimates the life cycle water consumption and wastewater generation impacts of a Marcellus shale gas well from its construction to end of life. Direct water consumption at the well site was assessed by analysis of data from approximately 500 individual well completion reports collected in 2010 by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Indirect water consumption for supply chain production at each life cycle stage of the well was estimated using the economic input-output life cycle assessment (EIO-LCA) method. Life cycle direct and indirect water quality pollution impacts were assessed and compared using the tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts (TRACI). Wastewater treatment cost was proposed as an additional indicator for water quality pollution impacts from shale gas well wastewater. Four water management scenarios for Marcellus shale well wastewater were assessed: current conditions in Pennsylvania; complete discharge; direct reuse and desalination; and complete desalination. The results show that under the current conditions, an average Marcellus shale gas well consumes 20,000 m(3) (with a range from 6700 to 33,000 m(3)) of freshwater per well over its life cycle excluding final gas utilization, with 65% direct water consumption at the well site and 35% indirect water consumption across the supply chain production. If all flowback and produced water is released into the environment without treatment, direct wastewater from a Marcellus shale gas well is estimated to have 300-3000 kg N-eq eutrophication potential, 900-23,000 kg 2,4D-eq freshwater ecotoxicity potential, 0-370 kg benzene-eq carcinogenic potential, and 2800-71,000 MT toluene-eq noncarcinogenic potential. The potential toxicity of the chemicals in the wastewater from the well site exceeds those associated with supply chain production, except for carcinogenic effects. If all the Marcellus shale well wastewater is

  3. Water cycles in closed ecological systems: effects of atmospheric pressure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rygalov, Vadim Y; Fowler, Philip A; Metz, Joannah M; Wheeler, Raymond M; Bucklin, Ray A

    2002-01-01

    In bioregenerative life support systems that use plants to generate food and oxygen, the largest mass flux between the plants and their surrounding environment will be water. This water cycle is a consequence of the continuous change of state (evaporation-condensation) from liquid to gas through the process of transpiration and the need to transfer heat (cool) and dehumidify the plant growth chamber. Evapotranspiration rates for full plant canopies can range from ~1 to 10 L m-2 d-1 (~1 to 10 mm m-2 d-1), with the rates depending primarily on the vapor pressure deficit (VPD) between the leaves and the air inside the plant growth chamber. VPD in turn is dependent on the air temperature, leaf temperature, and current value of relative humidity (RH). Concepts for developing closed plant growth systems, such as greenhouses for Mars, have been discussed for many years and the feasibility of such systems will depend on the overall system costs and reliability. One approach for reducing system costs would be to reduce the operating pressure within the greenhouse to reduce structural mass and gas leakage. But managing plant growth environments at low pressures (e.g., controlling humidity and heat exchange) may be difficult, and the effects of low-pressure environments on plant growth and system water cycling need further study. We present experimental evidence to show that water saturation pressures in air under isothermal conditions are only slightly affected by total pressure, but the overall water flux from evaporating surfaces can increase as pressure decreases. Mathematical models describing these observations are presented, along with discussion of the importance for considering "water cycles" in closed bioregenerative life support systems.

  4. Water cycles in closed ecological systems: effects of atmospheric pressure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rygalov, Vadim Y.; Fowler, Philip A.; Metz, Joannah M.; Wheeler, Raymond M.; Bucklin, Ray A.; Sager, J. C. (Principal Investigator)

    2002-01-01

    In bioregenerative life support systems that use plants to generate food and oxygen, the largest mass flux between the plants and their surrounding environment will be water. This water cycle is a consequence of the continuous change of state (evaporation-condensation) from liquid to gas through the process of transpiration and the need to transfer heat (cool) and dehumidify the plant growth chamber. Evapotranspiration rates for full plant canopies can range from 1 to 10 L m-2 d-1 (1 to 10 mm m-2 d-1), with the rates depending primarily on the vapor pressure deficit (VPD) between the leaves and the air inside the plant growth chamber. VPD in turn is dependent on the air temperature, leaf temperature, and current value of relative humidity (RH). Concepts for developing closed plant growth systems, such as greenhouses for Mars, have been discussed for many years and the feasibility of such systems will depend on the overall system costs and reliability. One approach for reducing system costs would be to reduce the operating pressure within the greenhouse to reduce structural mass and gas leakage. But managing plant growth environments at low pressures (e.g., controlling humidity and heat exchange) may be difficult, and the effects of low-pressure environments on plant growth and system water cycling need further study. We present experimental evidence to show that water saturation pressures in air under isothermal conditions are only slightly affected by total pressure, but the overall water flux from evaporating surfaces can increase as pressure decreases. Mathematical models describing these observations are presented, along with discussion of the importance for considering "water cycles" in closed bioregenerative life support systems.

  5. Integrated model-experimental framework to assess carbon cycle components in disturbed mountainous terrain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stenzel, J.; Hudiburg, T. W.; Berardi, D.; McNellis, B.; Walsh, E.

    2017-12-01

    In forests vulnerable to drought and fire, there is critical need for in situ carbon and water balance measurements that can be integrated with earth system modeling to predict climate feedbacks. Model development can be improved by measurements that inform a mechanistic understanding of the component fluxes of net carbon uptake (i.e., NPP, autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration) and water use, with specific focus on responses to climate and disturbance. By integrating novel field-based instrumental technology, existing datasets, and state-of-the-art earth system modeling, we are attempting to 1) quantify the spatial and temporal impacts of forest thinning on regional biogeochemical cycling and climate 2) evaluate the impact of forest thinning on forest resilience to drought and disturbance in the Northern Rockies ecoregion. The combined model-experimental framework enables hypothesis testing that would otherwise be impossible because the use of new in situ high temporal resolution field technology allows for research in remote and mountainous terrains that have been excluded from eddy-covariance techniques. Our preliminary work has revealed some underlying difficulties with the new instrumentation that has led to new ideas and modified methods to correctly measure the component fluxes. Our observations of C balance following the thinning operations indicate that the recovery period (source to sink) is longer than hypothesized. Finally, we have incorporated a new plant functional type parameterization for Northern Rocky mixed-conifer into our simulation modeling using regional and site observations.

  6. SHORTER MENSTRUAL CYCLES ASSOCIATED WITH CHLORINATION BY-PRODUCTS IN DRINKING WATER

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shorter Menstrual Cycles Associated with Chlorination by-Products in Drinking Water. Gayle Windham, Kirsten Waller, Meredith Anderson, Laura Fenster, Pauline Mendola, Shanna Swan. California Department of Health Services.In previous studies of tap water consumption we...

  7. Integrating RAMS engineering and management with the safety life cycle of IEC 61508

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lundteigen, Mary Ann; Rausand, Marvin; Utne, Ingrid Bouwer

    2009-01-01

    This article outlines a new approach to reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety (RAMS) engineering and management. The new approach covers all phases of the new product development process and is aimed at producers of complex products like safety instrumented systems (SIS). The article discusses main RAMS requirements to a SIS and presents these requirements in a holistic perspective. The approach is based on a new life cycle model for product development and integrates this model into the safety life cycle of IEC 61508. A high integrity pressure protection system (HIPPS) for an offshore oil and gas application is used to illustrate the approach.

  8. Multiyear Simulations of the Martian Water Cycle with the Ames General Circulation Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haberle, R. M.; Schaeffer, J. R.; Nelli, S. M.; Murphy, J. R.

    2003-01-01

    Mars atmosphere is carbon dioxide dominated with non-negligible amounts of water vapor and suspended dust particles. The atmospheric dust plays an important role in the heating and cooling of the planet through absorption and emission of radiation. Small dust particles can potentially be carried to great altitudes and affect the temperatures there. Water vapor condensing onto the dust grains can affect the radiative properties of both, as well as their vertical extent. The condensation of water onto a dust grain will change the grain s fall speed and diminish the possibility of dust obtaining high altitudes. In this capacity, water becomes a controlling agent with regard to the vertical distribution of dust. Similarly, the atmosphere s water vapor holding capacity is affected by the amount of dust in the atmosphere. Dust is an excellent green house catalyst; it raises the temperature of the atmosphere, and thus, its water vapor holding capacity. There is, therefore, a potentially significant interplay between the Martian dust and water cycles. Previous research done using global, 3-D computer modeling to better understand the Martian atmosphere treat the dust and the water cycles as two separate and independent processes. The existing Ames numerical model will be employed to simulate the relationship between the Martian dust and water cycles by actually coupling the two cycles. Water will condense onto the dust, allowing the particle's radiative characteristics, fall speeds, and as a result, their vertical distribution to change. Data obtained from the Viking, Mars Pathfinder, and especially the Mars Global Surveyor missions will be used to determine the accuracy of the model results.

  9. Thermal performance of a modified ammonia–water power cycle for reclaiming mid/low-grade waste heat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Junye, Hua; Yaping, Chen; Jiafeng, Wu

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A modified Kalina cycle is proposed for power and heat cogeneration from mid/low-grade waste heat. • A water-cooling solution cooler is set for cogeneration of sanitary or heating hot water. • Work concentration is determined for suitable turbine inlet pressure and positive back pressure. • Basic concentration should match work concentration for higher efficiency. • Sanitary water with 50.7 °C and capacity of a quarter of total reclaimed heat load is cogenerated. - Abstract: A modified Kalina cycle was simulated, which is a triple-pressure ammonia–water power cycle adding a preheater and a water-cooling solution cooler to the original loop. The cycle acquires higher power recovery efficiency by realizing proper internal recuperation and suitable temperature-difference in phase change processes to match both heat source and cooling water. The influences of some key parameters on the thermodynamic performance of the cycle were discussed, including the work and basic concentrations of solution, circulation multiple and the turbine inlet temperature. It is shown that the basic concentration should match the work concentration for higher efficiency. Although higher work concentration could be slightly beneficial to cycle efficiency, the work concentration is mainly determined by considering the suitable turbine inlet/back pressure. Besides, this cycle can be used as a cogeneration system of power and sanitary or heating hot water. The calculation example presented finally with the turbine inlet parameters of 300 °C/6 MPa and the cycle lowest temperature of 30 °C shows that the power recovery efficiency reaches 15.87%, which is about 16.6% higher than that of the steam Rankine cycle. And it also provides 50.7 °C sanitary water with about a quarter of the total heating load reclaimed

  10. Rational protection of the quality of coastal waters by means of integrated, real-time management of the water environment; Proteccion racional de la calidad de las aguas costeras mediante la gestion integrada y en tiempo real del medio hidrico

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malgrat i Bregolat, P.; Suner Roqueta, D.; Escaler Puigoriol, M. I.; Rivero Moreno, F.

    2005-07-01

    Before the implementation Water Framework directive, it was usual to forget that a good environment protection of the receiving waters needs a correct and coordinated operation of the subsystems of the water cycle, specially sewerage system, WWTP and receiving waters. This explains that most of the countries have focused their efforts in the treatment of dry weather flows forgetting the management of wet weather flows. Actually the idea that a sewerage system or a WWTP can not be planned or managed independently without considering the effects on the receiving waters is commonly accepted because not only each one of these systems must work correctly but also it is required a minimum impact in the receiving waters of the sewerage and WWTP overflows in dry and wet weather. All these links will affect the management strategy of the sewerage system (storm water detection tanks, gates, pumping stations, etc)., the interceptor, the WWTP and the receiving waters. Only an integral planning of the whole water cycle will allow us to get a sustainable environment in the XXI century. Integral management will be important to product the quality of the coastal waters specially in the bathing areas. (Author) 5 refs.

  11. Investigation of boiling water reactor stability and limit-cycle amplitude

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Damiano, B.; March-Leuba, J.A.; Euler, J.A.

    1991-01-01

    Galerkin's method has been applied to a boiling water reactor (BWR) dynamics model consisting of the point kinetics equations, which describe the neutronics, and a feedback transfer function, which describes the thermal hydraulics. The result is a low-order approximate solution describing BWR behavior during small-amplitude limit-cycle oscillations. The approximate solution has been used to obtain a stability condition, show that the average reactor power must increase during limit-cycle oscillations, and qualitatively determine how changes in transfer function values affect the limit-cycle amplitude. 6 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs

  12. The integration of studio cycling into a worksite stress management programme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Matthew M; Soyring, Jason E; Jenkins, Sarah M; Daniels, Denise C; Berkland, Bridget E; Werneburg, Brooke L; Hagen, Philip T; Lopez-Jimenez, Francisco; Warren, Beth A; Olsen, Kerry D

    2014-04-01

    High stress is a prevalent problem in the worksite. To reduce stress, improve productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lower healthcare costs, many companies offer exercise classes or stress management programmes. Although physical activity is an important component of stress management, few worksites have integrated physical activity into their comprehensive stress reduction programmes. The purpose of this single-arm pilot project was to examine the potential effectiveness of an integrated exercise (studio cycling) and cognitive-behavioural stress management programme. Eighty-four adults, 75% female, mostly aged 40+ years, participated in an integrated 12-week cycling studio and cognitive-behavioural stress management programme. Participants experienced a significant and clinically meaningful reduction on the Perceived Stress Scale (p manage stress at the programme's end and at a 1-month follow-up. Participants also reported having significantly improved overall health, improved nutritional habits, higher physical activity level, greater confidence in their ability to follow a healthy diet, higher spiritual well-being, improved sleep, receiving more support for maintaining healthy living and improved quality of life at the completion of the 12-week programme and 1-month follow-up. These findings provide further support for an integrated exercise and stress management programme. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Adsorption Characteristics of Water and Silica Gel System for Desalination Cycle

    KAUST Repository

    Cevallos, Oscar R.

    2012-07-01

    An adsorbent suitable for adsorption desalination cycles is essentially characterized by a hydrophilic and porous structure with high surface area where water molecules are adsorbed via hydrogen bonding mechanism. Silica gel type A++ possesses the highest surface area and exhibits the highest equilibrium uptake from all the silica gels available in the market, therefore being suitable for water desalination cycles; where adsorbent’s adsorption characteristics and water vapor uptake capacity are key parameters in the compactness of the system; translated as feasibility of water desalination through adsorption technologies. The adsorption characteristics of water vapor onto silica gel type A++ over a temperature range of 30 oC to 60 oC are investigated in this research. This is done using water vapor adsorption analyzer utilizing a constant volume and variable pressure method, namely the Hydrosorb-1000 instrument by Quantachrome. The experimental uptake data is studied using numerous isotherm models, i. e. the Langmuir, Tóth, generalized Dubinin-Astakhov (D-A), Dubinin-Astakhov based on pore size distribution (PSD) and Dubinin-Serpinski (D-Se) isotherm for the whole pressure range, and for a pressure range below 10 kPa, proper for desalination cycles; isotherms type V of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) classification were exhibited. It is observed that the D-A based on PSD and the D-Se isotherm models describe the best fitting of the experimental uptake data for desalination cycles within a regression error of 2% and 6% respectively. All isotherm models, except the D-A based on PSD, have failed to describe the obtained experimental uptake data; an empirical isotherm model is proposed by observing the behavior of Tóth and D-A isotherm models. The new empirical model describes the water adsorption onto silica gel type A++ within a regression error of 3%. This will aid to describe the advantages of silica gel type A++ for the design of

  14. The economics of the fuel cycle (light water reactors)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lepine, J.

    1979-01-01

    The economical characteristics of the fuel cycle (of light water reactors) as well as the definition and calculation method for the average updated cost of the kWh are recalled. The evolution followed by the unit prices of the different operations of the cycle, their total cost and the part taken by this cost in the overall cost of nuclear kWh are described. The effects on the cost of fuel of certain hypotheses, operating requirements and additional cost factors are considered [fr

  15. Waste disposal from the light water reactor fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Costello, J.M.; Hardy, C.J.

    1981-05-01

    Alternative nuclear fuel cycles for support of light water reactors are described and wastes containing naturally occurring or artificially produced radioactivity reviewed. General principles and objectives in radioactive waste management are outlined, and methods for their practical application to fuel cycle wastes discussed. The paper concentrates upon management of wastes from upgrading processes of uranium hexafluoride manufacture and uranium enrichment, and, to a lesser extent, nuclear power reactor wastes. Some estimates of radiological dose commitments and health effects from nuclear power and fuel cycle wastes have been made for US conditions. These indicate that the major part of the radiological dose arises from uranium mining and milling, operation of nuclear reactors, and spent fuel reprocessing. However, the total dose from the fuel cycle is estimated to be only a small fraction of that from natural background radiation

  16. MoGIRE: A Model for Integrated Water Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynaud, A.; Leenhardt, D.

    2008-12-01

    Climate change and growing water needs have resulted in many parts of the world in water scarcity problems that must by managed by public authorities. Hence, policy-makers are more and more often asked to define and to implement water allocation rules between competitive users. This requires to develop new tools aiming at designing those rules for various scenarios of context (climatic, agronomic, economic). If models have been developed for each type of water use however, very few integrated frameworks link these different uses, while such an integrated approach is a relevant stake for designing regional water and land policies. The lack of such integrated models can be explained by the difficulty of integrating models developed by very different disciplines and by the problem of scale change (collecting data on large area, arbitrate between the computational tractability of models and their level of aggregation). However, modelers are more and more asked to deal with large basin scales while analyzing some policy impacts at very high detailed levels. These contradicting objectives require to develop new modeling tools. The CALVIN economically-driven optimization model developed for managing water in California is a good example of this type of framework, Draper et al. (2003). Recent reviews of the literature on integrated water management at the basin level include Letcher et al. (2007) or Cai (2008). We present here an original framework for integrated water management at the river basin scale called MoGIRE ("Modèle pour la Gestion Intégrée de la Ressource en Eau"). It is intended to optimize water use at the river basin level and to evaluate scenarios (agronomic, climatic or economic) for a better planning of agricultural and non-agricultural water use. MoGIRE includes a nodal representation of the water network. Agricultural, urban and environmental water uses are also represented using mathematical programming and econometric approaches. The model then

  17. Equilibration of the terrestrial water, nitrogen, and carbon cycles

    OpenAIRE

    Schimel, David S.; Braswell, B. H.; Parton, W. J.

    1997-01-01

    Recent advances in biologically based ecosystem models of the coupled terrestrial, hydrological, carbon, and nutrient cycles have provided new perspectives on the terrestrial biosphere’s behavior globally, over a range of time scales. We used the terrestrial ecosystem model Century to examine relationships between carbon, nitrogen, and water dynamics. The model, run to a quasi-steady-state, shows strong correlations between carbon, water, and nitrogen fluxes that l...

  18. Life cycle assessment of nuclear-based hydrogen production via thermochemical water splitting using a copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozbilen, Ahmet Ziyaettin

    The energy carrier hydrogen is expected to solve some energy challenges. Since its oxidation does not emit greenhouse gases (GHGs), its use does not contribute to climate change, provided that it is derived from clean energy sources. Thermochemical water splitting using a Cu-Cl cycle, linked with a nuclear super-critical water cooled reactor (SCWR), which is being considered as a Generation IV nuclear reactor, is a promising option for hydrogen production. In this thesis, a comparative environmental study is reported of the three-, four- and five-step Cu-Cl thermochemical water splitting cycles with various other hydrogen production methods. The investigation uses life cycle assessment (LCA), which is an analytical tool to identify and quantify environmentally critical phases during the life cycle of a system or a product and/or to evaluate and decrease the overall environmental impact of the system or product. The LCA results for the hydrogen production processes indicate that the four-step Cu-Cl cycle has lower environmental impacts than the three- and five-step Cu-Cl cycles due to its lower thermal energy requirement. Parametric studies show that acidification potentials (APs) and global warming potentials (GWPs) for the four-step Cu-Cl cycle can be reduced from 0.0031 to 0.0028 kg SO2-eq and from 0.63 to 0.55 kg CO2-eq, respectively, if the lifetime of the system increases from 10 to 100 years. Moreover, the comparative study shows that the nuclear-based S-I and the four-step Cu-Cl cycles are the most environmentally benign hydrogen production methods in terms of AP and GWP. GWPs of the S-I and the four-step Cu-Cl cycles are 0.412 and 0.559 kg CO2-eq for reference case which has a lifetime of 60 years. Also, the corresponding APs of these cycles are 0.00241 and 0.00284 kg SO2-eq. It is also found that an increase in hydrogen plant efficiency from 0.36 to 0.65 decreases the GWP from 0.902 to 0.412 kg CO 2-eq and the AP from 0.00459 to 0.00209 kg SO2-eq for the

  19. Climate change and the water cycle in newly irrigated areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abrahão, Raphael; García-Garizábal, Iker; Merchán, Daniel; Causapé, Jesús

    2015-02-01

    Climate change is affecting agriculture doubly: evapotranspiration is increasing due to increments in temperature while the availability of water resources is decreasing. Furthermore, irrigated areas are expanding worldwide. In this study, the dynamics of climate change impacts on the water cycle of a newly irrigated watershed are studied through the calculation of soil water balances. The study area was a 752-ha watershed located on the left side of the Ebro river valley, in Northeast Spain. The soil water balance procedures were carried out throughout 1827 consecutive days (5 years) of hydrological and agronomical monitoring in the study area. Daily data from two agroclimatic stations were used as well. Evaluation of the impact of climate change on the water cycle considered the creation of two future climate scenarios for comparison: 2070 decade with climate change and 2070 decade without climate change. The main indicators studied were precipitation, irrigation, reference evapotranspiration, actual evapotranspiration, drainage from the watershed, and irrigation losses. The aridity index was also applied. The results represent a baseline scenario in which adaptation measures may be included and tested to reduce the impacts of climate change in the studied area and other similar areas.

  20. Unit Commitment Towards Decarbonized Network Facing Fixed and Stochastic Resources Applying Water Cycle Optimization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heba-Allah I. ElAzab

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a trustworthy unit commitment study to schedule both Renewable Energy Resources (RERs with conventional power plants to potentially decarbonize the electrical network. The study has employed a system with three IEEE thermal (coal-fired power plants as dispatchable distributed generators, one wind plant, one solar plant as stochastic distributed generators, and Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs which can work either loads or generators based on their charging schedule. This paper investigates the unit commitment scheduling objective to minimize the Combined Economic Emission Dispatch (CEED. To reduce combined emission costs, integrating more renewable energy resources (RER and PEVs, there is an essential need to decarbonize the existing system. Decarbonizing the system means reducing the percentage of CO2 emissions. The uncertain behavior of wind and solar energies causes imbalance penalty costs. PEVs are proposed to overcome the intermittent nature of wind and solar energies. It is important to optimally integrate and schedule stochastic resources including the wind and solar energies, and PEVs charge and discharge processes with dispatched resources; the three IEEE thermal (coal-fired power plants. The Water Cycle Optimization Algorithm (WCOA is an efficient and intelligent meta-heuristic technique employed to solve the economically emission dispatch problem for both scheduling dispatchable and stochastic resources. The goal of this study is to obtain the solution for unit commitment to minimize the combined cost function including CO2 emission costs applying the Water Cycle Optimization Algorithm (WCOA. To validate the WCOA technique, the results are compared with the results obtained from applying the Dynamic Programming (DP algorithm, which is considered as a conventional numerical technique, and with the Genetic Algorithm (GA as a meta-heuristic technique.

  1. Life cycle water consumption for shale gas and conventional natural gas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Corrie E; Horner, Robert M; Harto, Christopher B

    2013-10-15

    Shale gas production represents a large potential source of natural gas for the nation. The scale and rapid growth in shale gas development underscore the need to better understand its environmental implications, including water consumption. This study estimates the water consumed over the life cycle of conventional and shale gas production, accounting for the different stages of production and for flowback water reuse (in the case of shale gas). This study finds that shale gas consumes more water over its life cycle (13-37 L/GJ) than conventional natural gas consumes (9.3-9.6 L/GJ). However, when used as a transportation fuel, shale gas consumes significantly less water than other transportation fuels. When used for electricity generation, the combustion of shale gas adds incrementally to the overall water consumption compared to conventional natural gas. The impact of fuel production, however, is small relative to that of power plant operations. The type of power plant where the natural gas is utilized is far more important than the source of the natural gas.

  2. Copper oxide--copper sulfate water-splitting cycle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Foh, S. E.; Schreiber, J. D.; Dafler, J. R.

    1978-08-01

    A hybrid copper oxide--copper sulfate thermochemical water-splitting cycle, IGT's H-5, has been demonstrated in the laboratory with recycled materials. The optimum configuration and operating conditions for the electrolytic hydrogen-producing step have not yet been defined. With cooperative funding (A.G.A./G.R.I./DOE) a conceptual flowsheet was developed for this cycle and a load-line efficiency of about 37% calculated. This figure is the result of a single iteration on the original base case flow sheet and compares well with the values calculated for other processes at this stage of development. An iterative optimization of process conditions would improve efficiency. The data required to perform an economic analysis are not yet available and the electrolysis step must be more fully defined. An attractive process efficiency, relatively few corrosive materials, and few gas-phase separations are attributes of Cycle H-5 that lead us to believe hydrogen costs (to be developed during future analyses) would be improved significantly over similar processes analyzed to date.

  3. Life cycle assessment of domestic heat pump hot water systems in Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moore Andrew D.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Water heating accounts for 23% of residential energy consumption in Australia, and, as over half is provided by electric water heaters, is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Due to inclusion in rebate schemes heat pump water heating systems are becoming increasingly popular, but do they result in lower greenhouse gas emissions? This study follows on from a previous life cycle assessment study of domestic hot water systems to include heat pump systems. The streamlined life cycle assessment approach used focused on the use phase of the life cycle, which was found in the previous study to be where the majority of global warming potential (GWP impacts occurred. Data was collected from an Australian heat pump manufacturer and was modelled assuming installation within Australian climate zone 3 (AS/NZS 4234:2011. Several scenarios were investigated for the heat pumps including different sources of electricity (grid, photovoltaic solar modules, and batteries and the use of solar thermal panels. It was found that due to their higher efficiency heat pump hot water systems can result in significantly lower GWP than electric storage hot water systems. Further, solar thermal heat pump systems can have lower GWP than solar electric hot water systems that use conventional electric boosting. Additionally, the contributions of HFC refrigerants to GWP can be significant so the use of alternative refrigerants is recommended. Heat pumps combined with PV and battery technology can achieve the lowest GWP of all domestic hot water systems.

  4. Thermophysical properties of copper compounds in copper-chlorine thermochemical water splitting cycles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zamfirescu, C.; Dincer, I.; Naterer, G.F.

    2009-01-01

    This paper examines the relevant thermophysical properties of compounds of chlorine and copper that are found in thermochemical water splitting cycles. There are four variants of such Cu-Cl cycles that use heat and electricity to split the water molecule and produce H 2 and O 2 . Since the energy input is mainly in the form of thermal energy, the Cu-Cl water splitting cycle is much more efficient than water electrolysis, if the electricity generation efficiency for electrolysis is taken into account. A number of copper compounds (Cu 2 OCl 2 , CuO, CuCl 2 , CuCl) and other chemicals (Cu, HCl) are recycled within the plant, while the overall effect is splitting of the water molecule. The system includes a number of chemical reactors, heat exchangers, spray dryer and electrochemical cell. This paper identifies the available experimental data for properties of copper compounds relevant to the Cu-Cl cycle analysis and design. It also develops new regression formulas to correlate the properties, which include: specific heat, enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs free energy, density, formation enthalpy and free energy. No past literature data is available for the viscosity and thermal conductivity of molten CuCl, so estimates are provided. The properties are evaluated at 1 bar and a range of temperatures from ambient to 675-1000K, which are consistent with the operating conditions of the cycle. Updated calculations of chemical exergies are provided as follows: 21.08, 6.268, 82.474, and 75.0 kJ/mol for Cu 2 OCl 2 , CuO, CuCl 2 and CuCl, respectively. For molten CuCl, the estimated viscosity varies from 2.6 to 1.7mPa.s. (author)

  5. [The presence of medications in the water cycle].

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Hoek, Jan Peter; van Alphen, Jacques; Kaas, Reinoutje; van der Oost, Ron

    2013-01-01

    Medications and radiographic contrast dyes are sometimes detected in surface waters, ground water and drinking water; these have proven detrimental effects on organisms living in such waters The concentration of medications found in drinking water is at least a thousand times below their minimum therapeutic dosages. In humans, the long-term effects of daily exposure to low dosages of medications and 'mixture toxicity' is not known; based on the concentrations and substance toxicity, it is presumed that the risk is nil.. Physicians can play their part in controlling the problem of medications becoming part of the water cycle by taking this into account when prescribing medications. Users can make a difference by handling their medications with care and by returning all unused portions to the pharmacy. The pharmaceutical industry can also do its part by taking degradability, options for removal and the environmental effects of medications into account during their stages of development.

  6. The water-energy nexus at water supply and its implications on the integrated water and energy management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalkhali, Masoumeh; Westphal, Kirk; Mo, Weiwei

    2018-09-15

    Water and energy are highly interdependent in the modern world, and hence, it is important to understand their constantly changing and nonlinear interconnections to inform the integrated management of water and energy. In this study, a hydrologic model, a water systems model, and an energy model were developed and integrated into a system dynamics modeling framework. This framework was then applied to a water supply system in the northeast US to capture its water-energy interactions under a set of future population, climate, and system operation scenarios. A hydrologic model was first used to simulate the system's hydrologic inflows and outflows under temperature and precipitation changes on a weekly-basis. A water systems model that combines the hydrologic model and management rules (e.g., water release and transfer) was then developed to dynamically simulate the system's water storage and water head. Outputs from the water systems model were used in the energy model to estimate hydropower generation. It was found that critical water-energy synergies and tradeoffs exist, and there is a possibility for integrated water and energy management to achieve better outcomes. This analysis also shows the importance of a holistic understanding of the systems as a whole, which would allow utility managers to make proactive long-term management decisions. The modeling framework is generalizable to other water supply systems with hydropower generation capacities to inform the integrated management of water and energy resources. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Effective energy management by combining gas turbine cycles and forward osmosis desalination process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Min Young; Shin, Serin; Kim, Eung Soo

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Innovative gas turbine system and FO integrated system was proposed. • The feasibility of the integrated system was analyzed thermodynamically. • GOR of the FO–gas turbine system is 17% higher than those of MED and MSF. • Waste heat utilization of the suggested system is 85.7%. • Water production capacity of the suggested system is 3.5 times higher than the MSF–gas turbine system. - Abstract: In the recent years, attempts to improve the thermal efficiency of the gas turbine cycles have been made. In order to enhance the energy management of the gas turbine cycle, a new integration concept has been proposed; integration of gas turbine cycle and forward osmosis desalination process. The combination of the gas turbine cycle and the forward osmosis (FO) desalination process basically implies the coupling of the waste heat from the gas turbine cycle to the draw solute recovery system in the FO process which is the most energy consuming part of the whole FO process. By doing this, a strong system that is capable of producing water and electricity with very little waste heat can be achieved. The feasibility of this newly proposed system was analyzed using UNISIM program and the OLI property package. For the analysis, the thermolytic draw solutes which has been suggested by other research groups have been selected and studied. Sensitivity analysis was conducted on the integration system in order to understand and identify the key parameters of the integrated system. And the integrated system was further evaluated by comparing the gain output ratio (GOR) values with the conventional desalination technologies such as multi stage flash (MSF) and multi effect distillation (MED). The suggested integrated system was calculated to have a GOR of 14.8, while the MSF and MED when integrated to the gas turbine cycle showed GOR value of 12. It should also be noted that the energy utilization of the suggested integrated system is significantly higher by 27

  8. Modeling of the Global Water Cycle - Analytical Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yongqiang Liu; Roni Avissar

    2005-01-01

    Both numerical and analytical models of coupled atmosphere and its underlying ground components (land, ocean, ice) are useful tools for modeling the global and regional water cycle. Unlike complex three-dimensional climate models, which need very large computing resources and involve a large number of complicated interactions often difficult to interpret, analytical...

  9. The urban harvest approach as framework and planning tool for improved water and resource cycles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leusbrock, I; Nanninga, T A; Lieberg, K; Agudelo-Vera, C M; Keesman, K J; Zeeman, G; Rijnaarts, H H M

    2015-01-01

    Water and resource availability in sufficient quantity and quality for anthropogenic needs represents one of the main challenges in the coming decades. To prepare for upcoming challenges such as increased urbanization and climate change related consequences, innovative and improved resource management concepts are indispensable. In recent years we have developed and applied the urban harvest approach (UHA). The UHA aims to model and quantify the urban water cycle on different temporal and spatial scales. This approach allowed us to quantify the impact of the implementation of water saving measures and new water treatment concepts in cities. In this paper we will introduce the UHA and its application for urban water cycles. Furthermore, we will show first results for an extension to energy cycles and highlight future research items (e.g. nutrients, water-energy-nexus).

  10. Business cycle synchronization among member countries of Eurozone during the process of European integration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Svatopluk Kapounek

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with the correlation of the business cycles between the Eurozone member states in the period 1957–2003. The analysed period is divided into the four parts (1959–1972, 1973–1985, 1986–1994, 1995–2003, which correspond to integration waves and relate approximately to the European integration process. The empirical analysis is based on the time series correlation. The authors discuss the impact of the EC enlargements on the business cycles correlation as well as on qualitative changes in the interaction between the states.

  11. Changes in continental Europe water cycle in a changing climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rouholahnejad, Elham; Schirmer, Mario; Abbaspour, Karim

    2015-04-01

    Changes in atmospheric water vapor content provide strong evidence that the water cycle is already responding to a warming climate. According to IPCC's last report on Climate Change (AR5), the water cycle is expected to intensify in a warmer climate as the atmosphere can hold more water vapor. This changes the frequency of precipitation extremes, increases evaporation and dry periods, and effects the water redistribution in land. This process is represented by most global climate models (GCMs) by increased summer dryness and winter wetness over large areas of continental mid to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, associated with a reduction in water availability at continental scale. Observing changes in precipitation and evaporation directly and at continental scale is difficult, because most of the exchange of fresh water between the atmosphere and the surface happens the oceans. Long term precipitation records are available only from over the land and there are no measurement of evaporation or redistribution of precipitation over the land area. On the other hand, understanding the extent of climate change effects on various components of the water cycle is of strategic importance for public, private sectors, and policy makers when it comes to fresh water management. In order to better understand the extent of climate change impacts on water resources of continental Europe, we developed a distributed hydrological model of Europe at high spatial and temporal resolution using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The hydrological model was calibrated for 1970 to 2006 using daily observation of streamflow and nitrate loads from 360 gauging stations across Europe. A vegetation growth routine was added to the model to better simulate evapotranspiration. The model results were calibrated with available agricultural crop yield data from other sources. As of future climate scenarios, we used the ISI-MIP project results which provides bias-corrected climate

  12. The market outlook for integrated gasification combined cycle technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MacGregor, P.R.; Maslak, C.E.; Stoll, H.G.

    1991-01-01

    Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology was developed in the 1970s and is now competitive with other coal fired technologies. Because it is a new technology, IGCC technology developments are continuing at a rapid pace and the trend in decreasing capital costs is similar to the same trend seen during the early decades of simple cycle gas turbines. Consequently, IGCC technology is expected to be even more economical during the mid and late 1990s than it is today. The objective of this paper is to provide an examination of the basic economic principles of IGCC technology and to illustrate the extent to which this technology is a viable least-cost generation addition technology. Moreover, key reliability and emissions issues are addressed in relation to the technology alternatives. This paper is organized to first review the IGCC technology and to contrast its reliability, emission, performance and cost data with the three key commercially proven technologies: simple cycle combustion turbines, combined cycle plants, and coal-fired steam plants. Economic screening curves are used to illustrate the need for a balanced generation expansion mix of technologies. The regional market opportunity for coal fueled technology orders in the US from 1992 through 2005 is presented

  13. Assessing Consumer Values and the Supply-Chain Market for the Integrated Water Heater/Dehumidifier

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ashdown, BG

    2005-01-11

    This paper presents a case study of the potential market for the dual-service residential integrated water heater/dehumidifier (WHD). Its principal purpose is to evaluate the extent to which this integrated appliance might penetrate the residential market sector, given current market trends, producer and consumer attributes, and technical parameters. The report's secondary purpose is to gather background information leading to a generic framework for conducting market analyses of technologies. This framework can be used to assess market readiness as well as factor preferred product attributes into the design to drive consumer demand for this product. This study also supports analysis for prototype design. A full market analysis for potential commercialization should be conducted after prototype development. The integrated WHD is essentially a heat-pump water heater (HPWH) with components and controls that allow dedicated dehumidification. Adequate residential humidity control is a growing issue for newly constructed residential homes, which are insulated so well that mechanical ventilation may be necessary to meet fresh air requirements. Leveraging its successful experience with the energy-efficient design improvement for the residential HPWH, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) Engineering Science and Technology Division's (ESTD's) Building Equipment Group designed a water-heating appliance that combines HPWH efficiency with dedicated dehumidification. This integrated appliance could be a low-cost solution for dehumidification and efficient electric water heating. ORNL is partnering with Western Carolina University, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, American Carolina Stamping Company, and Clemson University to develop this appliance and assess its market potential. For practical purposes, consumers are indifferent to how water is heated but are very interested in product attributes such as initial first cost

  14. Environmental life cycle assessments for water treatment processes ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The objective of this study was to generate information on the environmental profile of the life cycle of water, including treatment, distribution and collection and disposal (including recycling), in an urban context. As a case study the eThekwini Municipality (with its main city Durban) in South Africa was used. Another aim of ...

  15. Assessing food security in water scarce regions by Life Cycle Analysis: a case study in the Gaza strip

    Science.gov (United States)

    Recanati, Francesca; Castelletti, Andrea; Melià, Paco; Dotelli, Giovanni

    2013-04-01

    Food security is a major issue in Palestine for both political and physical reasons, with direct effects on the local population living conditions: the nutritional level of people in Gaza is classified by FAO as "insecure". As most of the protein supply comes from irrigated agricultural production and aquaculture, freshwater availability is a limiting factor to food security, and the primary reason for frequent conflicts among food production processes (e.g. aquaculture, land livestock or different types of crops). In this study we use Life Cycle Analysis to assess the environmental impacts associated to all the stages of water-based protein production (from agriculture and aquaculture) in the Gaza strip under different agricultural scenarios and hydroclimatic variability. As reported in several recent studies, LCA seems to be an appropriate methodology to analyze agricultural systems and assess associated food security in different socio-economic contexts. However, we argue that the inherently linear and static nature of LCA might prove inadequate to tackle with the complex interaction between water cycle variability and the food production system in water-scarce regions of underdeveloped countries. Lack of sufficient and reliable data to characterize the water cycle is a further source of uncertainty affecting the robustness of the analysis. We investigate pros and cons of LCA and LCA-based option planning in an average size farm in Gaza strip, where farming and aquaculture are family-based and integrated by reuse of fish breeding water for irrigation. Different technological solutions (drip irrigation system, greenhouses etc.) are evaluated to improve protein supply and reduce the pressure on freshwater, particularly during droughts. But this use of technology represent also a contribution in increasing sustainability in agricultural processes, and therefore in economy, of Gaza Strip (reduction in chemical fertilizers and pesticides etc.).

