Numerical investigation for one bad-behaved flow in a Pelton turbine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, X Z; Yang, K; Wang, H J; Gong, R Z; Li, D Y

2015-01-01

The gas-liquid two-phase flow in pelton turbines is very complicated, there are many kinds of bad-behaved flow in pelton turbines. In this paper, CFD numerical simulation for the pelton turbine was conducted using VOF two-phase model. One kind of bad-behaved flow caused by the two jets was captured, and the bad-behaved flow was analysed by torque on buckets. It can be concluded that the angle between the two jets and the value of ratio of runner diameter and jet diameter are important parameters for the bad-behaved flow. Furthermore, the reason why the efficiency of some multi-jet type turbines is very low can be well explained by the analysis of bad-behaved flow. Finally, some suggestions for improvement were also provided in present paper

Numerical investigation for one bad-behaved flow in a Pelton turbine

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, X. Z.; Yang, K.; Wang, H. J.; Gong, R. Z.; Li, D. Y.

2015-01-01

The gas-liquid two-phase flow in pelton turbines is very complicated, there are many kinds of bad-behaved flow in pelton turbines. In this paper, CFD numerical simulation for the pelton turbine was conducted using VOF two-phase model. One kind of bad-behaved flow caused by the two jets was captured, and the bad-behaved flow was analysed by torque on buckets. It can be concluded that the angle between the two jets and the value of ratio of runner diameter and jet diameter are important parameters for the bad-behaved flow. Furthermore, the reason why the efficiency of some multi-jet type turbines is very low can be well explained by the analysis of bad-behaved flow. Finally, some suggestions for improvement were also provided in present paper.

Improved quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization with local search strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maolong Xi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization, which was motivated by analysis of particle swarm optimization and quantum system, has shown compared performance in finding the optimal solutions for many optimization problems to other evolutionary algorithms. To address the problem of premature, a local search strategy is proposed to improve the performance of quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization. In proposed local search strategy, a super particle is presented which is a collection body of randomly selected particles’ dimension information in the swarm. The selected probability of particles in swarm is different and determined by their fitness values. To minimization problems, the fitness value of one particle is smaller; the selected probability is more and will contribute more information in constructing the super particle. In addition, in order to investigate the influence on algorithm performance with different local search space, four methods of computing the local search radius are applied in local search strategy and propose four variants of local search quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization. Empirical studies on a suite of well-known benchmark functions are undertaken in order to make an overall performance comparison among the proposed methods and other quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization. The simulation results show that the proposed quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization variants have better advantages over the original quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization.

Investigation of the Impact of Fuel Properties on Particulate Number Emission of a Modern Gasoline Direct Injection Engine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCormick, Robert L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Fioroni, Gina [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Fatouraie, Mohammad [Robert Bosch LLC; Frommherz, Mario [Robert Bosch LLC; Mosburger, Michael [Robert Bosch LLC; Chapman, Elana [General Motors LLC; Li, Sharon [General Motors LLC

2018-04-03

Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) has become the preferred technology for spark-ignition engines resulting in greater specific power output and lower fuel consumption, and consequently reduction in CO2 emission. However, GDI engines face a substantial challenge in meeting new and future emission limits, especially the stringent particle number (PN) emissions recently introduced in Europe and China. Studies have shown that the fuel used by a vehicle has a significant impact on engine out emissions. In this study, nine fuels with varying chemical composition and physical properties were tested on a modern turbo-charged side-mounted GDI engine with design changes to reduce particulate emissions. The fuels tested included four fuels meeting US certification requirements; two fuels meeting European certification requirements; and one fuel meeting China 6 certification requirements being proposed at the time of this work. Two risk safeguard fuels (RSG), representing the properties of worst case market fuels in Europe and China, were also included. The particle number concentration of the solid particulates was measured in the engine-out exhaust flow at steady state engine operations with load and speed sweeps, and semi-transient load steps. The test results showed a factor of 6 PN emission difference among all certification fuels tested. Combined with detailed fuel analyses, this study evaluated important factors (such as oxygenates, carbon chain length and thermo-physical properties) that cause PN emissions which were not included in PMI index. A linear regression was performed to develop a PN predictive model which showed improved fitting quality than using PMI.

Biomass as a modern fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, D.O.; House, J.

1994-01-01

Case studies are presented for several developed and developing countries. Constraints involved in modernising biomass energy and the potential for turning them into entrepreneurial opportunities are discussed. It is concluded that the long term impacts of biomass programmes and projects depend mainly on ensuring sustainability, flexibility and replicability while taking account of local conditions and providing multiple benefits. Implementation of biomass projects requires governmental policy initiatives that will internalise the external economic, social and environmental costs of conventional fuel sources so that biomass fuels can become competitive on a ''level playing field''. Policies are also required to encourage R and D and commercialisation of biomass energy programs in close co-ordination with the private sector. (author)

Quantum Behaved Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm Based on Artificial Fish Swarm

OpenAIRE

Yumin, Dong; Li, Zhao

2014-01-01

Quantum behaved particle swarm algorithm is a new intelligent optimization algorithm; the algorithm has less parameters and is easily implemented. In view of the existing quantum behaved particle swarm optimization algorithm for the premature convergence problem, put forward a quantum particle swarm optimization algorithm based on artificial fish swarm. The new algorithm based on quantum behaved particle swarm algorithm, introducing the swarm and following activities, meanwhile using the a...

Compositional Effects of Gasoline Fuels on Combustion, Performance and Emissions in Engine

KAUST Repository

Ahmed, Ahfaz; Waqas, Muhammad; Naser, Nimal; Singh, Eshan; Roberts, William L.; Chung, Suk-Ho; Sarathy, Mani

2016-01-01

to interpret differences in combustion behavior of gasoline fuels that show similar knock characteristics in a cooperative fuel research (CFR) engine, but may behave differently in direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engines or any other engine combustion

Modern approach to the problem of fossil gas fuels replacement by alternative fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soroka, Boris [Gas Institute, National Academy of Sciences, Kiev (Ukraine)

2013-07-01

New scientific and engineering fundamentals of fuels substitution have been developed instead of obsolete methodology “Interchangeability of Fuel Gases” developed in USA and existing from the middle of XX{sup th} century. To perform the complex prediction of total or partial substitution of given flow rate of natural gas NG for alternative gases AG the following parameters are to be predicted: plant utilization efficiencies – regarding fuel and energy utilization, the last in form of heat Ș{sub H} and exergy Ș{sub eff} efficiencies, saving or overexpenditure of the NG flow rate in the gas mixture with AG, specific fuel consumption b f and specific issue of harmful substances C{sub t} – pollutants in the combustion products (C{sub NO{sub x}} ) and greenhouse gases (C {sub CO{sub 2}} ). Certification of alternative gas fuels and fuel mixtures as a commodity products is carried out in frame of our approach with necessary set of characteristics, similar to those accepted in the world practice. Key words: alternative fuel, fuel replacement (substitution), natural gas, process gases, theoretical combustion temperature, thermodynamic equilibrium computations, total enthalpy.

RERTR program progress in qualifying reduced-enrichment fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snelgrove, James L.

1983-01-01

In order to provide the technical means for reducing the enrichment of uranium used to fuel research and test reactors, the U.S. Reduced Enrichment Research and Test Reactor (RERTR) Program has been engaged in the development and testing of higher-uranium-density fuels than had been used previously. This fuel development effort included work to increase the density of fuels which were being used at the time the Program began and work on a fuel with the potential for much higher density. The ultimate goal of the fuel development and testing phase of the Program is to 'qualify' the fuel for use. A fuel is considered qualified when a sufficient data base for the fuel exists that it can be approved by regulating bodies for use in reactors. To convert a core to the use of reduced-enrichment fuel it is necessary to show that the core will behave properly during normal and off-normal operating conditions and to show that the fuel will behave properly to a reasonable margin beyond the conditions expected during normal operation. It is this latter area that this paper will address. The main characteristics to be considered in evaluating the performance of a fuel are its swelling, its blister-threshold temperature, and its metallurgical appearance. Data for the qualification of the reduced-enrichment fuels being developed by the RERTR Program are obtained from examination of miniature fuel plates (miniplates) which successfully pass the irradiation screening tests and from examinations of full-sized fuel elements. This paper will summarize the miniplate data reported in other papers presented during this meeting and will give the status of full-sized element irradiations. Finally, the current status of qualification of the various fuel types will be discussed and some projections of the future will be given

Can the urban poor afford modern energy? The case of Ethiopia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kebede, Bereket; Bekele, Almaz; Kedir, Elias

2002-01-01

Comparing rough measures of costs of using modern fuels and purchasing power of the urban poor in Ethiopia, this article finds that, while kerosene is relatively cheap even for the very poor, electricity is extremely expensive even for the relatively well to do. The upper stratum of the poor may have the purchasing power to access butane gas. In addition, the article examines the relevance of the 'energy ladder' hypothesis. Generally, both at the aggregate level and for individual urban areas, the prediction from the hypothesis holds; but our results indicate that the relevance of the hypothesis weakens on lower levels of aggregation implying significant inter-city variations. Finally, demand equations for each fuel are econometrically estimated and the elasticities are used to examine price and income effects. The budget elasticities indicate that with economic growth, the demand for traditional fuels will increase. In addition, the cross-price elasticities show that increase in the price of a traditional fuel mainly shifts demand towards other traditional fuels rather than towards modern fuels. This slows down the transition towards modern fuels. The article concludes by presenting policy recommendations arising from the analysis. (Author)

Can the urban poor afford modern energy? The case of Ethiopia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kebede, Bereket [Oxford Univ., St Antony' s Coll., Oxford (United Kingdom); Bekele, Almaz [Central Statistical Authority, Transport and Finance Dept., Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); Kedir, Elias [Addis Ababa Univ., Dept. of Economics, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)

2002-09-01

Comparing rough measures of costs of using modern fuels and purchasing power of the urban poor in Ethiopia, this article finds that, while kerosene is relatively cheap even for the very poor, electricity is extremely expensive even for the relatively well to do. The upper stratum of the poor may have the purchasing power to access butane gas. In addition, the article examines the relevance of the 'energy ladder' hypothesis. Generally, both at the aggregate level and for individual urban areas, the prediction from the hypothesis holds; but our results indicate that the relevance of the hypothesis weakens on lower levels of aggregation implying significant inter-city variations. Finally, demand equations for each fuel are econometrically estimated and the elasticities are used to examine price and income effects. The budget elasticities indicate that with economic growth, the demand for traditional fuels will increase. In addition, the cross-price elasticities show that increase in the price of a traditional fuel mainly shifts demand towards other traditional fuels rather than towards modern fuels. This slows down the transition towards modern fuels. The article concludes by presenting policy recommendations arising from the analysis. (Author)

Modern new nuclear fuel characteristics and radiation protection aspects.

Science.gov (United States)

Terry, Ian R

2005-01-01

The glut of fissile material from reprocessing plants and from the conclusion of the cold war has provided the opportunity to design new fuel types to beneficially dispose of such stocks by generating useful power. Thus, in addition to the normal reactor core complement of enriched uranium fuel assemblies, two other types are available on the world market. These are the ERU (enriched recycled uranium) and the MOX (mixed oxide) fuel assemblies. Framatome ANP produces ERU fuel assemblies by taking feed material from reprocessing facilities and blending this with highly enriched uranium from other sources. MOX fuel assemblies contain plutonium isotopes, thus exploiting the higher neutron yield of the plutonium fission process. This paper describes and evaluates the gamma, spontaneous and alpha reaction neutron source terms of these non-irradiated fuel assembly types by defining their nuclear characteristics. The dose rates which arise from these terms are provided along with an overview of radiation protection aspects for consideration in transporting and delivering such fuel assemblies to power generating utilities.

Computational analysis of modern HTGR fuel performance and fission product release during the HFR-EU1 irradiation experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verfondern, Karl, E-mail: k.verfondern@fz-juelich.de [Research Center Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research, 52425 Jülich (Germany); Xhonneux, André, E-mail: xhonneux@lrst.rwth-aachen.de [Research Center Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research, 52425 Jülich (Germany); Nabielek, Heinz, E-mail: heinznabielek@me.com [Research Center Jülich, Monschauerstrasse 61, 52355 Düren (Germany); Allelein, Hans-Josef, E-mail: h.j.allelein@fz-juelich.de [Research Center Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research, 52425 Jülich (Germany); RWTH Aachen, Chair for Reactor Safety and Reactor Technology, 52072 Aachen (Germany)

2014-07-01

Highlights: • HFR-EU1 irradiation test demonstrates high quality of HTGR spherical fuel elements. • Irradiation performance is in good agreement with German fuel performance modeling. • International benchmark exercise expected first particle to fail at ∼13–17% FIMA. • EOL silver release is predicted to be in the percentage range. • EOL cesium and strontium are expected to remain at a low level. - Abstract: Various countries engaged in the development and fabrication of modern HTGR fuel have initiated activities of modeling the fuel and fission product release behavior with the aim of predicting the fuel performance under HTGR operating and accident conditions. Verification and validation studies are conducted by code-to-code benchmarking and code-to-experiment comparisons as part of international exercises. The methodology developed in Germany since the 1980s represents valuable and efficient tools to describe fission product release from spherical fuel elements and TRISO fuel performance, respectively, under given conditions. Continued application to new results of irradiation and accident simulation testing demonstrates the appropriateness of the models in terms of a conservative estimation of the source term as part of interactions with HTGR licensing authorities. Within the European irradiation testing program for HTGR fuel and as part of the former EU RAPHAEL project, the HFR-EU1 irradiation experiment explores the potential for high performance of the presently existing German and newly produced Chinese fuel spheres under defined conditions up to high burnups. The fuel irradiation was completed in 2010. Test samples are prepared for further postirradiation examinations (PIE) including heatup simulation testing in the KÜFA-II furnace at the JRC-ITU, Karlsruhe, to be conducted within the on-going ARCHER Project of the European Commission. The paper will describe the application of the German computer models to the HFR-EU1 irradiation test and

Modernization of process computer on the ONACAWA-1 NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuda, Ya.

1997-01-01

Modernization of a process computer caused by a necessity increasing the storage capacity due to introduction of a new type of fuel and replacement of outwork computer components is performed. Comparison of the PC parameters before and after modernization is given

Concurrent reflectance imaging and microdialysis in the freely behaving cat

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poe, G R; Nitz, D A; Rector, D M

1996-01-01

We present a method to perform simultaneous microdialysis with light reflectance imaging of neural activity in a discrete brain region of the freely behaving animal. We applied this method to the dorsal hippocampus of freely behaving cats to (1) measure extracellular glutamate and reflectance...... imaged neural activity. Sequential images showed that cocaine perfusion elicited a propagating reflectance change as cocaine reached the tissue. Microperfusion of hypo-osmotic solution ( - 100 mOsm), which increases cell volume, decreased reflectance. Microperfusion of hyperosmotic sucrose solutions...

Responsiveness in Behaving Monkeys and Human Subjects

Science.gov (United States)

1993-07-31

Status of Current Research - Statement of Work Each study involving awake , behaving monkey neurophysiological recording used a behavioral paradigm that...anesthesia. A craniotomy was performed at approximately A+ 14.5mm. The recording chamber then was fixed to the skull at a lateral angle of 8’ from

Age differences in how consumers behave following exposure to DTC advertising.

Science.gov (United States)

DeLorme, Denise E; Huh, Jisu; Reid, Leonard N

2006-01-01

This study was conducted to provide additional evidence on how consumers behave following direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising exposure and to determine if there are differences in ad-prompted acts (drug inquiry and drug requests) between different age groups (i.e., older, mature, and younger adults). The results suggest that younger, mature, and older consumers are all moved to act by DTC drug ads, but that each age group behaves in different ways. Somewhat surprisingly, age was not predictive of ad-prompted behavior. DTC advertising was no more effective at moving older consumers to behave than their younger counterparts. These results suggest that age does not matter that much when it comes to the "moving power" of prescription drug advertising, even though research indicates that older consumers are more vulnerable to the persuasive effects of communication.

Potential of Sugarcane in Modern Energy Development in Southern Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Souza, Simone P., E-mail: sp.souza@yahoo.com.br; Horta Nogueira, Luiz A. [Interdisciplinary Center for Energy Planning, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP (Brazil); Watson, Helen K. [School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, KZN (South Africa); Lynd, Lee Rybeck [Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth, NH (United States); Elmissiry, Mosad [New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Johannesburg, GT (South Africa); Cortez, Luís A. B. [Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP (Brazil)

2016-12-26

For more than half of the Southern African population, human development is limited by a lack of access to electricity and modern energy for cooking. Modern bioenergy merits consideration as one means to address this situation in areas where sufficient arable land is available. While numerous studies have concluded that Africa has significant biomass potential, they do not indicate by how much it can effectively reduce the use of traditional biomass and provide more accessible energy, especially at a country level. Here, we evaluate the potential of sugarcane to replace traditional biomass and fossil fuel and enlarge the access to electricity in Southern Africa. By using its current molasses for ethanol production, Swaziland could increase electricity generation by 40% using bagasse and replace 60% of cooking fuel or 30% of liquid fossil fuel. Sugarcane expansion over 1% of the pasture land in Angola, Mozambique, and Zambia could replace greater than 70% of cooking fuel. Bioelectricity generation from modest sugarcane expansion could be increased by 10% in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia and by 20% in Angola. Our results support the potential of sugarcane as a modern energy alternative for Southern Africa.

Potential of Sugarcane in Modern Energy Development in Southern Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, Simone P.; Horta Nogueira, Luiz A.; Watson, Helen K.; Lynd, Lee Rybeck; Elmissiry, Mosad; Cortez, Luís A. B.

2016-01-01

For more than half of the Southern African population, human development is limited by a lack of access to electricity and modern energy for cooking. Modern bioenergy merits consideration as one means to address this situation in areas where sufficient arable land is available. While numerous studies have concluded that Africa has significant biomass potential, they do not indicate by how much it can effectively reduce the use of traditional biomass and provide more accessible energy, especially at a country level. Here, we evaluate the potential of sugarcane to replace traditional biomass and fossil fuel and enlarge the access to electricity in Southern Africa. By using its current molasses for ethanol production, Swaziland could increase electricity generation by 40% using bagasse and replace 60% of cooking fuel or 30% of liquid fossil fuel. Sugarcane expansion over 1% of the pasture land in Angola, Mozambique, and Zambia could replace greater than 70% of cooking fuel. Bioelectricity generation from modest sugarcane expansion could be increased by 10% in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia and by 20% in Angola. Our results support the potential of sugarcane as a modern energy alternative for Southern Africa.

Fuel performance of DOE fuels in water storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoskins, A.P.; Scott, J.G.; Shelton-Davis, C.V.; McDannel, G.E.

1993-01-01

Westinghouse Idaho Nuclear Company operates the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. In April of 1992, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) decided to end the fuel reprocessing mission at ICPP. Fuel performance in storage received increased emphasis as the fuel now needs to be stored until final dispositioning is defined and implemented. Fuels are stored in four main areas: an original underwater storage facility, a modern underwater storage facility, and two dry fuel storage facilities. As a result of the reactor research mission of the DOE and predecessor agencies, the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Atomic Energy Commission, many types of nuclear fuel have been developed, used, and assigned to storage at the ICPP. Fuel clad with stainless steel, zirconium, aluminum, and graphite are represented. Fuel matrices include uranium oxide, hydride, carbide, metal, and alloy fuels, resulting in 55 different fuel types in storage. Also included in the fuel storage inventory is canned scrap material

A Novel Distributed Quantum-Behaved Particle Swarm Optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yangyang Li

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO is an improved version of particle swarm optimization (PSO and has shown superior performance on many optimization problems. But for now, it may not always satisfy the situations. Nowadays, problems become larger and more complex, and most serial optimization algorithms cannot deal with the problem or need plenty of computing cost. Fortunately, as an effective model in dealing with problems with big data which need huge computation, MapReduce has been widely used in many areas. In this paper, we implement QPSO on MapReduce model and propose MapReduce quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (MRQPSO which achieves parallel and distributed QPSO. Comparisons are made between MRQPSO and QPSO on some test problems and nonlinear equation systems. The results show that MRQPSO could complete computing task with less time. Meanwhile, from the view of optimization performance, MRQPSO outperforms QPSO in many cases.

Behavior of mixed-oxide fuel elements during the TOPI-1E transient overpower test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, H.; Neimark, L.A.; Yamamoto, K.; Hirai, K.; Shikakura, S.

1993-12-01

A slow-ramp, extended overpower transient test was conducted on a group of nineteen preirradiated mixed-oxide fuel elements in EBR-II. During the transient two of the test elements with high-density fuel and tempered martensitic cladding (PNC-FMS) breached at an overpower of ∼75%. Fuel elements with austenitic claddings (D9, PNC316, and PNC150), many with aggressive design features and high burnups, survived the overpower transient and incurred little or no cladding strain. Fuel elements with annual fuel or heterogeneous fuel columns also behaved well

The Northeast heating fuel market: Assessment and options

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2000-07-01

In response to a Presidential request, this study examines how the distillate fuel oil market (and related energy markets) in the Northeast behaved in the winter of 1999-2000, explains the role played by residential, commercial, industrial, and electricity generation sector consumers in distillate fuel oil markets and describes how that role is influenced by the structure of tie energy markets in the Northeast. In addition, this report explores the potential for nonresidential users to move away from distillate fuel oil and how this might impact future prices, and discusses conversion of distillate fuel oil users to other fuels over the next 5 years. Because the President's and Secretary's request focused on converting factories and other large-volume users of mostly high-sulfur distillate fuel oil to other fuels, transportation sector use of low-sulfur distillate fuel oil is not examined here.

The Northeast heating fuel market: Assessment and options; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

None

2000-01-01

In response to a Presidential request, this study examines how the distillate fuel oil market (and related energy markets) in the Northeast behaved in the winter of 1999-2000, explains the role played by residential, commercial, industrial, and electricity generation sector consumers in distillate fuel oil markets and describes how that role is influenced by the structure of tie energy markets in the Northeast. In addition, this report explores the potential for nonresidential users to move away from distillate fuel oil and how this might impact future prices, and discusses conversion of distillate fuel oil users to other fuels over the next 5 years. Because the President's and Secretary's request focused on converting factories and other large-volume users of mostly high-sulfur distillate fuel oil to other fuels, transportation sector use of low-sulfur distillate fuel oil is not examined here

BNFL Springfields Fuel Division

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tarkiainen, S.; Plit, H.

1998-01-01

The Fuel Division of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) manufactures nuclear fuel elements for British Magnox and AGR power plants as well as for LWR plants. The new fuel factory - Oxide Fuel Complex (OFC), located in Springfields, is equipped with modern technology and the automation level of the factory is very high. With their quality products, BNFL aims for the new business areas. A recent example of this expansion was shown, when BNFL signed a contract to design and license new VVER-440 fuel for Finnish Loviisa and Hungarian Paks power plants. (author)

Key differences in the fabrication of US and German TRISO-coated particle fuel, and their implications on fuel performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petti, D.A.; Buongiorno, J.; Maki, J.T.; Miller, G.K.; Hobbins, R.R.

2002-01-01

Historically, the irradiation performance of TRISO-coated gas reactor particle fuel in Germany has been superior to that in the US. German fuel generally displayed in-pile gas release values that were three orders of magnitude lower than US fuel. Thus, we have critically examined the TRISO-coated fuel fabrication processes in the US and German and the associated irradiation database with a goal of understanding why the German fuel behaves acceptably, why the US fuel has not faired as well, and what process/production parameters impart the reliable performance to this fuel form. The postirradiation examination results are also reviewed to identify failure mechanisms that may be the cause of the poorer US irradiation performance. This comparison will help determine the roles that particle fuel process/product attributes and irradiation conditions (burnup, fast neutron fluence, temperature, degree of acceleration, power per particle) have on the behavior of the fuel during irradiation and provide a more quantitative linkage between acceptable processing parameters, as-fabricated fuel properties and subsequent in-reactor performance. (author)

Pathways to achieve universal household access to modern energy by 2030

Science.gov (United States)

Pachauri, Shonali; van Ruijven, Bas J.; Nagai, Yu; Riahi, Keywan; van Vuuren, Detlef P.; Brew-Hammond, Abeeku; Nakicenovic, Nebojsa

2013-06-01

A lack of access to modern energy impacts health and welfare and impedes development for billions of people. Growing concern about these impacts has mobilized the international community to set new targets for universal modern energy access. However, analyses exploring pathways to achieve these targets and quantifying the potential costs and benefits are limited. Here, we use two modelling frameworks to analyse investments and consequences of achieving total rural electrification and universal access to clean-combusting cooking fuels and stoves by 2030. Our analysis indicates that these targets can be achieved with additional investment of US200565-86 billion per year until 2030 combined with dedicated policies. Only a combination of policies that lowers costs for modern cooking fuels and stoves, along with more rapid electrification, can enable the realization of these goals. Our results demonstrate the critical importance of accounting for varying demands and affordability across heterogeneous household groups in both analysis and policy setting. While the investments required are significant, improved access to modern cooking fuels alone can avert between 0.6 and 1.8 million premature deaths annually in 2030 and enhance wellbeing substantially.

Pathways to achieve universal household access to modern energy by 2030

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pachauri, Shonali; Nagai, Yu; Riahi, Keywan; Nakicenovic, Nebojsa; Van Ruijven, Bas J; Van Vuuren, Detlef P; Brew-Hammond, Abeeku

2013-01-01

A lack of access to modern energy impacts health and welfare and impedes development for billions of people. Growing concern about these impacts has mobilized the international community to set new targets for universal modern energy access. However, analyses exploring pathways to achieve these targets and quantifying the potential costs and benefits are limited. Here, we use two modelling frameworks to analyse investments and consequences of achieving total rural electrification and universal access to clean-combusting cooking fuels and stoves by 2030. Our analysis indicates that these targets can be achieved with additional investment of US$ 2005 65–86 billion per year until 2030 combined with dedicated policies. Only a combination of policies that lowers costs for modern cooking fuels and stoves, along with more rapid electrification, can enable the realization of these goals. Our results demonstrate the critical importance of accounting for varying demands and affordability across heterogeneous household groups in both analysis and policy setting. While the investments required are significant, improved access to modern cooking fuels alone can avert between 0.6 and 1.8 million premature deaths annually in 2030 and enhance wellbeing substantially. (letter)

Anticipating and Resisting the Temptation to Behave Unethically.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheldon, Oliver J; Fishbach, Ayelet

2015-07-01

Ethical dilemmas pose a self-control conflict between pursuing immediate benefits through behaving dishonestly and pursuing long-term benefits through acts of honesty. Therefore, factors that facilitate self-control for other types of goals (e.g., health and financial) should also promote ethical behavior. Across four studies, we find support for this possibility. Specifically, we find that only under conditions that facilitate conflict identification--including the consideration of several decisions simultaneously (i.e., a broad decision frame) and perceived high connectedness to the future self--does anticipating a temptation to behave dishonestly in advance promote honesty. We demonstrate these interaction patterns between conflict identification and temptation anticipation in negotiation situations (Study 1), lab tasks (Study 2), and ethical dilemmas in the workplace (Studies 3-4). We conclude that identifying a self-control conflict and anticipating a temptation are two necessary preconditions for ethical decision making. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Fuel cycles of WWER-1000 based on assemblies with increased fuel mass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosourov, E.; Pavlovichev, A.; Shcherenko, A.

2011-01-01

Modern WWER-1000 fuel cycles are based on FAs with the fuel column height of 3680 mm, diameters of the fuel pellet and its central hole of 7.6 and 1.2 mm respectively. The highest possible fuel enrichment has reached its license limit that is 4.95 %. Research in the field of modernization, safety justification and licensing of equipment for fuel manufacture, storage and transportation are required for further fuel enrichment increase (above 5 %). So in the nearest future an improvement of technical and economic characteristics of fuel cycles is possible if assembly fuel mass is increased. The available technology of the cladding thinning makes it possible. If the fuel rod outer diameter is constant and the clad inner diameter is increased to 7.93 mm, the diameter of the fuel pellet can be increased to 7.8 mm. So the suppression of the pellet central hole allows increasing assembly fuel weight by about 8 %. In this paper we analyze how technical and economic characteristics of WWER-1000 fuel cycle change when an advanced FA is applied instead of standard one. Comparison is made between FAs with equal time interval between refueling. This method of comparison makes it possible to eliminate the parameters that constitute the operation component of electricity generation cost, taking into account only the following technical and economic characteristics: 1)cycle length; 2) average burnup of spent FAs; 3) specific natural uranium consumption; 4)specific quantity of separative work units; 5) specific enriched uranium consumption; 6) specific assembly consumption. Collected data allow estimating the efficiency of assembly fuel weight increase and verifying fuel cycle characteristics that may be obtained in the advanced FAs. (authors)

Comparison of irradiation behavior of different uranium silicide dispersion fuel element designs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofman, G.L.; Rest, J.; Snelgrove, J.L.

1995-01-01

Calculations of fuel swelling of U 3 SiAl-Al and U 3 Si 2 were performed for various dispersion fuel element designs. Breakaway swelling criteria in the form of critical fuel volume fractions were derived with data obtained from U 3 SiAl-Al plate irradiations. The results of the analysis show that rod-type elements remain well below the pillowing threshold. However, tubular fuel elements, which behave essentially like plates, will likely develop pillows or blisters at around 90% 235 U burnup. The U 3 Si 2 -Al compounds demonstrate stable swelling behavior throughout the entire burnup range for all fuel element designs

Overview of neutronic fuel assembly design and in-core fuel management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Porsch, D.; Charlier, A.; Meier, G.; Mougniot, J.C.; Tsuda, K.

2000-01-01

The civil and military utilization of nuclear power results in stockpiles of spent fuel and separated plutonium. Recycling of the recovered plutonium in Light Water Reactors (LWR) is currently practiced in Belgium, France, Germany, and Switzerland, in Japan it is in preparation. Modern MOX fuel, with its optimized irradiation and reprocessing behavior, was introduced in 1981. Since then, about 1700 MOX fuel assemblies of different mechanical and neutronic design were irradiated in commercial LWRs and reached fuel assembly averaged exposures of up to 51.000 MWd/t HM. MOX fuel assemblies reloaded in PWR have an average fissile plutonium content of up to 4.8 w/o. For BWR, the average fissile plutonium content in actual reloads is 3.0 w/o. Targets for the MOX fuel assembly design are the compatibility to uranium fuel assemblies with respect to their mechanical fuel rod and fuel assembly design, they should have no impact on the flexibility of the reactor operation, and its reload should be economically feasible. In either cycle independent safety analyses or individually for each designed core it has to be demonstrated that recycling cores meet the same safety criteria as uranium cores. The safety criteria are determined for normal operation and for operational as well as design basis transients. Experience with realized MOX core loadings confirms the reliability of the applied modern design codes. Studies for reloads of advanced MOX assemblies in LWRs demonstrate the feasibility of a future development of the thermal plutonium recycling. New concepts for the utilization of plutonium are under consideration and reveal an attractive potential for further developments on the plutonium exploitation sector. (author)

Impact of fuel fabrication and fuel management technologies on uranium management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnsberger, P.L.; Stucker, D.L.

1994-01-01

Uranium utilization in commercial pressurized water reactors is a complex function of original NSSS design, utility energy requirements, fuel assembly design, fuel fabrication materials and fuel fabrication materials and fuel management optimization. Fuel design and fabrication technologies have reacted to the resulting market forcing functions with a combination of design and material changes. The technologies employed have included ever-increasing fuel discharge burnup, non-parasitic structural materials, burnable absorbers, and fissile material core zoning schemes (both in the axial and radial direction). The result of these technological advances has improved uranium utilization by roughly sixty percent from the infancy days of nuclear power to present fuel management. Fuel management optimization technologies have also been developed in recent years which provide fuel utilization improvements due to core loading pattern optimization. This paper describes the development and impact of technology advances upon uranium utilization in modern pressurized water reactors. 10 refs., 3 tabs., 10 figs

Nuclear fuel for VVER reactors. Actual state and trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molchanov, V.

2011-01-01

The main tasks concerning development of FA design, development and modernization of structural materials, improvement of technology of structural materials manufacturing and FA fabrication and development of methods and codes are discussed in this paper. The main features and expected benefit of implementation of second generation and third generation fuel assembly for VVER-440 Nuclear Fuel are given. A brief review of VVER-440 and VVER-1000 Nuclear Fuel development before 1997 since 2010 is shown. A summary of VVER-440 and VVER-1000 Nuclear Fuel Today, including details about TVSA-PLUS, TVSA-ALFA, TVSA-12 and NPP-2006 Phase 2 tasks (2010-2012) is presented. In conclusion, as a result of large scope of R and D performed by leading enterprises of nuclear industry modern nuclear fuel for VVER reactors is developed, implemented and successfully operated. Fuel performance (burnup, lifetime, fuel cycles, operating reliability, etc.) meets the level of world's producers of nuclear fuel for commercial reactors

A charged anisotropic well-behaved Adler-Finch-Skea solution satisfying Karmarkar condition

Science.gov (United States)

Bhar, Piyali; Singh, Ksh. Newton; Rahaman, Farook; Pant, Neeraj; Banerjee, Sumita

In the present paper, we discover a new well-behaved charged anisotropic solution of Einstein-Maxwell’s field equations. We ansatz the metric potential g00 of the form given by Maurya et al. (Eur. Phys. J. C 76(12) (2016) 693) with n = 2. In their paper, it is mentioned that for n = 2, the solution is not well-behaved for neutral configuration as the speed of sound is nondecreasing radially outward. However, the solution can represent a physically possible configuration with the inclusion of some net electric charge, i.e. the solution can become a well-behaved solution with decreasing sound speed radially outward for a charged configuration. Due to the inclusion of electric charge, the solution leads to a very stiff equation-of-state (EoS) with the velocity of sound at the center vr02 = 0.819, vt02 = 0.923 and the compactness parameter u = 0.823 is close to the Buchdahl limit 0.889. This stiff EoS support a compact star configuration of mass 5.418M⊙ and radius of 10.1km.

Quantum behaved Particle Swarm Optimization with Differential Mutation operator applied to WWER-1000 in-core fuel management optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jamalipour, Mostafa; Sayareh, Reza; Gharib, Morteza; Khoshahval, Farrokh; Karimi, Mahmood Reza

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► A new method called QPSO-DM is applied to BNPP in-core fuel management optimization. ► It is found that QPSO-DM performs better than PSO and QPSO. ► This method provides a permissible arrangement for optimum loading pattern. - Abstract: This paper presents a new method using Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization with Differential Mutation operator (QPSO-DM) for optimizing WWER-1000 core fuel management. Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) have shown good performance on in-core fuel management optimization (ICFMO). The objective of this paper is to show that QPSO-DM performs very well and is comparable to PSO and Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization (QPSO). Most of the strategies for ICFMO are based on maximizing multiplication factor (k eff ) to increase cycle length and minimizing power peaking factor (P q ) in order to improve fuel integrity. PSO, QPSO and QPSO-DM have been implemented to fulfill these requirements for the first operating cycle of WWER-1000 Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). The results show that QPSO-DM performs better than the others. A program has been written in MATLAB to map PSO, QPSO and QPSO-DM for loading pattern optimization. WIMS and CITATION have been used to simulate reactor core for neutronic calculations

Fuels and Lubricants Facility

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Modern naval aircraft and turbine-powered craft require reliable and high-quality fuels and lubricants to satisfy the demands imposed upon them for top performance...

How are we behaving?

CERN Multimedia

2012-01-01

It’s almost two years since CERN introduced a Code of Conduct. The results may not be immediately measurable, but I’d like to think it’s made the lab a better place to be. The Code of Conduct is based on values that most of us immediately identify with, and so implementing it comes as second nature. Nevertheless, in an organisation of over 10,000 people, it’s useful to have a set of guidelines and there have been occasions on which it’s been necessary to remind people of them.   I use the figure of 10,000 advisedly since the Code of Conduct applies to us all, those on the CERN payroll as well as users of the lab’s facilities and people working for CERN contractors, as long as they are acting on CERN’s behalf. The Code also applies to us whether we are on the CERN site or anywhere else. CERN is a major presence in the region. The way we behave can have a significant influence on how our neighbours perceive us, and how the la...

Total energy analysis of nuclear and fossil fueled power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franklin, W.D.; Mutsakis, M.; Ort, R.G.

1971-01-01

The overall thermal efficiencies of electrical power generation were determined for Liquid Metal Fast Breeder, High Temperature Gas Cooled, Boiling Water, and Pressurized Water Reactors and for coal-, oil-, and gas-fired systems. All important energy consuming steps from mining through processing, transporting, and reprocessing the fuels were included in the energy balance along with electrical transmission and thermal losses and energy expenditures for pollution abatement. The results of these studies show that the overall fuel cycle efficiency of the light water nuclear fueled reactors is less than the efficiency of modern fossil fuel cycles. However, the nuclear fuel cycle based on the fast breeder reactors should produce power more efficiently than the most modern supercritical fossil fuel cycles. The high temperature gas cooled reactor has a cycle efficiency comparable to the supercritical coal fuel cycle

Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Part of the Solution

Science.gov (United States)

Busby, Joe R.; Altork, Linh Nguyen

2010-01-01

With the decreasing availability of oil and the perpetual dependence on foreign-controlled resources, many people around the world are beginning to insist on alternative fuel sources. Hydrogen fuel cell technology is one answer to this demand. Although modern fuel cell technology has existed for over a century, the technology is only now becoming…

Ukrainian Nuclear Society International Conference 'Modernization of the NPP with VVER reactor' (abstracts)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bar'yakhtar, V.G.

1999-01-01

Abstracts of the papers presented at International conference of the Ukrainian Nuclear Society 'Modernization of the NPP with VVER reactor'. The following problems are considered: improving the NPP's safety and reliability; reactor modernization, the lifetime prolongation; increasing of the reactor operating characteristics; methods of capacity factor increasing: refueling control, maintenance control; technical and economical aspects of NPP modernization; modernization of the automated control system of the fuel process at the NPP's; technical features and methods for the continued radiation and technology control at the NPP's; training, increasing the staff qualification and NPP modernization

Fabrication and testing of uranium nitride fuel for space power reactors

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, R. B.; Chidester, K. M.; Hoth, C. W.; Mason, R. E.; Petty, R. L.

1988-02-01

Uranium nitride fuel was selected for previous space power reactors because of its attractive thermal and physical properties; however, all UN fabrication and testing activities were terminated over ten years ago. An accelerated irradiation test, SP-1, was designed to demonstrate the irradiation performance of Nb-1 Zr clad UN fuel pins for the SP-100 program. A carbothermic-reduction/nitriding process was developed to synthesize UN powders. These powders were fabricated into fuel pellets by conventional cold-pressing and sintering. The pellets were loaded into Nb-1 Zr cladding tubes, irradiated in a fast-test reactor, and destructively examined after 0.8 at% burnup. Preliminary postirradiation examination (PIE) results show that the fuel pins behaved as designed. Fuel swelling, fission-gas release, and microstructural data are presented, and suggestions to enhance the reliability of UN fuel pins are discussed.

Status and prospects of WWER in-core fuel management activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novikov, A.N.; Pavlov, V.I.; Pavlovichev, A.M.; Proselkov, V.N.; Saprykin, V.V.

1994-01-01

A short review is given of recent extensive calculational and experimental studies carried out in Russia and Bulgaria for WWER fuel cycle modernization. The main activities performed at Kola NPP, Novovoronezh NPP, Kozloduy NPP and Balakovo NPP are outlined. Based on experience gained, the following improvements in the fuel cycle have been introduced: 1) increased fuel burnup; 2) reduced natural uranium consumption and decreased amount of separation work per energy output unit; 3) increased efficiency of the reactor emergency protection; 4) reduced fast neutron flux onto the reactor vessel. The main characteristics of modernized fuel cycles of WWER-440 and WWER-1000 are presented. 4 tabs., 3 figs., 14 refs

Status and prospects of WWER in-core fuel management activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Novikov, A N; Pavlov, V I; Pavlovichev, A M; Proselkov, V N; Saprykin, V V [Russian Research Centre Kurchatov Inst., Moscow (Russian Federation)

1994-12-31

A short review is given of recent extensive calculational and experimental studies carried out in Russia and Bulgaria for WWER fuel cycle modernization. The main activities performed at Kola NPP, Novovoronezh NPP, Kozloduy NPP and Balakovo NPP are outlined. Based on experience gained, the following improvements in the fuel cycle have been introduced: (1) increased fuel burnup; (2) reduced natural uranium consumption and decreased amount of separation work per energy output unit; (3) increased efficiency of the reactor emergency protection; (4) reduced fast neutron flux onto the reactor vessel. The main characteristics of modernized fuel cycles of WWER-440 and WWER-1000 are presented. 4 tabs., 3 figs., 14 refs.

Selection of Fuel System for Modern Heavy Duty Diesel Engines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. M. Kukharonok

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Fuel systems of diesel engines have been analyzed. The paper shows components of the systems, peculiarities of their manufacturing process. Difference in efficiency of the systems, their application and market prospects are considered in the paper. While solving problems to design a power installation the essence of fuel system selection is given on the basis of an internal combustion engine.

Clarification of dissolved irradiated light-water-reactor fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodrigues, G.C.

1983-02-01

Bench-scale studies with actual dissolved irradiated light water reactor (LWR) fuels showed that continuous centrifugation is a practical clarification method for reprocessing. Dissolved irradiated LWR fuel was satisfactorily clarified in a bench-scale, continuous-flow bowl centrifuge. The solids separated were successfully reslurried in water. When the reslurried solids were mixed with clarified centrate, the resulting suspension behaved similar to the original dissolver solution during centrifugation. Settling rates for solids in actual irradiated fuel solutions were measured in a bottle centrifuge. The results indicate that dissolver solutions may be clarified under conditions achievable by available plant-scale centrifuge technology. The effective particle diameter of residual solids was calculated to be 0.064 microns for Oconee-1 fuel and 0.138 microns for Dresden-1 fuel. Filtration was shown unsuitable for clarification of LWR fuel solutions. Conventional filtration with filter aid would unacceptably complicate remote canyon operation and maintenance, might introduce dissolved silica from filter aids, and might irreversibly plug the filter with dissolver solids. Inertial filtration exhibited irreversible pluggage with nonradioactive stand-in suspensions under all conditions tested

CERMET fuel behavior and properties in ADS reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haas, D.; Fernandez, A.; Staicu, D.; Somers, J.; Maschek, W.; Liu, P.; Chen, X.

2008-01-01

Within the EUROTRANS Integrated Project, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) and the Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) are joining their efforts to study the behavior of Mo-based CERMET non-uranium fuel for the ADS. Contributions include core safety calculations, and fuel property measurements and irradiation experiments. Safety studies for optimized EFIT core designs have concluded that, for the new low power cores of EFIT with a power class of ∼400 MWth and a fuel power density of ∼250 MW/m 3 , the CERMET-loaded cores behave favorably and the design limits of the fuels were not violated. Mo-based CERMET fuel pellets and pins loaded with Pu and Am were fabricated for irradiation programmes which will start by mid-2007 in PHENIX (France) and HFR-Petten (The Netherlands). The thermal diffusivity and specific heat of the CERMET fuels (loaded with Pu and Am) were the main properties measured, and the thermal conductivity was deduced. The results were used to prepare the safety report for the irradiation experiments

MOX fuel fabrication: Technical and industrial developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lebastard, G.; Bairiot, H.

1990-01-01

The plutonium available in the near future is generally estimated rather precisely on the basis of the reprocessing contracts and the performance of the reprocessing plants. A few years ago, decision makers were convinced that a significant share of this fissile material would be used as the feed material for fast breeder reactors (FBRs) or other advanced reactors. The facts today are that large reprocessing plants are coming into commercial operations: UP3 and soon UP2-800 and THORP, but that FBR deployment is delayed worldwide. As a consequence, large quantities of plutonium will be recycled in light water reactors as mixed oxide (MOX) fuels. MOX fuel technology has been properly demonstrated in the past 25 years. All specific problems have been addressed, efficient fabrication processes and engineering background have been implemented to a level of maturity which makes MOX fuel behaving as well as Uranium fuel. The paper concentrates on todays MOX fabrication expertise and presents the technical and industrial developments prepared by the MOX fuel fabrication industry for this last decade of the century

Postirradiation analysis of experimental uranium-silicide dispersion fuel plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofman, G.L.; Neimark, L.A.

1985-01-01

Low-enriched uranium silicide dispersion fuel plates were irradiated to maximum burnups of 96% of 235 U. Fuel plates containing 33 v/o U 3 Si and U 3 Si 2 behaved very well up to this burnup. Plates containing 33 v/o U 3 Si-Al pillowed between 90 and 96% burnup of the fissile atoms. More highly loaded U 3 Si-Al plates, up to 50 v/o were found to pillow at lower burnups. Plates containing 40 v/o U 3 Si showed an increase swelling rate around 85% burnup. 5 refs., 10 figs

Alternative Fuels in Cement Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Morten Boberg

The substitution of alternative for fossil fuels in cement production has increased significantly in the last decade. Of these new alternative fuels, solid state fuels presently account for the largest part, and in particular, meat and bone meal, plastics and tyre derived fuels (TDF) accounted...... for the most significant alternative fuel energy contributors in the German cement industry. Solid alternative fuels are typically high in volatile content and they may differ significantly in physical and chemical properties compared to traditional solid fossil fuels. From the process point of view......, considering a modern kiln system for cement production, the use of alternative fuels mainly influences 1) kiln process stability (may accelerate build up of blockages preventing gas and/or solids flow), 2) cement clinker quality, 3) emissions, and 4) decreased production capacity. Kiln process stability...

Wave fronts, pulses and wave trains in photoexcited superlattices behaving as excitable or oscillatory media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arana, J I; Bonilla, L L; Grahn, H T

2011-01-01

Undoped and strongly photoexcited semiconductor superlattices with field-dependent recombination behave as excitable or oscillatory media with spatially discrete nonlinear convection and diffusion. Infinitely long, dc-current-biased superlattices behaving as excitable media exhibit wave fronts with increasing or decreasing profiles, whose velocities can be calculated by means of asymptotic methods. These superlattices can also support pulses of the electric field. Pulses moving downstream with the flux of electrons can be constructed from their component wave fronts, whereas pulses advancing upstream do so slowly and experience saltatory motion: they change slowly in long intervals of time separated by fast transitions during which the pulses jump to the previous superlattice period. Photoexcited superlattices can also behave as oscillatory media and exhibit wave trains. (paper)

Status of LEU fuel development and conversion of NRU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sears, D.F.; Herbert, L.N.; Vaillancourt, K.D.

1989-11-01

The status of the low-enrichment uranium (LEU) fuel development and NRU conversion program at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories is reviewed. Construction of a new fuel fabrication facility is essentially completed and installation of LEW fuel manufacturing equipment has begun. The irradiation of 31 prototype Al-61 wt% U 3 Si dispersion fuel rods, approximately one third of a full NRU core, is continuing without incident. Recent post-irradiation examination of spent fuel rods revealed that the prototype LEU fuel achieved the design burnup (80 at%) in excellent condition, confirming that the Al-U 3 Si 2 dispersion fuel to complement out Al-U 3 Si capability. Three full-size NRU rods containing Al-U 3 Si 2 dispersion fuel have been fabricated for a qualification irradiation in NRU. Post-irradiation examinations of mini-elements containing Al-U 3 Si 2 fuel revealed that the U 3 Si 2 behaved similarly to U 3 Si 2 fuel revealed that the U 3 Si 2 particles and the aluminum matrix, and fission gas bubbles up to 10 μm in diameter, could be seen in the particles after 60 at% and 80 at% burnup. The mini-elements contained a variety of silicide particle sizes; however, no significant swelling dependence on particle size distribution was observed

Modernization of turbines in fossil and nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harig, T.; Oeynhausen, H.

2004-01-01

Steam turbine power plants have a big share in power generation world-wide. In view of their age structure, they offer the biggest potential for increasing power plant performance, availability and environmental protection. Modernisation and replacement of key components by improved components will reduce fuel consumption and improve power plant performance by higher capacity, higher power, shorter start-up and shutdown times, and reduced standstill times. Modern steam turbine bladings will result in further improvements without additional fuel consumption. (orig.)

Modernization in-core monitoring system, of WWER-1000 reactors (W-320) by fuel assemblies with individual characteristics using

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitin, V. I.; Semchenkov, J. M.; Kalinushkin, A. E.

2007-01-01

The present report covers object, conception, engineering solution of construction of modern system of high-powered reactor in-core control, including WWER-1000 (V-320) reactors. It is known that ICMS main task is on-line monitoring distribution of power release field and its functioning independently of design programs to avoid common reason error. It is shown in what way field of power release recovery has been carrying on; rest on the signals of in-core neutron and temperature sensors. On the base of the obtained and refined information there have being automatically generated signals of preventive and emergency protection on local parameters (linear power to the maximum intensive fuel elements, reserve to heat exchange crisis, 'picking factor'). There have represented technology on sensors and processing methods of SPND and TC signals, ICIS composition and structure, program hard ware, system and applied software. Structure, composition and the taken decisions allow combining class 1E and class B and C tasks in accordance with international norms of separation and safety classes' realization. At present ICIS-M is a system, providing implementation of control, safety, information and diagnostic functions, which allow securing actual increase of quality, reliability and safety in operation of nuclear fuel and NPP units. And at the same time it reduces human factor negative influence to core work thermo technical eliability in the operational process (Authors)

Five years of successful CANDU-6 fuel manufacturing in Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galeriu, A.C.; Pascu, A.; Andrei, G.; Bailescu, A.

1999-01-01

This paper describes the evolution of CANDU-6 nuclear fuel manufacturing in Romania at FCN Pitesti, after the completion of the qualification in 1994. Commercial production was resumed early 1995 and fuel bundles produced were entirely delivered to Cernavoda Plant and charged in the reactor. More than 12,000 fuel bundles have been produced in the last five years and the fuel behaved very well. Defective bundles represents less than 0.06% from the total irradiated fuel, and the most defects are associated to the highest power positions. After qualification, FCN focused the effort to improve braze quality and also to maintain a low residual hydrogen content in graphite coated sheaths. The production capacity was increased especially for component manufacturing, appendages tack welding and brazing. A new graphite baking furnace with increased capacity, is under design. In the pelleting area, a rotating press will replace the older hydraulic presses used for pelleting. Plant development taken inter consideration the future demands for Cernavoda Unit 2. (author)

Modern methods of material accounting for mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eggers, R.F.; Pindak, J.L.; Brouns, R.J.; Williams, R.C.; Brite, D.W.; Kinnison, R.R.; Fager, J.E.

1981-01-01

The generic requirements loss detection, and response to alarms of a contemporary material control and accounting (MCandA) philosophy have been applied to a mixed oxide fuel fabrication plant to produce a detailed preliminary MCandA system design that is generally applicable to facilities of this type. This paper summarizes and discusses detailed results of the mixed oxide fuel fabrication plant study

Cruising in afterburner: Air force fuel use and emerging energy policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lucia, David J.

2011-01-01

Operational and mission efficiency were estimated for Air Force fighters, bombers and transports from fuel use data from 2001 through 2008 as reported in the Air Force Total Cost of Ownership (AFTOC) database. This analysis estimated efficiency in terms of the best performance theoretically possible for each platform based upon the energy available in the fuel expended. Operational efficiency considered aircraft operations in general, without regard for the type of mission. Mission efficiency only considered use of allocated fuel for combat (non-training) sorties. The cost associated with fuel inefficiency of the combined fighter, bomber and tanker force were estimated based on the fiscal year 2008 costs of fuel, fully burdened to include the cost of aerial refueling. The total cost of operational inefficiency was estimated at $5 billion per year. The fully burdened cost of mission inefficiency added an additional $3.6 billion for a total per year cost estimate of $8.6 billion. This represents 21.5% of the $40 billion portion of the 2009 budget dedicated to modernization. A business case for force-structure change is presented, which describes how these cost savings can be leveraged for modernization. - Highlights: → I assess how efficiently the United States Air Force uses fuel for aviation. → I estimate the cost associated with fuel inefficiency. → Improved technology can dramatically improve fuel efficiency. → There is potentially a large cost savings associated with improved fuel efficiency. → I present a business case to leverage this cost savings for modernization.

Modern methods of material accounting for mixed-oxide fuel-fabrication facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eggers, R.F.; Brouns, R.J.; Brite, D.W.; Pindak, J.L.

1981-07-01

The generic requirements loss detection, and response to alarms of a contemporary material control and accounting (MC and A) philosophy have been applied to a mixed-oxide fuel-fabrication plant to produce a detailed preliminary MC and A system design that is generally applicable to facilities of this type. This paper summarizes and discusses detailed results of the mixed-oxide fuel-fabrication plant study. Topics covered in this paper include: mixed-oxide fuel-fabrication process description, process disaggregation into MC and A system control units, quantitative results of analysis of control units for abrupt and recurring loss-detection capability, impact of short- and long-term holdup on loss-detection capability, response to alarms for abrupt loss, and response to alarms for recurring loss

Car buyers and fuel economy?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turrentine, Thomas S.; Kurani, Kenneth S.

