Corrosion evaluation in insulated pipes by non destructive testing method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abd Razak Hamzah; Azali Muhammad; Mohammad Pauzi Ismail; Abd Nassir Ibrahim; Abd Aziz Mohamed; Sufian Saad; Saharuddin Sayuti; Shukri Ahmad

2002-01-01

In engineering plants, detection of corrosion and evaluation of deposit in insulated pipes using radiography method are considered as a very challenging tasks. In General this degradation problem is attributed to water condensation. It causes the formation of deposit and scale inside the pipe, as well as between the insulation and pipe in cold temperature pipes. On the other hand, for hot temperature pipes the main problem is mainly due to corrosion/erosion attack inside the pipe. In the study of corrosion in pipelines, one of the most important parameters to be monitored and measured is the wall thickness. Currently, most pipeline corrosion monitoring and evaluation for both insulated and non-insulated pipes is performed using an ultrasonic method. The most common technique is that based on the A-Scan, using either a normal flaw detector or some form of dedicated equipment. However, with recent development of ultrasonic technology, more advance method, namely B-Scan and C-scan techniques are also available. The most notable disadvantage of using this method is that the insulation covering the pipe has to be removed before the inspection can be carried out and this is considered as not so cost effective. Due to this reason, the possibility of employing other alternative NDT method, namely radiographic testing method were studied. The technique used in this studied are known as tangential technique. In this study it was found that the result found using tangential technique is consistent with the actual thickness of the pipe. Result of this study is presented and discussed in this paper. (Author)

Insulated pipe clamp design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, M.J.; Hyde, L.L.; Wagner, S.E.; Severud, L.K.

1980-01-01

Thin wall large diameter piping for breeder reactor plants can be subjected to significant thermal shocks during reactor scrams and other upset events. On the Fast Flux Test Facility, the addition of thick clamps directly on the piping was undesired because the differential metal temperatures between the pipe wall and the clamp could have significantly reduced the pipe thermal fatigue life cycle capabilities. Accordingly, an insulated pipe clamp design concept was developed. 5 refs

Further considerations for damping in heavily insulated pipe systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, M.J.; Lindquist, M.R.; Severud, L.K.

1985-01-01

Over the past several years a body of test data has been accumulated which demonstrates that damping in small diameter heavily insulated pipe systems is much larger than presently recommended by Regulatory Guide 1.61. This data is generally based on pipe systems using a stand-off insulation design with a heater annulus. Additional tests have how been completed on similar pipe systems using a strap-on insulation design without the heater annulus. Results indicate some reduction in damping over the stand-off designs. Test data has also been obtained on a larger sixteen-inch diameter heavily insulated pipe system. Results of these two additional test series are presented. Revised damping values for seismic design of heavily insulated pipe systems are then recommended

Further considerations for damping in heavily insulated pipe systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, M.J.; Lindquist, M.R.; Severud, L.K.

1985-01-01

Over the past several years a body of test data has been accumulated which demonstrates that damping in small diameter heavily insulated pipe systems is much larger than presently recommended by Regulatory Code 1.61. This data is generally based on pipe systems using a stand-off insulation design with a heater annulus. Additional tests have now been completed on similar pipe systems using a strap-on insulation design without the heater annulus. Results indicate some reduction in damping over the stand-off designs. Test data has also been obtained on a larger sixteen-inch diameter heavily insulated pipe system. Results of these two additional test series are presented. Revised damping values for seismic design for heavily insulated pipe systems are then recommended

An inspection of pipe by snake robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

František Trebuňa

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The article deals with development and application of snake robot for inspection pipes. The first step involves the introduction of a design of mechanical and electrical parts of the snake robot. Next, the analysis of the robot locomotion is introduced. For the curved pipe, potential field method is used. By this method, the system is able to generate path for the head and rear robot, linking the environment with obstacles, which are represented by the walls of the pipe. Subsequently, the solution of potential field method is used in inverse kinematic model, which respects tasks as obstacle avoidance, joint limit avoidance, and singularity avoidance. Mentioned approach is then tested on snake robot in provisional pipe with rectangular cross section. For this research, software Matlab (2013b is used as the control system in cooperation with the control system of robot, which is based on microcontrollers. By experiments, it is shown that designed robot is able to pass through straight and also curved pipe.

Estimation of thermal insulation performance in multi-layer insulator for liquid helium pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shibanuma, Kiyoshi; Kuriyama, Masaaki; Shibata, Takemasa

1991-01-01

For a multi-layer insulator around the liquid helium pipes for cryopumps of JT-60 NBI, a multi-layer insulator composed of 10 layers, which can be wound around the pipe at the same time and in which the respective layers are in concentric circles by shifting them in arrangement, has been developed and tested. As the result, it was shown that the newly developed multi-layer insulator has better thermal insulation performance than the existing one, i.e. the heat load of the newly developed insulator composed of 10 layers was reduced to 1/3 the heat load of the existing insulator, and the heat leak at the joint of the insulator in longitudinal direction of the pipe was negligible. In order to clarify thermal characteristics of the multi-layer insulator, the heat transfer through the insulator has been analyzed considering the radiation heat transfer by the netting spacer between the reflectors, and the temperature dependence on the emissivities and the heat transmission coefficients of these two components of the insulator. The analytical results were in good agreements with the experimental ones, so that the analytical method was shown to be valid. Concerning the influence of the number of layers and the layer density on the insulation performance of the insulator, analytical results showed that the multi-layer insulator with the number of layer about N = 20 and the layer density below 2.0 layer/mm was the most effective for the liquid helium pipe of a JT-60 cryopump. (author)

Load-deflection characteristics of small bore insulated pipe clamps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severud, L.K.; Clark, G.L.

1982-01-01

High temperature LMFBR piping is subject to rapid temperature changes during transient events. Typically, this pipe is supported by specially designed insulated pipe clamps to prevent excessive thermal stress from developing during these transients. The special insulated clamps used on both FFTF and CRBR piping utilize a Belleville spring arrangement to compensate for pipe thermal expansion. Analysis indicates that this produces a non-linear, directionally sensitive clamp spring rate. Since these spring rates influence the seismic response of a supported piping system, it was deemed necessary to evaluate them further by test. This has been accomplished for the FFTF clamps. A more standard insulated pipe clamp, which does not incorporate Belleville springs to accommodate thermal expansion, was also tested. This type clamp is simple in design, and economically attractive. It may have wide application prospects for use in LMFBR small bore auxiliary piping operating at temperatures below 427 0 C. Load deflection tests were conducted on 2.54 CM and 7.62 CM diameter samples of these commercial clamps

Mechatronics Design of an Autonomous Pipe-Inspection Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdellatif Mohamed

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Pipelines require periodical inspection to detect corrosion, deformation and congestion with obstacles in the network. Autonomous mobile robots are good solutions for this task. Visual information from the pipe interior associated with a location stamp is needed for inspection. In this paper, the previous designs of autonomous robots are reviewed and a new robot is developed to ensure simple design and smooth motion. Images are processed online to detect irregularity in pipe and then start capturing high resolution pictures to conserve the limited memory size. The new robot moves in pipes and provides video stream of pipe interior with location stamp. The visual information can later be processed offline to extract more information of pipeline condition to make maintenance decisions.

Development of Pipe Holding Mechanism for Pipe Inspection Robot Using Flexible Pneumatic Cylinder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Choi Kyujun

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A pipe inspection robot is useful to reduce the inspection cost. In the previous study, a novel pipe inspection robot using a flexible pneumatic cylinder that can move forward along to the pipe by changing the robot’s body naturally was proposed and tested. In this paper, to improve its mobility for a corner of a pipe, the thin pipe holding mechanism using pneumatic bellows was proposed and tested. As a result of its driving test, the holding performance of the mechanism was confirmed.

Determination of optimum insulation thickness in pipe for exergetic life cycle assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keçebaş, Ali

2015-01-01

Highlights: • It is aimed to determine optimum insulation thickness in pipe. • A new methodology is used as exergetic life cycle assessment for this purpose. • It is evaluated for various fuels, different pipe diameters and some combustion parameters. • This methodology is not suitable for determining optimum insulation thickness of a pipe. • There are benefits to our understanding of the need for insulation use in pipes. - Abstract: The energy saving and the environmental impacts’ reduction in the world building sector have gained great importance. Therefore, great efforts have been invested to create energy-saving green buildings. To do so, one of the many things to be done is the insulation of cylindrical pipes, canals and tanks. In the current study, the main focus is on the determination of the optimum insulation thickness of the pipes with varying diameters when different fuels are used. Therefore, through a new method combining exergy analysis and life cycle assessment, optimum insulation thickness of the pipes, total exergetic environmental impact, net saving and payback period were calculated. The effects of the insulation thickness on environmental and combustion parameters were analyzed in a detailed manner. The results revealed that optimum insulation thickness was affected by the temperature of the fuel when it enters into the combustion chamber, the temperature of the stack gas and the temperature of the combustion chamber. Under these optimum effects, the optimum insulation thickness of a 100 mm pipe was determined to be 55.7 cm, 57.2 cm and 59.3 cm for coal, natural gas and fuel–oil, respectively with the ratios of 76.32%, 81.84% and 84.04% net savings in the exergetic environmental impact. As the environmental impacts of the fuels and their products are bigger than those of the insulation material, the values of the optimum insulation thickness of the method used this study was found greater. Moreover, in the pipes with greater

Load-deflection characteristics of small-bore insulated-pipe clamps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severud, L.K.; Clark, G.L.

1981-12-01

The special insulated clamps used on both FFTF and CRBR piping utilize a Belleville spring arrangement to compensate for pipe thermal expansion. Analysis indicates that this produces a non-linear, directionally sensitive clamp spring rate. Since these spring rates influence the seismic response of a supported piping system, it was deemed necessary to evaluate them further by test. This has been accomplished for the FFTF clamps. A more standard insulated pipe clamp, which does not incorporate Belleville springs to accommodate thermal expansion, was also tested. This type clamp is simple in design, and economically attractive. It may have wide application prospects for use in LMFBR small bore auxiliary piping operating at temperatures below 427 0 C. Load deflection tests were conducted on 2.54 CM and 7.62 CM diameter samples of these commercial clamps

Thermal insulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinsky, G.P.

1977-01-01

Thermal insulation for vessels and piping within the reactor containment area of nuclear power plants is disclosed. The thermal insulation of this invention can be readily removed and replaced from the vessels and piping for inservice inspection, can withstand repeated wettings and dryings, and can resist high temperatures for long periods of time. 4 claims, 3 figures

Inspection, maintenance, and repair of large pumps and piping systems using advanced robotic tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, R.K.; Radigan, T.M.