  16. The tropical water and energy cycles in a cumulus ensemble model. Part 1: Equilibrium climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sui, C. H.; Lau, K. M.; Tao, W. K.; Simpson, J.

    1994-01-01

    A cumulus ensemble model is used to study the tropical water and energy cycles and their role in the climate system. The model includes cloud dynamics, radiative processes, and microphysics that incorporate all important production and conversion processes among water vapor and five species of hydrometeors. Radiative transfer in clouds is parameterized based on cloud contents and size distributions of each bulk hydrometeor. Several model integrations have been carried out under a variety of imposed boundary and large-scale conditions. In Part 1 of this paper, the primary focus is on the water and heat budgets of the control experiment, which is designed to simulate the convective - radiative equilibrium response of the model to an imposed vertical velocity and a fixed sea surface temperature at 28 C. The simulated atmosphere is conditionally unstable below the freezing level and close to neutral above the freezing level. The equilibrium water budget shows that the total moisture source, M(sub s), which is contributed by surface evaporation (0.24 M(sub s)) and the large-scale advection (0.76 M(sub s)), all converts to mean surface precipitation bar-P(sub s). Most of M(sub s) is transported verticaly in convective regions where much of the condensate is generated and falls to surface (0.68 bar-P(sub s)). The remaining condensate detrains at a rate of 0.48 bar-P(sub s) and constitutes 65% of the source for stratiform clouds above the melting level. The upper-level stratiform cloud dissipates into clear environment at a rate of 0.14 bar-P(sub s), which is a significant moisture source comparable to the detrained water vapor (0.15 bar-P(sub s)) to the upper troposphere from convective clouds. In the lower troposphere, stratiform clouds evaporate at a rate of 0.41 bar-P(sub s), which is a more dominant moisture source than surface evaporation (0.22 bar-P(sub s)). The precipitation falling to the surface in the stratiform region is about 0.32 bar-P(sub s). The associated

  17. Thermodynamic analysis of vapor compression heat pump cycle for tap water heating and development of CO_2 heat pump water heater for residential use

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saikawa, Michiyuki; Koyama, Shigeru

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The ideal vapor compression cycle for tap water heating and its COP were defined. • It was verified theoretically that CO_2 achieves the highest COP for tap water heating. • The prototype of CO_2 heat pump water heater for residential use was developed. • Further COP improvement of CO_2 heat pump water heater was estimated. - Abstract: The ideal vapor compression cycle for tap water heating and its coefficient of performance (COP) have been studied theoretically at first. The ideal cycle is defined as the cycle whose high temperature heat source varies temperature with constant specific heat and other processes are same as the reverse Carnot cycle. The COP upper limit of single stage compression heat pump cycle for tap water heating with various refrigerants such as fluorocarbons and natural refrigerants was calculated. The refrigerant which achieves the highest COP for supplying hot water is CO_2. Next, the prototype of CO_2 heat pump water heater for residential use has been developed. Its outline and experimental results are described. Finally its further possibility of COP improvement has been studied. The COP considered a limit from a technical point of view was estimated about 6.0 at the Japanese shoulder season (spring and autumn) test condition of heating water from 17 °C to 65 °C at 16 °C heat source air temperature (dry bulb)/12 °C (wet bulb).

  18. Updates on Modeling the Water Cycle with the NASA Ames Mars Global Climate Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahre, M. A.; Haberle, R. M.; Hollingsworth, J. L.; Montmessin, F.; Brecht, A. S.; Urata, R.; Klassen, D. R.; Wolff, M. J.

    2017-01-01

    Global Circulation Models (GCMs) have made steady progress in simulating the current Mars water cycle. It is now widely recognized that clouds are a critical component that can significantly affect the nature of the simulated water cycle. Two processes in particular are key to implementing clouds in a GCM: the microphysical processes of formation and dissipation, and their radiative effects on heating/ cooling rates. Together, these processes alter the thermal structure, change the dynamics, and regulate inter-hemispheric transport. We have made considerable progress representing these processes in the NASA Ames GCM, particularly in the presence of radiatively active water ice clouds. We present the current state of our group's water cycle modeling efforts, show results from selected simulations, highlight some of the issues, and discuss avenues for further investigation.­

  19. Transuranic material recovery in the Integral Fast Reactor fuel cycle demonstration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benedict, R.W.; Goff, K.M.

    1993-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor is an innovative liquid metal reactor concept that is being developed by Argonne National Laboratory. It takes advantage of the properties of metallic fuel and liquid metal cooling to offer significant improvements in reactor safety, operation, fuel cycle economics, environmental protection, and safeguards. The plans for demonstrating the IFR fuel cycle, including its waste processing options, by processing irradiated fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II fuel in its associated Fuel Cycle Facility have been developed for the first refining series. This series has been designed to provide the data needed for the further development of the IFR program. An important piece of the data needed is the recovery of TRU material during the reprocessing and waste operations

  20. Performance of ammonia–water based cycles for power generation from low enthalpy heat sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mergner, Hanna; Weimer, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    Cost efficient power generation from low temperature heat sources requires an optimal usage of the available heat. In addition to the ORC (Organic Rankine Cycles), cycles with ammonia and water as working fluid show promising results regarding efficiency. Due to their non-isothermal phase change, mixtures can adapt well to a liquid heat source temperature profile and reduce the exergetic losses. In this analysis thermodynamic calculations on the layouts of two existing ammonia–water cycles are compared: a geothermal power plant based on a Siemens’ patent and a modified lab plant based on a patent invented by Kalina (KCS-34). The difference between the two cycles is the position of the internal heat recovery. Cycle simulations were carried out at defined boundary conditions in order to identify optimal operation parameters. For the selected heat source of 393.15 K (hot water) the ammonia mass fraction between 80% and 90% results in the best performance in both configurations. In general, the layout of Siemens achieves a slightly better efficiency compared to the KCS-34. Compared to an ORC using R245fa as working fluid, the exergetic efficiency can be increased by the ammonia/water based cycles by approximately 25%. - Highlights: • Two NH 3 /H 2 O based cycles based on existing plants are analyzed and compared. • A simple KCS-34 focuses on a high enthalpy difference at the turbine. • The Kalina cycle of a Siemens patent KC SG1 runs on a high vapor mass flow. • The layout of the KC SG1 shows slightly better results compared to the KCS-34. • NH 3 /H 2 O cycles show an efficiency increase compared to a regular ORC with R245fa

  1. Industrial integration of the fuel cycle in Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koll, J.H.; Kittl, J.E.; Parera, C.A.; Coppa, R.C.; Aguirre, E.J.

    1977-01-01

    The paper describes the power reactor construction programme in Argentina for the period 1976-1985, on the basis of which the nuclear fuel requirements have been determined. Activities connected with the fuel cycle commenced in 1950 in Argentina with the prospection and working of uranium deposits. On the basis of the nuclear power programme described, plans have been drawn up for the establishment of the industrial plants that will be needed to ensure the domestic supply of fuel. The demand for fuel is correlated with the availability of uranium resources and it is shown to be desirable from the technical, economic and industrial point of view to integrate the front end of the fuel cycle, keeping the irradiation aspects and the tail end at the development level. The authors report the progress that has been made in this field and describe current programmes covering prospection, concentrate production, nuclear purification, conversion to uranium dioxide, production of special alloys and fuel element fabrication. (author)

  2. Industrial integration of the fuel cycle in Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koll, J.H.; Kittl, J.E.; Parera, C.A.; Coppa, R.C.; Aguirre, E.J.

    1983-01-01

    The power-reactor construction program in Argentina for the period 1976-1985 is described on the basis of which the nuclear-fuel requirements have been determined. Activities connected with the fuel cycle commenced in 1950 in Argentina with the prospection and working of uranium deposits. On the basis of the nuclear power program described, plans have been drawn up for the establishment of the industrial plants that will be needed to ensure the domestic supply of fuel. The demand for fuel is correlated with the availability of uranium resoures and it is shown to be desirable from the technical, economic and industrial point of view to integrate the front end of the fuel cycle, keeping the irradiation aspects and the tail end at the development level. Progress made in this field and current programs covering exploration, concentrate production, nuclear purification, conversion to uranium dioxide, production of special alloys and fuel element fabrication are described

  3. A data integration approach for cell cycle analysis oriented to model simulation in systems biology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mosca Ettore

    2007-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The cell cycle is one of the biological processes most frequently investigated in systems biology studies and it involves the knowledge of a large number of genes and networks of protein interactions. A deep knowledge of the molecular aspect of this biological process can contribute to making cancer research more accurate and innovative. In this context the mathematical modelling of the cell cycle has a relevant role to quantify the behaviour of each component of the systems. The mathematical modelling of a biological process such as the cell cycle allows a systemic description that helps to highlight some features such as emergent properties which could be hidden when the analysis is performed only from a reductionism point of view. Moreover, in modelling complex systems, a complete annotation of all the components is equally important to understand the interaction mechanism inside the network: for this reason data integration of the model components has high relevance in systems biology studies. Description In this work, we present a resource, the Cell Cycle Database, intended to support systems biology analysis on the Cell Cycle process, based on two organisms, yeast and mammalian. The database integrates information about genes and proteins involved in the cell cycle process, stores complete models of the interaction networks and allows the mathematical simulation over time of the quantitative behaviour of each component. To accomplish this task, we developed, a web interface for browsing information related to cell cycle genes, proteins and mathematical models. In this framework, we have implemented a pipeline which allows users to deal with the mathematical part of the models, in order to solve, using different variables, the ordinary differential equation systems that describe the biological process. Conclusion This integrated system is freely available in order to support systems biology research on the cell cycle and

  4. Scientific Models Help Students Understand the Water Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forbes, Cory; Vo, Tina; Zangori, Laura; Schwarz, Christina

    2015-01-01

    The water cycle is a large, complex system that encompasses ideas across the K-12 science curriculum. By the time students leave fifth grade, they should understand "that a system is a group of related parts that make up a whole and can carry out functions its individual parts cannot" and be able to describe both components and processes…

  5. Integrated Metrics for Improving the Life Cycle Approach to Assessing Product System Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wesley Ingwersen

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Life cycle approaches are critical for identifying and reducing environmental burdens of products. While these methods can indicate potential environmental impacts of a product, current Life Cycle Assessment (LCA methods fail to integrate the multiple impacts of a system into unified measures of social, economic or environmental performance related to sustainability. Integrated metrics that combine multiple aspects of system performance based on a common scientific or economic principle have proven to be valuable for sustainability evaluation. In this work, we propose methods of adapting four integrated metrics for use with LCAs of product systems: ecological footprint, emergy, green net value added, and Fisher information. These metrics provide information on the full product system in land, energy, monetary equivalents, and as a unitless information index; each bundled with one or more indicators for reporting. When used together and for relative comparison, integrated metrics provide a broader coverage of sustainability aspects from multiple theoretical perspectives that is more likely to illuminate potential issues than individual impact indicators. These integrated metrics are recommended for use in combination with traditional indicators used in LCA. Future work will test and demonstrate the value of using these integrated metrics and combinations to assess product system sustainability.

  6. Several perspectives on water-chemical cycles for nuclear power stations equipped with type VVER and RBMK reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mamet, A.P.; Mamet, V.A.; Pashevich, V.I.; Nazarenko, P.N.

    1982-01-01

    Water-chemical cycles for loops I and II of VVER reactors are discussed. These cycles are mixed ammonia-sodium with a variable concentration of boric acid and ammonia hydrazine with a pH factor of 9.1 +/- 0.1. New water-chemical cycles are considered for use in both existing and new nuclear power plants. Application of these new water-chemical cycles showed produce a significant improvement in operating conditions of nuclear power plants. Upon accumulation of sufficient operating experience with these cycles, it should be possible to raise the issue of revising applicable standard documentation

  7. Fuel cycle options for light water reactors and heavy water reactors. Proceedings of a technical committee meeting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-11-01

    In the second half of the 20th century nuclear power has evolved from the research and development environment to an industry that supplies 16% of the world's electricity. By the end of 1997, over 8500 reactor-years of operating experience had been accumulated. Global environmental change, and the continuing increase in global energy supply required to provide increasing populations with an improving standard of living, make the contribution from nuclear energy even more important for the next century. For nuclear power to achieve its full potential and make its needed contribution, it must be safe, economical, reliable and sustainable. All of these factors can be enhanced by judicious choice and development of advanced fuel cycle options. The Technical Committee Meeting (TCM) on Fuel Cycle Options for Light Water Reactors and Heavy Water Reactors was hosted by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) on behalf of the Canadian Government and was jointly conducted within the frame of activities of the IAEA International Working Group on Advanced Technologies for Light Water Reactors (IWG-LWR) and the IAEA International Working Group on Advanced Technologies for Heavy Water Reactors (IWG-HWR). The TCM provided the opportunity to have in-depth discussions on important technical topics which were highlighted in the International Symposium on Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Reactor Strategies: Adjusting to New Realities, held in Vienna, 3-6 June 1997. The main results and conclusions of the TCM were presented as input for discussion at the first meeting of the IAEA newly formed International Working Group on Fuel Cycle Options

  8. Integrated Rural-Urban Water Management for Climate Based ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    There are serious short- and long-term consequences on human health, physical assets, economic ... To work, adaptive climate-proof integrated urban water management must extend throughout the whole catchment, an approach known as integrated water resource management. ... Careers · Contact Us · Site map.

  9. Glacial Cycles and ice-sheet modelling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oerlemans, J.

    1982-01-01

    An attempt is made to simulate the Pleistocene glacial cycles with a numerical model of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets. This model treats the vertically-integrated ice flow along a meridian, including computation of bedrock adjustment and temperature distribution in the ice. Basal melt water is

  10. Separating decadal global water cycle variability from sea level rise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamlington, B D; Reager, J T; Lo, M-H; Karnauskas, K B; Leben, R R

    2017-04-20

    Under a warming climate, amplification of the water cycle and changes in precipitation patterns over land are expected to occur, subsequently impacting the terrestrial water balance. On global scales, such changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) will be reflected in the water contained in the ocean and can manifest as global sea level variations. Naturally occurring climate-driven TWS variability can temporarily obscure the long-term trend in sea level rise, in addition to modulating the impacts of sea level rise through natural periodic undulation in regional and global sea level. The internal variability of the global water cycle, therefore, confounds both the detection and attribution of sea level rise. Here, we use a suite of observations to quantify and map the contribution of TWS variability to sea level variability on decadal timescales. In particular, we find that decadal sea level variability centered in the Pacific Ocean is closely tied to low frequency variability of TWS in key areas across the globe. The unambiguous identification and clean separation of this component of variability is the missing step in uncovering the anthropogenic trend in sea level and understanding the potential for low-frequency modulation of future TWS impacts including flooding and drought.

  11. Adsorption characteristics of water vapor on ferroaluminophosphate for desalination cycle

    KAUST Repository

    Kim, Youngdeuk; Thu, Kyaw; Ng, Kim Choon

    2014-01-01

    The adsorption characteristics of microporous ferroaluminophosphate adsorbent (FAM-Z01, Mitsubishi Plastics) are evaluated for possible application in adsorption desalination and cooling (AD) cycles. A particular interest is its water vapor uptake

  12. Climate change mitigation by recovery of energy from the water cycle: a new challenge for water management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Hoek, J P

    2012-01-01

    Waternet is responsible for drinking water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, and surface water management and control (quality and quantity) in and around Amsterdam. Waternet has the ambition to operate climate neutral in 2020. To realise this ambition, measures are required to compensate for the emission of 53,000 ton CO(2)-eq/year. Energy recovery from the water cycle looks very promising. First, calculations reveal that energy recovery from the water cycle in and around Amsterdam may contribute to a total reduction in greenhouse gas emissions up to 148,000 ton CO(2)-eq/year. The challenge for the coming years is to choose combinations of all the possibilities to fulfil the energy demand as much as possible. Only then the use of fossil fuel can be minimized and inevitable greenhouse gas emissions can be compensated, supporting the target to operate climate neutral in 2020.

  13. Life cycle water demand coefficients for crude oil production from five North American locations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Babkir; Kumar, Amit

    2017-10-15

    The production of liquid fuels from crude oil requires water. There has been limited focus on the assessment of life cycle water demand footprints for crude oil production and refining. The overall aim of this paper is address this gap. The objective of this research is to develop water demand coefficients over the life cycle of fuels produced from crude oil pathways. Five crude oil fields were selected in the three North American countries to reflect the impact of different spatial locations and technologies on water demand. These include the Alaska North Slope, California's Kern County heavy oil, and Mars in the U.S.; Maya in Mexico; and Bow River heavy oil in Alberta, Canada. A boundary for an assessment of the life cycle water footprint was set to cover the unit operations related to exploration, drilling, extraction, and refining. The recovery technology used to extract crude oil is one of the key determining factors for water demand. The amount of produced water that is re-injected to recover the oil is essential in determining the amount of fresh water that will be required. During the complete life cycle of one barrel of conventional crude oil, 1.71-8.25 barrels of fresh water are consumed and 2.4-9.51 barrels of fresh water are withdrawn. The lowest coefficients are for Bow River heavy oil and the highest coefficients are for Maya crude oil. Of all the unit operations, exploration and drilling require the least fresh water (less than 0.015 barrel of water per barrel of oil produced). A sensitivity analysis was conducted and uncertainty in the estimates was determined. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Exergy analysis of a system using a chemical heat pump to link a supercritical water-cooled nuclear reactor and a thermochemical water splitting cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Granovskii, M.; Dincer, I.; Rosen, M. A.; Pioro, I

    2007-01-01

    The power generation efficiency of nuclear plants is mainly determined by the permissible temperatures and pressures of the nuclear reactor fuel and coolants. These parameters are limited by materials properties and corrosion rates and their effect on nuclear reactor safety. The advanced materials for the next generation of CANDU reactors, which employ steam as a coolant and heat carrier, permit the increased steam parameters (outlet temperature up to 625 degree C and pressure of about 25 MPa). Supercritical water-cooled (SCW) nuclear power plants are expected to increase the power generation efficiency from 35 to 45%. Supercritical water-cooled nuclear reactors can be linked to thermochemical water splitting cycles for hydrogen production. An increased steam temperature from the nuclear reactor makes it also possible to utilize its energy in thermochemical water splitting cycles. These cycles are considered by many as one of the most efficient ways to produce hydrogen from water and to have advantages over traditional low-temperature water electrolysis. However, even lower temperature water splitting cycles (Cu-Cl, UT-3, etc.) require a heat supply at the temperatures over 550-600 degree C. A sufficient increase in the heat transfer from the nuclear reactor to a thermochemical water splitting cycle, without jeopardizing nuclear reactor safety, might be effectively achieved by application of a heat pump which increases the temperature the heat supplied by virtue of a cyclic process driven by mechanical or electrical work. A high temperature chemical heat pump which employs the reversible catalytic methane conversion reaction is proposed. The reaction shift from exothermic to endothermic and back is achieved by a change of the steam concentration in the reaction mixture. This heat pump, coupled with a SCW nuclear plant on one side and thermochemical water splitting cycle on the other, increases the temperature level of the 'nuclear' heat and, thus, the intensity of

  15. An Improved Multi-Evaporator Adsorption Desalination Cycle for GCC Countries

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil

    2017-03-29

    In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, cogeneration based desalination processes consume almost 25% of the total annual energy and it is increasing at 2.2% annually. The high fresh water demand is attributed to high gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, 24%, and the high water languishes, more than 10%. Over the past two decades, GCC countries have spent tens of billion dollars to expand their present and planned desalination capacities. It is foreseeable that with business-as-usual scenario, the domestic oil consumption of Saudi Arabia may exceed its production capacity by 2040. Innovative and sustainable water production solutions are needed urgently for future water supplies without environment impact. In this paper, a hybrid desalination cycle is proposed by integrating multi cascaded-evaporators (CE) with an adsorption cycle (AD). In this new innovative cycle, AD desorbed vapors are supplied to the CE to exploit the latent condensation energy within the evaporators arranged in both pressures-temperatures cascaded manner to improves the performance ratio (PR) of the cycle. Hybrid cycle shows more than 10 folds water production improvement as compared to conventional AD cycle due to synergetic effect. This concept is demonstrated in a laboratory pilot plant using a 3 cascaded evaporators pilot and simulation of 8 evaporators hybrid cycle.

  16. Thermal cycling in LWR components in OECD-NEA member countries - CSNI integrity and ageing working group

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faidy, Claude; Chapuliot, Stephane; Mathet, Eric

    2005-01-01

    Thermal cycling is a widespread and recurring problem in nuclear power plants worldwide. Several incidents with leakage of primary water inside the containment challenged the integrity of NPPs although no release outside of containment occurred. Thermal cycling was not taken into account at the design stage. Regulatory bodies, utilities and researchers have to address it for their operating plants. It is a complex phenomenon that involves and links thermal hydraulic, fracture mechanic, materials and plant operation. Thermal cycling is connected either to operating transients (low cycle fatigue) or to complex phenomenon like stratification, vortex and mixing (low and high cycle fatigue). The former is covered by existing rules and codes. The latter is partially addressed by national rules and constitutes the subject of this report. In 2002, the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) requested the working group on the integrity of reactor components and structures (IAGE WG) to prepare a program of work on thermal cycling to provide information to NEA member countries on operational experience, regulatory policies, countermeasures in place, current status of research and development, and to identify areas where research is needed both at national and international levels. The working group proposed a 3 fold program that covered: - Review of operating experience, regulatory framework, countermeasures and current research; - Benchmark to assess calculation capabilities in NEA member countries for crack initiation and propagation under a cyclic thermal loading, and ultimately to develop screening criteria to identify susceptible components; results of the benchmark were published in 2005; - Organisation of an international conference in cooperation with the EPRI and the USNRC on fatigue of reactor components. This conference reviews progress in the areas and provides a forum for discussion and exchange of information between high level experts. The

  17. Effect of water availability in opening containers of breeding site on Aedes aegypti life cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tokachil, Najir; Yusoff, Nuraini; Saaid, Alif; Appandi, Najwa; Harun, Farhana

    2017-11-01

    The distribution of rainfall is one of the factors which contribute to the development of Aedes aegypti life cycle. The fluctuation of rainfall might influence the acceleration of Aedes aegypti growth by providing sufficient breeding sites. In this research, the availability of water in an opening container of the breeding site is considered as a significant variable which affects the distinct stages structure in mosquito life cycle which egg, larva, pupa, and adult. A stage-structured Lefkovitch matrix model was used by considering the quantity of water contains in an opening container and life cycle of Aedes aegypti. The maximum depth of water in the container was also taken into account in order to find the time duration of mosquito life cycle to complete. We found that the maximum depth of water availability in mosquito breeding site influenced the abundance of the mosquito population. Hence, the containers are filled with sufficient water be able to stand from hot temperature for several days before drying out might continue to provide mosquito breeding site. In the future, it is recommended to consider other factors which affect the quantity of water in mosquito breeding sites such as heavy rain and wind blows.

  18. The Challenges of Developing a Framework for Global Water Cycle Monitoring and Prediction (Alfred Wegener Medal Lecture)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Eric F.

    2014-05-01

    The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) Water Strategy ("From Observations to Decisions") recognizes that "water is essential for ensuring food and energy security, for facilitating poverty reduction and health security, and for the maintenance of ecosystems and biodiversity", and that water cycle data and observations are critical for improved water management and water security - especially in less developed regions. The GEOSS Water Strategy has articulated a number of goals for improved water management, including flood and drought preparedness, that include: (i) facilitating the use of Earth Observations for water cycle observations; (ii) facilitating the acquisition, processing, and distribution of data products needed for effective management; (iii) providing expertise, information systems, and datasets to the global, regional, and national water communities. There are several challenges that must be met to advance our capability to provide near real-time water cycle monitoring, early warning of hydrological hazards (floods and droughts) and risk assessment under climate change, regionally and globally. Current approaches to monitoring and predicting hydrological hazards are limited in many parts of the world, and especially in developing countries where national capacity is limited and monitoring networks are inadequate. This presentation describes the developments at Princeton University towards a seamless monitoring and prediction framework at all time scales that allows for consistent assessment of water variability from historic to current conditions, and from seasonal and decadal predictions to climate change projections. At the center of the framework is an experimental, global water cycle monitoring and seasonal forecast system that has evolved out of regional and continental systems for the US and Africa. The system is based on land surface hydrological modeling that is driven by satellite remote sensing precipitation to predict

  19. Thermoeconomic analysis and optimization of an ammonia–water power/cooling cogeneration cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zare, V.; Mahmoudi, S.M.S.; Yari, M.; Amidpour, M.

    2012-01-01

    The performance of an ammonia–water power/cooling cogeneration cycle is investigated and optimized paying more attention on the economic point of view. Thermodynamic and thermoeconomic models are developed in order to investigate the thermodynamic performance of the cycle and assess the unit cost of products. A parametric study is carried out and the cycle performance is optimized based on the thermal and exergy efficiencies as well as the sum of the unit costs of the system products. The results show that the sum of the unit cost of the cycle products obtained through thermoeconomic optimization is less than by around 18.6% and 25.9% compared to the cases when the cycle is optimized from the viewpoints of first and second laws of thermodynamics, respectively. It is also concluded that for each increase of $3/ton in unit cost of the steam as the heat source, the unit cost of the output power and cooling is increased by around $7.6/GJ and $15–19/GJ, respectively. -- Highlights: ► The theory of exergetic cost is applied to the case of ammonia–water power/cooling cycle. ► The cycle is optimized from the viewpoints of thermodynamics and economics. ► The economic optimization leads to a considerable reduction in the system product costs.

  20. Proton cycling, buffering, and reaction stoichiometry in natural waters

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hofmann, A.F.; Middelburg, J.J.; Soetaert, K.; Wolf-Gladrow, D.A.; Meysman, F.J.R.

    2010-01-01

    Ongoing acidification of the global ocean necessitates a solid understanding of how biogeochemical processes are driving proton cycling and observed pH changes in natural waters. The standard way of calculating the pH evolution of an aquatic system is to specify first how biogeochemical processes

  1. Multiobjective decision-making in integrated water management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wind, H.G.; Pouwels, I.H.M.; Pouwels, I.H.M.; Witter, V.J.

    1995-01-01

    Traditionally, decision-making by water authorities in the Netherlands is largely based on intuition. Their tasks were, after all, relatively few and straight-forward. The growing number of tasks, together with the new integrated approach on water management issues, however, induces water

  2. SIMULTANEOUS INTEGRATION OF WATER AND ENERGY: ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junior Lorenzo Llanes

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Process Integration (PI is a tool that for over forty years has demonstrated its strength to provide optimal solutions to complex problems. The interaction of exchange systems of energy and water networks is a typical case of such problems. The gradual increase in the consumption of water and energy has determined the development of methodologies that take into account the simultaneous integration of these resources. This paper aims to present a literature review related to the simultaneous integration of water and energy. First, general items related to this research field are presented, emphasizing the approaches to simultaneous integration (Pinch Analysis and Mathematical Programming. Some recent cases of studies, demonstrating the strength of these tools mainly focus to sugar industry, are also presented. Finally some of the challenges to be faced by the simultaneous integration of water and energy for the diversification of the Cuban sugar industry are presented.

  3. Wet-dry cycles effect on ash water repellency. A laboratory experiment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Paulo; Cerdà, Artemi; Oliva, Marc; Mataix, Jorge; Jordán, Antonio

    2014-05-01

    In the immediate period after the fire, the ash layer has a strong influence on soil hydrological processes, as runoff, infiltration and erosion. Ash is very dynamic in the space and time. Until the first rainfall periods, ash is (re)distributed by the wind. After it can cover the soil surface, infiltrate or transported to other areas by water transport (Pereira et al., 2013a, b). This will have strong implications on nutrient redistribution and vegetation recovery. Ash layer may affect soil water repellency in different ways, depending on fire severity, soil properties and vegetation. Ash produced at low temperatures after low-severity burning is usually hydrophobic (Bodi et al., 2011, 2012). Wet-dry cycles have implications on ash physical and chemical properties, changing their effects in space and time. The aim of this study is to analyse the effects of fire temperature and severity on ash water repellency. Pinus sylvestris needles were collected in a Lithuania forest in Dzukija National Park (53º 54' N and 24º 22' E), transported to laboratory and washed with deionized water to remove soil particles and other residues. Needle samples were dried during 24 hours and exposed to different temperatures: 200, 300, 400 and 500 ºC, during 2 hours. Ash colour was analysed according to the Munsell Soil Color charts. Ash was black (10 YR 2/1) at 200 ºC, very dark grey (10YR 3/1) at 300 ºC, gray (10YR 5/1) at 400 ºC and light gray (10YR 7/1) at 500 ºC. Ten samples of ash released after each treatment were placed in plastic dishes (50 mm in diameter) in an amount enough to form a 5 mm thick layer, and ash water repellency was measured according to the Water Drop Penetration Test. Later, ash was carefully wetted with 15 ml of deionized water and placed in an oven during 4 days (96 hours), as in Bodí et al. (2012). This procedure was repeated 5 times in order to observe the effects of wet-dry cycles in ash water repellency. The results showed significant differences

  4. Supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton power conversion cycle for battery optimized reactor integral system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, T. W.; Kim, N. H.; Suh, K. Y.

    2007-01-01

    Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO 2 ) promises a high power conversion efficiency of the recompression Brayton cycle due to its excellent compressibility reducing the compression work at the bottom of the cycle and to a higher density than helium or steam decreasing the component size. The SCO 2 Brayton cycle efficiency as high as 45% furnishes small sized nuclear reactors with economical benefits on the plant construction and maintenance. A 23 MWth lead-cooled Battery Optimized Reactor Integral System (BORIS) is being developed as an ultra-long-life, versatile-purpose, fast-spectrum reactor. BORIS is coupled to the SCO 2 Brayton cycle needing less room relative to the Rankine steam cycle because of its smaller components. The SCO 2 Brayton cycle of BORIS consists of a 16 MW turbine, a 32 MW high temperature recuperator, a 14 MW low temperature recuperator, an 11 MW precooler and 2 and 2.8 MW compressors. Entering six heat exchangers between primary and secondary system at 19.9 MPa and 663 K, the SCO 2 leaves the heat exchangers at 19.9 MPa and 823 K. The promising secondary system efficiency of 45% was calculated by a theoretical method in which the main parameters include pressure, temperature, heater power, the turbine's, recuperators' and compressors' efficiencies, and the flow split ratio of SCO 2 going out from the low temperature recuperator. Development of Modular Optimized Brayton Integral System (MOBIS) is being devised as the SCO 2 Brayton cycle energy conversion cycle for BORIS. MOBIS consists of Loop Operating Brayton Optimization Study (LOBOS) for experimental Brayton cycle loop and Gas Advanced Turbine Operation Study (GATOS) for the SCO 2 turbine. Liquid-metal Energy Exchanger Integral System (LEXIS) serves to couple BORIS and MOBIS. LEXIS comprises Physical Aspect Thermal Operation System (PATOS) for SCO 2 thermal hydraulic characteristics, Shell-and-tube Overall Layout Optimization Study (SOLOS) for shell-and-tube heat exchanger, Printed

  5. Importance of Rain Evaporation and Continental Convection in the Tropical Water Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Worden, John; Noone, David; Bowman, Kevin; Beer, R.; Eldering, A.; Fisher, B.; Gunson, M.; Goldman, Aaron; Kulawik, S. S.; Lampel, Michael; hide

    2007-01-01

    Atmospheric moisture cycling is an important aspect of the Earth's climate system, yet the processes determining atmospheric humidity are poorly understood. For example, direct evaporation of rain contributes significantly to the heat and moisture budgets of clouds, but few observations of these processes are available. Similarly, the relative contributions to atmospheric moisture over land from local evaporation and humidity from oceanic sources are uncertain. Lighter isotopes of water vapour preferentially evaporate whereas heavier isotopes preferentially condense and the isotopic composition of ocean water is known. Here we use this information combined with global measurements of the isotopic composition of tropospheric water vapour from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) aboard the Aura spacecraft, to investigate aspects of the atmospheric hydrological cycle that are not well constrained by observations of precipitation or atmospheric vapour content. Our measurements of the isotopic composition of water vapour near tropical clouds suggest that rainfall evaporation contributes significantly to lower troposphere humidity, with typically 20% and up to 50% of rainfall evaporating near convective clouds. Over the tropical continents the isotopic signature of tropospheric water vapour differs significantly from that of precipitation, suggesting that convection of vapour from both oceanic sources and evapotranspiration are the dominant moisture sources. Our measurements allow an assessment of the intensity of the present hydrological cycle and will help identify any future changes as they occur.

  6. Corrosion behavior of Haynes registered 230 registered nickel-based super-alloys for integrated coal gasification combined cycle syngas plants. A plant exposure study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Sungkyu; Lee, Jieun; Kang, Suk-Hwan; Lee, Seung-Jong; Yun, Yongseung; Kim, Min Jung

    2015-01-01

    The corrosion behavior of commercially available Haynes registered 230 registered nickel-based alloy samples was investigated by exposure to coal-gasifying integrated coal gasification combined cycle pilot plant facilities affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Engineering (2.005 MPa and 160-300 C). The morphological and microstructural analyses of the exposed samples were conducted using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis on the external surface of the recovered corrosion test samples to obtain information of the corrosion scale. These analyses based on the pre- and post-exposure corrosion test samples combined with thermodynamic Ellingham-Pourbaix stability diagrams provided preliminary insight into the mechanism of the observed corrosion behavior prevailing in the piping materials that connected the particulate removal unit and water scrubber of the integrated coal gasification combined cycle pilot plant. Uniform material wastage was observed after 46 hours of operation, and a preliminary corrosion mechanism was suggested: the observed material waste and corrosion behavior of the Haynes registered 230 registered nickel-based alloy samples cut off from the coal syngas integrated coal gasification combined cycle plant were explained by the formation of discontinuous (complex) oxide phases and subsequent chlorine-induced active oxidation under the predominantly reducing environment encountered. This contribution continues the already published studies of the Fe-Ni-Cr-Co alloy Haynes registered 556 registered .

  7. Life cycle water use of energy production and its environmental impacts in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Chao; Anadon, Laura Diaz

    2013-12-17

    The energy sector is a major user of fresh water resources in China. We investigate the life cycle water withdrawals, consumptive water use, and wastewater discharge of China's energy sectors and their water-consumption-related environmental impacts, using a mixed-unit multiregional input-output (MRIO) model and life cycle impact assessment method (LCIA) based on the Eco-indicator 99 framework. Energy production is responsible for 61.4 billion m(3) water withdrawals, 10.8 billion m(3) water consumption, and 5.0 billion m(3) wastewater discharges in China, which are equivalent to 12.3%, 4.1% and 8.3% of the national totals, respectively. The most important feature of the energy-water nexus in China is the significantly uneven spatial distribution of consumptive water use and its corresponding environmental impacts caused by the geological discrepancy among fossil fuel resources, fresh water resources, and energy demand. More than half of energy-related water withdrawals occur in the east and south coastal regions. However, the arid north and northwest regions have much larger water consumption than the water abundant south region, and bear almost all environmental damages caused by consumptive water use.

  8. Menstrual cycle characteristics and reproductive hormone levels in women exposed to atrazine in drinking water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cragin, Lori A; Kesner, James S; Bachand, Annette M; Barr, Dana Boyd; Meadows, Juliana W; Krieg, Edward F; Reif, John S

    2011-11-01

    Atrazine is the most commonly used herbicide in the U.S. and a wide-spread groundwater contaminant. Epidemiologic and laboratory evidence exists that atrazine disrupts reproductive health and hormone secretion. We examined the relationship between exposure to atrazine in drinking water and menstrual cycle function including reproductive hormone levels. Women 18-40 years old residing in agricultural communities where atrazine is used extensively (Illinois) and sparingly (Vermont) answered a questionnaire (n=102), maintained menstrual cycle diaries (n=67), and provided daily urine samples for analyses of luteinizing hormone (LH), and estradiol and progesterone metabolites (n=35). Markers of exposures included state of residence, atrazine and chlorotriazine concentrations in tap water, municipal water and urine, and estimated dose from water consumption. Women who lived in Illinois were more likely to report menstrual cycle length irregularity (odds ratio (OR)=4.69; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.58-13.95) and more than 6 weeks between periods (OR=6.16; 95% CI: 1.29-29.38) than those who lived in Vermont. Consumption of >2 cups of unfiltered Illinois water daily was associated with increased risk of irregular periods (OR=5.73; 95% CI: 1.58-20.77). Estimated "dose" of atrazine and chlorotriazine from tap water was inversely related to mean mid-luteal estradiol metabolite. Atrazine "dose" from municipal concentrations was directly related to follicular phase length and inversely related to mean mid-luteal progesterone metabolite levels. We present preliminary evidence that atrazine exposure, at levels below the US EPA MCL, is associated with increased menstrual cycle irregularity, longer follicular phases, and decreased levels of menstrual cycle endocrine biomarkers of infertile ovulatory cycles. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. What is the Time Scale for Orbital Forcing of the Martian Water Cycle?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hecht, M. H.