2007-01-01

This research is designed to help researchers and policy makers ground their work in the reality of how US consumers are thinking and behaving with respect to automotive fuel economy. Our data are from semi-structured interviews with 57 households across nine lifestyle 'sectors.' We found no household that analyzed their fuel costs in a systematic way in their automobile or gasoline purchases. Almost none of these households track gasoline costs over time or consider them explicitly in household budgets. These households may know the cost of their last tank of gasoline and the unit price of gasoline on that day, but this accurate information is rapidly forgotten and replaced by typical information. One effect of this lack of knowledge and information is that when consumers buy a vehicle, they do not have the basic building blocks of knowledge assumed by the model of economically rational decision-making, and they make large errors estimating gasoline costs and savings over time. Moreover, we find that consumer value for fuel economy is not only about private cost savings. Fuel economy can be a symbolic value as well, for example among drivers who view resource conservation or thrift as important values to communicate. Consumers also assign non-monetary meaning to fuel prices, for example seeing rising prices as evidence of conspiracy. This research suggests that consumer responses to fuel economy technology and changes in fuel prices are more complex than economic assumptions suggest. The US Department of Energy and the Energy Foundation supported this research. The authors are solely responsible for the content and conclusions presented

Modern industrial society and energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gang, Chang Sun; Kim, Tae Yu; Moon, Sang Heup; Lee, Hwa Yeong; Han, Min Gu; Hyeon, Byeong Gu

1992-03-01

This book starts with introduction and covers modern society and energy, economy and energy, energy system(nonrecurring energy-coal, oil, natural gas, atomic energy and renewable energy), and future energy. It explains in detail essence of energy, energy trend of the world and Korea, definition of resources, energy policy, characteristics of coal, combustion of coal, refinement of oil, oil products, development of atomic energy, necessity and problem of atomic energy, solar energy, sunlight generation system, fuel cell system, and fusion reactor development.

Modern requirements to quality assurance and control in nuclear fuel fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weidinger, H.G.

1999-01-01

This lecture have shown a new type of quality assurance management has already successfully introduced in various industries and now starts to be used increasingly in the nuclear fuel industry. Static authority regulations and a tendency to bureaucratic understanding and handling of these regulations lead to a delayed start and a relatively slow progress of these quality strategies in the nuclear fuel technology. However, the economic pressure of strong competition and increasing demands of the utilities as the user of nuclear fuel result in a more determined introduction also to this area. The different use of statistical methods of two different fuel vendors are shown. Vendor A uses old fashioned methods. The focus is on the expensive final product control and few emphasis is on design of experiments and process control. Consequently, this vendor will have high costs, not only for QC and rejection but also for repair and replace actions after delivery. To the contrary, vendor B invests primarily in the design of experiments and process control. This vendor will profit only from lower direct costs but also from being at the front line of technical development and from enjoying a satisfied and happy customer. Many well examined quality management tools are available today which help not only to improve the quality but also decrease the costs. Still, the progress in using these techniques in nuclear fuel technology is limited and not comparable to the progress in other industries like automobile production or the electronic industry. (author)

Evaluation of the environmental impact of modern passenger cars on petrol, diesel, automotive LPG and CNG

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hendriksen, P.; Vermeulen, R.J.; Rijkeboer, R.C.; Bremmers, D.A.C.M.; Smokers, R.T.M.; Winkel, R.G.

2003-01-01

The project reported here concerns an investigation into the environmental performance of modern passenger cars on four different fuels: petrol, diesel, automotive LPG and CNG. The objectives of the project were twofold: - To make a valid and useful comparison between modern vehicles fuelled by

Development of WWER-440 fuel. Use of fuel assemblies of 2-nd and 3-rd generations with increased enrichment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasilchenko, I.; Lushin, V.; Ananev, U.; Baranov, A.; Kukushkin, U.

2009-01-01

The problem of increasing the power of units at NPPs with WWER-440 is of current importance. There are all the necessary prerequisites for the above-stated problem as a result of updating the design of fuel assemblies and codes. The decrease of power peaking factor in the core is achieved by using profiled fuel assemblies, fuel-integrated burning absorber, FAs with modernized docking unit, modern codes, which allows decreasing conservatism of RP safety substantiation. A wide range of experimental studies of fuel behaviour has been performed which has reached burn-up of (50-60) MW·day/kgU in transition and emergency conditions, post-reactor studies of fuel assemblies, fuel rods and fuel pellets with a 5-year operating period have been performed, which prove high reliability of fuel, presence of a large margin in the fuel pillar, which helps reactor operation at increased power. The results of the work performed on introduction of 5-6 fuel cycles show that the ultimate fuel state on operability in WWER-440 reactors is far from being achieved. Neutron-physical and thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the cores of working power units with RP V-213 are such that actual (design and measured) power peaking factors on fuel assemblies and fuel rods, as a rule, are smaller than the maximum design values. This factor is a real reserve for power forcing. There is experience of operating Units 1, 2, 4 of the Kola NPP and Unit 2 of the Rovno NPP at increased power. Units of the Loviisa NPP are operated at 109 % power. During transfer to work at increased power it is reasonable to use fuel assemblies with increased height of the fuel pillar, which allows decreasing medium linear power distribution. Further development of the 2-nd generation fuel assembly design and consequent transition to working fuel assemblies of the 3-rd generation provides significant improvement of fuel consumption under the conditions of WWER-440 reactors operation with more continuous fuel cycles and

Outlook for modern cooking energy access in Central America

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

The Central American nations of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua are among the poorest in the Americas. While the fraction of population dependent on solid fuels has declined in these nations over the last 25 years, the number of people using them has risen. Here, we first assess current patterns of cooking energy use in these nations. We then apply a discrete model of household cooking choices and demand to simulate future pathways of clean cooking uptake and the outlook for achieving target 7.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which aims to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services by 2030. We find that by 2030, ensuing income growth is likely to enable 90% of urban populations in these nations to switch to using modern cooking energy services. However, without supporting policies, between 40% to 50% of rural Guatemalans and Hondurans, while over two-thirds of rural Nicaraguans, are likely to find clean fuels or stoves unaffordable in 2030. A targeted subsidy on modern fuels, like liquid petroleum gas (LPG), is the most effective policy mechanism we studied that could provide such support. A 50% subsidy policy on LPG targeted to the rural and urban poor population could, by 2030, make cooking with LPG affordable to an additional 7.3 million people in these countries. We estimate that such a policy would cost about $250 million per year and would have negligible greenhouse gas emissions impacts. Such a policy could also have significant health benefits, preventing about 8,890 premature deaths annually from reduced exposure to cooking-related household pollution in 2030. PMID:29883457

Spent nuclear fuel management. Moving toward a century of spent fuel management: A view from the halfway mark

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shephard, L.

2004-01-01

Full text: A half-century ago, President Eisenhower in his 1953 'Atoms for Peace' speech, offered nuclear technology to other nations as part of a broad nuclear arms control initiative. In the years that followed, the nuclear power generation capabilities of many nations has helped economic development and contributed to the prosperity of the modern world. The growth of nuclear power, while providing many benefits, has also contributed to an increasing global challenge over safe and secure spent fuel management. Over 40 countries have invested in nuclear energy, developing over 400 nuclear power reactors. Nuclear power supplies approximately 16% of the global electricity needs. With the finite resources and challenges of fossil fuels, nuclear power will undoubtedly become more prevalent in the future, both in the U.S. and abroad. We must address this inevitability with new paradigms for managing a global nuclear future. Over the past fifty years, the world has come to better understand the strong interplay between all elements of the nuclear fuel cycle, global economics, and global security. In the modern world, the nuclear fuel cycle can no longer be managed as a simple sequence of technological, economic and political challenges. Rather it must be seen, and managed, as a system of strongly interrelated challenges. Spent fuel management, as one element of the nuclear fuel system, cannot be relegated to the back-end of the fuel cycle as only a disposal or storage issue. There exists a wealth of success and experience with spent fuel management over the past fifty years. We must forge this experience with a global systems perspective, to reshape the governing of all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, including spent fuel management. This session will examine the collective experience of spent fuel management enterprises, seeking to shape the development of new management paradigms for the next fifty years. (author)

Modern teaching for modern education

OpenAIRE

Mirascieva, Snezana

2016-01-01

Carrying the epithet of being contemporary education today means modern teaching. If modern education is a state in the field of education of all its elements, then teaching will also be a state with its own special features defining it as modern. The main issues of concern in this paper relate to what constitutes modern teaching, which features determine it as being modern, and how much is teaching today following the trend of modernization.

Sciences from below: feminisms, postcolonialities, and modernities.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Harlan

2010-01-01

Sandra Harding's newest book, Sciences from Below: Feminisms, Postcolonialities, and Modernities, continues her work in feminist standpoint theory and science and technologies studies, asking how we might judge "good" science. Attentive to race, class, gender, and imperialism, Harding critically examines Northern and Southern sciences and technologies by adopting the perspective of those who see from below. This vision from the peripheries lets Harding question stories of modern scientific progress, revealing a multiplicity of "ethnosciences" and critiquing modernity itself. However, while Harding aims to produce knowledge for the North's others by emphasizing woman's experience, she fails to question the category "woman," ignoring contemporary transgender and queer scholarship. Further, it is Harding's care for the North's subjugated others that motivates her writing, revealing that the struggle to achieve the standpoint "from below" so critical to her project is fueled by what her ally Maria Puig de la Bellacasa would term not thinking from, but thinking with, or, more precisely, "thinking with care."

Fuel performance analysis for the HAMP-1 mini plate test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Byoung Jin; Tahka, Y. W.; Yim, J. S.; Lee, B. H. [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

U-7wt%Mo/Al- 5wt%Si dispersion fuel with 8gU/cm{sup 3} is chosen to achieve more efficiency and higher performance than the conventional U{sub 3}Si{sub 2} fuel. As part of the fuel qualification program for the KiJang research reactor (KJRR), three irradiation tests with mini-plates are on the way at the High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO). The first test among three HANARO Mini-Plate Irradiation tests (HAMP-1, 2, 3) has completed. PLATE code has been initially developed to analyze the thermal performance of high density U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel plates during irradiation [1]. We upgraded the PLATE code with the latest irradiation results which were implemented by corrosion, thermal conductivity and swelling model. Fuel performance analysis for HAMP-1 was conducted with updated PLATE. This paper presents results of performance evaluation of the HAMP-1. Maximum fuel temperature was obtained 136 .deg., which is far below the preset limit of 200 .deg. for the irradiation test. The meat swelling and corrosion thickness was also confirmed that the developed fuel would behave as anticipated.

Combinatorial Clustering Algorithm of Quantum-Behaved Particle Swarm Optimization and Cloud Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mi-Yuan Shan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a combinatorial clustering algorithm of cloud model and quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (COCQPSO to solve the stochastic problem. The algorithm employs a novel probability model as well as a permutation-based local search method. We are setting the parameters of COCQPSO based on the design of experiment. In the comprehensive computational study, we scrutinize the performance of COCQPSO on a set of widely used benchmark instances. By benchmarking combinatorial clustering algorithm with state-of-the-art algorithms, we can show that its performance compares very favorably. The fuzzy combinatorial optimization algorithm of cloud model and quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (FCOCQPSO in vague sets (IVSs is more expressive than the other fuzzy sets. Finally, numerical examples show the clustering effectiveness of COCQPSO and FCOCQPSO clustering algorithms which are extremely remarkable.

Hippocampal activity during transient respiratory events in the freely behaving cat

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poe, G R; Kristensen, Morten Pilgaard; Rector, D M

1996-01-01

We measured dorsal hippocampal activity accompanying sighs and apnea using reflectance imaging and electrophysiologic measures in freely behaving cats. Reflected 660-nm light from a 1-mm2 area of CA1 was captured during sighs and apnea at 25 Hz through a coherent image conduit coupled to a charge...

WWR-M reactor fuel elements as objects of permanent study and modernization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirsanov, G.A.; Konoplev, K.A.; Poltavski, A.S.; Zakharov, A.S.

2005-01-01

Brief description of WWR-M5 thin-walled fuel elements and review of possible improvement of parameters for reactor type WWR-M and WWR-SM during transition from fuel elements HEU and LEU WWR-M2 to LEU WWR-M5 is presented. (author)

The continuous fuel cycle model and the gas cooled fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christie, Stuart; Lathouwers, Danny; Kloosterman, Jan Leen; Hagen, Tim van der

2011-01-01

The gas cooled fast reactor (GFR) is one of the generation IV designs currently being evaluated for future use. It is intended to behave as an isobreeder, producing the same amount of fuel as it consumes during operation. The actinides in the fuel will be recycled repeatedly in order to minimise the waste output to fission products only. Striking the balance of the fissioning of various actinides against transmutation and decay to achieve these goals is a complex problem. This is compounded by the time required for burn-up modelling, which can be considerable for a single cycle, and even longer for studies of fuel evolution over many cycles. The continuous fuel cycle model approximates the discrete steps of loading, operating and unloading a reactor as continuous processes. This simplifies the calculations involved in simulating the behaviour of the fuel, reducing the time needed to model the changes to the fuel composition over many cycles. This method is used to study the behaviour of GFR fuel over many cycles and compared to results obtained from direct calculations. The effects of varying fuel cycle properties such as feed material, recycling of additional actinides and reprocessing losses are also investigated. (author)

Modernization and enlarging of the Marcoule pilot plant for R and D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calame-Longjean, A.; Revol, G.; Roux, J.P.; Ranger, G.

1987-01-01

The aim of the pilot plant is the testing of process and equipment in actual conditions with spent fuels on a half-industrial scale and for a significant time. From 1963 to 1983 more than 11t of spent fuels (mainly from fast reactors) were reprocessed. Since 1983 is modernized and enlarged and the new plant of the TOR project (treatment of oxides from fast reactors) are described [fr

Chaos Quantum-Behaved Cat Swarm Optimization Algorithm and Its Application in the PV MPPT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaohua Nie

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cat Swarm Optimization (CSO algorithm was put forward in 2006. Despite a faster convergence speed compared with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO algorithm, the application of CSO is greatly limited by the drawback of “premature convergence,” that is, the possibility of trapping in local optimum when dealing with nonlinear optimization problem with a large number of local extreme values. In order to surmount the shortcomings of CSO, Chaos Quantum-behaved Cat Swarm Optimization (CQCSO algorithm is proposed in this paper. Firstly, Quantum-behaved Cat Swarm Optimization (QCSO algorithm improves the accuracy of the CSO algorithm, because it is easy to fall into the local optimum in the later stage. Chaos Quantum-behaved Cat Swarm Optimization (CQCSO algorithm is proposed by introducing tent map for jumping out of local optimum in this paper. Secondly, CQCSO has been applied in the simulation of five different test functions, showing higher accuracy and less time consumption than CSO and QCSO. Finally, photovoltaic MPPT model and experimental platform are established and global maximum power point tracking control strategy is achieved by CQCSO algorithm, the effectiveness and efficiency of which have been verified by both simulation and experiment.

Chaos Quantum-Behaved Cat Swarm Optimization Algorithm and Its Application in the PV MPPT.

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Xiaohua; Wang, Wei; Nie, Haoyao

2017-01-01

Cat Swarm Optimization (CSO) algorithm was put forward in 2006. Despite a faster convergence speed compared with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, the application of CSO is greatly limited by the drawback of "premature convergence," that is, the possibility of trapping in local optimum when dealing with nonlinear optimization problem with a large number of local extreme values. In order to surmount the shortcomings of CSO, Chaos Quantum-behaved Cat Swarm Optimization (CQCSO) algorithm is proposed in this paper. Firstly, Quantum-behaved Cat Swarm Optimization (QCSO) algorithm improves the accuracy of the CSO algorithm, because it is easy to fall into the local optimum in the later stage. Chaos Quantum-behaved Cat Swarm Optimization (CQCSO) algorithm is proposed by introducing tent map for jumping out of local optimum in this paper. Secondly, CQCSO has been applied in the simulation of five different test functions, showing higher accuracy and less time consumption than CSO and QCSO. Finally, photovoltaic MPPT model and experimental platform are established and global maximum power point tracking control strategy is achieved by CQCSO algorithm, the effectiveness and efficiency of which have been verified by both simulation and experiment.

Performance of candu-6 fuel bundles manufactured in romania nuclear fuel plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailescu, A.; Barbu, A.; Din, F.; Dinuta, G.; Dumitru, I.; Musetoiu, A.; Serban, G.; Tomescu, A.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this article is to present the performance of nuclear fuel produced by Nuclear Fuel Plant (N.F.P.) - Pitesti during 1995 - 2012 and irradiated in units U1 and U2 from Nuclear Power Plant (N.P.P.) Cernavoda and also present the Nuclear Fuel Plant (N.F.P.) - Pitesti concern for providing technology to prevent the failure causes of fuel bundles in the reactor. This article presents Nuclear Fuel Plant (N.F.P.) - Pitesti experience on tracking performance of nuclear fuel in reactor and strategy investigation of fuel bundles notified as suspicious and / or defectives both as fuel element and fuel bundle, it analyzes the possible defects that can occur at fuel bundle or fuel element and can lead to their failure in the reactor. Implementation of modern technologies has enabled optimization of manufacturing processes and hence better quality stability of achieving components (end caps, chamfered sheath), better verification of end cap - sheath welding. These technologies were qualified by Nuclear Fuel Plant (N.F.P.) - Pitesti on automatic and Computer Numerical Control (C.N.C.) programming machines. A post-irradiation conclusive analysis which will take place later this year (2013) in Institute for Nuclear Research Pitesti (the action was initiated earlier this year by bringing a fuel bundle which has been reported defective by pool visual inspection) will provide additional information concerning potential damage causes of fuel bundles due to manufacturing processes. (authors)

Two-Photon Functional Imaging of the Auditory Cortex in Behaving Mice: From Neural Networks to Single Spines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruijie Li

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In vivo two-photon Ca2+ imaging is a powerful tool for recording neuronal activities during perceptual tasks and has been increasingly applied to behaving animals for acute or chronic experiments. However, the auditory cortex is not easily accessible to imaging because of the abundant temporal muscles, arteries around the ears and their lateral locations. Here, we report a protocol for two-photon Ca2+ imaging in the auditory cortex of head-fixed behaving mice. By using a custom-made head fixation apparatus and a head-rotated fixation procedure, we achieved two-photon imaging and in combination with targeted cell-attached recordings of auditory cortical neurons in behaving mice. Using synthetic Ca2+ indicators, we recorded the Ca2+ transients at multiple scales, including neuronal populations, single neurons, dendrites and single spines, in auditory cortex during behavior. Furthermore, using genetically encoded Ca2+ indicators (GECIs, we monitored the neuronal dynamics over days throughout the process of associative learning. Therefore, we achieved two-photon functional imaging at multiple scales in auditory cortex of behaving mice, which extends the tool box for investigating the neural basis of audition-related behaviors.

It's safety first on N-fuel carrier ship

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1983-01-01

The 3 000t deadweight ship to carry irradiated nuclear fuel ordered recently from Appledore Shipbuilders will be one of the most sophisticated ships built at the firm's modern and totally-enclosed north Devon yard. The ship will be used to carry irradiated nuclear fuel from Japan to be reprocessed at British Nuclear Fuels site at Sellafield and at the Cogema plant in northern France. It has been designed to conform to the most exacting requirements of Pacific Nuclear Transport and will incorporate every safeguard for the shipment of irradiated nuclear fuels

An improved quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization method for short-term combined economic emission hydrothermal scheduling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Songfeng; Sun, Chengfu; Lu, Zhengding [School of Computer Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)

2010-03-15

This paper presents a modified quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) for short-term combined economic emission scheduling (CEES) of hydrothermal power systems with several equality and inequality constraints. The hydrothermal scheduling is formulated as a bi-objective problem: (i) minimizing fuel cost and (ii) minimizing pollutant emission. The bi-objective problem is converted into a single objective one by price penalty factor. The proposed method, denoted as QPSO-DM, combines the QPSO algorithm with differential mutation operation to enhance the global search ability. In this study, heuristic strategies are proposed to handle the equality constraints especially water dynamic balance constraints and active power balance constraints. A feasibility-based selection technique is also employed to meet the reservoir storage volumes constraints. To show the efficiency of the proposed method, different case studies are carried out and QPSO-DM is compared with the differential evolution (DE), the particle swarm optimization (PSO) with same heuristic strategies in terms of the solution quality, robustness and convergence property. The simulation results show that the proposed method is capable of yielding higher-quality solutions stably and efficiently in the short-term hydrothermal scheduling than any other tested optimization algorithms. (author)

An improved quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization method for short-term combined economic emission hydrothermal scheduling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu Songfeng [School of Computer Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); Sun Chengfu, E-mail: ajason_369@sina.co [School of Computer Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); Lu Zhengding [School of Computer Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)

2010-03-15

This paper presents a modified quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) for short-term combined economic emission scheduling (CEES) of hydrothermal power systems with several equality and inequality constraints. The hydrothermal scheduling is formulated as a bi-objective problem: (i) minimizing fuel cost and (ii) minimizing pollutant emission. The bi-objective problem is converted into a single objective one by price penalty factor. The proposed method, denoted as QPSO-DM, combines the QPSO algorithm with differential mutation operation to enhance the global search ability. In this study, heuristic strategies are proposed to handle the equality constraints especially water dynamic balance constraints and active power balance constraints. A feasibility-based selection technique is also employed to meet the reservoir storage volumes constraints. To show the efficiency of the proposed method, different case studies are carried out and QPSO-DM is compared with the differential evolution (DE), the particle swarm optimization (PSO) with same heuristic strategies in terms of the solution quality, robustness and convergence property. The simulation results show that the proposed method is capable of yielding higher-quality solutions stably and efficiently in the short-term hydrothermal scheduling than any other tested optimization algorithms.

An improved quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization method for short-term combined economic emission hydrothermal scheduling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Songfeng; Sun Chengfu; Lu Zhengding

2010-01-01

This paper presents a modified quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) for short-term combined economic emission scheduling (CEES) of hydrothermal power systems with several equality and inequality constraints. The hydrothermal scheduling is formulated as a bi-objective problem: (i) minimizing fuel cost and (ii) minimizing pollutant emission. The bi-objective problem is converted into a single objective one by price penalty factor. The proposed method, denoted as QPSO-DM, combines the QPSO algorithm with differential mutation operation to enhance the global search ability. In this study, heuristic strategies are proposed to handle the equality constraints especially water dynamic balance constraints and active power balance constraints. A feasibility-based selection technique is also employed to meet the reservoir storage volumes constraints. To show the efficiency of the proposed method, different case studies are carried out and QPSO-DM is compared with the differential evolution (DE), the particle swarm optimization (PSO) with same heuristic strategies in terms of the solution quality, robustness and convergence property. The simulation results show that the proposed method is capable of yielding higher-quality solutions stably and efficiently in the short-term hydrothermal scheduling than any other tested optimization algorithms.

Fuels Performance | Transportation Research | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Biodiesel Performance in Modern Engines NREL is working cooperatively with the National Biodiesel Board on research that assesses several aspects of biodiesel compatibility with engines, vehicles, and fuel-handling infrastructure. Several cooperative studies were recently conducted that examined how biodiesel performs with new

Molten fluoride fuel salt chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toth, L.M.; Del Cul, G.D.; Dai, S.; Metcalf, D.H.

1995-01-01

The chemistry of molten fluorides is traced from their development as fuels in the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment with important factors in their selection being discussed. Key chemical characteristics such as solubility, redox behavior, and chemical activity are explained as they relate to the behavior of molten fluoride fuel systems. Development requirements for fitting the current state of the chemistry to modern nuclear fuel system are described. It is concluded that while much is known about molten fluoride behavior which can be used effectively to reduce the amount of development required for future systems, some significant molten salt chemical questions must still be addressed. copyright American Institute of Physics 1995

Evolving Models of Pavlovian Conditioning: Cerebellar Cortical Dynamics in Awake Behaving Mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michiel M. ten Brinke

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Three decades of electrophysiological research on cerebellar cortical activity underlying Pavlovian conditioning have expanded our understanding of motor learning in the brain. Purkinje cell simple spike suppression is considered to be crucial in the expression of conditional blink responses (CRs. However, trial-by-trial quantification of this link in awake behaving animals is lacking, and current hypotheses regarding the underlying plasticity mechanisms have diverged from the classical parallel fiber one to the Purkinje cell synapse LTD hypothesis. Here, we establish that acquired simple spike suppression, acquired conditioned stimulus (CS-related complex spike responses, and molecular layer interneuron (MLI activity predict the expression of CRs on a trial-by-trial basis using awake behaving mice. Additionally, we show that two independent transgenic mouse mutants with impaired MLI function exhibit motor learning deficits. Our findings suggest multiple cerebellar cortical plasticity mechanisms underlying simple spike suppression, and they implicate the broader involvement of the olivocerebellar module within the interstimulus interval.

Determination of sulfur content in fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daucik, P.; Zidek, Z.; Kalab, P.

1998-01-01

The sulfur content in fuels, Diesel fuels, and in the solutions of dibutylsulfide in a white oil was determined by various methods. The results obtained by elemental analysis have shown that the method is not advisable for the determination of sulfur in fuels. A good agreement was found by comparing the results in the determination of the sulfur by Grote-Krekeler's and Hermann-Moritz's methods and by the energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis. The last method is the modern, comfortable, and timesaving method enabling the fast and precise determination of sulfur contents in the various types of samples. (authors)

DGMK 729. Application characteristics of fuels with biogenic components

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neulen, Martin; Hoffmann, Hajo [OWI - Oel-Waerme-Institut GmbH, Herzogenrath (Germany)

2013-06-01

Using the test rig developed within a project funded by the DGMK (project 729), fuel can be aged semi-realistically in a short time. The test rig was designed to age a fuel within less than 1,000 hours of operation. Another aspect was to investigate the influence of the different aging mechanisms on the fuel, such as light, ambient air, high temperatures and mechanical stress. By defining these parameters and intensifying them, the goal of 1,000 hours of operation has already been achieved in the first test run. A high repeatability and the possibility to vary the parameters of the test runs for all four nearly identical apparatuses are the main characteristics of this test rig. With this test rig it can be tried out how additives react when the fuel ages and how a fuel behaves during its storage. The test runs are supervised by pressure transducer and thermocouples, so that the test rig can be operated unattendedly when started. During the test run every 300 hours of operation fuel samples are taken. These samples are analyzed according to an analysis matrix. Furthermore, the deposits sedimented in the filters or other components can be analyzed. By this, the aging can be understood and monitored. (orig.)

An Abstract Coalgebraic Approach to Process Equivalence for Well- Behaved Operational Semantics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klin, Bartek

This thesis is part of the programme aimed at finding a mathematical theory of well-behaved structural operational semantics. General and basic results shown in 1997 in a seminal paper by Turi and Plotkin are extended in two directions, aiming at greater expressivity of the framework. The so-call...

Particulate filter behaviour of a Diesel engine fueled with biodiesel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buono, D.; Senatore, A.; Prati, M.V.

2012-01-01

Biodiesel is an alternative and renewable fuel made from plant and animal fat or cooked oil through a transesterification process to produce a short chain ester (generally methyl ester). Biodiesel fuels have been worldwide studied in Diesel engines and they were found to be compatible in blends with Diesel fuel to well operate in modern Common Rail engines. Also throughout the world the diffusion of biofuels is being promoted in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental impact of transport, and to increase security of supply. To meet the current exhaust emission regulations, after-treatment devices are necessary; in particular Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) are essential to reduce particulate emissions of Diesel engines. A critical requirement for the implementation of DPF on a modern Biodiesel powered engine is the determination of Break-even Temperature (BET) which is defined as the temperature at which particulate deposition on the filter is balanced by particulate oxidation on the filter. To fit within the exhaust temperature range of the exhaust line and to require a minimum of active regeneration during the engine running, the BET needs to occur at sufficiently low temperatures. In this paper, the results of an experimental campaign on a modern, electronic controlled fuel injection Diesel engine are shown. The engine was fuelled either with petroleum ultralow sulphur fuel or with Biodiesel: BET was evaluated for both fuels. Results show that on average, the BET is lower for biodiesel than for diesel fuel. The final goal was to characterize the regeneration process of the DPF device depending on the adopted fuel, taking into account the different combustion process and the different nature of the particulate matter. Overall the results suggest significant benefits for the use of biodiesel in engines equipped with DPFs. - Highlights: ► We compare Diesel Particulate Trap (DPF) performance with Biodiesel and Diesel fuel. ► The Break

Numerical study of the thermo-hydraulic behavior for the Candu type fuel channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazaro, Pavel Gabriel; Balas Ghizdeanu, Elena Nineta

2008-01-01

Candu type reactors use fuel channel in a horizontal lattice. The fuel bundles are positioned in two Zircaloy tubes: the pressure tube surrounded by calandria tube. Inside the pressure tube the coolant heavy water flows. The coolant reaches high temperatures and pressures. Due to irregular neutron spatial distribution, the fuel channel stress differs from one channel to other. In one improbable event of severe accident, the fuel channel behaves differently according to its normal function history. Over the years, there have been many research projects trying to analyze thermal hydraulic performance of the design and to add some operational improvements in order to achieve an efficient thermal hydraulic distribution. This paper discusses the thermo hydraulic behavior (influence of the temperature and velocity distribution) of the most solicited channel, simulated with Fluent 6.X. Code. Moreover it will be commented the results obtained using different models and mesh applied. (authors)

The priorities of the energy infrastructure modernization in rural areas of the Komi Republic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Larisa Viktorovna Chaika

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The article presents the problems of development and modernization of energy infrastructure priorities in rural areas of the Komi Republic. For the most part of rural population the achieved level of energy supply is the necessary minimum for the needs, and it has the low parameters of the energy and economy efficiency. The main directions of the rural energy supply modernization should be: the gas supply system development, the electric grid capacity growth and the construction of the modern small energy technologies (small central heating and power plants, modular boiler plants, efficient solid fuel boilers

ORIGEN-based Nuclear Fuel Inventory Module for Fuel Cycle Assessment: Final Project Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skutnik, Steven E. [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering

2017-06-19

processing, and depletion/decay solvers) can be self-contained into a single executable sequence. Further, to embed this capability into other software environments (such as the Cyclus fuel cycle simulator) requires that Origen’s capabilities be encapsulated into a portable, self-contained library which other codes can then call directly through function calls, thereby directly accessing the solver and data processing capabilities of Origen. Additional components relevant to this work include modernization of the reactor data libraries used by Origen for conducting nuclear fuel depletion calculations. This work has included the development of new fuel assembly lattices not previously available (such as for CANDU heavy-water reactor assemblies) as well as validation of updated lattices for light-water reactors updated to employ modern nuclear data evaluations. The CyBORG reactor analysis module as-developed under this workscope is fully capable of dynamic calculation of depleted fuel compositions from all commercial U.S. reactor assembly types as well as a number of international fuel types, including MOX, VVER, MAGNOX, and PHWR CANDU fuel assemblies. In addition, the Origen-based depletion engine allows for CyBORG to evaluate novel fuel assembly and reactor design types via creation of Origen reactor data libraries via SCALE. The establishment of this new modeling capability affords fuel cycle modelers a substantially improved ability to model dynamically-changing fuel cycle and reactor conditions, including recycled fuel compositions from fuel cycle scenarios involving material recycle into thermal-spectrum systems.

An Adaptive Cultural Algorithm with Improved Quantum-behaved Particle Swarm Optimization for Sonar Image Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xingmei; Hao, Wenqian; Li, Qiming

2017-12-18

This paper proposes an adaptive cultural algorithm with improved quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (ACA-IQPSO) to detect the underwater sonar image. In the population space, to improve searching ability of particles, iterative times and the fitness value of particles are regarded as factors to adaptively adjust the contraction-expansion coefficient of the quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization algorithm (QPSO). The improved quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization algorithm (IQPSO) can make particles adjust their behaviours according to their quality. In the belief space, a new update strategy is adopted to update cultural individuals according to the idea of the update strategy in shuffled frog leaping algorithm (SFLA). Moreover, to enhance the utilization of information in the population space and belief space, accept function and influence function are redesigned in the new communication protocol. The experimental results show that ACA-IQPSO can obtain good clustering centres according to the grey distribution information of underwater sonar images, and accurately complete underwater objects detection. Compared with other algorithms, the proposed ACA-IQPSO has good effectiveness, excellent adaptability, a powerful searching ability and high convergence efficiency. Meanwhile, the experimental results of the benchmark functions can further demonstrate that the proposed ACA-IQPSO has better searching ability, convergence efficiency and stability.

Safety issues on advanced fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, H.; Krebs, W.D.

1998-01-01

In the recent years a general discussion has started whether unsolved safety issues are related to advanced fuel. Advanced fuel is in this context a summary of features like high burnup, improved clad materials, low leakage loading pattern with high peaking factors etc. The design basis accidents RIA and Loca are of special interest for this discussion. From the Siemens point of view RIA is not a safety issue. There are sufficient margins between the enthalpy rise calculated by modern 3D methods and the fuel failures which occurred in RIA simulation tests when the effect of pulse width is taken into account. The evaluation of possible uncertainties for the established Loca criteria (17% equivalent corrosion, 1200 C clad temperature) for high burnup makes sense. But fuel with high burnup has significantly lower peaking factors than fuel with lower burnup. This gives sufficient margin counterbalancing possible uncertainties. In contrast to the above incomplete control rod insertion at higher burnup is potentially a real safety issue. Although Siemens fuel was not affected by the reported incidents they addressed the problem and checked that they have sufficient design margin for their fuel. (orig.) [de

Nuclear fuel for NPPs: current status and main trends of development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molchanov, V.

2013-01-01

The customer’s main requirements to nuclear fuel at the present day are: to provide high performance of operational reliability of fuel; to uprate NPP’s capacity to the level of more than 100% from the designed one; to increase fuel cycle length; to increase the burnup of the fuel; to introduce load-follow mode at NPPs. To achieve this requirements the following TVEL activities are presented: New FA designs; Modern designing methods; New automated technologies of nuclear fuel fabrication; Driving to Zero Failure; Increase in safety and reliability of operation; Increase in economical efficiency of fuel utilization; Decrease in amount of spent fuel

Contemporary and prospective fuel cycles for WWER-440 based on new assemblies with higher uranium capacity and higher average fuel enrichment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gagarinskiy, A.A.; Saprykin, V.V.

2009-01-01

RRC 'Kurchatov Institute' has performed an extensive cycle of calculations intended to validate the opportunities of improving different fuel cycles for WWER-440 reactors. Works were performed to upgrade and improve WWER-440 fuel cycles on the basis of second-generation fuel assemblies allowing core thermal power to be uprated to 107 108 % of its nominal value (1375 MW), while maintaining the same fuel operation lifetime. Currently intensive work is underway to develop fuel cycles based on second-generation assemblies with higher fuel capacity and average fuel enrichment per assembly increased up to 4.87 % of U-235. Fuel capacity of second-generation assemblies was increased by means of eliminated central apertures of fuel pellets, and pellet diameter extended due to reduced fuel cladding thickness. This paper intends to summarize the results of works performed in the field of WWER-440 fuel cycle modernization, and to present yet unemployed opportunities and prospects of further improvement of WWER-440 neutronic and operating parameters by means of additional optimization of fuel assembly designs and fuel element arrangements applied. (Authors)

Post-irradiation studies of test plates for low enriched fuel elements for research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Groos, E.; Buecker, H.J.; Derz, H.; Schroeder, R.

1988-07-01

In developing new fuels for research reactor elements that allow the use of low enriched uranium (LEU) 3 Si 2 , U 3 Si 1.5 , U 3 Si 1.3 and U 3 Si. Even up to high burnup rates (80% fifa) U 3 Si 2 was proved to be a reliable fuel that according to the test results achieved to date complies with all necessary requirements above all with respect to dimensional stability. U 3 Si showed significant changes of the fuel microstructure associated with considerably higher fuel swelling, that will probably exclude its use in research reactor operation. The irradiation of U 3 Si 1.3 and U 3 Si 1.5 plates had to be terminated untimely. Up to a burnup of 40% fifa these plates behaved quite well. An extrapolation to higher burnup rates, however only seems to be possible with reservations. (orig./HP) [de

Discrete element method study of fuel relocation and dispersal during loss-of-coolant accidents

Science.gov (United States)

Govers, K.; Verwerft, M.

2016-09-01

The fuel fragmentation, relocation and dispersal (FFRD) during LOCA transients today retain the attention of the nuclear safety community. The fine fragmentation observed at high burnup may, indeed, affect the Emergency Core Cooling System performance: accumulation of fuel debris in the cladding ballooned zone leads to a redistribution of the temperature profile, while dispersal of debris might lead to coolant blockage or to debris circulation through the primary circuit. This work presents a contribution, by discrete element method, towards a mechanistic description of the various stages of FFRD. The fuel fragments are described as a set of interacting particles, behaving as a granular medium. The model shows qualitative and quantitative agreement with experimental observations, such as the packing efficiency in the balloon, which is shown to stabilize at about 55%. The model is then applied to study fuel dispersal, for which experimental parametric studies are both difficult and expensive.

Fuel performance in water storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoskins, A.P.; Scott, J.G.; Shelton-Davis, C.V.; McDannel, G.E.

1993-11-01

Westinghouse Idaho Nuclear Company operates the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) for the Department of Energy (DOE). A variety of different types of fuels have been stored there since the 1950's prior to reprocessing for uranium recovery. In April of 1992, the DOE decided to end fuel reprocessing, changing the mission at ICPP. Fuel integrity in storage is now viewed as long term until final disposition is defined and implemented. Thus, the condition of fuel and storage equipment is being closely monitored and evaluated to ensure continued safe storage. There are four main areas of fuel storage at ICPP: an original underwater storage facility (CPP-603), a modern underwater storage facility (CPP-666), and two dry fuel storage facilities. The fuels in storage are from the US Navy, DOE (and its predecessors the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Atomic Energy Commission), and other research programs. Fuel matrices include uranium oxide, hydride, carbide, metal, and alloy fuels. In the underwater storage basins, fuels are clad with stainless steel, zirconium, and aluminum. Also included in the basin inventory is canned scrap material. The dry fuel storage contains primarily graphite and aluminum type fuels. A total of 55 different fuel types are currently stored at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant. The corrosion resistance of the barrier material is of primary concern in evaluating the integrity of the fuel in long term water storage. The barrier material is either the fuel cladding (if not canned) or the can material

Study of ethanol and gasoline fuel sprays using mie-scatter and schlieren imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchard, Lauren; Bittle, Joshua; Puzinauskas, Paul

2016-11-01

Many cars today are capable of running on both gasoline and ethanol, however it is not clear how well optimized the engines are for the multiple fuels. This experiment looks specifically at the fuel spray in a direct injection system. The length and angle of direct injection sprays were characterized and a comparison between ethanol and gasoline sprays was made. Fuels were tested using a modified diesel injector in a test chamber at variable ambient pressures and temperatures in order to simulate both high and low load combustion chamber conditions. Rainbow schlieren and mie-scatter imaging were both used to investigate the liquid and vapor portions of the sprays. The sprays behaved as expected with temperature and pressure changes. There was no noticeable fuel effect on the liquid portion of the spray (mie-scatter), though the gasoline vapor spray angles were wider than ethanol spray angles (possible a result of the distillation curves of the two fuels). Funding from NSF REU site Grant EEC 1358991 is greatly appreciated.

Compositional Effects of Gasoline Fuels on Combustion, Performance and Emissions in Engine

KAUST Repository

Ahmed, Ahfaz

2016-10-17

Commercial gasoline fuels are complex mixtures of numerous hydrocarbons. Their composition differs significantly owing to several factors, source of crude oil being one of them. Because of such inconsistency in composition, there are multiple gasoline fuel compositions with similar octane ratings. It is of interest to comparatively study such fuels with similar octane ratings and different composition, and thus dissimilar physical and chemical properties. Such an investigation is required to interpret differences in combustion behavior of gasoline fuels that show similar knock characteristics in a cooperative fuel research (CFR) engine, but may behave differently in direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engines or any other engine combustion modes. Two FACE (Fuels for Advanced Combustion Engines) gasolines, FACE F and FACE G with similar Research and Motor Octane Numbers but dissimilar physical properties were studied in a DISI engine under two sets of experimental conditions; the first set involved early fuel injection to allow sufficient time for fuel-air mixing hence permitting operation similar to homogenous DISI engines, while the second set consists of advance of spark timings to attain MBT (maximum brake torque) settings. These experimental conditions are repeated across different load points to observe the effect of increasing temperature and pressure on combustion and emission parameters. The differences in various engine-out parameters are discussed and interpreted in terms of physical and thermodynamic properties of the fuels.

Post-irradiation examination of overheated fuel bundles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sears, D.F.; Primeau, M.F.; Leach, D.A.

1995-01-01

Post-irradiation examinations (PIE) were conducted on prototype 43-element CANDU fuel bundles that overheated during test irradiations in the NRU reactor. PIE revealed that the bundles remained physically intact, but on several elements the Zr-4 sheath collapsed into axial gaps between the pellet stack and end caps, between adjacent pellets within the stacks, and into missing pellet chips and cracks. Helium pressurization tests showed that none of the collapsed elements leaked. Hydride blisters were discovered on a few elements, but the source of the hydrogen was not linked to a breach of the cladding or end caps. These defects were attributed to primary hydriding. Microstructural changes in the fuel and cladding indicate that the cladding-was briefly exposed to temperatures in the range 600-800 o C and pressures above 11.2 MPa. The results show that Zr-4 cladding behaves in a highly ductile manner during such transient, high-temperature and high-pressure excursions. (author)

Post-irradiation examination of overheated fuel bundles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sears, D.F.; Primeau, M.F.; Leach, D.A.

1997-08-01

Post-irradiation examinations (PIE) were conducted on prototype 43-element CANDU fuel bundles that overheated during test irradiations in the NRU reactor. PIE revealed that the bundles remained physically intact, but on several elements the Zr-4 sheath collapsed into axial gaps between the pellet stack and end caps, between adjacent pellets within the stacks, and into missing pellet chips and cracks. Helium pressurization tests showed that none of the collapsed elements leaked. Hydride blisters were discovered on a few elements, but the source of the hydrogen was.not linked to a breach of the cladding or end caps. These defects were attributed to primary hydriding. Microstructural changes in the fuel and cladding indicate that the cladding was briefly exposed to temperatures in the range 600-800 o C and pressures above 11.2MPa. The results show that Zr-4 cladding behaves in a highly ductile manner during such transient, high-temperature and high-pressure excursions. (author)

Modernization incore monitoring system of WWER-1000 reactors (V-320)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitin, Valentin; Semchenkov, Yurij; Kalinushkin, Andrey

2008-01-01

Modern ICIS system for VVER-1000, including a number of sensors, cable runs, corresponding measuring equipment and computer engineering, software, accumulated 30 year experience of interaction researches on VVER reactors and is capable to ensure carrying out of control, protection, informational, diagnostic functions and thus to promote real increase of quality, reliability and safety in nuclear fuel and NPP power units operation

Allocation of fossil and nuclear fuels. Heat production from chemically and physically bound energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, U.

2008-01-01

The first part of the book presents the broad field of allocation, transformation, transport and distribution of the most important energy carriers in the modern power industry. The following chapters cover solid fossil fuel, liquid fuel, gaseous fuel and nuclear fuel. The final chapters concern the heat production from chemically and physically bound energy, including elementary analysis, combustion calculations, energy balance considerations in fossil fuel fired systems, and fundamentals of nuclear physics

Estimating the power efficiency of the thermal power plant modernization by using combined-cycle technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hovhannisyan, L.S.; Harutyunyan, N.R.

2013-01-01

The power efficiency of the thermal power plant (TPP) modernization by using combined-cycle technologies is introduced. It is shown that it is possible to achieve the greatest decrease in the specific fuel consumption at modernizing the TPP at the expense of introducing progressive 'know-how' of the electric power generation: for TPP on gas, it is combined-cycle, gas-turbine superstructures of steam-power plants and gas-turbines with heat utilization

Multiple modernities, modern subjectivities and social order

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jung, Dietrich; Sinclair, Kirstine

2015-01-01

to modern subjectivity formation. In combining conceptual tools from these strands of social theory, we argue that the emergence of multiple modernities should be understood as a historical result of idiosyncratic social constructions combining global social imaginaries with religious and other cultural......Taking its point of departure in the conceptual debate about modernities in the plural, this article presents a heuristic framework based on an interpretative approach to modernity. The article draws on theories of multiple modernities, successive modernities and poststructuralist approaches...... traditions. In the second part of the article we illustrate this argument with three short excursions into the history of Islamic reform in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this way we interpret the modern history of Muslim societies as based on cultural conflicts between different forms of social order...

Modernity: Are Modern Times Different?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lynn Hunt

2014-12-01

Full Text Available “Modernity” has recently been the subject of considerable discussion among historians. This article reviews some of the debates and argues that modernity is a problematic concept because it implies a complete rupture with “traditional” ways of life. Studies of key terms are undertaken with the aid of Google Ngrams. These show that “modernity,” “modern times,” and “traditional” —in English and other languages— have a history of their own. A brief analysis of the shift from a self oriented toward equilibrium to a self oriented toward stimulation demonstrates that modernity is not necessary to historical analysis.

Nuclear reactors and fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

The Nuclear Fuel Center (CCN) of IPEN produces nuclear fuel for the continuous operation of the IEA-R1 research reactor of IPEN. The serial production started in 1988, when the first nuclear fuel element was delivered for IEA-R1. In 2011, CCN proudly presents the 100 th nuclear fuel element produced. Besides routine production, development of new technologies is also a permanent concern at CCN. In 2005, U 3 O 8 were replaced by U 3 Si 2 -based fuels, and the research of U Mo is currently under investigation. Additionally, the Brazilian Multipurpose Research Reactor (RMB), whose project will rely on the CCN for supplying fuel and uranium targets. Evolving from an annual production from 10 to 70 nuclear fuel elements, plus a thousand uranium targets, is a huge and challenging task. To accomplish it, a new and modern Nuclear Fuel Factory is being concluded, and it will provide not only structure for scaling up, but also a safer and greener production. The Nuclear Engineering Center has shown, along several years, expertise in the field of nuclear, energy systems and correlated areas. Due to the experience obtained during decades in research and technological development at Brazilian Nuclear Program, personnel has been trained and started to actively participate in design of the main system that will compose the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB) which will make Brazil self-sufficient in production of radiopharmaceuticals. The institution has participated in the monitoring and technical support concerning the safety, licensing and modernization of the research reactors IPEN/MB-01 and IEA-R1. Along the last two decades, numerous specialized services of engineering for the Brazilian nuclear power plants Angra 1 and Angra 2 have been carried out. The contribution in service, research, training, and teaching in addition to the development of many related technologies applied to nuclear engineering and correlated areas enable the institution to fulfill its mission that is

Nuclear reactors and fuel cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2014-07-01

The Nuclear Fuel Center (CCN) of IPEN produces nuclear fuel for the continuous operation of the IEA-R1 research reactor of IPEN. The serial production started in 1988, when the first nuclear fuel element was delivered for IEA-R1. In 2011, CCN proudly presents the 100{sup th} nuclear fuel element produced. Besides routine production, development of new technologies is also a permanent concern at CCN. In 2005, U{sub 3}O{sub 8} were replaced by U{sub 3}Si{sub 2}-based fuels, and the research of U Mo is currently under investigation. Additionally, the Brazilian Multipurpose Research Reactor (RMB), whose project will rely on the CCN for supplying fuel and uranium targets. Evolving from an annual production from 10 to 70 nuclear fuel elements, plus a thousand uranium targets, is a huge and challenging task. To accomplish it, a new and modern Nuclear Fuel Factory is being concluded, and it will provide not only structure for scaling up, but also a safer and greener production. The Nuclear Engineering Center has shown, along several years, expertise in the field of nuclear, energy systems and correlated areas. Due to the experience obtained during decades in research and technological development at Brazilian Nuclear Program, personnel has been trained and started to actively participate in design of the main system that will compose the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB) which will make Brazil self-sufficient in production of radiopharmaceuticals. The institution has participated in the monitoring and technical support concerning the safety, licensing and modernization of the research reactors IPEN/MB-01 and IEA-R1. Along the last two decades, numerous specialized services of engineering for the Brazilian nuclear power plants Angra 1 and Angra 2 have been carried out. The contribution in service, research, training, and teaching in addition to the development of many related technologies applied to nuclear engineering and correlated areas enable the institution to

A novel vibrotactile system for stimulating the glabrous skin of awake freely behaving rats during operant conditioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Devecioğlu, İsmail; Güçlü, Burak

2015-03-15

Rat skin is innervated by mechanoreceptive fibers similar to those in other mammals. Tactile experiments with behaving rats mostly focus on the vibrissal system which does not exist in humans. The aim of this study was to design and implement a novel vibrotactile system to stimulate the glabrous skin of behaving rats during operant conditioning. A computer-controlled vibrotactile system was developed for various tasks in which the volar surface of unrestrained rats' fore- and hindpaws was stimulated in an operant chamber. The operant chamber was built from off-the-shelf components. A highly accurate electrodynamic shaker with a novel multi-probe design was used for generating mechanical displacements. Twenty-five rats were trained for four sequential tasks: (A) middle-lever (trial start signal) press, (B) side-lever press with an associated visual cue, (C) similar to (B) with the addition of an auditory/tactile stimulus, (D) auditory/tactile detection (yes/no) task. Out of 9 rats which could complete the tactile version of this training schedule, 5 had over 70% accuracy in the tactile version of the detection task. Unlike actuators for stimulating whiskers, this system does not require a particular head/body alignment and can be used with freely behaving animals. The vibrotactile system was found to be effective for conditioning freely behaving rats based on stimuli applied on the glabrous skin. However, detection accuracies were lower compared to those in tasks involving whisker stimulation reported previously, probably due to differences in cortical processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

European experience with spent fuel transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunter, I.A.

1995-01-01

Nuclear Transport Ltd has transported 5000 tonnes of spent fuel from 35 reactors in 8 European countries since 1972. Transport management is governed by the Quality Plan for: transport administration, packaging and shipment procedures at the shipping plant, operations at the power plant, and packaging and shipment organization at the power plant. Selection of a suitable carrier device is made with regard to the shipping plant requirements, physical limitations of the reactor, fuel characteristics, and transport route constraints. The transport plan is set up taking into account exploitation of the casks, reactor shut-down requirements, fuel acceptance plans at the reprocessing plant, and cask maintenance periods. A transport cycle involving spent fuel shipment to La Hague or to Sellafield takes typically two or four weeks, respectively. Most transports through Europe are by rail. A special-design railway ferry boat serves transports to the United Kingdom. Both wet or dry casks are employed. Modern casks are designed for high burnups and for oxide fuels. (J.B.)

Synthesis Report on the understanding of failed LMFBR fuel element performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plitz, H.; Bagley, K.; Harbourne, B.

1990-07-01

In the coarse of LMFBR operation fuel element failures cannot entirely be avoided as experienced during the operation of PFR, PHENIX and KNK II, where 44 failed fuel elements have been registered between 1978 and 1989. In earlier irradiations, post irradiation examinations showed mixed oxide pin diameter increases up to pin pitch distance, urging to stress reactor safety questions on the potential of fuel pin failure propagation within pin bundles. The chemical interaction of sodium with mixed oxide fuel is regarded to be the key for the understanding of failed fuel behavior. Valuable results on the failed fuel pin behavior during operation were obtained from the SILOE sodium loop test. Based on the bulk of experience with the detection of fuel pin failures, with the continued operation and with the handling of failed pins respectively elements, one can state: 1. All fuel pin failures have been detected securely in time and have been located. 2. Small defects are developing slowly. 3. Even large defects at end-of-life pins resulted in limited fuel loss. 4. Clad failures behave benign in main aspects. 5. The chemical interaction of sodium with mixed oxide is an important factor in the behavior of failed fuel pins, especially at high burnup. 6. Despite different pin designs and different operation conditions, on the basis of 44 failed elements in PFR, PHENIX and KNK II no pin-to-pin propagation was observed and fuel release was rather low, often not detectable. 7. In no case hazard conditions affecting reactor safety have been experienced

A lightweight telemetry system for recording neuronal activity in freely behaving small animals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schregardus, D.S.; Pieneman, A.W.; ter Maat, A.; Brouwer, T.J.F.; Gahr, M.L.