1998-01-01

Operating and maintaining large pumps and piping systems can be an expensive proposition. Proper inspections and monitoring can reduce costs. This was difficult in the past, since detailed pump inspections could only be performed by disassembly and many portions of piping systems are buried or covered with insulation. Once these components were disassembled, a majority of the cost was already incurred. At that point, expensive part replacement usually took place whether it was needed or not. With the completion of the Pipe Walkertrademark/LIP System and the planned development of the Submersible Walkertrademark, this situation is due to change. The specifications for these inspection and maintenance robots will ensure that. Their ability to traverse both horizontal and vertical, forward and backward, make them unique tools. They will open the door for some innovative approaches to inspection and maintenance of large pumps and piping systems

Eddy Current Testing with Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR) Sensors and a Pipe-Encircling Excitation for Evaluation of Corrosion under Insulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Joseph; Long, Nicholas; Hunze, Arvid

2017-09-28

This work investigates an eddy current-based non-destructive testing (NDT) method to characterize corrosion of pipes under thermal insulation, one of the leading failure mechanisms for insulated pipe infrastructure. Artificial defects were machined into the pipe surface to simulate the effect of corrosion wall loss. We show that by using a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor array and a high current (300 A), single sinusoidal low frequency (5-200 Hz) pipe-encircling excitation scheme it is possible to quantify wall loss defects without removing the insulation or weather shield. An analysis of the magnetic field distribution and induced currents was undertaken using the finite element method (FEM) and analytical calculations. Simple algorithms to remove spurious measured field variations not associated with defects were developed and applied. The influence of an aluminium weather shield with discontinuities and dents was ascertained and found to be small for excitation frequency values below 40 Hz. The signal dependence on the defect dimensions was analysed in detail. The excitation frequency at which the maximum field amplitude change occurred increased linearly with the depth of the defect by about 3 Hz/mm defect depth. The change in magnetic field amplitude due to defects for sensors aligned in the azimuthal and radial directions were measured and found to be linearly dependent on the defect volume between 4400-30,800 mm³ with 1.2 × 10 -3 -1.6 × 10 -3 µT/mm³. The results show that our approach is well suited for measuring wall loss defects similar to the defects from corrosion under insulation.

In Pipe Robot with Hybrid Locomotion System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristian Miclauş

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The first part of the paper covers aspects concerning in pipe robots and their components, such as hybrid locomotion systems and the adapting mechanisms used. The second part describes the inspection robot that was developed, which combines tracked and wheeled locomotion (hybrid locomotion. The end of the paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed robot.

Wall Thickness Measurement Of Insulated Pipe By Tangential Radiography Technique Using Ir 192

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soedarjo

2000-01-01

Insulation pipe wall thickness by tangential radiography technique has been carried out using 41 Curie Iridium 192 source has activity for two carbon steel pipes. The outer diameter of the first pipe is 90 mm, wall thickness is 75.0 mm, source film film distance is 609.5 mm, source tangential point of insulation is 489.5 mm and exposure time 3 minute and 25 second. From the calculation, the first pipe thickness is found to be 12.54 mm and for the second pipe is 8.42 mm. The thickness is due to inaccuracy in reading the pipe thickness on radiography film and the geometry distortion radiation path

Test method for measuring insulation values of cryogenic pipes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Velthuis, J.F.M.; Blokland, H.; Klaver, B.W.; Beld, C. van de

2010-01-01

In this paper a large-area heat flux and temperature sensor (HFT) is used for the evaluation of the insulation value of cryogenic pipes. The HFT is flexible and clamp-on. The test method is relatively simple and can be used in-situ. The HFT makes it possible to monitor insulation performance over

Pipe robots for internal inspection, non-destructive testing and machining of pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiss, Alexander

2016-01-01

Inspector Systems is a specialist in manufacturing of tethered self-propelled pipe robots for internal inspection, non-destructive testing and machining of pipeline systems. Our industrial sectors, which originates from 30 year experience in the nuclear industry, are Gas and Oil (On-/Offshore, Refineries), Chemical, Petrochemical, Water etc. The pipe robots are able to get inserted through poor access points (e.g. valves) and to pass in bi-directional travelling vertical sections and numerous bends with small arc radius. The paper describes the system concept and performance of the pipe robot technology. A modular construction allows to equip the robots with different operational elements for the respective application.

Genetic Optimization and Simulation of a Piezoelectric Pipe-Crawling Inspection Robot

Science.gov (United States)

Hollinger, Geoffrey A.; Briscoe, Jeri M.

2004-01-01

Using the DarwinZk development software, a genetic algorithm (GA) was used to design and optimize a pipe-crawling robot for parameters such as mass, power consumption, and joint extension to further the research of the Miniature Inspection Systems Technology (MIST) team. In an attempt to improve on existing designs, a new robot was developed, the piezo robot. The final proposed design uses piezoelectric expansion actuators to move the robot with a 'chimneying' method employed by mountain climbers and greatly improves on previous designs in load bearing ability, pipe traversing specifications, and field usability. This research shows the advantages of GA assisted design in the field of robotics.

Development of integrated insulation joint for cooling pipe in tokamak reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishio, Satoshi; Abe, Tetsuya; Kawamura, Masashi; Yamazaki, Seiichiro.

1994-08-01

In a tokamak fusion reactor, an electrically insulated part is needed for an in-vessel piping system in order to break an electric circuit loop. When a closed loop is formed in the piping system, large induced electromagnetic forces during a plasma disruption (rapid plasma current quench) could give damages on the piping system. Ceramic brazing joint is a conventional method for the electric circuit break, but an application to the fusion reactor is not feasible due to its brittleness. Here, a stainless steel/ceramics/stainless steel functionally gradient material (FGM) has been proposed and developed as an integrated insulation joint of the piping system. Both sides of the joint can be welded to the main pipes, and expected to be reliable even in the fusion reactor environment. When the FGM joint is manufactured by way of a sintering process, a residual thermal stress is the key issue. Through detailed computations of the residual thermal stress and several trial productions, tubular elements of FGM joints have been successfully manufactured. (author)

Choice of insulation standard for pipe networks in 4th generation district heating systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Rasmus Søgaard; Mohammadi, Soma

2016-01-01

and smart gas grids. Improving DH pipes by improving the insulation standard results in decreasing the heat and temperature losses from the pipe networks. When reducing heat losses from DH pipes, there is a trade-off between the increasing cost of pipe insulation and the associated savings in the heat...... supply system. This study presents a methodology to describe this balance for a specific case and its application for the case of Denmark. The methodology presented consists of a techno-economic analysis in two steps. In the first step, a DH grid model is used to assess the reduction in grid losses...

Improved installation approach for variable spring setting on a pipe yet to be insulated

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, H.H.; Chitnis, S.S.; Rencher, D.

1993-01-01

This paper provides an approach in setting of variable spring supports for noninsulated or partially insulated piping systems so that resetting these supports is not required when the insulation is fully installed. This approach shows a method of deriving the spring coldload setting tolerance values that can be readily utilized by craft personnel. This method is based on the percentage of the weight of the insulation compared to the total weight of the pipe and the applicable tolerance. Use of these setting tolerances eliminates reverification of the original cold-load settings, for the majority of variable springs when the insulation is fully installed

Robots in pipe and vessel inspection: past, present, and future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, T.A.; Tyndall, J.F.

1984-01-01

Over the past several decades, remotely operated scanners have been employed to inspect piping and pressure vessels. These devices in their early forms were manually controlled manipulators functioning as mere extensions of the operator. With the addition of limit sensing, speed control, and positional feedback and display, the early manipulators became primitive robots. By adding computer controls with their degree of intelligence to the devices, they achieved the status of robots. Future applications of vision, adaptive control, proximity sensing, and pattern recognition will bring these devices to a level of intelligence that will make automated robotic inspection of pipes and pressure vessels a true reality

Mouse-resistant insulated covers keep pipes from freezing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

2010-01-15

Fabric wellhead covers and insulated blankets are commonly used at well sites in the Wyoming coalbed methane field to keep surface pipes from freezing. These materials are often chewed up by mice who build nests close to the warm pipes. The mice attract rattlesnakes, a potentially serious problem for the workmen who check the wells daily. Kennon Products of Sheridan, Wyoming solved this problem by making a flexible covering material that has a coating of hardened guard plates that prevents mice from chewing through it. More than a hundred of Kennon's mouse-resistant wellhead covers have been used successfully in the gas fields for over a year. They can be installed in less than 30 minutes and cost only a fraction of what a fiberglass hut costs to purchase and install. Huts are being discouraged for use on federal lands because they alter the nesting patterns of eagles, who perch upon them to hunt rodents. Huts also trap methane gas, which is a potential safety hazard. Kennon's mouse-resistant wellhead covers are lower than the fiberglass huts and blend into the landscape. The company is working on camouflage colours to make wellheads less noticeable. In the future, the company plans to insulate water pipes. 1 fig.

Robotic and user interface solutions for hazardous and remote applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schempf, H.

1997-01-01

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is developing novel robotic and user interface systems to assist in the cleanup activities undertaken by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Under DOE's EM-50 funding and administered by the Federal Energy Technology Center (FETC), CMU has developed a novel asbestos pipe-insulation abatement robot system, called BOA, and a novel generic user interface control and training console, dubbed RoboCon. The use of BOA will allow the speedier abatement of the vast DOE piping networks clad with hazardous and contaminated asbestos insulation by which overall job costs can be reduced by as much as 50%. RoboCon will allow the DOE to evaluate different remote and robotic system technologies from the overall man-machine performance standpoint, as well as provide a standardized training platform for training site operators in the operation of remote and robotic equipment

Impact of the amount of working fluid in loop heat pipe to remove waste heat from electronic component

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Smitka Martin

2014-03-01

Full Text Available One of the options on how to remove waste heat from electronic components is using loop heat pipe. The loop heat pipe (LHP is a two-phase device with high effective thermal conductivity that utilizes change phase to transport heat. It was invented in Russia in the early 1980’s. The main parts of LHP are an evaporator, a condenser, a compensation chamber and a vapor and liquid lines. Only the evaporator and part of the compensation chamber are equipped with a wick structure. Inside loop heat pipe is working fluid. As a working fluid can be used distilled water, acetone, ammonia, methanol etc. Amount of filling is important for the operation and performance of LHP. This work deals with the design of loop heat pipe and impact of filling ratio of working fluid to remove waste heat from insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT.

Measurement of pipe wall thinning by ultra acoustic resonance technique using optical fiber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirai, Takehiro; Machijima, Yuichi

2009-01-01

This is the novel system for Pipe Wall Thickness measurement which is combined EAMT(Electro Magnetic Acoustic Transducer) and Optical Fiber Sensor. The conventional ultrasonic thickness meter is using in pipe wall thickness measurement. However, it is necessary to remove a heat insulator from pipe line. A characteristic of this novel system is that it is possible to measure without removing a heat insulator and on-line monitoring, because of measurement probe is attached between pipe surface and heat insulator. As a result of measured with this system, we could measure 30 mm thickness of carbon and stainless steel at the maximum and pipe specimen of elbow shape. Heat-resistant characteristic confirmed at 200 degrees C until about 7000 hours. (author)

Seismic damping factors of small bore piping as influenced by insulation and support elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severud, L.K.; Anderson, M.J.; Barta, D.A.