    2003-01-01

    Calculation of the periodic variations in the martian orbital parameters by Ward and subsequent refinements to the theory have inspired numerous models of variation of the martian water cycle. Most of these models have focused on variations in planetary obliquity on a both a short-term (110 kyr) time scale as well as larger oscillations occuring over millions of years. To a lesser extent, variations in planetary eccentricity have also been considered. The third and fastest mode of variation, the precession of the longitude of perihelion, has generally been deemphasized because, among the three parameters, it is the only one that does not change the integrated annual insolation. But as a result of this precession, the asymmetry in peak summer insolation between the poles exceeds 50%, with the maximum cycling between poles every 25.5 kyrs. The relative contribution of these different elements to orbital forcing of climate takes on particular importance in the context of apparently recent waterrelated features such as gullies or polar layered deposits (PLD). Christensen, for example, recently indentified mantling of heavily gullied crater walls as residual dust-covered snow deposits that were responsible for the formation of the gullies in a previous epoch. Christensen assumed that the snow was originally deposited at a period of high obliquity which was stabilized against sublimation by a lag deposit of dust. It is suggested here that not obliquity, but the shortterm oscillations associated with precession of the perihelion may play the dominant role in the formation of gullies, major strata in the polar layered deposits (PLD), and other water-related features.

  10. Acceleration of Blender Cycles Path-Tracing Engine Using Intel Many Integrated Core Architecture

    OpenAIRE

    Jaroš , Milan; Říha , Lubomír; Strakoš , Petr; Karásek , Tomáš; Vašatová , Alena; Jarošová , Marta; Kozubek , Tomáš

    2015-01-01

    Part 2: Algorithms; International audience; This paper describes the acceleration of the most computationally intensive kernels of the Blender rendering engine, Blender Cycles, using Intel Many Integrated Core architecture (MIC). The proposed parallelization, which uses OpenMP technology, also improves the performance of the rendering engine when running on multi-core CPUs and multi-socket servers. Although the GPU acceleration is already implemented in Cycles, its functionality is limited. O...

  11. Climate change and integrated water resources management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhuiyan, Nurul Amin

    2007-01-01

    Full text: Full text: In the Bangladesh Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP), Millennium Development Goals and other donor driven initiatives, two vital areas linked with poverty and ecosystem survival seem to be either missing or are being neglected: (a) transboundary water use and (b) coastal area poverty and critical ecosystems vulnerable due to climate change. Since the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) goals and PRSP are integrated, it is necessary that the countrys WSSD goals and PRSP should also be in harmony. All should give the recognition of Ganges Brahmaputra and Meghna as international basins and the approach should be taken for regional sustainable and integrated water resource management involving all co-riparian countries. The principle of low flow in the international rivers during all seasons should be ensured. All stakeholders should have a say and work towards regional cooperation in the water sector as a top priority. The energy sector should be integrated with water. The Indian River Linking project involving international rivers should be seriously discussed at all levels including the parliament so that voice of Bangladesh is concerted and information shared by all concerned. One of the most critical challenges Bangladesh faces is the management of water resources during periods of water excesses and acute scarcity. It is particularly difficult when only 7% of the catchments areas of the very international rivers, the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna are in Bangladesh while 97% is outside Bangladesh where unfortunately, Bangladesh has no control on upstream diversion and water use. The UN Conference on Environment and Development in its Agenda 21 emphasizes the importance of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). The core point of IWRM is that is development of all aspects of entire basin in a basin wide approach, that all relevant agencies of the government and water users must be involved in the planning process and

  12. Fuel-Stimulated Insulin Secretion Depends upon Mitochondria Activation and the Integration of Mitochondrial and Cytosolic Substrate Cycles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gary W. Cline

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available The pancreatic islet β-cell is uniquely specialized to couple its metabolism and rates of insulin secretion with the levels of circulating nutrient fuels, with the mitochondrial playing a central regulatory role in this process. In the β-cell, mitochondrial activation generates an integrated signal reflecting rates of oxidativephosphorylation, Kreb's cycle flux, and anaplerosis that ultimately determines the rate of insulin exocytosis. Mitochondrial activation can be regulated by proton leak and mediated by UCP2, and by alkalinization to utilize the pH gradient to drive substrate and ion transport. Converging lines of evidence support the hypothesis that substrate cycles driven by rates of Kreb's cycle flux and by anaplerosis play an integral role in coupling responsive changes in mitochondrial metabolism with insulin secretion. The components and mechanisms that account for the integrated signal of ATP production, substrate cycling, the regulation of cellular redox state, and the production of other secondary signaling intermediates are operative in both rodent and human islet β-cells.

  13. Leveraging this Golden Age of Remote Sensing and Modeling of Terrestrial Hydrology to Understand Water Cycling in the Water Availability Grand Challenge for North America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Painter, T. H.; Famiglietti, J. S.; Stephens, G. L.

    2016-12-01

    We live in a time of increasing strains on our global fresh water availability due to increasing population, warming climate, changes in precipitation, and extensive depletion of groundwater supplies. At the same time, we have seen enormous growth in capabilities to remotely sense the regional to global water cycle and model complex systems with physically based frameworks. The GEWEX Water Availability Grand Challenge for North America is poised to leverage this convergence of remote sensing and modeling capabilities to answer fundamental questions on the water cycle. In particular, we envision an experiment that targets the complex and resource-critical Western US from California to just into the Great Plains, constraining physically-based hydrologic modeling with the US and international remote sensing capabilities. In particular, the last decade has seen the implementation or soon-to-be launch of water cycle missions such as GRACE and GRACE-FO for groundwater, SMAP for soil moisture, GPM for precipitation, SWOT for terrestrial surface water, and the Airborne Snow Observatory for snowpack. With the advent of convection-resolving mesoscale climate and water cycle modeling (e.g. WRF, WRF-Hydro) and mesoscale models capable of quantitative assimilation of remotely sensed data (e.g. the JPL Western States Water Mission), we can now begin to test hypotheses on the nature and changes in the water cycle of the Western US from a physical standpoint. In turn, by fusing water cycle science, water management, and ecosystem management while addressing these hypotheses, this golden age of remote sensing and modeling can bring all fields into a markedly less uncertain state of present knowledge and decadal scale forecasts.

  14. Climate proofing water and sanitation services and applying integrated water resource management in slums

    OpenAIRE

    Heath, Thomas

    2011-01-01

    This thesis assesses how climate change impacts water resources and communities and reviews how the resource can be managed in an integrated manner for small water and sanitation providers. This thesis was based upon a 10 month Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between Cranfield University and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP). The aim of the project was to assess the opportunities and vulnerabilities presented by climate change and how Integrated Water Resource ...

  15. Predicting cycle time distributions for integrated processing workstations : an aggregate modeling approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Veeger, C.P.L.; Etman, L.F.P.; Lefeber, A.A.J.; Adan, I.J.B.F.; Herk, van J.; Rooda, J.E.

    2011-01-01

    To predict cycle time distributions of integrated processing workstations, detailed simulation models are almost exclusively used; these models require considerable development and maintenance effort. As an alternative, we propose an aggregate model that is a lumped-parameter representation of the

  16. Development of the fuel-cycle costs in nuclear power stations with light-water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brosch, R.; Moraw, G.; Musil, G.; Schneeberger, M.

    1976-01-01

    The authors investigate the fuel-cycle costs in nuclear power stations with light-water reactors in the Federal Republic of Germany in the years 1966 to 1976. They determine the effect of the price development for the individual components of the nuclear fuel cycle on the fuel-cycle costs averaged over the whole power station life. Here account is taken also of inflation rates and the change in the DM/US $ parity. In addition they give the percentage apportionment of the fuel-cycle costs. The authors show that real fuel-cycle costs for nuclear power stations with light-water reactors in the Federal Republic of Germany have risen by 11% between 1966 and 1976. This contradicts the often repeated reproach that fuel costs in nuclear power stations are rising very steeply and are no longer competitive. (orig.) [de

  17. Simulating the Current Water Cycle with the NASA Ames Mars Global Climate Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahre, M. A.; Haberle, R. M.; Hollingsworth, J. L.; Brecht, A. S.; Urata, R. A.; Montmessin, F.

    2017-12-01

    The water cycle is a critical component of the current Mars climate system, and it is now widely recognized that water ice clouds significantly affect the nature of the simulated water cycle. Two processes are key to implementing clouds in a Mars global climate model (GCM): the microphysical processes of formation and dissipation, and their radiative effects on atmospheric heating/cooling rates. Together, these processes alter the thermal structure, change the atmospheric dynamics, and regulate inter-hemispheric transport. We have made considerable progress using the NASA Ames Mars GCM to simulate the current-day water cycle with radiatively active clouds. Cloud fields from our baseline simulation are in generally good agreement with observations. The predicted seasonal extent and peak IR optical depths are consistent MGS/TES observations. Additionally, the thermal response to the clouds in the aphelion cloud belt (ACB) is generally consistent with observations and other climate model predictions. Notably, there is a distinct gap in the predicted clouds over the North Residual Cap (NRC) during local summer, but the clouds reappear in this simulation over the NRC earlier than the observations indicate. Polar clouds are predicted near the seasonal CO2 ice caps, but the column thicknesses of these clouds are generally too thick compared to observations. Our baseline simulation is dry compared to MGS/TES-observed water vapor abundances, particularly in the tropics and subtropics. These areas of disagreement appear to be a consistent with other current water cycle GCMs. Future avenues of investigation will target improving our understanding of what controls the vertical extent of clouds and the apparent seasonal evolution of cloud particle sizes within the ACB.

  18. A Time Series Analysis of Global Soil Moisture Data Products for Water Cycle Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhan, X.; Yin, J.; Liu, J.; Fang, L.; Hain, C.; Ferraro, R. R.; Weng, F.

    2017-12-01

    Water is essential for sustaining life on our planet Earth and water cycle is one of the most important processes of out weather and climate system. As one of the major components of the water cycle, soil moisture impacts significantly the other water cycle components (e.g. evapotranspiration, runoff, etc) and the carbon cycle (e.g. plant/crop photosynthesis and respiration). Understanding of soil moisture status and dynamics is crucial for monitoring and predicting the weather, climate, hydrology and ecological processes. Satellite remote sensing has been used for soil moisture observation since the launch of the Scanning Multi-channel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) on NASA's Nimbus-7 satellite in 1978. Many satellite soil moisture data products have been made available to the science communities and general public. The soil moisture operational product system (SMOPS) of NOAA NESDIS has been operationally providing global soil moisture data products from each of the currently available microwave satellite sensors and their blends. This presentation will provide an update of SMOPS products. The time series of each of these soil moisture data products are analyzed against other data products, such as precipitation and evapotranspiration from other independent data sources such as the North America Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS). Temporal characteristics of these water cycle components are explored against some historical events, such as the 2010 Russian, 2010 China and 2012 United States droughts, 2015 South Carolina floods, etc. Finally whether a merged global soil moisture data product can be used as a climate data record is evaluated based on the above analyses.

  19. Thermodynamic Investigation of an Integrated Gasification Plant with Solid Oxide Fuel Cell and Steam Cycles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rokni, Masoud

    2012-01-01

    A gasification plant is integrated on the top of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cycle, while a steam turbine (ST) cycle is used as a bottoming cycle for the SOFC plant. The gasification plant was fueled by woodchips to produce biogas and the SOFC stacks were fired with biogas. The produced gas...... generator (HRSG). The steam cycle was modeled with a simple single pressure level. In addition, a hybrid recuperator was used to recover more energy from the HRSG and send it back to the SOFC cycle. Thus two different configurations were investigated to study the plants characteristic. Such system...

  20. Integrated gasification combined cycle for acid rain control

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simbeck, D.R.; Dickenson, R.L.

    1986-10-01

    The role of integrated coal gasification combined-cycle power plants in the abatement of emission of SO/sub 2/ and NO/sub 2/ which lead to acid rain is discussed. The economics of this IGCC approach are assessed for a nominal 500 MW plant size. Phased construction of IGCC plants is recommended as a means of reducing SO/sub 2/ and NO/sub x/ emissions noting that high-sulfur coals could continue to be used. It is also noted that phased construction IGCC is the only acid rain control technology that greatly reduces NO/sub x/. 17 references.

  1. Steam generators in indirect-cycle water-cooled reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fajeau, M.

    1976-01-01

    In the indirect cycle water-cooled nuclear reactors, the steam generators are placed between the primary circuit and the turbine. They act both as an energy transmitter and as a leaktigh barrier against fission or corrosion products. Their study is thus very important from a performance and reliability point of view. Two main types are presented here: the U-tube and the once-through steam generators [fr

  2. The annual cycle of plutonium in the water column of a warm, monomictic reservoir

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinder, J.E. III; Alberts, J.J.; Bowling, J.W.; Nelson, D.M.; Orlandini, K.A.

    1992-01-01

    An annual cycle occurs in the 239,240 Pu inventories of the water column of Pond B, an 87-ha warm monomictic reservoir on the US Department of Energy's Savannah River Site in Barnwell Co., South Carolina. The pond has elevated concentrations of 238 Pu and 239,240 Pu in sediments due to releases from former reactor operations and continues to receive additional Pu input from atmospheric deposition. For surface waters, the 239,240 Pu inventory increases following turnover in November to a maximum in March followed by a decline until later summer when minimum inventories occur. For deeper waters, the 239,240 Pu inventories increase rapidly following turnover and reach maximum values in March. The inventories in deeper waters remain large from March until turnover. Maximum inventories for the entire water column occur in March with minimum inventories at turnover in October and November. Turnover results in a redistribution of Pu across water depth but no measurable Pu loss from the water column. Ratios of 238 Pu: 239,240 Pu indicate that the cycle involves primarily Pu from sediment sources with little influence from atmospheric sources. Thus, the cycle represents net remobilization of 239,240 Pu from the sediments to the water column during the oxic, holomictic portion of the year followed by a net loss of Pu from the water column once stratification occurs. (author)

  3. Root for rain : Towards understanding land-use change impacts on the water cycle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang-Erlandsson, L.

    2017-01-01

    We live today on a human-dominated planet under unprecedented pressure on both land and water. The water cycle is intrinsically linked to vegetation and land use, and anticipating the consequences of simultaneous changes in land and water systems requires a thorough understanding of their

  4. Environmental life cycle assessment of water supply in South Africa ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase of LCAs evaluates the ... considered where water is used in the manufacturing sector of South Africa, and to identify ... The boosting requirements attribute most to the electricity dependency of the ...

  5. Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of a Supersonic Nozzle and Integration into a Variable Cycle Engine Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connolly, Joseph W.; Friedlander, David; Kopasakis, George

    2015-01-01

    This paper covers the development of an integrated nonlinear dynamic simulation for a variable cycle turbofan engine and nozzle that can be integrated with an overall vehicle Aero-Propulso-Servo-Elastic (APSE) model. A previously developed variable cycle turbofan engine model is used for this study and is enhanced here to include variable guide vanes allowing for operation across the supersonic flight regime. The primary focus of this study is to improve the fidelity of the model's thrust response by replacing the simple choked flow equation convergent-divergent nozzle model with a MacCormack method based quasi-1D model. The dynamic response of the nozzle model using the MacCormack method is verified by comparing it against a model of the nozzle using the conservation element/solution element method. A methodology is also presented for the integration of the MacCormack nozzle model with the variable cycle engine.

  6. Solar Metal Sulfate-Ammonia Based Thermochemical Water Splitting Cycle for Hydrogen Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Cunping (Inventor); T-Raissi, Ali (Inventor); Muradov, Nazim (Inventor)

    2014-01-01

    Two classes of hybrid/thermochemical water splitting processes for the production of hydrogen and oxygen have been proposed based on (1) metal sulfate-ammonia cycles (2) metal pyrosulfate-ammonia cycles. Methods and systems for a metal sulfate MSO.sub.4--NH3 cycle for producing H2 and O2 from a closed system including feeding an aqueous (NH3)(4)SO3 solution into a photoctalytic reactor to oxidize the aqueous (NH3)(4)SO3 into aqueous (NH3)(2)SO4 and reduce water to hydrogen, mixing the resulting aqueous (NH3)(2)SO4 with metal oxide (e.g. ZnO) to form a slurry, heating the slurry of aqueous (NH4)(2)SO4 and ZnO(s) in the low temperature reactor to produce a gaseous mixture of NH3 and H2O and solid ZnSO4(s), heating solid ZnSO4 at a high temperature reactor to produce a gaseous mixture of SO2 and O2 and solid product ZnO, mixing the gaseous mixture of SO2 and O2 with an NH3 and H2O stream in an absorber to form aqueous (NH4)(2)SO3 solution and separate O2 for aqueous solution, recycling the resultant solution back to the photoreactor and sending ZnO to mix with aqueous (NH4)(2)SO4 solution to close the water splitting cycle wherein gaseous H2 and O2 are the only products output from the closed ZnSO4--NH3 cycle.

  7. Aerosol-Water Cycle Interaction: A New Challenge in Monsoon Climate Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lau, William K. M.

    2006-01-01

    Long recognized as a major environmental hazard, aerosol is now known to have strong impacts on both regional and global climate. It has been estimated that aerosol may reduce by up to 10% of the seasonal mean solar radiation reaching the earth surface, producing a global cooling effect that opposes global warming (Climate Change 2001). This means that the potential perils that humans have committed to global warming may be far greater than what we can detect at the present. As a key component of the Earth climate system, the water cycle is profoundly affected by the presence of aerosols in the atmosphere. Through the so-called "direct effect", aerosol scatters and/or absorbs solar radiation, thus cooling the earth surface and changing the horizontal and vertical radiational heating contrast in the atmosphere. The heating contrast drives anomalous atmospheric circulation, resulting in changes in convection, clouds, and rainfall. Another way aerosol can affect the water cycle is through the so-called "indirect effects", whereby aerosol increases the number of cloud condensation nuclei, prolongs life time of clouds, and inhibits the growth of cloud drops to raindrops. This leads to more clouds, and increased reflection of solar radiation, and further cooling at the earth surface. In monsoon regions, the response of the water cycle to aerosol forcing is especially complex, not only because of presence of diverse mix of aerosol species with vastly different radiative properties, but also because the monsoon is strongly influenced by ocean and land surface processes, land use, land change, as well as regional and global greenhouse warming effects. Thus, sorting out the impacts of aerosol forcing, and interaction with the monsoon water cycle is a very challenging problem. In this talk, I will offer some insights into how aerosols may impact the Asian monsoon based on preliminary results from satellite observations and climate model experiments. Specifically, I will

  8. Behavior of a cycle-integrated system. Heat recovery in RTL plants; Verhalten von Kreislauf-Verbund-Systemen. Waermerueckgewinnung in RLT-Anlagen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rauser, Hanns Christoph [HCR Consulting, Ingenieurbuero fuer Kaelte- und Klimatechnik, Bietigheim-Bissingen (Germany)

    2010-09-15

    The contribution under consideration reports on the behaviour of a cycle-integrated system and derives criteria for the attaining high degrees of temperature changes. Since cycle-integrated system also realizes a reheating and a re-cooling apart from a heat recovery, also the behaviour of such a system is presented according to feeding coldness and warmth into the cycle.

  9. Specific safety aspects of the water-steam cycle important to nuclear power plant project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lobo, C.G.

    1986-01-01

    The water-steam cycle in a nuclear power plant is similar to that used in conventional power plants. Some systems and components are required for the safe nuclear power plant operation and therefore are designed according to the safety criteria, rules and regulations applied in nuclear installations. The aim of this report is to present the safety characteristics of the water-steam cycle of a nuclear power plant with pressurized water reactor, as applied for the design of the nuclear power plants Angra 2 and Angra 3. (Author) [pt

  10. The annual cycle of nitrate and net community production in surface waters of the Southern Ocean observed with SOCCOM profiling floats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, K. S.; Plant, J. N.; Sakamoto, C.; Coletti, L. J.; Sarmiento, J. L.; Riser, S.; Talley, L. D.

    2016-12-01

    Sixty profiling floats with ISUS and SUNA nitrate sensors have been deployed in the Southern Ocean (south of 30 degrees S) as part of the SOCCOM (Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling) program and earlier efforts. These floats have produced detailed records of the annual cycle of nitrate concentration throughout the region from the surface to depths near 2000 m. In surface waters, there are clear cycles in nitrate concentration that result from uptake of nitrate during austral spring and summer. These changes in nitrate concentration were used to compute the annual net community production over this region. NCP was computed using a simplified version of the approach detailed by Plant et al. (2016, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 30, 859-879, DOI: 10.1002/2015GB005349). At the time the abstract was written 41 complete annual cycles were available from floats deployed before the austral summer of 2015/2016. After filtering the data to remove floats that crossed distinct frontal boundaries, floats with other anomalies, and floats in sub-tropical waters, 23 cycles were available. A preliminary assessment of the data yields an NCP of 2.8 +/- 0.95 (1 SD) mol C/m2/y after integrating to 100 m depth and converting nitrate uptake to carbon using the Redfield ratio. This preliminary assessment ignores vertical transport across the nitracline and is, therefore, a minimum estimate. The number of cycles available for analysis will increase rapidly, as 32 of the floats were deployed in the austral summer of 2015/2016 and have not yet been analyzed.

  11. Integrated modelling of nitrate loads to coastal waters and land rent applied to catchment-scale water management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Refsgaard, A.; Jacobsen, T.; Jacobsen, Brian H.

    2007-01-01

    The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires an integrated approach to river basin management in order to meet environmental and ecological objectives. This paper presents concepts and full-scale application of an integrated modelling framework. The Ringkoebing Fjord basin is characterized by ...... the potential and limitations of comprehensive, integrated modelling tools.  ......The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires an integrated approach to river basin management in order to meet environmental and ecological objectives. This paper presents concepts and full-scale application of an integrated modelling framework. The Ringkoebing Fjord basin is characterized...... by intensive agricultural production and leakage of nitrate constitute a major pollution problem with respect groundwater aquifers (drinking water), fresh surface water systems (water quality of lakes) and coastal receiving waters (eutrophication). The case study presented illustrates an advanced modelling...

  12. Supercritical-pressure, once-through cycle light water cooled reactor concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oka, Yoshiaki; Koshizuka, Seiichi

    2001-01-01

    The purpose of the study is to develop new reactor concepts for the innovation of light water reactors (LWR) and fast reactors. Concept of the once-through coolant cycle, supercritical-pressure light water cooled reactor was developed. Major aspects of reactor design and safety were analysed by the computer codes which were developed by ourselves. It includes core design of thermal and fast reactors, plant system, safety criteria, accident and transient analysis, LOCA, PSA, plant control, start up and stability. High enthalpy rise as supercritical boiler was achieved by evaluating the cladding temperature directly during transients. Fundamental safety principle of the reactor is monitoring coolant flow rate instead of water level of LWR. The reactor system is compact and simple because of high specific enthalpy of supercritical water and the once-through cycle. The major components are similar to those of LWR and supercritical thermal plant. Their temperature are within the experiences in spite of the high outlet coolant temperature. The reactor is compatible with tight fuel lattice fast reactor because of the high head pumps and low coolant flow rate. The power rating of the fast reactor is higher than the that of thermal reactor because of the high power density. (author)

  13. Closed-cycle process of coke-cooling water in delayed coking unit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou, P.; Bai, Z.S.; Yang, Q.; Ma, J.; Wang, H.L.

    2008-01-01

    Synthesized processes are commonly used to treat coke-cooling wastewater. These include cold coke-cut water, diluting coke-cooling water, adding chemical deodorization into oily water, high-speed centrifugal separation, de-oiling and deodorization by coke adsorption, and open nature cooling. However, because of water and volatile evaporation loss, it is not suitable to process high-sulphur heavy oil using open treatments. This paper proposed a closed-cycling process in order to solve the wastewater treatment problem. The process is based on the characteristics of coke-cooling water, such as rapid parametric variation, oil-water-coke emulsification and steam-water mixing. The paper discussed the material characteristics and general idea of the study. The process of closed-cycle separation and utilization process of coke-cooling water was presented along with a process flow diagram. Several applications were presented, including a picture of hydrocyclones for pollution separation and a picture of equipments of pollution separation and components regeneration. The results showed good effect had been achieved since the coke-cooling water system was put into production in 2004. The recycling ratios for the components of the coke-cooling water were 100 per cent, and air quality in the operating area reached the requirements of the national operating site circumstance and the health standards. Calibration results of the demonstration unit were presented. It was concluded that since the devices went into operation, the function of production has been normal and stable. The operation was simple, flexible, adjustable and reliable, with significant economic efficiency and environmental benefits. 10 refs., 2 tabs., 3 figs

  14. ORD Water Quality Research Program Mid-Cycle Review - June 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) completed a mid-cycle review of the Office of Research and Development’s (ORD) Water Quality Research Program (WQRP), focusing on Agency efforts to enhance the program following the 2006 BOSC program review.

  15. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) profile during backwashing cycle of drinking water biofiltration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Bing; Gu, Li; Yu, Xin; Yu, Guozhong; Zhang, Huining; Xu, Jinli

    2012-01-01

    A comprehensive investigation was made in this study on the variation of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) during a whole backwashing cycle of the biofiltration for drinking water treatment. In such a cycle, the normalized DON concentration (C(effluent)/C(influent)) was decreased from 0.98 to 0.90 in the first 1.5h, and then gradually increased to about 1.5 in the following 8h. Finally, it remained stable until the end of this 24-hour cycle. This clearly 3-stage profile of DON could be explained by three aspects as follows: (1) the impact of the backwashing on the biomass and the microbial activity; (2) the release of soluble microbial products (SMPs) during the biofiltration; (3) the competition between heterotrophic bacteria and nitrifying bacteria. All the facts supported that more DON was generated during later part of the backwashing cycle. The significance of the conclusion is that the shorter backwashing intervals between backwashing for the drinking water biofilter should further decrease the DON concentration in effluent of biofilter. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Life Cycle Assessment and Water Footprint of Hydrogen Production Methods: From Conventional to Emerging Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andi Mehmeti

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available A common sustainability issue, arising in production systems, is the efficient use of resources for providing goods or services. With the increased interest in a hydrogen (H2 economy, the life-cycle environmental performance of H2 production has special significance for assisting in identifying opportunities to improve environmental performance and to guide challenging decisions and select between technology paths. Life cycle impact assessment methods are rapidly evolving to analyze multiple environmental impacts of the production of products or processes. This study marks the first step in developing process-based streamlined life cycle analysis (LCA of several H2 production pathways combining life cycle impacts at the midpoint (17 problem-oriented and endpoint (3 damage-oriented levels using the state-of-the-art impact assessment method ReCiPe 2016. Steam reforming of natural gas, coal gasification, water electrolysis via proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM, solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC, biomass gasification and reforming, and dark fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass were analyzed. An innovative aspect is developed in this study is an analysis of water consumption associated with H2 production pathways by life-cycle stage to provide a better understanding of the life cycle water-related impacts on human health and natural environment. For water-related scope, Water scarcity footprint (WSF quantified using Available WAter REmaining (AWARE method was applied as a stand-alone indicator. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each production pathway, identify the drivers of environmental impact, quantify midpoint environmental impact and its influence on the endpoint environmental performance. The findings of this study could serve as a useful theoretical reference and practical basis to decision-makers of potential environmental impacts of H2 production systems.

  17. Multimodal Science Teachers' Discourse in Modeling the Water Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marquez, Conxita; Izquierdo, Merce; Espinet, Mariona

    2006-01-01

    The paper presents an intensive study of a micro-event aiming at the characterization of teacher's discourse from a multimodal communication perspective in a secondary school science classroom dealing with the topic of "water cycle." The research addresses the following questions: (a) What communicative modes are used by the teacher?, (b) what…

  18. Cycle water chemistry based on film forming amines at power plants: evaluation of technical guidance documents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyachenko, F. V.; Petrova, T. I.

    2017-11-01

    Efficiency and reliability of the equipment in fossil power plants as well as in combined cycle power plants depend on the corrosion processes and deposit formation in steam/water circuit. In order to decrease these processes different water chemistries are used. Today the great attention is being attracted to the application of film forming amines and film forming amine products. The International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam (IAPWS) consolidated the information from all over the World, and based on the research studies and operating experience of researchers and engineers from 21 countries, developed and authorized the Technical Guidance Document: “Application of Film Forming Amines in Fossil, Combined Cycle, and Biomass Power Plants” in 2016. This article describe Russian and International technical guidance documents for the cycle water chemistries based on film forming amines at fossil and combined cycle power plants.

  19. Towards integrated solutions for water, energy, and land using an integrated nexus modeling framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wada, Y.

    2017-12-01

    Humanity has already reached or even exceeded the Earth's carrying capacity. Growing needs for food, energy and water will only exacerbate existing challenges over the next decades. Consequently, the acceptance of "business as usual" is eroding and we are being challenged to adopt new, more integrated, and more inclusive development pathways that avoid dangerous interference with the local environment and global planetary boundaries. This challenge is embodied in the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which endeavor to set a global agenda for moving towards more sustainable development strategies. To improve and sustain human welfare, it is critical that access to modern, reliable, and affordable water, energy, and food is expanded and maintained. The Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (IS-WEL) project has been launched by IIASA, together with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). This project focuses on the water-energy-land nexus in the context of other major global challenges such as urbanization, environmental degradation, and equitable and sustainable futures. It develops a consistent framework for looking at the water-energy-land nexus and identify strategies for achieving the needed transformational outcomes through an advanced assessment framework. A multi-scalar approach are being developed that aims to combine global and regional integrated assessment tools with local stakeholder knowledge in order to identify robust solutions to energy, water, food, and ecosystem security in selected regions of the world. These are regions facing multiple energy, water and land use challenges and rapid demographic and economic changes, and are hardest hit by increasing climate variability and change. This project combines the global integrated assessment model (MESSAGE) with the global land (GLOBIOM) and water (Community Water Model) model respectively, and the integrated

  20. The Water Cycle from Space: Use of Satellite Data in Land Surface Hydrology and Water Resource Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laymon, Charles; Blankenship, Clay; Khan, Maudood; Limaye, Ashutosh; Hornbuckle, Brian; Rowlandson, Tracy

    2010-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews how our understanding of the water cycle is enhanced by our use of satellite data, and how this informs land surface hydrology and water resource management. It reviews how NASA's current and future satellite missions will provide Earth system data of unprecedented breadth, accuracy and utility for hydrologic analysis.

  1. IAEA specialists' meeting on power ramping and cycling behaviour of water reactor fuel. Summary report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1983-06-01

    At its fourth Annual Meeting, the IAEA International Working Group on Water Reactor Fuel Performance and Technology (IWGFPT) recommended that the Agency should hold a second Specialists' Meeting on 'Power Ramping and Cycling Behaviour of Water Reactor Fuel'. As research activities related to power ramping and cycling of water reactor fuel have been pursued vigorously, it was the objective of this meeting to review and discuss today's State of the Art and current understanding of water reactor fuel behaviour related to this these. Emphasis should be on practical experience and experimental investigations. The meeting was organised in five sessions: Power ramping and power cycling programs in power and and research reactors; Experimental methods; Power ramping and cycling results; Investigations and results of separate effects, especially related to PCI, defect mechanism, mechanical response, fuel design, and specially related to fission gas release; Operational strategies, recommendations and economic implications. The session chairmen, together with the speakers, prepared and presented reports with summary, conclusions and recommendations of the individual sessions. These reports are added to this summary report.

  2. IAEA specialists' meeting on power ramping and cycling behaviour of water reactor fuel. Summary report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1983-06-01

    At its fourth Annual Meeting, the IAEA International Working Group on Water Reactor Fuel Performance and Technology (IWGFPT) recommended that the Agency should hold a second Specialists' Meeting on 'Power Ramping and Cycling Behaviour of Water Reactor Fuel'. As research activities related to power ramping and cycling of water reactor fuel have been pursued vigorously, it was the objective of this meeting to review and discuss today's State of the Art and current understanding of water reactor fuel behaviour related to this these. Emphasis should be on practical experience and experimental investigations. The meeting was organised in five sessions: Power ramping and power cycling programs in power and and research reactors; Experimental methods; Power ramping and cycling results; Investigations and results of separate effects, especially related to PCI, defect mechanism, mechanical response, fuel design, and specially related to fission gas release; Operational strategies, recommendations and economic implications. The session chairmen, together with the speakers, prepared and presented reports with summary, conclusions and recommendations of the individual sessions. These reports are added to this summary report

  3. Indirect water management through Life Cycle Assessment: Fostering sustainable production in developing countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfister, S.; Bayer, P.; Koehler, A.; Hellweg, S.

    2009-04-01

    Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) represents a methodological framework for analyzing the total environmental impact of any product or service of our daily life. After tracking all associated emissions and the consumption of resources, this impact is expressed with respect to a few common impact categories. These are supposed to reflect major societal and environmental priorities. However, despite their central role in environmental processes, to date hydrological as well as hydrogeological aspects are only rarely considered in LCA. Compared with standard impact categories within LCA, water is special. In contrast to other abiotic resources such as crude oil, it can be replenished. Total freshwater resources are immense, but not evenly distributed and often scarce in regions of high demand. Consequently, threads to natural water bodies have immense spatial dependency. Setting up functional relationships in order to derive a generally valid and practicable evaluation is tedious due to the complex, insufficiently understood, and uncertain natural processes involved. LCA that includes the environmental effects of water consumption means global indirect water resource management. It supports goal-directed consumer behaviour that aims to reduce pressure on natural water systems. By developing a hydrologically-based assessment of potential impacts from human interaction with natural water bodies, "greener" products can be prioritised. More sustainable and environmentally friendly water management is the result. The proposed contribution presents an operational assessment method of global surface water consumption for impacts on human health and ecosystem quality within a LCA framework. A major focus is the issue of how such global assessment helps to quantify potential impacts from water-intensive production in developing countries, where the means for proper water management are often limited. We depict a compensation scheme for impacts related to water consumption that

  4. Design of a boiling water reactor core based on an integrated blanket-seed thorium-uranium concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nunez-Carrera, Alejandro; Francois, Juan Luis; Martin-del-Campo, Cecilia; Espinosa-Paredes, Gilberto

    2005-01-01

    This paper is concerned with the design of a boiling water reactor (BWR) equilibrium core using thorium as a nuclear material in an integrated blanket-seed (BS) assembly. The integrated BS concept comes from the fact that the blanket and the seed rods are located in the same assembly, and are burned out in a once-through cycle. The idea behind the lattice design is to use the thorium conversion capability in a BWR spectrum, taking advantage of the 233 U build-up. A core design was developed to achieve an equilibrium cycle of 365 effective full power days in a standard BWR with a reload of 104 fuel assemblies designed with an average 235 U enrichment of 7.5 w/o in the seed sub-lattice. The main operating parameters, like power, linear heat generation rate and void distributions were obtained as well as the shutdown margin. It was observed that the analyzed parameters behave like those obtained in a standard BWR. The shutdown margin design criterion was fulfilled by addition of a burnable poison region in the fuel assembly

  5. Emerging contaminants of public health significance as water quality indicator compounds in the urban water cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pal, Amrita; He, Yiliang; Jekel, Martin; Reinhard, Martin; Gin, Karina Yew-Hoong

    2014-10-01

    The contamination of the urban water cycle (UWC) with a wide array of emerging organic compounds (EOCs) increases with urbanization and population density. To produce drinking water from the UWC requires close examination of their sources, occurrence, pathways, and health effects and the efficacy of wastewater treatment and natural attenuation processes that may occur in surface water bodies and groundwater. This paper researches in details the structure of the UWC and investigates the routes by which the water cycle is increasingly contaminated with compounds generated from various anthropogenic activities. Along with a thorough survey of chemicals representing compound classes such as hormones, antibiotics, surfactants, endocrine disruptors, human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, X-ray contrast media, pesticides and metabolites, disinfection-by-products, algal toxins and taste-and-odor compounds, this paper provides a comprehensive and holistic review of the occurrence, fate, transport and potential health impact of the emerging organic contaminants of the UWC. This study also illustrates the widespread distribution of the emerging organic contaminants in the different aortas of the ecosystem and focuses on future research needs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Mercury cycling in surface water, pore water and sediments of Mugu Lagoon, CA, USA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rothenberg, Sarah E. [Environmental Science and Engineering Program, Box 951772, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772 (United States)], E-mail: rothenberg.sarah@gmail.com; Ambrose, Richard F. [Environmental Science and Engineering Program, Box 951772, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772 (United States); Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Box 951772, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772 (United States)], E-mail: rambrose@ucla.edu; Jay, Jennifer A. [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Box 951593, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1593 (United States)], E-mail: jjay@seas.ucla.edu

    2008-07-15

    Mugu Lagoon is an estuary in southern California, listed as impaired for mercury. In 2005, we examined mercury cycling at ten sites within at most four habitats. In surface water (unfiltered and filtered) and pore water, the concentration of total mercury was correlated with methylmercury levels (R{sup 2} = 0.29, 0.26, 0.27, respectively, p < 0.05), in contrast to sediments, where organic matter and reduced iron levels were most correlated with methylmercury content (R{sup 2} = 0.37, 0.26, respectively, p < 0.05). Interestingly, levels for percent methylmercury of total mercury in sediments were higher than typical values for estuarine sediments (average 5.4%, range 0.024-38%, n = 59), while pore water methylmercury K{sub d} values were also high (average 3.1, range 2.0-4.2 l kg{sup -1}, n = 39), and the estimated methylmercury flux from sediments was low (average 1.7, range 0.14-5.3 ng m{sup -2} day{sup -1}, n = 19). Mercury levels in predatory fish tissue at Mugu are >0.3 ppm, suggesting biogeochemical controls on methylmercury mobility do not completely mitigate methylmercury uptake through the food web. - Trends in mercury cycling differed between habitats and within matrices at Mugu Lagoon.

  7. Simulation of an integrated gasification combined cycle with chemical-looping combustion and carbon dioxide sequestration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiménez Álvaro, Ángel; López Paniagua, Ignacio; González Fernández, Celina; Rodríguez Martín, Javier; Nieto Carlier, Rafael

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A chemical-looping combustion based integrated gasification combined cycle is simulated. • The energetic performance of the plant is analyzed. • Different hydrogen-content synthesis gases are under study. • Energy savings accounting carbon dioxide sequestration and storage are quantified. • A notable increase on thermal efficiency up to 7% is found. - Abstract: Chemical-looping combustion is an interesting technique that makes it possible to integrate power generation from fuels combustion and sequestration of carbon dioxide without energy penalty. In addition, the combustion chemical reaction occurs with a lower irreversibility compared to a conventional combustion, leading to attain a somewhat higher overall thermal efficiency in gas turbine systems. This paper provides results about the energetic performance of an integrated gasification combined cycle power plant based on chemical-looping combustion of synthesis gas. A real understanding of the behavior of this concept of power plant implies a complete thermodynamic analysis, involving several interrelated aspects as the integration of energy flows between the gasifier and the combined cycle, the restrictions in relation with heat balances and chemical equilibrium in reactors and the performance of the gas turbines and the downstream steam cycle. An accurate thermodynamic modeling is required for the optimization of several design parameters. Simulations to evaluate the energetic efficiency of this chemical-looping-combustion based power plant under diverse working conditions have been carried out, and a comparison with a conventional integrated gasification power plant with precombustion capture of carbon dioxide has been made. Two different synthesis gas compositions have been tried to check its influence on the results. The energy saved in carbon capture and storage is found to be significant and even notable, inducing an improvement of the overall power plant thermal efficiency of

  8. Solar-assisted dual-effect adsorption cycle for the production of cooling effect and potable water

    KAUST Repository

    Ng, K. C.