2006-01-01

A miniature lightweight radio telemetric device is described which is shown to be suitable for recording neuronal activity in freely behaving animals. Its size (12 × 5 × 8 mm) and weight (1.0-1.1 g with batteries, 0.4-0.5 g without) make the device particularly suitable for recording neuronal units

Recent Advances in Enzymatic Fuel Cells: Experiments and Modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Ivanov

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Enzymatic fuel cells convert the chemical energy of biofuels into electrical energy. Unlike traditional fuel cell types, which are mainly based on metal catalysts, the enzymatic fuel cells employ enzymes as catalysts. This fuel cell type can be used as an implantable power source for a variety of medical devices used in modern medicine to administer drugs, treat ailments and monitor bodily functions. Some advantages in comparison to conventional fuel cells include a simple fuel cell design and lower cost of the main fuel cell components, however they suffer from severe kinetic limitations mainly due to inefficiency in electron transfer between the enzyme and the electrode surface. In this review article, the major research activities concerned with the enzymatic fuel cells (anode and cathode development, system design, modeling by highlighting the current problems (low cell voltage, low current density, stability will be presented.

Outlook on to fuel cycle perspectives at WWER-440

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stech, S.; Bajgl, J.

2005-01-01

Current internal fuel cycle in NPP Dukovany 4x440 MWe is shortly characterized with new types of fuel assemblies and advanced fuel cycles which have been introduced in the last years. The modernization activities accomplished until now might be extrapolated to the further period in fuel design - mechanic, thermal-hydraulic and neutronic respectively - with additional increase in fuel enrichments and burnups on the way to the 6-year cycle. Reaktor power up rating together with Unit thermal efficiency improvements could bring an increase in the electric output to the value nearly 500 MWe. The reasons are given for long-term cooperation with Fuel Supplier and Plant Designer in the area of fuel cycle as well as in Unit Design Basis. All innovations mentioned in the article including future fuel and fuel cycle changes might be a quite realistic perspective at the end of the first decade of the new century (Authors)

Obtaining the lattice energy of the anthracene crystal by modern yet affordable first-principles methods

Science.gov (United States)

Sancho-García, J. C.; Aragó, J.; Ortí, E.; Olivier, Y.

2013-05-01

The non-covalent interactions in organic molecules are known to drive their self-assembly to form molecular crystals. We compare, in the case of anthracene and against experimental (electronic-only) sublimation energy, how modern quantum-chemical methods are able to calculate this cohesive energy taking into account all the interactions between occurring dimers in both first-and second-shells. These include both O(N6)- and O(N5)-scaling methods, Local Pair Natural Orbital-parameterized Coupled-Cluster Single and Double, and Spin-Component-Scaled-Møller-Plesset perturbation theory at second-order, respectively, as well as the most modern family of conceived density functionals: double-hybrid expressions in several variants (B2-PLYP, mPW2-PLYP, PWPB95) with customized dispersion corrections (-D3 and -NL). All-in-all, it is shown that these methods behave very accurately producing errors in the 1-2 kJ/mol range with respect to the experimental value taken into account the experimental uncertainty. These methods are thus confirmed as excellent tools for studying all kinds of interactions in chemical systems.

Irradiation behaviour of advanced fuel elements for the helium-cooled high temperature reactor (HTR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nickel, H.

1990-05-01

The design of modern HTRs is based on high quality fuel. A research and development programme has demonstrated the satisfactory performance in fuel manufacturing, irradiation testing and accident condition testing of irradiated fuel elements. This report describes the fuel particles with their low-enriched UO 2 kernels and TRISO coating, i.e. a sequence of pyrocarbon, silicon carbide, and pyrocarbon coating layers, as well as the spherical fuel element. Testing was performed in a generic programme satisfying the requirements of both the HTR-MODUL and the HTR 500. With a coating failure fraction less than 2x10 -5 at the 95% confidence level, the results of the irradiation experiments surpassed the design targets. Maximum accident temperatures in small, modular HTRs remain below 1600deg C, even in the case of unrestricted core heatup after depressurization. Here, it was demonstrated that modern TRISO fuels retain all safety-relevant fission products and that the fuel does not suffer irreversible changes. Isothermal heating tests have been extended to 1800deg C to show performance margins. Ramp tests to 2500deg C demonstrate the limits of present fuel materials. A long-term programm is planned to improve the statistical significance of presently available results and to narrow remaining uncertainty limits. (orig.) [de

An Improved Quantum-Behaved Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm with Elitist Breeding for Unconstrained Optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhen-Lun; Wu, Angus; Min, Hua-Qing

2015-01-01

An improved quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization with elitist breeding (EB-QPSO) for unconstrained optimization is presented and empirically studied in this paper. In EB-QPSO, the novel elitist breeding strategy acts on the elitists of the swarm to escape from the likely local optima and guide the swarm to perform more efficient search. During the iterative optimization process of EB-QPSO, when criteria met, the personal best of each particle and the global best of the swarm are used to generate new diverse individuals through the transposon operators. The new generated individuals with better fitness are selected to be the new personal best particles and global best particle to guide the swarm for further solution exploration. A comprehensive simulation study is conducted on a set of twelve benchmark functions. Compared with five state-of-the-art quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization algorithms, the proposed EB-QPSO performs more competitively in all of the benchmark functions in terms of better global search capability and faster convergence rate.

Modernization of the facilities of the TRIGA Mark III reactor of ININ

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendez T, D.; Flores C, J.

2016-09-01

The TRIGA Mark III reactor of the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (ININ) has been in operation since 1968 under strict maintenance and component replacement programs, which has allowed its safe operation during this time. Under this scheme, the reactor was operating under suitable conditions, taking into account the different requests for operation that were received for the samples irradiation for the radioisotopes production such as the Sm-153, personnel training, basic research, archaeology and environmental studies and nuclear chemistry of the elements. However, a modernization program of its components and laboratories was required, in order to improve safety in the operation of the same and to increase its use in the analysis of samples by neutron activation and in the training of personnel. This program known as Modernization Program of the Reactor Facilities, was proposed alongside the project to replace high-enrichment fuels with low-enrichment fuels at the end of 2011 and early 2012. The central aspects of this program are described in this work, grouped into generic topics that include instrumentation and control, the radiological monitoring system of the area, the cooling system, the ventilation system, the neutron activation analysis laboratory, the manufacture of graphite elements, inspection submersible system of the pool, temporary storage system for irradiated fuels, traveling crane, Reactor support laboratories and technical meetings, courses and seminars for reactor personnel and associated groups. It also describes some of the most relevant components required for each system and the progress that is made in each one of them. As a fundamental result of the implementation of this Modernization Program of the Reactor Facilities, there has been a substantial improvement in the performance of the systems and components of its facilities, in the reliability of its operation and in the safety of the same. (Author)

Catalysis in electrochemistry: from fundamentals to strategies for fuel cell development

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Santos, Elizabeth; Schmickler, Wolfgang

2011-01-01

"Catalysis in Electrochemistry: From Fundamentals to Strategies for Fuel Cell Development is a modern, comprehensive reference work on catalysis in electrochemistry, including principles, methods, strategies, and applications...

On the question of strategy of the modern energy development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

В’ячеслав Степанович Волошин

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article provides an analysis of the state of modern power engineering. The current dependence of the modern civilization on hydrocarbon resources has been presented. The author shows lack of prospects in using hydrocarbon energy sources. The dependence of the stable and non-equilibrium state in various systems of producing useful energy has been stated. The dynamics of growth of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere over the past 35 years and the dynamics of the global consumption of natural energy resources has been shown. Analysis of the technical systems designed for the use of hydrocarbon fuels, exhibited lack of prospects for this branch of industry. The necessity of a radical change in the community as to the energy paradigm has been proved

Development of modern CANDU PHWR cross-section libraries for SCALE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shoman, Nathan T.; Skutnik, Steven E.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • New ORIGEN libraries for CANDU 28 and 37-element fuel assemblies have been created. • These new reactor data libraries are based on modern ENDF/B-VII.0 cross-section data. • The updated CANDU data libraries show good agreement with radiochemical assay data. • Eu-154 overestimated when using ENDF-VII.0 due to a lower thermal capture cross-section. - Abstract: A new set of SCALE fuel lattice models have been developed for the 28-element and 37-element CANDU fuel assembly designs using modern cross-section data from ENDF-B/VII.0 in order to produce new reactor data libraries for SCALE/ORIGEN depletion analyses. These new libraries are intended to provide users with a convenient means of evaluating depletion of CANDU fuel assemblies using ORIGEN through pre-generated cross sections based on SCALE lattice physics calculations. The performance of the new CANDU ORIGEN libraries in depletion analysis benchmarks to radiochemical assay data were compared to the previous version of the CANDU libraries provided with SCALE (based on WIMS-AECL models). Benchmark comparisons with available radiochemical assay data indicate that the new cross-section libraries perform well at matching major actinide species (U/Pu), which are generally within 1–4% of experimental values. The library also showed similar or better results over the WIMS-AECL library regarding fission product species and minor actinoids (Np, Am, and Cm). However, a notable exception was in calculated inventories of "1"5"4Eu and "1"5"5Eu, where the new library employing modern nuclear data (ENDF/B-VII.0) performed substantially poorer than the previous WIMS-AECL library (which used ENDF-B/VI.8 cross-sections for these species). The cause for this discrepancy appears to be due to differences in the "1"5"4Eu thermal capture cross-section between ENDF/B-VI.8 and ENDF/B-VII.0, an effect which is exacerbated by the highly thermalized flux of a CANDU heavy water reactor compared to that of a typical

Bus fuel consumption model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zargari, S.A. [Iran Univ. of Science and Technology, Teheran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Khan, A.M. [Carleton Univ., Ottawa, ON (Canada). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering

2000-07-01

The interest in rapid bus transit has increased sharply with the realization that modern metropolitan areas rely on public transit to provide for strong economies and communities. As a prevention tool against traffic congestion, deteriorating air quality and rising greenhouse gas emissions, this study of bus fuel consumption was designed to assist in the planning and management of rapid bus transit. The Australian Road Research Board's (ARRB) Road Fuel Consumption Model was used as a starting point. The estimations required were realized with the help of Newtonian Mechanics. The four states of vehicular traffic were examined: acceleration, cruise, deceleration, and idle. The estimated total power required from the engine to overcome resistance forces, to run vehicle accessories and overcome internal engine friction was calculated. The data for the standard and articulated bus was obtained from OC Transpo in Ottawa. The study permitted the authors to conclude that the estimations for the parameters for power requirements and fuel consumption for heavy duty vehicles are appropriate. The methodology for the estimation of fuel consumption on the Transitway, which is part of the rapid bus transit system, proved adequate. In addition, the methodology was useful to estimate fuel savings resulting from demand management strategies with potential for modal shift. 9 refs., 6 tabs.

Efficiency analysis for the production of modern energy carriers from renewable resources and wastes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ptasinski, K.J.; Tiezzi, E.; Marques, J.C.; Brebbia, C.A.; Jorgensen, S.E.

2007-01-01

Two global problems related to the use of fossil fuels are fast depletion and environmental damage. Biomass has a great potential as a clean renewable feedstock for producing modern energy carriers such as biodiesel, methanol, and hydrogen. However, the use of biomass is accompanied by possible

New Technique Of Determination Of Biogenic Fraction In Liquid Fuels By The 14C Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krajcar Bronic, I.; Baresic, J.; Horvatincic, N.; Kristof, R.; Kozar Logar, J.

2015-01-01

According to the EU Directive 2009/28/EC all (liquid) fuels have to contain at least 10 percent of bio-fuel, i.e., blend of biogenic origin, by 2020. 14C method is the most reliable method of determination of the biogenic fraction in fuels and various measurement techniques can be applied. A technique of direct measurement of the 14C content in liquid fuel is simple and fast but has main disadvantage: different liquid colours cause different quenching and changes in the measurement efficiency. Here we have described a new technique that uses liquids of different colours to construct modern and background calibration curves, MCC and BCC, respectively, by measuring count rates and SQP values of various modern and fossil liquids. Several types of fossil fuel, pure benzine and benzene (used as 14C-free background for 14C dating) were used for BCC, and various brands of domestic oil (vegetable, sunflower, olive, pumpkin), bioethanol and benzene prepared from modern samples were used MCC construction. The procedure for the unknown sample consists of: 1) measurement of the count rate and the SQP value, 2) calculation of background and modern count rates corresponding to the measured SQP value based on the BCC and MCC curves, respectively, and 3) the ratio of net count rates of the unknown sample and the modern net count rate at the same SQP represents the fraction of the biogenic component in the liquid. All samples should be measured under the same conditions. In our case these are: UltimaGold F scintillator, the ratio sample:scintillator (10 mL:10 mL), low-potassium glass vials of 20 mL volume, spectra recorded by LSC Quantulus and evaluated in the window 124 - 570. Lowest detectable biogenic fraction is 0.5 %. The technique depends neither on the fossil matrix or the biogenic additive types. The results are in good agreement with those obtained by different evaluation technique. (author).

Fuel quality processing study, volume 1

Science.gov (United States)

Ohara, J. B.; Bela, A.; Jentz, N. E.; Syverson, H. T.; Klumpe, H. W.; Kessler, R. E.; Kotzot, H. T.; Loran, B. L.

1981-01-01

A fuel quality processing study to provide a data base for an intelligent tradeoff between advanced turbine technology and liquid fuel quality, and also, to guide the development of specifications of future synthetic fuels anticipated for use in the time period 1985 to 2000 is given. Four technical performance tests are discussed: on-site pretreating, existing refineries to upgrade fuels, new refineries to upgrade fuels, and data evaluation. The base case refinery is a modern Midwest refinery processing 200,000 BPD of a 60/40 domestic/import petroleum crude mix. The synthetic crudes used for upgrading to marketable products and turbine fuel are shale oil and coal liquids. Of these syncrudes, 50,000 BPD are processed in the existing petroleum refinery, requiring additional process units and reducing petroleum feed, and in a new refinery designed for processing each syncrude to produce gasoline, distillate fuels, resid fuels, and turbine fuel, JPGs and coke. An extensive collection of synfuel properties and upgrading data was prepared for the application of a linear program model to investigate the most economical production slate meeting petroleum product specifications and turbine fuels of various quality grades. Technical and economic projections were developed for 36 scenarios, based on 4 different crude feeds to either modified existing or new refineries operated in 2 different modes to produce 7 differing grades of turbine fuels. A required product selling price of turbine fuel for each processing route was calculated. Procedures and projected economics were developed for on-site treatment of turbine fuel to meet limitations of impurities and emission of pollutants.

The EC6 - an enhanced mid-sized reactor with fuel cycle applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soulard, M.; Yu, S.; Hopwood, J.; Hastings, I.J.

2011-01-01

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) has two CANDU reactor products matched to markets: the Enhanced CANDU 6 (EC6), a modern 700 MWe-class design, and the Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR-1000), a 1200 MWe-class Gen III+ design. Both reactor types are designed to meet both market-, and customer-driven needs; the ACR-1000 design is 90% complete and market-ready. The EC6 incorporates the CANDU 6's well-proven features, and adds enhancements that make the reactor even safer and easier to operate. The EC6 is the only mid-sized reactor with a proven pedigree that meets modern reactor expectations and regulatory standards. It is sized for smaller grids and also has outstanding fuel-cycle capability. The EC6 has domestic and offshore market pull and is the current focus of AECL's development program; market interest in the ACR-1000 is anticipated in the longer term. Some of the key features incorporated into the EC6 include upgrading containment and seismic capability to meet modern standards, shortening the overall project schedule, addressing obsolescence issues, optimizing maintenance outages and incorporating lessons learnt through feedback obtained from the operating plants. The EC6 utilizes modern computers and a distributed control system housed in an advanced control room which, along with automated testing and on-line diagnostics, make the plant easier and safer to operate, with minimal operator intervention. The first deployment of the EC6 is anticipated in Canada; off-shore markets are also being pursued. The EC6 burns natural uranium as standard. But, high neutron economy, on-power refuelling, a simple fuel bundle, and the fundamental CANDU fuel channel design provide the EC6 with the flexibility to accommodate a range of advanced fuels. (author)

The games economists play: Why economics students behave more selfishly than other students.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philipp Gerlach

Full Text Available Do economics students behave more selfishly than other students? Experiments involving monetary allocations suggest so. This article investigates the underlying motives for the economic students' more selfish behavior by separating three potential explanatory mechanisms: economics students are less concerned with fairness when making allocation decisions; have a different notion of what is fair in allocations; or are more skeptical about other people's allocations, which in turn makes them less willing to comply with a shared fairness norm. The three mechanisms were tested by inviting students from various disciplines to participate in a relatively novel experimental game and asking all participants to give reasons for their choices. Compared with students of other disciplines, economics students were about equally likely to mention fairness in their comments; had a similar notion of what was fair in the situation; however, they expected lower offers, made lower offers, and were less willing to enforce compliance with a fair allocation at a cost to themselves. The economics students' lower expectations mediated their allocation decisions, suggesting that economics students behaved more selfishly because they expected others not to comply with the shared fairness norm.

Thermophysical properties of the products of low-grade fuels thermal recycling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tabakaev Roman B.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The relevance of the work is caused by reorientation of the modern power engineering to use of local low grade fuel resources. Some types of low grade fuels (peat, brown coal, sapropel, wood chips are considered in this work. Thermotechnical characteristics of the investigated fuels and products of their thermal recycling are determined. Thermal recycling process is accompanied by release of fuel dissociation heat (0.33-3.69 MJ/kg. The results of thermal low grade fuel recycling are solid carbonaceous product (semi-coke with a calorific value higher in 1.5-7 times than the value of natural fuels; pyrolysis resin with calorific value 29.4-36.8 MJ/kg; combustible gas with calorific value 15.16-19.06 MJ/m3.

The behaviour of spherical HTR fuel elements under accident conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schenk, W; Naoumidis, A [Institute for Reactor Material, KFA Juelich (Germany)

1985-07-01

Hypothetical accidents may lead to significantly higher temperatures in HTR fuel than during normal operation. In order to obtain meaningful statements on fission product behaviour and release, irradiated spherical fuel elements containing a large number of coated particles (20,000-40,000) with burnups between 6 and 16% FIMA were heated at temperatures between 1400 and 2500 deg. C. HTI-pyrocarbon coating retains the gaseous fission products (e.g. Kr) very well up to about 2400 deg. C if the burnup does not exceed the specified value for THTR (11.5%). Cs diffuses through the pyrocarbon significantly faster than Kr and the diffusion is enhanced at higher fuel burnups because of irradiation induced kernel microstructure changes. Below about 1800 deg. C the Cs release rate is controlled by diffusion in the fuel kernel; above this temperature the diffusion in the pyrocarbon coating is the controlling parameter. An additional SiC coating interlayer (TRISO) ensures Cs retention up to 1600 deg. C. However, the release obtained in the examined fuel elements was only by a factor of three lower than through the HTI pyrocarbon. Solid fission products added to UO{sub 2}-TRISO particles to simulate high burnup behave in various ways and migrate to attack the SiC coating. Pd migrates fastest and changes the SiC microstructure making it permeable.

Fuel Performance Calculations for FeCrAl Cladding in BWRs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

George, Nathan [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering; Sweet, Ryan [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering; Maldonado, G. Ivan [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering; Wirth, Brian D. [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering; Powers, Jeffrey J. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Worrall, Andrew [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2015-01-01

This study expands upon previous neutronics analyses of the reactivity impact of alternate cladding concepts in boiling water reactor (BWR) cores and directs focus toward contrasting fuel performance characteristics of FeCrAl cladding against those of traditional Zircaloy. Using neutronics results from a modern version of the 3D nodal simulator NESTLE, linear power histories were generated and supplied to the BISON-CASL code for fuel performance evaluations. BISON-CASL (formerly Peregrine) expands on material libraries implemented in the BISON fuel performance code and the MOOSE framework by providing proprietary material data. By creating material libraries for Zircaloy and FeCrAl cladding, the thermomechanical behavior of the fuel rod (e.g., strains, centerline fuel temperature, and time to gap closure) were investigated and contrasted.

Development of a new-generation system for reloading of nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maksimov, M.; Maslov, O.; Maisyan, I.

1995-01-01

The modern concept of development of nuclear power, which is also reflected in the new scientific and technical documentation, moves to the forefront the general systems aspects of performing operations with nuclear fuel. It is suggested that the organizational questions of delivering, accounting for, storing, monitoring, moving, calculating overloads and mechanisms, and devices which perform manipulation with nuclear fuel, be treated as a single system

Modernity after Modernity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marin Dinu

2007-08-01

Full Text Available A strategy for the second modernization raises, beyond objectives, a series of epistemicresponsibilities. It is known that modernization stemming from the Enlightment had, among other things,the pretense that it is a project which is self-legitimating. Its profound rationales are the only justification.Referential self-centering proved to be the one that made possible a practice of the new. Modernizationhaving the function of renouncing myth – meaning an eliminatory formula for the past – and thefixation in the opportunity and potentiality of the present, seemed to close an insoluble but extremelyengrossing problem: that of a propensity towards utopia, of the risky escape towards the future. Thetraditionalization of the new constitutes a support for the daring to break out of the captivity of themoment.Modernization becomes the experience of combining the new which, thus, creates a succession ofpresent times. The future is no longer the result of fantasy, but a system’s direct expression to combine thenew. Therefore the future is an option for one or another model of the present, often tested previouslysomewhere else. In a non-metaphysical way, the future can be seen, touched, tried, lived by simplegeographical movement. The sense of evolution has de-temporalized taking the form of the concomitant,parallel, enclosed, neighboring space. We just have to be in the trend, to evolve in the context.Globalization defines the context and its conception – as a project of the second modernity – showsus the trends. The problem is how to understand the context in order to find the sense of the trend. Are wethe load the sense with the values of the first modernity or will we have to turn to the values of anothermodernity? Why do we have to move away from the significance of the processes which made up the firstmodernity? How do we relate to the content of the new context in which the structural trends of today’sworld are taking place? What is the

Progress in the development of very high density research and test reactor fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wachs, D.M. [Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2528, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415 (United States)

2009-06-15

New nuclear fuels are being developed to enable many of the most important research and test reactors worldwide to convert from high enriched uranium (HEU) fuels to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuels without significant loss in performance. The last decade of work has focused on the development of uranium-molybdenum alloy (U-Mo) based fuels and is an international effort that includes the active participation of more than ten national programs. The US RERTR program, under the NNSA's Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), is in the process of developing both dispersion and monolithic U-Mo fuel designs. While the U-Mo fuel alloy has behaved extremely well under irradiation, initial testing (circa 2003) revealed that the U-Mo fuels dispersed in aluminum had an unexpected tendency toward unstable swelling (pillowing) under high-power conditions. Technical investigations were initiated worldwide at this time by the partner programs to understand this behavior as well as to develop and test remedies. The behavior was corrected by modifying the chemistry of the U-Mo/Al interfaces in both fuel designs. In the dispersion fuel design, this was accomplished by the addition of small amounts of silicon to the aluminum matrix material. Two methods are under development for the monolithic fuel design, which include the application of a thin layer of silicon or a thin zirconium based diffusion barrier at the fuel/clad interface. This paper gives an overview of the current status of U-Mo fuel development, including basic research results, manufacturing aspects, results of the latest irradiations and post irradiation examinations, the approach to fuel performance qualification, and the scale-up and commercialization of fabrication technology. (authors)

Pareto-Ranking Based Quantum-Behaved Particle Swarm Optimization for Multiobjective Optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Na Tian

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A study on pareto-ranking based quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO for multiobjective optimization problems is presented in this paper. During the iteration, an external repository is maintained to remember the nondominated solutions, from which the global best position is chosen. The comparison between different elitist selection strategies (preference order, sigma value, and random selection is performed on four benchmark functions and two metrics. The results demonstrate that QPSO with preference order has comparative performance with sigma value according to different number of objectives. Finally, QPSO with sigma value is applied to solve multiobjective flexible job-shop scheduling problems.

Rationale of Early Adopters of Fossil Fuel Divestment

Science.gov (United States)

Beer, Christopher Todd

2016-01-01

Purpose: This research uses the social science perspectives of institutions, ecological modernization and social movements to analyze the rationale used by the early-adopting universities of fossil fuel divestment in the USA. Design/methodology/approach: Through analysis of qualitative data from interviews with key actors at the universities that…

Determination of source term for Krsko NPP extended fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nemec, T.; Persic, A.; Zagar, T.; Zefran, B.

2004-01-01

The activity and composition of the potential radioactive releases (source term) is important in the decision making about off-site emergency measures in case of a release into environment. Power uprate of Krsko NPP during modernization in 2000 as well as changing of the fuel type and the core design have influenced the source term value. In 2003 a project of 'Jozef Stefan' Institute and Slovenian nuclear safety administration determined a plantspecific source term for new conditions of fuel type and burnup for extended fuel cycle. Calculations of activity and isotopic composition of the core have been performed with ORIGEN-ARP program. Results showed that the core activity for extended 15 months fuel cycle is slightly lower than for the 12 months cycles, mainly due to larger share of fresh fuel. (author)

Fuel cycle and waste newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 1, April 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-04-01

This issue of the Fuel Cycle and Waste Newsletter presents the International Decommissioning Network, the cooperation between INPRO (the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles) and NEFW (IAEA's Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology), the policies and strategies for spent fuel and radioactive waste management, recent developments of decommissioning waste, integrated approach to decommissioning and environmental remediation, CEG Workshop, repatriation of sealed sources in Latin America, the technical working Group on research reactors (TWGRR), an update on research reactor networks, Atominstitut Vienna, modernization and refurbishment of research reactors, a new CRP on innovative methods in research reactor analysis, management of damaged spent nuclear fuel, influence of high-burnup UOX and MOX water reactor fuel on spent fuel management, a new CRP on improvement in the computer code modelling of high burnup nuclear fuel (FUMEX-3), reuse options for reprocessed uranium (RepU), a basic fact-book on coated particle fuel, recent publications and upcoming meetings

Innovative automation solutions applied to nuclear fuel production and inspection processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vas, Ananth

2012-01-01

The nuclear industry in India is slated for fast paced growth in the coming years, with a great focus on increasing the capacity for producing, inspecting and finally reprocessing of nuclear fuel. Modern techniques of industrial automation such as robotics, machine vision and laser based systems have been deployed extensively to improve the productivity and output of existing and future installations, particularly for the fuel handling stages mentioned

Combustion Characterization of Bio-derived Fuels and Additives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hashemi, Hamid

Climate change has become a serious concern nowadays. The main reason is believed to be the high emission of greenhouse gases, namely CO2 which is mainly produced from the combustion of fossil fuels. At the same time, energy demand has increased exponentially while the energy supply mainly depends...... on fossil fuels, especially for transportation. The practical strategy to address such problems in medium term is to increase the efficiency of combustion-propelled energy-production systems, as well as to reduce the net release of CO2 and other harmful pollutants, likely by using nonconventional fuels....... Modern internal combustion engines such as Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engines are more efficient and fuel-flexible compared to the conventional engines, making opportunities to reduce the release of greenhouse and other polluting gases to the environment. Combustion temperature...

Do Students Behave Rationally in Multiple Choice Tests? Evidence from a Field Experiment

OpenAIRE

María Paz Espinosa; Javier Gardeazabal

2013-01-01

A disadvantage of multiple choice tests is that students have incentives to guess. To discourage guessing, it is common to use scoring rules that either penalize wrong answers or reward omissions. In psychometrics, penalty and reward scoring rules are considered equivalent. However, experimental evidence indicates that students behave differently under penalty or reward scoring rules. These differences have been attributed to the different framing (penalty versus reward). In this paper, we mo...

Behavior of actinides in the Integral Fast Reactor fuel cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Courtney, J.C. [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States). Nuclear Science Center; Lineberry, M.J. [Argonne National Lab., Idaho Falls, ID (United States). Technology Development Div.

1994-06-01

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) under development by Argonne National Laboratory uses metallic fuels instead of ceramics. This allows electrorefining of spent fuels and presents opportunities for recycling minor actinide elements. Four minor actinides ({sup 237}Np, {sup 240}Pu, {sup 241}Am, and {sup 243}Am) determine the waste storage requirements of spent fuel from all types of fission reactors. These nuclides behave the same as uranium and other plutonium isotopes in electrorefining, so they can be recycled back to the reactor without elaborate chemical processing. An experiment has been designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the high-energy neutron spectra of the IFR in consuming these four nuclides and plutonium. Eighteen sets of seven actinide and five light metal targets have been selected for ten day exposure in the Experimental Breeder Reactor-2 which serves as a prototype of the IFR. Post-irradiation analyses of the exposed targets by gamma, alpha, and mass spectroscopy are used to determine nuclear reaction-rates and neutron spectra. These experimental data increase the authors` confidence in their ability to predict reaction rates in candidate IFR designs using a variety of neutron transport and diffusion programs.

Behavior of actinides in the Integral Fast Reactor fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courtney, J.C.; Lineberry, M.J.

1994-01-01

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) under development by Argonne National Laboratory uses metallic fuels instead of ceramics. This allows electrorefining of spent fuels and presents opportunities for recycling minor actinide elements. Four minor actinides ( 237 Np, 240 Pu, 241 Am, and 243 Am) determine the waste storage requirements of spent fuel from all types of fission reactors. These nuclides behave the same as uranium and other plutonium isotopes in electrorefining, so they can be recycled back to the reactor without elaborate chemical processing. An experiment has been designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the high-energy neutron spectra of the IFR in consuming these four nuclides and plutonium. Eighteen sets of seven actinide and five light metal targets have been selected for ten day exposure in the Experimental Breeder Reactor-2 which serves as a prototype of the IFR. Post-irradiation analyses of the exposed targets by gamma, alpha, and mass spectroscopy are used to determine nuclear reaction-rates and neutron spectra. These experimental data increase the authors' confidence in their ability to predict reaction rates in candidate IFR designs using a variety of neutron transport and diffusion programs

Internal combustion engines for alcohol motor fuels: a compilation of background technical information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blaser, Richard

1980-11-01

This compilation, a draft training manual containing technical background information on internal combustion engines and alcohol motor fuel technologies, is presented in 3 parts. The first is a compilation of facts from the state of the art on internal combustion engine fuels and their characteristics and requisites and provides an overview of fuel sources, fuels technology and future projections for availability and alternatives. Part two compiles facts about alcohol chemistry, alcohol identification, production, and use, examines ethanol as spirit and as fuel, and provides an overview of modern evaluation of alcohols as motor fuels and of the characteristics of alcohol fuels. The final section compiles cross references on the handling and combustion of fuels for I.C. engines, presents basic evaluations of events leading to the use of alcohols as motor fuels, reviews current applications of alcohols as motor fuels, describes the formulation of alcohol fuels for engines and engine and fuel handling hardware modifications for using alcohol fuels, and introduces the multifuel engines concept. (LCL)

Modern combined cycle power plant utilizing the GT11N2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodwin, J.C.

1992-01-01

The requirement imposed on modern power plants are increasingly demanding. The limits of: efficiency; environmental sensitivity; reliability and availability; are constantly being pushed. Today's state of the art combined cycle power plants are positioned well to meet these challenges. This paper reports that these objectives can be achieved through the selection of the proper gas turbine generator in an optimized cycle concept. A balanced approach to the plant design is required. It must not sacrifice any one of these requirements, in order to achieve the others. They achieve their fullest potential when firing a clean fuel, natural gas. However, fuel oil, both light (No. 2) and heavy (No. 6), can be utilized but some efficiency and environmental impact will have to be sacrificed

Spent nuclear fuel transport: Problem state and analysis of modern approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nosovs'kij, A.V.; Yatsenko, M.V.

2018-01-01

The paper presents the review of international and national experience related to transport of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and trends in the development of transport containers. The analysis covers the vectors for the future improvement of packaging and the regulatory framework on SNF transport in Ukraine and other countries. The tasks for future research were identified. The results of this research will be used during the operation of the CSNSF.

Pilot and pilot-commercial plants for reprocessing spent fuels of FBR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaldaev, V.S.; Sokolova, I.D.

1988-01-01

A review of modern state of investigations on the FBR mixed oxide uranium-plutonium fuel reprocessing abroad is given. Great Britain and France occupy the leading place in this field, operating pilot plants of 5 tons a year capacity. Technology of spent fuel reprocessing and specific features of certain stages of the technological process are considered. Projects of pilot and pilot-commercial plants of Great Britain, France, Japan, USA are described. Economic problems of the FBR fuel reprocessing are touched upon

Sooting behavior of oxygenated fuels in a diffusion burner

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boot, M.D.; Luijten, C.C.M.; Baert, R.S.G.; Edenhofer, R.; Dirks, H.; Lucka, K.; Köhne, H.

2009-01-01

Different strategies are being investigated towards reducing engine-out emission levels of soot and NOx of modern Diesel engines. A fuel-based strategy currently under investigation, entails the use of low cetane number (CN; i.e.low reactive) oxygenates. Previous research has shown that low CN

Modernization of two gas-fired shaft annealing furnaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barthof, G.; Porst, G.; Raczek, S.

1986-04-01

The objective was to modernize two existing shaft-type annealing furnaces used for the heat treatment of grey iron castings with the aim of reducing the consumption of gaseous fuel, minimize the formation of scale, decrease maintenance expense and apply more automatic control to the annealing process. This was to be achieved by an optimum combination of new types of construction materials and advanced firing and control equipment. The author describes the furnace in its condition prior to and after reconstruction. The operating results obtained after reconstruction were found to justify the costs incurred. The payback period is roughly one year.

Evolution of the Darlington NGS fuel handling computer systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leung, V.; Crouse, B.

1996-01-01

The ability to improve the capabilities and reliability of digital control systems in nuclear power stations to meet changing plant and personnel requirements is a formidable challenge. Many of these systems have high quality assurance standards that must be met to ensure adequate nuclear safety. Also many of these systems contain obsolete hardware along with software that is not easily transported to newer technology computer equipment. Combining modern technology upgrades into a system of obsolete hardware components is not an easy task. Lastly, as users become more accustomed to using modern technology computer systems in other areas of the station (e.g. information systems), their expectations of the capabilities of the plant systems increase. This paper will present three areas of the Darlington NGS fuel handling computer system that have been or are in the process of being upgraded to current technology components within the framework of an existing fuel handling control system. (author). 3 figs

Evolution of the Darlington NGS fuel handling computer systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leung, V; Crouse, B [Ontario Hydro, Bowmanville (Canada). Darlington Nuclear Generating Station

1997-12-31

The ability to improve the capabilities and reliability of digital control systems in nuclear power stations to meet changing plant and personnel requirements is a formidable challenge. Many of these systems have high quality assurance standards that must be met to ensure adequate nuclear safety. Also many of these systems contain obsolete hardware along with software that is not easily transported to newer technology computer equipment. Combining modern technology upgrades into a system of obsolete hardware components is not an easy task. Lastly, as users become more accustomed to using modern technology computer systems in other areas of the station (e.g. information systems), their expectations of the capabilities of the plant systems increase. This paper will present three areas of the Darlington NGS fuel handling computer system that have been or are in the process of being upgraded to current technology components within the framework of an existing fuel handling control system. (author). 3 figs.

Boiler house modernization through shared savings program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Breault, R.W. [Tecogen, Waltham, MA (United States)

1995-12-31

Throughout Poland as well as the rest of Eastern Europe, communities and industries rely on small heat only boilers to provide district and process heat. Together these two sectors produce about 85,000 MW from boilers in the 2 to 35 MW size range. The bulk of these units were installed prior to 1992 and must be completely overhauled to meet the emission regulations which will be coming into effect on January 1, 1998. Since the only practical fuel is coal in most cases, these boilers must be either retrofit with emission control technology or be replaced entirely. The question that arises is how to accomplish this given the current tight control of capital in Poland and other East European countries. A solution that we have for this problem is shared savings. These boilers are typically operating with a quiet low efficiency as compared to western standards and with excessive manual labor. Installing modernization equipment to improve the efficiency and to automate the process provides savings. ECOGY provides the funds for the modernization to improve the efficiency, add automation and install emission control equipment. The savings that are generated during the operation of the modernized boiler system are split between the client company and ECOGY for a number of years and then the system is turned over in entirety to the client. Depending on the operating capacity, the shared savings agreement will usually span 6 to 10 years.

PETER loop. Multifunctional test facility for thermal hydraulic investigations of PWR fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganzmann, I.; Hille, D.; Staude, U.

2009-01-01

The reliable fuel element behavior during the complete fuel cycle is one of the fundamental prerequisites of a safe and efficient nuclear power plant operation. The fuel element behavior with respect to pressure drop and vibration impact cannot be simulated by means of fluid-structure interaction codes. Therefore it is necessary to perform tests using fuel element mock-ups (1:1). AREVA NP has constructed the test facility PETER (PWR fuel element tests in Erlangen) loop. The modular construction allows maximum flexibility for any type of fuel elements. Modern measuring instrumentation for flow, pressure and vibration characterization allows the analysis of cause and consequences of thermal hydraulic phenomena. PETER loop is the standard test facility for the qualification of dynamic fuel element behavior in flowing fluid and is used for failure mode analysis.

Dealing with Historical Discrepancies: The Recovery of National Research Experiment (NRX) Reactor Fuel Rods at Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) - 13324

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vickerd, Meggan

2013-01-01

Following the 1952 National Research Experiment (NRX) Reactor accident, fuel rods which had short irradiation histories were 'temporarily' buried in wooden boxes at the 'disposal grounds' during the cleanup effort. The Nuclear Legacy Liabilities Program (NLLP), funded by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), strategically retrieves legacy waste and restores lands affected by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) early operations. Thus under this program the recovery of still buried NRX reactor fuel rods and their relocation to modern fuel storage was identified as a priority. A suspect inventory of NRX fuels was compiled from historical records and various research activities. Site characterization in 2005 verified the physical location of the fuel rods and determined the wooden boxes they were buried in had degraded such that the fuel rods were in direct contact with the soil. The fuel rods were recovered and transferred to a modern fuel storage facility in 2007. Recovered identification tags and measured radiation fields were used to identify the inventory of these fuels. During the retrieval activity, a discrepancy was discovered between the anticipated number of fuel rods and the number found during the retrieval. A total of 32 fuel rods and cans of cut end pieces were recovered from the specified site, which was greater than the anticipated 19 fuel rods and cans. This discovery delayed the completion of the project, increased the associated costs, and required more than anticipated storage space in the modern fuel storage facility. A number of lessons learned were identified following completion of this project, the most significant of which was the potential for discrepancies within the historical records. Historical discrepancies are more likely to be resolved by comprehensive historical record searches and site characterizations. It was also recommended that a complete review of the wastes generated, and the total affected lands as a result of this historic

Core Designs and Economic Analyses of Homogeneous Thoria-Urania Fuel in Light Water Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saglam, Mehmet; Sapyta, Joe J.; Spetz, Stewart W.; Hassler, Lawrence A.

2004-01-01

The objective is to develop equilibrium fuel cycle designs for a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) loaded with homogeneously mixed uranium-thorium dioxide (ThO 2 -UO 2 ) fuel and compare those designs with more conventional UO 2 designs.The fuel cycle analyses indicate that ThO 2 -UO 2 fuel cycles are technically feasible in modern PWRs. Both power peaking and soluble boron concentrations tend to be lower than in conventional UO 2 fuel cycles, and the burnable poison requirements are less.However, the additional costs associated with the use of homogeneous ThO 2 -UO 2 fuel in a PWR are significant, and extrapolation of the results gives no indication that further increases in burnup will make thoria-urania fuel economically competitive with the current UO 2 fuel used in light water reactors

The necessity of improvement for the current LWR fuel assembly homogenization method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Chuntao; Huang Hao; Zhang Shaohong

2007-01-01

When the modern LWR core analysis method is used to do core nuclear design and in-core fuel management calculation, how to accurately obtain the fuel assembly homogenized parameters is a crucial issue. In this paper, taking the NEA C5G7-MOX benchmark problem as a severe test problem, which involves low-enriched uranium assemblies interspersed with MOX assemblies, we have re-examined the applicability of the two major assumptions of the modern equivalence theory for fuel assembly homoge- nization, i.e. the isolated assembly spatial spectrum assumption and the condensed two- group representation assumption. Numerical results have demonstrated that for LWR cores with strong spectrum interaction, both of these two assumptions are no longer applicable and the improvement for the homogenization method is necessary, the current two-group representation should be improved by the multigroup representation and the current reflective assembly boundary condition should be improved by the 'real' assembly boundary condition. This is a research project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (10605016). (authors)

Discrete element method study of fuel relocation and dispersal during loss-of-coolant accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Govers, K.; Verwerft, M.

2016-01-01

The fuel fragmentation, relocation and dispersal (FFRD) during LOCA transients today retain the attention of the nuclear safety community. The fine fragmentation observed at high burnup may, indeed, affect the Emergency Core Cooling System performance: accumulation of fuel debris in the cladding ballooned zone leads to a redistribution of the temperature profile, while dispersal of debris might lead to coolant blockage or to debris circulation through the primary circuit. This work presents a contribution, by discrete element method, towards a mechanistic description of the various stages of FFRD. The fuel fragments are described as a set of interacting particles, behaving as a granular medium. The model shows qualitative and quantitative agreement with experimental observations, such as the packing efficiency in the balloon, which is shown to stabilize at about 55%. The model is then applied to study fuel dispersal, for which experimental parametric studies are both difficult and expensive. - Highlights: • We performed Discrete Element Methods simulation for fuel relocation and dispersal during LOCA transients. • The approach provides a mechanistic description of these phenomena. • The approach shows the ability of the technique to reproduce experimental observations. • The packing fraction in the balloon is shown to stabilize at 50–60%.

Modern bioenergy from agricultural and forestry residues in Cameroon: Potential, challenges and the way forward

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackom, Emmanuel K.; Alemagi, Dieudonne; Ackom, Nana B.; Minang, Peter A.; Tchoundjeu, Zac

2013-01-01

Environmentally benign modern bioenergy is widely acknowledged as a potential substitute for fossil fuels to offset the human dependence on fossil fuels for energy. We have profiled Cameroon, a country where modern bioenergy remains largely untapped due to a lack of availability of biomass data and gaps in existing policies. This study assessed the biomass resource potential in Cameroon from sustainably extracted agricultural and forest residues. We estimated that environmentally benign residues amount to 1.11 million bone dry tons per year. This has the potential to yield 0.12–0.32 billion liters of ethanol annually to displace 18–48% of the national consumption of gasoline. Alternatively, the residues could provide 0.08–0.22 billion liters of biomass to Fischer Tropsch diesel annually to offset 17–45% of diesel fuel use. For the generation of bioelectricity, the residues could supply 0.76–2.02 TW h, which is the equivalent of 15–38% of Cameroon's current electricity consumption. This could help spread electricity throughout the country, especially in farming communities where the residues are plentiful. The residues could, however, offset only 3% of the national consumption of traditional biomass (woodfuel and charcoal). Policy recommendations that promote the wider uptake of modern bioenergy applications from residues are provided. - Highlights: • Environmentally benign residues amount to 1.11×10 6 bone dry tonnes per annum. • 0.12–0.32 billion litres of bio ethanol annually to displace 18–48% national gasoline use. • 0.08–0.22 billion litres of biomass to BTL diesel per year to offset 17–45% of diesel use. • 0.76–2.02 TW h of electricity, representing 15–38% of Cameroon's consumption. • Residues could offset only 3% of national consumption of traditional biomass

The olfactory tubercle encodes odor valence in behaving mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Gadziola, Marie A; Tylicki, Kate A; Christian, Diana L; Wesson, Daniel W

2015-03-18

Sensory information acquires meaning to adaptively guide behaviors. Despite odors mediating a number of vital behaviors, the components of the olfactory system responsible for assigning meaning to odors remain unclear. The olfactory tubercle (OT), a ventral striatum structure that receives monosynaptic input from the olfactory bulb, is uniquely positioned to transform odor information into behaviorally relevant neural codes. No information is available, however, on the coding of odors among OT neurons in behaving animals. In recordings from mice engaged in an odor discrimination task, we report that the firing rate of OT neurons robustly and flexibly encodes the valence of conditioned odors over identity, with rewarded odors evoking greater firing rates. This coding of rewarded odors occurs before behavioral decisions and represents subsequent behavioral responses. We predict that the OT is an essential region whereby odor valence is encoded in the mammalian brain to guide goal-directed behaviors. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/354515-13$15.00/0.

Simultaneous fast pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading of lignin to obtain a marine diesel fuel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Guofeng

The topic of this Ph.D. project is to convert lignin, a by-product from a 2nd generation bio-ethanol plant, into a marine diesel fuel by fast pyrolysis followed with catalytic upgrading of the pyrolysis vapor. Lignin, a major component of lignocellulosic biomass, is underutilized in the 2nd...... generation bio-ethanol plants. Shipping industry on the other hand is looking for clean alternative fuels in order to meet stricter fuel quality and emission standards. To convert lignin into a renewable marine diesel fuel will both accelerate the development of modern bio-refinery and transfer the marine...

Modernism and tradition and the traditions of modernism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kros Džonatan

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Conventionally, the story of musical modernism has been told in terms of a catastrophic break with the (tonal past and the search for entirely new techniques and modes of expression suitable to a new age. The resulting notion of a single, linear, modernist mainstream (predicated on the basis of a Schoenbergian model of musical progress has served to conceal a more subtle relationship between past and present. Increasingly, it is being recognized that there exist many modernisms and their various identities are forged from a continual renegotiation between past and present, between tradition(s and the avant-garde. This is especially relevant when attempting to discuss the reception of modernism outside central Europe, where the adoption of (Germanic avant-garde attitudes was often interpreted as being "unpatriotic". The case of Great Britain is examined in detail: Harrison Birtwistle’s opera The Mask of Orpheus (1973–83 forms the focus for a wider discussion of modernism within the context of late/post-modern thought.

Fuel Performance Experiments and Modeling: Fission Gas Bubble Nucleation and Growth in Alloy Nuclear Fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDeavitt, Sean; Shao, Lin; Tsvetkov, Pavel; Wirth, Brian; Kennedy, Rory

2014-01-01

Advanced fast reactor systems being developed under the DOE's Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative are designed to destroy TRU isotopes generated in existing and future nuclear energy systems. Over the past 40 years, multiple experiments and demonstrations have been completed using U-Zr, U-Pu-Zr, U-Mo and other metal alloys. As a result, multiple empirical and semi-empirical relationships have been established to develop empirical performance modeling codes. Many mechanistic questions about fission as mobility, bubble coalescience, and gas release have been answered through industrial experience, research, and empirical understanding. The advent of modern computational materials science, however, opens new doors of development such that physics-based multi-scale models may be developed to enable a new generation of predictive fuel performance codes that are not limited by empiricism.

Fuel Performance Experiments and Modeling: Fission Gas Bubble Nucleation and Growth in Alloy Nuclear Fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McDeavitt, Sean [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Shao, Lin [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Tsvetkov, Pavel [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Wirth, Brian [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Kennedy, Rory [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2014-04-07

Advanced fast reactor systems being developed under the DOE's Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative are designed to destroy TRU isotopes generated in existing and future nuclear energy systems. Over the past 40 years, multiple experiments and demonstrations have been completed using U-Zr, U-Pu-Zr, U-Mo and other metal alloys. As a result, multiple empirical and semi-empirical relationships have been established to develop empirical performance modeling codes. Many mechanistic questions about fission as mobility, bubble coalescience, and gas release have been answered through industrial experience, research, and empirical understanding. The advent of modern computational materials science, however, opens new doors of development such that physics-based multi-scale models may be developed to enable a new generation of predictive fuel performance codes that are not limited by empiricism.

Effect of power variations across a fuel bundle and within a fuel element on fuel centerline temperature in PHWR bundles in uncrept and crept pressure tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onder, E.N.; Roubtsov, D.; Rao, Y.F.; Wilhelm, B.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Pressure tube creep effect on fuel pin power and temperatures was investigated. • Noticeable effects were observed for 5.1% crept pressure tube. • Bundle eccentricity effect on power variations was insignificant for uncrept channels. • Difference of 112 °C was observed between top & bottom elements in 5.1% crept channel. • Not discernible fission gas release was expected with temperature difference of 112 °C. - Abstract: The neutron flux and fission power profiles through a fuel bundle and across a fuel element are important aspects of nuclear fuel analysis in multi-scale/multi-physics modelling of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) with advanced fuel bundles. Fuel channels in many existing PHWRs are horizontal. With ageing, pressure tubes creep and fuel bundles in these pressure tubes are eccentrically located, which results in an asymmetric coolant flow distribution between the top and bottom of the fuel bundles. The diametral change of the pressure tube due to creep is not constant along the fuel channel; it reaches a maximum in the vicinity of the maximum neutron flux location. The cross-sectional asymmetric positioning of fuel bundles in a crept pressure tube contributes to an asymmetric power distribution within a ring of fuel elements. Modern reactor physics lattice codes (such as WIMS-AECL) are capable of predicting the details of power distribution from basic principles. Thermalhydraulics subchannel codes (such as ASSERT-PV) use models to describe inhomogeneous power distribution within and across fuel elements (e.g., flux tilt model, different powers in different ring elements, or radial power profiles). In this work, physics and thermalhydraulics codes are applied to quantify the effect of eccentricity of a fuel bundle on power variations across it and within a fuel element, and ultimately on the fuel temperature distribution and fuel centerline temperature, which is one of the indicators of fuel performance under normal

Supply chain management applications for forest fuel procurement. Cost or benefit?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Windisch, J.; Roeser, D. (Finnish Forest Research Inst., Joensuu Research Unit (Finland)), email: johannes.windisch@metla.fi; Sikanen, L.; Gritten, D. (Univ. of Eastern Finland, School of Forest Science, Joensuu (Finland))

2010-07-01

It is commonly agreed that logistics is very demanding in forest fuel business. Even though logistics and supply chain management (SCM) tools already have found their way into forestry business, for example, in roundwood operations, they are not yet very widespread in the field of forest fuel procurement. The present study investigates if modern supply chain management applications are capable of increasing the profitability of forest fuel procurement operations. Since margins are low, decreasing the provision costs could boost wood-based bioenergy business. The study is based on the investigation of two Finnish forest owners associations (FOA) involved in forest fuel procurement using a modern SCM tool. The investigation is done by cost-benefit analysis (CBA) using the net present value (NPV) methodology to determine the profitability. According to the estimates made by the staff, which are based on data such as work time records and delivery notes from before and after introduction of the new system, in both FOAs, the benefits far outweigh the costs over a considered timespan of ten years. However, the amount of the NPV varied significantly. For FOA1, with an annual chip production of 150 000 loose m3, the NPV is 212 739 euro, while for FOA2, with an annual chip production of 37 000 loose m3, the NPV is 969 841 euro. Even if the NPV of FOA2 seems to be very high, the profitability of SCM tools in forest fuel procurement is clearly demonstrated. Additionally, the results indicate that a considerable cost saving potential in forest fuel procurement is attainable through improving work flows and thus reduce the work input. (orig.)

Bio-inspired fuel cells for miniaturized body-area-networks applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xu, Wei; Gao, Lu; Danilov, Dmitri; Pop, V.; Notten, Peter

2010-01-01

The improvement in quality of modern health-care is closely related to the need for medical autonomous systems that enable people to ‘carry’ their personal wireless Body-Area-Network (BAN). Bio-inspired fuel cells (BFC) are a promising approach of energy harvesting to achieve autonomy and

Nuclear Fuel Behaviour in Loss-of-coolant Accident (LOCA) Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pettersson, Kjell; Chung, Haijung; ); Billone, Michael; Fuketa, Toyoshi; Nagase, Fumihisa; Grandjean, Claude; Hache, George; Papin, Joelle; Heins, Lothar; Hozer, Zoltan; In de Betou, Jan; Kelppe, Seppo; Mayer, Ralph; Scott, Harold; Voglewede, John; Sonnenburg, Heinz; Sunder, Sham; Valach, Mojmir; Vrtilkova, Vera; Waeckel, Nicolas; Wiesenack, Wolfgang; Zimmermann, Martin

2009-01-01

The NEA Working Group on Fuel Safety (WGFS) is tasked with advancing the current understanding of fuel safety issues by assessing the technical basis for current safety criteria and their applicability to high burn-up and to new fuel designs and materials. The group aims at facilitating international convergence in this area, including as regards experimental approaches and interpretation and the use of experimental data relevant for safety. In 1986, a working group of the NEA Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) issued a state-of-the-art report on water reactor fuel behaviour in design-basis accident (DBA) conditions. The 1986 report was limited to the oxidation, embrittlement and deformation of pressurised water reactor (PWR) fuel in a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). Since then, considerable experimental and analytical work has been performed, which has led to a broader and deeper understanding of LOCA-related phenomena. Further, new cladding alloys have been produced, which might behave differently than the previously used Zircaloy-4, both under normal operating conditions and during transients. Compared with 20 years ago, fuel burn-up has been significantly increased, which requires extending the LOCA database in order to cover the high burnup range. There was also a clear need to address LOCA performance for reactor types other than PWRs. The present report has been prepared by the WGFS and covers the following technical aspects: - Description of different LOCA scenarios for major types of reactors: BWRs, PWRs, VVERs and to a lesser extent CANDUs. - LOCA phenomena: ballooning, burst, oxidation, fuel relocation and possible fracture at quench. - Details of high-temperature oxidation behaviour of various cladding materials. - Metallurgical phase change, effect of hydrogen and oxygen on residual cladding ductility. - Methods for LOCA testing, for example two-sided oxidation and ring compression for ductility, and integral quench test for

Estimation of CO concentration in high temperature PEM fuel cells using electrochemical impedance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Hans-Christian Becker; Andreasen, Søren Juhl; Kær, Søren Knudsen

2013-01-01

of the reformer and fuel cell stack. This work focus on the estimation of CO percentage in the hydrogen rich anode gas in a fuel cell, by combining signal processing ideas with impedance information of the fuel cell while it is running. The presented approach functions during in the normal operating range......Storing electrical energy is one of the main challenges for modern society grid systems containing increasing amounts of renewable energy from wind, solar and wave sources. Although batteries are excellent storage devices for electrical energy, their usage is often limited by a low energy density......, a possible solution, an avoidance of the long recharging time is combining them with the use of fuel cells. Fuel cells continuously deliver electrical power as long as a proper fuel supply is maintained. The ideal fuel for fuel cells is hydrogen, which in it’s pure for has high volumetric storage...