1985-01-01

Seismic damping tests of a prototypical Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) small bore piping system is described, and measured transient responses to pulse excitations are reported. The test specimen was representative of a typical LMFBR insulated small bore piping system, and it was supported from a rigid test frame by prototypic dead weight supports, mechanical snubbers, and pipe clamps. Various support configurations were tested to assess the response sensitivity to insulation and other nonlinear support characteristics. Damping factors increased significantly due to the insulation and use of mechanical snubbers. Factors much higher than the magnitudes currently allowed in design by the USNRC Regulatory Guide 1.61, were found. This verified the design values, and it also pointed out the possibility of undue conservatism and costly overdesign resulting from use of the present design values

Seismic damping factors of small bore piping as influenced by insulation and support elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severud, L.K.; Barta, D.A.

1983-01-01

Seismic damping tests of a prototypical Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) small bore piping system is described, and measured transient responses to pulse excitations are reported. The test specimen was representative of a typical LMFBR insulated small bore piping system, and it was supported from a rigid test frame by prototypic dead weight supports, mechanical snubbers, and pipe clamps. Various support configurations were tested to assess the response sensitivity to insulation and other nonlinear support characteristics. Damping factors increased significantly due to the insulation and use of mechanical snubbers. Factors much higher than the magnitudes currently allowed in design, by the USNRC Regulatory Guide 1.61, were found. This verified the design values but also pointed out the possibility of undue conservatism and costly overdesign resulting from use of the present design values

Surface Thermal Insulation and Pipe Cooling of Spillways during Concrete Construction Period

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Zhenhong

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Given that spillways adopt a hydraulic thin concrete plate structure, this structure is difficult to protect from cracks. The mechanism of the cracks in spillways shows that temperature stress is the major reason for cracks. Therefore, an effective way of preventing cracks is a timely and reasonable temperature-control program. Studies show that one effective prevention method is surface thermal insulation combined with internal pipe cooling. The major factors influencing temperature control effects are the time of performing thermal insulation and the ways of internal pipe cooling. To solve this problem, a spillway is taken as an example and a three-dimensional finite element program and pipe cooling calculation method are adopted to conduct simulation calculation and analysis on the temperature fields and stress fields of concretes subject to different temperature-control programs. The temperature-control effects are then compared. Optimization results show that timely and reasonable surface thermal insulation and water-flowing mode can ensure good temperature-control and anticrack effects. The method has reference value for similar projects.

New portable pipe wall thickness measuring technique

Science.gov (United States)

Pascente, Joseph E.

1998-03-01

One of the biggest inspection challenges facing many of the process industries; namely the petrochemical, refining, fossil power, and pulp and paper industries is: How to effectively examine their insulated piping? While there are a number of failure mechanisms involved in various process piping systems, piping degradation through corrosion and erosion are by far the most prevalent. This degradation can be in the form of external corrosion under insulation, internal corrosion through a variety of mechanisms, and internal erosion caused by the flow of the product through the pipe. Refineries, chemical plants and electrical power plants have MANY thousands of miles of pipe that are insulated to prevent heat loss or heat absorption. This insulation is often made up of several materials, with calcium based material being the most dense. The insulating material is usually wrapped with an aluminum or stainless steel outer wrap. Verification of wall thickness of these pipes can be accomplished by removing the insulation and doing an ultrasound inspection or by taking x- rays at a tangent to the edge of the pipe through the insulation. Both of these processes are slow and expensive. The time required to obtain data is measured in hours per meter. The ultrasound method requires that the insulation be plugged after the inspection. The surface needs to be cleaned or the resulting data will not be accurate. The tangent x-ray only shows two thicknesses and requires that the area be roped off because of radiation safety.

Evaluation of conjugate, radial heat transfer in an internally insulated composite pipe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reurings, C.; Koussios, S.; Bergsma, O.K.; Vergote, K.

2015-01-01

In order to compete with steel, a fibre-reinforced composite exhaust wall with a general-purpose resin system requires an effective but lightweight insulation layer. However a lack of experimental methods for heat transfer from turbulent gas flow to pipe walls lined with a porous insulation layer

Development and Evaluation of Compact Robot Imitating a Hermit Crab for Inspecting the Outer Surface of Pipes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naoto Imajo

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Terrestrial hermit crabs which are a type of hermit crabs live on land, whereas typical hermit crabs inhabit the sea. They have an ability of climbing a tree vertically. Their claws allow them to hang on the tree. In this study, an outer-pipe inspection robot was developed. Its locomotion mechanism was developed in imitation of the terrestrial hermit crab’s claws. It is equipped with two rimless wheels. Each of the spokes is tipped with a neodymium magnet, which allows the robot to remain attached to even a vertical steel pipe. Moreover, the robot has a mechanism for adjusting the camber angle of the right and left wheels, allowing it to tightly grip pipes with different diameters. Experiments were conducted to check the performance of the robot using steel pipes with different diameters, placed horizontally, vertically, or obliquely. The robot attempted to move a certain distance along a pipe, and its success rate was measured. It was found that the robot could successfully travel along pipes with vertical orientations, although it sometimes fell from oblique or horizontal pipes. The most likely reason for this is identified and discussed. Certain results were obtained in laboratory. Further experiments in actual environment are required.

Nuclear power plant steam pipes repairing with TIRANT 3 robot system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soto Tomas, Marcelo; Curiel Nieva, Marceliano; Monzo Blasco, Enrique; Rodriguez, Salvador Pineda; Vaquer Perez, Juan I.

2011-01-01

A typical application functions covering the steam pipes inner surface in coal-fired power station and nuclear power plants. The results of this process are spectacular in terms of protection against corrosion and abrasion, but its application has conditioning factors, such as: Severe application conditions for workers. Due to the postural position (usually kneeling) in small diameter pipes and working with fireproof clothing and masks with outdoor air supplying, due to fumes, sparks and molten metal particles, radiological contamination, confined space, poor lighting... Coating uniformity. As metallization is a manual process, the carried out measurements show small variations in the thickness of the coating, always within the tolerance limits established by the applicable regulations and quality assurance. For all these reasons, Grupo Dominguis has developed the TIRANT 3 robot, a worldwide innovative system, for metallization of steam pipes inner surface. TIRANT 3 robot is teleoperated from outside of the pipe, so that human intervention is reduced to the operations of robot positioning and change of metallization wire. As it is an independent system of the human factor, metallization process performance is significantly increased by reducing rest periods due only to the robot maintenance. Likewise, TIRANT 3 system permits to increase resulting coating uniformity, and thus its resistance, keeping selected parameters constant depending on required type and thickness of wire. TIRANT 3 system has successfully worked in 2010 during the stops refueling of the Units I and II of Laguna Verde nuclear power plant in Mexico. (author)

Optimum interior area thermal resistance model to analyze the heat transfer characteristics of an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chou, H.-M.

2003-01-01

The heat transfer characteristics for an insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe are investigated by using a wedge thermal resistance model as well as the interior area thermal resistance model R th =t/K s /[(1-α)A 2 +αA 3 ] with a surface area weighting factor α. The errors of the results generated by an interior area model can be obtained by comparing with the exact results generated by a wedge model. Accurate heat transfer rates can be obtained without error at the optimum α opt with the related t/R 2 . The relation between α opt and t/R 2 is α opt =1/ln(1+t/R 2 )-1/(t/R 2 ). The value of α opt is greater than zero and less than 0.5 and is independent of pipe size R 2 /R cr but strongly dependent on the insulation thickness t/R 2 . The interior area model using the optimum value α opt with the related t/R 2 should also be applied to an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape within a very small amount of error for the results of heat transfer rates. The parameter R 2 conservatively corresponds to the outside radius of the maximum inside tangent circular pipe within the arbitrary shaped pipes. The approximate dimensionless critical thickness t cr /R 2 and neutral thickness t e /R 2 of an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape are also obtained. The accuracies of the value of t cr /R 2 as well as t e /R 2 are strongly dependent on the shape of the insulated small pipe. The closer the shape of an insulated pipe is to a regular polygonal or circular pipe, the more reliable will the values of t cr /R 2 as well as t e /R 2 be

Design and Development of Vision Based Blockage Clearance Robot for Sewer Pipes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krishna Prasad Nesaian

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Robotic technology is one of the advanced technologies, which is capable of completing tasks at situations where humans are unable to reach, see or survive. The underground sewer pipelines are the major tools for the transportation of effluent water. A lot of troubles caused by blockage in sewer pipe will lead to overflow of effluent water, sanitation problems. So robotic vehicle that is capable of traveling at underneath effluent water determining blockage using ultrasonic sensors and clearing by means of drilling mechanism is done. In addition to that wireless camera is fixed which acts as a robot vision by which we can monitor video and capture images using MATLAB tool. Thus in this project a prototype model of underground sewer pipe blockage clearance robot with drilling type will be developed

Development of Multiple Capsule Robots in Pipe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuxiang Guo

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Swallowable capsule robots which travel in body cavities to implement drug delivery, minimally invasive surgery, and diagnosis have provided great potential for medical applications. However, the space constraints of the internal environment and the size limitations of the robots are great challenges to practical application. To address the fundamental challenges of narrow body cavities, a different-frequency driven approach for multiple capsule robots with screw structure manipulated by external electromagnetic field is proposed in this paper. The multiple capsule robots are composed of driven permanent magnets, joint permanent magnets, and a screw body. The screw body generates a propulsive force in a fluidic environment. Moreover, robots can form new constructions via mutual docking and release. To provide manipulation guidelines for active locomotion, a dynamic model of axial propulsion and circumferential torque is established. The multiple start and step-out frequencies for multiple robots are defined theoretically. Moreover, the different-frequency driven approach based on geometrical parameters of screw structure and the overlap angles of magnetic polarities is proposed to drive multiple robots in an identical electromagnetic field. Finally, two capsule robots were prototyped and experiments in a narrow pipe were conducted to verify the different motions such as docking, release, and cooperative locomotion. The experimental results demonstrated the validity of the driven approach for multiple capsule robots in narrow body cavities.

Seismic damping factors of small-bore piping as influenced by insulation and support elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severud, L.K.; Anderson, M.J.; Barta, D.A.

1983-01-01

Seismic damping tests of a prototypical Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) small-bore piping system is described, and measured transient responses to pulse excitations are reported. The test specimen was representative of a typical LMFBR insulated small-bore piping system, and it was supported from a rigid test fame by prototypic dead-weight supports, mechanical snubbers, and pipe clamps. Various support configurations were tested to assess the reponse sensitivity to insulation and use of mechanical snubbers. Factors much higher than the magnitudes currently allowed in design, by the USNRC Regulatory Guide 1.61, were found. This verified the design values but also pointed out the possibility of undue conservatism and costly overdesign resulting from use of the present design values

A study on in-pipe inspection mobile robots, 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuda, Toshio; Hosokai, Hidemi; Uemura, Masahiro.

1990-01-01

This paper deals with inspection path planning for in-pipe inspection mobile robots which have the capability of moving through complicated pipeline networks. It is imperative that the robot systems have an inspection path planning system for such networks for their reasonable and rational operation, controlled by themselves or by the operators. The planning mainly requires two projects: the selection of the place to put the robot in or out, and the generation of the paths in the networks. This system provides the for complicated problems with plural inspection points using a basic strategy of systematically producing patterns and dividing partial problems of simple searches based on rules. (author)

Robotics and remote systems applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rabold, D.E.