    2009-05-17

    This paper investigates the performance of a solar-assisted adsorption (AD) cycle which produces two useful effects, namely cooling and desalination, with only a low-temperature heat input such as thermal energy from solar collectors. Heat sources varying from 65 to 80°C can be obtained from 215-m2 flat plate-type solar collectors to regenerate the proposed silica gel-water-based AD cycle. In this paper, both mathematical modelling and experimental results from the AD cycle operation are discussed, in terms of two key parameters, namely specific daily water production (SDWP) and specific cooling capacity (SCC). The experimental results show that the AD cycle is capable of producing chilled water at 7 to 10°C with varying SCC range of 25-35 Rton/tonne of silica gel. Simultaneously, the AD cycle produces a SDWP of 3-5 m3 per tonne of silica gel per day, rendering it as a dual-effect machine that has an overall conversion or performance ratio of 0.8-1.1. © The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

  9. Solar-assisted dual-effect adsorption cycle for the production of cooling effect and potable water

    KAUST Repository

    Ng, K. C.; Thu, K.; Chakraborty, A.; Saha, B. B.; Chun, W. G.

    2009-01-01

    This paper investigates the performance of a solar-assisted adsorption (AD) cycle which produces two useful effects, namely cooling and desalination, with only a low-temperature heat input such as thermal energy from solar collectors. Heat sources varying from 65 to 80°C can be obtained from 215-m2 flat plate-type solar collectors to regenerate the proposed silica gel-water-based AD cycle. In this paper, both mathematical modelling and experimental results from the AD cycle operation are discussed, in terms of two key parameters, namely specific daily water production (SDWP) and specific cooling capacity (SCC). The experimental results show that the AD cycle is capable of producing chilled water at 7 to 10°C with varying SCC range of 25-35 Rton/tonne of silica gel. Simultaneously, the AD cycle produces a SDWP of 3-5 m3 per tonne of silica gel per day, rendering it as a dual-effect machine that has an overall conversion or performance ratio of 0.8-1.1. © The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

  10. Simulated first operating campaign for the Integral Fast Reactor fuel cycle demonstration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goff, K.M.; Mariani, R.D.; Benedict, R.W.; Park, K.H.; Ackerman, J.P.

    1993-01-01

    This report discusses the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) which is an innovative liquid-metal-cooled reactor concept that is being developed by Argonne National Laboratory. It takes advantage of the properties of metallic fuel and liquid-metal cooling to offer significant improvements in reactor safety, operation, fuel cycle-economics, environmental protection, and safeguards. Over the next few years, the IFR fuel cycle will be demonstrated at Argonne-West in Idaho. Spent fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) win be processed in its associated Fuel Cycle Facility (FCF) using a pyrochemical method that employs molten salts and liquid metals in an electrorefining operation. As part of the preparation for the fuel cycle demonstration, a computer code, PYRO, was developed at Argonne to model the electrorefining operation using thermodynamic and empirical data. This code has been used extensively to evaluate various operating strategies for the fuel cycle demonstration. The modeled results from the first operating campaign are presented. This campaign is capable of processing more than enough material to refuel completely the EBR-II core

  11. A Cryptic Sulfur Cycle in Oxygen-Minimum-Zone Waters off the Chilean Coast

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canfield, Don E.; Stewart, Frank J.; Thamdrup, Bo; De Brabandere, Loreto; Dalsgaard, Tage; Delong, Edward F.; Revsbech, Niels Peter; Ulloa, Osvaldo

    2010-12-01

    Nitrogen cycling is normally thought to dominate the biogeochemistry and microbial ecology of oxygen-minimum zones in marine environments. Through a combination of molecular techniques and process rate measurements, we showed that both sulfate reduction and sulfide oxidation contribute to energy flux and elemental cycling in oxygen-free waters off the coast of northern Chile. These processes may have been overlooked because in nature, the sulfide produced by sulfate reduction immediately oxidizes back to sulfate. This cryptic sulfur cycle is linked to anammox and other nitrogen cycling processes, suggesting that it may influence biogeochemical cycling in the global ocean.

  12. Analysis of energetic and exergetic efficiency, and environmental benefits of biomass integrated gasification combined cycle technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mínguez, María; Jiménez, Angel; Rodríguez, Javier; González, Celina; López, Ignacio; Nieto, Rafael

    2013-04-01

    The problem of the high carbon dioxide emissions linked to power generation makes necessary active research on the use of biofuels in gas turbine systems as a promising alternative to fossil fuels. Gasification of biomass waste is particularly of interest in obtaining a fuel to be run in gas turbines, as it is an efficient biomass-to-biofuel conversion process, and an integration into a combined cycle power plant leads to a high performance with regard to energetic efficiency. The goal of this study was to carry out an energetic, exergetic and environmental analysis of the behaviour of an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant fuelled with different kinds of biomass waste by means of simulations. A preliminary economic study is also included. Although a technological development in gasification technology is necessary, the results of simulations indicate a high technical and environmental interest in the use of biomass integrated gasification combined cycle (BioIGCC) systems for large-scale power generation from biomass waste.

  13. Predicting impacts of increased CO2 and climate change on the water cycle and water quality in the semiarid James River Basin of the Midwestern USA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Yiping; Liu, Shuguang; Gallant, Alisa L.

    2012-01-01

    Emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols from human activities continue to alter the climate and likely will have significant impacts on the terrestrial hydrological cycle and water quality, especially in arid and semiarid regions. We applied an improved Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to evaluate impacts of increased atmospheric CO 2 concentration and potential climate change on the water cycle and nitrogen loads in the semiarid James River Basin (JRB) in the Midwestern United States. We assessed responses of water yield, soil water content, groundwater recharge, and nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 –N) load under hypothetical climate-sensitivity scenarios in terms of CO 2 , precipitation, and air temperature. We extended our predictions of the dynamics of these hydrological variables into the mid-21st century with downscaled climate projections integrated across output from six General Circulation Models. Our simulation results compared against the baseline period 1980 to 2009 suggest the JRB hydrological system is highly responsive to rising levels of CO 2 concentration and potential climate change. Under our scenarios, substantial decrease in precipitation and increase in air temperature by the mid-21st century could result in significant reduction in water yield, soil water content, and groundwater recharge. Our model also estimated decreased NO 3 –N load to streams, which could be beneficial, but a concomitant increase in NO 3 –N concentration due to a decrease in streamflow likely would degrade stream water and threaten aquatic ecosystems. These results highlight possible risks of drought, water supply shortage, and water quality degradation in this basin. - Highlights: ► We used a modified version of SWAT to more accurately simulate the effects of CO 2 . ► Our sensitivity analysis indicated this basin is very responsive to climate change. ► Downscaled GCM outputs showed decreased precipitation and increased temperature. ► There may be large

  14. All heavy metals closed-cycle analysis on water-cooled reactors of uranium and thorium fuel cycle systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Permana, Sidik; Sekimoto, Hiroshi; Waris, Abdul; Takaki, Naoyuki

    2009-01-01

    Uranium and Thorium fuels as the basis fuel of nuclear energy utilization has been used for several reactor types which produce trans-uranium or trans-thorium as 'by product' nuclear reaction with higher mass number and the remaining uranium and thorium fuels. The utilization of recycled spent fuel as world wide concerns are spent fuel of uranium and plutonium and in some cases using recycled minor actinide (MA). Those fuel schemes are used for improving an optimum nuclear fuel utilization as well to reduce the radioactive waste from spent fuels. A closed-cycle analysis of all heavy metals on water-cooled cases for both uranium and thorium fuel cycles has been investigated to evaluate the criticality condition, breeding performances, uranium or thorium utilization capability and void reactivity condition. Water-cooled reactor is used for the basic design study including light water and heavy water-cooled as an established technology as well as commercialized nuclear technologies. A developed coupling code of equilibrium fuel cycle burnup code and cell calculation of SRAC code are used for optimization analysis with JENDL 3.3 as nuclear data library. An equilibrium burnup calculation is adopted for estimating an equilibrium state condition of nuclide composition and cell calculation is performed for calculating microscopic neutron cross-sections and fluxes in relation to the effect of different fuel compositions, different fuel pin types and moderation ratios. The sensitivity analysis such as criticality, breeding performance, and void reactivity are strongly depends on moderation ratio and each fuel case has its trend as a function of moderation ratio. Heavy water coolant shows better breeding performance compared with light water coolant, however, it obtains less negative or more positive void reactivity. Equilibrium nuclide compositions are also evaluated to show the production of main nuclides and also to analyze the isotopic composition pattern especially

  15. Biofouling on Coated Carbon Steel in Cooling Water Cycles Using Brackish Seawater

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pauliina Rajala

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Water cooling utilizing natural waters is typically used for cooling large industrial facilities such as power plants. The cooling water cycles are susceptible to biofouling and scaling, which may reduce heat transfer capacity and enhance corrosion. The performance of two fouling-release coatings combined with hypochlorite treatment were studied in a power plant utilizing brackish sea water from the Baltic Sea for cooling. The effect of hypochlorite as an antifouling biocide on material performance and species composition of microfouling formed on coated surfaces was studied during the summer and autumn. Microfouling on surfaces of the studied fouling-release coatings was intensive in the cooling water cycle during the warm summer months. As in most cases in a natural water environment the fouling consisted of both inorganic fouling and biofouling. Chlorination decreased the bacterial number on the surfaces by 10–1000 fold, but the efficacy depended on the coating. In addition to decreasing the bacterial number, the chlorination also changed the microbial species composition, forming the biofilm on the surfaces of two fouling-release coatings. TeknoTar coating was proven to be more efficient in combination with the hypochlorite treatment against microfouling under these experimental conditions.

  16. The application of life cycle assessment to integrated solid waste management. Pt. 1: Methodology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clift, R.; Doig, A.; Finnveden, G.

    2000-07-01

    Integrated Waste Management is one of the holistic approaches to environmental and resource management which are emerging from applying the concept of sustainable development. Assessment of waste management options requires application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This paper summarizes the methodology for applying LCA to Integrated Waste Management of Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) developed for and now used by the UK Environment Agency, including recent developments in international fora. Particular attention is devoted to system definition leading to rational and clear compilation of the Life Cycle Inventory, with appropriate 'credit' for recovering materials and/or energy from the waste. LCA of waste management is best seen as a way of structuring information to help decision processes. (Author)

  17. The FIT Model - Fuel-cycle Integration and Tradeoffs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Piet, Steven J.; Soelberg, Nick R.; Bays, Samuel E.; Pereira, Candido; Pincock, Layne F.; Shaber, Eric L.; Teague, Melissa C.; Teske, Gregory M.; Vedros, Kurt G.

    2010-01-01

    All mass streams from fuel separation and fabrication are products that must meet some set of product criteria - fuel feedstock impurity limits, waste acceptance criteria (WAC), material storage (if any), or recycle material purity requirements such as zirconium for cladding or lanthanides for industrial use. These must be considered in a systematic and comprehensive way. The FIT model and the 'system losses study' team that developed it (Shropshire2009, Piet2010) are an initial step by the FCR and D program toward a global analysis that accounts for the requirements and capabilities of each component, as well as major material flows within an integrated fuel cycle. This will help the program identify near-term R and D needs and set longer-term goals. The question originally posed to the 'system losses study' was the cost of separation, fuel fabrication, waste management, etc. versus the separation efficiency. In other words, are the costs associated with marginal reductions in separations losses (or improvements in product recovery) justified by the gains in the performance of other systems? We have learned that that is the wrong question. The right question is: how does one adjust the compositions and quantities of all mass streams, given uncertain product criteria, to balance competing objectives including cost? FIT is a method to analyze different fuel cycles using common bases to determine how chemical performance changes in one part of a fuel cycle (say used fuel cooling times or separation efficiencies) affect other parts of the fuel cycle. FIT estimates impurities in fuel and waste via a rough estimate of physics and mass balance for a set of technologies. If feasibility is an issue for a set, as it is for 'minimum fuel treatment' approaches such as melt refining and AIROX, it can help to make an estimate of how performances would have to change to achieve feasibility.

  18. Successful integration efforts in water quality from the integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Associations and the National Water Quality Monitoring Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ragsdale, R.; Vowinkel, E.; Porter, D.; Hamilton, P.; Morrison, R.; Kohut, J.; Connell, B.; Kelsey, H.; Trowbridge, P.

    2011-01-01

    The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS??) Regional Associations and Interagency Partners hosted a water quality workshop in January 2010 to discuss issues of nutrient enrichment and dissolved oxygen depletion (hypoxia), harmful algal blooms (HABs), and beach water quality. In 2007, the National Water Quality Monitoring Council piloted demonstration projects as part of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network (Network) for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries in three IOOS Regional Associations, and these projects are ongoing. Examples of integrated science-based solutions to water quality issues of major concern from the IOOS regions and Network demonstration projects are explored in this article. These examples illustrate instances where management decisions have benefited from decision-support tools that make use of interoperable data. Gaps, challenges, and outcomes are identified, and a proposal is made for future work toward a multiregional water quality project for beach water quality.

  19. Every apple has a voice: using stable isotopes to teach about food sourcing and the water cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oerter, Erik; Malone, Molly; Putman, Annie; Drits-Esser, Dina; Stark, Louisa; Bowen, Gabriel

    2017-07-01

    Agricultural crops such as fruits take up irrigation and meteoric water and incorporate it into their tissue (fruit water) during growth, and the geographic origin of a fruit may be traced by comparing the H and O stable isotope composition (δ2H and δ18O values) of fruit water to the global geospatial distribution of H and O stable isotopes in precipitation. This connection between common fruits and the global water cycle provides an access point to connect with a variety of demographic groups to educate about isotope hydrology and the water cycle. Within the context of a 1-day outreach activity designed for a wide spectrum of participants (high school students, undergraduate students, high school science teachers) we developed introductory lecture materials, in-class participatory demonstrations of fruit water isotopic measurement in real time, and a computer lab exercise to couple actual fruit water isotope data with open-source online geospatial analysis software. We assessed learning outcomes with pre- and post-tests tied to learning objectives, as well as participant feedback surveys. Results indicate that this outreach activity provided effective lessons on the basics of stable isotope hydrology and the water cycle. However, the computer lab exercise needs to be more specifically tailored to the abilities of each participant group. This pilot study provides a foundation for further development of outreach materials that can effectively engage a range of participant groups in learning about the water cycle and the ways in which humans modify the water cycle through agricultural activity.

  20. Every apple has a voice: using stable isotopes to teach about food sourcing and the water cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Oerter

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Agricultural crops such as fruits take up irrigation and meteoric water and incorporate it into their tissue (fruit water during growth, and the geographic origin of a fruit may be traced by comparing the H and O stable isotope composition (δ2H and δ18O values of fruit water to the global geospatial distribution of H and O stable isotopes in precipitation. This connection between common fruits and the global water cycle provides an access point to connect with a variety of demographic groups to educate about isotope hydrology and the water cycle. Within the context of a 1-day outreach activity designed for a wide spectrum of participants (high school students, undergraduate students, high school science teachers we developed introductory lecture materials, in-class participatory demonstrations of fruit water isotopic measurement in real time, and a computer lab exercise to couple actual fruit water isotope data with open-source online geospatial analysis software. We assessed learning outcomes with pre- and post-tests tied to learning objectives, as well as participant feedback surveys. Results indicate that this outreach activity provided effective lessons on the basics of stable isotope hydrology and the water cycle. However, the computer lab exercise needs to be more specifically tailored to the abilities of each participant group. This pilot study provides a foundation for further development of outreach materials that can effectively engage a range of participant groups in learning about the water cycle and the ways in which humans modify the water cycle through agricultural activity.

  1. Global Water Cycle Agreement in the Climate Models Assessed in the IPCC AR4

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waliser, D.; Seo, K. -W.; Schubert, S.; Njoku, E.

    2007-01-01

    This study examines the fidelity of the global water cycle in the climate model simulations assessed in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. The results demonstrate good model agreement in quantities that have had a robust global observational basis and that are physically unambiguous. The worst agreement occurs for quantities that have both poor observational constraints and whose model representations can be physically ambiguous. In addition, components involving water vapor (frozen water) typically exhibit the best (worst) agreement, and fluxes typically exhibit better agreement than reservoirs. These results are discussed in relation to the importance of obtaining accurate model representation of the water cycle and its role in climate change. Recommendations are also given for facilitating the needed model improvements.

  2. The Mars water cycle at other epochs: Recent history of the polar caps and layered terrain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jakosky, Bruce M.; Henderson, Bradley G.; Mellon, Michael T.

    1992-01-01

    The Martian polar caps and layered terrain presumably evolves by the deposition and removal of small amounts of water and dust each year, the current cap attributes therefore represent the incremental transport during a single year as integrated over long periods of time. The role was studied of condensation and sublimation of water ice in this process by examining the seasonal water cycle during the last 10(exp 7) yr. In the model, axial obliquity, eccentricity, and L sub s of perihelion vary according to dynamical models. At each epoch, the seasonal variations in temperature are calculated at the two poles, keeping track of the seasonal CO2 cap and the summertime sublimation of water vapor into the atmosphere; net exchange of water between the two caps is calculated based on the difference in the summertime sublimation between the two caps (or on the sublimation from one cap if the other is covered with CO2 frost all year). Results from the model can help to explain (1) the apparent inconsistency between the timescales inferred for layer formation and the much older crater retention age of the cap and (2) the difference in sizes of the two residual caps, with the south being smaller than the north.

  3. Nuclear fuel cycle optimization - methods and modelling techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silvennoinen, P.

    1982-01-01

    This book is aimed at presenting methods applicable in the analysis of fuel cycle logistics and optimization as well as in evaluating the economics of different reactor strategies. After a succinct introduction to the phases of a fuel cycle, uranium cost trends are assessed in a global perspective and subsequent chapters deal with the fuel cycle problems faced by a power utility. A fundamental material flow model is introduced first in the context of light water reactor fuel cycles. Besides the minimum cost criterion, the text also deals with other objectives providing for a treatment of cost uncertainties and of the risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons. Methods to assess mixed reactor strategies, comprising also other reactor types than the light water reactor, are confined to cost minimization. In the final Chapter, the integration of nuclear capacity within a generating system is examined. (author)

  4. Urban water sustainability: an integrative framework for regional water management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzales, P.; Ajami, N. K.

    2015-11-01

    Traditional urban water supply portfolios have proven to be unsustainable under the uncertainties associated with growth and long-term climate variability. Introducing alternative water supplies such as recycled water, captured runoff, desalination, as well as demand management strategies such as conservation and efficiency measures, has been widely proposed to address the long-term sustainability of urban water resources. Collaborative efforts have the potential to achieve this goal through more efficient use of common pool resources and access to funding opportunities for supply diversification projects. However, this requires a paradigm shift towards holistic solutions that address the complexity of hydrologic, socio-economic and governance dynamics surrounding water management issues. The objective of this work is to develop a regional integrative framework for the assessment of water resource sustainability under current management practices, as well as to identify opportunities for sustainability improvement in coupled socio-hydrologic systems. We define the sustainability of a water utility as the ability to access reliable supplies to consistently satisfy current needs, make responsible use of supplies, and have the capacity to adapt to future scenarios. To compute a quantitative measure of sustainability, we develop a numerical index comprised of supply, demand, and adaptive capacity indicators, including an innovative way to account for the importance of having diverse supply sources. We demonstrate the application of this framework to the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Our analyses demonstrate that water agencies that share common water supplies are in a good position to establish integrative regional management partnerships in order to achieve individual and collective short-term and long-term benefits.

  5. Modeling and simulation of syngas purification and power generation in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCS)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mehmood, N; Zaman, Z U; Mehran, M T [National Development, Islamabad (Pakistan)

    2011-07-01

    Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) is one of the most promising technologies for power generation; The environmental benefits and the higher energy conversion efficiency distinguish it from traditional coal generation technologies. This work presents a structured and validated conceptual model of purification of coal gas produced during the Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) of coal containing high sulfur contents. Gas cleaning operations for CO/sub 2/, H/sub 2/S and moisture removal have been modeled in steady and dynamic state. The power generation from combined cycle is also modeled. The model has been developed using Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Plus simulation software. Predicted results of clean gas composition and generated power present a good agreement with industrial data and efficiency parameters. This study is aimed at obtaining optimal assessment of an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant configurations. (author)

  6. Modeling and simulation of syngas purification and power generation in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mehmood, N.; Zaman, Z.U.; Mehran, M.T.

    2011-01-01

    Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) is one of the most promising technologies for power generation; The environmental benefits and the higher energy conversion efficiency distinguish it from traditional coal generation technologies. This work presents a structured and validated conceptual model of purification of coal gas produced during the Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) of coal containing high sulfur contents. Gas cleaning operations for CO/sub 2/, H/sub 2/S and moisture removal have been modeled in steady and dynamic state. The power generation from combined cycle is also modeled. The model has been developed using Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Plus simulation software. Predicted results of clean gas composition and generated power present a good agreement with industrial data and efficiency parameters. This study is aimed at obtaining optimal assessment of an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant configurations. (author)

  7. Coupling Mars' Dust and Water Cycles: Effects on Dust Lifting Vigor, Spatial Extent and Seasonality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahre, M. A.; Hollingsworth, J. L.; Haberle, R. M.; Montmessin, F.

    2012-01-01

    The dust cycle is an important component of Mars' current climate system. Airborne dust affects the radiative balance of the atmosphere, thus greatly influencing the thermal and dynamical state of the atmosphere. Dust raising events on Mars occur at spatial scales ranging from meters to planet-wide. Although the occurrence and season of large regional and global dust storms are highly variable from one year to the next, there are many features of the dust cycle that occur year after year. Generally, a low-level dust haze is maintained during northern spring and summer, while elevated levels of atmospheric dust occur during northern autumn and winter. During years without global-scale dust storms, two peaks in total dust loading were observed by MGS/TES: one peak occurred before northern winter solstice at Ls 200-240, and one peak occurred after northern winter solstice at L(sub s) 305-340. These maxima in dust loading are thought to be associated with transient eddy activity in the northern hemisphere, which has been observed to maximize pre- and post-solstice. Interactive dust cycle studies with Mars General Circulation Models (MGCMs) have included the lifting, transport, and sedimentation of radiatively active dust. Although the predicted global dust loadings from these simulations capture some aspects of the observed dust cycle, there are marked differences between the simulated and observed dust cycles. Most notably, the maximum dust loading is robustly predicted by models to occur near northern winter solstice and is due to dust lifting associated with down slope flows on the flanks of the Hellas basin. Thus far, models have had difficulty simulating the observed pre- and post- solstice peaks in dust loading. Interactive dust cycle studies typically have not included the formation of water ice clouds or their radiative effects. Water ice clouds can influence the dust cycle by scavenging dust from atmosphere and by interacting with solar and infrared radiation

  8. Actor modelling and its contribution to the development of integrative strategies for management of pharmaceuticals in drinking water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Titz, Alexandra; Döll, Petra

    2009-02-01

    Widespread presence of human pharmaceuticals in water resources across the globe is documented. While some, but certainly not enough, research on the occurrence, fate and effect of pharmaceuticals in water resources has been carried out, a holistic risk management strategy is missing. The transdisciplinary research project "start" aimed to develop an integrative strategy by the participation of experts representing key actors in the problem field "pharmaceuticals in drinking water". In this paper, we describe a novel modelling method, actor modelling with the semi-quantitative software DANA (Dynamic Actor Network Analysis), and its application in support of identifying an integrative risk management strategy. Based on the individual perceptions of different actors, the approach allows the identification of optimal strategies. Actors' perceptions were elicited by participatory model building and interviews, and were then modelled in perception graphs. Actor modelling indicated that an integrative strategy that targets environmentally-responsible prescription, therapy, and disposal of pharmaceuticals on one hand, and the development of environmentally-friendly pharmaceuticals on the other hand, will likely be most effective for reducing the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water (at least in Germany where the study was performed). However, unlike most other actors, the pharmaceutical industry itself does not perceive that the production of environmentally-friendly pharmaceuticals is an action that helps to achieve its goals, but contends that continued development of highly active pharmaceutical ingredients will help to reduce the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the water cycle. Investment in advanced waste or drinking water treatment is opposed by both the wastewater treatment company and the drinking water supplier, and is not mentioned as appropriate by the other actors. According to our experience, actor modelling is a useful method to suggest effective

  9. Water quality and MTBE water pollution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buiatti, M.; Mascini, M.; Monanni, R.; Filipponi, M.; Piangoloni, A.; Mancini, G.

    2001-01-01

    The research project, here presented, was defined with the aim of evaluating the eventual presence of MTBE and the possible relative impact in water destined to human use; the territorial valence of the project was extended to the competence region n. 4 of the Tuscany water authority (AATO n. 4). University of Florence, ARPAT, AATO n. 4 and Nuove Acque SpA, in this role of manager for the integrated water cycle in the country, have productively contributed to the project [it

  10. Life-cycle analysis of product integrated polymer solar cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Espinosa Martinez, Nieves; García-Valverde, Rafael; Krebs, Frederik C

    2011-01-01

    A life cycle analysis (LCA) on a product integrated polymer solar module is carried out in this study. These assessments are well-known to be useful in developmental stages of a product in order to identify the bottlenecks for the up-scaling in its production phase for several aspects spanning from...... economics through design to functionality. An LCA study was performed to quantify the energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from electricity use in the manufacture of a light-weight lamp based on a plastic foil, a lithium-polymer battery, a polymer solar cell, printed circuitry, blocking diode......, switch and a white light emitting semiconductor diode. The polymer solar cell employed in this prototype presents a power conversion efficiency in the range of 2 to 3% yielding energy payback times (EPBT) in the range of 1.3–2 years. Based on this it is worthwhile to undertake a life-cycle study...

  11. The Martian Water Cycle Based on 3-D Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houben, H.; Haberle, R. M.; Joshi, M. M.

    1999-01-01

    Understanding the distribution of Martian water is a major goal of the Mars Surveyor program. However, until the bulk of the data from the nominal missions of TES, PMIRR, GRS, MVACS, and the DS2 probes are available, we are bound to be in a state where much of our knowledge of the seasonal behavior of water is based on theoretical modeling. We therefore summarize the results of this modeling at the present time. The most complete calculations come from a somewhat simplified treatment of the Martian climate system which is capable of simulating many decades of weather. More elaborate meteorological models are now being applied to study of the problem. The results show a high degree of consistency with observations of aspects of the Martian water cycle made by Viking MAWD, a large number of ground-based measurements of atmospheric column water vapor, studies of Martian frosts, and the widespread occurrence of water ice clouds. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

  12. Anthropogenic organic micro-pollutants and pathogens in the urban water cycle: assessment, barriers and risk communication (ASKURIS)

    OpenAIRE

    Jekel, Martin; Ruhl, Aki Sebastian; Meinel, Felix; Zietzschmann, Frederik; Pflugmacher Lima, Stephan; Baur, Nina; Wenzel, Melanie; Gnierß, Regina; Sperlich, Alexander; Dünnbier, Uwe; Böckelmann, Uta; Hummelt, Daniel; van Baar, Patricia; Wode, Florian; Petersohn, Dietmar

    2013-01-01

    First published by Springer: Jekel, Martin et al.: Anthropogenic organic micro-pollutants and pathogens in the urban water cycle: assessment, barriers and risk communication (ASKURIS). - In: Environmental Sciences Europe. - ISSN 2190-4715 (online). - 25 (2013), art. 20. - doi:10.1186/2190-4715-25-20. In urban areas, water often flows along a partially closed water cycle in which treated municipal wastewater is discharged into surface waters which are one source of raw waters used for dr...

  13. Development of a Life Cycle Inventory of Water Consumption Associated with the Production of Transportation Fuels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lampert, David J. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Cai, Hao [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Wang, Zhichao [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Keisman, Jennifer [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Wu, May [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Han, Jeongwoo [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Dunn, Jennifer [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Sullivan, John L. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Elgowainy, Amgad [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Wang, Michael [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Keisman, Jennifer [American Association for the Advancemetn of Science (AAAS), Washington, DC (United States)

    2015-10-01

    The production of all forms of energy consumes water. To meet increased energy demands, it is essential to quantify the amount of water consumed in the production of different forms of energy. By analyzing the water consumed in different technologies, it is possible to identify areas for improvement in water conservation and reduce water stress in energy-producing regions. The transportation sector is a major consumer of energy in the United States. Because of the relationships between water and energy, the sustainability of transportation is tied to management of water resources. Assessment of water consumption throughout the life cycle of a fuel is necessary to understand its water resource implications. To perform a comparative life cycle assessment of transportation fuels, it is necessary first to develop an inventory of the water consumed in each process in each production supply chain. The Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model is an analytical tool that can used to estimate the full life-cycle environmental impacts of various transportation fuel pathways from wells to wheels. GREET is currently being expanded to include water consumption as a sustainability metric. The purpose of this report was to document data sources and methodologies to estimate water consumption factors (WCF) for the various transportation fuel pathways in GREET. WCFs reflect the quantity of freshwater directly consumed per unit production for various production processes in GREET. These factors do not include consumption of precipitation or low-quality water (e.g., seawater) and reflect only water that is consumed (i.e., not returned to the source from which it was withdrawn). The data in the report can be combined with GREET to compare the life cycle water consumption for different transportation fuels.

  14. THE ROLE OF INTEGRATED ISLAMIC COMMERCIAL AND SOCIAL FINANCE FOR CURBING CREDIT CYCLES AND ACHIEVING MACROPRUDENTIAL OBJECTIVE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arif Widodo

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available It is widely believed that Islamic finance is inherently stable since the principle of risk-sharing and linking the financial to real counterpart in particular through its social finance are applied, hence the financial stability may successfully be attained. If mimicking the conventional finance, Islamic model will probably be facing instability, following the financial cycle. There has been a growing literature discussing credit cycle in mainstream perspective since 2008 global financial crash. However, it is quite rare to find study, in macro context, on credit cycles and the effectiveness of integrated Islamic commercial and social finance in achieving macroprudential objective: curtailing excessive credit. This study is designed to empirically examine the characteristics of cycles stemming from conventional and Islamic credit whether both have similar trend and also to investigate how the integrated Islamic commercial and social finance may be effective to hamper such cycles. By employing Hodrick-Presscot Filter, Markov Switching and Vector Error Correction Model, this study demonstrates that, in terms of cycle, Islamic model cycle has certain similarities with conventional counterpart since it functions under similar financial environment despite the fact that Islamic has less amplitude compared with conventional credit. Both credit and financing cycles tend to grow rapidly (excessive several months before global financial crisis happened in 2008. This means that, in a dual banking system, credit and financing boom may precede financial crisis. Moreover, it is apparent also that the integrated Islamic finance is proven to be effective in curbing credit growth due to the effectiveness of both macroprudential instrument applied in banking sector and social finance in safeguarding financial stability. Keywords:  Credit cycle, Macroprudential policy, Markov Switching, HP filter JEL Classification: E32, E51, G29

  15. The Coupled Mars Dust and Water Cycles: Understanding How Clouds Affect the Vertical Distribution and Meridional Transport of Dust and Water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahre, M. A.

    2015-01-01

    The dust and water cycles are crucial to the current Martian climate, and they are coupled through cloud formation. Dust strongly impacts the thermal structure of the atmosphere and thus greatly affects atmospheric circulation, while clouds provide radiative forcing and control the hemispheric exchange of water through the modification of the vertical distributions of water and dust. Recent improvements in the quality and sophistication of both observations and climate models allow for a more comprehensive understanding of how the interaction between the dust and water cycles (through cloud formation) affects the dust and water cycles individually. We focus here on the effects of clouds on the vertical distribution of dust and water, and how those vertical distributions control the net meridional transport of water. For this study, we utilize observations of temperature, dust and water ice from the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) combined with the NASA ARC Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM). We demonstrate that the magnitude and nature of the net meridional transport of water between the northern and southern hemispheres during NH summer is sensitive to the vertical structure of the simulated aphelion cloud belt. We further examine how clouds influence the atmospheric thermal structure and thus the vertical structure of the cloud belt. Our goal is to identify and understand the importance of radiative/dynamic feedbacks due to the physical processes involved with cloud formation and evolution on the current climate of Mars.

  16. The reliability of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation units

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Higman, C.; DellaVilla, S.; Steele, B. [Syngas Consultants Ltd. (United Kingdom)

    2006-07-01

    This paper presents two interlinked projects aimed at supporting the improvement of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) reliability. The one project comprises the extension of SPS's existing ORAP (Operational Reliability Analysis Program) reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) tracking technology from its existing base in natural gas open and combined cycle operations into IGCC. The other project is using the extended ORAP database to evaluate performance data from existing plants. The initial work has concentrated on evaluating public domain data on the performance of gasification based power and chemical plants. This is being followed up by plant interviews in some 20 plants to verify and expand the database on current performance. 23 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs.

  17. Results of the Collaborative Energy and Water Cycle Information Services (CEWIS) Workshop on Heterogeneous Dataset Analysis Preparation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kempler, Steven; Teng, William; Acker, James; Belvedere, Deborah; Liu, Zhong; Leptoukh, Gregory

    2010-01-01

    In support of the NASA Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS), the Collaborative Energy and Water Cycle Information Services (CEWIS), sponsored by NEWS Program Manager Jared Entin, was initiated to develop an evolving set of community-based data and information services that would facilitate users to locate, access, and bring together multiple distributed heterogeneous energy and water cycle datasets. The CEWIS workshop, June 15-16, 2010, at NASA/GSFC, was the initial step of the process, starting with identifying and scoping the issues, as defined by the community.

  18. Emerging Technologies for Integrating Multi-Scale Observations of the Hydrologic Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Logan, W. S.; Potter, K. W.; Wood, E. F.

    2007-12-01

    The results are presented of a recent National Research Council study on examining the potential for integrating spaceborne observations with complementary airborne and ground-based observations to gain holistic understanding of hydrologic and related biogeochemical and ecological processes and to help support water and related land-resource management. The study was motivated by the interrelated challenges of population growth, global climate change, and regional changes in land use and land management that will increasingly stress water resources around the world. Meeting these challenges will require significant improvement in our management of water resources, which in turn will require improvements in our capacity to understand and quantify the hydrologic cycle and its interactions with the natural and built environment. Recent and potential future technological innovations in sensors (in-situ, airborne, and space-borne) and sensor networks, cyber-infrastructure, data assimilation, modeling, and decision-support tools offer unprecedented opportunities to improve our capacity to observe, understand, and manage hydrologic systems. The committee investigated a number of aspects to turning this potential into a reality. These included development and field deployment of land-based chemical and biological sensors; the role of airborne remote sensing; interagency gaps between the steps of sensor development, demonstration, and operational deployment; the coordination of federal responsibilities for measurement, monitoring and modeling; and getting the new information to those who can use it. A variety of case studies were used to illustrate the needs and opportunities for new measurement capacity, including hydrologic monitoring in the Everglades, water quantity and quality in the Southern High Plains, malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa, hydroclimatic research in the Arctic, hydrologic extremes and water quality in the Neuse River watershed, and mountain hydrology in the

  19. Decision support for integrated water-energy planning.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tidwell, Vincent Carroll; Malczynski, Leonard A.; Kobos, Peter Holmes; Castillo, Cesar; Hart, William Eugene; Klise, Geoffrey T.

    2009-10-01

    Currently, electrical power generation uses about 140 billion gallons of water per day accounting for over 39% of all freshwater withdrawals thus competing with irrigated agriculture as the leading user of water. Coupled to this water use is the required pumping, conveyance, treatment, storage and distribution of the water which requires on average 3% of all electric power generated. While water and energy use are tightly coupled, planning and management of these fundamental resources are rarely treated in an integrated fashion. Toward this need, a decision support framework has been developed that targets the shared needs of energy and water producers, resource managers, regulators, and decision makers at the federal, state and local levels. The framework integrates analysis and optimization capabilities to identify trade-offs, and 'best' alternatives among a broad list of energy/water options and objectives. The decision support framework is formulated in a modular architecture, facilitating tailored analyses over different geographical regions and scales (e.g., national, state, county, watershed, NERC region). An interactive interface allows direct control of the model and access to real-time results displayed as charts, graphs and maps. Ultimately, this open and interactive modeling framework provides a tool for evaluating competing policy and technical options relevant to the energy-water nexus.

  20. Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment of Water Reuse Strategies in Residential Buildings

    Science.gov (United States)

    This paper evaluates the environmental sustainability and economic feasibility of four water reuse designs through economic input-output life cycle assessments (EIO-LCA) and benefit/cost analyses. The water reuse designs include: 1. Simple Greywater Reuse System for Landscape Ir...

  1. The Waterviz: The Confluence of Science, Art and Music Illuminates Pattern and Process in Water Cycle Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rustad, L.; Martin, M.; Cortada, X.; Quinn, M.; Garlick, S.; Casey, M.; Green, M. B.

    2017-12-01

    The WaterViz for Hubbard Brook is a new online tool for creatively communicating water cycle science to a broad audience with real time hydrologic data. Interfacing between the hydrologic sciences, visual arts, music, education, and graphic design, the WaterViz for Hubbard Brook builds on a new generation of digital environmental sensors and wireless communication devices that are revolutionizing how scientists `see' the natural world. In a nutshell, hydrologic data are captured from small first order catchments at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, NH using an array of environmental sensors. These data are transmitted to the internet in real time and are used to drive a computer model that calculates all components of the water cycle for the catchment in real time. These data, in turn, drive an artistic simulation (delivered as a flash animation) and musical sonification (delivered via an internet radio station) of the water cycle,accurately reflecting the hydrologic processes occurring at that moment in time. The WaterViz for Hubbard Brook provides a unique and novel approach to interactively and intuitively engage the viewer with vast amount of data and information on water cycle science. The WaterViz for Hubbard Brook is available at: https://waterviz.org.