New trends in nuclear fuel experimental irradiation. Modern control and acquisition of the irradiation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Preda, M.; Ciocanescu, M.; Ana, E.M.

2010-01-01

With the irradiation devices used in the irradiation tests, the following experiments have been performed in TRIGA-SCN reactor: a) In capsule-type irradiation devices: - fission gases composition determination; - dimensional measurements; - fission gases pressure measurement; - power pre-ramp and ramp; - power cycling; - structural materials testing. b) In loop-type irradiation device: - power ramp; - multiple power ramps; - overpower. Aiming to develop irradiation tests for advanced nuclear fuel elements, it is mandatory to increase the maximum neutron flux in the core with about 20%. This will lead to reactor power increase up to 21 MW. This objective can be reached through: - increasing the number of fuel clusters in the reactor core; - using the 6x6 fuel cluster to replace the present 5x5 clusters; - relocation of the control rods. In this context, the new control system and the data acquisition system operates online and allows real-time data evaluation. (author)

Hypothesis: solid tumours behave as systemic metabolic dictators.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yang-Ming; Chang, Wei-Chun; Ma, Wen-Lung

2016-06-01

Current knowledge regarding mechanisms of carcinogenesis in human beings centres around the accumulation of genetic instability, amplified cellular signalling, disturbed cellular energy metabolism and microenvironmental regulation governed by complicated cell-cell interactions. In this article, we provide an alternative view of cancer biology. We propose that cancer behaves as a systemic dictator that interacts with tissues throughout the body to control their metabolism and eventually homeostasis. The mechanism of development of this endocrine organ-like tumour (EOLT) tissue might be the driving force for cancer progression. Here, we review the literature that led to the development of this hypothesis. The EOLT phenotype can be defined as a tumour that alters systemic homeostasis. The literature indicates that the EOLT phenotype is present throughout cancer progression. The feedback mechanism that governs the interaction between tumours and various organs is unknown. We believe that investigating the mechanism of EOLT development may advance the current knowledge of regulation within the tumour macroenvironment and consequently lead to new diagnostic methods and therapy. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

Er Rousseau moderne?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dupont, Søren

1985-01-01

Artiklen analyserer på hvilken måde Rousseau kan siges at være moderne, og den diskuterer på hvilken måde Rouseau har været medvirkende til at opbygge den moderne civilisation, og på hvilken måde han var kritisk i forhold til den gryende og moderne kapitalisme.......Artiklen analyserer på hvilken måde Rousseau kan siges at være moderne, og den diskuterer på hvilken måde Rouseau har været medvirkende til at opbygge den moderne civilisation, og på hvilken måde han var kritisk i forhold til den gryende og moderne kapitalisme....

Energy poor or fuel poor: What are the differences?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Kang; Lloyd, Bob; Liang, Xiao-Jie; Wei, Yi-Ming

2014-01-01

Energy poverty and fuel poverty are descriptors of problems of households' energy consumption, they are both distinct problems and have been addressed by many researchers, organizations and governments. Cross use of the terms of energy poverty and fuel poverty in published papers is common. As an accurate descriptor is the presupposition of research and policy development, especially for those who just started to pay attention to this issue, this paper compares the definitions, research priorities, status quo, and problems of these two concepts, and summarizes the relationship between them. The paper suggests that only when the research targets are households who are living in a cold climate and have difficulty in getting access to electricity or modern cooking facilities, and in supplying indoor heating with appropriate cost, the concepts of energy poverty and fuel poverty have the chance to be broadened and mutually integrated. - Highlights: • Address energy poverty and fuel poverty simultaneously. • Compare energy poverty and fuel poverty from 4 perspectives. • Summarize the relationship between energy poverty and fuel poverty. • Divide energy poor and fuel poor into three categories

Pressure control modernization for DO2 supply system of the fuel machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ionescu, T.; Burla, I.; Vasilache, V.

2005-01-01

Full text: The analog controllers of the D 2 O Supply System (BSI-35260) were replaced at Cernavoda NPP U1 with a modern solution built on a new platform with powerful Fischer and Porter controllers. During two years of operating experience this new solution demonstrated its capabilities to work without any fault. This paper describes briefly the involved system, the hardware and software aspects of this solution, how the software solution was tested using the Full-Scope Simulator facilities and finally, results of the tests done in the real plant are discussed. (authors)

Power/heat production from biomass in Finland - Two modern Finnish examples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aeijaelae, M.

1997-01-01

According to this conference paper, Finland is a leading country in the utilization of biomass fuels for power and heat production. One reason is that peat and wood are the only indigenous fuels available in Finland. Other reasons are the strong forest industry and the widely adopted combined heat and power (CHP) production. CHP production is typical of process industry and municipal district heating. The most common boiler type in modern CHP plants is the fluidized bed type. District heating is the cheapest heating in municipalities with a few thousand inhabitants. Electric heating dominates in sparsely populated regions. CHP becomes attractive for populations of more than ten thousand. Two examples are described: (1) Rauhalahti Power Plant produces 140 MW of district heat, 65 MW of industrial steam and 87 MW of electricity. (2) Kuusamo Power Plant produces 6.1 MW electric energy and 17.6 MW district heat; its unique feature is the utilization of the bed mixing dryer for drying of the fuel prior to combustion, this dryer being the first of its kind in the world. 1 figure

Electrocatalytic upgrading of biomass pyrolysis oils to chemical and fuel

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Chun Ho

The present project's aim is to liquefy biomass through fast pyrolysis and then upgrade the resulting "bio-oil" to renewable fuels and chemicals by intensifying its energy content using electricity. This choice reflects three points: (a) Liquid hydrocarbons are and will long be the most practical fuels and chemical feedstocks because of their energy density (both mass and volume basis), their stability and relative ease of handling, and the well-established infrastructure for their processing, distribution and use; (b) In the U.S., the total carbon content of annually harvestable, non-food biomass is significantly less than that in a year's petroleum usage, so retention of plant-captured carbon is a priority; and (c) Modern technologies for conversion of sunlight into usable energy forms---specifically, electrical power---are already an order of magnitude more efficient than plants are at storing solar energy in chemical form. Biomass fast pyrolysis (BFP) generates flammable gases, char, and "bio-oil", a viscous, corrosive, and highly oxygenated liquid consisting of large amounts of acetic acid and water together with hundreds of other organic compounds. With essentially the same energy density as biomass and a tendency to polymerize, this material cannot practically be stored or transported long distances. It must be upgraded by dehydration, deoxygenation, and hydrogenation to make it both chemically and energetically compatible with modern vehicles and fuels. Thus, this project seeks to develop low cost, general, scalable, robust electrocatalytic methods for reduction of bio-oil into fuels and chemicals.

Effect of secondary fuels and combustor temperature on mercury speciation in pulverized fuel co-combustion: part 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shishir P. Sable; Wiebren de Jong; Ruud Meij; Hartmut Spliethoff [Delft University Technology, Delft (Netherlands). Section Energy Technology, Department of Process and Energy

2007-08-15

The present work mainly involves bench scale studies to investigate partitioning of mercury in pulverized fuel co-combustion at 1000 and 1300{sup o}C. High volatile bituminous coal is used as a reference case and chicken manure, olive residue, and B quality (demolition) wood are used as secondary fuels with 10 and 20% thermal shares. The combustion experiments are carried out in an entrained flow reactor with a fuel input of 7-8 kWth. Elemental and total gaseous mercury concentrations in the flue gas of the reactor are measured on-line, and ash is analyzed for particulate mercury along with other elemental and surface properties. Animal waste like chicken manure behaves very differently from plant waste. The higher chlorine contents of chicken manure cause higher ionic mercury concentrations whereas even with high unburnt carbon, particulate mercury reduces with increase in the chicken manure share. This might be a problem due to coarse fuel particles, low surface area, and iron contents. B-wood and olive residue cofiring reduces the emission of total gaseous mercury and increases particulate mercury capture due to unburnt carbon formed, fine particles, and iron contents of the ash. Calcium in chicken manure does not show any effect on particulate or gaseous mercury. It is probably due to a higher calcium sulfation rate in the presence of high sulfur and chlorine contents. However, in plant waste cofiring, calcium may have reacted with chlorine to reduce ionic mercury to its elemental form. According to thermodynamic predictions, almost 50% of the total ash is melted to form slag at 1300{sup o}C in cofiring because of high calcium, iron, and potassium and hence mercury and other remaining metals are concentrated in small amounts of ash and show an increase at higher temperatures. No slag formation was predicted at 1000{sup o}C. 24 refs., 8 figs., 4 tabs.

Optimasi Penempatan Menara BTS Menggunakan Quantum-Behaved Particle Swarm Optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamad Fatkhur Rohman

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Universal Mobile Telecomunication System (UMTS saat ini dipandang sebagai sebuah sistem impian yang menggantikan Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM dan merupakan salah satu evolusi generasi ketiga (3G dari jaringan mobile. Salah satu komponen pendukung jaringan UMTS adalah Node B, Node B dapat dianalogikan sebagai BTS. Seiring perkembangan kebutuhan pelanggan yang semakin meningkat, kebutuhan akan BTS(Node B semakin bertambah, hal ini menyebabkan banyaknya jumlah menara BTS da menyebabkan pemandangan yang kurang bagus bagi visualisasi kota.oleh karena itu perlu dilakukan optimisasi penempatan menara BTS. Salah satu metode untuk mengoptimasi adalah Quantum-behaved Particle Swarm Optimization. Maka dalam penelitian ini akan dirancang simulasi optimasi penempatan BTS menggunakan QPSO dengan parameter yang akan dioptimasi adalah Coverage Area dan Trafik. Dari hasil penelitian yang dilakukan, Algoritma QPSO mampu mengurangi jumlah BTS dari 55 BTS menjadi 43 BTS.

WWER-1000 fuel cycles: current situation and outlook

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosourov, E.; Pavlov, V.; Pavlovichev, A.; Spirkin, E.; Shcherenko, A.

2013-01-01

Usage mode of nuclear fuel in WWER type reactor has been changed significantly till the moment of the first WWER-1000 commissioning. There are a lot of improvements, having an impact on the fuel cycle, have been implemented for units with WWER-1000. FA design and its constructional materials, FA fuel weight, burnable poison, usage mode of units and etc have been modified. As the result of development it has been designed a modern FA with rigid skeleton. As a whole it allows to use more efficient configurations of the core, to extend range of fuel cycle lengths and to provide good flexibility in the operation. In recent years there were in progress works on increasing FA uranium capacity. As the result there were developed two designs of the fuel rod: 1) the fuel column height of 3680 mm, diameters of the fuel pellet and its central hole of 7.6 and 1.2 mm respectively and 2) the fuel column height of 3530 mm, the fuel pellet diameter of 7.8 mm without the central hole. Such fuel rods have operating experience as a part of different FA designs. Positive operating experience was a base of new FA (TVS-4) development with the fuel column height of 3680 mm and the fuel pellet diameter of 7.8 mm without the central hole. The paper presents the overview of WWER-1000, AES-2006 and WWER-TOI fuel cycles based on FAs with fuel rod designs described above. There are demonstrated fuel cycle possibilities and its technical and economic characteristics. There are discussed problems of further fuel cycle improvements (fuel enrichment increase above 5 %, use of erbium as alternative burnable poison) and their impact on neutronics characteristics. (authors)

Ab Initio Enhanced calphad Modeling of Actinide-Rich Nuclear Fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morgan, Dane [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Yang, Yong Austin [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

2013-10-28

The process of fuel recycling is central to the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI), where plutonium and the minor actinides (MA) Am, Np, and Cm are extracted from spent fuel and fabricated into new fuel for a fast reactor. Metallic alloys of U-Pu-Zr-MA are leading candidates for fast reactor fuels and are the current basis for fast spectrum metal fuels in a fully recycled closed fuel cycle. Safe and optimal use of these fuels will require knowledge of their multicomponent phase stability and thermodynamics (Gibbs free energies). In additional to their use as nuclear fuels, U-Pu-Zr-MA contain elements and alloy phases that pose fundamental questions about electronic structure and energetics at the forefront of modern many-body electron theory. This project will validate state-of-the-art electronic structure approaches for these alloys and use the resulting energetics to model U-Pu-Zr-MA phase stability. In order to keep the work scope practical, researchers will focus on only U-Pu-Zr-{Np,Am}, leaving Cm for later study. The overall objectives of this project are to: Provide a thermodynamic model for U-Pu-Zr-MA for improving and controlling reactor fuels; and, Develop and validate an ab initio approach for predicting actinide alloy energetics for thermodynamic modeling.

Analysis of metallic fuel pin behaviors under transient conditions of liquid metal reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nam, Cheol; Kwon, Hyoung Mun; Hwang, Woan

1999-02-01

Transient behavior of metallic fuel pins in liquid metal reactor is quite different to that in steady state conditions. Even in transient conditions, the fuel may behave differently depending on its accident situation and/or accident sequence. This report describes and identifies the possible and hypothetical transient events at the aspects of fuel pin behavior. Furthermore, the transient experiments on HT9 clad metallic fuel have been analyzed, and then failure assessments are performed based on accident classes. As a result, the failure mechanism of coolant-related accidents, such as LOF, is mainly due to plenum pressure and cladding thinning caused by eutectic penetration. In the reactivity-related accidents, such as TOP, the reason to cladding failure is believed to be the fuel swelling as well as plenum pressure. The probabilistic Weibull analysis is performed to evaluate the failure behavior of HT9 clad-metallic fuel pin on coolant related accidents.The Weibull failure function is derived as a function of cladding CDF. Using the function, a sample calculation for the ULOF accident of EBR-II fuel is performed, and the results indicate that failure probability is less the 0.3%. Further discussion on failure criteria of accident condition is provided. Finally, it is introduced the state-of-arts for developing computer codes of reactivity-related fuel pin behavior. The development efforts for a simple model to predict transient fuel swelling is described, and the preliminary calculation results compared to hot pressing test results in literature.This model is currently under development, and it is recommended in the future that the transient swelling model will be combined with the cladding model and the additional development for post-failure behavior of fuel pin is required. (Author). 36 refs., 9 tabs., 18 figs

Characterization and chemistry of fission products released from LWR fuel under accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norwood, K.S.; Collins, J.L.; Osborne, M.F.; Lorenz, R.A.; Wichner, R.P.

1984-01-01

Segments from commercial LWR fuel rods have been tested at temperatures between 1400 and 2000 0 C in a flowing steam-helium atmosphere to simulate severe accident conditions. The primary goals of the tests were to determine the rate of fission product release and to characterize the chemical behavior. This paper is concerned primarily with the identification and chemical behavior of the released fission products with emphasis on antimony, cesium, iodine, and silver. The iodine appeared to behave primarily as cesium iodide and the antimony and silver as elements, while cesium behavior was much more complex. 17 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab

Fuel and fission product behaviour in early phases of a severe accident. Part I: Experimental results of the PHEBUS FPT2 test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barrachin, M., E-mail: marc.barrachin@irsn.fr [Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, B.P. 3, 13115 Saint Paul-lez-Durance Cedex (France); Gavillet, D. [Paul Scherrer Institute, Würenlingen and Villigen, CH-5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Dubourg, R. [Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, B.P. 3, 13115 Saint Paul-lez-Durance Cedex (France); De Bremaecker, A. [Institute for Nuclear Materials Sciences, SCK-CEN, Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol (Belgium)

2014-10-15

One objective of the FPT2 test of the PHEBUS FP Program was to study the degradation of an irradiated UO{sub 2} fuel test section and the fission product behaviour under conditions of low steam flow. The results of the post-irradiation examinations (PIE) at the upper levels (823 and 900 mm) of the 1-m long test section are presented in this paper. Material interactions leading to local corium formation were identified: firstly between fuel and Zircaloy-4 cladding, notably at 823 mm, where the cladding melting temperature was reached, and secondly between fuel and stainless steel oxides. Regarding fission products, molybdenum left so-called metallic precipitates mainly composed of ruthenium. Xenon and caesium behave similarly whereas barium and molybdenum often seems to be associated in precipitates.

Charting and shaping the modern consumer. The rise of customer research in the Dutch department store De Bijenkorf, 1930-1960

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Hein Furnée

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In the decades before and after World War ii, major European department stores were increasingly eager to know and understand their customers. This article analyses how the Dutch department store De Bijenkorf, in dialogue with leading European partners, developed a wide range of research techniques to chart the social composition and buying behavior of its customers in order to enhance the company’s efficiency in procurement, advertising, spatial organization and sales. The customer research of De Bijenkorf helped to legitimize new business policiessuch as up- and downtrading and impulse buying, but also reflected and established new ideas and images of modern urban consumers as statistical categories behaving in astonishing regular ways.

Sustainability of Fossil Fuels

Science.gov (United States)

Lackner, K. S.

2002-05-01

For a sustainable world economy, energy is a bottleneck. Energy is at the basis of a modern, technological society, but unlike materials it cannot be recycled. Energy or more precisely "negentropy" (the opposite of entropy) is always consumed. Thus, one either accepts the use of large but finite resources or must stay within the limits imposed by dilute but self-renewing resources like sunlight. The challenge of sustainable energy is exacerbated by likely growth in world energy demand due to increased population and increased wealth. Most of the world still has to undergo the transition to a wealthy, stable society with the near zero population growth that characterizes a modern industrial society. This represents a huge unmet demand. If ten billion people were to consume energy like North Americans do today, world energy demand would be ten times higher. In addition, technological advances while often improving energy efficiency tend to raise energy demand by offering more opportunity for consumption. Energy consumption still increases at close to the 2.3% per year that would lead to a tenfold increase over the course of the next century. Meeting future energy demands while phasing out fossil fuels appears extremely difficult. Instead, the world needs sustainable or nearly sustainable fossil fuels. I propose the following definition of sustainable under which fossil fuels would well qualify: The use of a technology or resource is sustainable if the intended and unintended consequences will not force its abandonment within a reasonable planning horizon. Of course sustainable technologies must not be limited by resource depletion but this is only one of many concerns. Environmental impacts, excessive land use, and other constraints can equally limit the use of a technology and thus render it unsustainable. In the foreseeable future, fossil fuels are not limited by resource depletion. However, environmental concerns based on climate change and other environmental

Performance of borosilicate glass, Synroc and spent fuel as nuclear waste forms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lutze, W.; Grambow, B.; Ewing, R.C.

1990-01-01

Presently, there are three prominent waste forms under consideration for the disposal of high-level waste: Borosilicate glass and Synroc for high-level radioactive waste from fuel reprocessing and spent fuel as the waste form for non-reprocessed fuel. Using the present experimental data base, one may compare the performance of these three waste forms under repository relevant conditions. In low water flow regimes and at temperatures less than 100 degree C, the fractional release rates of all three waste forms are low, on the order of 10-7/d or less and may decrease with time. Under these conditions the three waste forms behave similarly. At elevated temperatures or in high flow regimes, the durability of borosilicate glass will be much less than that of Synroc, and thus, for certain disposal schemes (e.g., deep burial) Synroc is preferable. All predictions of the long-term behavior are based on the extrapolation of short term experimental data, we point out that appropriate and useful natural analogues are available for each of these waste forms and should be used in the performance assessment of each waste form's long-term behavior. 14 refs

Solution combustion synthesis of strontium aluminate, SrAl2O4, powders: single-fuel versus fuel-mixture approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ianoş, Robert; Istratie, Roxana; Păcurariu, Cornelia; Lazău, Radu

2016-01-14

The solution combustion synthesis of strontium aluminate, SrAl2O4, via the classic single-fuel approach and the modern fuel-mixture approach was investigated in relation to the synthesis conditions, powder properties and thermodynamic aspects. The single-fuel approach (urea or glycine) did not yield SrAl2O4 directly from the combustion reaction. The absence of SrAl2O4 was explained by the low amount of energy released during the combustion process, in spite of the highly negative values of the standard enthalpy of reaction and standard Gibbs free energy. In the case of single-fuel recipes, the maximum combustion temperatures measured by thermal imaging (482 °C - urea, 941 °C - glycine) were much lower than the calculated adiabatic temperatures (1864 °C - urea, 2147 °C - glycine). The fuel-mixture approach (urea and glycine) clearly represented a better option, since (α,β)-SrAl2O4 resulted directly from the combustion reaction. The maximum combustion temperature measured in the case of a urea and glycine fuel mixture was the highest one (1559 °C), which was relatively close to the calculated adiabatic temperature (1930 °C). The addition of a small amount of flux, such as H3BO3, enabled the formation of pure α-SrAl2O4 directly from the combustion reaction.

Study on Waste Heat Utilization Device of High-Temperature Freshwater in the Modern Marine Diesel Engine

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shuaijun; Liu, Chentao; Zhou, Yao

2018-01-01

Based on using the waste heat recycling from high temperature freshwater in marine diesel engine to heat fuel oil tank, lubrication oil tank and settling tank and so on to achieve energy saving, improve fuel efficiency as the goal, study on waste heat utilization device of high-temperature freshwater in the modern marine diesel engine to make the combustion chamber effectively cooled by high-temperature freshwater and the inner liner freshwater temperature heat is effectively utilized and so on to improve the overall efficiency of the power plant of the ship and the diesel optimum working condition.

Emissions of PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and PAHs from a modern diesel engine equipped with catalyzed emission control systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Laroo, Christopher A; Schenk, Charles R; Sanchez, L James; McDonald, Joseph

2011-08-01

Exhaust emissions of 17 2,3,7,8-substituted chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin/furan (CDD/F) congeners, tetra-octa CDD/F homologues, 12 2005 WHO chlorinated biphenyls (CB) congeners, mono-nona CB homologues, and 19 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from a model year 2008 Cummins ISB engine were investigated. Testing included configurations composed of different combinations of aftertreatment including a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), catalyzed diesel particulate filter (CDPF), copper zeolite urea selective catalytic reduction (SCR), iron zeolite SCR, and ammonia slip catalyst. Results were compared to a baseline engine out configuration. Testing included the use of fuel that contained the maximum expected chlorine (Cl) concentration of U.S. highway diesel fuel and a Cl level 1.5 orders of magnitude above. Results indicate there is no risk for an increase in polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin/furan and polychlorinated biphenyl emissions from modern diesel engines with catalyzed aftertreatment when compared to engine out emissions for configurations tested in this program. These results, along with PAH results, compare well with similar results from modern diesel engines in the literature. The results further indicate that polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin/furan emissions from modern diesel engines both with and without aftertreatment are below historical values reported in the literature as well as the current inventory value.

Solving Bilevel Multiobjective Programming Problem by Elite Quantum Behaved Particle Swarm Optimization

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Tao Zhang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available An elite quantum behaved particle swarm optimization (EQPSO algorithm is proposed, in which an elite strategy is exerted for the global best particle to prevent premature convergence of the swarm. The EQPSO algorithm is employed for solving bilevel multiobjective programming problem (BLMPP in this study, which has never been reported in other literatures. Finally, we use eight different test problems to measure and evaluate the proposed algorithm, including low dimension and high dimension BLMPPs, as well as attempt to solve the BLMPPs whose theoretical Pareto optimal front is not known. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is a feasible and efficient method for solving BLMPPs.

Irradiation performance of HTGR fuel in HFIR capsule HT-31

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tiegs, T.N.; Robbins, J.M.; Hamner, R.L.; Montgomery, B.H.; Kania, M.J.; Lindemer, T.B.; Morgan, C.S.

1979-05-01

The capsule was irradiated in the High Flux Isotope Reactor at ORNL to peak particle temperatures up to 1600 0 C, fast neutron fluences (0.18 MeV) up to 9 x 10 25 n/m 2 , and burnups up to 8.9% FIMA for ThO 2 particles. The oxygen release from plutonium fissions was less than calculated, possibly because of the solid solution of SrO and rare earth oxides in UO 2 . Tentative results show that pyrocarbon permeability decreases with increasing fast neutron fluence. Fission products in sol-gel UO 2 particles containing natural uranium mostly behaved similarly to those in particles containing highly enriched uranium (HEU). Thus, much of the data base collected on HEU fuel can be applied to low-enriched fuel. Fission product palladium penetrated into the SiC on Triso-coated particles. Also the SiC coating provided some retention of /sup 110m/Ag. Irradiation above about 1200 0 C without an outer pyrocarbon coating degraded the SiC coating on Triso-coated particles

Investigation of High Pressure, Multi-Hole Diesel Fuel Injection Using High Speed Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Steven; Eagle, Ethan; Wooldridge, Margaret

2012-10-01

Research to experimentally capture and understand transient fuel spray behavior of modern fuel injection systems remains underdeveloped. To this end, a high-pressure diesel common-rail fuel injector was instrumented in a spherical, constant volume combustion chamber to image the early time history of injection of diesel fuel. The research-geometry fuel injector has four holes aligned on a radial plane of the nozzle with hole sizes of 90, 110, 130 and 150 μm in diameter. Fuel was injected into a non-reacting environment with ambient densities of 17.4, 24.0, and 31.8 kg/m3 at fuel rail pressures of 1000, 1500, and 2000 bar. High speed images of fuel injection were taken using backlighting at 100,000 frames per second (100 kfps) and an image processing algorithm. The experimental results are compared with a one-dimensional fuel-spray model that was historically developed and applied to fuel sprays from single-hole fuel injectors. Fuel spray penetration distance was evaluated as a function of time for the different injector hole diameters, fuel injection pressures and ambient densities. The results show the differences in model predictions and experimental data at early times in the spray development.

Retrospective and modern views on modernization and alternative modernization components of shinto and zen buddhism

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Y. Y. Medviedieva

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the ratio of modernization and counter modernizing key components of Japan and religions (partly introduced Christianity. The author concludes that the various components of the religious consciousness of the Japanese were kontratetycal on two main elements that form the basis of modern Western culture Japanese resistance and cause upgrade. First, science and technology, working on the basis of the laws of nature, which are opposed to the supernatural and the metaphysical world. Secondly, expressed individualism and atomism as hypertrophic respect for the human person, liberal nadzoseredzhenist to a person who undermines the consolidation of corporate social society. Japanese culture in the past was oriented toward modernization, but progress has been very slow. Moreover, in this process, Japan was much more conservative because in Japanese society regulatory institutions of the army, religion and industrial corporations can be considered a kind of constants which not only can be adapted to the modernization of Euro-American style, as suggested selection of authentic script compatible, especially with life values corporatism and solidarity. It is in this dimension of modernization projects related to Christian proselytism, as were «frustrated.» The reason for this breakdown can be considered inherence religion with social cohesion, its actual merging of social institutions, as well as hidden mahizm skepticism and religious outlook that combines Shinto, Confucian and Zen Buddhist elements. Since modernization in Christianity included the distinction darkened minds clerical era and «enlightened enlightenment» of consciousness era of modern times, it is this dichotomy allowed to oppose religious «ignorance» and scientific «enlightenment», the clergy and secular intellectuals, universities and intellectual clubs as a medium spreading the ideology of the bourgeoisie and monasteries as centers of religious clericalism

Methodological aspects of fuel performance system analysis at raw hydrocarbon processing plants

Science.gov (United States)

Kulbjakina, A. V.; Dolotovskij, I. V.

2018-01-01

The article discusses the methodological aspects of fuel performance system analysis at raw hydrocarbon (RH) processing plants. Modern RH processing facilities are the major consumers of energy resources (ER) for their own needs. To reduce ER, including fuel consumption, and to develop rational fuel system structure are complex and relevant scientific tasks that can only be done using system analysis and complex system synthesis. In accordance with the principles of system analysis, the hierarchical structure of the fuel system, the block scheme for the synthesis of the most efficient alternative of the fuel system using mathematical models and the set of performance criteria have been developed on the main stages of the study. The results from the introduction of specific engineering solutions to develop their own energy supply sources for RH processing facilities have been provided.

Safety analysis of thorium-based fuels in the General Electric Standard BWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colby, M.J.; Townsend, D.B.; Kunz, C.L.

1980-06-01

A denatured (U-233/Th)O 2 fuel assembly has been designed which is energy equivalent to and hardware interchangeable with a modern boiling water reactor (BWR) reference reload assembly. Relative to the reference UO 2 fuel, the thorium fuel design shows better performance during normal and transient reactor operation for the BWR/6 product line and will meet or exceed current safety and licensing criteria. Power distributions are flattened and thermal operating margins are increased by reduced steam void reactivity coefficients caused by U-233. However, a (U-233/Th)O 2 -fueled BWR will likely have reduced operating flexibility. A (U-235/Th)O 2 -fueled BWR should perform similar to a UO 2 -fueled BWR under all operating conditions. A (Pu/Th)O 2 -fueled BWR may have reduced thermal margins and similar accident response and be less stable than a UO 2 -fueled BWR. The assessment is based on comparisions of point model and infinite lattice predictions of various nuclear reactivity parameters, including void reactivity coefficients, Doppler reactivity coefficients, and control blade worths

Late-Modern Symbolism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Bjørn Schiermer

2015-01-01

Through analysis of key texts, I seek to demonstrate the explanative potential of Durkheim’s sociology of religion in the present context. I critically readdress the idea, found in his early work, that modernity is characterized by a rupture with pre-modern forms of solidarity. First, I investigate...... the ways in which Durkheim sets up a stark distinction between the pre-modern and the modern in his early work, and how this distinction is further cemented by his orthodox critique of the modern economy and its negative effects on social life. Second, I show how another timeless and positive understanding...... of “mechanical” solidarity is to be found behind the “symbolist” template crystalizing in Durkheim’s late work. Third, I develop this template for a modern context by critically addressing and removing other obstacles and prejudices on Durkheim’s part....

Interim dry cask storage of irradiated Fast Flux Test Facility fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, P.L.

1994-09-01

The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), located at the US Department of Energy's (DOE'S) Hanford Site, is the largest, most modern, liquid metal-cooled test reactor in the world. This paper will give an overview of the FFTF Spent Fuel Off load project. Major discussion areas will address the status of the fuel off load project, including an overview of the fuel off load system and detailed discussion on the individual components that make up the dry cask storage portion of this system. These components consist of the Interim Storage Cask (ISC) and Core Component Container (CCC). This paper will also discuss the challenges that have been addressed in the evolution of this project

Why are U.S. nuclear weapon modernization efforts controversial?

Science.gov (United States)

Acton, James

2016-03-01

U.S. nuclear weapon modernization programs are focused on extending the lives of existing warheads and developing new delivery vehicles to replace ageing bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and ballistic missile submarines. These efforts are contested and controversial. Some critics argue that they are largely unnecessary, financially wasteful and potentially destabilizing. Other critics posit that they do not go far enough and that nuclear weapons with new military capabilities are required. At its core, this debate centers on three strategic questions. First, what roles should nuclear weapons be assigned? Second, what military capabilities do nuclear weapons need to fulfill these roles? Third, how severe are the unintended escalation risks associated with particular systems? Proponents of scaled-down modernization efforts generally argue for reducing the role of nuclear weapons but also that, even under existing policy, new military capabilities are not required. They also tend to stress the escalation risks of new--and even some existing--capabilities. Proponents of enhanced modernization efforts tend to advocate for a more expansive role for nuclear weapons in national security strategy. They also often argue that nuclear deterrence would be enhanced by lower yield weapons and/or so called bunker busters able to destroy more deeply buried targets. The debate is further fueled by technical disagreements over many aspects of ongoing and proposed modernization efforts. Some of these disagreements--such as the need for warhead life extension programs and their necessary scope--are essentially impossible to resolve at the unclassified level. By contrast, unclassified analysis can help elucidate--though not answer--other questions, such as the potential value of bunker busters.

A Review on the Fabrication of Electrospun Polymer Electrolyte Membrane for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

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Hazlina Junoh

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Proton exchange membrane (PEM is an electrolyte which behaves as important indicator for fuel cell’s performance. Research and development (R&D on fabrication of desirable PEM have burgeoned year by year, especially for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC. However, most of the R&Ds only focus on the parent polymer electrolyte rather than polymer inorganic composites. This might be due to the difficulties faced in producing good dispersion of inorganic filler within the polymer matrix, which would consequently reduce the DMFC’s performance. Electrospinning is a promising technique to cater for this arising problem owing to its more widespread dispersion of inorganic filler within the polymer matrix, which can reduce the size of the filler up to nanoscale. There has been a huge development on fabricating electrolyte nanocomposite membrane, regardless of the effect of electrospun nanocomposite membrane on the fuel cell’s performance. In this present paper, issues regarding the R&D on electrospun sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone (SPEEK/inorganic nanocomposite fiber are addressed.

Rodent scope: a user-configurable digital wireless telemetry system for freely behaving animals.

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David Ball

Full Text Available This paper describes the design and implementation of a wireless neural telemetry system that enables new experimental paradigms, such as neural recordings during rodent navigation in large outdoor environments. RoSco, short for Rodent Scope, is a small lightweight user-configurable module suitable for digital wireless recording from freely behaving small animals. Due to the digital transmission technology, RoSco has advantages over most other wireless modules of noise immunity and online user-configurable settings. RoSco digitally transmits entire neural waveforms for 14 of 16 channels at 20 kHz with 8-bit encoding which are streamed to the PC as standard USB audio packets. Up to 31 RoSco wireless modules can coexist in the same environment on non-overlapping independent channels. The design has spatial diversity reception via two antennas, which makes wireless communication resilient to fading and obstacles. In comparison with most existing wireless systems, this system has online user-selectable independent gain control of each channel in 8 factors from 500 to 32,000 times, two selectable ground references from a subset of channels, selectable channel grounding to disable noisy electrodes, and selectable bandwidth suitable for action potentials (300 Hz-3 kHz and low frequency field potentials (4 Hz-3 kHz. Indoor and outdoor recordings taken from freely behaving rodents are shown to be comparable to a commercial wired system in sorting for neural populations. The module has low input referred noise, battery life of 1.5 hours and transmission losses of 0.1% up to a range of 10 m.

Manufacturing of 37-element fuel bundles for PHWR 540 - new approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arora, U.K.; Sastry, V.S.; Banerjee, P.K.; Rao, G.V.S.H.; Jayaraj, R.N. [Nuclear Fuel Complex, Dept. Atomic Energy, Government of India, Hyderabad (India)

2003-07-01

Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), established in early seventies, is a major industrial unit of Department of Atomic Energy. NFC is responsible for the supply of fuel bundles to all the 220 MWe PHWRs presently in operation. For supplying fuel bundles for the forthcoming 540 MWe PHWRs, NEC is dovetailing 37-element fuel bundle manufacturing facilities in the existing plants. In tune with the philosophy of self-reliance, emphasis is given to technology upgradation, higher customer satisfaction and application of modern quality control techniques. With the experience gained over the years in manufacturing 19-element fuel bundles, NEC has introduced resistance welding of appendages on fuel tubes prior to loading of UO{sub 2} pellets, use of bio-degradable cleaning agents, simple diagnostic tools for checking the equipment condition, on line monitoring of variables, built-in process control methods and total productive maintenance concepts in the new manufacturing facility. Simple material handling systems have been contemplated for handling of the fuel bundles. This paper highlights the flow-sheet adopted for the process, design features of critical equipment and the methodology for fabricating the 37-element fuel bundles, 'RIGHT FIRST TIME'. (author)

Manufacturing of 37-element fuel bundles for PHWR 540 - new approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arora, U.K.; Sastry, V.S.; Banerjee, P.K.; Rao, G.V.S.H.; Jayaraj, R.N.

2003-01-01

Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), established in early seventies, is a major industrial unit of Department of Atomic Energy. NFC is responsible for the supply of fuel bundles to all the 220 MWe PHWRs presently in operation. For supplying fuel bundles for the forthcoming 540 MWe PHWRs, NEC is dovetailing 37-element fuel bundle manufacturing facilities in the existing plants. In tune with the philosophy of self-reliance, emphasis is given to technology upgradation, higher customer satisfaction and application of modern quality control techniques. With the experience gained over the years in manufacturing 19-element fuel bundles, NEC has introduced resistance welding of appendages on fuel tubes prior to loading of UO 2 pellets, use of bio-degradable cleaning agents, simple diagnostic tools for checking the equipment condition, on line monitoring of variables, built-in process control methods and total productive maintenance concepts in the new manufacturing facility. Simple material handling systems have been contemplated for handling of the fuel bundles. This paper highlights the flow-sheet adopted for the process, design features of critical equipment and the methodology for fabricating the 37-element fuel bundles, 'RIGHT FIRST TIME'. (author)

Educational Contribution of RPG Video Games: Modern Media in Modern Education

OpenAIRE

Kratochvíl, Martin

2014-01-01

TITLE OF WORK: The Educational Contribution of RPG Video Games: Modern Media in Modern Education AUTHOR: Martin Kratochvíl KEY WORDS: video games, RPG genre, modern education, critical thinking, language learning, student's motivation DEPARTMENT: Department of English Language and Literature Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Education SUPERVISOR: Mark Robert Farrell ABSTRACT: The subject of this topic is to research the potential contribution of RPG video games in the field of modern e...

Education based thinking and behaving? Towards an identity perspective for studying education differentials in public opinion and political participation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spruyt, Bram; Kuppens, Toon

2015-01-01

Education based thinking and behaving? Towards and identity perspective for studying education differentials in public opinion and political participation Abstract Ever since scholars started studying public opinion and political behaviour, they have reported substantial educational differences.

Nitrogen compounds in pressurised fluidised bed gasification of biomass and fossil fuels

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Jong, W.

2005-01-01

Fossil fuels still dominate the energy supply in modern societies. The resources, however, are depleting. Therefore, other energy sources are to be exploited further within this century. Biomass is one of the practically CO2 neutral, renewable contributors to the future energy production. Nowadays

Experimental research on safety assurance of advanced WWER fuel cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krainov, Ju.; Kukushkin, Ju.

2002-01-01

The paper presents the results of experimental investigations on substantiation of implementation of a modernized butt joint for the WWER-440 reactor, carried out in the critical test facility 'P' in the RRC 'Kurchatov Institute'. The comparison results of the calculation and experimental data obtained in the physical startup of Volgodonsk NPP-1 with the WWER-1000 are also given. In the implementation of four-year fuel cycle in the WWER-440 with the average enrichment of fuel makeup 3.82% it was solved to conduct experimental research of power distribution in the vicinity of control rod butt junction. Moreover, it was assumed that adequate actions should be applied to eliminate inadmissible power jumps, if necessary. It is not available to measure their values in NPP conditions. Therefore, the power distribution near the butt joint was studied in a 19-rod bank installed in the critical test facility 'P' first for the normal design of the joint when surrounding fuel assemblies enrichment goes up. Then a set of calculation and tests was fulfilled to optimize a butt junction design. On the base of this research the composition of a butt junction was advanced by placing Hf plates into the junction. The effectiveness of modernized butt joint design was experimentally confirmed. In Volgodonsk NPP-1 with WWER-1000 the four-year fuel cycle is being implemented. During the physical startup of the reactor the measurements of the reactivity effects and coefficients were measured at the minimum controlled flux level, and the parameters of a number of critical states were recorded. The data obtained were compared with the calculation. The validity of the certified code package for forecasting the neutronic characteristics of WWER-1000 cores in the implementation of a four year fuel cycle has been supported (Authors)

Modern materials for automotive industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hovorun T. P.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The car industry uses a tremendous number of materials to build cars, including iron, aluminum, steel, glass, rubber, petroleum products, copper, steel and others. These materials have evolved greatly over the decades, becoming more sophisticated, better built, and safer. They've changed as new automotive manufacturing technologies have emerged over the years, and they're used in increasingly innovative ways. This article is devoted to systematization information on the introduction and application of modern materials in the automotive industry. Given both domestic and foreign sources of information, it follows that car manufacturers are constantly pushing to create the lightest cars possible to increase speed and power. Research and development into lightweight materials is essential for lowering their cost, increasing their ability to be recycled, enabling their integration into vehicles, and maximizing their fuel economy benefits. Light weighting without loss of strength and speed properties is the present, and the future, of the automotive manufacturing industry. It brings innovative materials to the frontline of design.

Production of fuels out of lignite and lignocelluloses; Herstellung von Brennstoffen aus Braunkohle und Lignozellulose

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naundorf, W.; Schroeder, H.W.; Trommer, D. [TU Bergakademie Freiberg (Germany)

2001-12-01

The acceptance towards solid fuels will increase again if its ease of use is improved, the production costs remain low for extended periods of time, and high thermal efficiencies as well as low pollutant emissions are achieved. These demands can only be met by optimal fuel processing and the use of modern fuel engineering which applies, if possible, continuous and controlled fuel and air feed technology. Two fuels are introduced which are produced out of lignite and lignocelluloses by compaction or by balling granulation. Considering the improvement of combustion properties, remarkable synergy effects occur due to this raw material combination. Lignocelluloses act as an ignition auxillary. Lignite functions as a binding agent, increases the fuels' fire resistance, and guarantees a long, sustained combustion with an excellent combustion rate. (orig.)

Flexible Coupling of Respiration and Vocalizations with Locomotion and Head Movements in the Freely Behaving Rat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph Andrews Alves

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Quadrupedal mammals typically synchronize their respiration with body movements during rhythmic locomotion. In the rat, fast respiration is coupled to head movements during sniffing behavior, but whether respiration is entrained by stride dynamics is not known. We recorded intranasal pressure, head acceleration, instantaneous speed, and ultrasonic vocalizations from male and female adult rats while freely behaving in a social environment. We used high-speed video recordings of stride to understand how head acceleration signals relate to locomotion and developed techniques to identify episodes of sniffing, walking, trotting, and galloping from the recorded variables. Quantitative analysis of synchrony between respiration and head acceleration rhythms revealed that respiration and locomotion movements were coordinated but with a weaker coupling than expected from previous work in other mammals. We have recently shown that rats behaving in social settings produce high rates of ultrasonic vocalizations during locomotion bouts. Accordingly, rats emitted vocalizations in over half of the respiratory cycles during fast displacements. We present evidence suggesting that emission of these calls disrupts the entrainment of respiration by stride. The coupling between these two variables is thus flexible, such that it can be overridden by other behavioral demands.

A portable telemetry system for brain stimulation and neuronal activity recording in freely behaving small animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Xuesong; Wang, Peng; Liu, Jun; Zhang, Shaomin; Jiang, Jun; Wang, Qingbo; Chen, Weidong; Zheng, Xiaoxiang

2008-09-30

A portable multi-channel telemetry system which can be used for brain stimulation and neuronal activity recording in freely behaving small animals is described here. This system consists of three major components of headstage, backpack and portable Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). The headstage contains high precision instrument amplifiers with high input impedance. The backpack is comprised of two parts: (1) a main board (size: 36 mm x 22 mm x 3.5 mm and weight: 40 g with batteries, 20 g without), with current/voltage stimulator and special circuit suitable for neuronal activity recording and (2) and a bluetooth transceiver, with a high data transmission rate up to 70 kb/s, suitable for downloading stimulation commands and uploading acquired data. We recorded neuronal activities of the primary motor area of a freely behaving rat with 12-bit resolution at 12 k samples/s. The recorded data and analysis results showed that the system was successful by comparing with the commercial equipment Cerebus 128-Channel Data Acquisition System (Cyberkinetics Inc.). Using the PDA, we can control stimulation and recording. It provides a flexible method to do some research work in the circumstances where other approaches would be difficult or impossible.

Postmodernism in Belgrade architecture: Between cultural modernity and societal modernization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blagojević Ljiljana

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The paper explores the introduction and articulation of ideas and aesthetic practice of postmodernism in architecture of late socialism in Yugoslavia, with the focus on Belgrade architecture scene. Theoretical and methodological point of departure of this analysis is Jürgen Habermas's thesis of modernity as an incomplete, i.e., unfinished project, from his influential essay “Die Moderne: Ein unvollendetes Projekt” (1980. The thematic framework of the paper is shifted towards issues raised by Habermas which concern relations of cultural modernity and societal modernization, or rather towards consideration of architectural postmodernity in relation to the split between culture and society. The paper investigates architectural discourse which was profiled in Belgrade in 1980s, in a historical context of cultural modernity simultaneous with Habermas's text, but in different conditions of societal modernization of Yugoslav late socialism. In that, the principle methodological question concerns the interpretation of postmodern architecture as part of the new cultural production within the social restructuration of late and/or end of socialism as a system, that being analogous to Fredric Jameson's thesis of “Postmodernism, Or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism” (1984.

Carbonaceous Aerosols Emitted from Light-Duty Vehicles Operating on Ethanol Fuel Blends

Science.gov (United States)

Air pollution is among the many environmental and public health concerns associated with increased ethanol use in vehicles. Jacobson [2007] showed for the U.S. market that full conversion to e85 ([85% ethanol, 15% gasoline]—the maximum standard blend used in modern dual fuel veh...

Disturbance rejection in diesel engines for low emissions and high fuel efficiency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Criens, C. H. A.; Willems, F. P. T.; Van Keulen, T. A. C.; Steinbuch, M.

2015-01-01

This brief presents a novel and time-efficient control design for modern heavy-duty diesel engines using a variable geometry turbine and an exhaust gas recirculation valve. The goal is to simultaneously and robustly achieve low fuel consumption and low emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and

Synthetic tactile perception induced by transcranial alternating-current stimulation can substitute for natural sensory stimulus in behaving rabbits.

Science.gov (United States)

Márquez-Ruiz, Javier; Ammann, Claudia; Leal-Campanario, Rocío; Ruffini, Giulio; Gruart, Agnès; Delgado-García, José M

2016-01-21

The use of brain-derived signals for controlling external devices has long attracted the attention from neuroscientists and engineers during last decades. Although much effort has been dedicated to establishing effective brain-to-computer communication, computer-to-brain communication feedback for "closing the loop" is now becoming a major research theme. While intracortical microstimulation of the sensory cortex has already been successfully used for this purpose, its future application in humans partly relies on the use of non-invasive brain stimulation technologies. In the present study, we explore the potential use of transcranial alternating-current stimulation (tACS) for synthetic tactile perception in alert behaving animals. More specifically, we determined the effects of tACS on sensory local field potentials (LFPs) and motor output and tested its capability for inducing tactile perception using classical eyeblink conditioning in the behaving animal. We demonstrated that tACS of the primary somatosensory cortex vibrissa area could indeed substitute natural stimuli during training in the associative learning paradigm.

Lube-oil dilution of gasoline direct-injection engines with ethanol fuels; Schmieroelverduennung von direkteinspritzenden Ottomotoren unter Kaltstartrandbedingungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuepper, Carsten; Pischinger, Stefan [RWTH Aachen Univ. (Germany). Lehrstuhl fuer Verbrennungskraftmaschinen (VKA); Artmann, Chrsitina; Rabl, Hans-Peter [Hochschule Regensburg (Germany). Labor fuer Verbrennungsmotoren und Abgasnachbehandlung

2013-09-15

Ethanol fuel mixtures account for the majority of biofuels used worldwide. However, their properties make these fuels more difficult to use in cold conditions and especially when starting a cold engine. As part of the FVV research project 'Lubricant Dilution with Ethanol Fuels under Cold Start Conditions', the Institute for Combustion Engines (VKA) at RWTH Aachen University and the Combustion Engines and Emission Control Laboratory at Regensburg University of Applied Sciences have investigated the influence of the ethanol content in fuels on the dilution of the lubricating oil in modern direct-injection gasoline engines. (orig.)

A Review on the Fabrication of Electro spun Polymer Electrolyte Membrane for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Junoh, H.; Jaafar, J.; Norddin, M.N.A.M.; Ismail, A.F.; Othman, M.H.D.; Rahman, M.A.; Yusof, N.; Salleh, W.N.W.; Junoh, H.; Jaafar, J.; Norddin, M.N.A.M.; Ismail, A.F.; Othman, M.H.D.; Rahman, M.A.; Yusof, N.; Salleh, W.N.W.; Hamid Ilbeygi, H.

2014-01-01

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) is an electrolyte which behaves as important indicator for fuel cell’s performance. Research and development (R and D) on fabrication of desirable PEM have burgeoned year by year, especially for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). However, most of the R and Ds only focus on the parent polymer electrolyte rather than polymer inorganic composites. This might be due to the difficulties faced in producing good dispersion of inorganic filler within the polymer matrix, which would consequently reduce the DMFC’s performance. Electro spinning is a promising technique to cater for this arising problem owing to its more widespread dispersion of inorganic filler within the polymer matrix, which can reduce the size of the filler up to nano scale. There has been a huge development on fabricating electrolyte nano composite membrane, regardless of the effect of electro spun nano composite membrane on the fuel cell’s performance. In this present paper, issues regarding the R and D on electro spun sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK)/inorganic nano composite fiber are addressed.

Pressure control modernization for D2O supply system of the fuel machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ionescu, T.; Burla, I.; Vasilache, V.

2005-01-01

The analog controllers of the D 2 O Supply System (BSI-35260) were replaced at Cernavoda NPP U1 with a modern solution built on a new platform with powerful Fischer and Porter controllers. During two years of operating experience this new solution demonstrated its capabilities to work without any fault. This paper describes briefly the involved system, the hardware and software aspects of this solution, how the software solution was tested using the Full-Scope Simulator facilities and finally, results of the tests done in the real plant are discussed. (authors)

Overcurrent protection co-ordination. A modern approach for modern devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hindle, P. [GEC Alsthom Engineering Systems Ltd., Whetstone (United Kingdom); Sanderson, J.V.H. [Power Engineering Consultants Ltd., Cheshire (United Kingdom)

1995-12-31

A modern approach to relay co-ordination that takes advantage of the improved performance of modern protective relays and circuits was proposed. The proposed method dealt with a mixture of new and old equipment and was most useful when implemented using common spreadsheet software. The suggested approach justified reduced time margins for relay co-ordination in many difficult applications. Other established approaches were reviewed. A discussion of fixed and variable time margin allowances was presented. The formulation of an equation to determine the required upstream relay operating time was explained, with sample calculations. Relay performance standards and modern protective equipment were discussed. It was concluded that modern relays and circuit breakers are much more advanced than designs of the recent past. The method described allowed significant reductions in margins which enabled modern relays to operate faster. While calculations for the procedures were said to be tedious to perform by hand, they can be easily done with spreadsheet software. 10 refs., 4 figs.

An overview to development of fuel cell technology in Iran

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amirinejad, M.; Rowshanzamir, S.; Eikani, M.H.

2005-01-01

The fuel cell has been known as a modern technology for conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy in the worldwide. Some factors of adaptation to environment targets and high efficiency production of energy are two main reasons that motivated several governments to be active in supporting developments of the fuel cells sector through integrated strategies. The rapid population growth in Iran in recent years is a significant agent of consuming more energy that is satisfied with the fossil resources resulting in environmental problems. The demand for environmental quality and balance in fuel consumption are two main drivers behind the development of fuel cell vehicle in Iran. In order to have sustainable economy and independent on the oil revenue, it is required to make use of oil and natural gas resources in a better manner. Fuel cells are the best candidates to fulfill this requirement. Iran's potential application for this technology in different sectors, design and construction it and fuel system based on natural gas is high. In this paper, current status, potential application, and future research and development of this technology in Iran are investigated

Progress in control equipment for fuel-handling machinery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nutting, B.A.

1986-01-01

The paper outlines the development of the equipment used to control the fuel-handling machinery associated with nuclear reactors, from the early electromechanical equipment, through solid-state switching logic to programmable controllers and microprocessors. The control techniques have developed along with the technology, and modern systems offer versatility, reliability and ease of design, operation and maintenance. Future trends and developments are discussed together with possible limiting factors. (author)

Protecting AREVA ATRIUM™ BWR fuel from debris fretting failure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cole, Steven E.; Garner, Norman L.; Lippert, Hans-Joachim; Graebert, Rüdiger; Mollard, Pierre; Hahn, Gregory C.