1996-01-01

This article is a review of numerous remote inspection techniques in use at the Savannah River (and other) facilities. These include: (1) reactor tank inspection robot, (2) californium waste removal robot, (3) fuel rod lubrication robot, (4) cesium source manipulation robot, (5) tank 13 survey and decontamination robots, (6) hot gang valve corridor decontamination and junction box removal robots, (7) lead removal from deionizer vessels robot, (8) HB line cleanup robot, (9) remote operation of a front end loader at WIPP, (10) remote overhead video extendible robot, (11) semi-intelligent mobile observing navigator, (12) remote camera systems in the SRS canyons, (13) cameras and borescope for the DWPF, (14) Hanford waste tank camera system, (15) in-tank precipitation camera system, (16) F-area retention basin pipe crawler, (17) waste tank wall crawler and annulus camera, (18) duct inspection, and (19) deionizer resin sampling

Nuclear power plant steam pipes repairing with Tirant 3 Robot system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soto, M.; Curiel, M. [Logistica y Acondicionamientos Industriales SAU, Sorolla Center, local 10, Av. de las Cortes Valencianas No. 58, 46015 Valencia (Spain); Lazaro, F. [Revestimientos Anticorrosivos Industriales, S. L. U., Sorolla Center, local 10, Av. de las Cortes Valencianas No. 58, 46015 Valencia (Spain); Arnaldos, A., E-mail: m.soto@lainsa.co [TITANIA Servicios Tecnologicos SL, Sorolla Center, local 10, Av. de las Cortes Valencianas No. 58, 46015 Valencia (Spain)

2010-10-15

The metallization arc spray process is based on the projection of molten metal, supplied by means of different stainless alloys wire, over a surface of carbon steel usually, with the object of serving as protection against erosion-corrosion, increasing resistance to abrasion and detrition. A typical application functions covering the steam pipes inner surface in coal-fired power station and nuclear power plants. The results of this process are spectacular in terms of protection against corrosion and abrasion, but its application has conditioning factors, such as: Severe application conditions for workers. Due to the worker's postural position (usually kneeling) in 32 diameter pipes and working with fireproof clothing and masks with outdoor air supplying, due to fumes, sparks and molten metal particles, radiological contamination, confined space, poor lighting, ... Coating uniformity. As metallization is a manual process, the carried out measurements show small variations in the thickness of the coating, always within the tolerance limits established by the applicable regulations and quality assurance. An increase in the uniformity of the projected coating, increase the resistance and give a better surface protection. For all these reasons, Lainsa has developed the Tirant 3 robot, a worldwide innovative system, for metallization of steam pipes inner surface. Tirant 3 robot is tele operated from outside of the pipe, so that human intervention is reduced to the operations of robot positioning and change of metallization wire. As it is an independent system of the human factor, metallization process performance is significantly increased by reducing rest periods due only to the robot maintenance. Likewise, Tirant 3 system permits to increase resulting coating uniformity and thus its resistance, keeping selected parameters constant (forward speed, rotation speed and inner surface distance) depending on required type and thickness of wire. (Author)

Application of heat pipes in nuclear reactors for passive heat removal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haque, Z.; Yetisir, M., E-mail: haquez@aecl.ca [Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, Ontario (Canada)

2013-07-01

This paper introduces a number of potential heat pipe applications in passive (i.e., not requiring external power) nuclear reactor heat removal. Heat pipes are particularly suitable for small reactors as the demand for heat removal is significantly less than commercial nuclear power plants, and passive and reliable heat removal is required. The use of heat pipes has been proposed in many small reactor designs for passive heat removal from the reactor core. This paper presents the application of heat pipes in AECL's Nuclear Battery design, a small reactor concept developed by AECL. Other potential applications of heat pipes include transferring excess heat from containment to the atmosphere by integrating low-temperature heat pipes into the containment building (to ensure long-term cooling following a station blackout), and passively cooling spent fuel bays. (author)

Corrosion-under-insulation (CUI) guidelines

CERN Document Server

Staff, European Federation of Corrosion; Winnik, S

2014-01-01

Corrosion under insulation (CUI) refers to the external corrosion of piping and vessels that occurs underneath externally clad/jacketed insulation as a result of the penetration of water. By its very nature CUI tends to remain undetected until the insulation and cladding/jacketing is removed to allow inspection or when leaks occur. CUI is a common problem shared by the refining, petrochemical, power, industrial, onshore and offshore industries. The European Federation of Corrosion (EFC) Working Parties WP13 and WP15 have worked to provide guidelines on managing CUI together with a number of major European refining, petrochemical and offshore companies including BP, Chevron-Texaco, Conoco-Phillips, ENI, Exxon-Mobil, IFP, MOL, Scanraff, Statoil, Shell, Total and Borealis. The guidelines within this document are intended for use on all plants and installations that contain insulated vessels, piping and equipment. The guidelines cover a risk-based inspection methodology for CUI, inspection techniques (including n...

Decommissioning? Why not use a robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bares, L.C.

1995-01-01

Tasks which may be accomplished by robots alone or in conjunction with human workers in decommissioning nuclear facilities include: routine surveillance in contaminated areas; radiation surveys and sampling; preparation of work area; decontamination of walls and floors; disassembly of contaminated equipment and piping; internal decontamination of piping and waste storage/processing tanks; sorting materials; removal of large activated/contaminated structures; asbestos removal and packaging; transport of waste from disassembly areas; tending waste processing equipment; waste packaging for storage. The status of the technology is briefly reviewed and examples of the use of robots in decommissioning work in the USA are described. Although the use of robots in this field is not extensive so far, that use is increasing and information on its costs and benefits are becoming available. (UK)

An experimental study of damping characteristics with emphasis on insulation for nuclear power plant piping system (Seismic Damping Ratio Evaluation Program)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shibata, H.; Ito, M.; Hayashi, T.; Chiba, T.; Kobayashi, H.; Kitamura, K.; Ando, K.; Koyanagi, R.

1981-01-01

To clarify the damping characteristics and mechanism in nuclear power plant piping systems, the study group was established and conducted to study SDREP (Seismic Damping Ratio Evaluation Program). As the Phase II of this study, vibration tests were conducted to investigate factors which might contribute to damping characteristics of piping systems. These tests are composed of the next three model tests: 1) The component damping characteristics test of thermal insulator 2) The simplified piping model test 3) The scale model test. In these tests, we studied damping characteristics with emphasis on thermal insulator (mainly calcium silicate insulator). The acceleartion level of pipings is the same as that of the actual seismic response. The excitation was by sinusoidal sweep method using the shaking table and by free vibration method using snapback. (orig./RW)

Research on a New Bilateral Self-locking Mechanism for an Inchworm Micro In-pipe Robot with Large Traction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junhong Yang

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present an innovative bilaterally-controllable self-locking mechanism that can be applied to the micro in-pipe robot. The background and state of the art of the inchworm micro in-pipe robot is briefly described in the very beginning of the paper, where the main factors that influence the traction ability are also discussed. Afterwards, the micro in-pipe robots’ propulsion principle based on a unidirectional self-locking mechanism is discussed. Then, several kinds of self-locking mechanisms are compared, and a new bilaterally-controllable self-locking mechanism is proposed. By implementing the self-locking mechanism, the robot's tractive force is no longer restricted by the friction force, and both two-way motion and position locking for the robot can be achieved. Finally, the traction experiment is conducted using a prototype robot with the new bilaterally-controllable self-locking mechanism. Test results show that this new self-locking mechanism can adapt itself to a diameter of >17~>20 mm and has a blocking force up to 25N, and the maximum tractive force of the in-pipe robot based on such a locking mechanism is 12N under the maximum velocity of 10mm/s.

Design of a micro-robot with an electro-pneumatic servo-actuator for the intra-pipe inspection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anthierens, C.

1999-12-01

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are integrated in many current products and are not only the concern of military defence or medicine. Nowadays micro actuators are diversified by using different kind of energy, and creating different motions. Several applications require small systems to inspect confined and hostile places. Vapour generators in nuclear plants are composed with 3000 to 5000 vertical pipes of 17 mm diameter. These pipes endure high mechanical constraints and have to be inspected to detect eventual cracks. Our study is based on the design, modelling and implementation of a micro-robot enable to move up and carry sensors in these pipes. It moves as an inchworm and then is composed by 2 blocking modules that brace the robot on the pipe sides, and one stretching module that creates a step. This actuator is pneumatic and composed by metal bellows. By this original design, the micro-robot have a good power to volume ratio and thus it can carry a load higher than 1 kg. Its good positioning accuracy is proved with a 90 mm course where the error of positioning is less than 60μm. A PID control law is used to control the robot but state feed back control law is planed. (author)

Detection of wall thinning of carbon steel pipe covered with insulation using Pulsed Eddy Current technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Duckgun; Kishore, M. B.; Lee, D. H.

2013-01-01

The test sample is a ferromagnetic carbon steel pipe having different thickness, covered with a 10 cm plastic insulation laminated by 0.4 mm Al plate to simulate the pipelines in NPPs. The PEC Probe used for the wall thinning detection consists of an excitation coil and a Hall sensor. The excitation coils in the probe is driven by a rectangular bipolar current pulse and the Hall-sensor will detects the resultant field. The Hall sensor output is considered as PEC signal. Results shows that the PEC system can detect wall thinning in an insulated pipeline of the NPPs. Local wall thinning in pipelines affects the structural integrity of industries like nuclear power plants (NPPs). In the present study a pulsed eddy current (PEC) technology to detect the wall thing of carbon steel pipe covered with insulation is developed

Design and construction of an in-pipe robot for inspection and maintenance

KAUST Repository

Sibai, Fadi N.

2012-12-01

Inspection and maintenance of aging pipelines is crucial to the reliable and continued distribution of hydrocarbons. In this paper, we describe the design and construction of a robotic platform for inspection and minor maintenance of pipelines. The 7.5 kg robotic platform was demonstrated to move straight inside 12″ to 16″ diameter pipes in a forward or backward direction, and either horizontally or vertically. The experimental robotic platform has three sets of two wheels, and three driving motors. The equations governing the mechanical frame\\'s component sizes are presented and the robotic frame component dimensions derived. The paper also discusses the construction and testing of the robot. Future work includes adding sensors, controls for turning, a microcontroller board, and a robotic arm for performing maintenance tasks. © 2012 IEEE.

Design and construction of an in-pipe robot for inspection and maintenance

KAUST Repository

Sibai, Fadi N.; Sayegh, Amer Ahmed; Al-Taie, Ihsan

2012-01-01

Inspection and maintenance of aging pipelines is crucial to the reliable and continued distribution of hydrocarbons. In this paper, we describe the design and construction of a robotic platform for inspection and minor maintenance of pipelines. The 7.5 kg robotic platform was demonstrated to move straight inside 12″ to 16″ diameter pipes in a forward or backward direction, and either horizontally or vertically. The experimental robotic platform has three sets of two wheels, and three driving motors. The equations governing the mechanical frame's component sizes are presented and the robotic frame component dimensions derived. The paper also discusses the construction and testing of the robot. Future work includes adding sensors, controls for turning, a microcontroller board, and a robotic arm for performing maintenance tasks. © 2012 IEEE.