  2. The Mars Dust and Water Cycles: Investigating the Influence of Clouds on the Vertical Distribution and Meridional Transport of Dust and Water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahre, Melinda A.; Haberle, Robert M.; Hollingsworth, Jeffery L.; Brecht, Amanda S.; Urata, Richard A.

    2015-11-01

    The dust and water cycles are critical to the current Martian climate, and they interact with each other through cloud formation. Dust modulates the thermal structure of the atmosphere and thus greatly influences atmospheric circulation. Clouds provide radiative forcing and control the net hemispheric transport of water through the alteration of the vertical distributions of water and dust. Recent advancements in the quality and sophistication of both climate models and observations enable an increased understanding of how the coupling between the dust and water cycles (through cloud formation) impacts the dust and water cycles. We focus here on the effects of clouds on the vertical distributions of dust and water and how those vertical distributions control the net meridional transport of water. We utilize observations of temperature, dust and water ice from the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the NASA ARC Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM) to show that the magnitude and nature of the hemispheric exchange of water during NH summer is sensitive to the vertical structure of the simulated aphelion cloud belt. Further, we investigate how clouds influence atmospheric temperatures and thus the vertical structure of the cloud belt. Our goal is to isolate and understand the importance of radiative/dynamic feedbacks due to the physical processes involved with cloud formation and evolution on the current climate of Mars.

  3. The Mars Dust and Water Cycles: Investigating the Influence of Clouds on the Vertical Distribution and Meridional Transport of Dust and Water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahre, M. A.; Haberle, R. M.; Hollingsworth, J. L.; Brecht, A. S.; Urata, R.

    2015-01-01

    The dust and water cycles are critical to the current Martian climate, and they interact with each other through cloud formation. Dust modulates the thermal structure of the atmosphere and thus greatly influences atmospheric circulation. Clouds provide radiative forcing and control the net hemispheric transport of water through the alteration of the vertical distributions of water and dust. Recent advancements in the quality and sophistication of both climate models and observations enable an increased understanding of how the coupling between the dust and water cycles (through cloud formation) impacts the dust and water cycles. We focus here on the effects of clouds on the vertical distributions of dust and water and how those vertical distributions control the net meridional transport of water. We utilize observations of temperature, dust and water ice from the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the NASA ARC Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM) to show that the magnitude and nature of the hemispheric exchange of water during NH summer is sensitive to the vertical structure of the simulated aphelion cloud belt. Further, we investigate how clouds influence atmospheric temperatures and thus the vertical structure of the cloud belt. Our goal is to isolate and understand the importance of radiative/dynamic feedbacks due to the physical processes involved with cloud formation and evolution on the current climate of Mars.

  4. SESSION V: INTEGRATED APPROACHES IN LAND AND WATER ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    SESSION V: INTEGRATED APPROACHES IN LAND AND WATER MANAGEMENT RESEARCH/LAND AND WATER MANAGEMENT ECONOMICS AND POLICY - Socioeconomic implications of improved forage species on smallholder farms in Kenya.

  5. Joint-operation in water resources project in Indonesia: Integrated or non-integrated

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ophiyandri, Taufika; Istijono, Bambang; Hidayat, Benny

    2017-11-01

    The construction of large water resources infrastructure project often involved a joint-operation (JO) project between two or more construction companies. The form of JO can be grouped into two categories - an integrated type and a non-integrated type. This paper investigates the reason of forming a JO project made by companies. The specific advantages and problems of JO project is also analysed in this paper. In order to achieve the objectives, three water resources infrastructure projects were selected as case studies. Data was gathered by conducting 11 semi-structured interviews to project owners, contractor managers, and project staffs. Data was analysed by means of content analysis. It was found that the most fundamental factor to form a JO is to win a competition or tender. An integrated model is in favour because it can reduce overhead costs and has a simple management system, while a non-integrated model is selected because it can avoid a sleeping partner and make contractor more responsible for their own job.

  6. Corrosion behavior of Haynes {sup registered} 230 {sup registered} nickel-based super-alloys for integrated coal gasification combined cycle syngas plants. A plant exposure study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Sungkyu; Lee, Jieun; Kang, Suk-Hwan; Lee, Seung-Jong; Yun, Yongseung [Institute for Advanced Engineering (IAE), Gyeonggi-do (Korea, Republic of). Plant Engineering Center; Kim, Min Jung [Sungkyunkwan Univ, Gyeonggi-do (Korea, Republic of). Advanced Materials Technology Research Center

    2015-07-01

    The corrosion behavior of commercially available Haynes {sup registered} 230 {sup registered} nickel-based alloy samples was investigated by exposure to coal-gasifying integrated coal gasification combined cycle pilot plant facilities affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Engineering (2.005 MPa and 160-300 C). The morphological and microstructural analyses of the exposed samples were conducted using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis on the external surface of the recovered corrosion test samples to obtain information of the corrosion scale. These analyses based on the pre- and post-exposure corrosion test samples combined with thermodynamic Ellingham-Pourbaix stability diagrams provided preliminary insight into the mechanism of the observed corrosion behavior prevailing in the piping materials that connected the particulate removal unit and water scrubber of the integrated coal gasification combined cycle pilot plant. Uniform material wastage was observed after 46 hours of operation, and a preliminary corrosion mechanism was suggested: the observed material waste and corrosion behavior of the Haynes {sup registered} 230 {sup registered} nickel-based alloy samples cut off from the coal syngas integrated coal gasification combined cycle plant were explained by the formation of discontinuous (complex) oxide phases and subsequent chlorine-induced active oxidation under the predominantly reducing environment encountered. This contribution continues the already published studies of the Fe-Ni-Cr-Co alloy Haynes {sup registered} 556 {sup registered}.

  7. Effects of integration time on in-water radiometric profiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Alimonte, Davide; Zibordi, Giuseppe; Kajiyama, Tamito

    2018-03-05

    This work investigates the effects of integration time on in-water downward irradiance E d , upward irradiance E u and upwelling radiance L u profile data acquired with free-fall hyperspectral systems. Analyzed quantities are the subsurface value and the diffuse attenuation coefficient derived by applying linear and non-linear regression schemes. Case studies include oligotrophic waters (Case-1), as well as waters dominated by Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) and Non-Algal Particles (NAP). Assuming a 24-bit digitization, measurements resulting from the accumulation of photons over integration times varying between 8 and 2048ms are evaluated at depths corresponding to: 1) the beginning of each integration interval (Fst); 2) the end of each integration interval (Lst); 3) the averages of Fst and Lst values (Avg); and finally 4) the values weighted accounting for the diffuse attenuation coefficient of water (Wgt). Statistical figures show that the effects of integration time can bias results well above 5% as a function of the depth definition. Results indicate the validity of the Wgt depth definition and the fair applicability of the Avg one. Instead, both the Fst and Lst depths should not be adopted since they may introduce pronounced biases in E u and L u regression products for highly absorbing waters. Finally, the study reconfirms the relevance of combining multiple radiometric casts into a single profile to increase precision of regression products.

  8. Advancing Integrated Systems Modelling Framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony Halog

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The need for integrated methodological framework for sustainability assessment has been widely discussed and is urgent due to increasingly complex environmental system problems. These problems have impacts on ecosystems and human well-being which represent a threat to economic performance of countries and corporations. Integrated assessment crosses issues; spans spatial and temporal scales; looks forward and backward; and incorporates multi-stakeholder inputs. This study aims to develop an integrated methodology by capitalizing the complementary strengths of different methods used by industrial ecologists and biophysical economists. The computational methodology proposed here is systems perspective, integrative, and holistic approach for sustainability assessment which attempts to link basic science and technology to policy formulation. The framework adopts life cycle thinking methods—LCA, LCC, and SLCA; stakeholders analysis supported by multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA; and dynamic system modelling. Following Pareto principle, the critical sustainability criteria, indicators and metrics (i.e., hotspots can be identified and further modelled using system dynamics or agent based modelling and improved by data envelopment analysis (DEA and sustainability network theory (SNT. The framework is being applied to development of biofuel supply chain networks. The framework can provide new ways of integrating knowledge across the divides between social and natural sciences as well as between critical and problem-solving research.

  9. Nuclear Fuel Cycle Analysis by Integrated AHP and TOPSIS Method Using an Equilibrium Model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoon, S. R. [University of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Choi, S. Y. [UNIST, Ulju (Korea, Republic of); Koc, W. I. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-05-15

    Determining whether to break away from domestic conflict surrounding nuclear power and step forward for public consensus can be identified by transparent policy making considering public acceptability. In this context, deriving the best suitable nuclear fuel cycle for Korea is the key task in current situation. Assessing nuclear fuel cycle is a multicriteria decision making problem dealing with multiple interconnected issues on efficiently using natural uranium resources, securing an environment friendliness to deal with waste, obtaining the public acceptance, ensuring peaceful uses of nuclear energy, maintaining economic competitiveness compared to other electricity sources, and assessing technical feasibility of advanced nuclear energy systems. This paper performed the integrated AHP and TOPSIS analysis on three nuclear fuel cycle options against 5 different criteria including U utilization, waste management, material attractiveness, economics, and technical feasibility. The fuel cycle options analyzed in this paper are three different fuel cycle options as follows: PWR-Once through cycle(PWR-OT), PWR-MOX cycle, Pyro- SFR cycle. These fuel cycles are most likely to be adopted in the foreseeable future. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution). The analyzed nuclear fuel cycle options include the once-through cycle, the PWR-MOX recycle, and the Pyro-SFR recycle.

  10. Nuclear Fuel Cycle Analysis by Integrated AHP and TOPSIS Method Using an Equilibrium Model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, S. R.; Choi, S. Y.; Koc, W. I.

    2015-01-01

    Determining whether to break away from domestic conflict surrounding nuclear power and step forward for public consensus can be identified by transparent policy making considering public acceptability. In this context, deriving the best suitable nuclear fuel cycle for Korea is the key task in current situation. Assessing nuclear fuel cycle is a multicriteria decision making problem dealing with multiple interconnected issues on efficiently using natural uranium resources, securing an environment friendliness to deal with waste, obtaining the public acceptance, ensuring peaceful uses of nuclear energy, maintaining economic competitiveness compared to other electricity sources, and assessing technical feasibility of advanced nuclear energy systems. This paper performed the integrated AHP and TOPSIS analysis on three nuclear fuel cycle options against 5 different criteria including U utilization, waste management, material attractiveness, economics, and technical feasibility. The fuel cycle options analyzed in this paper are three different fuel cycle options as follows: PWR-Once through cycle(PWR-OT), PWR-MOX cycle, Pyro- SFR cycle. These fuel cycles are most likely to be adopted in the foreseeable future. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution). The analyzed nuclear fuel cycle options include the once-through cycle, the PWR-MOX recycle, and the Pyro-SFR recycle

  11. Development of a common priority list of pharmaceuticals relevant for the water cycle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Voogt, P.; Janex-Habibi, M.-L.; Sacher, F.; Puijker, L.; Mons, M.

    2009-01-01

    Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, drugs used in hospitals and veterinary drugs, have been found throughout the water cycle. A desk study was initiated by the Global Water Research Coalition to consolidate a uniform selection of

  12. First results of the earth observation water cycle multi-mission observation strategy (WACMOS)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Su, Zhongbo; Fernadez-Prieto, D.; Timmermans, J.; Chen, Xuelong; Hungershoefer, K.; Schröder, M.; Schulz, J.; Stammes, P.; Wang, Peng; Wolters, e.

    2014-01-01

    Observing and monitoring the different components of the global water cycle and their dynamics are essential steps to understand the climate of the Earth, forecast the weather, predict natural disasters like floods and droughts, and improve water resources management. Earth observation technology is

  13. Life Cycle Water Consumption and Water Resource Assessment for Utility-Scale Geothermal Systems: An In-Depth Analysis of Historical and Forthcoming EGS Projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clark, Corrie E. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Harto, Christopher B. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Schroeder, Jenna N. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Martino, Louis E. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Horner, Robert M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

    2013-08-01

    This report is the third in a series of reports sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Program in which a range of water-related issues surrounding geothermal power production are evaluated. The first report made an initial attempt at quantifying the life cycle fresh water requirements of geothermal power-generating systems and explored operational and environmental concerns related to the geochemical composition of geothermal fluids. The initial analysis of life cycle fresh water consumption of geothermal power-generating systems identified that operational water requirements consumed the vast majority of water across the life cycle. However, it relied upon limited operational water consumption data and did not account for belowground operational losses for enhanced geothermal systems (EGSs). A second report presented an initial assessment of fresh water demand for future growth in utility-scale geothermal power generation. The current analysis builds upon this work to improve life cycle fresh water consumption estimates and incorporates regional water availability into the resource assessment to improve the identification of areas where future growth in geothermal electricity generation may encounter water challenges. This report is divided into nine chapters. Chapter 1 gives the background of the project and its purpose, which is to assess the water consumption of geothermal technologies and identify areas where water availability may present a challenge to utility-scale geothermal development. Water consumption refers to the water that is withdrawn from a resource such as a river, lake, or nongeothermal aquifer that is not returned to that resource. The geothermal electricity generation technologies evaluated in this study include conventional hydrothermal flash and binary systems, as well as EGSs that rely on engineering a productive reservoir where heat exists, but where water availability or permeability may be limited. Chapter 2

  14. Supercritical Water Reactor Cycle for Medium Power Applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    BD Middleton; J Buongiorno

    2007-01-01

    Scoping studies for a power conversion system based on a direct-cycle supercritical water reactor have been conducted. The electric power range of interest is 5-30 MWe with a design point of 20 MWe. The overall design objective is to develop a system that has minimized physical size and performs satisfactorily over a broad range of operating conditions. The design constraints are as follows: Net cycle thermal efficiency (ge)20%; Steam turbine outlet quality (ge)90%; and Pumping power (le)2500 kW (at nominal conditions). Three basic cycle configurations were analyzed. Listed in order of increased plant complexity, they are: (1) Simple supercritical Rankine cycle; (2) All-supercritical Brayton cycle; and (3) Supercritical Rankine cycle with feedwater preheating. The sensitivity of these three configurations to various parameters, such as reactor exit temperature, reactor pressure, condenser pressure, etc., was assessed. The Thermoflex software package was used for this task. The results are as follows: (a) The simple supercritical Rankine cycle offers the greatest hardware simplification, but its high reactor temperature rise and reactor outlet temperature may pose serious problems from the viewpoint of thermal stresses, stability and materials in the core. (b) The all-supercritical Brayton cycle is not a contender, due to its poor thermal efficiency. (c) The supercritical Rankine cycle with feedwater preheating affords acceptable thermal efficiency with lower reactor temperature rise and outlet temperature. (d) The use of a moisture separator improves the performance of the supercritical Rankine cycle with feedwater preheating and allows for a further reduction of the reactor outlet temperature, thus it was selected for the next step. Preliminary engineering design of the supercritical Rankine cycle with feedwater preheating and moisture separation was performed. All major components including the turbine, feedwater heater, feedwater pump, condenser, condenser pump

  15. Integrative Application of Life Cycle Assessment and Risk Assessment to Environmental Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants at a Watershed Scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Xiaodan; Yu, Shen; Ma, Hwongwen

    2018-01-01

    Intense human activities have led to increasing deterioration of the watershed environment via pollutant discharge, which threatens human health and ecosystem function. To meet a need of comprehensive environmental impact/risk assessment for sustainable watershed development, a biogeochemical process-based life cycle assessment and risk assessment (RA) integration for pollutants aided by geographic information system is proposed in this study. The integration is to frame a conceptual protocol of "watershed life cycle assessment (WLCA) for pollutants". The proposed WLCA protocol consists of (1) geographic and environmental characterization mapping; (2) life cycle inventory analysis; (3) integration of life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) with RA via characterization factor of pollutant of interest; and (4) result analysis and interpretation. The WLCA protocol can visualize results of LCIA and RA spatially for the pollutants of interest, which might be useful for decision or policy makers for mitigating impacts of watershed development.

  16. Inland Waters and the North American Carbon Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butman, D. E.; Striegl, R. G.; Stackpoole, S. M.; del Giorgio, P.; Prairie, Y.; Pilcher, D.; Raymond, P. A.; Alcocer, J.; Paz, F.

    2016-12-01

    Inland aquatic ecosystems process, store, and release carbon to the atmosphere and coastal margins. The form of this carbon is a function of terrestrial and aquatic primary and secondary production, the weathering of materials in soils and subsurface environments, the hydrologic controls on the movement of carbon from land to inland waters, and the connectivity between streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs and groundwater. The 2007 1st State of the Carbon Cycle reported fluxes for the continental United States (CONUS) only. Streams and rivers exported 30-40 Tg C yr-1 to coastal environments, and 17-25 Tg C yr-1 were buried in lake and reservoir sediments. Remarkably, the 2007 report did not quantify gas emissions, which represent over half of the total carbon fluxes through inland water in the US. Current research has shown that 71-149 Tg C yr-1 exits freshwater systems either through atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide or as inorganic and organic carbon fluxes to the coast from the CONUS. These estimates did not include the Laurentian Great Lakes. Variation in the magnitude of these fluxes across regions of the CONUS has been linked to differences in precipitation and terrestrial net ecosystem production. Similar comprehensive assessments have not been done for Canada or Mexico. Here we provide, as part of the 2nd State of the Carbon Cycle report, estimates for the river coastal export and vertical emissions of carbon from inland waters of North America, and report major data gaps, and weaknesses in methodologies. These findings stress that strong international partnerships are needed to improve assessment, monitoring, and modeling of human impacts on the magnitude and timing of aquatic fluxes in the future.

  17. promoting integrated water resources management in south west

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    eobe

    1, 2 SOUTH WEST REGIONAL CENTRE FOR NATIONAL WATER RESOURCES CAPACITY BUILDING NETWORK,. FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF ... that an integrated approach to water resource development and management offers the best ...

  18. [Integrated evaluation of circular agriculture system: a life cycle perspective].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Long; Chen, Yuan-Quan; Gao, Wang-Sheng

    2010-11-01

    For the point of view that recycling economy system is one of ways to achieve the low-carbon economy, we have made an evaluation on a typical circular agriculture duck industry in Hunan Province, China, through improving the framework of life cycle assessment (LCA). The analysis indicated that the consumption of non-renewable resources, land and water were 48.629 MJ, 2.36 m2 and 1 321.41 kg, while the potential greenhouse gas (GHGs), acidification, eutrophication, human toxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity were 11 543.26 g (CO2 eq), 52.36g (SO2eq), 25.83g (PO4eq), 1.26, 60.74 and 24.65 g (1,4-DCBeq), respectively. The potential damage of aquatic eutrophication, freshwater ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity was more serious than that of GHGs. Main results were following: i. the circular agricultural chain promoted the principle of "moderate circulation", which based on the traditional production methods; ii. circular agriculture could not blindly pursue low carbon development. Instead, soil and biological carbon sequestration should be considered, in addition to reducing carbon emissions; iii. circular economy and circular agriculture should take other potential environmental impacts into account such as acidification, eutrophication and ecotoxicity,with the exception to carbon emissions,to developed integrated system assessment; iv. LCA could provide a comprehensive assessment of circular agriculture, and it was worth of further study.

  19. Plumbing the global carbon cycle: Integrating inland waters into the terrestrial carbon budget

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cole, J.; Prairie, Y.T.; Caraco, N.; McDowell, W.H.; Tranvil, L.; Striegl, R.G.; Duarte, C.M.; Kortelainen, P.; Downing, J.A.; Middelburg, J.J.; Melack, J.

    2007-01-01

    Because freshwater covers such a small fraction of the Earth’s surface area, inland freshwater ecosystems (particularly lakes, rivers, and reservoirs) have rarely been considered as potentially important quantitative components of the carbon cycle at either global or regional scales. By taking

  20. OpenDanubia - An integrated, modular simulation system to support regional water resource management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muerth, M.; Waldmann, D.; Heinzeller, C.; Hennicker, R.; Mauser, W.

    2012-04-01

    The already completed, multi-disciplinary research project GLOWA-Danube has developed a regional scale, integrated modeling system, which was successfully applied on the 77,000 km2 Upper Danube basin to investigate the impact of Global Change on both the natural and anthropogenic water cycle. At the end of the last project phase, the integrated modeling system was transferred into the open source project OpenDanubia, which now provides both the core system as well as all major model components to the general public. First, this will enable decision makers from government, business and management to use OpenDanubia as a tool for proactive management of water resources in the context of global change. Secondly, the model framework to support integrated simulations and all simulation models developed for OpenDanubia in the scope of GLOWA-Danube are further available for future developments and research questions. OpenDanubia allows for the investigation of water-related scenarios considering different ecological and economic aspects to support both scientists and policy makers to design policies for sustainable environmental management. OpenDanubia is designed as a framework-based, distributed system. The model system couples spatially distributed physical and socio-economic process during run-time, taking into account their mutual influence. To simulate the potential future impacts of Global Change on agriculture, industrial production, water supply, households and tourism businesses, so-called deep actor models are implemented in OpenDanubia. All important water-related fluxes and storages in the natural environment are implemented in OpenDanubia as spatially explicit, process-based modules. This includes the land surface water and energy balance, dynamic plant water uptake, ground water recharge and flow as well as river routing and reservoirs. Although the complete system is relatively demanding on data requirements and hardware requirements, the modular structure

  1. Integrated modelling of nitrate loads to coastal waters and land rent applied to catchment scale water management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacosen, T.; Refsgaard, A.; Jacobsen, Brian H.

    Abstract The EU WFD requires an integrated approach to river basin management in order to meet environmental and ecological objectives. This paper presents concepts and full-scale application of an integrated modelling framework. The Ringkoebing Fjord basin is characterized by intensive agricultu...... in comprehensive, integrated modelling tools.......Abstract The EU WFD requires an integrated approach to river basin management in order to meet environmental and ecological objectives. This paper presents concepts and full-scale application of an integrated modelling framework. The Ringkoebing Fjord basin is characterized by intensive...... agricultural production and leakage of nitrate constitute a major pollution problem with respect groundwater aquifers (drinking water), fresh surface water systems (water quality of lakes) and coastal receiving waters (eutrophication). The case study presented illustrates an advanced modelling approach applied...

  2. Analysis of alternative light water reactor (LWR) fuel cycles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heeb, C.M.; Aaberg, R.L.; Boegel, A.J.; Jenquin, U.P.; Kottwitz, D.A.; Lewallen, M.A.; Merrill, E.T.; Nolan, A.M.

    1979-12-01

    Nine alternative LWR fuel cycles are analyzed in terms of the isotopic content of the fuel material, the relative amounts of primary and recycled material, the uranium and thorium requirements, the fuel cycle costs and the fraction of energy which must be generated at secured sites. The fuel materials include low-enriched uranium (LEU), plutonium-uranium (MOX), highly-enriched uranium-thorium (HEU-Th), denatured uranium-thorium (DU-Th) and plutonium-thorium (Pu-Th). The analysis is based on tracing the material requirements of a generic pressurized water reactor (PWR) for a 30-year period at constant annual energy output. During this time period all the created fissile material is recycled unless its reactivity worth is less than 0.2% uranium enrichment plant tails

  3. Numerical assessment of water-saving irrigation on the water cycle at the oasis of the Manas River Basin

    OpenAIRE

    he

    2018-01-01

    As the birthplace of water-saving technology under mulch drip irrigation in China, the Manas River Basin (MRB) has developed into the largest oasis farming area in Xinjiang and the fourth largest irrigated agricultural area in China. This study presents systematic evaluation the effect of water-saving technologies on precipitation, runoff, infiltration and evapotranspiration in this basin. A model of the regional water cycle was developed for quantitatively assessing groundwater balance and g...

  4. Concept of innovative water reactor for flexible fuel cycle (FLWR)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iwamura, T.; Uchikawa, S.; Okubo, T.; Kugo, T.; Akie, H.; Nakatsuka, T.

    2005-01-01

    In order to ensure sustainable energy supply in the future based on the matured Light Water Reactor (LWR) and coming LWR-Mixed Oxide (MOX) technologies, a concept of Innovative Water Reactor for Flexible Fuel Cycle (FLWR) has been investigated in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). The concept consists of two parts in the chronological sequence. The first part realizes a high conversion type core concept, which is basically intended to keep the smooth technical continuity from current LWR and coming LWR-MOX technologies without significant gaps in technical point of view. The second part represents the Reduced-Moderation Water Reactor (RMWR) core concept, which realizes a high conversion ratio over 1.0 being useful for the long-term sustainable energy supply through plutonium multiple recycling based on the well-experienced LWR technologies. The key point is that the two core concepts utilize the compatible and the same size fuel assemblies, and hence, the former concept can proceed to the latter in the same reactor system, based flexibly on the fuel cycle circumstances during the reactor operation period around 60 years. At present, since the fuel cycle for the plutonium multiple recycling with MOX fuel reprocessing has not been realized yet, reprocessed plutonium from the LWR spent fuel is to be utilized in LWR-MOX. After this stage, the first part of FLWR, i.e. the high conversion type, can be introduced as a replacement of LWR or LWR-MOX. Since the plutonium inventory of FLWR is much larger, the number of the reactor with MOX fuel will be significantly reduced compared to the LWR-MOX utilization. The size of the fuel assembly for the first part is the same as in the RMWR concept, i.e. the hexagonal fuel assembly with the inner face-to-face distance of about 200 mm. Fuel rods are arranged in the triangular lattice with a relatively wide gap size around 3 mm between rods, and the effective MOX length is less than 1.5 m without using the blanket. When

  5. Comparing the Life Cycle Energy Consumption, Global Warming and Eutrophication Potentials of Several Water and Waste Service Options

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaobo Xue

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Managing the water-energy-nutrient nexus for the built environment requires, in part, a full system analysis of energy consumption, global warming and eutrophication potentials of municipal water services. As an example, we evaluated the life cycle energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG emissions and aqueous nutrient releases of the whole anthropogenic municipal water cycle starting from raw water extraction to wastewater treatment and reuse/discharge for five municipal water and wastewater systems. The assessed options included conventional centralized services and four alternative options following the principles of source-separation and water fit-for-purpose. The comparative life cycle assessment identified that centralized drinking water supply coupled with blackwater energy recovery and on-site greywater treatment and reuse was the most energy- and carbon-efficient water service system evaluated, while the conventional (drinking water and sewerage centralized system ranked as the most energy- and carbon-intensive system. The electricity generated from blackwater and food residuals co-digestion was estimated to offset at least 40% of life cycle energy consumption for water/waste services. The dry composting toilet option demonstrated the lowest life cycle eutrophication potential. The nutrients in wastewater effluent are the dominating contributors for the eutrophication potential for the assessed system configurations. Among the parameters for which variability and sensitivity were evaluated, the carbon intensity of the local electricity grid and the efficiency of electricity production by the co-digestion with the energy recovery process were the most important for determining the relative global warming potential results.

  6. Organic Contaminants and Treatment Chemicals in Steam-Water Cycles : Thermal stability, decomposition products and flow-accelerated corrosion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moed, D.H.

    2015-01-01

    Boiler feedwater and steam have to be of high purity, because of the susceptibility of the steam-water cycle to corrosion. Organic contaminants break down in boilers by hydrothermolysis, leading to the formation of organic acid anions, which are suspected to cause corrosion of steam-water cycle

  7. Visual Cycle Modulation as an Approach toward Preservation of Retinal Integrity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claes Bavik

    Full Text Available Increased exposure to blue or visible light, fluctuations in oxygen tension, and the excessive accumulation of toxic retinoid byproducts places a tremendous amount of stress on the retina. Reduction of visual chromophore biosynthesis may be an effective method to reduce the impact of these stressors and preserve retinal integrity. A class of non-retinoid, small molecule compounds that target key proteins of the visual cycle have been developed. The first candidate in this class of compounds, referred to as visual cycle modulators, is emixustat hydrochloride (emixustat. Here, we describe the effects of emixustat, an inhibitor of the visual cycle isomerase (RPE65, on visual cycle function and preservation of retinal integrity in animal models. Emixustat potently inhibited isomerase activity in vitro (IC50 = 4.4 nM and was found to reduce the production of visual chromophore (11-cis retinal in wild-type mice following a single oral dose (ED50 = 0.18 mg/kg. Measure of drug effect on the retina by electroretinography revealed a dose-dependent slowing of rod photoreceptor recovery (ED50 = 0.21 mg/kg that was consistent with the pattern of visual chromophore reduction. In albino mice, emixustat was shown to be effective in preventing photoreceptor cell death caused by intense light exposure. Pre-treatment with a single dose of emixustat (0.3 mg/kg provided a ~50% protective effect against light-induced photoreceptor cell loss, while higher doses (1-3 mg/kg were nearly 100% effective. In Abca4-/- mice, an animal model of excessive lipofuscin and retinoid toxin (A2E accumulation, chronic (3 month emixustat treatment markedly reduced lipofuscin autofluorescence and reduced A2E levels by ~60% (ED50 = 0.47 mg/kg. Finally, in the retinopathy of prematurity rodent model, treatment with emixustat during the period of ischemia and reperfusion injury produced a ~30% reduction in retinal neovascularization (ED50 = 0.46mg/kg. These data demonstrate the ability of

  8. Numerical study of optimal equilibrium cycles for pressurized water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahlers, Y.P.

    2003-01-01

    An algorithm based on simulated annealing and successive linear programming is applied to solve equilibrium cycle optimization problems for pressurized water reactors. In these problems, the core reload scheme is represented by discrete variables, while the cycle length as well as uranium enrichment and loading of burnable poison in each feed fuel assembly are treated as continuous variables. The enrichments are considered to be distinct in all feed fuel assemblies. The number of batches and their sizes are not fixed and also determined by the algorithm. An important feature of the algorithm is that all the parameters are determined by the solution of one optimization problem including both discrete and continuous variables. To search for the best reload scheme, simulated annealing is used. The optimum cycle length as well as uranium enrichment and loading of burnable poison in each feed fuel assembly are determined for each reload pattern examined using successive linear programming. Numerical results of equilibrium cycle optimization for various values of the effective price of electricity and fuel reprocessing cost are studied

  9. Evaluation of an operational water cycle prediction system for the Laurentian Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fortin, Vincent; Durnford, Dorothy; Smith, Gregory; Dyck, Sarah; Martinez, Yosvany; Mackay, Murray; Winter, Barbara

    2017-04-01

    Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is implementing new numerical guidance products based on fully coupled numerical models to better inform the public as well as specialized users on the current and future state of various components of the water cycle, including stream flow and water levels. Outputs from this new system, named the Water Cycle Prediction System (WCPS), have been available for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River watershed since June 2016. WCPS links together ECCC's weather forecasting model, GEM, the 2-D ice model C-ICE, the 3-D lake and ocean model NEMO, and a 2-D hydrological model, WATROUTE. Information concerning the water cycle is passed between the models at intervals varying from a few minutes to one hour. It currently produces two forecasts per day for the next three days of the complete water cycle in the Great Lakes region, the largest freshwater lake system in the world. Products include spatially-varying precipitation, evaporation, river discharge, water level anomalies, surface water temperatures, ice coverage, and surface currents. These new products are of interest to water resources and management authority, flood forecasters, hydroelectricity producers, navigation, environmental disaster managers, search and rescue teams, agriculture, and the general public. This presentation focuses on the evaluation of various elements forecasted by the system, and weighs the advantages and disadvantages of running the system fully coupled.

  10. Simultaneous loading patterns optimization for two successive cycles of pressurized water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamamoto, Akio; Sugimura, Erina; Kitamura, Yasunori; Yamane, Yoshihiro

    2004-01-01

    In this paper, simultaneous optimization is carried out for successive two cycles of pressurized water reactors. At first, a simplified problem of the simultaneous optimization was studied by assuming the batch-wise power sharing as independent variable, i.e., batch-wise power sharing was optimized without considering corresponding loading patterns. The optimization of the batch-wise power sharing was carried out for the conventional single cycle, the equilibrium cycle and the two successive (tandem) cycles. The analysis indicated that the tandem cycle optimization well reproduce that of the equilibrium cycle optimization, which is considered as a typical case of the true multicycle optimization. Next, simultaneous optimization of loading patterns for tandem cycles is carried out using the simulated annealing method. Since the design space of the tandem cycles optimization is much larger than that of the conventional single cycle optimization, the optimization condition (i.e., number of calculated patterns) are established through sensitivity study. The optimization results are compared with those obtained by the successive single cycle optimizations and it is clarified that the successive single cycle optimization well reproduces the optimization results obtained by the simultaneous optimization if objective functions are appropriately chosen. The above result will be encouraging for the current in-core optimization method since single cycle optimization is utilized due to limitation of computation time. (author)

  11. An optimized power conversion system concept of the integral, inherently-safe light water reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Memmott, Matthew J.; Wilding, Paul R.; Petrovic, Bojan

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Three power conversion systems (PCS) for the I"2S-LWR are presented. • An optimization analyses was performed to evaluate these PCS alternatives. • The ideal PCS consists of 5 turbines, and obtains an overall efficiency of 35.7%. - Abstract: The integral, inherently safe light water reactor (I"2S-LWR) has been developed to significantly enhance passive safety capabilities while maintaining cost competitiveness relative to the current light water reactor (LWR) fleet. The compact heat exchangers of the I"2S-LWR preclude boiling of the secondary fluid, which decreases the probability of heat exchanger failure, but this requires the addition of a flash drum, which negatively affects the overall plant thermodynamic efficiency. A state of the art Rankine cycle is proposed for the I"2S-LWR to increase the thermodynamic efficiency by utilizing a flash drum with optimized operational parameters. In presenting this option for power conversion in the I"2S-LWR power plant, the key metric used in rating the performance is the overall net thermodynamic efficiency of the cycle. In evaluating the flash-Rankine cycle, three basic industrial concepts are evaluated, one without an intermediate pressure turbine, one with an intermediate turbine and one reheat stream, and one with an intermediate turbine and two reheat streams. For each configuration, a single-path multi-variable optimization is undertaken to maximize the thermal efficiency. The third configuration with an intermediate turbine and 2 reheat streams is the most effective concept, with an optimized efficiency of 35.7%.

  12. Towards a climate-neutral water cycle; Op weg naar een klimaatneutrale waterketen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frijns, J. [KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Mulder, M.; Roorda, J. [Grontmij, De Bilt (Netherlands)

    2008-07-01

    Insight is offered in the climate footprint of the domestic water cycle. Moreover options are provided with which the water sector can reduce its own negative impact on the climate. To realize this, the sectors drinking water, sewage and waste water can separately take a large number of (energy) measures [Dutch] Inzicht wordt gegeven in de klimaatvoetafdruk van de huishoudelijke waterketen. Tevens worden mogelijkheden aangedragen om als watersector de eigen negatieve impact op het klimaat te verkleinen. Daarvoor kunnen de sectoren drinkwater, riolering en afvalwater separaat een groot aantal (energie)maatregelen nemen.

  13. Roles of surface water areas for water and solute cycle in Hanoi city, Viet Nam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayashi, Takeshi; Kuroda, Keisuke; Do Thuan, An; Tran Thi Viet, Nga; Takizawa, Satoshi

    2013-04-01

    Hanoi city, the capital of Viet Nam, has developed beside the Red river. Recent rapid urbanization of this city has reduced a large number of natural water areas such as lakes, ponds and canals not only in the central area but the suburban area. Contrary, the urbanization has increased artificial water areas such as pond for fish cultivation and landscaping. On the other hand, the urbanization has induced the inflow of waste water from households and various kinds of factories to these water areas because of delay of sewerage system development. Inflow of the waste water has induced eutrophication and pollution of these water areas. Also, there is a possibility of groundwater pollution by infiltration of polluted surface water. However, the role of these water areas for water cycle and solute transport is not clarified. Therefore, this study focuses on the interaction between surface water areas and groundwater in Hanoi city to evaluate appropriate land development and groundwater resource management. We are carrying out three approaches: a) understanding of geochemical characteristics of surface water and groundwater, b) monitoring of water levels of pond and groundwater, c) sampling of soil and pond sediment. Correlation between d18O and dD of precipitation (after GNIP), the Red River (after GNIR) and the water samples of this study showed that the groundwater is composed of precipitation, the Red River and surface water that has evaporation process. Contribution of the surface water with evaporation process was widely found in the study area. As for groundwater monitoring, the Holocene aquifers at two sites were in unconfined condition in dry season and the groundwater levels in the aquifer continued to increase through rainy season. The results of isotopic analysis and groundwater level monitoring showed that the surface water areas are one of the major groundwater sources. On the other hand, concentrations of dissolved Arsenic (filtered by 0.45um) in the pore

  14. Assessment of integrated watershed health based on the natural environment, hydrology, water quality, and aquatic ecology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. R. Ahn

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Watershed health, including the natural environment, hydrology, water quality, and aquatic ecology, is assessed for the Han River basin (34 148 km2 in South Korea by using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT. The evaluation procedures follow those of the Healthy Watersheds Assessment by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA. Six components of the watershed landscape are examined to evaluate the watershed health (basin natural capacity: stream geomorphology, hydrology, water quality, aquatic habitat condition, and biological condition. In particular, the SWAT is applied to the study basin for the hydrology and water-quality components, including 237 sub-watersheds (within a standard watershed on the Korea Hydrologic Unit Map along with three multipurpose dams, one hydroelectric dam, and three multifunction weirs. The SWAT is calibrated (2005–2009 and validated (2010–2014 by using each dam and weir operation, the flux-tower evapotranspiration, the time-domain reflectometry (TDR soil moisture, and groundwater-level data for the hydrology assessment, and by using sediment, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen data for the water-quality assessment. The water balance, which considers the surface–groundwater interactions and variations in the stream-water quality, is quantified according to the sub-watershed-scale relationship between the watershed hydrologic cycle and stream-water quality. We assess the integrated watershed health according to the U.S. EPA evaluation process based on the vulnerability levels of the natural environment, water resources, water quality, and ecosystem components. The results indicate that the watershed's health declined during the most recent 10-year period of 2005–2014, as indicated by the worse results for the surface process metric and soil water dynamics compared to those of the 1995–2004 period. The integrated watershed health tended to decrease farther downstream within the watershed.