2014-01-01

Historically, debris fretting has been the leading cause of fuel rod failure in BWR fuel assemblies, costing the industry millions of dollars in lost generation and negatively impacting the working area of plant site personnel. In this paper the focus will be on recent BWR fuel product innovation designed to eliminate debris related failures. Experience feedback from more than three decades of operation history with non-line-of-sight FUELGUARD™ lower tie plate debris filters will be presented. The development and relative effectiveness of successive generations of filtration technology will be discussed. It will be shown that modern, state of the art debris filters are an effective defense against debris fretting failure. Protective measures extend beyond inlet nozzle debris filters. The comprehensive debris resistance features built into AREVA’s newest fuel design, the ATRIUM™ 11, reduce the overall risk of debris entrapment as well as providing a degree of protection from debris that may fall down on the fuel assembly from above, e.g., during refueling operations. The positive recent experience in a debris sensitive plant will be discussed showing that the combination of advanced fuel technology and a robust foreign material exclusion program at the reactor site can eliminate the debris fretting failure mechanism. (author)

Contradictions porteñas: modernity, modernism and modernization in Jorge Luis Borges during the 1920’s

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Demenech

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is discuss the concepts of modernity, modernism and modernization from the propositions raised by Marshal Berman and Néstor García Canclini. The fierce transformation of Buenos Aires during the 1920’s will be the focus of the analysis. To this end, we use the work of argentine poet Jorge Luis Borges to comprehend the development of these processes in the urban space of Buenos Aires.

Development method for measuring thickness of nuclei and coating of fuel plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borges Junior, Reinaldo

2013-01-01

One of the most important components of a nuclear reactor is the Nuclear Fuel. Currently, the most advanced commercial fuel, whose applicability in Brazilian reactors has been developed by IPEN since 1985, is the silicide U 3 Si 2 . This is formed by fuel plates with nuclei dispersion (where the fissile material (U 3 Si 2 ) is homogeneously dispersed in a matrix of aluminum) coated aluminum. This fuel is produced in Brazil with developed technology, the result of the efforts made by the group of manufacturing nuclear fuel (CCN - Center of Nuclear Fuel) of IPEN. Considering the necessity of increasing the power of the IEA- R1 and Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor Building (RMB), for the production of radioisotopes - mainly for the area of medicine - there will be significant increase in the production of nuclear fuel at IPEN. Given this situation, if necessary, make the development of more modern and automated classification techniques. Aiming at this goal, this work developed a new computational method for measuring thickness of core and cladding of fuel plates, which are able to perform such measurements in less time and with more meaningful statistical data when compared with the current method of measurement. (author)

BWR fuel performance under advanced water chemistry conditions – a delicate journey towards zero fuel failures – a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hettiarachchi, S.

2015-01-01

Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) have undergone a variety of chemistry evolutions over the past few decades as a result of the need to control stress corrosion cracking of reactor internals, radiation fields and personnel exposure. Some of the advanced chemistry changes include hydrogen addition, zinc addition, iron reduction using better filtration technologies, and more recently noble metal chemical addition to many of the modern day operating BWRs. These water chemistry evolutions have resulted in changes in the crud distribution on fuel cladding material, Co-60 levels and the Rod oxide thickness (ROXI) measurements using the conventional eddy current techniques. A limited number of Post-Irradiation Examinations (PIE) of fuel rods that exhibited elevated oxide thickness using eddy current techniques showed that the actual oxide thickness by metallography is much lower. The difference in these observations is attributed to the changing magnetic properties of the crud affecting the rod oxide thickness measurement by the eddy current technique. This paper will review and summarize the BWR fuel cladding performance under these advanced and improved water chemistry conditions and how these changes have affected the goal to reach zero fuel failures. The paper will also provide a brief summary of some of the results of hot cell PIE, results of crud composition evaluation, crud spallation, oxide thickness measurements, hydrogen content in the cladding and some fuel failure observations. (author) Key Words: Boiling Water Reactor, Fuel Performance, Hydrogen Addition, Zinc Addition, Noble Metal Chemical Addition, Zero Leakers

Domestic fuel question and the charcoal solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krishna Rao, E G

1981-06-01

Domestic fuel for cooking forms one of the basic needs of human society. In India, the pressure of this need has exceeded the regeneration potential of the growing forests which supply a large proportion of this basic need. The pressure can be greatly relieved by converting wood to charcoal before it reaches the consumer. The present paper examines this aspect and reviews the modern methods of charcoal production on fuelwood resources. Besides being a choice domestic fuel, charcoal is a valuable raw material in various industries. Charcoal making industry can be established as a rural based industry (as part of community forestry projects) and would generate much needed cash income at grassroot level. The strategy would be important in dealing with the problem of chronic poverty at this level. (Refs. 5).

Nuclear weapons modernizations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kristensen, Hans M. [Federation of American Scientists, Washington, DC (United States)

2014-05-09

This article reviews the nuclear weapons modernization programs underway in the world's nine nuclear weapons states. It concludes that despite significant reductions in overall weapons inventories since the end of the Cold War, the pace of reductions is slowing - four of the nuclear weapons states are even increasing their arsenals, and all the nuclear weapons states are busy modernizing their remaining arsenals in what appears to be a dynamic and counterproductive nuclear competition. The author questions whether perpetual modernization combined with no specific plan for the elimination of nuclear weapons is consistent with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and concludes that new limits on nuclear modernizations are needed.

Ionic liquids behave as dilute electrolyte solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Gebbie, Matthew A.; Valtiner, Markus; Banquy, Xavier; Fox, Eric T.; Henderson, Wesley A.; Israelachvili, Jacob N.

2013-01-01

We combine direct surface force measurements with thermodynamic arguments to demonstrate that pure ionic liquids are expected to behave as dilute weak electrolyte solutions, with typical effective dissociated ion concentrations of less than 0.1% at room temperature. We performed equilibrium force–distance measurements across the common ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([C4mim][NTf2]) using a surface forces apparatus with in situ electrochemical control and quantitatively modeled these measurements using the van der Waals and electrostatic double-layer forces of the Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek theory with an additive repulsive steric (entropic) ion–surface binding force. Our results indicate that ionic liquids screen charged surfaces through the formation of both bound (Stern) and diffuse electric double layers, where the diffuse double layer is comprised of effectively dissociated ionic liquid ions. Additionally, we used the energetics of thermally dissociating ions in a dielectric medium to quantitatively predict the equilibrium for the effective dissociation reaction of [C4mim][NTf2] ions, in excellent agreement with the measured Debye length. Our results clearly demonstrate that, outside of the bound double layer, most of the ions in [C4mim][NTf2] are not effectively dissociated and thus do not contribute to electrostatic screening. We also provide a general, molecular-scale framework for designing ionic liquids with significantly increased dissociated charge densities via judiciously balancing ion pair interactions with bulk dielectric properties. Our results clear up several inconsistencies that have hampered scientific progress in this important area and guide the rational design of unique, high–free-ion density ionic liquids and ionic liquid blends. PMID:23716690

Transactions of 2. international seminars on the mathematical/mechanical modelling of reactor fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lassmann, K.

1991-01-01

Fuel element modelling is a wide field of activity that spans decades of research and code development for different reactor systems and very different situations such as normal operation, off-normal situations and severe accidents. Modern computer technology helps to take the full advantage of detailed model development performed over the past for daily design analyses, safety analyses, conception of new experiments and investigation of an improved nuclear fuel utilization and fuel element performance. The basic development of the concepts of fuel element modelling can be considered as finished. The future trends are the development of refined models based on a deeper understanding of the physical and mechanical basis. Areas of interest are transient phenomena especially the fission product behaviour, burnup-enhanced phenomena, PCI and fuel reliability, severe core damage and chemical aspects. The seminar presentations reflect this variety

Physical Education between the social project of solid modernity and the of liquid modernity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sidinei Pithan da Silva

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Grounded on Bauman’s thought, the present paper focuses on the constitution of social legitimacy and identity of Physical Education in the context of transition from solid to liquid modernity. This thought favors the understanding of the nature of the crisis that has crossed the identity discourse of Physical Education. The text signals the limits and possibilities of both the modern and the post-modern educational discourses. In this context, it describes a modern scenario that is marked by two distinct moments, the one of modernity at its solid stage, and that of modernity at its liquid stage. The first one, of solid modernity, social condition of surveillance, rationalization and control, performs the functional / adaptive role of putting everyone under the same rigid order (managed society. The second one, of liquid modernity, of the social condition of insignificance and irrationalism, plays the functional role of putting and keeping everyone under the same flexible Market disorder. From the scientific, mechanic focus of both the body and the physical education in solid modernity we have moved to the relativist and esthetic focus of body and physical education in liquid modernity.

Experimental investigation of control absorber blade effects in a modern 10x10 BWR assembly

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jatuff, F.; Grimm, P.; Murphy, M.; Luethi, A.; Seiler, R.; Joneja, O.; Meister, A.; Geemert, R. van; Brogli, R.; Chawla, R. [Paul Scherrer Inst., CH-5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Williams, T. [EGL Laufenburg (Switzerland); Helmersson, S. [Westinghouse Atom (Sweden)

2001-03-01

The accurate estimation of reactor physics parameters related to the presence of cruciform absorber blades. In Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) is important for safety assessment, and for achieving a flexible operation during the cycle. Characteristics which are affected strongly include the power distribution for controlled core regions and its impact on linear heat generation rate margins, as well as the build-up of plutonium, and its influence on core excess reactivity and the reactivity worth of the shutdown system. PSI and the Swiss Nuclear Utilities (UAK) are conducting an experimental reactor physics programme related to modern Light Water Reactor (LWR) fuel assemblies, as employed in the Swiss nuclear power plants: the so-called. LWR-PROTEUS Phase I project. A significant part of this project has been devoted to the characterization of highly heterogeneous BWR fuel elements in the presence of absorber blades. The paper presents typical results for the performance of modern lattice codes in the estimation of controlled assembly reaction rate distributions, the sensitivity to the geometrical and material characterization, and a preliminary comparison of reflected-test-zone calculations with experimental reaction rate distributions measured in a Westinghouse SVEA-96+ assembly under full-density water moderation conditions in the presence of Westinghouse boron-carbide absorber blades. (author)

Experimental investigation of control absorber blade effects in a modern 10x10 BWR assembly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jatuff, F.; Grimm, P.; Murphy, M.; Luethi, A.; Seiler, R.; Joneja, O.; Meister, A.; Geemert, R. van; Brogli, R.; Chawla, R.; Williams, T.; Helmersson, S.

2001-01-01

The accurate estimation of reactor physics parameters related to the presence of cruciform absorber blades. In Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) is important for safety assessment, and for achieving a flexible operation during the cycle. Characteristics which are affected strongly include the power distribution for controlled core regions and its impact on linear heat generation rate margins, as well as the build-up of plutonium, and its influence on core excess reactivity and the reactivity worth of the shutdown system. PSI and the Swiss Nuclear Utilities (UAK) are conducting an experimental reactor physics programme related to modern Light Water Reactor (LWR) fuel assemblies, as employed in the Swiss nuclear power plants: the so-called. LWR-PROTEUS Phase I project. A significant part of this project has been devoted to the characterization of highly heterogeneous BWR fuel elements in the presence of absorber blades. The paper presents typical results for the performance of modern lattice codes in the estimation of controlled assembly reaction rate distributions, the sensitivity to the geometrical and material characterization, and a preliminary comparison of reflected-test-zone calculations with experimental reaction rate distributions measured in a Westinghouse SVEA-96+ assembly under full-density water moderation conditions in the presence of Westinghouse boron-carbide absorber blades. (author)

Exhaust gas emissions and mutagenic effects of modern diesel fuels, GTL, biodiesel and biodiesel blends

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Munack, Axel; Ruschel, Yvonne; Schroeder, Olaf [Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, Braunschweig (Germany)], E-mail: axel.munack@vti.bund.de; Krahl, Juergen [Coburg Univ. of Applied Sciences (Germany); Buenger, Juergen [University of Bochum (Germany)

2008-07-01

Biodiesel can be used alone (B100) or blended with petroleum diesel in any proportion. The most popular biodiesel blend in the U.S.A. is B20 (20% biodiesel, 80% diesel fuel), which can be used for Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct) compliance. In the European Union, the use of biofuel blends is recommended and was introduced by federal regulations in several countries. In Germany, biodiesel is currently blended as B5 (5% biodiesel) to common diesel fuel. In 2008, B7 plus three percent hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as well is intended to become mandatory in Germany. To investigate the influence of blends on the emissions and possible health effects, we performed a series of studies with several engines (Euro 0, III and IV) measuring regulated and non-regulated exhaust compounds and determining their mutagenic effects. Emissions of blends showed an approximate linear dependence on the blend composition, in particular when regulated emissions are considered. However, a negative effect of blends was observed with respect to mutagenicity of the exhaust gas emissions. In detail, a maximum of the mutagenic potency was found in the range of B20. From this point of view, B20 must be considered as a critical blend, in case diesel fuel and biodiesel are used as binary mixtures. (author)

International cooperation in supply of nuclear fuel and fuel cycle services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sievering, N.F. Jr.

1977-01-01

In the face of costlier, decreasingly available oil and a desire to achieve a higher degree of self-sufficiency, nuclear power has become an increasingly important ingredient in the mix of energy options looked to by a growing number of industrialized and developing states. One of the central concerns of states that are placing greater reliance on nuclear energy is the assurance that adequate nuclear fuels will be available on a timely basis and on economically acceptable terms. Greater emphasis on nuclear energy and on self-sufficiency entails greater potential risks as sensitive facilities and technologies associated with the nuclear fuel cycle threaten to proliferate. This paper explores the juxtaposition of the spread of nuclear technology and facilities in support of legitimate desires to achieve greater energy self-sufficiency and economic and social progress, on the one hand, and the implications of widely disseminated nuclear fuel cycle capacity for the objective of non-proliferation, on the other hand. It examines the recent evolution of nuclear fuel cycle activities including the scope of cooperation both among nuclear supplier states and between supplier and non-supplier states; explores the arenas in which common efforts are, can and should be undertaken (e.g., in terms of the nuclear resource base, the provision of essential services such as enrichment, and the management of nuclear waste), and identifies means by which national aspirations and international security concerns can be effectively accommodated. Particular attention is given to the methods by which the dissemination of sensitive technologies at facilities can be controlled without sacrificing the legitimate interests of any state, as well as to methods by which controls over potentially dangerous materials such as plutonium can be strengthened. The paper concludes that there are significant opportunities to achieve a high degree of international cooperation in the arena of fuel cycle

Testing the hypothesis of fire use for ecosystem management by neanderthal and upper palaeolithic modern human populations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne-Laure Daniau

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: It has been proposed that a greater control and more extensive use of fire was one of the behavioral innovations that emerged in Africa among early Modern Humans, favouring their spread throughout the world and determining their eventual evolutionary success. We would expect, if extensive fire use for ecosystem management were a component of the modern human technical and cognitive package, as suggested for Australia, to find major disturbances in the natural biomass burning variability associated with the colonisation of Europe by Modern Humans. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Analyses of microcharcoal preserved in two deep-sea cores located off Iberia and France were used to reconstruct changes in biomass burning between 70 and 10 kyr cal BP. Results indicate that fire regime follows the Dansgaard-Oeschger climatic variability and its impacts on fuel load. No major disturbance in natural fire regime variability is observed at the time of the arrival of Modern Humans in Europe or during the remainder of the Upper Palaeolithic (40-10 kyr cal BP. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Results indicate that either Neanderthals and Modern humans did not influence fire regime or that, if they did, their respective influence was comparable at a regional scale, and not as pronounced as that observed in the biomass burning history of Southeast Asia.

Integration of silicon-based neural probes and micro-drive arrays for chronic recording of large populations of neurons in behaving animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Michon, Frédéric; Aarts, Arno; Holzhammer, Tobias; Ruther, Patrick; Borghs, Gustaaf; McNaughton, Bruce; Kloosterman, Fabian

2016-08-01

Understanding how neuronal assemblies underlie cognitive function is a fundamental question in system neuroscience. It poses the technical challenge to monitor the activity of populations of neurons, potentially widely separated, in relation to behaviour. In this paper, we present a new system which aims at simultaneously recording from a large population of neurons from multiple separated brain regions in freely behaving animals. The concept of the new device is to combine the benefits of two existing electrophysiological techniques, i.e. the flexibility and modularity of micro-drive arrays and the high sampling ability of electrode-dense silicon probes. Newly engineered long bendable silicon probes were integrated into a micro-drive array. The resulting device can carry up to 16 independently movable silicon probes, each carrying 16 recording sites. Populations of neurons were recorded simultaneously in multiple cortical and/or hippocampal sites in two freely behaving implanted rats. Current approaches to monitor neuronal activity either allow to flexibly record from multiple widely separated brain regions (micro-drive arrays) but with a limited sampling density or to provide denser sampling at the expense of a flexible placement in multiple brain regions (neural probes). By combining these two approaches and their benefits, we present an alternative solution for flexible and simultaneous recordings from widely distributed populations of neurons in freely behaving rats.

Application of 3D coupled code ATHLET-QUABOX/CUBBOX for RBMK-1000 transients after graphite block modernization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samokhin, Aleksei [Scientific and Engineering Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SEC NRS), Moscow (Russian Federation); Zilly, Matias [Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) gGmbH, Garching (Germany)

2016-11-15

This work describes the application and the results of transient calculations for the RBMK-1000 with the coupled code system ATHLET 2.2A-QUABOX/CUBBOX which was developed in GRS. Within these studies the planned modernization of the graphite blocks of the RBMK-1000 reactor is taken into account. During the long-term operation of the uranium-graphite reactors RBMK-1000, a change of physical and mechanical properties of the reactor graphite blocks is observed due to the impact of radiation and temperature effects. These have led to a deformation of the reactor graphite columns and, as a result, a deformation of the control and protection system (CPS) and of fuel channels. Potentially, this deformation can lead to problems affecting the smooth movement of the control rods in the CPS channels and problems during the loading and unloading of fuel assemblies. The present paper analyzes two reactivity insertion transients, each taking into account three graphite removal scenarios. The presented work is directly connected with the modernization program of the RBMK- 1000 reactors and has an important contribution to the assessment of the safety-relevant parameters after the modification of the core graphite blocks.

Governing parameters and dynamics of turbulent spray atomization from modern GDI injectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moon, Seoksu; Li, Tianyun; Sato, Kiyotaka; Yokohata, Hideaki

2017-01-01

Understanding the governing parameters and dynamics of turbulent spray atomization is essential for the advancement of fuel injection technologies, but no concrete understandings have been derived previously. The current study investigates the governing parameters and dynamics of turbulent spray atomization by experimental observations of near-nozzle spray phenomena using an X-ray imaging technique. The effects of critical injection parameters such as fuel property, injection pressure and ambient density on near-nozzle liquid feature size and velocity distributions were extensively studied using three injection nozzles having different levels of initial flow turbulence and dispersion. Based on the results, the governing parameters and dynamics of turbulent spray atomization and the issues on the advanced fuel injection control of modern engines were thoroughly discussed. The results showed that fuel and injection pressure effects on spray atomization became insignificant from a critical Weber number which decreased upon the increase in initial flow turbulence and dispersion. The increase in ambient density increased the resultant droplet size at downstream due to the faster deceleration of spray which brought the atomization termination location closer to the nozzle exit. The spray atomization was terminated at the location of ca. 72% exit velocity regardless of the injection condition. - Highlights: • Governing parameters and dynamics of turbulent spray atomization are investigated. • Fuel and injection pressure effects on atomization are saturated from critical We. • High ambient density increases drop sizes due to faster termination of atomization. • Atomization terminates when the spray velocity decays to ca. 72% of exit velocity. • Strategies for improvement of current injection technologies are discussed.

On Heidegger, medicine, and the modernity of modern medical technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Brassington, Iain

2007-06-01

This paper examines medicine's use of technology in a manner from a standpoint inspired by Heidegger's thinking on technology. In the first part of the paper, I shall suggest an interpretation of Heidegger's thinking on the topic, and attempt to show why he associates modern technology with danger. However, I shall also claim that there is little evidence that medicine's appropriation of modern technology is dangerous in Heidegger's sense, although there is no prima facie reason why it mightn't be. The explanation for this, I claim, is ethical. There is an initial attraction to the thought that Heidegger's thought echoes Kantian moral thinking, but I shall dismiss this. Instead, I shall suggest that the considerations that make modern technology dangerous for Heidegger are simply not in the character - the ethos - of medicine properly understood. This is because there is a distinction to be drawn between chronological and historical modernity, and that even up-to-date medicine, empowered by technology, retains in its ethos crucial aspects of a historically pre-modern understanding of technology. A large part of the latter half of the paper will be concerned with explaining the difference.

Low emission turbulent technology for fuel combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finker, F. Z.; Kubyshkin, I. B.; Zakharov, B. Yu.; Akhmedov, D. B.; Sobchuk, Ch.

1997-01-01

The company 'POLITEKHENERGO' in co-operation and the Russian-Poland firm 'EnergoVIR' have performed investigations for modernization of the current existing boilers. A low emission turbulent technology has been used for the modernization of 10 industrial boilers. The reduction of NO x emissions is based on the following processes: 1) multistage combustion assured by two counter-deviated fluxes; 2) Some of the combustion facilities have an abrupt slope and a reduced air supply which leads to an intense separation of the fuel in the bottom part and a creation of a low-temperature combustion zone where the active restoration of the NO x takes part; 3) The influence of the top high-temperature zone on the NO x formation is small. Thus the 'sandwich' consisting of 'cold' and'hot' combustion layers provides a full rate combustion. This technique permits to: decrease of the NO x and CO x down to the European standard values;increase of the efficiency in 1-2%; obtain a stable coal combustion up to 97-98%; assure the large loading range (30 -100%); modernize and use the old boilers

New load cycling strategy for enhanced durability of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomas, Sobi; Jeppesen, Christian; Steenberg, Thomas

2017-01-01

The objective of this paper is to develop a new operational strategy to increase the lifetime of a high temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEMFCs) fuel cell system by using load cycling patterns to reduce the phosphoric acid loss from the fuel cell. Four single cells were operated under.......8 Acm-2 for the higher end, were selected for the load cycling operation. The relaxation time, which is the period of time spent at low current density operation, is varied to understand how the performance over prolonged period behaves. The duration of the high current density operation is selected...... based on the relaxation time in order to have the same average current density of (0.55 Acm-2 ) for all the cells. Cell 5, with a relaxation time of 2 min performs best and shows lower degradation rate of 36 μVh-1 compared to other load cycling cells with smaller relaxation times. The cell operated...

Regeneration and localization of radioactive waste in the nuclear fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Egorov, N.N.; Kudryavtsev, E.G.; Nikipelov, B.V.; Polyakov, A.S.; Zakharkin, B.S.; Mamaev, L.A.

1993-01-01

Normal functioning of the nuclear-power industry is only possible with a closed fuel cycle, including regeneration of the spent fuel from atomic power plants, the production and recycling of the secondary fuel, and localization of the radioactive waste. Despite the diversity of contemporary attitudes toward the structure of the nuclear fuel cycle around the world, the closure of the fuel cycle has been fundamental to the atomic-power industry in the USSR since the very beginning, and has taken on even greater significance in Russia today. From the beginning, the idea of a closed fuel cycle has been based essentially on one fundamental criterion: the concept of expanded productivity on the basis of fuel regeneration, i.e., the economic factor. Important as economic factors are, safety issues have taken on great significance in recent years: not only power-station reactors but all the ancillary stages of the fuel cycle must meet fundamentally new reliability, safety, and environmental hazards. The RT-1 plant is a versatile operation, regenerating spent fuel from VVER-440, BN-350, and BN-600 reactors, nuclear icebreakers and submarines, research reactors, and other power units. The plant can reprocess 400 ton/year of basic VVER-440 fuel. World-class modern processes have been introduced at the plant, meeting the necessary quality standards: zonal planning, remote operation to eliminate direct contact of the staff with radioactive material, extensive monitoring and control systems, multistage gas-purification systems, and new waste-treatment methods

Long Day's Journey into Night: Modernism, Post-Modernism and Maternal Loss

OpenAIRE

Meaney, Gerardine

2009-01-01

Long Day's journey into Night may seem a strange starting place for a feminist analysis of modernism and post-modernism. Yet even the most conservative criticism reads this play as an enactment and embodiment of loss, specifically loss of the mother. That loss is rarely seen in the context of a more general "loss", a cultural loss of legitimacy and authenticity, endemic in and enabling modernism, articulated as "disinheritance" by an Other "coded as feminine."

Quality management and quality assurance in the manufacture of nuclear fuel elements: new trends and challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baur, K.

1998-01-01

Modern instruments for quality assurance are applied with increasing success also in the area of fuel element supply. This new philosophy of quality management is characterized by a clear focus on processes and a commitment to continuous quality improvement. How can these new quality concepts, the application of which is desired by the companies operating nuclear power plants, be implemented and find acceptance? Is it possible that error prevention in place of error correction can increase the quality of fuel elements and at the same time reduce costs? What instruments are available to solve problems specific to fuel element technology? Efforts currently under way to answer these questions are described, particularly with regard to cooperation with fuel element suppliers. Within this context, a new guideline 'Quality System for Fuel Elements' has been developed. (orig.) [de

Why did occidental modernity fail in the Arab Middle East: the failed modern state?

OpenAIRE

Sardar, Aziz

2011-01-01

This thesis asks a straightforward but nevertheless a complex question, that is: Why did modernity fail in the Arab Middle East? The notion of modernity in this thesis signifies the occidental modernity which reached the region in many different forms and through various channels. This occidental modernity had an impact on many areas and changed the societies and politics of the region. But these changes stopped short of reaching modernity, in other words it failed to change the society from ...

Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel use, 1751-1950

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andres, R.J.; Fielding, D.J. [Alaska Fairbanks Univ., Fairbanks AK (United States). Inst. of Northern Engineering; Marland, G.; Boden, T.A. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Div.; Kumar, N.; Kearney, A.T. [153 East 53rd Street, New York, NY (United States)

1999-09-01

Newly compiled energy statistics allow for an estimation of the complete time series of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emissions from fossil-fuel use for the years 1751 to the present. The time series begins with 3 x 10{sup 6} metric tonnes carbon (C). This initial flux represents the early stages of the fossil-fuel era. The CO{sub 2} flux increased exponentially until World War I. The time series derived here seamlessly joins the modern 1950 to present time series. Total cumulative CO{sub 2} emissions through 1949 were 61.0 x 10{sup 9} tonnes C from fossil-fuel use, virtually all since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution around 1860. The rate of growth continues to grow during present times, generating debate on the probability of enhanced greenhouse warming. In addition to global totals, national totals and 1 deg global distributions of the data have been calculated 18 refs, 4 figs, 2 tabs

Selenium electrochemistry. Applications in the nuclear fuel cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maslennikov, A.; Peretroukhine, V. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation). Inst. of Physical Chemistry; David, F. [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 91 - Orsay (France); Lecomte, M. [CEA Centre d' Etudes de la Valle du Rhone, 30 - Marcoule (France). Direction du Cycle du Combustible

1999-07-01

Modern state of selenium electrochemistry is reviewed in respect of the application of electrochemical methods for the study of the behavior of this element and its quantitative analysis in the solutions of nuclear fuel cycle. The review includes the data on the redox potentials of Se in aqueous solutions, and the data on Se redox reactions, occurring at mercury and solid electrodes. Analysis of the available literature data shows that the inverse stripping voltammetry technique for trace Se concentration and determination seems to be the most promising in application for the Se determination in PUREX solutions and in radioactive wastes. The adaptation of the ISV technique for the trace Se concentration and determination in the solutions of the nuclear fuel cycle is indicated as the most prospective goal of the future experimental study. (author)

Britain's resources of coal and spent uranium fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oldby, R.

1982-01-01

Estimates of the United Kingdom's reserves of coal and of spent fuel from nuclear reactors, provided during the 1970's by the National Coal Board and the Atomic Energy Authority, are examined. These estimates, which tend to increase steadily, are based on statistics on fuel reserves which do not constitute cold hard facts but are judgements about the probable outcome of a series of events in space and time. It is felt that this analysis of energy resource claims does not suggest intentional rivalry by the Atomic Energy Authority and the National Coal Board though the fact that they both represent responses at the political level in the campaign for government support seems evident. A reluctance to adopt the modern distinction between resources and reserves in such analyses is also noted. (U.K.)

Results of trial operation of the WWER advanced fuel assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasilchenko, I.; Dragunov, Y.; Mikhalchuk, A.

2001-01-01

The paper describes results from experimental operation of advanced WWER-1000 fuel assemblies (AFA) at five units in Balakovo NPP. Advanced fuel is developed according to the concept of standard WWER-1000 fuel assembly (jacket-free). The new features includes: 1) zirconium guiding channels (alloy E-635 and E-110) and spacer grids (alloy E-110); 2) integrated burnable absorber gadolinium; 3) extended service life of fuel assemblies (FA) and absorber rods (possibility of repair of FA); 4) improved adoption to reactor conditions. Some results of AFA pilot operation of a three year operation are presented and analyses of effectiveness of improvements are made concerning application of zirconium channels and grids; application of integrated burnable absorbers; extension of FA and absorbing rods service life and FA repairability. These new features of WWER-1000 fuel design allow: 1) to reduce the average fuel enrichment to the 3.77% instead of 4.31% in U-235; 2) to reduce the FA axial load in reactor hot state by 40%,; 3) increasing of fuel operation in reactor to the 30000 effective days with possibility to have a 5-year residence time in the reactor. The design of new generation FA for WWER-440 reactors involves few key changes. Fuel inventory in new fuel design is increased due to elongation of fuel stack and reducing the diameter of the central hole. Vibration stability is enhanced as a result of: no-play junction of the fuel rod with the lower grid; change of SG arrangements; strengthening of the lower grid unit; secure of the central tube in the gap. Water-uranium ration is increased. Introduction of all these kinds of modernization in a 5-year fuel cycle reduces fuel component in the energy cost to the 7%

Development and application of the BISON fuel performance code to the analysis of fission gas behaviour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pastore, G.; Hales, J.D.; Novascone, S.R.; Perez, D.M.; Spencer, B.W.; Williamson, R.L.

2014-01-01

BISON is a modern finite-element based, multidimensional nuclear fuel performance code that has been under development at Idaho National Laboratory (USA) since 2009. The capabilities of BISON comprise implicit solution of the fully coupled thermo-mechanics and diffusion equations, applicability to a variety of fuel forms, and simulation of both steady-state and transient conditions. The code includes multiphysics constitutive behavior for both fuel and cladding materials, and is designed for efficient use on highly parallel computers. This paper describes the main features of BISON, with emphasis on recent developments in modelling of fission gas behaviour in LWR-UO 2 fuel. The code is applied to the simulation of fuel rod irradiation experiments from the OECD/NEA International Fuel Performance Experiments Database. The comparison of the results with the available experimental data of fuel temperature, fission gas release, and cladding diametrical strain during pellet-cladding mechanical interaction is presented, pointing out a promising potential of the BISON code with the new fission gas behaviour model. (authors)

A simple miniature device for wireless stimulation of neural circuits in small behaving animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yisi; Langford, Bruce; Kozhevnikov, Alexay

2011-10-30

The use of wireless neural stimulation devices offers significant advantages for neural stimulation experiments in behaving animals. We demonstrate a simple, low-cost and extremely lightweight wireless neural stimulation device which is made from off-the-shelf components. The device has low power consumption and does not require a high-power RF preamplifier. Neural stimulation can be carried out in either a voltage source mode or a current source mode. Using the device, we carry out wireless stimulation in the premotor brain area HVC of a songbird and demonstrate that such stimulation causes rapid perturbations of the acoustic structure of the song. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A novel fiber-free technique for brain activity imaging in multiple freely behaving mice

Science.gov (United States)

Inagaki, Shigenori; Agetsuma, Masakazu; Nagai, Takeharu

2018-02-01

Brain functions and related psychiatric disorders have been investigated by recording electrophysiological field potential. When recording it, a conventional method requires fiber-based apparatus connected to the brain, which however hampers the simultaneous measurement in multiple animals (e.g. by a tangle of fibers). Here, we propose a fiber-free recording technique in conjunction with a ratiometric bioluminescent voltage indicator. Our method allows investigation of electrophysiological filed potential dynamics in multiple freely behaving animals simultaneously over a long time period. Therefore, this fiber-free technique opens up the way to investigate a new mechanism of brain function that governs social behaviors and animal-to-animal interaction.

Sustainable Harvest for Food and Fuel Preliminary Food & Fuel Gap Analysis Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ray Grosshans; Kevin M. Kostelnik; Jake Jacobson

2007-04-01

To promote economic growth and energy security, and to protect the environment, the U.S. is pursuing a national strategy of energy independence and climatic protection in which domestic renewable carbon-neutral biofuels displace 30 percent of U.S. oil consumption by the mid-21st century. Such fuels, including ethanol and biodiesel, will be produced from biological feed stocks (biomass). The availability of this billion-ton biomass will hinge on the application of modern scientific and engineering tools to create a highly-integrated biofuel production system. Efforts are underway to identify and develop energy crops, ranging from agricultural residues to genetically engineered perennials; to develop biology-based processing methods; and, to develop large-scale biorefineries to economically convert biomass into fuels. In addition to advancing the biomass-to-biofuel research and development agenda, policy makers are concurrently defining the correct mix of governmental supports and regulations. Given the volumes of biomass and fuels that must flow to successfully enact a national biomass strategy, policies must encourage large-scale markets to form and expand around a tightly integrated system of farmers, fuel producers and transporters, and markets over the course of decades. In formulating such policies, policy makers must address the complex interactions of social, technical, economic, and environmental factors that bound energy production and use. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is a science-based, applied engineering national laboratory dedicated to supporting the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The INL Bioenergy Program supports the DOE and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Key multidisciplinary INL capabilities are being leveraged to address major science and technology needs associated with the cost-effective utilization of biomass. INL’s whole crop utilization (WCU) vision is focused on the use of the entire crop, including both the grain and

Wood fuel in Sweden 1800-1990 - consumption and price trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schoen, L.

1992-01-01

The report presents consumption and price trends of wood fuel in Sweden 1800-1990 and discusses the increase in the use of wood fuel in the 1980's in a long-term perspective. Consumption of wood fuel grew at the same rate as population during most of the 19th century with a share of 95-80 per cent of total fuel consumption. Since the modern industrial breakthrough around the 1880's, consumption of wood fuel has decreased while that of fossiles and electricity have expanded. Temporarily, consumption increased during the world wars, particularly during the second one. The increase after the energy crises of the 1970's differs from those of the wars in some respects - thus, the changes in the conditions of energy supply and energy use were conceived as long-lasting, the increase in consumption took place with markets in function, and an important new user appeared, namely the district heating services. During both the 19th and the 20th century, prices of wood fuel have risen strongly in relation to those of most other products. This increase expresses the shifts in demand to wood resources and the comparatively weak productivity growth in forestry. Compared to prices of fossile fuels, the price increase of wood fuel ended in the 1920's and the relation has since then fluctuated. The strong shift in consumption to fossils from the 1920's is explained rather by the high costs of handling wood fuel. Wood fuel consumption has increased during periods of relatively decreasing wages. While the price increase of wood fuel can stimulate extended production also within agriculture, the study emphasizes the need of productivity growth in wood fuel production as well as product development towards the lowering of the handling costs of the user. (23 refs., 8 figs., 4 tabs.)

Chronic monitoring of cortical hemodynamics in behaving, freely-moving rats using a miniaturized head-mounted optical microscope

Science.gov (United States)

Sigal, Iliya; Gad, Raanan; Koletar, Margaret; Ringuette, Dene; Stefanovic, Bojana; Levi, Ofer

2016-03-01

Growing interest within the neurophysiology community in assessing healthy and pathological brain activity in animals that are awake and freely-behaving has triggered the need for optical systems that are suitable for such longitudinal studies. In this work we report label-free multi-modal imaging of cortical hemodynamics in the somatosensory cortex of awake, freely-behaving rats, using a novel head-mounted miniature optical microscope. The microscope employs vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) at three distinct wavelengths (680 nm, 795 nm, and 850 nm) to provide measurements of four hemodynamic markers: blood flow speeds, HbO, HbR, and total Hb concentration, across a > 2 mm field of view. Blood flow speeds are extracted using Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging (LSCI), while oxygenation measurements are performed using Intrinsic Optical Signal Imaging (IOSI). Longitudinal measurements on the same animal are made possible over the course of > 6 weeks using a chronic window that is surgically implanted into the skull. We use the device to examine changes in blood flow and blood oxygenation in superficial cortical blood vessels and tissue in response to drug-induced absence-like seizures, correlating motor behavior with changes in blood flow and blood oxygenation in the brain.

Understanding modern transparency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, A.J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/172436729

2009-01-01

Proponents and opponents fiercely debate whether computer-mediated transparency has a positive effect on trust in the public sector. This article enhances our understanding of transparency by presenting three perspectives: a premodern, modern and post-modern perspective, and analyzing the basic

The Multiple Modernities of Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomassen, Bjørn

What Europe? Eric Voegelin on the Mediterranean and the Atlantic modernities. The concept ‘multiple modernities’ has during the last decade established itself in social and political theory, not least due to contributions made by Shmul Eisenstadt. The debate on multiple moderntities has served...... to question certain eurocentric assumptions about modernity and has also reignited the question of European particularity in a world historical perspective. This paper will discuss how ‘Europe’ itself can be considered a result of (at least) two different modernities, as proposed by the political theorist......, Eric Voegelin. Eric Voegelin talked of two spatio-temporal specific modernities, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic modernities. In short, for Voegelin the Atlantic modernity with its breakthroughs in the 17th and 18th centuries was a specific figuration that should not be mistaken for ‘modernity...

The Imaginary Significations of Modernity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carleheden, Mikael

2010-01-01

This article deals with the concept of modernity upon which one of the most interesting contemporary theories about modern social change is based - Peter Wagner's theory of successive modernities. Wagner understands modernity as a double imaginary signification which entails a basic tension between...... liberty and discipline. This conception is almost directly taken from Cornelius Castoriadis. I argue that this tension exists in two versions in Castoriadis' philosophy and that the two versions are incompatible. It is further claimed that the two versions reappear in Wagner's theory, which makes his...... theory of successive modernities partly inconsistent. A stance is taken for one of these versions and it is argued that the theory of successive modernities should appropriate that version as its point of departure in order to grasp the history of modernity in a consistent way. Keywords: Cornelius...

Procedures and techniques for the management of experimental fuels from research and test reactors. Proceedings of an advisory group meeting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-04-01

Almost all countries that have undertaken fuel development programs for power, research or military reactors have experimental and exotic fuels, either stored at the original research reactors where they have been tested or at some away-from-reactor storage facility. These spent fuel liabilities cannot follow the standard treatment recognized for modern power reactor fuels. They include experimental and exotic fuels ranging from liquids to coated spheres and in configurations ranging from full test assemblies to post irradiation examination specimens set in resin. This document contains an overview of the extent of the problem of managing experimental and exotic fuels from research and test reactors and an expert evaluation of the overall situation in countries which participated in the meeting

Russian spent marine fuel as a global security risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gussgard, K.; Reistad, O.

2001-01-01

Russian marine fuel is a trans-national security concern. This paper focuses on specific technical properties of Russian marine nuclear fuel especially relevant for evaluating different aspects on nuclear proliferation, in addition to risks associated with regional environmental degradation and illegal diversion of radiological substances. Russian fresh fuel for marine reactors has been involved in several significant cases of illicit trafficking of special nuclear materials. The amount and quality of nuclear materials in Russian spent marine fuel give also reason for concern. Not less than 200 marine reactor cores are ready for having their spent fuel unloaded and preliminary stored on shore in the Far East and North West of Russia, and large amounts of spent naval fuel have been stored at Russian military bases for decades. In order to assess the security risks associated with Russian spent marine fuel, this paper discusses the material attractiveness of spent fuel from all types of Russian marine reactors. The calculations are based on a model of a light water moderated Russian icebreaker reactor. The computer tool HELIOS, used for modelling the reactor and the reactor operations, has been extensively qualified by comparisons with experimental data and international benchmark problems for reactor physics codes as well as through feedback from applications. Some of these benchmarks and studies include fuel enrichments up to 90% in Russian marine reactors. Several fuel data cases are discussed in the paper, focusing especially on: 1) early fuel designs with low initial enrichment; 2) more modern fuel designs used in third and fourth generation of Russian submarines probably with intermediate enriched fuel; and 3) marine fuel with initial enrichment levels close to weapons-grade material. In each case the fuel has been burned until k eff has reached below 1. Case 1) has been evaluated, the calculations made as basis for this paper have concentrated on fuel with

Bayesian modelling of household solid fuel use: insights towards designing effective interventions to promote fuel switching in Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Rehfuess, Eva A; Briggs, David J; Joffe, Mike; Best, Nicky

2010-10-01

Indoor air pollution from solid fuel use is a significant risk factor for acute lower respiratory infections among children in sub-Saharan Africa. Interventions that promote a switch to modern fuels hold a large health promise, but their effective design and implementation require an understanding of the web of upstream and proximal determinants of household fuel use. Using Demographic and Health Survey data for Benin, Kenya and Ethiopia together with Bayesian hierarchical and spatial modelling, this paper quantifies the impact of household-level factors on cooking fuel choice, assesses variation between communities and districts and discusses the likely nature of contextual effects. Household- and area-level characteristics appear to interact as determinants of cooking fuel choice. In all three countries, wealth and the educational attainment of women and men emerge as important; the nature of area-level factors varies between countries. In Benin, a two-level model with spatial community random effects best explains the data, pointing to an environmental explanation. In Ethiopia and Kenya, a three-level model with unstructured community and district random effects is selected, implying relatively autonomous economic and social areas. Area-level heterogeneity, indicated by large median odds ratios, appears to be responsible for a greater share of variation in the data than household-level factors. This may be an indication that fuel choice is to a considerable extent supply-driven rather than demand-driven. Consequently, interventions to promote fuel switching will carefully need to assess supply-side limitations and devise appropriate policy and programmatic approaches to overcome them. To our knowledge, this paper represents the first attempt to model the determinants of solid fuel use, highlighting socio-economic differences between households and, notably, the dramatic influence of contextual effects. It illustrates the potential that multilevel and spatial

Household cooking fuels and technologies in developing economies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foell, Wesley; Pachauri, Shonali; Spreng, Daniel; Zerriffi, Hisham

2011-01-01

A major energy challenge of the 21st century is the health and welfare of 2.7 billion people worldwide, who currently rely on burning biomass in traditional household cooking systems. This Special Issue on Clean Cooking Fuels and Technologies in Developing Economies builds upon an IAEE workshop on this subject, held in Istanbul in 2008. It includes several papers from that workshop plus papers commissioned afterwards. The major themes of that workshop and this Special Issue are: •Analytical and decision frameworks for analysis and policy development for clean cooking fuels. •Making energy provisioning a central component of development strategies. •Strategies/business models of suppliers of modern fuels and technologies. •Analysis of successes/failures of past policies and programs to improve access to clean cooking. This introductory paper serves as a preamble to the 11 papers in this Special Issue. It provides a brief background on household cooking fuels and technologies, including: (1) their implications for sustainable development, health and welfare, gender impacts, and environment/climate issues; (2) options and scenarios for improved household cooling systems; and (3) discussions of institutions, programs and markets. It closes with “Research and Action Agendas”, initially developed during the 2008 workshop.

Technical Meeting on Design, Manufacturing and Irradiation Behaviour of Fast Reactors Fuels. Presentations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

The purpose of this meeting was to enable a rationalization and advancement of the design and manufacturing processes, a better selection of promising fuels, and a reduction of the time and costs currently required for R and D and testing, as well as to contribute to the improvement of the safety features of fuels under all operational states and accidental conditions. An overview of the status and perspective of the design, manufacturing and irradiation behaviour of fast reactors fuels were provided during this meeting. The main objectives are the following: Ensure sharing and dissemination of knowledge and expertise; Discuss specific features and issues of existing fuels; Improve knowledge and data for the design and engineering of fast reactor fuel and core structural materials; Discuss perspectives on advanced fuels; Consider modern technological, design and testing tools enabling reliable performance of fuels in current and planned operational environments; Establish international consensus in the developmental efforts on advanced fast reactor technologies, including collaborative programs and experiments. Contribute to the preparation and outline of the planned IAEA Coordinated Research Project on 'Examination of advanced fast reactor fuel and core structural materials. Each of the 24 presentations made at the meeting have been indexed separately

THE NEED OF USING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IN MODERN BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurenţia\tElena\tSCURTU

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The modern society, in order to reach its current stage of development, has been through stages whose patterns have been stocked as important archives, which they constituted and built up a chain of values that allow us to call/ name the modern society a society of knowledge. The knowledge has become, by far, the most important asset and resource to which we report ourselves to into the organized and non-organized fields of our nowadays society, and the nature, evolution, dynamics of these organized domains of business entities have become a subject of fundamental importance to maximize their competitive advantage. In that matter, the scientific, theoretical, practical knowledge or the one resulted from experience, is the key determiner to acquire modern corporate success, at least in the more global context of markets and business processes. This paperwork comes to complete the idea, according to which, the competitive advantage of modern business entities/ corporations can’t be reached unless the general management strategy would include: processes, principles, techniques to make/ to create this knowledge productive, meaning to include the knowledge management strategy into the general one of the specific corporation. Another important aspect we want to emphasize is the importance of reporting ourselves to knowledge as a key factor for the development of the academic environment/ domain, as well as for the one of business organizations. In the present, workers are using more and more their minds rather than their hands, and the idea of knowledge worker in the business area has its roots, as we believe, in the institutional education. The high level of absorbing individuals who own intangible active stocks/ knowledgeis bigger and bigger, and this thing wouldn’t be possible without looking towards the academic domain as the main determiner in developing the human factor, and also being the supplier that fuels the quality of employment

Interpreted Modernity. Weber and Taylor on Values and Modernity

OpenAIRE

Reckling, Falk

2001-01-01

The writings of Weber and Taylor have some strong affinities. Both start from the anthropological idea that man evaluates his position in the world and constitutes the social world by values. Their analyses of values aim at an understanding of those intersubjective meanings that have constituted western modernity. But, at the same time, their anthropological starting point leads to different interpretations of modernity. Historically, both argue that rationalization (as instrumental rationali...

Access to energy and fuel poverty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayer, Nathalie

2013-01-01

A first part addresses the issue of access to a modern and sustainable energy in developing countries, notably in rural areas of Africa and Asia. Some experiments are evoked like, for example, the financing and support of an Indonesian NGO for the construction of hydroelectric micro power plants. In this respect, decentralized solutions seem to be the most promising, but also the use of new technologies for lighting equipment using 3 energy sources (electric grid, solar energy, rechargeable battery). The Lighting Africa program is evoked. The second part addresses the issue of fuel poverty, notably in France but also in other European countries (data are provided which indicate the numbers of households unable to pay for a proper heating, or with bad quality housing). The authors outline that fuel poverty is a complex problem which requires both emergency measures and prevention programs on a medium and long term: improvement of energy efficiency in the housing sector in order to reduce consumption, implementation of new and innovating technologies (housing rehabilitation with local and green materials, R and D efforts, and development of smart meters). The economic and social dimensions of this problem of fuel poverty are outlined by members of associations

Productions, modern (Scandinavia)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lech, Marcel Lysgaard

2017-01-01

Greek comedy has never been as popular on the modern Scandinavian scene as Greek tragedy, but one play stands out among them all as a modern classic, Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, which has inspired many adaptations not only on the stage, but also in radio and cinema....

Cheaper fuel and higher health costs among the poor in rural Nepal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pant, Krishna Prasad [Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Vidhya Lane, Devnagar, Kathmandu (Nepal)], email: kppant@yahoo.com

2012-03-15

Biomass fuels are used by the majority of resource poor households in low-income countries. Though biomass fuels, such as dung-briquette and firewood are apparently cheaper than the modern fuels indoor pollution from burning biomass fuels incurs high health costs. But, the health costs of these conventional fuels, mostly being indirect, are poorly understood. To address this gap, this study develops probit regression models using survey data generated through interviews from households using either dung-briquette or biogas as the primary source of fuel for cooking. The study investigates factors affecting the use of dung-briquette, assesses its impact on human health, and estimates the associated household health costs. Analysis suggests significant effects of dung-briquette on asthma and eye diseases. Despite of the perception of it being a cheap fuel, the annual health cost per household due to burning dung-briquette (US$ 16.94) is 61.3% higher than the annual cost of biogas (US$ 10.38), an alternative cleaner fuel for rural households. For reducing the use of dung-briquette and its indirect health costs, the study recommends three interventions: (1) educate women and aboriginal people, in particular, and make them aware of the benefits of switching to biogas; (2) facilitate tree planting in communal as well as private lands; and (3) create rural employment and income generation opportunities.

Safety issues on advanced fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gross, H.; Krebs, W.D. [Siemens AG, Bereich Energieerzeugug (KWU), Erlangen (Germany). Geschaeftsgebiet Nukleare Energieerzeugung

1998-05-01

In the recent years a general discussion has started whether unsolved safety issues are related to advanced fuel. Advanced fuel is in this context a summary of features like high burnup, improved clad materials, low leakage loading pattern with high peaking factors etc. The design basis accidents RIA and Loca are of special interest for this discussion. From the Siemens point of view RIA is not a safety issue. There are sufficient margins between the enthalpy rise calculated by modern 3D methods and the fuel failures which occurred in RIA simulation tests when the effect of pulse width is taken into account. The evaluation of possible uncertainties for the established Loca criteria (17% equivalent corrosion, 1200 C clad temperature) for high burnup makes sense. But fuel with high burnup has significantly lower peaking factors than fuel with lower burnup. This gives sufficient margin counterbalancing possible uncertainties. In contrast to the above incomplete control rod insertion at higher burnup is potentially a real safety issue. Although Siemens fuel was not affected by the reported incidents they addressed the problem and checked that they have sufficient design margin for their fuel. (orig.) [Deutsch] In den letzten Jahren hat eine allgemeine Diskussion begonnen, ob mit fortgeschrittenen Brennelementen (BE) ungeklaerte Sicherheitsprobleme verbunden sind. Dabei ist `Fortgeschrittene Brennelemente` ein Sammelbegriff fuer hohe Abbraende, verbesserte Huellrohrmaterialien, Low-leakage-Einsatzplanungen mit hohen Heissstellenfaktoren usw. Die Auslegungsstoerfaelle RIA und Loca sind in dieser Diskussion von besonderer Bedeutung. Aus der Sicht von Siemens ist der RIA kein Sicherheitsproblem. Zwischen den mit modernen 3D-Methoden berechneten Enthalpieerhoehungen und den in RIA-Experimenten aufgetretenen Brennstabdefekten bestehen ausreichende Abstaende, wenn der Einfluss der Pulsbreite beruecksichtigt wird. Die Untersuchung eventueller Unsicherheiten bei hohen

A strategy for introducing modern bioenergy into developing Asia to avoid dangerous climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeshita, Takayuki

2009-01-01

This paper explores the cost-effective strategy for introducing modern bioenergy into developing Asia through the 21st century under a 400 ppmv CO 2 stabilization constraint using a global energy model that treats the bioenergy sector in detail. The major conclusions are the following. First, under the 400 ppmv CO 2 stabilization constraint, it is cost-effective to use modern bioenergy largely to generate heat and replace direct coal use in developing Asia in the first half of the century, because direct heat generation from modern biomass is efficient and expected to achieve large CO 2 reduction. As second-generation bioenergy conversion technologies (mainly gasification-based technologies) become mature in the second half of the century, it becomes cost-effective to introduce biomass-derived hydrogen, electricity, and Fischer-Tropsch synfuels and bioethanol produced using these technologies into developing Asia instead of modern biomass-derived heat. All biomass gasification-based conversion technologies are combined with CO 2 capture and storage from 2060, which enables negative CO 2 emissions and makes a substantial contribution to achieving the stringent climate stabilization target. Second, due to its small availability of biomass resources, large-scale import of biofuels and wood pellets is inevitable in developing Asia except southeastern Asia under the CO 2 constraint used here. It is shown that this contributes to diversifying liquid fuel import sources and improving energy security in developing Asia. Third, sensitivity analysis shows that these findings are robust to bioenergy-related cost parameters. (author)

Spotting modern Copenhagen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ovesen, Hans; Bøgelund, Helle; Darger, Birgitte

2002-01-01

Med udgangspunkt i Københavns Rådhus og området omkring Banegårdspladsen analyseres Københavns indtræden i det moderne......Med udgangspunkt i Københavns Rådhus og området omkring Banegårdspladsen analyseres Københavns indtræden i det moderne...

Buddhist Activism and Chinese Modernity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hung-yok Ip

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The history of modern Chinese Buddhism has begun to attract attention in recent years. Some scholars have done inspiring research as they unravel the integration of Buddhism into the highly secularized process of Chinese modernity by drawing on the repository of knowledge on modern China. While this special issue joins this exciting endeavor, it also uses Buddhism as a window to reflect on scholarship on Chinese modernity. Conceptually, this special issue presses scholars in the field of modern China to rethink the place of tradition in the course of modernity. Thematically we show the expansionist impulse of Chinese Buddhism: In addition to envisioning the geographical expansion of their religion, Chinese Buddhists have endeavored to enhance the significance of Buddhism in various dimensions of Chinese society in particular and human life in general.