Development of Real-Time Thickness Measuring System for Insulated Pipeline Using Gamma-ray

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Ji Hoon; Kim, Byung Joo; Cho, Kyung Shik; Kim, Gi Dong

2002-01-01

By this study, on-line real-time radiometric system was developed using a 64 channels linear array of solid state detectors to measure wall thickness of insulated piping system. This system uses an Ir-192 as a gamma ray source and detector is composed of BGO scintillator and photodiode. Ir-192 gamma ray source and linear detector array mounted on a computer controlled robotic crawler. The Ir-192 gamma ray source is located on one side of the piping components and the detector array on the other side. The individual detectors of the detector array measure the intensity of the gamma rays after passing through the walls and the insulation of the piping component under measurement. The output of the detector array is amplified by amplifier and transmitted to the computer through cable. This system collects and analyses the data from the detector array in real-time as the crawler travels over the piping system. The maximum measurable length of pipe is 120cm/min. in the case of 1mm scanning interval

Foam insulated transfer line test report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Squier, D.M.

1994-06-01

Miles of underground insulated piping will be installed at the Hanford site to transfer liquid waste. Significant cost savings may be realized by using pre-fabricated polyurethane foam insulated piping. Measurements were made on sections of insulated pipe to determine the insulation's resistance to axial expansion of the pipe, the force required to compress the foam in the leg of an expansion loop and the time required for heat up and cool down of a buried piping loop. These measurements demonstrated that the peak axial force increases with the amount of adhesion between the encasement pipe and the insulation. The compressive strength of the foam is too great to accommodate the thermal growth of long straight pipe sections into the expansion loops. Mathematical models of the piping system's thermal behavior can be refined by data from the heated piping loop

Heat Removal from Bipolar Transistor by Loop Heat Pipe with Nickel and Copper Porous Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Smitka, Martin; Malcho, Milan

2014-01-01

Loop heat pipes (LHPs) are used in many branches of industry, mainly for cooling of electrical elements and systems. The loop heat pipe is a vapour-liquid phase-change device that transfers heat from evaporator to condenser. One of the most important parts of the LHP is the porous wick structure. The wick structure provides capillary force to circulate the working fluid. To achieve good thermal performance of LHP, capillary wicks with high permeability and porosity and fine pore radius are expected. The aim of this work was to develop porous structures from copper and nickel powder with different grain sizes. For experiment copper powder with grain size of 50 and 100 μm and nickel powder with grain size of 10 and 25 μm were used. Analysis of these porous structures and LHP design are described in the paper. And the measurements' influences of porous structures in LHP on heat removal from the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) have been made. PMID:24959622

RTD-Incotest for evaluation of corrosion under insulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Witts, J., E-mail: Jason.Witts@applusrtd.com [Applus-RTD Canada, Edmonton, AB (Canada)

2015-07-01

RTD-Incotest or insulated component testing, a method of pulsed eddy current, is designed and developed by Applus-RTD for the detection and sizing of corrosion under insulation. RTD-Incotest measures average wall loss over an area beneath the probe. This is accomplished by measuring the decay curve of the eddy current and then utilizes a software algorithm to determine percent wall loss. If there is a verification point this can also give average remaining wall thickness. The benefits for the nuclear industry are: 1) No need to remove insulation. Only requires one verification point. 2) Reduces potential exposure/ maintains ALARA 3) Quick and accurate screening method. For exposed piping there is no need for contact with the piping. So it can be applied for high temperature or for increasing standoff to reduce exposure. (author)

RTD-Incotest for evaluation of corrosion under insulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Witts, J.

2015-01-01

RTD-Incotest or insulated component testing, a method of pulsed eddy current, is designed and developed by Applus-RTD for the detection and sizing of corrosion under insulation. RTD-Incotest measures average wall loss over an area beneath the probe. This is accomplished by measuring the decay curve of the eddy current and then utilizes a software algorithm to determine percent wall loss. If there is a verification point this can also give average remaining wall thickness. The benefits for the nuclear industry are: 1) No need to remove insulation. Only requires one verification point. 2) Reduces potential exposure/ maintains ALARA 3) Quick and accurate screening method. For exposed piping there is no need for contact with the piping. So it can be applied for high temperature or for increasing standoff to reduce exposure. (author)

Heat Transfer Characteristics of SiC-coated Heat Pipe for Passive Decay Heat Removal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kyung Mo; Kim, In Guk; Jeong, Yeong Shin; Bang, In Cheol

2014-01-01

The main concern with the Fukushima accident was the failure of active and passive core cooling systems. The main function of existing passive decay heat removal systems is feeding additional coolant to the reactor core. Thus, an established emergency core cooling system (ECCS) cannot operate properly because of impossible depressurization under the station blackout (SBO) condition. Therefore, a new concept for passive decay heat removal system is required. In this study, an innovative hybrid control rod concept is considered for passive in-core decay heat removal that differs from the existing direct vessel injection core cooling system and passive auxiliary feedwater system (PAFS). The heat transfer between the evaporator and condenser sections occurs by phase change of the working fluid and capillary action induced by wick structures installed on the inner wall of the heat pipe. In this study, a hybrid control rod is developed to take the roles of both neutron absorption and heat removal by combining the functions of a heat pipe and control rod. Previous studies on enhancing the heat removal capacity of heat pipes used nanofluids, self-rewetting fluids, various wick structures and condensers. Many studies have examined the thermal performances of heat pipes using various nanofluids. They concluded that the enhanced thermal performance of the heat pipe using nanofluids is due to nanoparticle deposition on the wick structures. Thus, the wick structure of heat pipes has been modified by nanoparticle deposition to enhance the heat removal capacity. However, previous studies used relatively small heat pipes and narrow ranges of heat loads. The environment of a nuclear reactor is very specific, and the decay heat produced by fission products after shutdown is relatively large. Thus, this study tested a large-scale heat pipe over a wide range of power. The concept of a hybrid heat pipe for an advanced in-core decay heat removal system was introduced for complete

Heat Transfer Characteristics of SiC-coated Heat Pipe for Passive Decay Heat Removal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Kyung Mo; Kim, In Guk; Jeong, Yeong Shin; Bang, In Cheol [Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

The main concern with the Fukushima accident was the failure of active and passive core cooling systems. The main function of existing passive decay heat removal systems is feeding additional coolant to the reactor core. Thus, an established emergency core cooling system (ECCS) cannot operate properly because of impossible depressurization under the station blackout (SBO) condition. Therefore, a new concept for passive decay heat removal system is required. In this study, an innovative hybrid control rod concept is considered for passive in-core decay heat removal that differs from the existing direct vessel injection core cooling system and passive auxiliary feedwater system (PAFS). The heat transfer between the evaporator and condenser sections occurs by phase change of the working fluid and capillary action induced by wick structures installed on the inner wall of the heat pipe. In this study, a hybrid control rod is developed to take the roles of both neutron absorption and heat removal by combining the functions of a heat pipe and control rod. Previous studies on enhancing the heat removal capacity of heat pipes used nanofluids, self-rewetting fluids, various wick structures and condensers. Many studies have examined the thermal performances of heat pipes using various nanofluids. They concluded that the enhanced thermal performance of the heat pipe using nanofluids is due to nanoparticle deposition on the wick structures. Thus, the wick structure of heat pipes has been modified by nanoparticle deposition to enhance the heat removal capacity. However, previous studies used relatively small heat pipes and narrow ranges of heat loads. The environment of a nuclear reactor is very specific, and the decay heat produced by fission products after shutdown is relatively large. Thus, this study tested a large-scale heat pipe over a wide range of power. The concept of a hybrid heat pipe for an advanced in-core decay heat removal system was introduced for complete

Section of CMS Beam Pipe Removed

CERN Multimedia

2013-01-01

Seven components of the beam pipe located at the heart of the CMS detector were removed in recent weeks. The delicate operations were performed in several stages as the detector was opened. Video of the extraction of one section: http://youtu.be/arGuFgWM7u0

Assessment of Pipe Wall Loss Using Guided Wave Testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joo, Kyung Mun; Jin, Seuk Hong; Moon, Yong Sig

2010-01-01

Flow accelerated corrosion(FAC) of carbon steel pipes in nuclear power plants has been known as one of the major degradation mechanisms. It could have bad influence on the plant reliability and safety. Also detection of FAC is a significant cost to the nuclear power plant because of the need to remove and replace insulation. Recently, the interest of the guided wave testing(GWT) has grown because it allows long range inspection without removing insulation of the pipe except at the probe position. If GWT can be applied to detection of FAC damages, it will can significantly reduce the cost for the inspection of the pipes. The objective of this study was to determine the capability of GWT to identify location of FAC damages. In this paper, three kinds of techniques were used to measure the amplitude ratio between the first and the second welds at the elbow area of mock-ups that contain real FAC damages. As a result, optimal inspection technique and minimum detectability to detect FAC damages drew a conclusion

Differential Hall-sensor Pulsed Eddy Current Probe for the Detection of Wall thinning in an Insulated Stainless Steel Pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, D. G.; Angani, Chandra S.; Cheong, Y. M.; Kim, C. G.

2010-01-01

The local wall thinning is one of the most important factors to limit the life-extension of large structures, such as the pipe lines in the NPPs. The pipelines are covered with a thermal insulator for low thermal loss. The PEC testing is the promising technological approach to the NDT, and it has been principally developed for the measurement of surface flaws, subsurface flaws and corrosion. In the pulsed eddy current (PEC) technique, the excitation coil is driven by repeated pulses. According to the skin - depth relationship multiple frequency components penetrate to different depths, hence the PEC technique has the potential for bringing up deeper information about the tested sample. Because of the potential advantages of the PEC, prevalent investigations on this technique have been done. In the present study a differential probe which is used in the Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC) system has been fabricated for the detection of wall thinning of insulated pipelines in a nuclear power plant (NPP). This technique can be used as a potential tool to detect the corrosion or the wall thinning of the pipelines without removing the insulation

Radiation transmission type pipe wall thinning detection device and measuring instruments utilizing ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higashi, Yasuhiko

2009-01-01

We developed the device to detect thinning of pipe thorough heat insulation in Power Plant, etc, even while the plant is under operation. It is necessary to test many parts of many pipes for pipe wall thinning management, but it is difficult within a limited time of the routine test. This device consists of detector and radiation source, which can detect the pipe (less than 500 mm in external diameter, less than 50 mm in thickness) with 1.6%-reproducibility (in a few-minutes measurement), based on the attenuation rate. Operation is easy and effective without removing the heat insulation. We will expand this thinning detection system, and contribute the safety of the Plant. (author)

Effect of pipe insulation losses on a loss-of-heat sink accident for an LMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horak, W.C.; Guppy, J.G.; Wood, P.M.