  15. Water Footprint and Life Cycle Assessment as approaches to assess potential impacts of products on water consumption: Key learning points from pilot studies on tea and margarine

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jefferies, D.; Muñoz, I.; Hodges, J.; King, V.J.; Martinez-Aldaya, Maite; Ercin, Ertug; Milá i Canals, L.; Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert

    2012-01-01

    Water accounting and environmental impact assessment across the product's life cycle is gaining prominence. This paper presents two case studies of applying the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Water Footprint (WF) approaches to tea and margarine. The WF, excluding grey water, of a carton of 50 g tea

  16. Water cycle research associated with the CaPE hydrometeorology project (CHymP

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duchon, Claude E.

    1993-01-01

    One outgrowth of the Convection and Precipitation/Electrification (CaPE) experiment that took place in central Florida during July and August 1991 was the creation of the CaPE Hydrometeorology Project (CHymP). The principal goal of this project is to investigate the daily water cycle of the CaPE experimental area by analyzing the numerous land and atmosphere in situ and remotely sensed data sets that were generated during the 40-days of observations. The water cycle comprises the atmospheric branch. In turn, the atmospheric branch comprises precipitation leaving the base of the atmospheric volume under study, evaporation and transpiration entering the base, the net horizontal fluxes of water vapor and cloud water through the volume and the conversion of water vapor to cloud water and vice-versa. The sum of these components results in a time rate of change in the water and liquid water (or ice) content of the atmospheric volume. The components of the land branch are precipitation input to and evaporation and transpiration output from the surface, net horizontal fluxes of surface and subsurface water, the sum of which results in a time rate of change in surface and subsurface water mass. The objective of CHymP is to estimate these components in order to determine the daily water budget for a selected area within the CaPE domain. This work began in earnest in the summer of 1992 and continues. Even estimating all the budget components for one day is a complex and time consuming task. The discussions below provides a short summary of the rainfall quality assessment procedures followed by a plan for estimating the horizontal moisture flux.

  17. Maintenance Cycle Extension in the IRIS Advanced Light Water Reactor Plant Design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galvin, Mark R.; Todreas, Neil E.; Conway, Larry E.

    2003-01-01

    New nuclear power generation in the United States will be realized only if the economic performance can be made competitive with other methods of electrical power generation. The economic performance of a nuclear power plant can be significantly improved by increasing the time spent on-line generating electricity relative to the time spent off-line conducting maintenance and refueling. Maintenance includes planned actions (surveillances) and unplanned actions (corrective maintenance) to respond to component degradation or failure. A methodology is described that can be used to resolve, in the design phase, maintenance-related operating cycle length barriers. A primary goal was to demonstrate the applicability and utility of the methodology in the context of the International Reactor, Innovative and Secure (IRIS) design. IRIS is an advanced light water nuclear power plant that is being designed to maximize this on-line generating time by increasing the operating cycle length. This is consequently a maintenance strategy paper using the IRIS plant as the example.Potential IRIS operating cycle length maintenance-related barriers, determined by modification of an earlier operating pressurized water reactor (PWR) plant cycle length analysis to account for differences between the design of IRIS and this operating PWR, are presented. The proposed methodology to resolve these maintenance-related barriers by the design process is described. The results of applying the methodology to two potential IRIS cycle length barriers, relief valve testing and emergency heat removal system testing, are presented

  18. Life cycle assessment of central softening of very hard drinking water

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Godskesen, Berit; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Rygaard, Martin

    2012-01-01

    Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to quantify the environmental impacts of central softening of drinking water considering both the negative effects at the waterworks and the positive effects imposed by the changed water quality in the households. The LCA modeling considered central softening of drinking......Many consumers prefer softened water due to convenience issues such as avoidance of removing limescale deposits from household appliances and surfaces, and to reduce consumption of cleaning agents and laundry detergents leading to lower household expenses. Even though central softening of drinking...... water entailed an increased use of energy, sand and chemicals at the waterworks, the distributed and softened drinking water supported a decrease in consumption of energy and chemical agents in the households along with a prolonged service life of household appliances which heat water. This study used...

  19. DETECTING ALIEN LIMIT CYCLES NEAR A HAMILTONIAN 2-SADDLE CYCLE

    OpenAIRE

    LUCA, Stijn; DUMORTIER, Freddy; Caubergh, M.; Roussarie, R.

    2009-01-01

    This paper aims at providing and example of a cubic Hamiltonian 2-saddle cycle that after bifurcation can give rise to an alien limit cycle; this is a limit cycle that is not controlled by a zero of the related Abelian integral. To guarantee the existence of an alien limit cycle one can verify generic conditions on the Abelian integral and on the transition map associated to the connections of the 2-saddle cycle. In this paper, a general method is developed to compute the first and second der...

  20. Analysis of the hybrid copper oxide-copper sulfate cycle for the thermochemical splitting of water for hydrogen production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonzales, Ross B.; Law, Victor J.; Prindle, John C.

    2009-01-01

    The hybrid copper oxide-copper sulfate water-splitting thermochemical cycle involves two principal steps: (1) hydrogen production from the electrolysis of water, SO 2 (g) and CuO(s) at room temperature and (2) the thermal decomposition of the CuSO 4 product to form oxygen and SO 2 , which is recycled to the first step. A four-reaction version of the cycle (known in the literature as Cycle H-5) was used as the basis of the present work. For several of the four reactions, a rotating batch reactor sequence is proposed in order to overcome equilibrium limitations. Pinch technology was used to optimize heat integration. Sensitivity analyses revealed it to be economically more attractive to use a 10 C approach to minimize heat loss (rather than 20 C). Using standard Aspen Plus features and the Peng-Robinson equation of state for separations involving oxygen and sulfur oxides, a proposed flowsheet for the cycle was generated to yield ''Level 3'' results. A cost analysis of the designed plant (producing 100 million kmol/yr hydrogen) indicates a total major equipment cost of approximately $45 million. This translates to a turnkey plant price (excluding the cost of the high-temperature heat source or electrolyzer internals) of approximately $360 million. Based on a $2.50/kg selling price for hydrogen, gross annual revenue could be on the order of $500 million, resulting in a reasonable payback period when all capital and operating costs are considered. Previous efficiency estimates using Level 1 and Level 2 methods gave the process efficiency in the neighborhood of 47-48%. The Level 3 efficiency computation was 24-25% depending on the approach temperature used for recuperation. If the low quality heat rejected by the process can be recovered and used elsewhere, the Level 3 analysis could be as high as 51-53%. (author)

  1. Halogenated methanesulfonic acids: A new class of organic micropollutants in the water cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zahn, Daniel; Frömel, Tobias; Knepper, Thomas P

    2016-09-15

    Mobile and persistent organic micropollutants may impact raw and drinking waters and are thus of concern for human health. To identify such possible substances of concern nineteen water samples from five European countries (France, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Spain and Germany) and different compartments of the water cycle (urban effluent, surface water, ground water and drinking water) were enriched with mixed-mode solid phase extraction. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography - high resolution mass spectrometry non-target screening of these samples led to the detection and structural elucidation of seven novel organic micropollutants. One structure could already be confirmed by a reference standard (trifluoromethanesulfonic acid) and six were tentatively identified based on experimental evidence (chloromethanesulfonic acid, dichloromethanesulfonic acid, trichloromethanesulfonic acid, bromomethanesulfonic acid, dibromomethanesulfonic acid and bromochloromethanesulfonic acid). Approximated concentrations for these substances show that trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, a chemical registered under the European Union regulation REACH with a production volume of more than 100 t/a, is able to spread along the water cycle and may be present in concentrations up to the μg/L range. Chlorinated and brominated methanesulfonic acids were predominantly detected together which indicates a common source and first experimental evidence points towards water disinfection as a potential origin. Halogenated methanesulfonic acids were detected in drinking waters and thus may be new substances of concern. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. An integrative process model of leadership: examining loci, mechanisms, and event cycles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eberly, Marion B; Johnson, Michael D; Hernandez, Morela; Avolio, Bruce J

    2013-09-01

    Utilizing the locus (source) and mechanism (transmission) of leadership framework (Hernandez, Eberly, Avolio, & Johnson, 2011), we propose and examine the application of an integrative process model of leadership to help determine the psychological interactive processes that constitute leadership. In particular, we identify the various dynamics involved in generating leadership processes by modeling how the loci and mechanisms interact through a series of leadership event cycles. We discuss the major implications of this model for advancing an integrative understanding of what constitutes leadership and its current and future impact on the field of psychological theory, research, and practice. © 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  3. A novel split cycle internal combustion engine with integral waste heat recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong, Guangyu; Morgan, Robert; Heikal, Morgan

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A novel engine thermodynamic cycle is proposed. • Theoretical analysis is applied to identify the key parameters of the thermodynamic cycle. • The key stages of the split cycle are analysed via one-dimensional modelling work. • The effecting mechanism of the split cycle efficiency is analysed. - Abstract: To achieve a step improvement in engine efficiency, a novel split cycle engine concept is proposed. The engine has separate compression and combustion cylinders and waste heat is recovered between the two. Quasi-isothermal compression of the charge air is realised in the compression cylinder while isobaric combustion of the air/fuel mixture is achieved in the combustion cylinder. Exhaust heat recovery between the compression and combustion chamber enables highly efficient recovery of waste heat within the cycle. Based on cycle analysis and a one-dimensional engine model, the fundamentals and the performance of the split thermodynamic cycle is estimated. Compared to conventional engines, the compression work can be significantly reduced through the injection of a controlled quantity of water in the compression cylinder, lowering the gas temperature during compression. Thermal energy can then be effectively recovered from the engine exhaust in a recuperator between the cooled compressor cylinder discharge air and the exhaust gas. The resulting hot high pressure air is then injected into a combustor cylinder and mixed with fuel, where near isobaric combustion leads to a low combustion temperature and reduced heat transferred from the cylinder wall. Detailed cycle simulation indicates a 32% efficiency improvement can be expected compared to the conventional diesel engines.

  4. Life cycle assessments of urban water systems: a comparative analysis of selected peer-reviewed literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loubet, Philippe; Roux, Philippe; Loiseau, Eleonore; Bellon-Maurel, Veronique

    2014-12-15

    Water is a growing concern in cities, and its sustainable management is very complex. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been increasingly used to assess the environmental impacts of water technologies during the last 20 years. This review aims at compiling all LCA papers related to water technologies, out of which 18 LCA studies deals with whole urban water systems (UWS). A focus is carried out on these 18 case studies which are analyzed according to criteria derived from the four phases of LCA international standards. The results show that whereas the case studies share a common goal, i.e., providing quantitative information to policy makers on the environmental impacts of urban water systems and their forecasting scenarios, they are based on different scopes, resulting in the selection of different functional units and system boundaries. A quantitative comparison of life cycle inventory and life cycle impact assessment data is provided, and the results are discussed. It shows the superiority of information offered by multi-criteria approaches for decision making compared to that derived from mono-criterion. From this review, recommendations on the way to conduct the environmental assessment of urban water systems are given, e.g., the need to provide consistent mass balances in terms of emissions and water flows. Remaining challenges for urban water system LCAs are identified, such as a better consideration of water users and resources and the inclusion of recent LCA developments (territorial approaches and water-related impacts). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Framework for local government to implement integrated water ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2009-06-11

    Jun 11, 2009 ... Integrated water resource management (IWRM) is such a process and it ..... procedures. The WSDP consists of 10 business elements (see Table. 1). ..... Origin, volume and quality of raw water available from each source.

  6. Sprint cycling performance is maintained with short-term contrast water immersion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crampton, David; Donne, Bernard; Egaña, Mikel; Egana, Mikel; Warmington, Stuart A

    2011-11-01

    Given the widespread use of water immersion during recovery from exercise, we aimed to investigate the effect of contrast water immersion on recovery of sprint cycling performance, HR and, blood lactate. Two groups completed high-intensity sprint exercise before and after a 30-min randomized recovery. The Wingate group (n = 8) performed 3 × 30-s Wingate tests (4-min rest periods). The repeated intermittent sprint group (n = 8) cycled for alternating 30-s periods at 40% of predetermined maximum power and 120% maximum power, until exhaustion. Both groups completed three trials using a different recovery treatment for each trial (balanced randomized application). Recovery treatments were passive rest, 1:1 contrast water immersion (2.5 min of cold (8°C) to 2.5 min of hot (40°C)), and 1:4 contrast water immersion (1 min of cold to 4 min of hot). Blood lactate and HR were recorded throughout, and peak power and total work for pre- and postrecovery Wingate performance and exercise time and total work for repeated sprinting were recorded. Recovery of Wingate peak power was 8% greater after 1:4 contrast water immersion than after passive rest, whereas both contrast water immersion ratios provided a greater recovery of exercise time (∼ 10%) and total work (∼ 14%) for repeated sprinting than for passive rest. Blood lactate was similar between trials. Compared with passive rest, HR initially declined more slowly during contrast water immersion but increased with each transition to a cold immersion phase. These data support contrast water immersion being effective in maintaining performance during a short-term recovery from sprint exercise. This effect needs further investigation but is likely explained by cardiovascular mechanisms, shown here by an elevation in HR upon each cold immersion.

  7. Integrate life-cycle assessment and risk analysis results, not methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linkov, Igor; Trump, Benjamin D; Wender, Ben A; Seager, Thomas P; Kennedy, Alan J; Keisler, Jeffrey M

    2017-08-04

    Two analytic perspectives on environmental assessment dominate environmental policy and decision-making: risk analysis (RA) and life-cycle assessment (LCA). RA focuses on management of a toxicological hazard in a specific exposure scenario, while LCA seeks a holistic estimation of impacts of thousands of substances across multiple media, including non-toxicological and non-chemically deleterious effects. While recommendations to integrate the two approaches have remained a consistent feature of environmental scholarship for at least 15 years, the current perception is that progress is slow largely because of practical obstacles, such as a lack of data, rather than insurmountable theoretical difficulties. Nonetheless, the emergence of nanotechnology presents a serious challenge to both perspectives. Because the pace of nanomaterial innovation far outstrips acquisition of environmentally relevant data, it is now clear that a further integration of RA and LCA based on dataset completion will remain futile. In fact, the two approaches are suited for different purposes and answer different questions. A more pragmatic approach to providing better guidance to decision-makers is to apply the two methods in parallel, integrating only after obtaining separate results.

  8. Radiological aspects of postfission waste management for light-water reactor fuel cycle options

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shipler, D B; Nelson, I C [Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, WA (United States)

    1978-12-01

    A generic environmental impact statement on the management of radioactive postfission wastes from various light-water reactor fuel cycles in the United States has been prepared. The environmental analysis for post-fission waste management includes an examination of radiological impacts related to different waste treatment, storage, transportation, and disposal options at the process level. Effects addressed include effluents from plants, and radiological impacts from facility operation (routine and accidents), and decommissioning. Environmental effects are combined for fuel reprocessing plants, mixed-oxide fuel fabrication plants, and waste repositories. Radiological effects are also aggregated for several fuel cycle options over the period 1980 and 2050. Fuel cycles analyzed are (1) once-through cycle in which spent reactor fuel is cooled in water basins for at least 6-1/2 years and then disposed of in deep geologic repositories; (2) spent fuel reprocessing in which uranium only and uranium and plutonium is recycled and solidified high level waste, fuel residues, and non-high-level transuranic wastes are disposed of in deep geologic repositories; and (3) deferred cycle that calls for storage of spent fuel at Federal spent fuel storage facilities until the year 2000 at which time a decision is made whether to dispose of spent fuel as a waste or to reprocess the fuel to recover uranium and plutonium. Key environmental issues for decision-making related to waste management alternatives and fuel cycle options are highlighted. (author)

  9. Enhancement of LNG plant propane cycle through waste heat powered absorption cooling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodgers, P.; Mortazavi, A.; Eveloy, V.; Al-Hashimi, S.; Hwang, Y.; Radermacher, R.

    2012-01-01

    In liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants utilizing sea water for process cooling, both the efficiency and production capacity of the propane cycle decrease with increasing sea water temperature. To address this issue, several propane cycle enhancement approaches are investigated in this study, which require minimal modification of the existing plant configuration. These approaches rely on the use of gas turbine waste heat powered water/lithium bromide absorption cooling to either (i) subcool propane after the propane cycle condenser, or (ii) reduce propane cycle condensing pressure through pre-cooling of condenser cooling water. In the second approach, two alternative methods of pre-cooling condenser cooling water are considered, which consist of an open sea water loop, and a closed fresh water loop. In addition for all cases, three candidate absorption chiller configurations are evaluated, namely single-effect, double-effect, and cascaded double- and single-effect chillers. The thermodynamic performance of each propane cycle enhancement scheme, integrated in an actual LNG plant in the Persian Gulf, is evaluated using actual plant operating data. Subcooling propane after the propane cycle condenser is found to improve propane cycle total coefficient of performance (COP T ) and cooling capacity by 13% and 23%, respectively. The necessary cooling load could be provided by either a single-effect, double-effect or cascaded and single- and double-effect absorption refrigeration cycle recovering waste heat from a single gas turbine operated at full load. Reducing propane condensing pressure using a closed fresh water condenser cooling loop is found result in propane cycle COP T and cooling capacity enhancements of 63% and 22%, respectively, but would require substantially higher capital investment than for propane subcooling, due to higher cooling load and thus higher waste heat requirements. Considering the present trend of short process enhancement payback periods in the

  10. Assessment of the environmental impacts deriving from the life cycle of a typical solar water heater

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Gaidajis

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available According to life cycle thinking, the environmental burden deriving from different life cycle stages of a product or a system, such as manufacturing, transportation, maintenance and landfilling should be taken into consideration while assessing its environmental performance. In that aspect, the environmental impacts deriving from the life cycle of a typical solar water heater (SWH in Greece are analyzed and assessed with the application of relative life cycle assessment (LCA software in this study. In order to examine various impact categories such as global warming, ozone layer depletion, ecotoxicity and so forth, the IMPACT2002+ method is applied. The aim of this study is to examine the life cycle stages, processes and materials that significantly affect the system under examination and to provide a discussion regarding the environmental friendliness of solar water heaters.

  11. Proliferation resistance of the fuel cycle for the Integral Fast Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burris, L.

    1993-01-01

    Argonne National Laboratory has developed an electrorefining pyrochemical process for recovery and recycle of metal fuel discharged from the Integral Fast Reactor (FR). This inherently low decontamination process has an overall decontamination factor of only about 100 for the plutonium metal product. As a result, all of the fuel cycle operations must be conducted in heavily shielded cells containing a high-purity argon atmosphere. The FR fuel cycle possesses high resistance to clandestine diversion or overt, state- supported removal of plutonium for nuclear weapons production because of two main factors: the highly radioactive product, which is also contaminated with heat- and neutron-producing isotopes of plutonium and other actinide elements, and the difficulty of removing material from the FR facility through the limited number of cell transfer locks without detection

  12. Non-Proliferative, Thorium-Based, Core and Fuel Cycle for Pressurized Water Reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Todosow, M.; Raitses, G.; Galperin, A.

    2009-01-01

    Two of the major barriers to the expansion of worldwide adoption of nuclear power are related to proliferation potential of the nuclear fuel cycle and issues associated with the final disposal of spent fuel. The Radkowsky Thorium Fuel (RTF) concept proposed by Professor A. Radkowsky offers a partial solution to these problems. The main idea of the concept is the utilization of the seed-blanket unit (SBU) fuel assembly geometry which is a direct replacement for a 'conventional' assembly in either a Russian pressurized water reactor (VVER-1000) or a Western pressurized water reactor (PWR). The seed-blanket fuel assembly consists of a fissile (U) zone, known as seed, and a fertile (Th) zone known as blanket. The separation of fissile and fertile allows separate fuel management schemes for the thorium part of the fuel (a subcritical 'blanket') and the 'driving' part of the core (a supercritical 'seed'). The design objective for the blanket is an efficient generation and in-situ fissioning of the U233 isotope, while the design objective for the seed is to supply neutrons to the blanket in a most economic way, i.e. with minimal investment of natural uranium. The introduction of thorium as a fertile component in the nuclear fuel cycle significantly reduces the quantity of plutonium production and modifies its isotopic composition, reducing the overall proliferation potential of the fuel cycle. Thorium based spent fuel also contains fewer higher actinides, hence reducing the long-term radioactivity of the spent fuel. The analyses show that the RTF core can satisfy the requirements of fuel cycle length, and the safety margins of conventional pressurized water reactors. The coefficients of reactivity are comparable to currently operating VVER's/PWR's. The major feature of the RTF cycle is related to the total amount of spent fuel discharged for each cycle from the reactor core. The fuel management scheme adopted for RTF core designs allows a significant decrease in the

  13. The Martian hydrologic cycle - Effects of CO2 mass flux on global water distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, P. B.

    1985-01-01

    The Martian CO2 cycle, which includes the seasonal condensation and subsequent sublimation of up to 30 percent of the planet's atmosphere, produces meridional winds due to the consequent mass flux of CO2. These winds currently display strong seasonal and hemispheric asymmetries due to the large asymmetries in the distribution of insolation on Mars. It is proposed that asymmetric meridional advection of water vapor on the planet due to these CO2 condensation winds is capable of explaining the observed dessication of Mars' south polar region at the current time. A simple model for water vapor transport is used to verify this hypothesis and to speculate on the effects of changes in orbital parameters on the seasonal water cycle.

  14. Assessing Water Risks in the Mining Industry using Life Cycle Assessment Based Approaches

    OpenAIRE

    STEPHEN ALAN NORTHEY

    2018-01-01

    Recent advances life cycle assessment methodology provide an opportunity to gain a more holistic understanding of how the mining industry interacts with water resources. A detailed review of assessment methodology and water management in the mining industry was undertaken to identify research needs. Global datasets of water use statistics for mining operations were also developed, and an exhaustive analysis of how global mineral resources and production are spatially distributed across local ...

  15. Integrated structural biology and molecular ecology of N-cycling enzymes from ammonia-oxidizing archaea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tolar, Bradley B; Herrmann, Jonathan; Bargar, John R; van den Bedem, Henry; Wakatsuki, Soichi; Francis, Christopher A

    2017-10-01

    Knowledge of the molecular ecology and environmental determinants of ammonia-oxidizing organisms is critical to understanding and predicting the global nitrogen (N) and carbon cycles, but an incomplete biochemical picture hinders in vitro studies of N-cycling enzymes. Although an integrative structural and dynamic characterization at the atomic scale would advance our understanding of function tremendously, structural knowledge of key N-cycling enzymes from ecologically relevant ammonia oxidizers is unfortunately extremely limited. Here, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for examining the ecology of ammonia-oxidizing organisms, particularly uncultivated Thaumarchaeota, through (meta)genome-driven structural biology of the enzymes ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) and nitrite reductase (NirK). © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Integrated Water Resources Simulation Model for Rural Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Y.-H.; Liao, W.-T.; Tung, C.-P.

    2012-04-01

    The purpose of this study is to develop several water resources simulation models for residence houses, constructed wetlands and farms and then integrate these models for a rural community. Domestic and irrigation water uses are the major water demand in rural community. To build up a model estimating domestic water demand for residence houses, the average water use per person per day should be accounted first, including water uses of kitchen, bathroom, toilet and laundry. On the other hand, rice is the major crop in the study region, and its productive efficiency sometimes depends on the quantity of irrigation water. The water demand can be estimated by crop water use, field leakage and water distribution loss. Irrigation water comes from rainfall, water supply system and reclaimed water which treated by constructed wetland. In recent years, constructed wetlands play an important role in water resources recycle. They can purify domestic wastewater for water recycling and reuse. After treating from constructed wetlands, the reclaimed water can be reused in washing toilets, watering gardens and irrigating farms. Constructed wetland is one of highly economic benefits for treating wastewater through imitating the processing mechanism of natural wetlands. In general, the treatment efficiency of constructed wetlands is determined by evapotranspiration, inflow, and water temperature. This study uses system dynamics modeling to develop models for different water resource components in a rural community. Furthermore, these models are integrated into a whole system. The model not only is utilized to simulate how water moves through different components, including residence houses, constructed wetlands and farms, but also evaluates the efficiency of water use. By analyzing the flow of water, the water resource simulation model can optimizes water resource distribution under different scenarios, and the result can provide suggestions for designing water resource system of a

  17. Waste Classification based on Waste Form Heat Generation in Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycles Using the Fuel-Cycle Integration and Tradeoffs (FIT) Model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Denia Djokic; Steven J. Piet; Layne F. Pincock; Nick R. Soelberg

    2013-02-01

    This study explores the impact of wastes generated from potential future fuel cycles and the issues presented by classifying these under current classification criteria, and discusses the possibility of a comprehensive and consistent characteristics-based classification framework based on new waste streams created from advanced fuel cycles. A static mass flow model, Fuel-Cycle Integration and Tradeoffs (FIT), was used to calculate the composition of waste streams resulting from different nuclear fuel cycle choices. This analysis focuses on the impact of waste form heat load on waste classification practices, although classifying by metrics of radiotoxicity, mass, and volume is also possible. The value of separation of heat-generating fission products and actinides in different fuel cycles is discussed. It was shown that the benefits of reducing the short-term fission-product heat load of waste destined for geologic disposal are neglected under the current source-based radioactive waste classification system , and that it is useful to classify waste streams based on how favorable the impact of interim storage is in increasing repository capacity.

  18. Life-cycle and freshwater withdrawal impact assessment of water supply technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Godskesen, Berit; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Rygaard, Martin

    2013-01-01

    Four alternative cases for water supply were environmentally evaluated and compared based on the standard environmental impact categories from the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology extended with a freshwater withdrawal category (FWI). The cases were designed for Copenhagen, a part of Denmark...... with high population density and relatively low available water resources. FWI was applied at local groundwater catchments based on data from the national implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. The base case of the study was the current practice of groundwater abstraction from well fields...... situated near Copenhagen. The 4 cases studied were: Rain & stormwater harvesting from several blocks in the city; Today's groundwater abstraction with compensating actions applied in the affected freshwater environments to ensure sufficient water flow in water courses; Establishment of well fields further...

  19. Integration and validation testing for PhEDEx, DBS and DAS with the PhEDEx LifeCycle agent

    CERN Document Server

    Wildish, Anthony

    2013-01-01

    The ever-increasing amount of data handled by the CMS dataflow and workflow management tools poses new challenges for cross-validation among different systems within CMS experiment at LHC. To approach this problem we developed an integration test suite based on the LifeCycle agent, a tool originally conceived for stress-testing new releases of PhEDEx, the CMS data-placement tool. The LifeCycle agent provides a framework for customising the test workflow in arbitrary ways, and can scale to levels of activity well beyond those seen in normal running. This means we can run realistic performance tests at scales not likely to be seen by the experiment for some years, or with custom topologies to examine particular situations that may cause concern some time in the future.The LifeCycle agent has recently been enhanced to become a general purpose integration and validation testing tool for major CMS services (PhEDEx, DBS, DAS). It allows cross-system integration tests of all three components to be performed in contr...

  20. Wastes from selected activities in two light-water reactor fuel cycles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palmer, C.R.; Hill, O.F.

    1980-07-01

    This report presents projected volumes and radioactivities of wastes from the production of electrical energy using light-water reactors (LWR). The projections are based upon data developed for a recent environmental impact statement in which the transuranic wastes (i.e., those wastes containing certain long-lived alpha emitters at concentrations of at least 370 becquerels, or 10 nCi, per gram of waste) from fuel cycle activities were characterized. In addition, since the WG.7 assumed that all fuel cycle wastes except mill tailings are placed in a mined geologic repository, the nontransuranic wastes from several activities are included in the projections reported. The LWR fuel cycles considered are the LWR, once-through fuel cycle (Strategy 1), in which spent fuel is packaged in metal canisters and then isolated in geologic formations; and the LWR U/Pu recycle fuel cycle (Strategy 2), wherein spent fuel is reprocessed for recovery and recycle of uranium and plutonium in LWRs. The wastes projected for the two LWR fuel cycles are summarized. The reactor operations and decommissioning were found to dominate the rate of waste generation in each cycle. These activities account for at least 85% of the fuel cycle waste volume (not including head-end wastes) when normalized to per unit electrical energy generated. At 10 years out of reactor, however, spent fuel elements in Strategy 1 represent 98% of the fuel cycle activity but only 4% of the volume. Similarly, the packaged high-level waste, fuel hulls and hardware in Strategy 2 concentrate greater than 95% of the activity in 2% of the waste volume

  1. Integrated gasification combined-cycle research development and demonstration activities in the US

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ness, H.M.; Brdar, R.D.

    1996-09-01

    The United States Department of Energy (DOE)`s Office of Fossil Energy, Morgantown Energy Technology Center, is managing a research development and demonstration (RD&D) program that supports the commercialization of integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) advanced power systems. This overview briefly describes the supporting RD&D activities and the IGCC projects selected for demonstration in the Clean Coal Technology (CCT) Program.

  2. Water cycling between ocean and mantle: Super-earths need not be waterworlds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cowan, Nicolas B.; Abbot, Dorian S.

    2014-01-01

    Large terrestrial planets are expected to have muted topography and deep oceans, implying that most super-Earths should be entirely covered in water, so-called waterworlds. This is important because waterworlds lack a silicate weathering thermostat so their climate is predicted to be less stable than that of planets with exposed continents. In other words, the continuously habitable zone for waterworlds is much narrower than for Earth-like planets. A planet's water is partitioned, however, between a surface reservoir, the ocean, and an interior reservoir, the mantle. Plate tectonics transports water between these reservoirs on geological timescales. Degassing of melt at mid-ocean ridges and serpentinization of oceanic crust depend negatively and positively on seafloor pressure, respectively, providing a stabilizing feedback on long-term ocean volume. Motivated by Earth's approximately steady-state deep water cycle, we develop a two-box model of the hydrosphere and derive steady-state solutions to the water partitioning on terrestrial planets. Critically, hydrostatic seafloor pressure is proportional to surface gravity, so super-Earths with a deep water cycle will tend to store more water in the mantle. We conclude that a tectonically active terrestrial planet of any mass can maintain exposed continents if its water mass fraction is less than ∼0.2%, dramatically increasing the odds that super-Earths are habitable. The greatest source of uncertainty in our study is Earth's current mantle water inventory: the greater its value, the more robust planets are to inundation. Lastly, we discuss how future missions can test our hypothesis by mapping the oceans and continents of massive terrestrial planets.

  3. Water cycling between ocean and mantle: Super-earths need not be waterworlds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cowan, Nicolas B. [Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208 (United States); Abbot, Dorian S., E-mail: n-cowan@northwestern.edu [Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, 5734 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)

    2014-01-20

    Large terrestrial planets are expected to have muted topography and deep oceans, implying that most super-Earths should be entirely covered in water, so-called waterworlds. This is important because waterworlds lack a silicate weathering thermostat so their climate is predicted to be less stable than that of planets with exposed continents. In other words, the continuously habitable zone for waterworlds is much narrower than for Earth-like planets. A planet's water is partitioned, however, between a surface reservoir, the ocean, and an interior reservoir, the mantle. Plate tectonics transports water between these reservoirs on geological timescales. Degassing of melt at mid-ocean ridges and serpentinization of oceanic crust depend negatively and positively on seafloor pressure, respectively, providing a stabilizing feedback on long-term ocean volume. Motivated by Earth's approximately steady-state deep water cycle, we develop a two-box model of the hydrosphere and derive steady-state solutions to the water partitioning on terrestrial planets. Critically, hydrostatic seafloor pressure is proportional to surface gravity, so super-Earths with a deep water cycle will tend to store more water in the mantle. We conclude that a tectonically active terrestrial planet of any mass can maintain exposed continents if its water mass fraction is less than ∼0.2%, dramatically increasing the odds that super-Earths are habitable. The greatest source of uncertainty in our study is Earth's current mantle water inventory: the greater its value, the more robust planets are to inundation. Lastly, we discuss how future missions can test our hypothesis by mapping the oceans and continents of massive terrestrial planets.

  4. Integrating groundwater stress in life-cycle assessments – An evaluation of water abstraction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gejl, Ryle Nørskov; Bjerg, Poul Løgstrup; Henriksen, H. J.

    2018-01-01

    Understanding groundwater abstraction effects is vital for holistic impact assessments in areas depending on groundwater resources. The objective of our study was to modify the state-of-the-art AWaRe (available water remaining), freshwater impact assessment specifically for use in LCAs in areas...... and adjusts demarcations in order to improve the representation of the heterogeneity of groundwater catchments. The applicability of AGWaRe was demonstrated on three groundwater systems producing 5 million m3 water for the city of Copenhagen, namely Advanced Treatment of Groundwater, Simple Treatment...... of Groundwater and Infiltration of Reclaimed water. Results were normalised to compare with other effects of supplying water to an average Danish person. The normalised impacts for drinking water for one person ranged between 0.1 and 39 PE (person equivalent) for the three systems, which indicates that effects...

  5. GEWEX - The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chahine, Moustafa T.

    1992-01-01

    GEWEX, which is part of the World Climate Research Program, has as its goal an order-of-magnitude improvement in the ability to model global precipitation and evaporation and furnish an accurate assessment of the sensitivity of atmospheric radiation and clouds. Attention will also be given to the response of the hydrological cycle and water resources to climate change. GEWEX employs a single program to coordinate all aspects of climatology from model development to the deployment and operation of observational systems. GEWEX will operate over the next two decades.

  6. Integrative monitoring of water storage variations at the landscape-scale with an iGrav superconducting gravimeter in a field enclosure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guntner, A.; Reich, M.; Mikolaj, M.; Creutzfeldt, B.; Schroeder, S.; Wziontek, H.

    2017-12-01

    In spite of the fundamental role of the landscape water balance for the Earth's water and energy cycles, monitoring the water balance and related storage dynamics beyond the point scale is notoriously difficult due to the multitude of flow and storage processes and their spatial heterogeneity. We present the first outdoor deployment of an iGrav superconducting gravimeter (SG) in a minimized field enclosure on a wet-temperate grassland site for integrative monitoring of water storage changes. It is shown that the system performs similarly precise as SGs that have hitherto been deployed in observatory buildings, but with higher sensitivity to hydrological variations in the surroundings of the instrument. Gravity variations observed by the field setup are almost independent of the depth below the terrain surface where water storage changes occur, and thus the field SG system directly observes the total water storage change in an integrative way. We provide a framework to single out the water balance components actual evapotranspiration and lateral subsurface discharge from the gravity time series on annual to daily time scales. With about 99% and 85% of the gravity signal originating within a radius of 4000 and 200 meter around the instrument, respectively, the setup paves the road towards gravimetry as a continuous hydrological field monitoring technique for water storage dynamics at the landscape scale.

  7. Behavior of Plain Concrete of a High Water-Cement Ratio after Freeze-Thaw Cycles

    OpenAIRE

    Shang, Huai-Shuai; Yi, Ting-Hua; Song, Yu-Pu

    2012-01-01

    An experimental study of plain concrete specimens of water-cement ratio 0.55, subjected to 0, 15, 25, 40, 50 and 75 cycles of freeze-thaw was completed. The dynamic modulus of elasticity (DME), weight loss, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, cleavage strength and stress-strain relationships of plain concrete specimens suffering from freeze-thaw cycles were measured. The experimental results showed that the strength decreased as the freeze-thaw cycles were repeated. A c...

  8. Toxicity of drinking water disinfection byproducts: cell cycle alterations induced by the monohaloacetonitriles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Komaki, Yukako; Mariñas, Benito J; Plewa, Michael J

    2014-10-07

    Haloacetonitriles (HANs) are a chemical class of drinking water disinfection byproducts (DBPs) that form from reactions between disinfectants and nitrogen-containing precursors, the latter more prevalent in water sources impacted by algae bloom and municipal wastewater effluent discharge. HANs, previously demonstrated to be genotoxic, were investigated for their effects on the mammalian cell cycle. Treating Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells with monoHANs followed by the release from the chemical treatment resulted in the accumulation of abnormally high DNA content in cells over time (hyperploid). The potency for the cell cycle alteration followed the order: iodoacetonitrile (IAN) > bromoacetonitrile (BAN) ≫ chloroacetonitrile (CAN). Exposure to 6 μM IAN, 12 μM BAN and 900 μM CAN after 26 h post-treatment incubation resulted in DNA repair; however, subsequent cell cycle alteration effects were observed. Cell proliferation of HAN-treated cells was suppressed for as long as 43 to 52 h. Enlarged cell size was observed after 52 h post-treatment incubation without the induction of cytotoxicity. The HAN-mediated cell cycle alteration was mitosis- and proliferation-dependent, which suggests that HAN treatment induced mitosis override, and that HAN-treated cells proceeded into S phase and directly into the next cell cycle. Cells with multiples genomes would result in aneuploidy (state of abnormal chromosome number and DNA content) at the next mitosis since extra centrosomes could compromise the assembly of bipolar spindles. There is accumulating evidence of a transient tetraploid state proceeding to aneuploidy in cancer progression. Biological self-defense systems to ensure genomic stability and to eliminate tetraploid cells exist in eukaryotic cells. A key tumor suppressor gene, p53, is oftentimes mutated in various types of human cancer. It is possible that HAN disruption of the normal cell cycle and the generation of aberrant cells with an abnormal number of

  9. Integrating Agent Models of Subsistence Farming With Dynamic Models of Water Distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bithell, M.; Brasington, J.

    2004-12-01

    Subsistence farming communities are dependent on the landscape to provide the resource base upon which their societies can be built. A key component of this is the role of climate, and the feedback between rainfall, crop growth and land clearance, and their coupling to the hydrological cycle. Temporal fluctuations in rainfall on timescales from annual through to decadal and longer, and the associated changes in in the spatial distribution of water availability mediated by the soil-type, slope and landcover determine the locations within the landscape that can support agriculture, and control sustainability of farming practices. We seek to make an integrated modelling system to represent land use change by coupling an agent based model of subsistence farming, and the associated exploitation of natural resources, to a realistic representation of the hydrology at the catchment scale, using TOPMODEL to map the spatial distribution of crop water stress for given time-series of rainfall. In this way we can, for example, investigate how demographic changes and associated removal of forest cover influence the possibilities for field locations within the catchment, through changes in ground water availability. The framework for this modelling exercise will be presented and preliminary results from this system will be discussed.