Parameters estimation online for Lorenz system by a novel quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Fei; Tong Hengqing; Li Zhuoqiu

2008-01-01

This paper proposes a novel quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (NQPSO) for the estimation of chaos' unknown parameters by transforming them into nonlinear functions' optimization. By means of the techniques in the following three aspects: contracting the searching space self-adaptively; boundaries restriction strategy; substituting the particles' convex combination for their centre of mass, this paper achieves a quite effective search mechanism with fine equilibrium between exploitation and exploration. Details of applying the proposed method and other methods into Lorenz systems are given, and experiments done show that NQPSO has better adaptability, dependability and robustness. It is a successful approach in unknown parameter estimation online especially in the cases with white noises

Irradiation effects and micro-structural changes in large grain uranium dioxide fuel investigated by micro-beam X-ray diffraction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mieszczynski, C. [NES and SYN, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Kuri, G., E-mail: goutam.kuri@psi.ch [NES and SYN, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Degueldre, C.; Martin, M.; Bertsch, J.; Borca, C.N.; Grolimund, D. [NES and SYN, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Delafoy, Ch. [AREVA NP, 10 Rue Juliette Récamier, 69456 Lyon Cedex 06 (France); Simoni, E. [Institut de Physique Nucléaire, Université Paris-Sud, 91406 Orsay (France)

2014-01-15

Microstructural changes in a set of commercial grade UO{sub 2} fuel samples have been investigated using synchrotron based micro-focused X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) and X-ray diffraction (μ-XRD) techniques. The results are associated with conventional UO{sub 2} materials and relatively larger grain chromia-doped UO{sub 2} fuels, irradiated in a commercial light water reactor plant (average burn-up: 40 MW d kg{sup −1}). The lattice parameters of UO{sub 2} in fresh and irradiated specimens have been measured and compared with theoretical predictions. In the pristine state, the doped fuel has a somewhat smaller lattice parameter than the standard UO{sub 2} as a result of chromia doping. Increase in micro-strain and lattice parameter in irradiated materials is highlighted. All irradiated samples behave in a similar manner with UO{sub 2} lattice expansion occurring upon irradiation, where any Cr induced effect seems insignificant and accumulated lattice defects prevail. Elastic strain energy densities in the irradiated fuels are also evaluated based on the UO{sub 2} crystal lattice strain and non-uniform strain. The μ-XRD patterns further allow the evaluation of the crystalline domain size and sub-grain formation at different locations of the irradiated UO{sub 2} pellets.

Politics of modern muslim subjectivities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jung, Dietrich; Petersen, Marie Juul; Sparre, Sara Lei

Examining modern Muslim identity constructions, the authors introduce a novel analytical framework to Islamic Studies, drawing on theories of successive modernities, sociology of religion, and poststructuralist approaches to modern subjectivity, as well as the results of extensive fieldwork...

Genealogies of Modern Technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Søren

2008-01-01

Does modern technology differ from ancient technology and does it have a unique essence? This twofold question opens one of Martin Heidegger's most influential philosophical inquiries, The Question Concerning Technology. The answer Heidegger offers has inspired various critiques and appraisals from...... a vast number of contemporary scholars of technology.1 Heidegger's answer is traditionally thought to suggest a great difference between ancient and modern technology. However, by re-examining Heidegger's text, it is possible to discover previously ignored or misunderstood lines of thoughts that affirm...... a multi-stable interpretation of the origin of modern technology. In what follows, we shall see how The Question Concerning Technology in fact supports three different genealogies of modern technology...

Particle Emission Characteristics of Modern and Old-Type Residential Boilers Fired with Wood Logs and Wood Pellets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johansson, L.S.; Gustavsson, L.; Tullin, C.; Potter, A.; Leckner, B.

2005-01-01

Residential biofuel combustion for heating can be performed in two ways: in a stove heating the surrounding room, or in a boiler heating water to be circulated through a piping system to heat an entire house. In contrast to stoves, wood boilers can be connected to heat storage tanks, which is an advantage from an emission point of view. The present work focuses on comparing emissions from old-type and modern boilers by means of systematic variation of combustion device, fuel quality, firing behaviour, and the influence of heat storage tank. User habits are simulated in a schematic way. The purpose of the comparison is to determine the emission differences between old-type and modern residential biofuel boilers and to quantify emission characteristics of different kind of biofuel combustion

Modernization of credit relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.V. Volosovich

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Nowadays it is essential to modernize credit relations in the conditions of global economy transformations. This is due to the influence of integration processes on credit relations and transformation of the risks inherent in the credit field. The purpose of this article is to develop measures that help to improve the efficiency of interaction of credit relations’ participants. Modernization of credit relations is based on the interaction of its main and indirect subjects who belong to the subsystems of loans granting, deposits attraction and provision of related services. Its goal is to pass from extensive to intensive model of interaction between the subjects of credit relations. Components of the credit relations modernization are the following: institutional modernization, which is based on the interaction of credit relations’ subjects, and ensures the development of competition in all credit market’s segments, the creation of its corresponding infrastructure, qualitative change in the approaches of regulation and supervision; technological modernization, which involves the formation of joint products on the credit market and the formation of an integrated informational and analytical system. In the result of the credit relations’ modernization it is expected to achieve synergies between the subjects of credit relations, that will lead to changes in the business architecture of the financial market.

Heat pipes in modern heat exchangers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasiliev, Leonard L.

2005-01-01

Heat pipes are very flexible systems with regard to effective thermal control. They can easily be implemented as heat exchangers inside sorption and vapour-compression heat pumps, refrigerators and other types of heat transfer devices. Their heat transfer coefficient in the evaporator and condenser zones is 10 3 -10 5 W/m 2 K, heat pipe thermal resistance is 0.01-0.03 K/W, therefore leading to smaller area and mass of heat exchangers. Miniature and micro heat pipes are welcomed for electronic components cooling and space two-phase thermal control systems. Loop heat pipes, pulsating heat pipes and sorption heat pipes are the novelty for modern heat exchangers. Heat pipe air preheaters are used in thermal power plants to preheat the secondary-primary air required for combustion of fuel in the boiler using the energy available in exhaust gases. Heat pipe solar collectors are promising for domestic use. This paper reviews mainly heat pipe developments in the Former Soviet Union Countries. Some new results obtained in USA and Europe are also included

Modelling of LOCA Tests with the BISON Fuel Performance Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williamson, Richard L [Idaho National Laboratory; Pastore, Giovanni [Idaho National Laboratory; Novascone, Stephen Rhead [Idaho National Laboratory; Spencer, Benjamin Whiting [Idaho National Laboratory; Hales, Jason Dean [Idaho National Laboratory

2016-05-01

BISON is a modern finite-element based, multidimensional nuclear fuel performance code that is under development at Idaho National Laboratory (USA). Recent advances of BISON include the extension of the code to the analysis of LWR fuel rod behaviour during loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCAs). In this work, BISON models for the phenomena relevant to LWR cladding behaviour during LOCAs are described, followed by presentation of code results for the simulation of LOCA tests. Analysed experiments include separate effects tests of cladding ballooning and burst, as well as the Halden IFA-650.2 fuel rod test. Two-dimensional modelling of the experiments is performed, and calculations are compared to available experimental data. Comparisons include cladding burst pressure and temperature in separate effects tests, as well as the evolution of fuel rod inner pressure during ballooning and time to cladding burst. Furthermore, BISON three-dimensional simulations of separate effects tests are performed, which demonstrate the capability to reproduce the effect of azimuthal temperature variations in the cladding. The work has been carried out in the frame of the collaboration between Idaho National Laboratory and Halden Reactor Project, and the IAEA Coordinated Research Project FUMAC.

Die Verfassung des Experiments Moderne

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manfred Aschke

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The question whether freedom of religion requires permitting the slaughter of animals in accordance with Islamic rites – a question which was the subject of a decision by the German Federal Constitutional Court in 2002 –is an example of the general problem how the law and the constitution of a modern, secular society can deal with the Sharia, a theonomous law which claims authority by divine revelation. The genetic links between western christianity and the development of the foundations of modern society in Europe do not provide evidence of the incompatibility of Islam and modernity. But they do emphasize that the tensions resulting from the immigration of 3 million muslims in Germany are a great challenge for the constitutional order. A modern constitution of the Western European and North-Atlantic type, such as the german constitution (Grundgesetz, does not allow the dissolution of the tensions between secular law and individual religious autonomy unilaterally in favour of the secular law. This kind of tension is by no means unknown in modern society. Functional differentiation and individualization are core characteristics of modern society. But in view of the challenge by Islam and other challenges, such as ecological problems, we can ask if the »experiment in modernity«, the project of the Enlightenment, is destined to fail because of the dissonance and the lack of understanding between the partial systems of the society. This question is the starting point to outline evolutionary processes of integration in modern society. In this context the constitution proves to be an important tool of integration. Controversies about the scope of validity claimed by the partial systems are matters of constitutional law. The modern constitution is a specific form in which modern society describes itself as a unity insuring »practical concordance« between colliding freedoms and claims of validity. In the conflict of modern ethical principles of

Reactivity and neutron emission measurements of highly burnt PWR fuel rod samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murphy, M.F.; Jatuff, F.; Grimm, P.; Seiler, R.; Brogli, R.; Meier, G.; Berger, H.-D.; Chawla, R.

2006-01-01

Fuel rods with burnup values beyond 50 GWd/t are characterised by relatively large amounts of fission products and a high abundance of major and minor actinides. Of particular interest is the change in the reactivity of the fuel as a function of burnup and the capability of modern codes to predict this change. In addition, the neutron emission from burnt fuel has important implications for the design of transport and storage facilities. Measurements have been made of the reactivity effects and the neutron emission rates of highly burnt uranium oxide and mixed oxide fuel rod samples coming from a pressurised water reactor (PWR). The reactivity measurements have been made in a PWR lattice in the PROTEUS zero-energy reactor moderated in turn with: water, a water and heavy water mixture and water containing boron. A combined transport flask and sample changer was used to insert the 400 mm long burnt fuel rod segments into the reactor. Both control rod compensation and reactor period methods were used to determine the reactivities of the samples. For the range of burnup values investigated, an interesting exponential relationship has been found between the neutron emission rate and the measured reactivity

Voluntary running enhances glymphatic influx in awake behaving, young mice.

Science.gov (United States)

von Holstein-Rathlou, Stephanie; Petersen, Nicolas Caesar; Nedergaard, Maiken

2018-01-01

Vascular pathology and protein accumulation contribute to cognitive decline, whereas exercise can slow vascular degeneration and improve cognitive function. Recent investigations suggest that glymphatic clearance measured in aged mice while anesthetized is enhanced following exercise. We predicted that exercise would also stimulate glymphatic activity in awake, young mice with higher baseline glymphatic function. Therefore, we assessed glymphatic function in young female C57BL/6J mice following five weeks voluntary wheel running and in sedentary mice. The active mice ran a mean distance of 6km daily. We injected fluorescent tracers in cisterna magna of awake behaving mice and in ketamine/xylazine anesthetized mice, and later assessed tracer distribution in coronal brain sections. Voluntary exercise consistently increased CSF influx during wakefulness, primarily in the hypothalamus and ventral parts of the cortex, but also in the middle cerebral artery territory. While glymphatic activity was higher under ketamine/xylazine anesthesia, we saw a decrease in glymphatic function during running in awake mice after five weeks of wheel running. In summary, daily running increases CSF flux in widespread areas of the mouse brain, which may contribute to the pro-cognitive effects of exercise. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Swarm Optimization Genetic Algorithm Based on Quantum-Behaved Particle Swarm Optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Tao; Xu, Ming-Hai

2017-01-01

Quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) algorithm is a variant of the traditional particle swarm optimization (PSO). The QPSO that was originally developed for continuous search spaces outperforms the traditional PSO in search ability. This paper analyzes the main factors that impact the search ability of QPSO and converts the particle movement formula to the mutation condition by introducing the rejection region, thus proposing a new binary algorithm, named swarm optimization genetic algorithm (SOGA), because it is more like genetic algorithm (GA) than PSO in form. SOGA has crossover and mutation operator as GA but does not need to set the crossover and mutation probability, so it has fewer parameters to control. The proposed algorithm was tested with several nonlinear high-dimension functions in the binary search space, and the results were compared with those from BPSO, BQPSO, and GA. The experimental results show that SOGA is distinctly superior to the other three algorithms in terms of solution accuracy and convergence.

The world goes modern 

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Handberg, Kristian

2016-01-01

The article analyzes the contemporary art historical focus on multiple modernities through two significant exhibitions: After Year Zero at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin 2013/Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw 2015 and The World Goes Pop, Tate Modern, London (2015). These different exhibitions...

Accident situations tests HTR fuel with the device Kufa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kellerbauer, A. I.; Freis, D.

2010-01-01

The ceramic and ceramic-like coating materials in modern high-temperature reactor fuel are designed to ensure mechanical stability and retention of fission products under normal and transient conditions, regardless of the radiation damage sustained in-pile. In hypothetical depressurization and loss-of-forced-circulation (D LOFC) accidents, fuel elements of modular high-temperate reactors are exposed to temperatures several hundred degrees higher than during normal operation, causing increased thermo-mechanical stress on the coating layers. At the Institute for Transuranium Elements of the European Commission, a vigorous experimental program is being pursued with the aim of characterizing the performance of irradiated HTR fuel under such accident conditions. A cold finger device (Kufa), operational in ITUs hot cells since 2006, has been used to perform heating experiments on eight irradiated HTR fuel pebbles from the AVR experimental reactor and from dedicated irradiation campaigns at the High-Flux Reactor in Petten, the Netherlands. Gaseous fission products are collected in a cryogenic charcoal trap, while volatiles,are plated out on a water-cooled condensate plate. A quantitative measurement of the release is obtained by gamma spectroscopy. We highlight experimental results from the Kufa testing as well as the on-going development of new experimental facilities. (Author) 9 refs.

Ecological modernization in selected Malaysian industrial sectors: political modernization and sector variations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Er Ah Choy,; Mol, A.P.J.; Koppen, van C.S.A.

2012-01-01

The aim of this paper is to understand the differences in environmental performance of palm oil versus textile and apparel production chains in Malaysia by applying ecological modernization theory via substantive quantitative testing. Ecological modernization is tested via four hypotheses, namely

Chemical Pollution from Combustion of Modern Spacecraft Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Mudgett, Paul D.

2013-01-01

Fire is one of the most critical contingencies in spacecraft and any closed environment including submarines. Currently, NASA uses particle based technology to detect fires and hand-held combustion product monitors to track the clean-up and restoration of habitable cabin environment after the fire is extinguished. In the future, chemical detection could augment particle detection to eliminate frequent nuisance false alarms triggered by dust. In the interest of understanding combustion from both particulate and chemical generation, NASA Centers have been collaborating on combustion studies at White Sands Test Facility using modern spacecraft materials as fuels, and both old and new technology to measure the chemical and particulate products of combustion. The tests attempted to study smoldering pyrolysis at relatively low temperatures without ignition to flaming conditions. This paper will summarize the results of two 1-week long tests undertaken in 2012, focusing on the chemical products of combustion. The results confirm the key chemical products are carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen fluoride (HF) and hydrogen chloride (HCl), whose concentrations depend on the particular material and test conditions. For example, modern aerospace wire insulation produces significant concentration of HF, which persists in the test chamber longer than anticipated. These compounds are the analytical targets identified for the development of new tunable diode laser based hand-held monitors, to replace the aging electrochemical sensor based devices currently in use on the International Space Station.

Current state of nuclear fuel cycles in nuclear engineering and trends in their development according to the environmental safety requirements

Science.gov (United States)

Vislov, I. S.; Pischulin, V. P.; Kladiev, S. N.; Slobodyan, S. M.

2016-08-01

The state and trends in the development of nuclear fuel cycles in nuclear engineering, taking into account the ecological aspects of using nuclear power plants, are considered. An analysis of advantages and disadvantages of nuclear engineering, compared with thermal engineering based on organic fuel types, was carried out. Spent nuclear fuel (SNF) reprocessing is an important task in the nuclear industry, since fuel unloaded from modern reactors of any type contains a large amount of radioactive elements that are harmful to the environment. On the other hand, the newly generated isotopes of uranium and plutonium should be reused to fabricate new nuclear fuel. The spent nuclear fuel also includes other types of fission products. Conditions for SNF handling are determined by ecological and economic factors. When choosing a certain handling method, one should assess these factors at all stages of its implementation. There are two main methods of SNF handling: open nuclear fuel cycle, with spent nuclear fuel assemblies (NFAs) that are held in storage facilities with their consequent disposal, and closed nuclear fuel cycle, with separation of uranium and plutonium, their purification from fission products, and use for producing new fuel batches. The development of effective closed fuel cycles using mixed uranium-plutonium fuel can provide a successful development of the nuclear industry only under the conditions of implementation of novel effective technological treatment processes that meet strict requirements of environmental safety and reliability of process equipment being applied. The diversity of technological processes is determined by different types of NFA devices and construction materials being used, as well as by the composition that depends on nuclear fuel components and operational conditions for assemblies in the nuclear power reactor. This work provides an overview of technological processes of SNF treatment and methods of handling of nuclear fuel

Post-communism: postmodernity or modernity revisited?

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, L

1997-12-01

Coinciding with the popularity of postmodern theory, the fall of communism appeared to offer further evidence of the exhaustion of modernity. Such analysis is grounded in a view that the Soviet system was the epitome of modernity. An alternative approach regards post-communism as opening new terrains of struggle for modernity. Thus Habermas and others suggest that post-communist societies are rejoining the trajectory of western modernity whose problems they now recapitulate. This alternative view implies that Soviet systems were something other than 'modern', although their nature is not always clearly defined. However, even if post-communist societies do encounter problems of modernity, they do so in new circumstances where modernist notions of social development have become problematic. This article argues that, contrary to those who regard modernization or postmodernization as irresistible trends, core post-communist societies are likely to develop along an alternative path to that of western modernity. This is tentatively described as 'neo-mercantilist'.

Fuel Exhaling Fuel Cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Manzoor Bhat, Zahid; Thimmappa, Ravikumar; Devendrachari, Mruthyunjayachari Chattanahalli; Kottaichamy, Alagar Raja; Shafi, Shahid Pottachola; Varhade, Swapnil; Gautam, Manu; Thotiyl, Musthafa Ottakam

2018-01-18

State-of-the-art proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) anodically inhale H 2 fuel and cathodically expel water molecules. We show an unprecedented fuel cell concept exhibiting cathodic fuel exhalation capability of anodically inhaled fuel, driven by the neutralization energy on decoupling the direct acid-base chemistry. The fuel exhaling fuel cell delivered a peak power density of 70 mW/cm 2 at a peak current density of 160 mA/cm 2 with a cathodic H 2 output of ∼80 mL in 1 h. We illustrate that the energy benefits from the same fuel stream can at least be doubled by directing it through proposed neutralization electrochemical cell prior to PEMFC in a tandem configuration.

Modern optimization with R

CERN Document Server

Cortez, Paulo

2014-01-01

The goal of this book is to gather in a single document the most relevant concepts related to modern optimization methods, showing how such concepts and methods can be addressed using the open source, multi-platform R tool. Modern optimization methods, also known as metaheuristics, are particularly useful for solving complex problems for which no specialized optimization algorithm has been developed. These methods often yield high quality solutions with a more reasonable use of computational resources (e.g. memory and processing effort). Examples of popular modern methods discussed in this book are: simulated annealing; tabu search; genetic algorithms; differential evolution; and particle swarm optimization. This book is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students in Computer Science, Information Technology, and related areas, as well as data analysts interested in exploring modern optimization methods using R.

Fuel cells: spectroscopic studies in the electrocatalysis of alcohol oxidation

OpenAIRE

Iwasita Teresa

2002-01-01

Modern spectroscopic methods are useful for elucidating complex electrochemical mechanisms as those occurring during the oxidation of small organic molecules (CH3OH, HCOH, HCOOH). In the present paper it is shown the use of spectroscopic methods to study the oxidation of alcohols on platinum or Pt-based binary electrodes. These reactions are of importance in conexion with the development of anode systems for use in fuel cells. Mass spectrometry and FT infrared spectroscopy allow to establishi...

Advanced PWR Core Design with Siemens High-Plutonium-Content MOX Fuel Assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dieter Porsch; Gerhard Schlosser; Hans-Dieter Berger

2000-01-01

The Siemens experience with plutonium recycling dates back to the late 1960s. Over the years, extensive research and development programs were performed for the qualification of mixed-oxide (MOX) technology and design methods. Today's typical reload enrichments for uranium and MOX fuel assemblies and modern core designs have become more demanding with respect to accuracy and reliability of design codes. This paper presents the status of plutonium recycling in operating high-burnup pressurized water reactor (PWR) cores. Based on actual examples, it describes the validation status of the design methods and stresses current and future needs for fuel assembly and core design including those related to the disposition of weapons-grade plutonium

Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel use, 1751-1950

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andres, R.J.; Fielding, D.J.; Marland, G.; Boden, T.A.; Kumar, N.; Kearney, A.T. [University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (US). Inst. of Northern Engineering

1999-09-01

Newly compiled energy statistics allow the complete time series of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emissions from fossil-fuel use for the years 1751 to the present to be estimated. The time series begins with 3 x 10{sup 6} metric tonnes carbon (C). The CO{sub 2} flux increased exponentially until World War I. The time series derived here seamlessly joins the modern 1950 to present time series. Total cumulative CO{sub 2} emissions through 1949 were 61.0 x 10{sup 9} tonne C from fossil-fuel use, virtually all since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution around 1860. The rate of growth continues to grow during present times, generating debate on the probability of enhanced greenhouse warming. In addition to global totals, national totals and 1 degree global distributions of the data have been calculated.

Has modernization gone too far? Happiness and modernity in 141 contemporary nations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Veenhoven (Ruut); M.C. Berg (Maarten)

2013-01-01

textabstractModern society comes in for a great deal of criticism, such as about increasing individualisation, globalisation and technologisation, which is seen to reduce the quality of life. This claim was investigated in a comparative study of 141 present-day countries. Eight aspects of modernity

Modernization of the facilities of the TRIGA Mark III reactor of ININ; Modernizacion de las instalaciones del reactor TRIGA Mark III del ININ

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendez T, D.; Flores C, J., E-mail: dario.mendez@inin.gob.mx [ININ, Carretera Mexico-Toluca s/n, 52750 Ocoyoacac, Estado de Mexico (Mexico)

2016-09-15

The TRIGA Mark III reactor of the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (ININ) has been in operation since 1968 under strict maintenance and component replacement programs, which has allowed its safe operation during this time. Under this scheme, the reactor was operating under suitable conditions, taking into account the different requests for operation that were received for the samples irradiation for the radioisotopes production such as the Sm-153, personnel training, basic research, archaeology and environmental studies and nuclear chemistry of the elements. However, a modernization program of its components and laboratories was required, in order to improve safety in the operation of the same and to increase its use in the analysis of samples by neutron activation and in the training of personnel. This program known as Modernization Program of the Reactor Facilities, was proposed alongside the project to replace high-enrichment fuels with low-enrichment fuels at the end of 2011 and early 2012. The central aspects of this program are described in this work, grouped into generic topics that include instrumentation and control, the radiological monitoring system of the area, the cooling system, the ventilation system, the neutron activation analysis laboratory, the manufacture of graphite elements, inspection submersible system of the pool, temporary storage system for irradiated fuels, traveling crane, Reactor support laboratories and technical meetings, courses and seminars for reactor personnel and associated groups. It also describes some of the most relevant components required for each system and the progress that is made in each one of them. As a fundamental result of the implementation of this Modernization Program of the Reactor Facilities, there has been a substantial improvement in the performance of the systems and components of its facilities, in the reliability of its operation and in the safety of the same. (Author)

Fuel type characterization and potential fire behavior estimation in Sardinia and Corsica islands

Science.gov (United States)

Bacciu, V.; Pellizzaro, G.; Santoni, P.; Arca, B.; Ventura, A.; Salis, M.; Barboni, T.; Leroy, V.; Cancellieri, D.; Leoni, E.; Ferrat, L.; Perez, Y.; Duce, P.; Spano, D.

2012-04-01

BEHAVE fire behavior prediction system (Andrews, 1989) and experimental fuel data. Fire behavior was simulated by setting different weather scenarios representing the most frequent summer meteorological conditions. The simulation outputs (fireline intensity, rate of spread, flame length) were then analyzed for clustering the different fuel types in relation to their potential fire behavior. The results of this analysis can be used to produce fire behavior fuel maps that are important tools in evaluating fire hazard and risk for land management planning, locating and rating fuel treatments, and aiding in environmental assessments and fire danger programs modeling. This work is supported by FUME Project FP7-ENV-2009-1, Grant Agreement Number 243888 and Proterina-C Project, EU Italia-Francia Marittimo 2007-2013 Programme.

Effects of pilot injection timing and EGR on a modern V6 common rail direct injection diesel engine

Science.gov (United States)

Rosli Abdullah, Nik; Mamat, Rizalman; Wyszynski, Miroslaw L.; Tsolakis, Anthanasios; Xu, Hongming

2013-12-01

Nitric oxide and smoke emissions in diesel engine can be controlled by optimising the air/fuel mixture. Early injection produces premixed charge resulted in simultaneous NOx and smoke emissions reduction. However, there could be an increase in hydrocarbons and CO emissions due to fuel impinged to the cylinder wall. The focus of the present work is to investigate the effects of a variation of pilot injection timing with EGR to NOx and smoke level on a modern V6 common rail direct injection. This study is carried out at two different engine load conditions of 30 Nm and 55 Nm, at constant engine speed of 2000 rpm. The results show that the early pilot injection timing contributed to the lower smoke level and higher NOx emissions. The higher level of NOx is due to higher combustion temperatures resulting from the complete combustion. Meanwhile, the lower smoke level is due to complete fuel combustion and soot oxidation. The early pilot injection timing produces an intermediate main ignition delay which also contributed to complete combustion. The formation of smoke is higher at a high engine load compared with low engine load due to the higher amount of fuel being injected.

The Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement: An Ethical Dilemma for the Geosciences?

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, C. H.; Kammen, D. M.

2014-12-01

For over 200 years, fossil fuels have been the basis for an industrial revolution that has delivered a level of prosperity to modern society unimaginable during the previous 5000 years of human civilization. However, society's dependence on fossil fuels is coming to an end for two reasons. The first reason is because our fossil fuel reserves are running out, oil in this century, natural gas during the next century, and coal a few centuries later. The second reason is because fossil fuels are having a devastating impact on the habitability of our planet, disrupting our climate system and acidifying our oceans. So the question is not whether we will discontinue using fossil fuels, but rather whether we will stop using them before they do irreparable damage to the Earth's life-support systems. Within our geoscience community, climate scientists have determined that a majority of existing fossil fuel reserves must remain unburned if dangerous climate change and ocean acidification are to be avoided. In contrast, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, and other members of the fossil fuel industry are pursuing a business model that assumes all of their reserves will be burned and will not become stranded assets. Since the geosciences have had a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the fossil fuel industry, this inherent conflict between climate science and industrial interests presents an ethical dilemma for many geoscientists. This conflict is further heightened by the fossil fuel divestment movement, which is underway at over 400 college and university campuses around the world. This presentation will explore some of the ethical and financial issues being raised by the divestment movement from a geoscientist's perspective.

Remote technology applications in spent fuel management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-03-01

Spent fuel management has become a prospective area for application of remote technology in recent years with a steadily growing inventory of spent fuel arising from nuclear power production. A remark that could be made from the review of technical information collected from the IAEA meetings was that remote technology in spent fuel management has matured well through the past decades of industrial experiences. Various remote technologies have been developed and applied in the past for facility operation and maintenance work in spent fuel examination, storage, transportation, reprocessing and radioactive waste treatment, among others, with significant accomplishments in dose reduction to workers, enhancement of reliability, etc. While some developmental activities are continuing for more advanced applications, industrial practices have made use of simple and robust designs for most of the remote systems technology applications to spent fuel management. In the current state of affairs, equipment and services in remote technology are available in the market for applications to most of the projects in spent fuel management. It can be concluded that the issue of critical importance in remote systems engineering is to make an optimal selection of technology and equipment that would best satisfy the as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) requirements in terms of relevant criteria like dose reduction, reliability, costs, etc. In fact, good selection methodology is the key to efficient implementation of remote systems applications in the modern globalized market. This TECDOC gives a review of the current status of remote technology applications for spent fuel management, based on country reports from some Member States presented at the consultancy meetings, of which updated reports are attached in the annex. The scope of the review covers the series of spent fuel handling operations involved in spent fuel management, from discharge from reactor to reprocessing or

Fossil fuel-fired power generation. Case studies of recently constructed coal- and gas-fired plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Henderson, C. [IEA Clean Coal Centre, London (United Kingdom)

2007-10-23

To meet future energy demand growth and replace older or inefficient units, a large number of fossil fuel-fired plants will be required to be built worldwide in the next decade. Yet CO{sub 2} emissions from fossil-fired power generation are a major contributor to climate change. As a result, new plants must be designed and operated at highest efficiency both to reduce CO{sub 2} emissions and to facilitate deployment of CO{sub 2} capture and storage in the future. The series of case studies in this report, which respond to a request to the IEA from the G8 Summit in July 2005, were conducted to illustrate what efficiency is achieved now in modern plants in different parts of the world using different grades of fossil fuels. The plants were selected from different geographical areas, because local factors influence attainable efficiency. The case studies include pulverized coal combustion (PCC) with both subcritical and supercritical (very high pressure and temperature) steam turbine cycles, a review of current and future applications of coal-fuelled integrated gasification combined cycle plants (IGCC), and a case study of a natural gas fired combined cycle plant to facilitate comparisons. The results of these analyses show that the technologies for high efficiency (low CO{sub 2} emission) and very low conventional pollutant emissions (particulates, SO{sub 2}, NOx) from fossil fuel-fired power generation are available now through PCC, IGCC or NGCC at commercially acceptable cost. This report contains comprehensive technical and indicative cost information for modern fossil fuel-fired plants that was previously unavailable. It serves as a valuable sourcebook for policy makers and technical decision makers contemplating decisions to build new fossil fuel-fired power generation plants.

Thinking in early modernity and the separation process between philosophy and psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Klempe, Sven Hroar

2015-03-01

One of the big questions in psychology is when and how psychology disentangled from philosophy. Usually it is referred to the laboratory Wundt established in Leipzig in 1879 as the birth for psychology as an independent science. However this separation process can also be traced in other ways, like by focusing on how the two sciences approach and understand thinking. Although thinking and language were not included in the research in this laboratory, Wundt (1897) regarded thinking as the core of psychology. As a commentary to Papanicolaou (Integr Psychol Behav Sci doi:10.1007/s12124-014-9273-3, 2014), this paper investigates the differences in how psychology and philosophy conceptualized thinking in early Western modernity. Thus one of the findings is that the separation process between the two was more or less initiated by Immanuel Kant. By defining thinking in terms of the pure reason he excluded the psychological understanding of thinking because psychology basically defined thinking in terms of ideas derived from qualia and sensation. Another finding is that psychology itself has not completely realized the differences between the philosophical and the psychological understanding of thinking by having been influenced by Kant's ideal of the pure reason. This may also explain some of the crises psychology went through during the twentieth century.

At Forstå et Moderne Digt/To Understand a Modern Poem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schatz-Jakobsen, Claus

1998-01-01

Artiklen plæderer for at det at 'forstå et moderne digt' betyder noget radikalt andet nu end det gjorde for halvtreds år siden, da William Empson under overskriften 'To Understand a Modern Poem' udlagde et digt af Dylan Thomas - noget radikalt andet, både hvad angår 'det at forstå' og hvad angår...

Sales promotion and utilization of fuel. Engineering service of the heat industry for industrial companies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schoen, E. (Ruhrgas A.G., Essen (Germany, F.R.). Abt. E-F)

1978-01-01

The contribution illustrates, from the industrial viewpoint, how one may produce process heat rationally and make optimum use of it using natural gas and how competing fuels can be supplanted. The heat economy engineering activities of a modern gas supply undertaking and a few practical examples to improve the industrial produce structure are shown.

Anthropology and Multiple Modernities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomassen, Bjørn

“modernities” over the last 10 years, this paper wishes to address the analytical usefulness of this conceptual development. What is it about these concepts that make them useful as we try to capture the World today? Rather than providing any substantial definitions as to what those modernities are about (or...... what they are not about), anthropologists have used ethnographies to demonstrate how modernities are lived and constructed differently in different cultural contexts. To a very large extent, anthropologists intend these multiple modernities to refer to the interplay between local and global...... configurations. However, if the current pluralizing of modernity ultimately serves to describe the variety of cultural forms that co-exist in the World today, the analytical value of the concept risks being watered down, and little is gained in perspective. Arguably, other concepts would have served the purpose...

Progress on the Hanford K basins spent nuclear fuel project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Culley, G.E.; Fulton, J.C.; Gerber, E.W.

1996-01-01

This paper highlights progress made during the last year toward removing the Department of Energy's (DOE) approximately, 2,100 metric tons of metallic spent nuclear fuel from the two outdated K Basins at the Hanford Site and placing it in safe, economical interim dry storage. In the past year, the Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Project has engaged in an evolutionary process involving the customer, regulatory bodies, and the public that has resulted in a quicker, cheaper, and safer strategy for accomplishing that goal. Development and implementation of the Integrated Process Strategy for K Basins Fuel is as much a case study of modern project and business management within the regulatory system as it is a technical achievement. A year ago, the SNF Project developed the K Basins Path Forward that, beginning in December 1998, would move the spent nuclear fuel currently stored in the K Basins to a new Staging and Storage Facility by December 2000. The second stage of this $960 million two-stage plan would complete the project by conditioning the metallic fuel and placing it in interim dry storage by 2006. In accepting this plan, the DOE established goals that the fuel removal schedule be accelerated by a year, that fuel conditioning be closely coupled with fuel removal, and that the cost be reduced by at least $300 million. The SNF Project conducted coordinated engineering and technology studies over a three-month period that established the technical framework needed to design and construct facilities, and implement processes compatible with these goals. The result was the Integrated Process Strategy for K Basins Fuel. This strategy accomplishes the goals set forth by the DOE by beginning fuel removal a year earlier in December 1997, completing it by December 1999, beginning conditioning within six months of starting fuel removal, and accomplishes it for $340 million less than the previous Path Forward plan

Alternate fuels; Combustibles alternos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romero Paredes R, Hernando; Ambriz G, Juan Jose [Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana. Iztapalapa (Mexico)

2003-07-01

In the definition and description of alternate fuels we must center ourselves in those technological alternatives that allow to obtain compounds that differ from the traditional ones, in their forms to be obtained. In this article it is tried to give an overview of alternate fuels to the conventional derivatives of petroleum and that allow to have a clear idea on the tendencies of modern investigation and the technological developments that can be implemented in the short term. It is not pretended to include all the tendencies and developments of the present world, but those that can hit in a relatively short term, in accordance with agreed with the average life of conventional fuels. Nevertheless, most of the conversion principles are applicable to the spectrum of carbonaceous or cellulosic materials which are in nature, are cultivated or wastes of organic origin. Thus one will approach them in a successive way, the physical, chemical and biological conversions that can take place in a production process of an alternate fuel or the same direct use of the fuel such as burning the sweepings derived from the forests. [Spanish] En la definicion y descripcion de combustibles alternos nos debemos centrar en aquellas alternativas tecnologicas que permitan obtener compuestos que difieren de los tradicionales, al menos en sus formas de ser obtenidos. En este articulo se pretende dar un panorama de los combustibles alternos a los convencionales derivados del petroleo y que permita tener una idea clara sobre las tendencias de la investigacion moderna y los desarrollos tecnologicos que puedan ser implementados en el corto plazo. No se pretende abarcar todas las tendencias y desarrollos del mundo actual, sino aquellas que pueden impactar en un plazo relativamente corto, acordes con la vida media de los combustibles convencionales. Sin embargo, la mayor parte de los principios de conversion son aplicables al espectro de materiales carbonaceos o celulosicos los cuales se

Montreal Modern: Retro Culture and the Modern Past in Montreal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristian Handberg

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Through analyses of the retro scenes in Montreal, Canada, the article discusses retro culture's role as cultural memory. It is shown how Montreal's cultural identity is formed by memories of modern culture such as the Red-light and Sin City reputation of the illicit nightlife of the 1940s and 1950s, and the space age modernism of the 1960s following the Expo 67 and Quebec's Quiet Revolution. This is reflected in the city's thriving retro culture through the study of two groups of retro shops. In circulating specific memories and objects in a specific context, retro is an important negotiation of the past in the present. Especially, it is stated that the retro culture displays "local accents" and a new focus on the specificities of modern culture giving a revaluation to a previously overlooked identity such as the Quebecit.

Multi-unit Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) plants producing hydrogen fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Logan, B.G.

1993-12-01

A quantitative energy pathway comparison is made between a modern oil refinery and genetic fusion hydrogen plant supporting hybrid-electric cars powered by gasoline and hydrogen-optimized internal combustion engines, respectively, both meeting President Clinton's goal for advanced car goal of 80 mpg gasoline equivalent. The comparison shows that a fusion electric plant producing hydrogen by water electrolysis at 80% efficiency must have an electric capacity of 10 GWe to support as many hydrogen-powered hybrid cars as one modern 200,000 bbl/day-capacity oil refinery could support in gasoline-powered hybrid cars. A 10 GWe fusion electric plant capital cost is limited to 12.5 B$ to produce electricity at 2.3 cents/kWehr, and hydrogen production by electrolysis at 8 $/GJ, for equal consumer fuel cost per passenger mile as in the oil-gasoline-hybrid pathway

A life-cycle perspective on automotive fuel cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simons, Andrew; Bauer, Christian

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Individual inventories for each fuel cell system component, current and future. • Environmental and human health burdens from fuel cell production and end-of-life. • Comparison passenger transport in fuel cell and conventional vehicles. • Fuel cell can be more critical to overall burdens than hydrogen production. • Fuel cell developments require radical but possible changes to reduce burdens. - Abstract: The production and end-of-life (EoL) processes for current and future proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems for road passenger vehicle applications were analysed and quantified in the form of life cycle inventories. The current PEMFC technology is characterised by highly sensitive operating conditions and a high system mass. For each core component of PEMFC there are a range of materials under development and the research aimed to identify those considered realistic for a 2020 future scenario and according to commercial goals of achieving higher performance, increased power density, greater stability and a marked reduction of costs. End-of-life scenarios were developed in consideration of the materials at the focus of recovery efforts. The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) addressed the production and EoL of the fuel cell systems with inclusion of a sensitivity analysis to assess influences on the results from the key fuel cell parameters. The second part to the LCIA assessed the environmental and human health burdens from passenger transport in a fuel cell vehicle (FCV) with comparison between the 2012 and 2020 fuel cell scenarios and referenced to an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) of Euro5 emission standard. It was seen that whilst the drivetrain (and therefore the fuel cell system) is a major contributor to the emissions in all the indicators shown, the hydrogen use (and therefore the efficiency of the fuel cell system and the method of hydrogen production) can have a far greater influence on the environmental

Modernization and Refurbishment of the RECH-1 Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daie, J. [Nuclear Application Department, Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission (CCHEN), Santiago (Chile)

2014-08-15

The Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission (Comisión Chilena de Energía Nuclear, or CCHEN) has operated the RECH-1 research reactor since 1974. This reactor is located at La Reina Nuclear Centre in Santiago, Chile. It is a pool type reactor using LEU MTR fuel assemblies, light water as moderator and coolant, and beryllium as reflector. The reactor has been operated at the nominal power of 5 MW in a continuous shift of 20 hours per week, 48 weeks per year. The main utilizations of the RECH-1 reactor are radioisotope production and neutron activation analysis. Among the most relevant refurbishment and modernization campaigns undertaken at the reactor are: full core conversion to the use of LEU fuel, replacement of the cooling tower, improvement of the containment building by changing the doors and gates and by a better sealant for the penetrations, introduction of an additional source of water by connecting the raw water supply system to the emergency cooling system, improvement of the emergency ventilation system, introduction of a fire detection and alarm system for detection and mitigation to protect the I&C racks, introduction of a radioactive liquid release for those generated at the reactor, introduction of a delay tank degasification system and renewal of the environmental monitoring system. At present we are assessing the possibility of replacing the old analog electronics of control for new digital systems. Detailed descriptions of these diverse activities are presented in the paper. (author)

Influence of FGR complexity modelling on the practical results in gas pressure calculation of selected fuel elements from Dukovany NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lahodova, M.

2001-01-01

A modernization fuel system and advanced fuel for operation up to the high burnup are used in present time in Dukovany NPP. Reloading of the cores are evaluated using computer codes for thermomechanical behavior of the most loaded fuel rods. The paper presents results of parametric calculations performed by the NRI Rez integral code PIN, version 2000 (PIN2k) to assess influence of fission gas release modelling complexity on achieved results. The representative Dukovany NPP fuel rod irradiation history data are used and two cases of fuel parameter variables (soft and hard) are chosen for the comparison. Involved FGR models where the GASREL diffusion model developed in the NRI Rez plc and standard Weisman model that is recommended in the previous version of the PIN integral code. FGR calculation by PIN2k with GASREL model represents more realistic results than standard Weisman's model. Results for linear power, fuel centre temperature, FGR and gas pressure versus burnup are given for two fuel rods

Politics, Society and Communication in the Constitution of Modern Society: Early Modern England

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Devrim ÖZKAN

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The inception of Modern England comprises a hundred and fifty years between sixteenth and mid eighteenth centuries. The structural qualities of modern societies of this day occur in this era. The political and economic changes and transformations that England experienced in this period of time are in enormous scale. In this period all social structure and institutions experienced structural change in terms of cultural, economic and political processes. In addition to this in this period the framework of the international system regarding economy and politics is established too. Important qualities of current modern societies are the speed of communication and interaction between its elements, its transformational capacity and the extent of its scope. In this, it is possible to apprehend the basic cornerstones of today’s information and communication age by analyzing the early modern period of England

Pre-conceptual Development and characterization of an extruded graphite composite fuel for the TREAT Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luther, Erik; Rooyen, Isabella van; Leckie, Rafael; Papin, Pallas; Nelson, Andrew; Hunter, James

2015-03-01

In an effort to explore fuel systems that are more robust under accident scenarios, the DOE-NE has identified the need to resume transient testing. The Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) facility has been identified as the preferred option for the resumption of transient testing of nuclear fuel in the United States. In parallel, NNSA’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) Convert program is exploring the needs to replace the existing highly enriched uranium (HEU) core with low enriched uranium (LEU) core. In order to construct a new LEU core, materials and fabrication processes similar to those used in the initial core fabrication must be identified, developed and characterized. In this research, graphite matrix fuel blocks were extruded and materials properties of were measured. Initially the extrusion process followed the historic route; however, the project was expanded to explore methods to increase the graphite content of the fuel blocks and explore modern resins. Materials properties relevant to fuel performance including density, heat capacity and thermal diffusivity were measured. The relationship between process defects and materials properties will be discussed.

Early Modern Philosophical Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L. van Bunge (Wiep)

2014-01-01

textabstractThe occurrence of an entry on early modern philosophical systems in an encyclopaedia of Neo-Latin studies is fraught with complications, if only on account of the gradual disappearance during the early modern period of Latin as the main vehicle of philosophical communication. What

Modern examples of extinctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lövei, Gabor L

2013-01-01

No species lives forever, and extinction is the ultimate fate of all living species. The fossil record indicates that a recent extinction wave affecting terrestrial vertebrates was parallel with the arrival of modern humans to areas formerly uninhabited by them. These modern instances of extinction...

Fuel cell generator with fuel electrodes that control on-cell fuel reformation

Science.gov (United States)

Ruka, Roswell J [Pittsburgh, PA; Basel, Richard A [Pittsburgh, PA; Zhang, Gong [Murrysville, PA

2011-10-25

A fuel cell for a fuel cell generator including a housing including a gas flow path for receiving a fuel from a fuel source and directing the fuel across the fuel cell. The fuel cell includes an elongate member including opposing first and second ends and defining an interior cathode portion and an exterior anode portion. The interior cathode portion includes an electrode in contact with an oxidant flow path. The exterior anode portion includes an electrode in contact with the fuel in the gas flow path. The anode portion includes a catalyst material for effecting fuel reformation along the fuel cell between the opposing ends. A fuel reformation control layer is applied over the catalyst material for reducing a rate of fuel reformation on the fuel cell. The control layer effects a variable reformation rate along the length of the fuel cell.

Moderne elementær logik

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hendricks, Vincent Fella; Pedersen, Stig Andur

Alle mennesker er i stand til at udføre korrekte logiske slutninger, men vi gør os det sjældent klart, hvordan vi bærer os ad. Det kan logikken fortælle, og derfor spiller den en så vigtig rolle i mange moderne videnskaber. Moderne elementær logik tager læseren gennem den moderne logik og dens...

A Modern Education

OpenAIRE

Macfarlane, Alan

2015-01-01

What is western modernity and how did education help to shape that modernity? Through an examination of schooling in elite British institutions, Alan Macfarlane tries to answer these question, particularly to explain the choices facing China and other emerging superpowers. One section looks at his English education; society and power, play and performance, head and heart, spirit and character. Another looks at education more widely: how it shaped the English world, English and Continental Eur...

Real-time supervisor system based on trinary logic to control experiments with behaving animals and humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Kutz, D F; Marzocchi, N; Fattori, P; Cavalcanti, S; Galletti, C

2005-06-01

A new method is presented based on trinary logic able to check the state of different control variables and synchronously record the physiological and behavioral data of behaving animals and humans. The basic information structure of the method is a time interval of defined maximum duration, called time slice, during which the supervisor system periodically checks the status of a specific subset of input channels. An experimental condition is a sequence of time slices subsequently executed according to the final status of the previous time slice. The proposed method implements in its data structure the possibility to branch like an if-else cascade and the possibility to repeat parts of it recursively like the while-loop. Therefore its data structure contains the most basic control structures of programming languages. The method was implemented using a real-time version of LabVIEW programming environment to program and control our experimental setup. Using this supervision system, we synchronously record four analog data channels at 500 Hz (including eye movements) and the time stamps of up to six neurons at 100 kHz. The system reacts with a resolution within 1 ms to changes of state of digital input channels. The system is set to react to changes in eye position with a resolution within 4 ms. The time slices, experimental conditions, and data are handled by relational databases. This facilitates the construction of new experimental conditions and data analysis. The proposed implementation allows continuous recording without an inter-trial gap for data storage or task management. The implementation can be used to drive electrophysiological experiments of behaving animals and psychophysical studies with human subjects.

Construction and evaluation of a fuel cell prototype (proton exchange fuel cell); Construccion y evaluacion de un prototipo de celda a combustible (proton exchange fuel cell)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Da Silva, L. [Laboratorio de Pesquisa em Energia - LAPEN, Universidade do Vale do Itajai, São Jose, SC (Brasil)] e-mail: luciano.silva@univali.br; Paula, M.M.S.; Fiori, M [Lasicom, Universidade do Extremos Sul Catarinense (UNESC), Criciuma, S.C. (Brasil); Benavides, R. [Centro de Investigacion en Quimica Aplicada (CIQA), Saltillo, Coahuila (Mexico); Santos, V. [Laboratorio de Pesquisa em Energia - LAPEN, Universidade do Vale do Itajai, São Jose, SC (Brasil)

2009-09-15

Because electric energy is a vitally important material for the development of the country, this work is aimed at offering an alternative methodology for the construction and operational demonstration of a PEMFC fuel cell. Recently discovered natural gas reserves can be exploited using modern methods and its use fulfills generation, distribution and low environmental impact priorities. All these factors can be observed with the use of fuel cells, especially when working with reformed natural gas. In addition to its low environmental impact during the generation of this energy, the use of fuel cells reflects a generator source that can be located with the consumer, further reducing problems created by transmission lines, fuel transport, etc. Fuel cells are receiving a great deal of attention from the international community and some models are already commercially available. They are showing excellent possibilities for becoming one of the future technologies to generate electric energy with low environmental impact. [Spanish] En funcion de la necesidad de energia electrica como insumo de vital importancia para el desarrollo del pais, este trabajo pretende ofrecer una metodologia alternativa para la construccion y demostracion operacional de una celda a combustible del tipo PEMFC. La explotacion de las reservas de gas natural descubiertas recientemente puede realizarse a traves de metodos modernos y su uso tiene las prioridades de generacion, distribucion y bajo impacto ambiental. Todos estos aspectos se pueden observar dentro del uso de celdas a combustible, especialmente cuando se trabaja con gas natural reformado. Ademas del factor de bajo impacto ambiental durante la misma generacion de energia, el uso de las celdas a combustible involucra una fuente generadora, que puede colocarse junto al consumidor, reduciendo aun mas los problemas generados por las lineas de transmision, el transporte del combustible, etc. Las celdas a combustible estan recibiendo una gran

Adult learning in modernity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Palle

2007-01-01

The paper discusses the conditions for the growth of adult education in modern societies. It is argued that in modern adult life individual biographical reflection plays an increasing role, not only for educational and occupational choice but also in the process of identity formation and emotional...

Simulation of fuel demand for wood-gas in combustion engine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Botwinska Katarzyna

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the era of the oil crisis and proceeding contamination of the natural environment, it is attempted to substitute fossil raw materials with alternative carriers. For many years, road transport has been considered as one of the main sources of the substances deteriorating air quality. Applicable European directives oblige the member states to implement biofuels and biocomponents into the general fuel market, however, such process is proceeding gradually and relatively slowly. So far, alternative fuels have been used on a large scale to substitute diesel fuel or petrol. Derivatives of vegetable raw materials, such as vegetable oils or their esters and ethanol extracted from biomass, are used to that end. It has been noticed that there is no alternative to LPG which, due to financial reasons, is more and more popular as fuel in passenger cars. In relation to solutions adopted in the past, it has been decided to analyse the option of powering a modern passenger car with wood gas - syngas. Such fuel has been practically used since the 1920's. To that end, a computer simulation created in SciLab environment was carried out. Passenger car Fiat Seicento, fitted with Fire 1.1 8V petrol engine with power of 40kW, whose parameters were used to prepare the model, was selected as the model vehicle. The simulation allows the determination of engine demand on the given fuel. Apart from the wood gas included in the title, petrol, methane and LPG were used. Additionally, the created model enables the determination of the engine power at the time of the indicated fuels supply. The results obtained in the simulation revealed considerable decrease in the engine power when the wood gas was supplied and the increased consumption of this fuel. On the basis of the analysis of the professional literature describing numerous inconveniences connected with the use of this fuel as well as the obtained results, it has been established that using the wood gas as alternative

Simulation of fuel demand for wood-gas in combustion engine

Science.gov (United States)

Botwinska, Katarzyna; Mruk, Remigiusz; Tucki, Karol; Wata, Mateusz

2017-10-01

In the era of the oil crisis and proceeding contamination of the natural environment, it is attempted to substitute fossil raw materials with alternative carriers. For many years, road transport has been considered as one of the main sources of the substances deteriorating air quality. Applicable European directives oblige the member states to implement biofuels and biocomponents into the general fuel market, however, such process is proceeding gradually and relatively slowly. So far, alternative fuels have been used on a large scale to substitute diesel fuel or petrol. Derivatives of vegetable raw materials, such as vegetable oils or their esters and ethanol extracted from biomass, are used to that end. It has been noticed that there is no alternative to LPG which, due to financial reasons, is more and more popular as fuel in passenger cars. In relation to solutions adopted in the past, it has been decided to analyse the option of powering a modern passenger car with wood gas - syngas. Such fuel has been practically used since the 1920's. To that end, a computer simulation created in SciLab environment was carried out. Passenger car Fiat Seicento, fitted with Fire 1.1 8V petrol engine with power of 40kW, whose parameters were used to prepare the model, was selected as the model vehicle. The simulation allows the determination of engine demand on the given fuel. Apart from the wood gas included in the title, petrol, methane and LPG were used. Additionally, the created model enables the determination of the engine power at the time of the indicated fuels supply. The results obtained in the simulation revealed considerable decrease in the engine power when the wood gas was supplied and the increased consumption of this fuel. On the basis of the analysis of the professional literature describing numerous inconveniences connected with the use of this fuel as well as the obtained results, it has been established that using the wood gas as alternative fuel is currently

Numerical Investigation on Sensitivity of Liquid Jet Breakup to Physical Fuel Properties with Experimental Comparison

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dokyun; Bravo, Luis; Matusik, Katarzyna; Duke, Daniel; Kastengren, Alan; Swantek, Andy; Powell, Christopher; Ham, Frank

2016-11-01

One of the major concerns in modern direct injection engines is the sensitivity of engine performance to fuel characteristics. Recent works have shown that even slight differences in fuel properties can cause significant changes in efficiency and emission of an engine. Since the combustion process is very sensitive to the fuel/air mixture formation resulting from disintegration of liquid jet, the precise assessment of fuel sensitivity on liquid jet atomization process is required first to study the impact of different fuels on the combustion. In the present study, the breaking process of a liquid jet from a diesel injector injecting into a quiescent gas chamber is investigated numerically and experimentally for different liquid fuels (n-dodecane, iso-octane, CAT A2 and C3). The unsplit geometric Volume-of-Fluid method is employed to capture the phase interface in Large-eddy simulations and results are compared against the radiography measurement from Argonne National Lab including jet penetration, liquid mass distribution and volume fraction. The breakup characteristics will be shown for different fuels as well as droplet PDF statistics to demonstrate the influences of the physical properties on the primary atomization of liquid jet. Supported by HPCMP FRONTIER award, US DOD, Office of the Army.