1985-01-01

The efficacy of pipe radiation losses as a heat sink during LOHS in a loop-type LMR plant is investigated. The Super System Code (SSC), which was modified to include pipe radiation losses, was used to simulate such an LOHS in an LMR plant. In order to enhance these losses, the pipes were assumed to be insulated by rock wool, a material whose thermal conductivity increases with increasing temperature. A transient was simulated for a total of eight days, during which the coolant temperatures peaked well below saturation conditions and then declined steadily. The coolant flow rate in the loop remained positive throughout the transient

SEALING LARGE-DIAMETER CAST-IRON PIPE JOINTS UNDER LIVE CONDITIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiran M. Kothari; Gerard T. Pittard

2005-01-01

-diameter repair robots for cast-iron pipe to assure their commercial success. For Task 4 (Design, Fabricate and Test Patch Setting Robotic Train), work has been directed on increasing the nitrogen bladder reservoir volume to allow at least two complete patch inflation/patch setting cycles in the event the sleeve does not set all ratchets in the same row on the first attempt. This problem was observed on a few of the repair sleeves that were recently installed during field tests with the small-diameter robotic system. For Task 5 (Design & Fabricate Pipe-Wall Cleaning Robot Train with Pan/Zoom/Tilt Camera), the recent field tests showed clearly that, in mains with low gas velocities, it will be necessary to improve the system's capacity to remove debris from the immediate vicinity of the bell and spigot joints. Otherwise, material removed by the cleaning flails (the flails were found to be very effective in cleaning bell and spigot joints) falls directly to the low side of the pipe and accumulates in a pile. This accumulation can prevent the sleeve from achieving a leak-free repair. Similarly, it is also deemed necessary to design an assembly to capture existing service-tap coupons and allow their removal from the inside of the pipe. These coupons were found to cause difficulty in launching and retrieving the small pipe repair robot; for example, one coupon lodged beneath the end of the guide shoe. Designs for new features to accomplish these goals for the large robotic system were pursued and are presented in this report. Task 6 (Design & Build Surface Control and Monitoring System) was previously completed with the control and computer display functions being operated through LabVIEW. However, this must now be revisited to add control routines for the coupon catcher to be added. This will most likely include a lift-off/place-on magnet translation function. Task 7 (Design & Fabricate Large Diameter Live Access System) progressed to completing the detailed design of the entry

Heat Removal from Bipolar Transistor by Loop Heat Pipe with Nickel and Copper Porous Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrik Nemec

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Loop heat pipes (LHPs are used in many branches of industry, mainly for cooling of electrical elements and systems. The loop heat pipe is a vapour-liquid phase-change device that transfers heat from evaporator to condenser. One of the most important parts of the LHP is the porous wick structure. The wick structure provides capillary force to circulate the working fluid. To achieve good thermal performance of LHP, capillary wicks with high permeability and porosity and fine pore radius are expected. The aim of this work was to develop porous structures from copper and nickel powder with different grain sizes. For experiment copper powder with grain size of 50 and 100 μm and nickel powder with grain size of 10 and 25 μm were used. Analysis of these porous structures and LHP design are described in the paper. And the measurements’ influences of porous structures in LHP on heat removal from the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT have been made.

SEALING LARGE-DIAMETER CAST-IRON PIPE JOINTS UNDER LIVE CONDITIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiran M. Kothari; Gerard T. Pittard

2005-04-01

robots for cast-iron pipe to assure their commercial success. For Task 4 (Design, Fabricate and Test Patch Setting Robotic Train), previous problems with bladder design and elastomeric material expansion in the large mains were addressed. A new bladder based on a commercially available design was obtained and tested with success. Minor improvements were highlighted during patch-setting tests and are now being pursued. For Task 5 (Design and Fabricate Pipe-Wall Cleaning Robot Train with Pan/Zoom/Tilt Camera), the previous field tests showed clearly that, in mains with low gas velocities, it will be necessary to improve the system's capacity to remove debris from the immediate vicinity of the bell and spigot joints. Otherwise, material removed by the cleaning flails (the flails were found to be very effective in cleaning bell and spigot joints) falls directly to the low side of the pipe and accumulates in a pile. This accumulation can prevent the sleeve from achieving a leak-free repair. Similarly, it is also deemed necessary to design an assembly to capture existing servicetap coupons and allow their removal from the inside of the pipe. Task 6 (Design and Build Surface Control and Monitoring System) was previously completed with the control and computer display functions being operated through LabVIEW. However, this must now be revisited to add control routines for the coupon catcher that will be added. This will most likely include a lift-off/place-on magnet translation function. Task 7 (Design and Fabricate Large Diameter Live Access System) progressed to completing the detailed design for a bolt-on entry fitting for 12-inch diameter cast-iron pipe in the current quarter. The drilling assembly for cutting an access hole through the wall of the gas main was also designed, along with a plug assembly to allow removing all tools from the live main and setting a blind flange on the entry fitting prior to burial. These designs are described in detail in the report. Task

Application of CdZnTe Gamma-Ray Detector for Imaging Corrosion under Insulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdullah, J.; Yahya, R.

2007-01-01

Corrosion under insulation (CUI) on the external wall of steel pipes is a common problem in many types of industrial plants. This is mainly due to the presence of moisture or water in the insulation materials. This type of corrosion can cause failures in areas that are not normally of a primary concern to an inspection program. The failures are often the result of localised corrosion and not general wasting over a large area. These failures can tee catastrophic in nature or at least have an adverse economic effect in terms of downtime and repairs. There are a number of techniques used today for CUI investigations. The main ones are profile radiography, pulse eddy current, ultrasonic spot readings and insulation removal. A new system now available is portable Pipe-CUI-Profiler. The nucleonic system is based on dual-beam gamma-ray absorption technique using Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CdZnTe) semiconductor detectors. The Pipe-CUI-Profiler is designed to inspect pipes of internal diameter 50, 65, 80, 90, 100, 125 and 150 mm. Pipeline of these sizes with aluminium or thin steel sheathing, containing fibreglass or calcium silicate insulation to thickness of 25, 40 and 50 mm can be inspected. The system has proven to be a safe, fast and effective method of inspecting pipe in industrial plant operations. This paper describes the application of gamma-ray techniques and CdZnTe semiconductor detectors in the development of Pipe-CUI-Profiler for non-destructive imaging of corrosion under insulation of steel pipes. Some results of actual pipe testing in large-scale industrial plant will be presented

Application of CdZnTe Gamma-Ray Detector for Imaging Corrosion under Insulation

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, J.; Yahya, R.

2007-05-01

Corrosion under insulation (CUI) on the external wall of steel pipes is a common problem in many types of industrial plants. This is mainly due to the presence of moisture or water in the insulation materials. This type of corrosion can cause failures in areas that are not normally of a primary concern to an inspection program. The failures are often the result of localised corrosion and not general wasting over a large area. These failures can tee catastrophic in nature or at least have an adverse economic effect in terms of downtime and repairs. There are a number of techniques used today for CUI investigations. The main ones are profile radiography, pulse eddy current, ultrasonic spot readings and insulation removal. A new system now available is portable Pipe-CUI-Profiler. The nucleonic system is based on dual-beam gamma-ray absorption technique using Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CdZnTe) semiconductor detectors. The Pipe-CUI-Profiler is designed to inspect pipes of internal diameter 50, 65, 80, 90, 100, 125 and 150 mm. Pipeline of these sizes with aluminium or thin steel sheathing, containing fibreglass or calcium silicate insulation to thickness of 25, 40 and 50 mm can be inspected. The system has proven to be a safe, fast and effective method of inspecting pipe in industrial plant operations. This paper describes the application of gamma-ray techniques and CdZnTe semiconductor detectors in the development of Pipe-CUI-Profiler for non-destructive imaging of corrosion under insulation of steel pipes. Some results of actual pipe testing in large-scale industrial plant will be presented.

On detection and automatic tracking of butt weld line in thin wall pipe welding by a mobile robot with visual sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suga, Yasuo; Ishii, Hideaki; Muto, Akifumi

1992-01-01

An automatic pipe welding mobile robot system with visual sensor was constructed. The robot can move along a pipe, and detect the weld line to be welded by visual sensor. Moreover, in order to make an automatic welding, the welding torch can track the butt weld line of the pipes at a constant speed by rotating the robot head. Main results obtained are summarized as follows: 1) Using a proper lighting fixed in front of the CCD camera, the butt weld line of thin wall pipes can be recongnized stably. In this case, the root gap should be approximately 0.5 mm. 2) In order to detect the weld line stably during moving along the pipe, a brightness distribution measured by the CCD camera should be subjected to smoothing and differentiating and then the weld line is judged by the maximum and minimum values of the differentials. 3) By means of the basic robot system with a visual sensor controlled by a personal computer, the detection and in-process automatic tracking of a weld line are possible. The average tracking error was approximately 0.2 mm and maximum error 0.5 mm and the welding speed was held at a constant value with error of about 0.1 cm/min. (author)

Design of a micro-robot with an electro-pneumatic servo-actuator for the intra-pipe inspection; Conception d'un micro robot a actionneur asservi electropneumatique pour l'inspection intratubulaire

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anthierens, C

1999-12-01

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are integrated in many current products and are not only the concern of military defence or medicine. Nowadays micro actuators are diversified by using different kind of energy, and creating different motions. Several applications require small systems to inspect confined and hostile places. Vapour generators in nuclear plants are composed with 3000 to 5000 vertical pipes of 17 mm diameter. These pipes endure high mechanical constraints and have to be inspected to detect eventual cracks. Our study is based on the design, modelling and implementation of a micro-robot enable to move up and carry sensors in these pipes. It moves as an inchworm and then is composed by 2 blocking modules that brace the robot on the pipe sides, and one stretching module that creates a step. This actuator is pneumatic and composed by metal bellows. By this original design, the micro-robot have a good power to volume ratio and thus it can carry a load higher than 1 kg. Its good positioning accuracy is proved with a 90 mm course where the error of positioning is less than 60{mu}m. A PID control law is used to control the robot but state feed back control law is planed. (author)

Sodium leak detection on large pipes. Heat insulating shells made of silico-aluminate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonakas, D.; Blanc, R.; Casselman, C.; Malet, J.C.

1986-05-01

This report presents an equipment installed on the large secondary pipes of fast reactors, ensuring several functions: support and equilibrium of static and dynamic loads, heat insulator, preheating, and the detection of possible sodium leaks. The research programs associated to the development of the shells are briefly evoked; then, the report deals no longer with the studies on silico-aluminate aging and the detection performance [fr

Flexible mobile robot system for smart optical pipe inspection

Science.gov (United States)

Kampfer, Wolfram; Bartzke, Ralf; Ziehl, Wolfgang

1998-03-01

Damages of pipes can be inspected and graded by TV technology available on the market. Remotely controlled vehicles carry a TV-camera through pipes. Thus, depending on the experience and the capability of the operator, diagnosis failures can not be avoided. The classification of damages requires the knowledge of the exact geometrical dimensions of the damages such as width and depth of cracks, fractures and defect connections. Within the framework of a joint R&D project a sensor based pipe inspection system named RODIAS has been developed with two partners from industry and research institute. It consists of a remotely controlled mobile robot which carries intelligent sensors for on-line sewerage inspection purpose. The sensor is based on a 3D-optical sensor and a laser distance sensor. The laser distance sensor is integrated in the optical system of the camera and can measure the distance between camera and object. The angle of view can be determined from the position of the pan and tilt unit. With coordinate transformations it is possible to calculate the spatial coordinates for every point of the video image. So the geometry of an object can be described exactly. The company Optimess has developed TriScan32, a special software for pipe condition classification. The user can start complex measurements of profiles, pipe displacements or crack widths simply by pressing a push-button. The measuring results are stored together with other data like verbal damage descriptions and digitized images in a data base.