  10. Life Cycle Assessment of Daugavgriva Waste Water Treatment Plant

    OpenAIRE

    Romagnoli, F; Fraga Sampaio, F; Blumberga, D

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents the assessment of the environmental impacts caused by the treatment of Riga’s waste water in the Daugavgriva plant with biogas energy cogeneration through the life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA seems to be a good tool to assess and evaluate the most serious environmental impacts of a facility The results showed clearly that the impact category contributing the most to the total impact –eutrophicationcomes from the wastewater treatment stage. Cl...

  11. Three Gorges Dam alters the Changjiang (Yangtze) river water cycle in the dry seasons: Evidence from H-O isotopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deng, Kai [School of Ocean and Earth Science, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092 (China); State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Yang, Shouye, E-mail: syyang@tongji.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061 (China); Lian, Ergang [School of Ocean and Earth Science, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092 (China); State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Li, Chao [State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Yang, Chengfan; Wei, Hailun [School of Ocean and Earth Science, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092 (China); State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China)

    2016-08-15

    As the largest hydropower project in the world, the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) has attracted great concerns in terms of its impact on the Changjiang (Yangtze) River and coastal marine environments. In this study, we measured or collected the H-O isotopic data of river water, groundwater and precipitation in the mid-lower Changjiang catchment during the dry seasons of recent years. The aim was to investigate the changes of river water cycle in response to the impoundment of the TGD. Isotopic evidences suggested that the mid-lower Changjiang river water was ultimately derived from precipitation, but dominated by the mixing of different water masses with variable sources and isotopic signals as well. The isotopic parameter “deuterium excess” (d-excess) yielded large fluctuations along the mid-lower mainstream during the initial stage of the TGD impoundment, which was inherited from the upstream water with inhomogeneous isotopic signals. However, as the reservoir water level rising to the present stage, small variability of d-excess was observed along the mid-lower mainstream. This discrepancy could be explained that the TGD impoundment had significantly altered the water cycle downstream the dam, with the rising water level increasing the residence time and enhancing the mixing of reservoir water derived from upstream. This eventually resulted in the homogenization of reservoir water, and thus small fluctuations of d-excess downstream the dam after the quasi-normal stage (2008 to present). We infer that the retention effect of large reservoirs has greatly buffered the d-excess natural variability of water cycle in large river systems. Nevertheless, more research attention has to be paid to the damming effect on the water cycle in the river, estuarine and coastal areas, especially during the dry seasons. - Highlights: • Stable H-O isotopes indicate the Changjiang river water cycle in dry seasons. • The isotopic parameter “d-excess” reveals the origins of

  12. Three Gorges Dam alters the Changjiang (Yangtze) river water cycle in the dry seasons: Evidence from H-O isotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deng, Kai; Yang, Shouye; Lian, Ergang; Li, Chao; Yang, Chengfan; Wei, Hailun

    2016-01-01

    As the largest hydropower project in the world, the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) has attracted great concerns in terms of its impact on the Changjiang (Yangtze) River and coastal marine environments. In this study, we measured or collected the H-O isotopic data of river water, groundwater and precipitation in the mid-lower Changjiang catchment during the dry seasons of recent years. The aim was to investigate the changes of river water cycle in response to the impoundment of the TGD. Isotopic evidences suggested that the mid-lower Changjiang river water was ultimately derived from precipitation, but dominated by the mixing of different water masses with variable sources and isotopic signals as well. The isotopic parameter “deuterium excess” (d-excess) yielded large fluctuations along the mid-lower mainstream during the initial stage of the TGD impoundment, which was inherited from the upstream water with inhomogeneous isotopic signals. However, as the reservoir water level rising to the present stage, small variability of d-excess was observed along the mid-lower mainstream. This discrepancy could be explained that the TGD impoundment had significantly altered the water cycle downstream the dam, with the rising water level increasing the residence time and enhancing the mixing of reservoir water derived from upstream. This eventually resulted in the homogenization of reservoir water, and thus small fluctuations of d-excess downstream the dam after the quasi-normal stage (2008 to present). We infer that the retention effect of large reservoirs has greatly buffered the d-excess natural variability of water cycle in large river systems. Nevertheless, more research attention has to be paid to the damming effect on the water cycle in the river, estuarine and coastal areas, especially during the dry seasons. - Highlights: • Stable H-O isotopes indicate the Changjiang river water cycle in dry seasons. • The isotopic parameter “d-excess” reveals the origins of

  13. Predicting impacts of increased CO{sub 2} and climate change on the water cycle and water quality in the semiarid James River Basin of the Midwestern USA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Yiping, E-mail: ywu@usgs.gov [ASRC Research and Technology Solutions, contractor to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, SD 57198 (United States); Liu, Shuguang, E-mail: sliu@usgs.gov [U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, SD 57198 (United States); Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007 (United States); Gallant, Alisa L., E-mail: gallant@usgs.gov [U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, SD 57198 (United States); Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007 (United States)

    2012-07-15

    Emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols from human activities continue to alter the climate and likely will have significant impacts on the terrestrial hydrological cycle and water quality, especially in arid and semiarid regions. We applied an improved Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to evaluate impacts of increased atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentration and potential climate change on the water cycle and nitrogen loads in the semiarid James River Basin (JRB) in the Midwestern United States. We assessed responses of water yield, soil water content, groundwater recharge, and nitrate nitrogen (NO{sub 3}-N) load under hypothetical climate-sensitivity scenarios in terms of CO{sub 2}, precipitation, and air temperature. We extended our predictions of the dynamics of these hydrological variables into the mid-21st century with downscaled climate projections integrated across output from six General Circulation Models. Our simulation results compared against the baseline period 1980 to 2009 suggest the JRB hydrological system is highly responsive to rising levels of CO{sub 2} concentration and potential climate change. Under our scenarios, substantial decrease in precipitation and increase in air temperature by the mid-21st century could result in significant reduction in water yield, soil water content, and groundwater recharge. Our model also estimated decreased NO{sub 3}-N load to streams, which could be beneficial, but a concomitant increase in NO{sub 3}-N concentration due to a decrease in streamflow likely would degrade stream water and threaten aquatic ecosystems. These results highlight possible risks of drought, water supply shortage, and water quality degradation in this basin. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We used a modified version of SWAT to more accurately simulate the effects of CO{sub 2}. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Our sensitivity analysis indicated this basin is very responsive to climate change. Black

  14. Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) and the Continental-scale International Project (GCIP)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vane, Deborah

    1993-01-01

    A discussion of the objectives of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) and the Continental-scale International Project (GCIP) is presented in vugraph form. The objectives of GEWEX are as follows: determine the hydrological cycle by global measurements; model the global hydrological cycle; improve observations and data assimilation; and predict response to environmental change. The objectives of GCIP are as follows: determine the time/space variability of the hydrological cycle over a continental-scale region; develop macro-scale hydrologic models that are coupled to atmospheric models; develop information retrieval schemes; and support regional climate change impact assessment.

  15. Integration between a thermophotovoltaic generator and an Organic Rankine Cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Pascale, Andrea; Ferrari, Claudio; Melino, Francesco; Morini, Mirko; Pinelli, Michele

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► A new energy system comprising a Thermo-Photo-Voltaic and Organic Rankine Cycle. ► An analytical model to calculate the performance of the system is introduced. ► The system shows promising results in terms of CHP performance. -- Abstract: The constant increase in energy need and the growing attention to the related environmental impact have given a boost to the development of new strategies in order to reduce the primary energy consumption and to improve its utilization. One of the possible strategies for achieving this aim is Combined Heat and Power (CHP) specially if coupled with the concept of on-site generation (also known as distributed generation). These approaches allow the reduction of fuel consumption and pollutant emissions and the increase of security in energy supply. This paper introduces the Thermophotovoltaic Organic Rankine Cycle Integrated System (TORCIS), an energy system integrating a ThermoPhotoVoltaic generator (TPV) and an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). This study represents the start-up of a research program which involves three research teams from IMEM – National Research Council, ENDIF – University of Ferrara and DIEM – University of Bologna. The aim of this research is the complete definition and the pre-prototyping characterization of this system covering all the unresolved issues in this field. More specifically, TPV is a system to convert the radiation emitted from an artificial heat source (i.e. the combustion of fuel) into electrical energy by the use of photovoltaic cells. In this system, the produced electrical power is strictly connected to the thermal one as their ratio is almost constant and cannot be changed without severe loss in performance. The coupling between TPV and ORC allows this limitation to be overcome by the realization of a CHP system which can be regulated with a large degree of freedom changing the ratio between the produced electrical and thermal power. In this study a thermodynamic

  16. Integrating life-cycle environmental and economic assessment with transportation and land use planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chester, Mikhail V; Nahlik, Matthew J; Fraser, Andrew M; Kimball, Mindy A; Garikapati, Venu M

    2013-01-01

    The environmental outcomes of urban form changes should couple life-cycle and behavioral assessment methods to better understand urban sustainability policy outcomes. Using Phoenix, Arizona light rail as a case study, an integrated transportation and land use life-cycle assessment (ITLU-LCA) framework is developed to assess the changes to energy consumption and air emissions from transit-oriented neighborhood designs. Residential travel, commercial travel, and building energy use are included and the framework integrates household behavior change assessment to explore the environmental and economic outcomes of policies that affect infrastructure. The results show that upfront environmental and economic investments are needed (through more energy-intense building materials for high-density structures) to produce long run benefits in reduced building energy use and automobile travel. The annualized life-cycle benefits of transit-oriented developments in Phoenix can range from 1.7 to 230 Gg CO2e depending on the aggressiveness of residential density. Midpoint impact stressors for respiratory effects and photochemical smog formation are also assessed and can be reduced by 1.2-170 Mg PM10e and 41-5200 Mg O3e annually. These benefits will come at an additional construction cost of up to $410 million resulting in a cost of avoided CO2e at $16-29 and household cost savings.

  17. Water Vapor Tracers as Diagnostics of the Regional Hydrologic Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosilovich, Michael G.; Schubert, Siegfried D.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    Numerous studies suggest that local feedback of surface evaporation on precipitation, or recycling, is a significant source of water for precipitation. Quantitative results on the exact amount of recycling have been difficult to obtain in view of the inherent limitations of diagnostic recycling calculations. The current study describes a calculation of the amount of local and remote geographic sources of surface evaporation for precipitation, based on the implementation of three-dimensional constituent tracers of regional water vapor sources (termed water vapor tracers, WVT) in a general circulation model. The major limitation on the accuracy of the recycling estimates is the veracity of the numerically simulated hydrological cycle, though we note that this approach can also be implemented within the context of a data assimilation system. In the WVT approach, each tracer is associated with an evaporative source region for a prognostic three-dimensional variable that represents a partial amount of the total atmospheric water vapor. The physical processes that act on a WVT are determined in proportion to those that act on the model's prognostic water vapor. In this way, the local and remote sources of water for precipitation can be predicted within the model simulation, and can be validated against the model's prognostic water vapor. As a demonstration of the method, the regional hydrologic cycles for North America and India are evaluated for six summers (June, July and August) of model simulation. More than 50% of the precipitation in the Midwestern United States came from continental regional sources, and the local source was the largest of the regional tracers (14%). The Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic regions contributed 18% of the water for Midwestern precipitation, but further analysis suggests that the greater region of the Tropical Atlantic Ocean may also contribute significantly. In most North American continental regions, the local source of precipitation is

  18. Domestic water uses: characterization of daily cycles in the north region of Portugal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matos, Cristina; Teixeira, Carlos A; Duarte, A A L S; Bentes, I

    2013-08-01

    Nowadays, there is an increasing discussion among specialists about water use efficiency and the best measures to improve it. In Portugal, there have been a few attempts to expand the implementation of in situ water reuse projects. However, there is a lack of information about indoor water uses and how they are influenced by sociodemographic characteristics. There are several studies that investigate per capita global water usage, but the partitioning of this volume per domestic device and daily cycles is yet unknown. Identified as one of the key questions in sustainable building design, the water end-use is of primary importance to the design of hydraulic networks in buildings. In order to overcome this lack, a quantitative characterization of daily water uses for each domestic device was performed, based on a weekly monitoring program in fifty-two different dwellings in the northern region of Portugal (Vila Real, Valpaços and Oporto). For forty of them, each water usage of different domestic devices of each dwelling was recorded. At the same time, the remaining twelve dwellings were also monitored in order to register the volume of water consumed in each utilization of each domestic device. This paper presents the results of this complete monitoring program, using collected data to establish indoor water use patterns for each domestic device, aiming to support a more realistic approach to residential water use. The daily cycles in the different cities, where the monitoring program was performed, are also presented, in order to evaluate possible influences of sociodemographic characteristics. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Visual Cycle Modulation as an Approach toward Preservation of Retinal Integrity

    OpenAIRE

    Bavik, Claes; Henry, Susan Hayes; Zhang, Yan; Mitts, Kyoko; McGinn, Tim; Budzynski, Ewa; Pashko, Andriy; Lieu, Kuo Lee; Zhong, Sheng; Blumberg, Bruce; Kuksa, Vladimir; Orme, Mark; Scott, Ian; Fawzi, Ahmad; Kubota, Ryo

    2015-01-01

    © 2015 Bavik et al. Increased exposure to blue or visible light, fluctuations in oxygen tension, and the excessive accumulation of toxic retinoid byproducts places a tremendous amount of stress on the retina. Reduction of visual chromophore biosynthesis may be an effective method to reduce the impact of these stressors and preserve retinal integrity. A class of non-retinoid, small molecule compounds that target key proteins of the visual cycle have been developed. The first candidate in this ...

  20. SWIM (Soil and Water Integrated Model)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Krysanova, V; Wechsung, F; Arnold, J; Srinivasan, R; Williams, J

    2000-12-01

    The model SWIM (Soil and Water Integrated Model) was developed in order to provide a comprehensive GIS-based tool for hydrological and water quality modelling in mesoscale and large river basins (from 100 to 10,000 km{sup 2}), which can be parameterised using regionally available information. The model was developed for the use mainly in Europe and temperate zone, though its application in other regions is possible as well. SWIM is based on two previously developed tools - SWAT and MATSALU (see more explanations in section 1.1). The model integrates hydrology, vegetation, erosion, and nutrient dynamics at the watershed scale. SWIM has a three-level disaggregation scheme 'basin - sub-basins - hydrotopes' and is coupled to the Geographic Information System GRASS (GRASS, 1993). A robust approach is suggested for the nitrogen and phosphorus modelling in mesoscale watersheds. SWIM runs under the UNIX environment. Model test and validation were performed sequentially for hydrology, crop growth, nitrogen and erosion in a number of mesoscale watersheds in the German part of the Elbe drainage basin. A comprehensive scheme of spatial disaggregation into sub-basins and hydrotopes combined with reasonable restriction on a sub-basin area allows performing the assessment of water resources and water quality with SWIM in mesoscale river basins. The modest data requirements represent an important advantage of the model. Direct connection to land use and climate data provides a possibility to use the model for analysis of climate change and land use change impacts on hydrology, agricultural production, and water quality. (orig.)

  1. Report on GeoData 2011 Workshop - Data Life Cycle, Integration and Citation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Signell, R.; Fox, P.

    2012-04-01

    The U.S. GeoData 2011 was inspired by a joint NSF-USGS identification of the need to hear from the broader 'geo' community on a variety of data related matters. While increasing attention needed to be paid to full life cycle of data, in the process of preparing and scoping the workshop two other hot issues were identified: integration and citation, giving the workshop three subject areas to delve into as well as to explore connections among them. Invited participants were drawn from all 'Geo' disciplines, and beyond, from information, computer and library science, from academia, agency and commercial organizations, and from student to senior faculty/ administrators. The workshop diversity provided a rich exchange of ideas, experiences and challenges for GeoData. Many key findings and recommendations have been extracted from the detail breakout discussions and syntheses during and after the workshop. Topical categories included: metadata, standards, standards-based tools, culture, collaboration and workforce. Key points that cut across all three-subject areas were: - A shift is needed within agencies to provide longer-term funding support, for communities to come together, remain coherent and to enable data stewardship, integration and citation within their communities and across to other communities (to the extent possible). - Agencies like USGS, NASA and NOAA must also play a key role in sustaining geoscience cyberinfrastructure by moving research advances into operations. - Community-wide standards and practices should build from demonstrated successes, be widely disseminated, and tools need to be developed to support them. - Education is critical to broader adoption. Marketing studies need to be conducted to provide the business case for full stewardship, integration and citation, and incentives are needed to encourage everyone to participate in making data integratable, citable, etc. While technology gaps are still evident across the three topic areas, there is

  2. Integration and validation testing for PhEDEx, DBS and DAS with the PhEDEx LifeCycle agent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boeser, C; Chwalek, T; Giffels, M; Kuznetsov, V; Wildish, T

    2014-01-01

    The ever-increasing amount of data handled by the CMS dataflow and workflow management tools poses new challenges for cross-validation among different systems within CMS experiment at LHC. To approach this problem we developed an integration test suite based on the LifeCycle agent, a tool originally conceived for stress-testing new releases of PhEDEx, the CMS data-placement tool. The LifeCycle agent provides a framework for customising the test workflow in arbitrary ways, and can scale to levels of activity well beyond those seen in normal running. This means we can run realistic performance tests at scales not likely to be seen by the experiment for some years, or with custom topologies to examine particular situations that may cause concern some time in the future. The LifeCycle agent has recently been enhanced to become a general purpose integration and validation testing tool for major CMS services. It allows cross-system integration tests of all three components to be performed in controlled environments, without interfering with production services. In this paper we discuss the design and implementation of the LifeCycle agent. We describe how it is used for small-scale debugging and validation tests, and how we extend that to large-scale tests of whole groups of sub-systems. We show how the LifeCycle agent can emulate the action of operators, physicists, or software agents external to the system under test, and how it can be scaled to large and complex systems.

  3. Integration and validation testing for PhEDEx, DBS and DAS with the PhEDEx LifeCycle agent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boeser, C.; Chwalek, T.; Giffels, M.; Kuznetsov, V.; Wildish, T.

    2014-06-01

    The ever-increasing amount of data handled by the CMS dataflow and workflow management tools poses new challenges for cross-validation among different systems within CMS experiment at LHC. To approach this problem we developed an integration test suite based on the LifeCycle agent, a tool originally conceived for stress-testing new releases of PhEDEx, the CMS data-placement tool. The LifeCycle agent provides a framework for customising the test workflow in arbitrary ways, and can scale to levels of activity well beyond those seen in normal running. This means we can run realistic performance tests at scales not likely to be seen by the experiment for some years, or with custom topologies to examine particular situations that may cause concern some time in the future. The LifeCycle agent has recently been enhanced to become a general purpose integration and validation testing tool for major CMS services. It allows cross-system integration tests of all three components to be performed in controlled environments, without interfering with production services. In this paper we discuss the design and implementation of the LifeCycle agent. We describe how it is used for small-scale debugging and validation tests, and how we extend that to large-scale tests of whole groups of sub-systems. We show how the LifeCycle agent can emulate the action of operators, physicists, or software agents external to the system under test, and how it can be scaled to large and complex systems.

  4. An Integrated Water Treatment Technology Solution for Sustainable Water Resource Management in the Marcellus Shale

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matthew Bruff; Ned Godshall; Karen Evans

    2011-04-30

    This Final Scientific/ Technical Report submitted with respect to Project DE-FE0000833 titled 'An Integrated Water Treatment Technology Solution for Sustainable Water Resource Management in the Marcellus Shale' in support of final reporting requirements. This final report contains a compilation of previous reports with the most current data in order to produce one final complete document. The goal of this research was to provide an integrated approach aimed at addressing the increasing water resource challenges between natural gas production and other water stakeholders in shale gas basins. The objective was to demonstrate that the AltelaRain{reg_sign} technology could be successfully deployed in the Marcellus Shale Basin to treat frac flow-back water. That objective has been successfully met.

  5. Economics of radioactive material transportation in the light-water reactor nuclear fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dupree, S.A.; O'Malley, L.C.

    1980-10-01

    This report presents estimates of certain transportation costs, in 1979 dollars, associated with Light-Water Reactor (LWR) once-through and recycle fuel cycles. Shipment of fuel, high-level waste and low-level waste was considered. Costs were estimated for existing or planned transportation systems and for recommended alternate systems, based on the assumption of mature fuel cycles. The annual radioactive material transportation costs required to support a nominal 1000-MW(e) LWR in a once-through cycle in which spent fuel is shipped to terminal storage or disposal were found to be approx. $490,000. Analogous costs for an average reactor operating in a fuel cycle with uranium and plutonim recycle were determined to be approx. $770,000. These results assume that certain recommended design changes will occur in radioactive material shipping systems as a mature fuel cycle evolves

  6. The Hamburg Oceanic Carbon Cycle Circulation Model. Version 1. Version 'HAMOCC2s' for long time integrations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heinze, C.; Maier-Reimer, E. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany)

    1999-11-01

    The Hamburg Ocean Carbon Cycle Circulation Model (HAMOCC, configuration HAMOCC2s) predicts the atmospheric carbon dioxide partial pressure (as induced by oceanic processes), production rates of biogenic particulate matter, and geochemical tracer distributions in the water column as well as the bioturbated sediment. Besides the carbon cycle this model version includes also the marine silicon cycle (silicic acid in the water column and the sediment pore waters, biological opal production, opal flux through the water column and opal sediment pore water interaction). The model is based on the grid and geometry of the LSG ocean general circulation model (see the corresponding manual, LSG=Large Scale Geostrophic) and uses a velocity field provided by the LSG-model in 'frozen' state. In contrast to the earlier version of the model (see Report No. 5), the present version includes a multi-layer sediment model of the bioturbated sediment zone, allowing for variable tracer inventories within the complete model system. (orig.)

  7. Ice haze, snow, and the Mars water cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kahn, R.

    1990-01-01

    Images of the limb of Mars reveal discrete cloud layers between 20 and 80 km above the surface. They appear to be composed of water ice and have a number of characteristics similar to hazes that produce diamond dust precipitation in the continental Antarctic of Earth. Temperatures from 170 K to 190 K are deduced at the condensation levels. Eddy diffusion coefficients around 10 5 cm 2 s -1 , typical of a nonconvecting atmosphere, are also derived in the haze regions at times when the atmosphere is relatively clear of dust. This parameter apparently changes by more than 3 orders of magnitude with season and local conditions, with important implications for vertical transport of water and dust and for models of photochemistry and middle atmosphere dynamics. For the cases studied, particle sizes vary systematically by more than an order of magnitude with condensation level, in such a way that the characteristic fall time for particles is always about 1 Mars day, which is the dominant thermal forcing time. The hazes may play a key role in the seasonal water cycle of Mars. They provide a mechanism for growing particles large enough to move atmospheric water closer to the surface, thereby improving the efficiency of adsorption and ice deposit formation in the regolith. This is particularly likely in late northern summer, when the rapid hemispheric decrease in atmospheric water vapor may reflect the precipitation of snow. This rapid decrease in late summer involves atmospheric water vapor in about the quantities needed to supply the mid-latitude regolith with the water that appears in the atmosphere early in the following spring

  8. A critical review of integrated urban water modelling – Urban drainage and beyond

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bach, Peter M.; Rauch, Wolfgang; Mikkelsen, Peter Steen

    2014-01-01

    considerations (e.g. data issues, model structure, computational and integration-related aspects), common methodology for model development (through a systems approach), calibration/optimisation and uncertainty are discussed, placing importance on pragmatism and parsimony. Integrated urban water models should......Modelling interactions in urban drainage, water supply and broader integrated urban water systems has been conceptually and logistically challenging as evidenced in a diverse body of literature, found to be confusing and intimidating to new researchers. This review consolidates thirty years...... of research (initially driven by interest in urban drainage modelling) and critically reflects upon integrated modelling in the scope of urban water systems. We propose a typology to classify integrated urban water system models at one of four ‘degrees of integration’ (followed by its exemplification). Key...

  9. Failure and life cycle evaluation of watering valves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalez, David M; Graciano, Sandy J; Karlstad, John; Leblanc, Mathias; Clark, Tom; Holmes, Scott; Reuter, Jon D

    2011-09-01

    Automated watering systems provide a reliable source of ad libitum water to animal cages. Our facility uses an automated water delivery system to support approximately 95% of the housed population (approximately 14,000 mouse cages). Drinking valve failure rates from 2002 through 2006 never exceeded the manufacturer standard of 0.1% total failure, based on monthly cage census and the number of floods. In 2007, we noted an increase in both flooding and cases of clinical dehydration in our mouse population. Using manufacturer's specifications for a water flow rate of 25 to 50 mL/min, we initiated a wide-scale screening of all valves used. During a 4-mo period, approximately 17,000 valves were assessed, of which 2200 failed according to scoring criteria (12.9% overall; 7.2% low flow; 1.6% no flow; 4.1% leaky). Factors leading to valve failures included residual metal shavings, silicone flash, introduced debris or bedding, and (most common) distortion of the autoclave-rated internal diaphragm and O-ring. Further evaluation revealed that despite normal autoclave conditions of heat, pressure, and steam, an extreme negative vacuum pull caused the valves' internal silicone components (diaphragm and O-ring) to become distorted and water-permeable. Normal flow rate often returned after a 'drying out' period, but components then reabsorbed water while on the animal rack or during subsequent autoclave cycles to revert to a variable flow condition. On the basis of our findings, we recalibrated autoclaves and initiated a preventative maintenance program to mitigate the risk of future valve failure.

  10. Solar control on the cloud liquid water content and integrated water vapor associated with monsoon rainfall over India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maitra, Animesh; Saha, Upal; Adhikari, Arpita

    2014-12-01

    A long-term observation over three solar cycles indicates a perceptible influence of solar activity on rainfall and associated parameters in the Indian region. This paper attempts to reveal the solar control on the cloud liquid water content (LWC) and integrated water vapor (IWV) along with Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) rainfall during the period of 1977-2012 over nine different Indian stations. Cloud LWC and IWV are positively correlated with each other. An anti-correlation is observed between the Sunspot Number (SSN) and ISM rainfall for a majority of the stations and a poor positive correlation obtained for other locations. Cloud LWC and IWV possess positive correlations with Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) and SSN respectively for most of the stations. The wavelet analyses of SSN, ISM rainfall, cloud LWC and IWV have been performed to investigate the periodic characteristics of climatic parameters and also to indicate the varying relationship of solar activity with ISM rainfall, cloud LWC and IWV. SSN, ISM rainfall and IWV are found to have a peak at around 10.3 years whereas a dip is observed at that particular period for cloud LWC.

  11. A Life-cycle Approach to Improve the Sustainability of Rural Water Systems in Resource-Limited Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas Stacey

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available A WHO and UNICEF joint report states that in 2008, 884 million people lacked access to potable drinking water. A life-cycle approach to develop potable water systems may improve the sustainability for such systems, however, a review of the literature shows that such an approach has primarily been used for urban systems located in resourced countries. Although urbanization is increasing globally, over 40 percent of the world’s population is currently rural with many considered poor. In this paper, we present a first step towards using life-cycle assessment to develop sustainable rural water systems in resource-limited countries while pointing out the needs. For example, while there are few differences in costs and environmental impacts for many improved rural water system options, a system that uses groundwater with community standpipes is substantially lower in cost that other alternatives with a somewhat lower environmental inventory. However, a LCA approach shows that from institutional as well as community and managerial perspectives, sustainability includes many other factors besides cost and environment that are a function of the interdependent decision process used across the life cycle of a water system by aid organizations, water user committees, and household users. These factors often present the biggest challenge to designing sustainable rural water systems for resource-limited countries.

  12. Challenges of communicating integrated water resource management in Zimbabwe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marimbe, S.; Manzungu, E.

    2003-01-01

    With the promulgation of the 1998 Water Act the Government of Zimbabwe took a decisive step to reform the country's water sector, to bring it in line with contemporary socio-political realities obtaining in the country, and in tune with the philosophy of integrated water resources management.

  13. Thermodynamic analysis of the use a chemical heat pump to link a supercritical water-cooled nuclear reactor and a thermochemical water-splitting cycle for hydrogen production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Granovskii, Mikhail; Dincer, Ibrahim; Rosen, Marc A.; Pioro, Igor

    2008-01-01

    Increases in the power generation efficiency of nuclear power plants (NPPs) are mainly limited by the permissible temperatures in nuclear reactors and the corresponding temperatures and pressures of the coolants in reactors. Coolant parameters are limited by the corrosion rates of materials and nuclear-reactor safety constraints. The advanced construction materials for the next generation of CANDU reactors, which employ supercritical water (SCW) as a coolant and heat carrier, permit improved 'steam' parameters (outlet temperatures up to 625degC and pressures of about 25 MPa). An increase in the temperature of steam allows it to be utilized in thermochemical water splitting cycles to produce hydrogen. These methods are considered by many to be among the most efficient ways to produce hydrogen from water and to have advantages over traditional low-temperature water electrolysis. However, even lower temperature water splitting cycles (Cu-Cl, UT-3, etc.) require an intensive heat supply at temperatures higher than 550-600degC. A sufficient increase in the heat transfer from the nuclear reactor to a thermochemical water splitting cycle, without jeopardizing nuclear reactor safety, might be effectively achieved by application of a heat pump, which increases the temperature of the heat supplied by virtue of a cyclic process driven by mechanical or electrical work. Here, a high-temperature chemical heat pump, which employs the reversible catalytic methane conversion reaction, is proposed. The reaction shift from exothermic to endothermic and back is achieved by a change of the steam concentration in the reaction mixture. This heat pump, coupled with the second steam cycle of a SCW nuclear power generation plant on one side and a thermochemical water splitting cycle on the other, increases the temperature of the 'nuclear' heat and, consequently, the intensity of heat transfer into the water splitting cycle. A comparative preliminary thermodynamic analysis is conducted of

  14. Surveillance and monitoring experiences of chemical water-steam cycle in combined-cycle power plants (CCCs in Spanish acronyms) for early diagnosis of failures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santaolalla losada, E.

    2010-01-01

    In the present work is made a brief comparative review of the treatments effected in water of the cycle, their purpose, types, monitoring and tracking. Moreover, are described the most important failure mechanisms that can be related to the chemistry of cycle with the aim to establish monitoring guidelines to increase the reliability of the power plant and enable an early diagnosis. (Author)

  15. Energy-exergy analysis of compressor pressure ratio effects on thermodynamic performance of ammonia water combined cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohtaram, Soheil; Chen, Wen; Zargar, T.; Lin, Ji

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Energy exergy analysis is conducted to find the effects of RP. • EES software is utilized to perform the detailed energy-exergy analyses. • Effects investigated through energy and exergy destruction, enthalpy, yields, etc. • Detailed results are reported showing the performance of gas and combined cycle. - Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of compressor pressure ratio (RP) on the thermodynamic performances of ammonia-water combined cycle through energy and exergy destruction, enthalpy temperature, yields, and flow velocity. The energy-exergy analysis is conducted on the ammonia water combined cycle and the Rankine cycle, respectively. Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software is utilized to perform the detailed analyses. Values and ratios regarding heat drop and exergy loss are presented in separate tables for different equipments. The results obtained by the energy-exergy analysis indicate that by increasing the pressure ratio compressor, exergy destruction of high-pressure compressors, intercooler, gas turbine and the special produced work of gas turbine cycle constantly increase and the exergy destruction of recuperator, in contrast, decreases continuously. In addition, the least amount of input fuel into the combined cycle is observed when the pressure ratio is no less than 7.5. Subsequently, the efficiency of the cycle in gas turbine and combined cycle is reduced because the fuel input into the combined cycle is increased.

  16. Integrating the simulation of domestic water demand behaviour to an urban water model using agent based modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koutiva, Ifigeneia; Makropoulos, Christos

    2015-04-01

    The urban water system's sustainable evolution requires tools that can analyse and simulate the complete cycle including both physical and cultural environments. One of the main challenges, in this regard, is the design and development of tools that are able to simulate the society's water demand behaviour and the way policy measures affect it. The effects of these policy measures are a function of personal opinions that subsequently lead to the formation of people's attitudes. These attitudes will eventually form behaviours. This work presents the design of an ABM tool for addressing the social dimension of the urban water system. The created tool, called Urban Water Agents' Behaviour (UWAB) model, was implemented, using the NetLogo agent programming language. The main aim of the UWAB model is to capture the effects of policies and environmental pressures to water conservation behaviour of urban households. The model consists of agents representing urban households that are linked to each other creating a social network that influences the water conservation behaviour of its members. Household agents are influenced as well by policies and environmental pressures, such as drought. The UWAB model simulates behaviour resulting in the evolution of water conservation within an urban population. The final outcome of the model is the evolution of the distribution of different conservation levels (no, low, high) to the selected urban population. In addition, UWAB is implemented in combination with an existing urban water management simulation tool, the Urban Water Optioneering Tool (UWOT) in order to create a modelling platform aiming to facilitate an adaptive approach of water resources management. For the purposes of this proposed modelling platform, UWOT is used in a twofold manner: (1) to simulate domestic water demand evolution and (2) to simulate the response of the water system to the domestic water demand evolution. The main advantage of the UWAB - UWOT model

  17. A Cryptic Sulfur Cycle in Oxygen-Minimum-Zone Waters off the Chilean Coast

    OpenAIRE

    Canfield, D. E.; Thamdrup, B.; De Brabandere, L.; Dalsgaard, T.; Revsbech, N. P.; Ulloa, O.; Stewart, Frank J.; DeLong, Edward Francis

    2010-01-01

    Nitrogen cycling is normally thought to dominate the biogeochemistry and microbial ecology of oxygen-minimum zones in marine environments. Through a combination of molecular techniques and process rate measurements, we showed that both sulfate reduction and sulfide oxidation contribute to energy flux and elemental cycling in oxygen-free waters off the coast of northern Chile. These processes may have been overlooked because in nature, the sulfide produced by sulfate reduction immediately oxid...

  18. Integrated Water Resource Management and Energy Requirements for Water Supply in the Copiapó River Basin, Chile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco Suárez

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Population and industry growth in dry climates are fully tied to significant increase in water and energy demands. Because water affects many economic, social and environmental aspects, an interdisciplinary approach is needed to solve current and future water scarcity problems, and to minimize energy requirements in water production. Such a task requires integrated water modeling tools able to couple surface water and groundwater, which allow for managing complex basins where multiple stakeholders and water users face an intense competition for limited freshwater resources. This work develops an integrated water resource management model to investigate the water-energy nexus in reducing water stress in the Copiapó River basin, an arid, highly vulnerable basin in northern Chile. The model was utilized to characterize groundwater and surface water resources, and water demand and uses. Different management scenarios were evaluated to estimate future resource availability, and compared in terms of energy requirements and costs for desalinating seawater to eliminate the corresponding water deficit. Results show a basin facing a very complex future unless measures are adopted. When a 30% uniform reduction of water consumption is achieved, 70 GWh over the next 30 years are required to provide the energy needed to increase the available water through seawater desalination. In arid basins, this energy could be supplied by solar energy, thus addressing water shortage problems through integrated water resource management combined with new technologies of water production driven by renewable energy sources.

  19. A new indicator framework for quantifying the intensity of the terrestrial water cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huntington, Thomas G.; Weiskel, Peter K.; Wolock, David M.; McCabe, Gregory J.

    2018-04-01

    A quantitative framework for characterizing the intensity of the water cycle over land is presented, and illustrated using a spatially distributed water-balance model of the conterminous United States (CONUS). We approach water cycle intensity (WCI) from a landscape perspective; WCI is defined as the sum of precipitation (P) and actual evapotranspiration (AET) over a spatially explicit landscape unit of interest, averaged over a specified time period (step) of interest. The time step may be of any length for which data or simulation results are available (e.g., sub-daily to multi-decadal). We define the storage-adjusted runoff (Q‧) as the sum of actual runoff (Q) and the rate of change in soil moisture storage (ΔS/Δt, positive or negative) during the time step of interest. The Q‧ indicator is demonstrated to be mathematically complementary to WCI, in a manner that allows graphical interpretation of their relationship. For the purposes of this study, the indicators were demonstrated using long-term, spatially distributed model simulations with an annual time step. WCI was found to increase over most of the CONUS between the 1945 to 1974 and 1985 to 2014 periods, driven primarily by increases in P. In portions of the western and southeastern CONUS, Q‧ decreased because of decreases in Q and soil moisture storage. Analysis of WCI and Q‧ at temporal scales ranging from sub-daily to multi-decadal could improve understanding of the wide spectrum of hydrologic responses that have been attributed to water cycle intensification, as well as trends in those responses.

  20. Partitioning the effects of Global Warming on the Hydrological Cycle with Stable Isotopes in Water Vapor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dee, S. G.; Russell, J. M.; Nusbaumer, J. M.; Konecky, B. L.; Buenning, N. H.; Lee, J. E.; Noone, D.

    2016-12-01

    General circulation models (GCMs) suggest that much of the global hydrological cycle's response to anthropogenic warming will be caused by increased lower-tropospheric water vapor concentrations and associated feedbacks. However, fingerprinting changes in the global hydrological cycle due to anthropogenic warming remains challenging. Held and Soden (2006) predicted that as lower-tropospheric water vapor increases, atmospheric circulation will weaken as climate warms to maintain the surface energy budget. Unfortunately, the strength of this feedback and the fallout for other branches of the hydrological cycle is difficult to constrain in situ or with GCMs alone. We demonstrate the utility of stable hydrogen isotope ratios in atmospheric water vapor to quantitatively trace changes in atmospheric circulation and convective mass flux in a warming world. We compare water isotope-enabled GCM experiments for control (present-day) CO2 vs. high CO2(2x, 4x) atmospheres in two GCMs, IsoGSM and iCAM5. We evaluate changes in the distribution of water vapor, vertical velocity (omega), and the stream function between these experiments in order to identify spatial patterns of circulation change over the tropical Pacific (where vertical motion is strong) and map the δD of water vapor associated with atmospheric warming. We also probe the simulations to isolate isotopic signatures associated with water vapor residence time, precipitation efficiency, divergence, and cloud physics. We show that there are robust mechanisms that moisten the troposphere and weaken convective mass flux, and that these mechanisms can be tracked using the δD of water vapor. Further, we find that these responses are most pronounced in the upper troposphere. These findings provide a framework to develop new metrics for the detection of global warming impacts to the hydrological cycle. Further, currently available satellite missions measure δD in the atmospheric boundary layer, the free atmosphere, or the

  1. Integrated water and waste management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Harremoës, P.

    1997-01-01

    The paper discusses concepts and developments within water quantity, water quality, integrated environmental assessment and wastewater treatment. The historical and the global perspectives are used in the discussion of the role of engineers in today's society. Sustainabilty and ethics are taken...... into the analysis. There is a need for re-evaluation of the resource, society and environment scenarios with a view to the totality of the system and with proper analysis of the flow of water and matter through society. Among the tools are input-output analysis and cradle to grave analysis, in combination...... with compilation of identified sets of values with respect to sustainable use of resources and ultimate fate of the environment and quality of life. The role of the engineer is to make available to society as many technical options as possible - and to put these options into the proper perspective in relation...