Fuel and nuclear fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prunier, C.

1998-01-01

The nuclear fuel is studied in detail, the best choice and why in relation with the type of reactor, the properties of the fuel cans, the choice of fuel materials. An important part is granted to the fuel assembly of PWR type reactor and the performances of nuclear fuels are tackled. The different subjects for research and development are discussed and this article ends with the particular situation of mixed oxide fuels ( materials, behavior, efficiency). (N.C.)

Liquid Modernity & Late Capitalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Claus D.

In Liquid Modernity, Bauman portrays Adorno and the rest of the early Frankfurt School as sociologists and thinkers belonging to the ‘heavy’ phase of modernity. In other words, they are deemed irrelevant to the discussion of current sociological time diagnoses and the purpose of critique under co...

Being a Modern Human: essentialist and hierarchical approaches to the emergence of 'modern human behaviour'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Terry Hopkinson

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The emergence of the modern human mind and modern human behaviour is a prominent issue in palaeolithic archaeology. The consensus has been that modernity, understood in terms of increased rates of innovation and the emergence of symbolism, is enabled by a heritable neurophysiology unique to Homo sapiens. This consensus is characterised as biological essentialist in that it understands modernity as genotypically specified and unique to Homo sapiens. 'Archaic' hominins such as the Neanderthals are understood to have lacked the modern neuroanatomical genotype and therefore to have been innately incapable of modern cognition and behaviour. The biological-essentialist programme, however, is facing a serious challenge as evidence for innovation and symbolism is found in the archaeological records of the Eurasian Middle Palaeolithic and the African Middle Stone Age. An alternative programme is emerging that understands modern human behaviour as an emergent property of social, demographic and ecological dynamics. It is argued that this programme is currently inadequate since it cannot explain the emergence of symbolically charged material culture and relies on inexorable long-term population growth. It is suggested here that the problem is better understood in terms of hierarchy theory, a body of ideas concerned with systems organised on multiple scales. Palaeolithic behaviour is reconceptualised as social practice emerging from a multi-scale knowledge system. It is shown that enhancements in the rate at which knowledgeable practices disseminate through social fields – the social transmission of knowledge - will have the effect of increasing the likelihood that novel practices will be incorporated into long-term structuring principles and thus become persistent practices. They will also effect a scalar convergence of domains of knowledgeability such that technical practices become incorporated into the construction of personhood as meaningful or

A dynamic, dependent type system for nuclear fuel cycle code generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scopatz, A. [The University of Chicago 5754 S. Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)

2013-07-01

The nuclear fuel cycle may be interpreted as a network or graph, thus allowing methods from formal graph theory to be used. Nodes are often idealized as nuclear fuel cycle facilities (reactors, enrichment cascades, deep geologic repositories). With the advent of modern object-oriented programming languages - and fuel cycle simulators implemented in these languages - it is natural to define a class hierarchy of facility types. Bright is a quasi-static simulator, meaning that the number of material passes through a facility is tracked rather than natural time. Bright is implemented as a C++ library that models many canonical components such as reactors, storage facilities, and more. Cyclus is a discrete time simulator, meaning that natural time is tracked through out the simulation. Therefore a robust, dependent type system was developed to enable inter-operability between Bright and Cyclus. This system is capable of representing any fuel cycle facility. Types declared in this system can then be used to automatically generate code which binds a facility implementation to a simulator front end. Facility model wrappers may be used either internally to a fuel cycle simulator or as a mechanism for inter-operating multiple simulators. While such a tool has many potential use cases it has two main purposes: enabling easy performance of code-to-code comparisons and the verification and the validation of user input.

STEADY STATE PERFORMANCES ANALYSIS OF MODERN MARINE TWO-STROKE LOW SPEED DIESEL ENGINE USING MLP NEURAL NETWORK MODEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ozren Bukovac

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Compared to the other marine engines for ship propulsion, turbocharged two-stroke low speed diesel engines have advantages due to their high efficiency and reliability. Modern low speed ”intelligent” marine diesel engines have a flexibility in its operation due to the variable fuel injection strategy and management of the exhaust valve drive. This paper carried out verified zerodimensional numerical simulations which have been used for MLP (Multilayer Perceptron neural network predictions of marine two-stroke low speed diesel engine steady state performances. The developed MLP neural network was used for marine engine optimized operation control. The paper presents an example of achieving lowest specific fuel consumption and for minimization of the cylinder process highest temperature for reducing NOx emission. Also, the developed neural network was used to achieve optimal exhaust gases heat flow for utilization. The obtained data maps give insight into the optimal working areas of simulated marine diesel engine, depending on the selected start of the fuel injection (SOI and the time of the exhaust valve opening (EVO.

Future contracts in the nuclear fuel industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuller, D.M.

1995-01-01

In a modern futures market, standardized contracts for future delivery of a commodity are traded through an exchange that establishes contract terms and the rules of trading. The futures contract itself is simply an agreement between a buyer and a seller in which the seller is obligated to deliver and the buyer is obligated to accept a predetermined quantity of a specified commodity at a given location on a certain date in the future for a set price. Organized futures markets aid in price discovery; provide a risk management tool for those with commercial interests in a commodity; create speculative opportunities; and contribute to competitiveness, efficiency, and fairness in trading. There are, at present, no standardized futures contracts in the nuclear fuel industry, although the concept has been discovered for years. The idea has been raised again recently in relation to the disposition of Russian uranium. Some adaptation of traditional futures contracts, traded on an exchange composed of nuclear fuel industry participants, could provide many of the benefits found in other commodity futures markets

Spallation as a dominant source of pusher-fuel and hot-spot mix in inertial confinement fusion capsules

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Charles D.

2016-02-01

We suggest that a potentially dominant but previously neglected source of pusher-fuel and hot-spot "mix" may have been the main degradation mechanism for fusion energy yields of modern inertial confinement fusion (ICF) capsules designed and fielded to achieve high yields—not hydrodynamic instabilities. This potentially dominant mix source is the spallation of small chunks or "grains" of pusher material into the fuel regions whenever (1) the solid material adjacent to the fuel changes its phase by nucleation and (2) this solid material spalls under shock loading and sudden decompression. We describe this mix mechanism, support it with simulations and experimental evidence, and explain how to eliminate it and thereby allow higher yields for ICF capsules and possibly ignition at the National Ignition Facility.

Reactor fuel reliability constraints on power shape control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gelhaus, F.; Hallam, J.; Sauar, T.

1977-01-01

The level of reliability of fuel rods operating in commercial nuclear power plants has been less than desired for a number of reasons. Several of these causes have been successfully minimized, but pellet-clad interaction failures persist. Since power and power change are dominant parameters in this failure mode, restrictions on operational maneuvers have been recommended by all U. S. fuel suppliers. Slower-than-design allowable maneuvers decrease the plant capacity factor, which can cost a utility up to $7 million per year per plant. To assist utility engineering and operations personnel in their day-to-day decisions in this regard, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is initiating a project, designated RP895, to develop a fully computerized Power Shape Monitoring System (PSMS) for core-wide fuel rod reliability prediction. This paper describes the PSMS system and details some of the hardware/software requirements as they are now perceived. Salient results from a just-completed complementary EPRI-funded study, RP509, are described; this effort employed hand data acquisition and many man-machine interfaces that will be fully integrated and automated in the PSMS. The capabilities of the PSMS will derive from the use of modern minicomputer hardware and software and from accurate computational modules that enable near-real-time predictive capability

Coated particle fuel for high temperature gas cooled reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verfondern, Karl; Nabielek, Heinz [Research Center Julich (FZJ), Julich (Germany); Kendall, James M. [Global Virtual L1c, Prescott (United States)

2007-10-15

applications at 850-900 .deg. C and for process heat/hydrogen generation applications with 950 .deg. C outlet temperatures. There is a clear set of standards for modern high quality fuel in terms of low levels of heavy metal contamination, manufacture-induced particle defects during fuel body and fuel element making, irradiation/accident induced particle failures and limits on fission product release from intact particles. While gas-cooled reactor design is still open-ended with blocks for the prismatic and spherical fuel elements for the pebble-bed design, there is near worldwide agreement on high quality fuel: a 500 {mu}m diameter UO{sub 2} kernel of 10% enrichment is surrounded by a 100 {mu}m thick sacrificial buffer layer to be followed by a dense inner pyrocarbon layer, a high quality silicon carbide layer of 35 {mu}m thickness and theoretical density and another outer pyrocarbon layer. Good performance has been demonstrated both under operational and under accident conditions, i.e. to 10% FIMA and maximum 1600 .deg. C afterwards. And it is the wide-ranging demonstration experience that makes this particle superior. Recommendations are made for further work: 1. Generation of data for presently manufactured materials, e.g. SiC strength and strength distribution, PyC creep and shrinkage and many more material data sets. 2. Renewed start of irradiation and accident testing of modern coated particle fuel. 3. Analysis of existing and newly created data with a view to demonstrate satisfactory performance at burnups beyond 10% FIMA and complete fission product retention even in accidents that go beyond 1600 .deg. C for a short period of time. This work should proceed at both national and international level.

Coated particle fuel for high temperature gas cooled reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verfondern, Karl; Nabielek, Heinz; Kendall, James M.

2007-01-01

and for process heat/hydrogen generation applications with 950 .deg. C outlet temperatures. There is a clear set of standards for modern high quality fuel in terms of low levels of heavy metal contamination, manufacture-induced particle defects during fuel body and fuel element making, irradiation/accident induced particle failures and limits on fission product release from intact particles. While gas-cooled reactor design is still open-ended with blocks for the prismatic and spherical fuel elements for the pebble-bed design, there is near worldwide agreement on high quality fuel: a 500 μm diameter UO 2 kernel of 10% enrichment is surrounded by a 100 μm thick sacrificial buffer layer to be followed by a dense inner pyrocarbon layer, a high quality silicon carbide layer of 35 μm thickness and theoretical density and another outer pyrocarbon layer. Good performance has been demonstrated both under operational and under accident conditions, i.e. to 10% FIMA and maximum 1600 .deg. C afterwards. And it is the wide-ranging demonstration experience that makes this particle superior. Recommendations are made for further work: 1. Generation of data for presently manufactured materials, e.g. SiC strength and strength distribution, PyC creep and shrinkage and many more material data sets. 2. Renewed start of irradiation and accident testing of modern coated particle fuel. 3. Analysis of existing and newly created data with a view to demonstrate satisfactory performance at burnups beyond 10% FIMA and complete fission product retention even in accidents that go beyond 1600 .deg. C for a short period of time. This work should proceed at both national and international level

The Modern Programme and the Linear City

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauberg, Jørgen

2011-01-01

The Modern Programme and the linear City If a single argument were to be provided for a current review of architecture, modernism and Le Corbusier, it would have to be the concept of sustainable development. Today, there is broad consensus that sustainable development will set the agenda for the 21......st century, and architecture will play a decisive role in this development. The question of sustainability adds modernism to the agenda anew, especially heroic modernism, the circle of CIAM and Le Corbusier, whom from the beginning placed the dwelling and the city in a sustainable framework – a pact...... an unfinished and dynamic project. Modernism is history – and present. We have not yet seen modernism's successor, but note that the question of sustainability contains the potential for the next paradigm shift, the next architectural revolution – with modernism and the modern programme as a good foundation...

Art of Crisis: Modern or Postmodern?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentina Hribar Sorčan

2013-06-01

Full Text Available According to the last book of Peter V. Zima Modern/Postmodern (2010 modernism/modernity, postmodernism/postmodernity is once again a subject of reflection in contemporary aesthetics. It attempts to examine those concept not only in artistic, stylistic way, but also from the other points of view: historical, political, social, ideological. I would like to reveal a thesis that a distance of last decade or two we recognise that we are more and more from the spirit of postmodernism/postmodernity and that we open some problem once again that modernity had in the centre of its reflection: identity of subject, sense of existence, the feeling of crisis: the art of crisis. Does it mean a return of some points of modernism/modernity? I will try to answer to this questions by inviting to a discussion also other contemporary thinkers (Jean-Luc Nancy, Alain Badiou, and Jacques Rancière.

A feasibility study on the use of the MOOSE computational framework to simulate three-dimensional deformation of CANDU reactor fuel elements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gamble, Kyle A., E-mail: Kyle.Gamble@inl.gov [Royal Military College of Canada, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, 13 General Crerar Crescent, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7K 7B4 (Canada); Williams, Anthony F., E-mail: Tony.Williams@cnl.ca [Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Fuel and Fuel Channel Safety, 1 Plant Road, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada K0J 1J0 (Canada); Chan, Paul K., E-mail: Paul.Chan@rmc.ca [Royal Military College of Canada, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, 13 General Crerar Crescent, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7K 7B4 (Canada); Wowk, Diane, E-mail: Diane.Wowk@rmc.ca [Royal Military College of Canada, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 13 General Crerar Crescent, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7K 7B4 (Canada)

2015-11-15

Highlights: • This is the first demonstration of using the MOOSE framework for modeling CANDU fuel. • Glued and frictionless contact algorithms behave as expected for 2D and 3D cases. • MOOSE accepts and correctly interprets functions of arbitrary form. • 3D deformation calculations accurately compare against analytical solutions. • MOOSE is a viable simulation tool for modeling accident reactor conditions. - Abstract: Horizontally oriented fuel bundles, such as those in CANada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors present unique modeling challenges. After long irradiation times or during severe transients the fuel elements can laterally deform out of plane due to processes known as bow and sag. Bowing is a thermally driven process that causes the fuel elements to laterally deform when a temperature gradient develops across the diameter of the element. Sagging is a coupled mechanical and thermal process caused by deformation of the fuel pin due to creep mechanisms of the sheathing after long irradiation times and or high temperatures. These out-of-plane deformations can lead to reduced coolant flow and a reduction in coolability of the fuel bundle. In extreme cases element-to-element or element-to-pressure tube contact could occur leading to reduced coolant flow in the subchannels or pressure tube rupture leading to a loss of coolant accident. This paper evaluates the capability of the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework developed at the Idaho National Laboratory to model these deformation mechanisms. The material model capabilities of MOOSE and its ability to simulate contact are also investigated.

Gellnerovo pojetí modernity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiří Musil

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Gellner’s theory of modernity is a complex structure, it matured several decades and during this process he modified some of its elements. The following interpretation of his theory is based on the analysis of three pillars of his thought, first on his epistemological axioms, second on his concept of philosophy of human history and third on his conception of social theory. Gellner’s theory of knowledge is a cluster composed of classical empiricism, kantian rationalism, enriched by weberian understanding of historical modifications of rationalism in modern times. Gellner adds to these two pillars his concept of cultural perspectivism and his interpretation of evolutionism, so called truncated evolutionism that concentrates on the emergence of modernity. Gellner’s philosophy of history is based on his analysis of interaction between three basic functional entities of all human societies: economy, power, knowledge. Gellner rather carefully analyzed as well the relationship between the role of material and ideational factors in human history, and between sociological analyses based on causal. In his view sociology has to use both approaches. Gellner is stressing the fact that to the most important elements of modernity belongs science, but at the same time he is fully aware of the fact that science can not tell us “what to do”. Here he follows Max Weber’s thesis on the disenchantment as an element of modernity.

Network technology for depot modernization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hostick, C.J.

1990-12-01

This report was prepared by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory to summarize existing and emerging information system technology and standards applicable to Depot System Command (DESCOM) modernization efforts. The intent of this summarization is to provide the Revitalization of Army Depots for the Year 2000 (READY 2000) team a clear understanding of the enabling information system technologies required to support effective modernization activities. Much of the information contained in this report was acquired during the last year in support of the US Army Armament, Munitions, and Chemical Command (AMCCOM) Facility Integrated Manufacturing Management System (FIMMS) project at PNL, which is targeting the modernization of plant-wide information systems at Army Ammunition Plants. The objective of information system modernization is to improve the effectiveness of an organization in performing its mission. Information system modernization strives to meet this objective by creating an environment where data is electronically captured near the source and readily available to all areas of the organization. Advanced networks, together with related information system technology, are the enabling mechanisms that make modern information system infrastructures possible. The intent of this paper is to present an overview of advanced information system network technology to support depot modernization planners in making technology management decisions. Existing and emerging Open System Interconnection (OSI) and Government Open System Interconnection Profile (GOSIP) standards are explained, as well as a brief assessment of existing products compliant with these standards. Finally, recommendations for achieving plant-wide integration using existing products are presented, and migration strategies for full OSI compliance are introduced. 5 refs., 16 figs. (JF)

A database system for enhancing fuel records management capabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rieke, Phil; Razvi, Junaid

1994-01-01

The need to modernize the system of managing a large variety of fuel related data at the TRIGA Reactors Facility at General Atomics, as well as the need to improve NRC nuclear material reporting requirements, prompted the development of a database to cover all aspects of fuel records management. The TRIGA Fuel Database replaces (a) an index card system used for recording fuel movements, (b) hand calculations for uranium burnup, and (c) a somewhat aged and cumbersome system of recording fuel inspection results. It was developed using Microsoft Access, a relational database system for Windows. Instead of relying on various sources for element information, users may now review individual element statistics, record inspection results, calculate element burnup and more, all from within a single application. Taking full advantage of the ease-of-use features designed in to Windows and Access, the user can enter and extract information easily through a number of customized on screen forms, with a wide variety of reporting options available. All forms are accessed through a main 'Options' screen, with the options broken down by categories, including 'Elements', 'Special Elements/Devices', 'Control Rods' and 'Areas'. Relational integrity and data validation rules are enforced to assist in ensuring accurate and meaningful data is entered. Among other items, the database lets the user define: element types (such as FLIP or standard) and subtypes (such as fuel follower, instrumented, etc.), various inspection codes for standardizing inspection results, areas within the facility where elements are located, and the power factors associated with element positions within a reactor. Using fuel moves, power history, power factors and element types, the database tracks uranium burnup and plutonium buildup on a quarterly basis. The Fuel Database was designed with end-users in mind and does not force an operations oriented user to learn any programming or relational database theory in

Data for modern boilers used in co-combustion; Moderna panndata inom samfoerbraenning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thorson, Ola [S.E.P. Scandinavian Energy Project AB, Goeteborg (Sweden)

2004-04-01

This project is a survey and a description of today's technical status and future development trends in the field of co-combustion. The survey is done from an energy production company's point of view and two technical questions have been studied; the possibilities for high steam data and the possibilities for a wide load range. These parameters are limited by the corrosive properties of the fuel and the environmental requirements in the EU directive for combustion of waste. In the report following issues are discussed: Examples of and experiences from co-combustion plants and plants that combust problematic fuels and have high steam data. A future prospect of high steam data in co-combustion plants by the usage of modern technical solutions and a description of these solutions. Important research and development results from combustion of problematic fuels in combination with high steam data. Choice of firing technology, boiler design and auxiliary systems and its affection on the load range in a boiler for co-combustion. A literature survey has been done to get the latest results from combustion of problematic fuels. Then a number of interesting plants have been identified and facts about them have been collected by contacts with plant owners, suppliers and professional researchers and also through publications. The report shows that Sweden, Finland and Denmark are in the front line of using high steam data for co-combustion of biomass and waste fuels. There are/have been problems with superheater corrosion in many of these plants but a number of ways how to handle high steam data have been identified: Adjust the fuel mix or add additives; Use high alloy materials; Consider the final super heater as a part that is worn out by time; Place the final super heater in the particle loop seal/sand locker; Use an external separate fired super heater; Gasification and then co-combustion of the pyrolysis gas in a conventional existing boiler; Place the

Why consumers behave as they do with respect to food safety and risk information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verbeke, Wim; Frewer, Lynn J.; Scholderer, Joachim

2007-01-01

rankings. The aim of this contribution is to provide a better understanding to food risk analysts of why consumers behave as they do with respect to food safety and risk information. This paper presents some cases of seemingly irrational and inconsistent consumer behaviour with respect to food safety...... and risk information and provides explanations for these behaviours based on the nature of the risk and individual psychological processes. Potential solutions for rebuilding consumer confidence in food safety and bridging between lay and expert opinions towards food risks are reviewed. These include......In recent years, it seems that consumers are generally uncertain about the safety and quality of their food and their risk perception differs substantially from that of experts. Hormone and veterinary drug residues in meat persist to occupy a high position in European consumers' food concern...

Mod den moderne skole

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vindum, Kjeld; Birk Morgen, Pernille

2003-01-01

Gennemgang af fem skoler som eksemplificerer væsentlige udviklingstrin i overgangen fra det sene 1800 tals etageskolebygninger til det moderne skolebyggeris gennemsalg i 1930erne.......Gennemgang af fem skoler som eksemplificerer væsentlige udviklingstrin i overgangen fra det sene 1800 tals etageskolebygninger til det moderne skolebyggeris gennemsalg i 1930erne....

A parametric thermohydraulic study an advanced pressurized light water reactor with a tight fuel rod lattice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalle Donne, M.; Hame, W.

1982-12-01

A parametric thermohydraulic study for an Advanced Pressurized Light Water Reactor (APWR) with a tight fuel rod lattice has been performed. The APWR improves the uranium utilisation. The APWR core should be placed in a modern German PWR plant. Within this study about 200 different reactors have been calculated. The tightening of the fuel rod lattice implies a decrease of the net electrical output of the plant, which is greater for the heterogeneous reactor than for the homogeneous reactor. APWR cores mean higher core pressure drops and higher water velocities in the core region. The cores tend to be shorter and the number of fuel rods to be higher than for the PWR. At the higher fuel rod pitch to diameter ratios (p/d) the DNB limitation is more stringent than the limitation on the fuel rod linear rating given by the necessity of reflooding after a reactor accident. The contrary is true for the lower p/d ratios. Subcooled boiling in the highest rated coolant channels occurs for the most of the calculated reactors. (orig.) [de

Modernity vs. modernism in Istanbul : The culture of rupture and the state of exception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brosens, P.; Bedir, M.

2014-01-01

The modernity concept originated in western theoretical/philosophical thought. Characterised by secular, scientific, social and economic developments, it significantly affected arts and architecture. Modernism, its 20th century cultural outcome, was heterogeneous in nature and commonly related to

HTGR fuel and fuel cycle technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lotts, A.L.; Homan, F.J.; Balthesen, E.; Turner, R.F.

1977-01-01

Significant advances have occurred in the development of HTGR fuel and fuel cycle. These accomplishments permit a wide choice of fuel designs, reactor concepts, and fuel cycles. Fuels capable of providing helium outlet temperatures of 750 0 C are available, and fuels capable of 1000 0 C outlet temperatures may be expected from extension of present technology. Fuels have been developed for two basic HTGR designs, one using a spherical (pebble bed) element and the other a prismatic element. Within each concept a number of variations of geometry, fuel composition, and structural materials are permitted. Potential fuel cycles include both low-enriched and high-enriched Th- 235 U, recycle Th- 233 U, and Th-Pu or U-Pu cycles. This flexibility offered by the HTGR is of great practical benefit considering the rapidly changing economics of power production. The inflation of ore prices has increased optimum conversion ratios, and increased the necessity of fuel recycle at an early date. Fuel element makeup is very similar for prismatic and spherical designs. Both use spherical fissile and fertile particles coated with combinations of pyrolytic carbon and silicon carbide. Both use carbonaceous binder materials, and graphite as the structural material. Weak-acid resin (WAR) UO 2 -UC 2 fissile fuels and sol-gel-derived ThO 2 fertile fuels have been selected for the Th- 233 U cycle in the prismatic design. Sol-gel-derived UO 2 UC 2 is the reference fissile fuel for the low-enriched pebble bed design. Both the United States and Federal Republic of Germany are developing technology for fuel cycle operations including fabrication, reprocessing, refabrication, and waste handling. Feasibility of basic processes has been established and designs developed for full-scale equipment. Fuel and fuel cycle technology provide the basis for a broad range of applications of the HTGR. Extension of the fuels to higher operating temperatures and development and commercial demonstration of fuel

Autoignition characterization of primary reference fuels and n-heptane/n-butanol mixtures in a constant volume combustion device and homogeneous charge compression ignition engine

KAUST Repository

Baumgardner, Marc E.

2013-12-19

In this study, the autoignition behavior of primary reference fuels (PRF) and blends of n-heptane/n-butanol were examined in a Waukesha Fuel Ignition Tester (FIT) and a Homogeneous Charge Compression Engine (HCCI). Fourteen different blends of iso-octane, n-heptane, and n-butanol were tested in the FIT - 28 test runs with 25 ignition measurements for each test run, totaling 350 individual tests in all. These experimental results supported previous findings that fuel blends with high alcohol content can exhibit very different ignition delay periods than similarly blended reference fuels. The experiments further showed that n-butanol blends behaved unlike PRF blends when comparing the autoignition behavior as a function of the percentage of low reactivity component. The HCCI and FIT experimental results favorably compared against single and multizone models with detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms - both an existing mechanism as well as one developed during this study were used. The experimental and modeling results suggest that that the FIT instrument is a valuable tool for analysis of high pressure, low temperature chemistry, and autoignition for future fuels in advanced combustion engines. Additionally, in both the FIT and engine experiments the fraction of low temperature heat release (fLTHR) was found to correlate very well with the crank angle of maximum heat release and shows promise as a useful metric for fuel reactivity in advanced combustion applications. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

ORNL capability to conduct post irradiation examination of full-length commercial nuclear fuel rods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spellman, Donald J.

2007-01-01

Hot cells at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are nearing completion of a multi-year upgrade program to implement 21. century capabilities to meet the examination demands for higher burnup fuels and the future demands that will come from fuel recycling programs. Fuel reliability and zero tolerance for fuel failure is more than an industry goal. Fuel reliability is becoming a requirement that supports the renaissance of nuclear power generation. Thus, fuel development and management of new forms of waste that will come from programs such as the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) will require extensive use of the flexible, high-quality, technically advanced hot cells at ORNL. ORNL has the capability to perform post irradiation examination (PIE) of irradiated commercial nuclear fuel rods and the management structure to ensure a timely, cost-effective result. ORNL can: 1) Handle the transportation issues, 2) Perform macroscopic fuel rod examinations, 3) Perform microscopic fuel and clad examinations, and 4) Manage legacy material and waste disposal issues from PIE activities. All four of these items will be managed in a way that allows the customer day-to-day access to the results and data. Hot cell examination equipment that is necessary to determine the characteristics and performance of irradiated materials must operate in a hostile environment and is subject to long-term degradation that may result in reliability and quality assurance (QA) issues. ORNL has modernized its hot cell nuclear fuel examination equipment, installing state-of-the-art automated examination equipment and data gathering capabilities. ORNL is planning a major commitment to nuclear fuel examination and development, and future improvements will continue to be made over the next few years. (author)

Fuel for new Russian reactor VVER-1200

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vasilchenko, Ivan Nikitovich [GRPress, 21, Ordzhonikidze Street, 142103 Podolsk, Moscow region (Russian Federation)

2009-06-15

guiding channels and spacing grids. The spacing grid is made of the honeycomb cells welded to each other by resistance welding. The grid height is increased to prevent warping under thermomechanical influence of fuel rod bundle. Due to improvement in design of FA top and bottom parts the height of fuel rods and, accordingly, of the core is increased. The fuel assembly contains the easily removed top nozzle, joined to the guiding channels. The fuel rod end pieces are installed into the lower steel grid. The number and structure of grids assure absence of fuel rod fretting wear. Stream-lined and rigid structure of grids ensures a possibility of performing the handling procedures at increased rate. As, for instance, the core loading and unloading can be performed at the rate to 4 m/min that makes reduction in the reactor refueling time and increase in load factor. The alloy E-110, the same as in the prototype, is used as the fuel rod cladding material. Its high corrosion resistance is known also at increased parameters of new reactor. To improve the operational reliability of assemblies the design of anti-debris filter is developed. Results of FA operation show that there is not only a geometrical stability of the structure, but also a high residual life. The same is referred to fuel rods as well. All these factors made it possible to start implementation of the program of operating Units power increase and transition to longer fuel cycles at Russian NPPs with such type of reactors. A complete set of TVS-2M is under fabrication for the first loading of Unit 2, Rostov NPP, to be commissioned. Increase in the core height required modernization of ICIS. This experience makes it possible to use such a structure for AES-2006 with a back-fit. The attractive feature of TVS-2M type structure is its ease of manufacture, a high degree of automation in manufacturing. This will provide for not only maintaining a high quality of fuel but also a possibility of deliveries for demands

Field experience of new nuclear fuel types on the Kola NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adeev, V.; Burlov, S.; Panov, A.; Saprykin, V.

2008-01-01

Specificity of the Kola nuclear power plant geographical position, conditions of region economics determine fuel management strategy. Isolation of Kola power supply system and, as a consequence, generating capacities redundancy cause operation of the nuclear power plant on reduced power level. At the same time there is a need to operate the power unit on the maximum power level in the case of not planned conditions. The basis of in-core fuel management is an achievement of the maximal burnup under providing of high installed capacity. At present there are not abilities to improve the fuel cycle based on traditional implementation fuel assemblies. Burnup maximum in these fuel cycles is achieved. At the core periphery installed highest possible quantity of the burned-up assemblies in the view of safety operation margins satisfaction. Works on application of the second generation fuel have been carried out on the Kola NPP since 2002. Fuel assemblies of this type are profiled. Burnable absorber, changed lattice spacing in relation to standard fuel, changed height of a fuel column, thickness of fuel pin clad are applied. In CR fuel followers modernized docking unit (with hafnium plates are intended for energy-release splash suppression) is used. At present 2-nd generation fuel is in experimental operation on unit 3 (18-21 fuel cycles, 2002-2007 years) and unit 4 (18-19 fuel cycles, 2005-2007 years). Safety margins did not exceeded. Coolant activity did not exceed the limiting value. There were not damaged fuel assemblies of second generation. Originally in the project of applications of new fuel it was supposed to refuel annually 78 fresh assemblies. At the moment annual refueling consists of 66 assemblies with effective enrichment 3.82 %. Cycle duration does not exceed 250-260 effective days. The part of assemblies is left on 5-th cycle of operation. In a similar fuel cycle in 2007 on the unit 1 operation with profiled fuel (enrichment of 3.82 %) of shakeproof type

Demonstration of Subscale Cermet Fuel Specimen Fabrication Approach Using Spark Plasma Sintering and Diffusion Bonding

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Marvin W.; Tucker, Dennis S.; Benensky, Kelsa M.

2018-01-01

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) has the potential to expand the limits of human space exploration by enabling crewed missions to Mars and beyond. The viability of NTP hinges on the development of a robust nuclear fuel material that can perform in the harsh operating environment (> or = 2500K, reactive hydrogen) of a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engine. Efforts are ongoing to develop fuel material and to assemble fuel elements that will be stable during the service life of an NTR. Ceramic-metal (cermet) fuels are being actively pursued by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) due to their demonstrated high-temperature stability and hydrogen compatibility. Building on past cermet fuel development research, experiments were conducted to investigate a modern fabrication approach for cermet fuel elements. The experiments used consolidated tungsten (W)-60vol%zirconia (ZrO2) compacts that were formed via spark plasma sintering (SPS). The consolidated compacts were stacked and diffusion bonded to assess the integrity of the bond lines and internal cooling channel cladding. The assessment included hot hydrogen testing of the manufactured surrogate fuel and pure W for 45 minutes at 2500 K in the compact fuel element environmental test (CFEET) system. Performance of bonded W-ZrO2 rods was compared to bonded pure W rods to access bond line integrity and composite stability. Bonded surrogate fuels retained structural integrity throughout testing and incurred minimal mass loss.

Constant strength fuel-fuel cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaseen, V.A.

1980-01-01

A fuel cell is an electrochemical apparatus composed of both a nonconsumable anode and cathode; and electrolyte, fuel oxidant and controls. This invention guarantees the constant transfer of hydrogen atoms and their respective electrons, thus a constant flow of power by submergence of the negative electrode in a constant strength hydrogen furnishing fuel; when said fuel is an aqueous absorbed hydrocarbon, such as and similar to ethanol or methnol. The objective is accomplished by recirculation of the liquid fuel, as depleted in the cell through specific type membranes which pass water molecules and reject the fuel molecules; thus concentrating them for recycle use

Validating the BISON fuel performance code to integral LWR experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williamson, R.L., E-mail: Richard.Williamson@inl.gov [Fuel Modeling and Simulation, Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3840 (United States); Gamble, K.A., E-mail: Kyle.Gamble@inl.gov [Fuel Modeling and Simulation, Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3840 (United States); Perez, D.M., E-mail: Danielle.Perez@inl.gov [Fuel Modeling and Simulation, Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3840 (United States); Novascone, S.R., E-mail: Stephen.Novascone@inl.gov [Fuel Modeling and Simulation, Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3840 (United States); Pastore, G., E-mail: Giovanni.Pastore@inl.gov [Fuel Modeling and Simulation, Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3840 (United States); Gardner, R.J., E-mail: Russell.Gardner@inl.gov [Fuel Modeling and Simulation, Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3840 (United States); Hales, J.D., E-mail: Jason.Hales@inl.gov [Fuel Modeling and Simulation, Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3840 (United States); Liu, W., E-mail: Wenfeng.Liu@anatech.com [ANATECH Corporation, 5435 Oberlin Dr., San Diego, CA 92121 (United States); Mai, A., E-mail: Anh.Mai@anatech.com [ANATECH Corporation, 5435 Oberlin Dr., San Diego, CA 92121 (United States)

2016-05-15

Highlights: • The BISON multidimensional fuel performance code is being validated to integral LWR experiments. • Code and solution verification are necessary prerequisites to validation. • Fuel centerline temperature comparisons through all phases of fuel life are very reasonable. • Accuracy in predicting fission gas release is consistent with state-of-the-art modeling and the involved uncertainties. • Rod diameter comparisons are not satisfactory and further investigation is underway. - Abstract: BISON is a modern finite element-based nuclear fuel performance code that has been under development at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) since 2009. The code is applicable to both steady and transient fuel behavior and has been used to analyze a variety of fuel forms in 1D spherical, 2D axisymmetric, or 3D geometries. Code validation is underway and is the subject of this study. A brief overview of BISON's computational framework, governing equations, and general material and behavioral models is provided. BISON code and solution verification procedures are described, followed by a summary of the experimental data used to date for validation of Light Water Reactor (LWR) fuel. Validation comparisons focus on fuel centerline temperature, fission gas release, and rod diameter both before and following fuel-clad mechanical contact. Comparisons for 35 LWR rods are consolidated to provide an overall view of how the code is predicting physical behavior, with a few select validation cases discussed in greater detail. Results demonstrate that (1) fuel centerline temperature comparisons through all phases of fuel life are very reasonable with deviations between predictions and experimental data within ±10% for early life through high burnup fuel and only slightly out of these bounds for power ramp experiments, (2) accuracy in predicting fission gas release appears to be consistent with state-of-the-art modeling and with the involved uncertainties and (3) comparison

Modern History of Tibet

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2005-01-01

Authored by Xu Guangzhi, this book is a subsidiary project of Research Into Traditional Culture and History (of the PRC Ministry of Education) conducted by China Tibetology Research Institute of Tibet University. The book combines modern history of Tibet with modern history of China as a whole. It tells the close ties between various members of the Chinese nation.

Design and development on automated control system of coated fuel particle fabrication process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Malin; Shao Youlin; Liu Bing

2013-01-01

With the development trend of the large-scale production of the HTR coated fuel particles, the original manual control system can not meet the requirement and the automation control system of coated fuel particle fabrication in modern industrial grade is needed to develop. The comprehensive analysis aiming at successive 4-layer coating process of TRISO type coated fuel particles was carried out. It was found that the coating process could be divided into five subsystems and nine operating states. The establishment of DCS-type (distributed control system) of automation control system was proposed. According to the rigorous requirements of preparation process for coated particles, the design considerations of DCS were proposed, including the principle of coordinated control, safety and reliability, integration specification, practical and easy to use, and open and easy to update. A complete set of automation control system for coated fuel particle preparation process was manufactured based on fulfilling the requirements of these principles in manufacture practice. The automated control system was put into operation in the production of irradiated samples for HTRPM demonstration project. The experimental results prove that the system can achieve better control of coated fuel particle preparation process and meet the requirements of factory-scale production. (authors)

"Modern Portuguese" and The Narration of Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Milleret, Margo

2016-01-01

"Modern Portuguese: A Project of the Modern Language Association" was a package of film strips, prerecorded tapes, an instructor's manual, and a textbook first published by Knopf in 1971. It followed the model established by "Modern Spanish" that was also a project of the Modern Language Association (MLA) published in 1960.The…

Estimating fuel octane numbers from homogeneous gas-phase ignition delay times

KAUST Repository

Naser, Nimal

2017-11-05

Fuel octane numbers are directly related to the autoignition properties of fuel/air mixtures in spark ignition (SI) engines. This work presents a methodology to estimate the research and the motor octane numbers (RON and MON) from homogeneous gas-phase ignition delay time (IDT) data calculated at various pressures and temperatures. The hypothesis under investigation is that at specific conditions of pressure and temperature (i.e., RON-like and MON-like conditions), fuels with IDT identical to that of a primary reference fuel (PRF) have the same octane rating. To test this hypothesis, IDTs with a detailed gasoline surrogate chemical kinetic model have been calculated at various temperatures and pressures. From this dataset, temperatures that best represent RON and MON have been correlated at a specified pressure. Correlations for pressures in the range of 10–50 bar were obtained. The proposed correlations were validated with toluene reference fuels (TRF), toluene primary reference fuels (TPRF), ethanol reference fuels (ERF), PRFs and TPRFs with ethanol, and multi-component gasoline surrogate mixtures. The predicted RON and MON showed satisfactory accuracy against measurements obtained by the standard ASTM methods and blending rules, demonstrating that the present methodology can be a viable tool for a first approximation. The correlations were also validated against an extensive set of experimental IDT data obtained from literature with a high degree of accuracy in RON/MON prediction. Conditions in homogeneous reactors such as shock tubes and rapid compression machines that are relevant to modern SI engines were also identified. Uncertainty analysis of the proposed correlations with linear error propagation theory is also presented.

Estimating fuel octane numbers from homogeneous gas-phase ignition delay times

KAUST Repository

Naser, Nimal; Sarathy, Mani; Chung, Suk-Ho

2017-01-01

Fuel octane numbers are directly related to the autoignition properties of fuel/air mixtures in spark ignition (SI) engines. This work presents a methodology to estimate the research and the motor octane numbers (RON and MON) from homogeneous gas-phase ignition delay time (IDT) data calculated at various pressures and temperatures. The hypothesis under investigation is that at specific conditions of pressure and temperature (i.e., RON-like and MON-like conditions), fuels with IDT identical to that of a primary reference fuel (PRF) have the same octane rating. To test this hypothesis, IDTs with a detailed gasoline surrogate chemical kinetic model have been calculated at various temperatures and pressures. From this dataset, temperatures that best represent RON and MON have been correlated at a specified pressure. Correlations for pressures in the range of 10–50 bar were obtained. The proposed correlations were validated with toluene reference fuels (TRF), toluene primary reference fuels (TPRF), ethanol reference fuels (ERF), PRFs and TPRFs with ethanol, and multi-component gasoline surrogate mixtures. The predicted RON and MON showed satisfactory accuracy against measurements obtained by the standard ASTM methods and blending rules, demonstrating that the present methodology can be a viable tool for a first approximation. The correlations were also validated against an extensive set of experimental IDT data obtained from literature with a high degree of accuracy in RON/MON prediction. Conditions in homogeneous reactors such as shock tubes and rapid compression machines that are relevant to modern SI engines were also identified. Uncertainty analysis of the proposed correlations with linear error propagation theory is also presented.

Modernization of African Armed Forces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mandrup, Thomas

2015-01-01

Concept paper framing the debate at the Dakar Forum Workshop on Modernization of Armed forces in Africa.......Concept paper framing the debate at the Dakar Forum Workshop on Modernization of Armed forces in Africa....

Mechanically, the shoot apical meristem of Arabidopsis behaves like a shell inflated by a pressure of about 1 MPa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Léna eBeauzamy

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In plants, the shoot apical meristem contains the stem cells and is responsible for the generation of all aerial organs. Mechanistically, organogenesis is associated with an auxin-dependent local softening of the epidermis. This has been proposed to be sufficient to trigger outgrowth, because the epidermis is thought to be under tension and stiffer than internal tissues in all the aerial part of the plant. However, this has not been directly demonstrated in the shoot apical meristem. Here we tested this hypothesis in Arabidopsis using indentation methods and modeling. We considered two possible scenarios: either the epidermis does not have unique properties and the meristem behaves as a homogeneous linearly-elastic tissue, or the epidermis is under tension and the meristem exhibits the response of a shell under pressure. Large indentation depths measurements with a large tip (~size of the meristem were consistent with a shell-like behavior. This also allowed us to deduce a value of turgor pressure, estimated at 0.82 ± 0.16 MPa. Indentation with atomic force microscopy provided local measurements of pressure in the epidermis, further confirming the values obtained from large deformations. Altogether, our data demonstrate that the Arabidopsis shoot apical meristem behaves like a shell under a MPa range pressure and support a key role for the epidermis in shaping the shoot apex.

Evaluation of core physics analysis methods for conversion of the INL advanced test reactor to low-enrichment fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeHart, M. D.; Chang, G. S.

2012-01-01

Computational neutronics studies to support the possible conversion of the ATR to LEU are underway. Simultaneously, INL is engaged in a physics methods upgrade project to put into place modern computational neutronics tools for future support of ATR fuel cycle and experiment analysis. A number of experimental measurements have been performed in the ATRC in support of the methods upgrade project, and are being used to validate the new core physics methods. The current computational neutronics work is focused on performance of scoping calculations for the ATR core loaded with a candidate LEU fuel design. This will serve as independent confirmation of analyses that have been performed previously, and will evaluate some of the new computational methods for analysis of a candidate LEU fuel for ATR. (authors)

Modern Italian libraries – between tradition and modernity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kinga Adamiak

2011-01-01

Full Text Available For centuries, lands currently belonging to the Republic of Italy boasted the greatest and the most illustrious libraries in Europe. From the Middle Ages to Renaissance, they developed extensively and were dominant in the Old World. The present article, however, concentrates on modern Italian libraries and provides an extensive review of their functioning today. The following issues are covered in the discussion: types of libraries and their cooperation, legal circumstances, the activity of national libraries, library associations and their initiatives and projects aimed at utilization of state-of-the-art IT infrastructures in librarianship. The article also emphasizes strong and weak points of Italian librarianship and ponders on the following: What is the role of Italian libraries today when they are evidently past their prime times? Can the libraries in question meet the requirements of modern times?

Robust, highly customizable, and economical multi-channel electrode for chronic multi-unit recording in behaving animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Tateyama, Yukina; Oyama, Kei; Shiraishi, Masaru; Iijima, Toshio; Tsutsui, Ken-Ichiro

2017-12-01

Multi-unit recording has been one of the most widely used techniques to investigate the correlation between multiple neuronal activities and behavior. However, a common problem of currently used multi-channel electrodes is their physical weakness. In this study, we developed a novel multi-channel electrode with sufficient physical strength to penetrate a thickened dura mater. This electrode consists of low-cost materials and is easily fabricated, and it enables recording without removing dura mater, thereby reducing the risk of inflammation, infection, or brain herniation. The low-cost multi-channel electrode developed in this study would be a useful tool for chronic recording in behaving animals. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Imaging brain activity during seizures in freely behaving rats using a miniature multi-modal imaging system.

Science.gov (United States)

Sigal, Iliya; Koletar, Margaret M; Ringuette, Dene; Gad, Raanan; Jeffrey, Melanie; Carlen, Peter L; Stefanovic, Bojana; Levi, Ofer

2016-09-01

We report on a miniature label-free imaging system for monitoring brain blood flow and blood oxygenation changes in awake, freely behaving rats. The device, weighing 15 grams, enables imaging in a ∼ 2 × 2 mm field of view with 4.4 μm lateral resolution and 1 - 8 Hz temporal sampling rate. The imaging is performed through a chronically-implanted cranial window that remains optically clear between 2 to > 6 weeks after the craniotomy. This imaging method is well suited for longitudinal studies of chronic models of brain diseases and disorders. In this work, it is applied to monitoring neurovascular coupling during drug-induced absence-like seizures 6 weeks following the craniotomy.

The problems of calculation of heat transfer crisis in fuel assemblies of PW reactors based on modern versions of thermohydraulic codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fialko, N.M.; Sharaevskij, G.I.; Sharaevskaya, E.I.; Babak, E.I.

2014-01-01

The article gives an analysis of the adequacy of computer software systems FASCICLE BM-DF and COBRA, which are designed to calculate the main parameters of the safety of water-cooled nuclear reactors. This calculation is based on determining the local thermal-hydraulic parameters of the flow of coolant in the fuel rod assembled elements. In this article introduced the results of the comparison of experiments performed to determine the distribution of the main thermal-hydraulic flow parameters characteristic of subchannels of fuel rod assembled elements with the data for calculating these parameters on the basis of declared computer codes. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of experimental and calculation data, by definition, burnout in rod fuel assembled elements

Evaluation of High Pressure Components of Fuel Injection Systems Using Speckle Interferometry

OpenAIRE

Basara, Adis

2007-01-01

The modern high pressure fuel injection systems installed in engines provide a highly efficient combustion process accompanied by low emissions of exhaust gases and an impressive level of dynamic response. The design and development of mechanical components for such systems pose a great challenge, since they have to operate under extremely high fluctuating pressures (e.g. up to 2000 bar) for a long lifetime (more than 1000 injections per minute). The permanent change between a higher and a lo...

Experiences with W3Re/W25Re thermocouples in fuel pins of NS Otto Hahn's two cores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolb, M.

1975-01-01

Applications and performance of thermocouples in the Otto Hahn reactor are presented. The measurement of effective thermocouple time constants and of fuel rod heat transfer time constants utilizing the reactor noise and the resulting small temperature fluctuations which has become practical by the advent of modern noise analysis systems, is dealt with

Future combustion technology for synthetic and renewable fuels in compression ignition engines (REFUEL). Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aakko-Saksa, P.; Brink, A.; Happonen, M. [and others

2012-07-01

This domestic project, Future Combustion Technology for Synthetic and Renewable Fuels in Compression Ignition Engines (ReFuel), was part of a Collaborative Task 'Future Combustion Technology for Synthetic and Renewable Fuels in Transport' of International Energy Agency (IEA) Combustion Agreement. This international Collaborative Task is coordinated by Finland. The three-year (2009-2011) prooject was a joint research project with Aalto University (Aalto), Tampere University of Technology (TUT), Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and Aabo Akademi University (AAU). The project was funded by TEKES, Waertsilae Oyj, Agro Sisu Power, Aker Arctic Technology Oy and the research partners listed above. Modern renewable diesel fuels have excellent physical and chemical properties, in comparison to traditional crude oil based fuels. Purely paraffinic fuels do not contain aromatic compounds and they are totally sulphur free. Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) was studied as an example of paraffinic high cetane number (CN) diesel fuels. HVO has no storage and low temperature problems like the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) have. The combustion properties are better than those of crude oil based fuels and FAME, because they have very high cetane numbers and contain no polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). With low HVO density, viscosity and distillation temperatures, these advantageous properties allow far more advanced combustion strategies, such as very high exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rates or extreme Miller timings, than has been possible with current fossil fuels. The implementation of these advanced combustion technologies, together with the novel renewable diesel fuel, brought significant nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x}), particulate matter (PM) emission reductions with no efficiency losses. (orig.)

Fuel cycle optimization. French industry experience with recycling, and perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernard, Patrice

2005-01-01

Treatment and recycling has been implemented in France from the very beginning of nuclear energy deployment. With the oil shocks in 1973 and 1979, very large scale industrial deployment of LWRs has then been conducted, with now 58 PWRs producing 80% of the total electricity. Modern large scale treatment and recycling facilities have been constructed in the same period: La Hauge treatment facilities and MELOX recycling plant. Important industrial feedback results from operation and optimization of fuel cycle backend facilities, which is summarized in the paper. Then are discussed perspectives with recycling. (author)

Will biomass be the environmentally friendly fuel of the future?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, D.O.; Scrase, J.I.

1998-01-01

Many influential organisations foresee biomass playing a key role in a future, more sustainable, global energy supply matrix. Countries such as Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, India, the USA and the UK are actively encouraging the use of biomass for energy, and pushing forward the development of the necessary knowledge and technology for modern biomass energy systems. There is a growing consensus that renewable energy must progressively displace the use of fossil fuels, with fears of global climate change adding urgency to this need. Among the available types of renewable energy biomass is unique in its ability to provide solid, liquid and gaseous fuels which can be stored and transported. The potential resource for bioenergy is large, especially in forest-rich nations, in richer countries where there is a surplus of agricultural land, and in many low latitude countries where high biomass yields are possible. Therefore we expect biomass to be an important fuel of the future, but this cannot be taken for granted. The systems adopted must demonstrate clear environmental and social benefits relative to alternatives if the potential is to be realised. These benefits are not inherent to biomass energy, but depend on site- and fuel cycle-specific factors. Life-cycle analysis and evaluation of external costs are important means for assessing the social and environmental pros and cons of bioenergy systems. (author)

Effect of additives in sintering UO2-7wt%Gd2O3 fuel pellets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, L.R.; Riella, H.G.

2009-01-01

Gadolinium has been used as burnable poison for reactivity control in modern PWRs. The incorporation of Gd 2 O 3 powder directly into the UO 2 powder enables longer fuel cycles and optimized fuel utilization. Nevertheless, processing by this method leads to difficulties while obtaining sintered pellets with the minimum required density. The process for manufacturing UO 2 - Gd 2 O 3 generates scraps that should be reused. The main scraps are green and sintered pellets, which must be calcined to U 3 O 8 to return to the fabrication process. Also, the incorporation of Gd 2 O 3 in UO 2 requires the use of an additive to improve the sintering process, in order to achieve the physical properties specified for the mixed fuel, mainly density and microstructure. This paper describes the effect of the addition of fabrication scraps on the properties of the UO 2 -Gd 2 O 3 fuel. Aluminum hydroxide Al(OH) 3 was also incorporated to the fuel as a sintering aid. The results shown that the use of 2000 ppm of Al(OH) 3 as additive allow to fabricate good pellets with up to 10 wt% of recycled scraps. (author)

Fuels processing for transportation fuel cell systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, R.; Ahmed, S.

Fuel cells primarily use hydrogen as the fuel. This hydrogen must be produced from other fuels such as natural gas or methanol. The fuel processor requirements are affected by the fuel to be converted, the type of fuel cell to be supplied, and the fuel cell application. The conventional fuel processing technology has been reexamined to determine how it must be adapted for use in demanding applications such as transportation. The two major fuel conversion processes are steam reforming and partial oxidation reforming. The former is established practice for stationary applications; the latter offers certain advantages for mobile systems and is presently in various stages of development. This paper discusses these fuel processing technologies and the more recent developments for fuel cell systems used in transportation. The need for new materials in fuels processing, particularly in the area of reforming catalysis and hydrogen purification, is discussed.

The Modification of Fuel Cell-Based Breath Alcohol Sensor Materials to Improve Water Retention of Sensing Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Allan, Jesse

Fuel cell based breath alcohol sensors (BrASs) are one of the most important tools used by law enforcement today. The ability to screen potentially intoxicated subjects with the ease, speed, and flexibility the BrAS can provide is unmatched by any other device of its kind. While these devices are used globally, they all suffer from a common deficiency: reliance on water. The ability of the fuel cell sensor to manage water content is one of the greatest fundamental challenges facing this technology today. In order to evaluate the fuel cell sensor device, a methodology was required that would allow in-house sensor testing to be coupled with a diagnostic testing method to not only test materials sensing performance, but also determine why a sensor behaved how it did. To do this, a next-generation fuel cell was designed specifically for sensor testing along with a test station that allowed for rapid response and sensor characteristics of a given material. The fuel cell was designed to allow in-situ testing of a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of interest using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The in-house design was validated against a commercial cell to provide feedback on how materials in the in-house cell would behave in a commercial designed unit. The results showed that our cell with a commercial MEA behaved identically to a commercial cell with the same MEA. Following validation of our cell, common membrane materials were investigated to identify their suitability in a senor role. The materials chosen were designed for power generating devices, so they provided a benchmark to identify which properties would be important for sensor operation. It was found that while the Nafion membrane and sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) did show performance increases over the commercial MEA, the thin characteristics of these membranes limited performance in drier conditions. From these results, it was determined that thicker membrane materials

GLOBAL PROSPECTS OF SYNTHETIC DIESEL FUEL PRODUCED FROM HYDROCARBON RESOURCES IN OIL&GAS EXPORTING COUNTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomislav Kurevija

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Production of synthetic diesel fuel through Fischer-Tropsch process is a well known technology which dates from II World War, when Germany was producing transport fuel from coal. This process has been further improved in the South Africa due to period of international isolation. Today, with high crude oil market cost and increased demand of energy from China and India, as well as global ecological awareness and need to improve air quality in urban surroundings, many projects are being planned regarding production of synthetic diesel fuel, known as GTL (Gas To Liquid. Most of the future GTL plants are planned in oil exporting countries, such are Qatar and Nigeria, where natural gas as by-product of oil production is being flared, losing in that way precious energy and profit. In that way, otherwise flared natural gas, will be transformed into synthetic diesel fuel which can be directly used in all modern diesel engines. Furthermore, fossil fuel transportation and distribution technology grid can be used without any significant changes. According to lower emissions of harmful gasses during combustion than fossil diesel, this fuel could in the future play a significant part of EU efforts to reach 23% of alternative fuel share till 2020., which are now mostly relied on biodiesel, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas and CNG (compressed natural gas.