Complete heat transfer solutions of an insulated regular polygonal pipe by using a PWTR model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, K.-L.; Chou, H.-M.; Li, Y.-H.

2004-01-01

The heat transfer characteristics for insulated long regular polygonal (including circular) pipes are analyzed by using the same PWRT model in the present study as that used by Chou and Wong previously [Energy Convers. Manage. 44 (4) (2003) 629]. The thermal resistance of the inner convection term and the pipe conduction term in the heat transfer rate are not neglected in the present study. Thus, the complete heat transfer solution will be obtained. The present results can be applied more extensively to practical situations, such as heat exchangers. The results of the critical thickness t cr and the neutral thickness t e are independent of the values of J (generated by the combined effect of the inner convection term and the pipe conduction term). However, the heat transfer rates are dependent on the values of J. The present study shows that the thermal resistance of the inner convection term and the pipe conduction term cannot be neglected in the heat transfer equation in situations of low to medium inner convection coefficients h i and/or low to medium pipe conductivities K, especially in situations with large pipe sizes or/and great outer convection coefficients h 0

Wrapped Multilayer Insulation

Science.gov (United States)

Dye, Scott A.

2015-01-01

New NASA vehicles, such as Earth Departure Stage (EDS), Orion, landers, and orbiting fuel depots, need improved cryogenic propellant transfer and storage for long-duration missions. Current cryogen feed line multilayer insulation (MLI) performance is 10 times worse per area than tank MLI insulation. During each launch, cryogenic piping loses approximately 150,000 gallons (equivalent to $300,000) in boil-off during transfer, chill down, and ground hold. Quest Product Development Corp., teaming with Ball Aerospace, developed an innovative advanced insulation system, Wrapped MLI (wMLI), to provide improved thermal insulation for cryogenic feed lines. wMLI is high-performance multilayer insulation designed for cryogenic piping. It uses Quest's innovative discrete-spacer technology to control layer spacing/ density and reduce heat leak. The Phase I project successfully designed, built, and tested a wMLI prototype with a measured heat leak 3.6X lower than spiral-wrapped conventional MLI widely used for piping insulation. A wMLI prototype had a heat leak of 7.3 W/m2, or 27 percent of the heat leak of conventional MLI (26.7 W/m2). The Phase II project is further developing wMLI technology with custom, molded polymer spacers and advancing the product toward commercialization via a rigorous testing program, including developing advanced vacuuminsulated pipe for ground support equipment.

Development of an ISI robot for the fast breeder reactor MONJU primary heat transfer system piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tagawa, Akihiro; Ueda, Masashi; Yamashita, Takuya; Narisawa, Masataka; Haga, Kouichi

2011-01-01

This paper describes the development of a new inspection robot for the In-Service Inspection of the heat transfer system of the Fast Breeder Reactor MONJU. The inspection was carried out using a tire-type ultrasonic sensor for volumetric tests at high temperature (atmosphere, 55degC; piping surface, 80degC) and radiation exposure condition (dose rate, 10 mGy/h; piping surface dose rate, 15 mGy/h). An inspection robot using a new tire type for the ultrasonic testing sensor and a new control method was developed. A signal-to-noise ratio S/N over 2 was obtained during the functional test for a calibration defect with a depth of 50%t (from the tube wall thickness). In the automatic inspection test, an EDM slit with a depth of 9% from the pipe thickness was detectable and with an S/N ratio = 4.0 (12.0 dB). (author)

The use of radiography for thickness measurement and corrosion monitoring in pipes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edalati, K.; Rastkhah, N.; Kermani, A.; Seiedi, M.; Movafeghi, A.

2006-01-01

In this study of pipes of 150 mm diameters, thickness ranging from 4.2 to 15.0 mm was determined by using two radiography techniques: tangential radiography and double wall radiography. It was concluded that thickness losses of 10%, 20% and 50% could be determined by these methods. Formulae were developed for the double wall radiography method with a high precision of thickness measurement for non-insulated pipes. The precision was comparable with ultrasonic measurement results. Corrosion type and corrosion surface could be observed by these methods. Internal or external corrosion produced different effects in tangential radiography. Insulation removal was not necessary using the radiographic techniques

The use of radiography for thickness measurement and corrosion monitoring in pipes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edalati, K. [Department of NDT, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Technological Centre, AEOI, P.O. Box 14155-1399, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)]. E-mail: NDT99@aeoi.org.ir; Rastkhah, N. [Department of NDT, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Technological Centre, AEOI, P.O. Box 14155-1399, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Kermani, A. [Department of NDT, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Technological Centre, AEOI, P.O. Box 14155-1399, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Seiedi, M. [Department of NDT, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Technological Centre, AEOI, P.O. Box 14155-1399, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Movafeghi, A. [Department of NDT, Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Technological Centre, AEOI, P.O. Box 14155-1399, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2006-10-15

In this study of pipes of 150 mm diameters, thickness ranging from 4.2 to 15.0 mm was determined by using two radiography techniques: tangential radiography and double wall radiography. It was concluded that thickness losses of 10%, 20% and 50% could be determined by these methods. Formulae were developed for the double wall radiography method with a high precision of thickness measurement for non-insulated pipes. The precision was comparable with ultrasonic measurement results. Corrosion type and corrosion surface could be observed by these methods. Internal or external corrosion produced different effects in tangential radiography. Insulation removal was not necessary using the radiographic techniques.

Design of a micro-robot with an electro-pneumatic servo-actuator for the intra-pipe inspection; Conception d'un micro robot a actionneur asservi electropneumatique pour l'inspection intratubulaire

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anthierens, C

1999-12-01

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are integrated in many current products and are not only the concern of military defence or medicine. Nowadays micro actuators are diversified by using different kind of energy, and creating different motions. Several applications require small systems to inspect confined and hostile places. Vapour generators in nuclear plants are composed with 3000 to 5000 vertical pipes of 17 mm diameter. These pipes endure high mechanical constraints and have to be inspected to detect eventual cracks. Our study is based on the design, modelling and implementation of a micro-robot enable to move up and carry sensors in these pipes. It moves as an inchworm and then is composed by 2 blocking modules that brace the robot on the pipe sides, and one stretching module that creates a step. This actuator is pneumatic and composed by metal bellows. By this original design, the micro-robot have a good power to volume ratio and thus it can carry a load higher than 1 kg. Its good positioning accuracy is proved with a 90 mm course where the error of positioning is less than 60{mu}m. A PID control law is used to control the robot but state feed back control law is planed. (author)

Development of VHTR high temperature piping in KHI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Nobuhiro; Takano, Shiro

1981-01-01

The high temperature pipings used for multi-purpose high temperature gas-cooled reactors are the internally insulated pipings for transporting high temperature, high pressure helium at 1000 deg C and 40 kgf/cm 2 , and the influences exerted by their performance as well as safety to the plants are very large. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., has engaged in the development of the high temperature pipings for VHTRs for years. In this report, the progress of the development, the test carried out recently and the problems for future are described. KHI manufactured and is constructing a heater and internally insulated helium pipings for the large, high temperature structure testing loop constructed by Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. The design concept for the high temperature pipings is to separate the temperature boundary and the pressure boundary, therefore, the double walled construction with internal heat insulation was adopted. The requirements for the high temperature pipings are to prevent natural convection, to prevent bypass flow, to minimize radiation heat transfer and to reduce heat leak through insulator supporters. The heat insulator is composed of two layers, metal laminate insulator and fiber insulator of alumina-silica. The present state of development of the high temperature pipings for VHTRs is reported. (Kako, I.)

SEALING LARGE-DIAMETER CAST-IRON PIPE JOINTS UNDER LIVE CONDITIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiran M. Kothari; Gerard T. Pittard

2004-11-01

- and large-diameter cast iron repair robots to assure their commercial success. Task 4 (Design, Fabricate and Test Patch Setting Robotic Train) progressed to the design of the control electronics and pneumatic system to inflate the bladder robotic patch setting module in the last quarter 5. In this quarter, work has been concentrated on increasing the nitrogen bladder reservoir volume to allow at least two complete patch inflation/patch setting cycles in the event the sleeve does not set all ratchets in the same row on the first attempt. This problem was observed on a few of the repair sleeves that were recently installed during field tests with the small-diameter robotic system. For Task 5 (Design & Fabricate Pipe-Wall Cleaning Robot Train with Pan/Zoom/Tilt Camera) it was observed that it will be necessary to add a stiff brush to push debris away from the immediate vicinity of the bell and spigot joints in mains having low gas velocities. Otherwise, material removed by the cleaning flails (which were found to be very effective in cleaning bell and spigot joints) simply falls to the low side of the pipe and accumulates in a pile. This accumulation can prevent the sleeve from achieving a leak free repair. Similarly, it is also necessary to design a small magnet to capture existing service tap coupons and allow their removal from the inside of the pipe. These coupons were found to cause difficulty in launching and retrieving the small pipe repair robot; one coupon lodged beneath the end of the guide shoe. These new features require redesign of the pipe wall cleaning train and modification to the patch setting train. Task 6 (Design & Build Surface Control and Monitoring System) was previously completed with the control and computer display functions being operated through LabView. However, this must now be re-visited to add control routines for the coupon catcher to be added. This will most likely include a lift-off/place-on magnet translation function. Task 7 (Design

Evaluation of clamp effects on LMFBR piping systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, G.L.