  2. Status of the Integral Fast Reactor fuel cycle demonstration and waste management practices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benedict, R.W.; Goff, K.M.; McFarlane, H.F.

    1994-01-01

    Over the past few years, Argonne National Laboratory has been preparing for the demonstration of the fuel cycle for the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR), an advanced reactor concept that takes advantage of the properties of metallic fuel and liquid metal cooling to offer significant improvements in reactor safety and operations, fuel-cycle economics, environmental protection, and safeguards. The IFR fuel cycle, which will be demonstrated at Argonne-West in Idaho, employs a pyrometallurgical process using molten salts and liquid metals to recover actinides from spent fuel. The required facility modifications and process equipment for the demonstration are nearing completion. Their status and the results from initial fuel fabrication work, including the waste management aspects, are presented. Additionally, estimated compositions of the various process waste streams have been made, and characterization and treatment methods are being developed. The status of advanced waste processing equipment being designed and fabricated is described

  3. Preliminary study or RSG-GAS reactor fuel element integrity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soejoedi, A.; Tarigan, A.; Sujalmo; Prayoga, S.; Suhadi

    1996-01-01

    After 8 years of operation, RSG-GAS was able to reach 15 cycles of reactor operation with 116 irradiated fuels, whereas 49 fuels were produced by NUKEM; and the other 67 were produced by PEBN-BATAN. At the 15 T h cycles, it have been used 40 standard fuels and 8 control fuels (Forty standard fuels and eight control fuels have been used in the 15 t h core cycles). Several activities have been performed in the reactor, to investigate the fuel integrity, among of them are: .fuel visual test with under water camera, which the results were recorder in the video cassette, primary water quality test during, reactor operation, fuel failure detector system examination and compared the PIE results in the Radiometallurgy Installation (RMI). The results showed that the fuel integrity, before and after irradiation, have still good performance and the fission products have not been released yet

  4. Emerging Contaminants in US Drinking Water: Do you know where your water's been?

    Science.gov (United States)

    The drinking water and wastewater cycles are integrally linked. Chemicals that are present in household wastewater may be sufficiently mobile and persistent to survive on-site or municipal wastewater treatment and post-discharge environmental processes. Such compounds have the ...

  5. Energy-analysis of the total nuclear energy cycle based on light water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kistemaker, J.

    1975-01-01

    The energy economy of the total nuclear energy cycle is investigated. Attention is paid to the importance of fossil fuel saving by using nuclear energy. The energy analysis is based on the construction and operation of power plants with an electric output of 1000MWe. Light water moderated reactors with a 2.7 - 3.2% enriched uranium core are considered. Additionally, the whole fuel cycle including ore winning and refining, enrichment and fuel element manufacturing and reprocessing has been taken into account. Neither radioactive waste storage problems nor safety problems related to the nuclear energy cycle and safeguarding have been dealt with, as exhaustive treatments can be found elswhere

  6. Eco-hydrological process simulations within an integrated surface water-groundwater model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Butts, Michael; Loinaz, Maria Christina; Bauer-Gottwein, Peter

    2014-01-01

    Integrated water resources management requires tools that can quantify changes in groundwater, surface water, water quality and ecosystem health, as a result of changes in catchment management. To address these requirements we have developed an integrated eco-hydrological modelling framework...... that allows hydrologists and ecologists to represent the complex and dynamic interactions occurring between surface water, ground water, water quality and freshwater ecosystems within a catchment. We demonstrate here the practical application of this tool to two case studies where the interaction of surface...... water and ground water are important for the ecosystem. In the first, simulations are performed to understand the importance of surface water-groundwater interactions for a restored riparian wetland on the Odense River in Denmark as part of a larger investigation of water quality and nitrate retention...

  7. Life Cycle Thinking and Integrated Product Deliveries in renovation projects: Extending the concept of Integrated Product Deliveries with Product Service Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schipull Kauschen, Jan

    2012-01-01

    on renovation projects from Denmark, using different forms of IPDs for façade renovation and discusses the different stakeholder’s perspectives on life cycle thinking and their interests and values regarding sustainable building. Furthermore is the concept of Product Service Systems (PSS) as a valuable...... IPDs with regard to longevity and adaptability. CONCLUSION The new type of service-focused IPD and the related life-cycle responsibility (development, building phase, maintenance and dismantling/adaption/recycling) creates incentive to integrate life cycle thinking into the development process of IPDs......, resulting in more sustainable building solutions with a greater extend of positive environmental, economical and social impacts. The research presented will also show the importance of adaption and configuration of these complex building components by architects and planners, as they will have a great...

  8. Ice haze, snow, and the Mars water cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahn, Ralph

    1990-01-01

    Light curves and extinction profiles derived from Martian limb observations are used to constrain the atmospheric temperature structure in regions of the atmosphere with thin haze and to analyze the haze particle properties and atmospheric eddy mixing. Temperature between 170 and 190 K are obtained for three cases at levels in the atmosphere ranging from 20 to 50 km. Eddy diffusion coefficients around 100,000 sq cm/s, typical of a nonconvecting atmosphere, are derived in the haze regions at times when the atmosphere is relatively clear of dust. This parameter apparently changes by more than three orders of magnitude with season and local conditions. The derived particle size parameter varies systematically by more than an order of magnitude with condensation level, in such a way that the characteristic fall time is always about one Martian day. Ice hazes provide a mechanism for scavenging water vapor in the thin Mars atmosphere and may play a key role in the seasonal cycle of water on Mars.

  9. ITER fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leger, D.; Dinner, P.; Yoshida, H.

    1991-01-01

    Resulting from the Conceptual Design Activities (1988-1990) by the parties involved in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, this document summarizes the design requirements and the Conceptual Design Descriptions for each of the principal subsystems and design options of the ITER Fuel Cycle conceptual design. The ITER Fuel Cycle system provides for the handling of all tritiated water and gas mixtures on ITER. The system is subdivided into subsystems for fuelling, primary (torus) vacuum pumping, fuel processing, blanket tritium recovery, and common processes (including isotopic separation, fuel management and storage, and processes for detritiation of solid, liquid, and gaseous wastes). After an introduction describing system function and conceptual design procedure, a summary of the design is presented including a discussion of scope and main parameters, and the fuel design options for fuelling, plasma chamber vacuum pumping, fuel cleanup, blanket tritium recovery, and auxiliary and common processes. Design requirements are defined and design descriptions are given for the various subsystems (fuelling, plasma vacuum pumping, fuel cleanup, blanket tritium recovery, and auxiliary/common processes). The document ends with sections on fuel cycle design integration, fuel cycle building layout, safety considerations, a summary of the research and development programme, costing, and conclusions. Refs, figs and tabs

  10. A Novel Pseudo-PMOS Integrated ISFET Device for Water Quality Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pawan Whig

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents a performance analysis of novel CMOS Integrated pseudo-PMOS ISFET (PP-ISFET having zero static power dissipation. The main focus is on simulation of power and performance analysis along with the comparison with existing devices, which is used for water quality monitoring. The conventional devices, generally used, consume high power and are not stable for long term monitoring. The conventional device has the drawbacks of low value of slew rate, high power consumption, and nonlinear characteristics, but in this novel design, due to zero static power, less load capacitance on input signals, faster switching, fewer transistors, and higher circuit density, the device exhibits a better slew rate and piecewise linear characteristics and is seen consuming low power of the order of 30 mW. The proposed circuit reduces total power consumption per cycle, increases the speed of operation, is fairly linear, and is simple to implement.

  11. Earth Observation and Life Cycle Assessment in Support of a Sustainable and Innovative Water Sector. RESEWAM-O, Remote Sensing for Water Management Optimisation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopez-Baeza, Ernesto

    2016-07-01

    RESEWAM-O, Remote Sensing for Water Management Optimisation, a European Innovation Partnership on Water (EIP-Water) Action Group is an innovation opportunity service, par excellence envisaging the provision of a versatile methodology -in principle applicable in all sensitive areas in the world- that integrates the knowledge, diagnostic and monitoring capacity of remote sensing with optimum engineering solutions and efficient financial tools. For the first time, the problem (water scarcity) and the solution (water resources connections, treatment plants, preserving freshwater supplies for urban uses that will be connected through a feasibility plan) are approached together within the same vision, also with a life cycle thinking perspective. The use of reclaimed water has been noted as one possible alternative water source in water scarce regions that may be appropriate to consider within water scarcity planning. There certainly exist solutions related to the use of reclaimed water to develop smart agriculture initiatives, but RESEWAM-O's premise is to create a new methodology that combines remote sensing knowledge and technology to identify, classify and diagnose potential sensitive areas, financial tools including feasibility analyses to know the real cost and the benefit from the project, and engineering studies to restore or create water infrastructures, naturally taking into account all water resources that are available in the area or in neighbouring areas. Similarly, we know about initiatives to recover or recharge aquifer storage with reclaimed wastewater but, as another step forward, RESEWAM-O will use reclaimed water from small wastewater treatment facilities in the rural areas to offer agricultural farmers/cooperatives the possibility of actually reusing this water, thus preserving their freshwater for urban uses. The final objective is to put together agricultural farmers/cooperatives, companies suppliers of water services and the administration to

  12. Wastes and waste management in the uranium fuel cycle for light water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Costello, J.M.

    1975-08-01

    The manufacturing processes in the uranium fuel cycle for light water reactors have been described with particular reference to the chemical and radiological wastes produced and the waste management procedures employed. The problems and possible solutions of ultimate disposal of high activity fission products and transuranium elements from reprocessing of irradiated fuel have been reviewed. Quantities of wastes arising in each stage of the fuel cycle have been summarised. Wastes arising from reactor operation have been described briefly. (author)

  13. Water Vapor Tacers as Diagnostics of the Regional Atmospheric Hydrologic Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosilovich, Michael G.; Schubert, Siegfried D.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    Understanding of the local and remote sources of water vapor can be a valuable diagnostic in understanding the regional atmospheric hydrologic cycle, especially in North America where moisture transport and local evaporation are important sources of water for precipitation. In the present study, we have implemented passive tracers as prognostic variables to follow water vapor evaporated in predetermined regions until the water tracer precipitates. All evaporative sources of water are accounted for by tracers, and the water vapor variable provides the validation of the tracer water and the formulation of the sources and sinks. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites General Circulation Model (GEOS GCM) is used to simulate several summer periods to determine the source regions of precipitation for the United States and India. Using this methodology, a detailed analysis of the recycling of water, interannual variability of the sources of water and links to the Great Plains low-level jet and North American monsoon will be presented. Potential uses in GCM sensitivity studies, predictability studies and data assimilation especially regarding the North American monsoon and GEWEX America Prediction Project (GAPP) will be discussed.

  14. Integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach in water governance in Lao PDR. Cases of hydropower and irrigation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jusi, S.

    2013-06-01

    Water resources are essential for socio-economic development, enabling, for example, hydropower and irrigation. Water resources management and development are expected to become more complex and challenging and to involve new uncertainties as water development increases and accelerates in different water use sectors and is coupled with increasing population, urbanisation, and climate change. Hence, water resources need to be managed in more integrated and sustainable way, both in Lao PDR and in the whole Mekong Basin area. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has become a universal paradigm of enhancing and promoting sustainable and equal water resources management and use. However, integrating water functions is a very complex task as it involves many actors with different interests. This research analyses the application of the IWRM approach and the related principles of integration, decentralisation, and participation in the development and management of water resources in Laotian water regime at the water use sectors of hydropower and irrigation. A case study approach was used for the research and for the four appended articles in order to examine hydropower and irrigation sectors, institutional structures, and processes of institutional change - Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at constitutional, organisational, and operational levels. The constitutional level refers to water policy and law, organisational to water resource management, and operational to water use. The Management and Transition Framework (MTF) and one of its components, Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, have been used for the research to explore processes, institutions, and actors related to water governance reforms including the adoption of the IWRM paradigm, and to increase understanding of the strengths and weaknesses related to different institutional contexts and levels in Laotian water management. Through Action Situations, IAD and MTF have

  15. Life-cycle testing of receiving waters with Ceriodaphnia dubia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stewart, A.J.; Beane, B.K.

    1995-01-01

    Seven-day tests with Ceriodaphnia are commonly used to estimate the toxicity of effluents or receiving waters, but may yield no toxicity outcomes even when pollutants are present (a possible type II error). The authors conducted two sets of full life-cycle tests with C. dubia to (1) see if tests with longer exposure periods revealed evidence for toxicity that might not be evident from shorter tests, and (2) determine the relative importance of water quality versus food as factors influencing C. dubia reproduction. In the first set of tests, daphnids were reared in diluted mineral water (control), water from a stream impacted by coal fly-ash, or water from a mercury-contaminated retention basin. The second set of tests used water from the retention basin only, but this water was either filtered or not filtered, and food was either added or not added. C. dubia survival and reproduction did not differ much among the three waters in the first set of tests. However, both parameters were strongly affected by the filtering and food-addition treatments in the second set of tests. Thus, C. dubia seems to be moderately insensitive to general water-quality factors, but quite sensitive to food-related parameters. Regression analysis showed that the predictability of life-time reproduction of C. dubia from 7-day test results was low in five of six cases. The increase in predictability as a function of test duration also differed among water types (first set of tests), and among treatments (second set of tests). Thus, 7-day tests with C. dubia may be used to quantify water-quality problems, but it may not be possible to reliably extrapolate the results of such tests to longer time scales

  16. Life cycle assessment of a commercial rainwater harvesting system compared with a municipal water supply system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Building upon previously published life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies, we conducted an LCA of a commercial rainwater harvesting (RWH) system and compared it to a municipal water supply (MWS) system adapted to Washington, D.C. Eleven life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) indi...

  17. New methodology in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) of waste water treatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Henrik Fred; Wenzel, Henrik; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

    chose among different waste water treatments? Which ones are most beneficial in a holistic perspective? Here, the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach as a decision supporting tool may help because its goal is to allow quantification and direct comparison of characteristics as diverse as energy...

  18. Integrated hydrological modeling of the North China Plain and implications for sustainable water management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Qin

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Groundwater overdraft has caused fast water level decline in the North China Plain (NCP since the 1980s. Although many hydrological models have been developed for the NCP in the past few decades, most of them deal only with the groundwater component or only at local scales. In the present study, a coupled surface water–groundwater model using the MIKE SHE code has been developed for the entire alluvial plain of the NCP. All the major processes in the land phase of the hydrological cycle are considered in the integrated modeling approach. The most important parameters of the model are first identified by a sensitivity analysis process and then calibrated for the period 2000–2005. The calibrated model is validated for the period 2006–2008 against daily observations of groundwater heads. The simulation results compare well with the observations where acceptable values of root mean square error (RMSE (most values lie below 4 m and correlation coefficient (R (0.36–0.97 are obtained. The simulated evapotranspiration (ET is then compared with the remote sensing (RS-based ET data to further validate the model simulation. The comparison result with a R2 value of 0.93 between the monthly averaged values of simulated actual evapotranspiration (AET and RS AET for the entire NCP shows a good performance of the model. The water balance results indicate that more than 70% of water leaving the flow system is attributed to the ET component, of which about 0.25% is taken from the saturated zone (SZ; about 29% comes from pumping, including irrigation pumping and non-irrigation pumping (net pumping. Sustainable water management analysis of the NCP is conducted using the simulation results obtained from the integrated model. An effective approach to improve water use efficiency in the NCP is by reducing the actual ET, e.g. by introducing water-saving technologies and changes in cropping.

  19. The GLOBE Carbon Project: Integrating the Science of Carbon Cycling and Climate Change into K-12 Classrooms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ollinger, S. V.; Silverberg, S.; Albrechtova, J.; Freuder, R.; Gengarelly, L.; Martin, M.; Randolph, G.; Schloss, A.

    2007-12-01

    The global carbon cycle is a key regulator of the Earth's climate and is central to the normal function of ecological systems. Because rising atmospheric CO2 is the principal cause of climate change, understanding how ecosystems cycle and store carbon has become an extremely important issue. In recent years, the growing importance of the carbon cycle has brought it to the forefront of both science and environmental policy. The need for better scientific understanding has led to establishment of numerous research programs, such as the North American Carbon Program (NACP), which seeks to understand controls on carbon cycling under present and future conditions. Parallel efforts are greatly needed to integrate state-of-the-art science on the carbon cycle and its importance to climate with education and outreach efforts that help prepare society to make sound decisions on energy use, carbon management and climate change adaptation. Here, we present a new effort that joins carbon cycle scientists with the International GLOBE Education program to develop carbon cycle activities for K-12 classrooms. The GLOBE Carbon Cycle project is focused on bringing cutting edge research and research techniques in the field of terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling into the classroom. Students will collect data about their school field site through existing protocols of phenology, land cover and soils as well as new protocols focused on leaf traits, and ecosystem growth and change. They will also participate in classroom activities to understand carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, these will include plant- a-plant experiments, hands-on demonstrations of various concepts, and analysis of collected data. In addition to the traditional GLOBE experience, students will have the opportunity to integrate their data with emerging and expanding technologies including global and local carbon cycle models and remote sensing toolkits. This program design will allow students to explore research

  20. Integrated operation and management system for a 700MW combined cycle power plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shiroumaru, I. (Yanai Power Plant Construction Office, Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc., 1575-5 Yanai-Miyamoto-Shiohama, Yanai-shi, Yamaguchi-ken (JP)); Iwamiya, T. (Omika Works, Hitachi, Ltd., 5-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki-ken (JP)); Fukai, M. (Hitachi Works, Hitachi, Ltd., 3-1-1 Saiwai-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki-ken (JP))

    1992-03-01

    Yanai Power Plant of the Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc. (Yamaguchi Pref., Japan) is in the process of constructing a 1400MW state-of-the-art combined cycle power plant. The first phase, a 350MW power plant, started operation on a commercial basis in November, 1990. This power plant has achieved high efficiency and high operability, major features of a combined cycle power plant. The integrated operation and management system of the power plant takes care of operation, maintenance, control of general business, etc., and was built using the latest computer and digital control and communication technologies. This paper reports that it is expected that this system will enhance efficient operation and management for the power plant.

  1. A study of implementing In-Cycle-Shuffle strategy to a decommissioning boiling water reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Chung-Yuan; Tung, Wu-Hsiung; Yaur, Shyun-Jung

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • A loading pattern strategy ICS (In-Cycle-Shuffle) was implemented to the last cycle of the boiling water reactor. • The best power sharing distribution and ICS timing was found. • A new parameter “Burnup sharing” is presented to evaluate ICS strategy. - Abstract: In this paper, a loading pattern strategy In-Cycle-Shuffle (ICS) is implemented to the last cycle of the boiling water reactor (BWR) before decommissioning to save the fuel cycle cost. This method needs a core shutdown during the operation of a cycle to change the loading pattern to gain more reactivity. The reactivity model is used to model the ICS strategy in order to find out the best ICS timing and the optimum power sharing distribution before ICS and after ICS. Several parameters of reactivity model are modified and the effect of burnable poison, gadolinium (Gd), is considered in this research. Three cases are presented and it is found that the best ICS timing is at about two-thirds of total cycle length no matter the poisoning effect of Gd is considered or not. According to the optimum power sharing distribution result, it is suggested to decrease the once burnt power and increase the thrice burnt fuel power as much as possible before ICS. After ICS, it is suggested to increase the positive reactivity fuel power and decrease the thrice burnt fuel power as much as possible. A new parameter “Burnup sharing” is presented to evaluate the special case whose EOC power weighting factor and the burnup accumulation factor in the reactivity model are quite different.

  2. A study of implementing In-Cycle-Shuffle strategy to a decommissioning boiling water reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Chung-Yuan, E-mail: tuckjason@iner.gov.tw; Tung, Wu-Hsiung; Yaur, Shyun-Jung

    2017-06-15

    Highlights: • A loading pattern strategy ICS (In-Cycle-Shuffle) was implemented to the last cycle of the boiling water reactor. • The best power sharing distribution and ICS timing was found. • A new parameter “Burnup sharing” is presented to evaluate ICS strategy. - Abstract: In this paper, a loading pattern strategy In-Cycle-Shuffle (ICS) is implemented to the last cycle of the boiling water reactor (BWR) before decommissioning to save the fuel cycle cost. This method needs a core shutdown during the operation of a cycle to change the loading pattern to gain more reactivity. The reactivity model is used to model the ICS strategy in order to find out the best ICS timing and the optimum power sharing distribution before ICS and after ICS. Several parameters of reactivity model are modified and the effect of burnable poison, gadolinium (Gd), is considered in this research. Three cases are presented and it is found that the best ICS timing is at about two-thirds of total cycle length no matter the poisoning effect of Gd is considered or not. According to the optimum power sharing distribution result, it is suggested to decrease the once burnt power and increase the thrice burnt fuel power as much as possible before ICS. After ICS, it is suggested to increase the positive reactivity fuel power and decrease the thrice burnt fuel power as much as possible. A new parameter “Burnup sharing” is presented to evaluate the special case whose EOC power weighting factor and the burnup accumulation factor in the reactivity model are quite different.

  3. WATER NETWORK INTEGRATION IN RAW SUGAR PRODUCTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junior Lorenzo Llanes

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available One of the main process industries in Cuba is that of the sugarcane. Among the characteristics of this industry is the high demand of water in its processes. In this work a study of water integration was carried out from the different operations of the production process of raw sugar, in order to reduce the fresh water consumption. The compound curves of sources and demands were built, which allowed the determination of the minimum water requirement of the network (1587,84 m3/d, as well as the amount of effluent generated (0,35 m3/tcane.The distribution scheme of fresh water and water reuse among different operations were obtained from the nearest neighbor algorithm. From considering new quality constrains was possible to eliminate the external water consumption, as well as to reduce the amount of effluent in a 37% in relation to the initial constrains.

  4. Fluxes of 13 selected pharmaceuticals in the water cycle of Stockholm, Sweden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wahlberg, C; Björlenius, B; Paxéus, N

    2011-01-01

    Mass flows of 13 pharmaceutical active ingredients (APIS) found in drinking water were studied in the water cycle of Stockholm. Data were collected by analyzing samples of surface water, raw water and drinking water as well as influents, effluents and sludges from waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) in Stockholm area. A mass balance was performed, based on sold amounts of pharmaceuticals and the measured concentrations in water and sludge. The selected APls were all present in WWTP effluents and the removal rates for many of them were poor. Mass balance calculations showed that the three studied WWTPs in Stockholm release considerable amounts of the selected APIs into the Baltic Sea while the portions ending up in WWTP sludge were significantly lower. The levels of APIs found in drinking water are low at present, but may increase in the future unless the releases from WWTPs in the catchment of Lake Mälären are mitigated.

  5. Evaluation of material integrity on electricity power steam generator cycles (turbine casing) component

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Histori; Benedicta; Farokhi; S A, Soedardjo; Triyadi, Ari; Natsir, M

    1999-01-01

    The evaluation of material integrity on power steam generator cycles component was done. The test was carried out on casing turbine which is made from Inconel 617. The tested material was taken from t anjung Priok plant . The evaluation was done by metallography analysis using microscope with magnification of 400. From the result, it is shown that the material grains are equiaxed

  6. Transient Model of a 10 MW Supercritical CO{sub 2} Brayton Cycle for Light Water Reactors by using MARS Code

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Joo-Hyun; Park, Hyun Sun; Kim, Moo Hwan [POSTECH, Pohang (Korea, Republic of); Bae, Sung Won; Cha, Jae-Eun [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-10-15

    In this study, recuperation cycle was chosen as a reference loop design and the MARS code was chosen as the transient cycle analysis code. Cycle design condition is focus on operation point of the light-water reactor. Development of a transient model was performed for 10MW-electron SCO{sub 2} coupled with light water reactors. In order to perform transient analysis, cycle transient model was developed and steady-state run was performed and presented in the paper. In this study, the transient model of SCO{sub 2} recuperation Brayton cycle was developed and implemented in MARS to study the steady-state simulation. We performed nodalization of the transient model using MARS code and obtained steady-state results. This study is shown that the supercritical CO{sub 2} Brayton cycle can be used as a power conversion system for light water reactors. Future work will include transient analysis such as partial road operation, power swing, start-up, and shutdown. Cycle control strategy will be considered for various control method.

  7. Development of long operating cycle simplified BWR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heki, H.; Nakamaru, M.; Maruya, T.; Hiraiwa, K.; Arai, K.; Narabayash, T.; Aritomi, M.

    2002-01-01

    This paper describes an innovative plant concept for long operating cycle simplified BWR (LSBWR) In this plant concept, 1) Long operating cycle ( 3 to 15 years), 2) Simplified systems and building, 3) Factory fabrication in module are discussed. Designing long operating core is based on medium enriched U-235 with burnable poison. Simplified systems and building are realized by using natural circulation with bottom located core, internal CRD and PCV with passive system and an integrated reactor and turbine building. This LSBWR concept will have make high degree of safety by IVR (In Vessel Retention) capability, large water inventory above the core region and no PCV vent to the environment due to PCCS (Passive Containment Cooling System) and internal vent tank. Integrated building concept could realize highly modular arrangement in hull structure (ship frame structure), ease of seismic isolation capability and high applicability of standardization and factory fabrication. (authors)

  8. Techno-economic evaluation for the heat integration of vaporisation cold energy in natural gas processing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koku, Oludolapo; Perry, Simon; Kim, Jin-Kuk

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Development of thermal integration modelling framework for the utilisation of LNG cold energy. • Feasibility study for various design options for the integration of low-temperature cold energy. • Provision of a design approach for achieving efficient use of cold energy in LNG terminals. • Understanding of techno-economic impacts associated with the thermal integration of LNG cold energy. - Abstract: This paper addresses a conceptual study investigating the techno-economic feasibility for the thermal Integration of LNG cold vaporisation energy in power generation applications. In conventional regasification systems, this valuable LNG cold energy is often being wasted to ambient heat sources, representing a thermodynamic inefficient process with a significant thermal impact on the local environment. A combined facility consisting of a non-integrated Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) and an LNG receiving terminal employing traditional Open Rack Vaporisers (ORV) technology, has been modelled, as a base case. Retrofit strategies for the integration of LNG cold energy have been investigated, and their impacts on power production and system efficiency are systematically compared. Retrofit design options considered in this work include the use of a propane Rankine cycle coupled with the direct expansion of natural gas, the integration of a closed-loop water cycle or open-loop water circuit with a steam Rankine cycle, and the facilitation of integrated air cooling for a gas turbine

  9. Water conservation implications for decarbonizing non-electric energy supply: A hybrid life-cycle analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Shiyuan; Wang, Can; Shi, Lei; Cai, Wenjia; Zhang, Lixiao

    2018-08-01

    Low-carbon transition in the non-electric energy sector, which includes transport and heating energy, is necessary for achieving the 2 °C target. Meanwhile, as non-electric energy accounts for over 60% of total water consumption in the energy supply sector, it is vital to understand future water trends in the context of decarbonization. However, few studies have focused on life-cycle water impacts for non-electric energy; besides, applying conventional LCA methodology to assess non-electric energy has limitations. In this paper, a Multi-Regional Hybrid Life-Cycle Assessment (MRHLCA) model is built to assess total CO 2 emissions and water consumption of 6 non-electric energy technologies - transport energy from biofuel and gasoline, heat supply from natural gas, biogas, coal, and residual biomass, within 7 major emitting economies. We find that a shift to natural gas and residual biomass heating can help economies reduce 14-65% CO 2 and save more than 21% water. However, developed and developing economies should take differentiated technical strategies. Then we apply scenarios from IMAGE model to demonstrate that if economies take cost-effective 2 °C pathways, the water conservation synergy for the whole energy supply sector, including electricity, can also be achieved. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Life-cycle cost analysis of adsorption cycles for desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Thu, Kyaw

    2010-08-01

    This paper presents the thermo-economic analysis of the adsorption desalination (AD) cycle that is driven by low-temperature waste heat from exhaust of industrial processes or renewable sources. The AD cycle uses an adsorbent such as the silica gel to desalt the sea or brackish water. Based on an experimental prototype AD plant, the life-cycle cost analysis of AD plants of assorted water production capacities has been simulated and these predictions are translated into unit cost of water production. Our results show that the specific energy consumption of the AD cycle is 1.38 kWh/m3 which is the lowest ever reported. For a plant capacity of 1000 m3/d, the AD cycle offers a unit cost of $0.457/m3 as compared to more than $0.9 for the average RO plants. Besides being cost-effective, the AD cycle is also environment-friendly as it emits less CO2 emission per m3 generated, typically 85% less, by comparison to an RO process. © 2010 Desalination Publications.

  11. Cycle analysis of MCFC/gas turbine system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Musa Abdullatif

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available High temperature fuel cells such as the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC and the molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC are considered extremely suitable for electrical power plant application. The molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC performances is evaluated using validated model for the internally reformed (IR fuel cell. This model is integrated in Aspen Plus™. Therefore, several MCFC/Gas Turbine systems are introduced and investigated. One of this a new cycle is called a heat recovery (HR cycle. In the HR cycle, a regenerator is used to preheat water by outlet air compressor. So the waste heat of the outlet air compressor and the exhaust gases of turbine are recovered and used to produce steam. This steam is injected in the gas turbine, resulting in a high specific power and a high thermal efficiency. The cycles are simulated in order to evaluate and compare their performances. Moreover, the effects of an important parameters such as the ambient air temperature on the cycle performance are evaluated. The simulation results show that the HR cycle has high efficiency.

  12. Cycle analysis of MCFC/gas turbine system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musa, Abdullatif; Alaktiwi, Abdulsalam; Talbi, Mosbah

    2017-11-01

    High temperature fuel cells such as the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and the molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) are considered extremely suitable for electrical power plant application. The molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) performances is evaluated using validated model for the internally reformed (IR) fuel cell. This model is integrated in Aspen Plus™. Therefore, several MCFC/Gas Turbine systems are introduced and investigated. One of this a new cycle is called a heat recovery (HR) cycle. In the HR cycle, a regenerator is used to preheat water by outlet air compressor. So the waste heat of the outlet air compressor and the exhaust gases of turbine are recovered and used to produce steam. This steam is injected in the gas turbine, resulting in a high specific power and a high thermal efficiency. The cycles are simulated in order to evaluate and compare their performances. Moreover, the effects of an important parameters such as the ambient air temperature on the cycle performance are evaluated. The simulation results show that the HR cycle has high efficiency.

  13. Knowledge and information management for integrated water resource management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watershed information systems that integrate data and analytical tools are critical enabling technologies to support Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) by converting data into information, and information into knowledge. Many factors bring people to the table to participate in an IWRM fra...

  14. Optimal design of solid oxide fuel cell, ammonia-water single effect absorption cycle and Rankine steam cycle hybrid system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehrpooya, Mehdi; Dehghani, Hossein; Ali Moosavian, S. M.

    2016-02-01

    A combined system containing solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine power plant, Rankine steam cycle and ammonia-water absorption refrigeration system is introduced and analyzed. In this process, power, heat and cooling are produced. Energy and exergy analyses along with the economic factors are used to distinguish optimum operating point of the system. The developed electrochemical model of the fuel cell is validated with experimental results. Thermodynamic package and main parameters of the absorption refrigeration system are validated. The power output of the system is 500 kW. An optimization problem is defined in order to finding the optimal operating point. Decision variables are current density, temperature of the exhaust gases from the boiler, steam turbine pressure (high and medium), generator temperature and consumed cooling water. Results indicate that electrical efficiency of the combined system is 62.4% (LHV). Produced refrigeration (at -10 °C) and heat recovery are 101 kW and 22.1 kW respectively. Investment cost for the combined system (without absorption cycle) is about 2917 kW-1.

  15. Effect of cold water immersion on repeat cycling performance and thermoregulation in the heat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaile, Joanna; Halson, Shona; Gill, Nicholas; Dawson, Brian

    2008-03-01

    To assess the effect of cold water immersion and active recovery on thermoregulation and repeat cycling performance in the heat, ten well-trained male cyclists completed five trials, each separated by one week. Each trial consisted of a 30-min exercise task, one of five 15-min recoveries (intermittent cold water immersion in 10 degrees C, 15 degrees C and 20 degrees C water, continuous cold water immersion in 20 degrees C water or active recovery), followed by 40 min passive recovery, before repeating the 30-min exercise task. Recovery strategy effectiveness was assessed via changes in total work in the second exercise task compared with that in the first. Following active recovery, a mean 4.1% (s = 1.8) less total work (P = 0.00) was completed in the second than in the first exercise task. However, no significant differences in total work were observed between any of the cold water immersion protocols. Core and skin temperature, blood lactate concentration, heart rate, rating of thermal sensation, and rating of perceived exertion were recorded. During both exercise tasks there were no significant differences in blood lactate concentration between interventions; however, following active recovery blood lactate concentration was significantly lower (P immersion protocols. All cold water immersion protocols were effective in reducing thermal strain and were more effective in maintaining subsequent high-intensity cycling performance than active recovery.

  16. Life cycle integrated thermoeconomic assessment method for energy conversion systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kanbur, Baris Burak; Xiang, Liming; Dubey, Swapnil; Choo, Fook Hoong; Duan, Fei

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • A new LCA integrated thermoeconomic approach is presented. • The new unit fuel cost is found 4.8 times higher than the classic method. • The new defined parameter increased the sustainability index by 67.1%. • The case studies are performed for countries with different CO 2 prices. - Abstract: Life cycle assessment (LCA) based thermoeconomic modelling has been applied for the evaluation of energy conversion systems since it provided more comprehensive and applicable assessment criteria. This study proposes an improved thermoeconomic method, named as life cycle integrated thermoeconomic assessment (LCiTA), which combines the LCA based enviroeconomic parameters in the production steps of the system components and fuel with the conventional thermoeconomic method for the energy conversion systems. A micro-cogeneration system is investigated and analyzed with the LCiTA method, the comparative studies show that the unit cost of fuel by using the LCiTA method is 3.8 times higher than the conventional thermoeconomic model. It is also realized that the enviroeconomic parameters during the operation of the system components do not have significant impacts on the system streams since the exergetic parameters are dominant in the thermoeconomic calculations. Moreover, the improved sustainability index is found roundly 67.2% higher than the previously defined sustainability index, suggesting that the enviroeconomic and thermoeconomic parameters decrease the impact of the exergy destruction in the sustainability index definition. To find the feasible operation conditions for the micro-cogeneration system, different assessment strategies are presented. Furthermore, a case study for Singapore is conducted to see the impact of the forecasted carbon dioxide prices on the thermoeconomic performance of the micro-cogeneration system.

  17. Comparative of fuel cycle cost for light water nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kocic, A.; Dimitrijevic, Z.

    1978-01-01

    Starting from ost general fuel cycle scheme for light water reactors this article deals with conceptual differences of BWR, PWR and WWER as well as with the influence of certain phases of fuel cycle on economic parameters of an equivalent 1000 MWe reactor using a computer program CENA /1/ and typical parameters of each reactor type. An analysis of two particular power plants 628 MWe and 440 MWe WWER by means of the same program is given in the second part of this paper taking into account the differences of in-core fuel management. This second approach is especially interesting for the economy of the power plant itself in the period of planning. (author)

  18. Steam water cycle chemistry of liquid metal cooled innovative nuclear power reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yurmanov, Victor; Lemekhov, Vadim; Smykov, Vladimir

    2012-09-01

    selection of chemistry controls is vital for NPPs with liquid metal cooled reactors. This paper highlights principles and approaches to chemistry controls in steam/water cycles of future NPPs with innovative liquid metal cooled reactors. The recommendations on how to arrange chemistry controls in steam/water cycles of future NPPs with innovative liquid metal cooled reactors are based taking into account: - the experience with operation of fossil power industry; - secondary side water chemistry of lead-bismuth eutectics cooled nuclear reactors at submarines; - steam/water cycles of NPPs with sodium cooled fast breeders BN-350 and BN-600; - secondary water chemistry at conventional NPPs with WER, RBMK and some other reactors. (authors)

  19. Comparison of two thorium fuel cycles for use in light water prebreeder/breeder reactor systems (AWBA Development Program)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Merriman, F.C.; McCoy, D.F.; Boyd, W.A.; Dwyer, J.R.

    1983-05-01

    Light water prebreeder/breeder conceptual reactor systems have been developed which have the potential to significantly improve the fuel utilization of present generation light water reactors. The purpose of this study is to describe and compare two possible types of thorium fuel cycles for use in these light water prebreeder and breeder concepts. The two types of thorium fuel cycles basically differ in the fuel rod design used in the prebreeder cores and the uranium isotopic concentration of fuel supplied to the breeder cores

  20. Integrated assessment of water-power grid systems under changing climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, E.; Zhou, Z.; Betrie, G.

    2017-12-01

    Energy and water systems are intrinsically interconnected. Due to an increase in climate variability and extreme weather events, interdependency between these two systems has been recently intensified resulting significant impacts on both systems and energy output. To address this challenge, an Integrated Water-Energy Systems Assessment Framework (IWESAF) is being developed to integrate multiple existing or developed models from various sectors. In this presentation, we are focusing on recent improvement in model development of thermoelectric power plant water use simulator, power grid operation and cost optimization model, and model integration that facilitate interaction among water and electricity generation under extreme climate events. A process based thermoelectric power water use simulator includes heat-balance, climate, and cooling system modules that account for power plant characteristics, fuel types, and cooling technology. The model is validated with more than 800 power plants of fossil-fired, nuclear and gas-turbine power plants with different cooling systems. The power grid operation and cost optimization model was implemented for a selected regional in the Midwest. The case study will be demonstrated to evaluate the sensitivity and resilience of thermoelectricity generation and power grid under various climate and hydrologic extremes and potential economic consequences.