Modern terrorism: concept and approach analysis

OpenAIRE

CHAIKA ALEXANDER VIKTOROVICH

2015-01-01

The problem of modern terrorism as an image of counterculture environment is considered. The analysis of concepts and approaches of foreign and native authors, specialists of terrorism problem research was conducted. Separate features of the modern terrorism are considered and emphasized. The author drew conceptual conclusions on the basis of dialectical approach to modern terrorism counterculture phenomenon research.

Fast optical signal not detected in awake behaving monkeys.

Science.gov (United States)

Radhakrishnan, Harsha; Vanduffel, Wim; Deng, Hong Ping; Ekstrom, Leeland; Boas, David A; Franceschini, Maria Angela

2009-04-01

While the ability of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure cerebral hemodynamic evoked responses (slow optical signal) is well established, its ability to measure non-invasively the 'fast optical signal' is still controversial. Here, we aim to determine the feasibility of performing NIRS measurements of the 'fast optical signal' or Event-Related Optical Signals (EROS) under optimal experimental conditions in awake behaving macaque monkeys. These monkeys were implanted with a 'recording well' to expose the dura above the primary visual cortex (V1). A custom-made optical probe was inserted and fixed into the well. The close proximity of the probe to the brain maximized the sensitivity to changes in optical properties in the cortex. Motion artifacts were minimized by physical restraint of the head. Full-field contrast-reversing checkerboard stimuli were presented to monkeys trained to perform a visual fixation task. In separate sessions, two NIRS systems (CW4 and ISS FD oximeter), which previously showed the ability to measure the fast signal in human, were used. In some sessions EEG was acquired simultaneously with the optical signal. The increased sensitivity to cortical optical changes with our experimental setup was quantified with 3D Monte Carlo simulations on a segmented MRI monkey head. Averages of thousands of stimuli in the same animal, or grand averages across the two animals and across repeated sessions, did not lead to detection of the fast optical signal using either amplitude or phase of the optical signal. Hemodynamic responses and visual evoked potentials were instead always detected with single trials or averages of a few stimuli. Based on these negative results, despite the optimal experimental conditions, we doubt the usefulness of non-invasive fast optical signal measurements with NIRS.

Basics of modern mathematical statistics

CERN Document Server

Spokoiny, Vladimir

2015-01-01

This textbook provides a unified and self-contained presentation of the main approaches to and ideas of mathematical statistics. It collects the basic mathematical ideas and tools needed as a basis for more serious studies or even independent research in statistics. The majority of existing textbooks in mathematical statistics follow the classical asymptotic framework. Yet, as modern statistics has changed rapidly in recent years, new methods and approaches have appeared. The emphasis is on finite sample behavior, large parameter dimensions, and model misspecifications. The present book provides a fully self-contained introduction to the world of modern mathematical statistics, collecting the basic knowledge, concepts and findings needed for doing further research in the modern theoretical and applied statistics. This textbook is primarily intended for graduate and postdoc students and young researchers who are interested in modern statistical methods.

Measuring Older Adults’ Individual Modernity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xue Bai

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Research shows that maintaining high individual modernity level can enable the shaping of positive self-image and boost life satisfaction for older people along with better adaptation to the process of societal modernization. This study examined the factorial structure and evaluated the psychometric properties of the adapted Multidimensional Scale of Chinese Individual Modernity (MS-CIM in a sample of 445 elders (the finalized version is named “MS-CIME” and added a self-constructed nine-item behavioral modernity domain. Principal component analysis suggested a conceptually meaningful seven-factor model, which was further supported by the results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA. The final 25-item MS-CIME indicated an acceptable level of reliability. The convergent validity was demonstrated by its associations with socio-economic status, participation in daily activities, self-image, and life satisfaction in expected directions.

The history, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity of carbon-based fuels and their emissions. Part 3: diesel and gasoline.

Science.gov (United States)

Claxton, Larry D

2015-01-01

Within this review the genotoxicity of diesel and gasoline fuels and emissions is placed in an historical context. New technologies have changed the composition of transportation methods considerably, reducing emissions of many of the components of health concern. The similarity of modern diesel and gasoline fuels and emissions to other carbonaceous fuels and emissions is striking. Recently an International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Working Group concluded that there was sufficient evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of diesel exhaust (Group 1). In addition, the Working Group found that diesel exhaust has "a positive association (limited evidence) with an increased risk of bladder cancer." Like most other carbonaceous fuel emissions, diesel and gasoline exhausts contain toxic levels of respirable particles (PM gasoline emissions has declined in certain regions over time because of changes in engine design, the development of better aftertreatment devices (e.g., catalysts), increased fuel economy, changes in the fuels and additives used, and greater regulation. Additional research and better exposure assessments are needed so that decision makers and the public can decide to what extent diesel and gasoline engines should be replaced. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modern Cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang Yuanzhong

2002-06-21

This book is one of a series in the areas of high-energy physics, cosmology and gravitation published by the Institute of Physics. It includes courses given at a doctoral school on 'Relativistic Cosmology: Theory and Observation' held in Spring 2000 at the Centre for Scientific Culture 'Alessandro Volta', Italy, sponsored by SIGRAV-Societa Italiana di Relativita e Gravitazione (Italian Society of Relativity and Gravitation) and the University of Insubria. This book collects 15 review reports given by a number of outstanding scientists. They touch upon the main aspects of modern cosmology from observational matters to theoretical models, such as cosmological models, the early universe, dark matter and dark energy, modern observational cosmology, cosmic microwave background, gravitational lensing, and numerical simulations in cosmology. In particular, the introduction to the basics of cosmology includes the basic equations, covariant and tetrad descriptions, Friedmann models, observation and horizons, etc. The chapters on the early universe involve inflationary theories, particle physics in the early universe, and the creation of matter in the universe. The chapters on dark matter (DM) deal with experimental evidence of DM, neutrino oscillations, DM candidates in supersymmetry models and supergravity, structure formation in the universe, dark-matter search with innovative techniques, and dark energy (cosmological constant), etc. The chapters about structure in the universe consist of the basis for structure formation, quantifying large-scale structure, cosmic background fluctuation, galaxy space distribution, and the clustering of galaxies. In the field of modern observational cosmology, galaxy surveys and cluster surveys are given. The chapter on gravitational lensing describes the lens basics and models, galactic microlensing and galaxy clusters as lenses. The last chapter, 'Numerical simulations in cosmology', deals with spatial and

Hugh Grady (ed.), Shakespeare and Modernity : Early Modern to Millenium

OpenAIRE

Ribeyrol, Wendy

2014-01-01

Shakespeare and Modernity : Early Modern to Millenium, publié au tournant du troisième millénaire est un recueil de neuf essais d’universitaires américains et britanniques, précédé d’une introduction de Hugh Grady, auteur par ailleurs de The Modernist Shakespeare (1991), Shakespeare’s Universal Wolf (1996) et plus récemment de Shakespeare and Impure Aesthetics (2009). Ce livre offre à l’étudiant, à l’enseignant et au chercheur un état des lieux stimulant de l’évolution des études shakespearie...

Coupled fuel performance and thermal-hydraulics simulation with BISON and RELAP-7 at accident conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martineau, R.C., E-mail: Richard.Martineau@inl.gov [Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2015-07-01

'Full text:' RELAP-7 is expected to be the next in the RELAP nuclear reactor safety/systems analysis application series developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The development of RELAP-7 began in 2011 to support the Risk Informed Safety Margins Characterization (RISMC) Pathway of Department of Energy's (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program. The overall design goal of RELAP-7 is to take advantage of the previous thirty years of advancements in software design, numerical methods, and physical models in order to provide capabilities needed for the RISMC methodology and to support modern nuclear power safety analysis. RELAP-7 is built using the INL's modern scientific software development framework, MOOSE (Multi-physics Object Oriented Simulation Environment). MOOSE provides improved implicit numerical schemes, including higher-order integration in both space and time, and yielding converged second-order accuracy for RELAP-7. The code structure is based on multiple physical component models such as pipes, junctions, pumps, etc. This component-based software architecture allows RELAP-7 to quickly adopt different physical models for different applications. One of the main advantages of building RELAP-7 on the MOOSE framework is that tight coupling with other MOOSE-based applications solving physics not present in RELAP-7 requires little to no additional lines of code. For example, the RELAP-7 core channel component is based upon a one-dimensional flow channel and a three-zone two-dimensional heat structure designed to represent fuel, gap, and cladding conjugate heat transfer with the coolant. However, the RELAP-7 application does not carry the fuels performance physics to analyze irradiated fuel, especially for accident scenarios. Here, we demonstrate the tightly coupled capability of the BISON nuclear fuels performance application with RELAP-7 for the station black out (SBO) accident scenario (Fukushima type event) and

ENUSA in the international market of nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gutierrez, J. E.; Gonzalez, R.

2002-01-01

ENUSA Industrias Avanzadas, s. a. has a promising future into the nuclear fuel world market evolving from a starting model of a state owned company focused on the Spanish market and using exclusively the technology coming from their American partners, to a current model of a modern company where technological innovation, the competitiveness and the quality are key factors in the developments of his business. ENUSA is a company oriented to the export sustained by the integrated services provided to the Spanish nuclear sector,where Europe is his natural market, but open to seek opportunities together with his technological partners into the American and Japanese market. (Author)

Modernized accurate methods for processing of in-core measurement signals in WWER reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Polak, T.

1996-01-01

Utilization of the new accurate WIMS-KAERI library (WIMKAL-88) to generate the following characteristics for Rhodium SPND: Sensitivity depletion law by high (approx= 75%) burnup of emitter; influence of burnup-history on depletion law course; influence of neutron spectrum change on Rh-SPND sensitivity caused by change of fuel enrichment, fuel burnup, moderator temperature, concentration of boracid, central pin power rate and concentration of Xe 135 ; generating and experimental testing of Rh-SPND signal to linear pin power rate and signal to neutron flux conversion factors. Rh-SPND instrumentation optimization (reduction) related to safety and operational aspects as needed for 3D power surveillance in WWER-1000 reactors. Analysis of SPND reduction from 64x7 to 46x7 by method of Shannon information entropy optimization. Influence of reduction on accuracy of 3D power distribution reconstruction. Physical methods of 3D power distribution unfolding in new modernized on-line I and C system in NPP J. Bohunice with in-core measurements according to 210 thermocouples and 36x7 Rh-SPNDs. Program system TOPRE under QNX operating system network in FORTRAN 77, neutronic background calculations by macrocode MOBY-DICK. (author). 10 refs, 6 figs, 7 tabs

Investigations of combustion process in combined cooker-boiler fired on solid fuels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stojiljković Dragoslava D.

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the investigation was to make some reconstructions on the existing stove used for cooking and baking and to obtain the combined cooker-boiler which will fulfill the demands of European standard EN 12815. Implementation of modern scientific achievements in the field of combustion on stoves and furnaces fired on solid fuels was used. During the investigations four various constructions were made with different fresh air inlet and secondary air supply with the intention to obtain more complete combustion with increased efficiency and reduced CO emission. Three different fuels were used: firewood, coal, and wood briquette. A numerous parameters were measured: fuel weight changes during the combustion process, temperature of inlet and outlet water, flue gas composition (O2, CO, SO2, CO2, NOx, flue gas temperature, ash quantity etc. The result of the investigations is the stove with the efficiency of more than 75% - boiler Class 1 (according EN 12815 and CO emission of about 1% v/v. The results obtained during the measurements were used as parameters for modeling of combustion process. .

How Do Children Behave Regarding Their Birth Order in Dental Setting?

Science.gov (United States)

Ghaderi, Faezeh; Fijan, Soleiman; Hamedani, Shahram

2015-12-01

Prediction of child cooperation level in dental setting is an important issue for a dentist to select the proper behavior management method. Many psychological studies have emphasized the effect of birth order on patient behavior and personality; however, only a few researches evaluated the effect of birth order on child's behavior in dental setting. This study was designed to evaluate the influence of children ordinal position on their behavior in dental setting. A total of 158 children with at least one primary mandibular molar needing class I restoration were selected. Children were classified based on the ordinal position; first, middle, or last child as well as single child. A blinded examiner recorded the pain perception of children during injection based on Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Sound, Eye and Movement (SEM) scale. To assess the child's anxiety, the questionnaire known as "Dental Subscale of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule" (CFSS-DS) was employed. The results showed that single children were significantly less cooperative and more anxious than the other children (p<0.001). The middle children were significantly more cooperative in comparison with the other child's position (p< 0.001). Single child may behave less cooperatively in dental setting. The order of child birth must also be considered in prediction of child's behavior for behavioral management.

Modern cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeldovich, Y.B.

1983-01-01

This paper fives a general review of modern cosmology. The following subjects are discussed: hot big bang and periodization of the evolution; Hubble expansion; the structure of the universe (pancake theory); baryon asymmetry; inflatory universe. (Auth.)

Cermet fuel behaviour and properties in ADS reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haas, D.; Fernandez, A.; Staicu, D.; Somers, J.; Maschek, W.; Chen, X.

2007-01-01

).Irradiation programmes are in the final stage of preparation (and will start in 2007) to determine the in-reactor performance of the material. CERMET fuel pins are incorporated in two experiments: - Two pins will be loaded in the PHENIX reactor in Marcoule, within the FUTURIX FTA experiment [2]. These fuels have been fabricated at ITU in 2005-2006, according to the reference fabrication process in the Minor Actinide Laboratory, namely the infiltration of minor actinide solution in solid particles. These fuels have been fully characterised in terms of pellet structure, thermal properties, re-sintering behaviour, etc. The aim of the experiment is the investigation of the fuel behaviour under high fast neutron flux condition, and its comparison with other fuel types (CERCER, nitride and metallic).The completion of the irradiation is foreseen in 2009. - Two further CERMET fuel pins will be irradiated in the HFR reactor in Petten: the HELIOS experiment [3]. There the aim is the study of the gas (including Helium, produced by Am 2 41 transmutation chain) production and release, in comparison with Am targets supported in a pure zirconia matrix. The post-irradiation examinations to be performed after 10 irradiation cycles will be concluded in 2009. Safety studies for optimised EFIT core designs, developed within the AFTRA domain were performed. The safety coefficients and indicators were determined for each core, and various transients were investigated. For the new low power cores of EFIT with a power class of ∼ 400 MWth and a fuel power density of ∼ 250 MW/m 3 it can be demonstrated that the CERMET cores behave favourably and the design limits of the fuels are not violated [4]. Results indicate that the T 9 1 cladding used as clad more severely restricts possible design options. This report will present the status of the neutronic and safety studies for the EFIT core, the CERMET thermal properties determination results, as well as the final results of the fabrication, characterisation and

About the modern house - and the classical

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauberg, Jørgen

2010-01-01

In text and illustrations describes the classical house and the classical city, represented by Andrea Palladio (1508-80), and the modern house, the modern city and building task, represented by Le Corbusier (1857-1965).......In text and illustrations describes the classical house and the classical city, represented by Andrea Palladio (1508-80), and the modern house, the modern city and building task, represented by Le Corbusier (1857-1965)....

Modern recording techniques

CERN Document Server

Huber, David Miles

2013-01-01

As the most popular and authoritative guide to recording Modern Recording Techniques provides everything you need to master the tools and day to day practice of music recording and production. From room acoustics and running a session to mic placement and designing a studio Modern Recording Techniques will give you a really good grounding in the theory and industry practice. Expanded to include the latest digital audio technology the 7th edition now includes sections on podcasting, new surround sound formats and HD and audio.If you are just starting out or looking for a step up

Det sentimentalt moderne

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thule Kristensen, Peter

2005-01-01

Romantikken er blevet afskrevet som en mørk epoke, hvor en hang til mystik og tvetydighed ikke passer til det moderne oplysningsprojekts mål om klarhed og orden. Afhendlingen viser imidlertid, hvordan dele af arkitekturen i det 20. århundrede er fyldt med romantisk tankegods, og hvordan romantisk...... nøglemotiver som f.eks. fragment, arabesk, krystal, symbol eller poesi kan bruges i en analyse - også af moderne arkitektur. det ses i bogens nyfortolkninger af værker og teorier hos arkitekterne Erik Gunnar Asplund, Josef Frank, Rudolf Schwarz, Aldo Rossi og Daniel Libeskind...

Fuel price and technological uncertainty in a real options model for electricity planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuss, Sabine; Szolgayova, Jana

2010-01-01

Electricity generation is an important source of total CO 2 emissions, which in turn have been found to relate to an acceleration of global warming. Given that many OECD countries have to replace substantial portions of their electricity-generating capacity over the next 10-20 years, investment decisions today will determine the CO 2 -intensity of the future energy mix. But by what type of power plants will old (mostly fossil-fuel-fired) capacity be replaced? Given that modern, less carbon-intensive technologies are still expensive but can be expected to undergo improvements due to technical change in the near future, they may become more attractive, especially if fossil fuel price volatility makes traditional technologies more risky. At the same time, technological progress is an inherently uncertain process itself. In this paper, we use a real options model with stochastic technical change and stochastic fossil fuel prices in order to investigate their impact on replacement investment decisions in the electricity sector. We find that the uncertainty associated with the technological progress of renewable energy technologies leads to a postponement of investment. Even the simultaneous inclusion of stochastic fossil fuel prices in the same model does not make renewable energy competitive compared to fossil-fuel-fired technology in the short run based on the data used. This implies that policymakers have to intervene if renewable energy is supposed to get diffused more quickly. Otherwise, old fossil-fuel-fired equipment will be refurbished or replaced by fossil-fuel-fired capacity again, which enforces the lock-in of the current system into unsustainable electricity generation. (author)

Performance and reliability of LWR fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bairiot, H.; Deramaix, P.; Vandenberg, C.

1977-01-01

The main requirements for fuel reloads are: good reliability, minimum fuel cycle costs and flexibility of operation. Fulfilling these goals requires a background of experience. The approach to the acquisition of this experience in the particular case of BN has included over the last 15 years a proper development and cross-checking of the design methods and criteria, a continuous updating of the drawings and specifications and the qualification of adequate fabrication plants. This approach can best be outlined on the basis of the gradual implementation of the modern features of the LWR fuel. The first fuel clad with stainless steel was loaded in the BR 3 (11 MWe) in 1969 and later on (since 1974) in the SENA plant (310 MWe). Similarly, Zircaloy 4 cladding was first introduced in a reactor reload in 1969 as autoclaved cladding and later on (in 1971) the autoclaving was suppressed for the further reloads. Zircaloy 2 was loaded in DODEWAARD (51.5 MWe) in 1970. The first demonstration assembly in a PWR was a Pu-island assembly loaded in the BR 3 in 1963. It was followed by an all-Pu assembly in the same reactor in 1965 and by the loading of Pu fuels in four prototype assemblies in GARIGLIANO (160 MWe) in 1968. A full reload incorporating Pu fuel has been experienced by the supply of fuel for GARIGLIANO (BOL: 1975) and for BR 3 (BOL: 1972 and 1976). While in the early sixties the brazed design was still being utilized, the first assembly incorporating grids with springs was introduced in BR 3 in 1963. The first Inconel grids were loaded in the same reactor in 1969 and the first Zircaloy grids in 1972 (the first Zr grid has been loaded in a BWR in 1973). The experience covered successively the shrouded design (BOL: 1963), the shroudless design (BOL: 1969), a BWR assembly (BOL: 1971), a typical RCC assembly first with large diameter fuel rods (1972) and later on with small diameter fuel rods (1974). The experience on the reactivity control covered successively diluted

Turbine maintenance and modernization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Unga, E [Teollisuuden Voima Oy, Olkiluoto (Finland)

1999-12-31

The disturbance-free operation of the turbine plant plays an important role in reaching good production results. In the turbine maintenance of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant the lifetime and efficiency of turbine components and the lifetime costs are taken into account in determining the turbine maintenance and modernization/improvement program. The turbine maintenance program and improvement/modernization measures taken in the plant units are described in this presentation. (orig.)

Turbine maintenance and modernization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Unga, E. [Teollisuuden Voima Oy, Olkiluoto (Finland)

1998-12-31

The disturbance-free operation of the turbine plant plays an important role in reaching good production results. In the turbine maintenance of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant the lifetime and efficiency of turbine components and the lifetime costs are taken into account in determining the turbine maintenance and modernization/improvement program. The turbine maintenance program and improvement/modernization measures taken in the plant units are described in this presentation. (orig.)

Fuel pin bowing and related investigation of the gadolinium fuel pin influence on power release inside of neighbouring fuel pins in a WWER-440 type core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mikus, J.

2006-01-01

As known both the WWER-440 and WWER-1000 reactors are systematically modernized to enhance their safety and economical parameters of operation. For this purpose new fuel assemblies (FAs) were designed with improved technical parameters, e.g., containing fuel pins (FPs) in which Gd 2 O 3 burnable absorber is integrated into fuel. Presence of such FPs in reactor core results in a strong depression of thermal neutrons in their positions and corresponding high gradients in neighbouring FPs. Consequently, similar situation in neighbouring FPs can be expected as for both the power release and temperature gradients. The purpose of this work consists in investigation of the gadolinium FP influence on space power distribution, especially from viewpoint of the values and gradient occurrence inside of the neighbouring FPs that could result in static loads with some consequences, e.g., a contribution to FP/FA bowing. Since detailed power distributions cannot be obtained in the NPPs, needed information is provided by means of experiments on research reactors. As for the power release measurement inside of FPs, some special (e.g. track) detectors placed between fuel pellets are usually used. Since such works are relatively complicated and time consuming, an evaluation method based on mathematical modelling and numerical approximation was proposed by means of that, and using measured (integral) power release in selected FPs, needed power release values inside of investigated FPs, can be estimated. For this purpose, experimental results from light water, zero-power research reactor LR-0 obtained by measurements in a WWER-440 type core with 19 FAs at zero boron concentration and containing some FPs with gadolinium (Gd FPs) were utilized. Application of the proposed evaluation method is demonstrated on investigated FPs neighbouring a Gd FP by means of the: relative azimuthal power distribution estimation inside of investigated FPs on their fuel pellet surface in horizontal plane

Review: Zygmunt Bauman (2005. Verworfenes Leben. Die Ausgegrenzten der Moderne [Wasted Lives: Modernity and Its Outcasts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Spetsmann-Kunkel

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Zygmunt BAUMAN delivers in his book Wasted Lives: Modernity and Its Outcasts a graphic and pessimistic description of ostracism in contemporary society. In the first part the outcasts of modern society are described, following market logic, as superfluous. Part two traces the actions of the state in punishing and segregating those who are ostracised. Finally, the involvement of those who are not (yet ostracised is depicted as somewhat fragile, with instability and lack of commitment as central characteristics of our liquid modernity. The fear of losing social status and thus becoming useless is inherent in life in modern society. This review ends with a few brief reflections on possible connections between BAUMAN's analysis and social research projects. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0703295

Universalization of access to modern energy services in Indian households. Economic and policy analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reddy, B. Sudhakara; Nathan, Hippu Salk Kristle; Balachandra, P.

2009-01-01

Provision of modern energy services for cooking (with gaseous fuels) and lighting (with electricity) is an essential component of any policy aiming to address health, education or welfare issues; yet it gets little attention from policy-makers. Secure, adequate, low-cost energy of quality and convenience is core to the delivery of these services. The present study analyses the energy consumption pattern of Indian domestic sector and examines the urban-rural divide and income energy linkage. A comprehensive analysis is done to estimate the cost for providing modern energy services to everyone by 2030. A public-private partnership-driven business model, with entrepreneurship at the core, is developed with institutional, financing and pricing mechanisms for diffusion of energy services. This approach, termed as EMPOWERS (entrepreneurship model for provision of wholesome energy-related basic services), if adopted, can facilitate large-scale dissemination of energy-efficient and renewable technologies like small-scale biogas/biofuel plants, and distributed power generation technologies to provide clean, safe, reliable and sustainable energy to rural households and urban poor. It is expected to integrate the processes of market transformation and entrepreneurship development involving government, NGOs, financial institutions and community groups as stakeholders. (author)

Control of harmful hydrocarbon species in the exhaust of modern advanced GDI engines

Science.gov (United States)

Hasan, A. O.; Abu-jrai, A.; Turner, D.; Tsolakis, A.; Xu, H. M.; Golunski, S. E.; Herreros, J. M.

2016-03-01

A qualitative and quantitative analysis of toxic but currently non-regulated hydrocarbon compounds ranging from C5-C11, before and after a zoned three-way catalytic converter (TWC) in a modern gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine has been studied using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The GDI engine has been operated under conventional and advanced combustion modes, which result in better fuel economy and reduced levels of NOx with respect to standard SI operation. However, these fuel-efficient conditions are more challenging for the operation of a conventional TWC, and could lead to higher level of emissions released to the environment. Lean combustion leads to the reduction in pumping losses, fuel consumption and in-cylinder emission formation rates. However, lean HCCI will lead to high levels of unburnt HCs while the presence of oxygen will lower the TWC efficiency for NOx control. The effect on the catalytic conversion of the hydrocarbon species of the addition of hydrogen upstream the catalyst has been also investigated. The highest hydrocarbon engine-out emissions were produced for HCCI engine operation at low engine load operation. The catalyst was able to remove most of the hydrocarbon species to low levels (below the permissible exposure limits) for standard and most of the advanced combustion modes, except for naphthalene (classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer) and methyl-naphthalene (which has the potential to cause lung damage). However, when hydrogen was added upstream of the catalyst, the catalyst conversion efficiency in reducing methyl-naphthalene and naphthalene was increased by approximately 21%. This results in simultaneous fuel economy and environmental benefits from the effective combination of advanced combustion and novel aftertreatment systems.

God and religion in post-modern philosophers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José J. Queiroz

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper is an essay on the positions of some post-modern philosophers on religion, with the debate about post-modernity as a background. Its preliminary objective is to situate post-modernity taking a position between plain acceptance and categorical refusal in contemporary society. In this polemical field, the paper focuses on three important post-modern philosophers by pointing their contributions for a new thinking about religion today. The procedure consists in the reading of the authors´ texts looking for an interpretation of their discourses on God, religion and the sacred. The conclusion is that post-modernity is not as new era overcoming modernity, but that it is comprised of new themes  that are on the fringes  or even  in opposite directions of modernity´s parameters . One can find these themes in many fields of human knowledge including theology and science of religion. On Derrida´s position, who is the most focused philosopher, the text is still embryonic as it comes from ongoing research.  

Some reactor properties of the new designed nuclear fuels after neutron irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bajan, M.; Necas, V.

2013-01-01

The main goal of this paper was perform the optimisation of the fuel assemblies from the profiling point of view as well as the enrichment of individual rods in such a way that the power peaking factor is steady as possible and also the stock of reactivity for six year fuel cycle. For this reason the limit for maximum fuel rod enrichment was increased to 5.95%. The power in the individual rods is the factor, which can limit the total reactor's power, it is very important to minimise the power peaking factor as possible. At the first the power peaking factor of selected fuel assemblies used in VVER-440 reactor were investigated and from results was based perspective designs which was divided into four parts according to the position of pins with gadolinium burnable absorber and according to the shroudless design. From every part the most perspective fuel assembly was chosen. The results are shown in the Fig. 7. The best result is using the shroudless design. As the second best design is fuel assembly with three gadolinium rods in the middle of the assembly. The power peaking factor unsteadiness is much lower as the reference fuel assembly Gd-2. Also it was demonstrate that the increase of enrichment to 5.95% is perspective, because in several designs the difference in enrichment in individual pins was 1% "2'3"5U. Considering only the present allowed value (max 5%) it would not be possible to reach such good power peaking factor and the reactivity sufficient for 6-years fuel cycle. Profiling optimisation together with modernization of structural changes of assembly was achieved the low power peaking factor unsteadiness in individual pins and higher average enrichment of "2"3"5U. So the optimisation can be summarized as very prosperous and perspective. (authors)

A Development of Technical Specification of a Research Reactor with Plate Fuels Cooled by Upward Flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sujin; Kim, Jeongeun; Kim, Hyeonil

2016-01-01

The contents of the TS(Technical Specifications) are definitions, safety limits, limiting safety system settings, limiting conditions for operation, surveillance requirements, design features, and administrative controls. TS for Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) have been developed since many years until now. On the other hands, there are no applicable modernized references of TS for research reactors with many differences from NPPs in purpose and characteristics. Fuel temperature and Departure from Nuclear Boiling Ratio (DNBR) are being used as references from the thermal-hydraulic analysis point of view for determining whether the design of research reactors satisfies acceptance criteria for the nuclear safety or not. Especially for research reactors using plate-type fuels, fuel temperature and critical heat flux, however, are very difficult to measure during the reactor operation. This paper described the outline of main contents of a TS for open-pool research reactor with plate-type fuels using core cooling through passive systems, where acceptance criteria for nuclear safety such as CHF and fuel temperature cannot be directly measured, different from circumstances in NPPs. Thus, three independent variables instead of non-measurable acceptance criteria: fuel temperature and CHF are considered as safety limits, i.e., power, flow, and flow temperature

Ethical perception of modern biotechnology

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Jane

2011-09-30

Sep 30, 2011 ... 1Social Impact of Biotechnology Development in Malaysia Research ... purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical perception of modern ... and social benefits of modern biotechnology, consumer .... Company or organisation directly involved in the production of ...... Food safety battle: organic vs. biotech.

The Paradox of Modern Suffering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dræby, Anders

The Paradox of Suffering in modern western Culture In non-western cultures and pre-modern western cultures suffering is considered the normal state of life. Corrispondingly the suffering of oneself and that of other people form a central focus to most religions, their practices and philosophies...

Systematic approach to modernizing the production company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina Valeryevna Makarova

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses development of modernization processes in the Russian industrial enterprises. The object of the current study is the JSC "Perm Company of petroleum machinery-producing industry". It has been manufacturing oilfield service products of various kinds. It is shown that the impact of modernization on the enterprise depends not only on the local effectiveness of selected solutions, but also on the overall strategy of sustainable development. Modernization is a strategic planning tool. Taking into account the need for a comprehensive approach to strategic development and modernization, the top five stages of the development strategy of the company were mentioned: 1 analysis of internal and external environment; 2 definition of the mission and goals; 3 choice of strategy and baseline scenarios; 4 development of basic strategy; 5 implementation of the strategy. At each stage, methods and tools for strategic planning, as well as the tools of modernization are defined. The relationship between modernization and development strategy of the company is shown. It was revealed that an integrated approach to the modernization and incremental implementation are the basics for the use of a hierarchical system of optimization models to describe the process of manufacturing company modernization. As the target model of the upper level, financial performance of the company is defined. This approach has the following advantages over the point upgrading - reducing the probability of omission of important limitations and ineffective use of resources during the transition to modernization of the company. Basing on the main strategic goals, main directions and tasks of modernization, which are integrated into the tree ends were formed. A thesis was substantiated that he essence of modernization lies in the continuity of mutually complex processes of improving all its directions. For the JSC "Perm Company of petroleum machinery-producing industry

LIFESTYLE PECULIARITIES OF MODERN MYOPIC SCHOOLCHILDREN: A MEDICO-SOCIAL STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.E. Gurileva

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Myopia — is the most common vision defect, that is being formed due to impaired school routine, work and recreation conditions, motion activity and against the background of increased physical and psychological stress. Study objective: study lifestyle peculiarities of myopic schoolchildren. Methods: 349 pupils from 5–9 forms of a school with profound studying of various subjects were interviewed using a specially designed questionnaire. After a preventive examination the schoolchildren were divided into two groups according to ophthalmologists report, comparable by age and gender (162 myopic vs 182 without myopia. Results: all participants were poorly informed about myopia and possible preventive care, and during breaks behaved themselves in an unreasonable way judging from the positions of vision care. At home myopic children tended to spend more time doing their homework and on extracurricular studies, as well as on reading; these children in general spent more time watching TV or working on a computer; failed to rest properly, couldn’t switch from one type of activity to another, were working under conditions of unreasonable vision workload. In contrast to participants from control group, myopic schoolchildren spent less time resting: they were sleeping less and spent less time outdoors. Conclusion: revealed lifestyle peculiarities of modern myopic schoolchildren must become a target for preventive care. Their irrational lifestyle can be corrected by correction of daily routine, better organization of extracurricular exercises, visual exercises, better education of schoolchildren about disease risk factors.Key words: schoolchildren, myopia, risk factors.(Voprosy sovremennoi pediatrii — Current Pediatrics. 2011; 10 (4: 5–9

Fuel performance and operation experience of WWER-440 fuel in improved fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gagarinski, A.; Proselkov, V.; Semchenkov, Yu.

2007-01-01

The paper summarizes WWER-440 second-generation fuel operation experience in improved fuel cycles using the example of Kola NPP units 3 and 4. Basic parameters of fuel assemblies, fuel rods and uranium-gadolinium fuel rods, as well as the principal neutronic parameters and burn-up achieved in fuel assemblies are presented. The paper also contains some data concerning the activity of coolant during operation (Authors)

Assess How Changes in Fuel Cycle Operation Impact Safeguards

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tobin, Stephen Joseph [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division; Adigun, Babatunde John [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division; Fugate, Michael Lynn [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division; Trellue, Holly Renee [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division; Sprinkle, James K. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division

2016-10-31

Since the beginning of commercial nuclear power generation in the 1960s, the ability of researchers to understand and control the isotopic content of spent fuel has improved. It is therefore not surprising that both fuel assembly design and fuel assembly irradiation optimization have improved over the past 50+ years. It is anticipated that the burnup and isotopics of the spent fuel should exhibit less variation over the decades as reactor operators irradiate each assembly to the optimum amount. In contrast, older spent fuel is anticipated to vary more in burnup and resulting isotopics for a given initial enrichment. Modern fuel therefore should be more uniform in composition, and thus, measured safeguards results should be easier to interpret than results from older spent fuel. With spent fuel ponds filling up, interim and long-­term storage of spent fuel will need to be addressed. Additionally after long periods of storage, spent fuel is no longer self-­protecting and, as such, the IAEA will categorize it as more attractive; in approximately 20 years many of the assemblies from early commercial cores will no longer be considered self-­protecting. This study will assess how more recent changes in the reactor operation could impact the interpretation of safeguards measurements. The status quo for spent fuel assay in the safeguards context is that the overwhelming majority of spent fuel assemblies are not measured in a quantitative way except for those assemblies about to be loaded into a difficult or impossible to access location (dry storage or, in the future, a repository). In other words, when the assembly is still accessible to a state actor, or an insider, when it is cooling in a pool, the inspectorate does not have a measurement database that could assist them in re-­verifying the integrity of that assembly. The spent fuel safeguards regime would be strengthened if spent fuel assemblies were measured from discharge to loading into a difficult or impossible

FAMILY EDUCATION IN MODERN LIFE-DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

OpenAIRE

I.I. Dorozhko

2018-01-01

The crisis of a family education in modern societies, which, according to its definition are the risk societies, is caused not only by lagging of its practice from the accelerated pace of modern societies modernization and changes in the organization of family life, but also by the decline of the culture of life development and pedagogical culture of wider population stratum. The changes taking place in modern families, hasty conclusions about the replacement of traditional family with its ne...

Advanced fuel development at AECL: What does the future hold for CANDU fuels/fuel cycles?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kupferschmidt, W.C.H. [Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, Ontario (Canada)

2013-07-01

This paper outlines advanced fuel development at AECL. It discusses expanding the limits of fuel utilization, deploy alternate fuel cycles, increase fuel flexibility, employ recycled fuels; increase safety and reliability, decrease environmental impact and develop proliferation resistant fuel and fuel cycle.

HTGR fuel and fuel cycle technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lotts, A.L.; Coobs, J.H.

1976-08-01

The status of fuel and fuel cycle technology for high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) is reviewed. The all-ceramic core of the HTGRs permits high temperatures compared with other reactors. Core outlet temperatures of 740 0 C are now available for the steam cycle. For advanced HTGRs such as are required for direct-cycle power generation and for high-temperature process heat, coolant temperatures as high as 1000 0 C may be expected. The paper discusses the variations of HTGR fuel designs that meet the performance requirements and the requirements of the isotopes to be used in the fuel cycle. Also discussed are the fuel cycle possibilities, which include the low-enrichment cycle, the Th- 233 U cycle, and plutonium utilization in either cycle. The status of fuel and fuel cycle development is summarized

Outlet temperature measurement correction of Gd fuel assemblies at Dukovany NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jurickova, M.

2008-01-01

In year 2006 we started data processing from the Dukovany NPP operating history database that contained data from the old measurement system VK3 and the new Scorpio-VVER. The work has been done in cooperation with the reactor physicists at Dukovany NPP. Obtained data from database were compared with calculated parameters from 3D diffusion macrocode Mobydick. During the data processing it was found that the Gd fuel assemblies have different time plot of measured assembly outlet temperature compared to the non-Gd fuel assemblies. Experimental studies in RRC KI found that there is insufficient coolant mixing in the region from the fuel bundle to the fuel assembly thermocouple. Due to this fact the thermocouple measure temperature is systematically higher than real temperature. There are two methods to solve this problem. The first method analyses the flow and heat transfer in the region from the fuel bundle to the fuel assembly thermocouple - this method is developed in Skoda JS. The second method statistically studies differences between the measured and calculated temperature by the Mobydick code using the operational history database. Our study is focused on the second method. Several calculation methods for the correction of measured assembly outlet temperature were developed. All correction methods were applied to the measured temperatures from the Dukovany NPP operating history database and the methods were mutually compared. In near future it is planned to compare results of our chosen correction method with modeling method, which is developing in Skoda JS and it is planned to validate both of them. Consequently, the one of these correction methods will be implemented in the modernized Scorpio-VVER for Dukovany NPP. (author)

Draining Water from Aircraft Fuel Using Nitrogen Enriched Air

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Frank

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This paper concerns a computational study of the process of removing water from an aircraft’s fuel tank by pumping nitrogen enriched air (NEA from the bottom of the tank. This is an important procedure for the smooth, efficient, and safe operation of the aircraft’s engine. Due to the low partial pressure of water in the pumped NEA, it absorbs water from the fuel. The water-laden bubbles enter the ullage, the empty space above the fuel, and escape into the environment. The effects of the number of NEA inlets and the NEA mass flow rate on the timescale of the NEA pumping were investigated using Computational Fluid Dynamics. The results reveal that the absorption of water by the NEA bubbles is low and is not affected by the number of the inlets used. Yet, the water content in the fuel decreases fast during the procedure, which is the desired outcome. We show that this is due to the relatively dry NEA entering the ullage and displacing the moist air, thus reducing the partial pressure of water at the fuel/ullage interface. This shift from equilibrium conditions forces water to evaporate from the fuel’s entire surface. Furthermore, the amount of water migrating from the fuel directly into the ullage is significantly greater than that absorbed by the rising bubbles. In turn, the rate of decrease of the water content in the ullage is determined by the total NEA mass flow rate and this is the dominant contributor to the draining time, with the number of NEA nozzles playing a minor role. We confirmed this by pumping NEA directly into the ullage, where we observe a significant decrease of water even when the NEA is not pumped through the fuel. We also show that doubling the mass flow rate halves the draining time. When considering the capability of most modern aircraft to pump NEA through the fuel as part of their inerting system, the proposed method for removing water is particularly attractive, requiring very little (if at all design modification.

Readings in modernity in Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geschiere, P.; Meyer, B.; Pels, P.

2008-01-01

This book provides students of Africa with a guide to the bewildering variety of scholarly work on the issue of modernity in Africa, and to offer some tools for dealing with its intellectual paradoxes. Part One contains both analytical and historical examples of the genealogies of modernity in the

Realisations in the field of combustion for a new type of gaseous fuel based on hydrogen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paunescu, L.; Surugiu, G. [Metallurgical Research Inst., Bucharest (Romania); Dica, C. [Rokura Industrial Applications, Bucharest (Romania); Stanescu, P.D. [Univ. for Technical Installation, Bucharest (Romania); Iorga, G. [Uzinsider Engineering, Galati (Romania); Necula, H. [Politechnica Univ., Bucharest (Romania); Ivan, I. [Mittal Steel, Galati (Romania)

2006-07-01

The trend towards the use of non-polluting energy sources to reduce or eliminate environmentally damaging combustion products such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides was discussed. Water electrolysis experiments were conducted to obtain an oxy-hydric gaseous fuel known as Klein gas. Klein gas contains hydrogen and oxygen in an almost stoichiometric proportion and has a unique molecular structure. From an energetic point of view, Klein gas behaves differently from other gases depending on the conditions where ignition and combustion occur. The temperature inside the flame varies from about 130 degrees C during free combustion under normal temperature and pressure conditions, up to the melting temperatures of some metals or refractory materials. If ignited Klein gas comes in contact with the surfaces of such a materials it can be used for cutting, brazing or welding. In order to use Klein gas in combustion installations such as industrial heating furnaces in iron and steel mills or in the ceramic and refractory industry, it should be used in combination with other gaseous fuels before ignition or by injection into an existing flame. This paper presented experimental results obtained by a Romanian team of researchers regarding the use of Klein gas in combustion installations with natural gas. The combustion rate was found to intensify as flame temperature increased, depending on the proportion of Klein gas used. The optimal proportion between the two fuels was found to be 1:5. 5 refs., 3 tabs., 4 figs.

76 FR 37703 - Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: 2012 Renewable Fuel Standards; Public Hearing

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-28

... Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: 2012 Renewable Fuel Standards; Public Hearing AGENCY: Environmental... hearing to be held for the proposed rule ``Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: 2012 Renewable Fuel... be proposing amendments to the renewable fuel standard program regulations to establish annual...

Multi-fuel reformers for fuel cells used in transportation. Phase 1: Multi-fuel reformers

Science.gov (United States)

1994-05-01

DOE has established the goal, through the Fuel Cells in Transportation Program, of fostering the rapid development and commercialization of fuel cells as economic competitors for the internal combustion engine. Central to this goal is a safe feasible means of supplying hydrogen of the required purity to the vehicular fuel cell system. Two basic strategies are being considered: (1) on-board fuel processing whereby alternative fuels such as methanol, ethanol or natural gas stored on the vehicle undergo reformation and subsequent processing to produce hydrogen, and (2) on-board storage of pure hydrogen provided by stationary fuel processing plants. This report analyzes fuel processor technologies, types of fuel and fuel cell options for on-board reformation. As the Phase 1 of a multi-phased program to develop a prototype multi-fuel reformer system for a fuel cell powered vehicle, the objective of this program was to evaluate the feasibility of a multi-fuel reformer concept and to select a reforming technology for further development in the Phase 2 program, with the ultimate goal of integration with a DOE-designated fuel cell and vehicle configuration. The basic reformer processes examined in this study included catalytic steam reforming (SR), non-catalytic partial oxidation (POX) and catalytic partial oxidation (also known as Autothermal Reforming, or ATR). Fuels under consideration in this study included methanol, ethanol, and natural gas. A systematic evaluation of reforming technologies, fuels, and transportation fuel cell applications was conducted for the purpose of selecting a suitable multi-fuel processor for further development and demonstration in a transportation application.

Enhanced CANDU 6 (EC6): a proven mid-sized reactor with fuel cycle capability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hopwood, J.; Soulard, M.; Hastings, I.J.

2011-01-01

Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) is finalizing development of the Enhanced CANDU 6 (EC6), which incorporates the CANDU 6's well-proven features, and adds enhancements that make the reactor even more safe and easier to operate. The EC6 is the only mid-sized reactor (700 MWe class) with a proven pedigree that meets modern reactor expectations and regulatory standards. It is sized for smaller grids and also has outstanding fuel-cycle capability. Changes are incremental and consistent with the CANDU 6 project approach. The EC6 utilizes modern computers and a distributed control system housed in an advanced control room which, along with automated testing and on-line diagnostics, make the plant easier and safer to operate, with minimal operator intervention. Containment and seismic capability are upgraded to meet modern standards. The first deployment of the EC6 is anticipated in Canada; international markets are also being pursued. AECL is performing a comprehensive review of the EC6 design in the wake of the Fukushima accident, will review lessons learned, and incorporate any necessary improvements into new build design. (author)

Enhanced CANDU 6 (EC6): a proven mid-sized reactor with fuel cycle capability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hopwood, J.; Soulard, M.; Hastings, I.J.

2011-01-01

Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) is finalizing development of the Enhanced CANDU 6 (EC6), which incorporates the CANDU 6's well-proven features, and enhancements that make the reactor even more safe and easier to operate. The EC6 is the only mid-sized reactor (700 MWe class) with a proven pedigree that meets modern reactor expectations and regulatory standards. It is sized for smaller grids and also has outstanding fuel-cycle capability. Changes are incremental and consistent with the CANDU 6 project approach. The EC6 utilizes modern computers and a distributed control system housed in an advanced control room which, along with automated testing and on-line diagnostics, make the plant easier and safer to operate, with minimal operator intervention. Containment and seismic capability are upgraded to meet modern standards. The first deployment of the EC6 is anticipated in Canada; international markets are also being pursued. AECL is performing a comprehensive review of the EC6 design in the wake of the Fukushima accident, will review lessons learned, and incorporate any necessary improvements into new build design. (author)

Modern human origins: progress and prospects.

OpenAIRE

Stringer, Chris

2002-01-01

The question of the mode of origin of modern humans (Homo sapiens) has dominated palaeoanthropological debate over the last decade. This review discusses the main models proposed to explain modern human origins, and examines relevant fossil evidence from Eurasia, Africa and Australasia. Archaeological and genetic data are also discussed, as well as problems with the concept of 'modernity' itself. It is concluded that a recent African origin can be supported for H. sapiens, morphologically, be...

Fuel assembly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaki, Masao; Nishida, Koji; Karasawa, Hidetoshi; Kanazawa, Toru; Orii, Akihito; Nagayoshi, Takuji; Kashiwai, Shin-ichi; Masuhara, Yasuhiro

1998-01-01

The present invention concerns a fuel assembly, for a BWR type nuclear reactor, comprising fuel rods in 9 x 9 matrix. The inner width of the channel box is about 132mm and the length of the fuel rods which are not short fuel rods is about 4m. Two water rods having a circular cross section are arranged on a diagonal line in a portion of 3 x 3 matrix at the center of the fuel assembly, and two fuel rods are disposed at vacant spaces, and the number of fuel rods is 74. Eight fuel rods are determined as short fuel rods among 74 fuel rods. Assuming the fuel inventory in the short fuel rod as X(kg), and the fuel inventory in the fuel rods other than the short fuel rods as Y(kg), X and Y satisfy the relation: X + Y ≥ 173m, Y ≤ - 9.7X + 292, Y ≤ - 0.3X + 203 and X > 0. Then, even when the short fuel rods are used, the fuel inventory is increased and fuel economy can be improved. (I.N.)

Fuel assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukai, Hideyuki

1987-01-01

Purpose: To prevent bending of fuel rods caused by the difference of irradiation growth between coupling fuel rods and standards fuel rods thereby maintain the fuel rod integrity. Constitution: The f value for a fuel can (the ratio of pole of zirconium crystals in the entire crystals along the axial direction of the fuel can) of a coupling fuel rod secured by upper and lower tie plates is made smaller than the f value for the fuel can of a standard fuel rod not secured by the upper and the lower tie plates. This can make the irradiation growth of the fuel can of the coupling fuel rod greater than the irradiation growth of the fuel can of the standard fuel rod and, accordingly, since the elongation of the standard fuel rod can always by made greater, bending of the standard fuel rod can be prevented. (Yoshihara, M.)

Om det moderne hus - og det klassiske

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauberg, Jørgen

2010-01-01

I tekst og illustrationer beskrives det klassiske hus og den klassiske by, repræsenteret ved Andrea Palladio (1508-80) og det moderne hus, den moderne by og byggeopgave, repræsenteret ved Le Corbusier (1887-1965).......I tekst og illustrationer beskrives det klassiske hus og den klassiske by, repræsenteret ved Andrea Palladio (1508-80) og det moderne hus, den moderne by og byggeopgave, repræsenteret ved Le Corbusier (1887-1965)....

Features of fuel performance at high fuel burnups

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Proselkov, V.N.; Scheglov, A.S.; Smirnov, A.V.; Smirnov, V.P.

2001-01-01

Some features of fuel behavior at high fuel burnups, in particular, initiation and development of rim-layer, increase in the rate of fission gas release from the fuel and increase in the inner gas pressure in the fuel rod are briefly described. Basing on the analysis of the data of post-irradiation examinations of fuel rods of WWER-440 working FA and CR fuel followers, that have been operated for five fuel cycles and got the average fuel burnup or varies as 50MW-day/kgU, a conclusion is made that the WWER-440 fuel burnup can be increased at least to average burnups of 55-58 MW-day/kgU per fuel assembly (Authors)

Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel in Norway: Status and Prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennett, Peter; Larsen, Erlend

2014-01-01

Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) in Norway has arisen from irradiation of fuel in the JEEP I and JEEP II reactors at Kjeller, and in the Halden Boiling Water Reactor (HBWR) in Halden. In total there are some 16 tonnes of SNF, all of which is currently stored on-site, in either wet or dry storage facilities. The greater part of the SNF, 12 tonnes, consists of aluminium-clad fuel, of which 10 tonnes is metallic uranium fuel and the remainder oxide (UO 2 ). Such fuel presents significant challenges with respect to long-term storage and disposal. Current policy is that existing spent fuel will, as far as possible considering its suitability for later direct disposal, be stored until final disposal is possible. Several committees have advised the Government of Norway on, among others, policy issues, storage methods and localisation of a storage facility. Both experts and stakeholders have participated in these committees. This paper presents an overview of the spent fuel in Norway and a description of current storage arrangements. The prospects for long-term storage are then described, including a summary of recommendations made to government, the reactions of various stakeholders to these recommendations, the current status, and the proposed next steps. A recommended policy is to construct a new storage facility for the fuel to be stored for a period of at least 50 years. In the meantime a national final disposal facility should be constructed and taken into operation. It has been recommended that the aluminium-clad fuel be reprocessed in an overseas commercial facility to produce a stable waste form for storage and disposal. This recommendation is controversial, and a decision has not yet been taken on whether to pursue this option. An analysis of available storage concepts for the more modern fuel types resulted in the recommendation to use dual-purpose casks. In addition, it was recommended to construct a future storage facility in a rock hall instead of a free

Fuel Handbook[Wood and other renewable fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stroemberg, Birgitta [TPS Termiska Processer AB, Nykoeping (SE)] (ed.)

2006-03-15

This handbook on renewable fuels is intended for power and heat producers in Sweden. This fuel handbook provides, from a plant owner's perspective, a method to evaluate different fuels on the market. The fuel handbook concerns renewable fuels (but does not include household waste) that are available on the Swedish market today or fuels that have potential to be available within the next ten years. The handbook covers 26 different fuels. Analysis data, special properties, operating experiences and literature references are outlined for each fuel. [Special properties, operating experiences and literature references are not included in this English version] The handbook also contains: A proposed methodology for introduction of new fuels. A recommendation of analyses and tests to perform in order to reduce the risk of problems is presented. [The recommendation of analyses and tests is not included in the English version] A summary of relevant laws and taxes for energy production, with references to relevant documentation. [Only laws and taxes regarding EU are included] Theory and background to evaluate a fuel with respect to combustion, ash and corrosion properties and methods that can be used for such evaluations. Summary of standards, databases and handbooks on biomass fuels and other solid fuels, and links to web sites where further information about the fuels can be found. The appendices includes: A methodology for trial firing of fuels. Calculations procedures for, amongst others, heating value, flue gas composition, key number and free fall velocity [Free fall velocity is not included in the English version]. In addition, conversion routines between different units for a number of different applications are provided. Fuel analyses are presented in the appendix. (The report is a translation of parts of the report VARMEFORSK--911 published in 2005)

A mathematical model for pressure-based organs behaving as biological pressure vessels.

Science.gov (United States)

Casha, Aaron R; Camilleri, Liberato; Gauci, Marilyn; Gatt, Ruben; Sladden, David; Chetcuti, Stanley; Grima, Joseph N

2018-04-26