1980-01-01

Loop-type liquid metal breeder reactor plants utilize thin-wall piping to mitigate through-wall thermal gradients due to rapid thermal transients. These piping loops require a support system to carry the combined weight of the pipe, coolant and insulation and to provide attachments for seismic restraints. The support system examined here utilizes an insulated pipe clamp designed to minimize the stresses induced in the piping. To determine the effect of these clamps on the pipe wall a non-linear, two-dimensional, finite element model of the clamp, insulation and pipe wall was used to determine the clamp/pipe interface load distributions which were then applied to a three-dimensional, finite element model of the pipe. The two-dimensional interaction model was also utilized to estimate the combined clamp/pipe stiffness

Nuclear Power Plant Steam Pipes repairing with Tirant 3R Robot System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruiz-Martinez, Jose-Tomas; Soto-Tomas, Marcelo; Curiel-Nieva, Marceliano; Monzo-Blasco, Enrique; Pineda-Rodriguez, Salvador; Vaquer-Perez, Juan-Ignacio

2012-09-01

The metallization arc spray process is based on the projection of molten metal, supplied by means of different stainless alloys wire, over a surface of carbon steel usually, with the object of serving as protection against flow assisted corrosion (FAC), increasing resistance to abrasion and deteriorations. A typical application functions covering the steam pipes inner surface in Coal-fired power station and Nuclear Power Plants. The results of this process are spectacular in terms of protection against flow assisted corrosion and abrasion, but its application has conditioning factors, such as: Severe application conditions for workers. Due to the worker's postural position (usually kneeling) in 32' diameter pipes and working with fireproof clothing and masks with outdoor air supplying, due to fumes, sparks and molten metal particles, radiological contamination, confined space, poor lighting... Coating uniformity. As metallization is a manual process, the carried out measurements show small variations in the thickness of the coating, always within the tolerance limits established by the applicable regulations and Quality Assurance. An increase in the uniformity of the projected coating, increase the resistance and give a better surface protection. For all these reasons, Lainsa has developed the TIRANT 3 R system, a worldwide innovative system, for metallization of steam pipes inner surface. TIRANT 3 R system is tele-operated from outside of the pipe, so that human intervention is reduced to the operations of robot positioning and change of metallization wire. As it is an independent system of the human factor, metallization process performance is significantly increased by reducing rest periods due only to the robot maintenance. Likewise, TIRANT 3 R system permits to increase resulting coating uniformity and thus its resistance, keeping selected parameters constant (forward speed, rotation speed and inner surface distance) depending on required type and

40 CFR 761.247 - Sample site selection for pipe segment removal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... end of the pipe segment. (3) If the pipe segment is cut with a saw or other mechanical device, take..., take samples from a total of seven segments. (A) Sample the first and last segments removed. (B) Select... total length for purposes of disposal, take samples of each segment that is 1/2 mile distant from the...

Seismic test of high temperature piping for HTGR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobatake, Kiyokazu; Midoriyama, Shigeru; Ooka, Yuzi; Suzuki, Michiaki; Katsuki, Taketsugu

1983-01-01

Since the high temperature pipings for the high temperature gas-cooled reactor contain helium gas at 1000 deg C and 40 kgf/cm 2 , the double-walled pipe type consisting of the external pipe serving as the pressure boundary and the internal pipe with heat insulating structure was adopted. Accordingly, their aseismatic design is one of the important subjects. Recently, for the purpose of grasping the vibration characteristics of these high temperature pipings and obtaining the data required for the aseismatic design, two specimens, that is, a double-walled pipe model and a heat-insulating structure, were made, and the vibration test was carried out on them, using a 30 ton vibration table of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. In the high temperature pipings of the primary cooling system for the multi-purpose, high temperature gas-cooled experimental reactor, the external pipes of 32 B bore as the pressure boundary and the internal pipes of 26 B bore with internal heat insulation consisting of double layers of fiber and laminated metal insulators as the temperature boundary were adopted. The testing method and the results are reported. As the spring constant of spacers is larger and clearance is smaller, the earthquake wave response of double-walled pipes is smaller, and it is more advantageous. The aseismatic property of the heat insulation structure is sufficient. (Kako, I.)

Pipe support

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollono, L.P.

1979-01-01

A pipe support for high temperature, thin-walled piping runs such as those used in nuclear systems is described. A section of the pipe to be suppported is encircled by a tubular inner member comprised of two walls with an annular space therebetween. Compacted load-bearing thermal insulation is encapsulated within the annular space, and the inner member is clamped to the pipe by a constant clamping force split-ring clamp. The clamp may be connected to pipe hangers which provide desired support for the pipe

Fabrication of a multi-walled metal pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimamune, Koji; Toda, Saburo; Ishida, Ryuichi; Hatanaka, Tatsuo.

1969-01-01

In concentrically arranged metal pipes for simulated fuel elements in the form of a multi-walled pipe, their one end lengthens gradually in the axial direction from inner and outer pipes toward a central pipe for easy adjustment of deformation which occurs when the pipes are drawn. A plastic electrical insulator is disposed between adjacent pipes. Each end of the pipes is equipped with an annular flexible stopper which is allowed to travel in the axial direction so as to prevent the insulator from falling during drawing work. At the other end, all pipes are constricted and joined to each other to thereby form the desired multi-walled pipe. (Mikami, T.)

Removal of a section of the CMS beam pipe

CERN Document Server

CERN Bulletin

2013-01-01

Over recent weeks, members of the TE-VSC group have been removing seven components of the beam pipe located at the heart of the CMS detector. The delicate operations involved have been performed in several stages as the detector opening work has progressed.   Of the seven components concerned, only the central vacuum pipe will be replaced. The other six will be stored in a special radiation-shielded area on the surface and subsequently reinstalled ready for the resumption of machine operation. The video below, which was filmed on 15 May, shows one of the seven components of the vacuum pipe - the HFCT2, located to the right of the interaction point – being brought up from the CMS cavern to the surface by the transport team at Point 5.

Replaceable liquid nitrogen piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yasujima, Yasuo; Sato, Kiyoshi; Sato, Masataka; Hongo, Toshio

1982-01-01

This liquid nitrogen piping with total length of about 50 m was made and installed to supply the liquid nitrogen for heat insulating shield to three superconducting magnets for deflection and large super-conducting magnet for detection in the π-meson beam line used for high energy physics experiment in the National Laboratory for High Energy Physics. The points considered in the design and manufacture stages are reported. In order to minimize the consumption of liquid nitrogen during transport, vacuum heat insulation method was adopted. The construction period and cost were reduced by the standardization of the components, the improvement of welding works and the elimination of ineffective works. For simplifying the maintenance, spare parts are always prepared. The construction and the procedure of assembling of the liquid nitrogen piping are described. The piping is of double-walled construction, and its low temperature part was made of SUS 316L. The super-insulation by aluminum vacuum evaporation and active carbon were attached on the external surface of the internal pipe. The final leak test and the heating degassing were performed. The tests on evacuation, transport capacity and heat entry are reported. By making the internal pipe into smaller size, the piping may be more efficient. (Kako, I.)

Damping in LMFBR pipe systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, M.J.; Barta, D.A.; Lindquist, M.R.; Renkey, E.J.; Ryan, J.A.

1983-06-01

LMFBR pipe systems typically utilize a thicker insulation package than that used on water plant pipe systems. They are supported with special insulated pipe clamps. Mechanical snubbers are employed to resist seismic loads. Recent laboratory testing has indicated that these features provide significantly more damping than presently allowed by Regulatory Guide 1.61 for water plant pipe systems. This paper presents results of additional in-situ vibration tests conducted on FFTF pipe systems. Pipe damping values obtained at various excitation levels are presented. Effects of filtering data to provide damping values at discrete frequencies and the alternate use of a single equivalent modal damping value are discussed. These tests further confirm that damping in typical LMFBR pipe systems is larger than presently used in pipe design. Although some increase in damping occurred with increased excitation amplitude, the effect was not significant. Recommendations are made to use an increased damping value for both the OBE and DBE seismic events in design of LMFBR pipe systems

Experimental study on heat pipe heat removal capacity for passive cooling of spent fuel pool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiong, Zhenqin; Wang, Minglu; Gu, Hanyang; Ye, Cheng

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A passively cooling SFP heat pipe with an 8.2 m high evaporator was tested. • Heat removed by the heat pipe is in the range of 3.1–16.8 kW. • The heat transfer coefficient of the evaporator is 214–414 W/m 2 /K. • The heat pipe performance is sensitive to the hot water temperature. - Abstract: A loop-type heat pipe system uses natural flow with no electrically driven components. Therefore, such a system was proposed to passively cool spent fuel pools during accidents to improve nuclear power station safety especially for station blackouts such as those in Fukushima. The heat pipe used for a spent fuel pool is large due to the spent fuel pool size. An experimental heat pipe test loop was developed to estimate its heat removal capacity from the spent fuel pool during an accident. The 7.6 m high evaporator is heated by hot water flowing vertically down in an assistant tube with a 207-mm inner diameter. R134a was used as the potential heat pipe working fluid. The liquid R134a level was 3.6 m. The tests were performed for water velocities from 0.7 to 2.1 × 10 −2 m/s with water temperatures from 50 to 90 °C and air velocities from 0.5 m/s to 2.5 m/s. The results indicate significant heat is removed by the heat pipe under conditions that may occur in the spent fuel pool

Inspection technology for high pressure pipes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jae H.; Lee, Jae C.; Eum, Heung S.; Choi, Yu R.; Moon, Soon S.; Jang, Jong H

2000-02-01

Various kinds of defects are likely to be occurred in the welds of high pressure pipes in nuclear power plants. Considering the recent accident of Zuruga nuclear power plant in Japan, reasonable policy is strongly requested for the high pressure pipe integrity. In this study, we developed the technologies to inspect pipe welds automatically. After development of scanning robot prototype in the first research year, we developed and implemented the algorithm of automatic tracking of the scanning robot along the weld line of the pipes. We use laser slit beam on weld area and capture the image using digital camera. Through processing of the captures image, we finally determine the weld line automatically. In addition, we investigated a new technology on micro systems for developing micro scanning robotic inspection of the pipe welds. The technology developed in this study is being transferred to the industry. (author)

An experimental study on damping characteristics of thermal insulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiba, T.; Kobayashi, H.

1985-01-01

The damping ratio is one of the most important parameters in seismic analysis of nuclear power plant piping systems. Thermal Insulation is considered to contribute to the damping characteristics of piping systems. In the 6th SMiRT conference and 1983 ASME PVP, the damping effect and damping estimating formula was presented as a result of regression analysis from the component tests of 2'' , 4'', and 8'' diameter piping and the proof model test of 1'', 2'' and 4'' piping. In this study, in order to clarify the damping characteristics of larger diameter piping than 8'', the component test of 12'' and 20'' diameter piping with insulation was performed. From the results of these tests and the data survey of the previous papers it was found that the damping ratio of actual piping system with thermal insulation is at least 1% for all size diameter piping

Removal of Shippingport Station primary system components and piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LaGuardia, T.S.; Lipsett, S.M.

1987-01-01

The dismantling workscope for the Shippingport Station Decommissioning Project was divided into subtasks to permit the work to be subcontracted to the maximum extent practicable. Major subtasks were identified and described by Activity specifications which could then be grouped into logical work packages to be put out for bid. Two of the largest dismantling work packages, removal of piping and components, were grouped together and designated as Activity Specifications 4 and 5. TLG Services, Inc. and Cleveland Wrecking Company formed a Joint Venture to perform this work during a two-year period at a cost of approximately $7 million. The major portions of this dismantling workscope are described. The primary system components within this workscope consist of the stainless steel reactor coolant piping, check valves, reactor coolant pumps, steam generators, and reactor purification demineralizers and coolers. The work performed, the heavy rigging preparations and procedures, the cutting tools used, component draining/capping techniques to prevent spills, contamination containment, airborne control techniques, and lessons learned during the removal of these primary system components are described. Summaries of crew size and composition, labor hours, duration hours and radiation exposure to workers are provided and discussed briefly. The successful completion of this work is evidence of the engineering, planning, equipment, materials and labor pool available to remove large, radioactively contaminated components safely. This experience will help decommissioning planners to prepare for the removal of reactor components in future decommissioning

Application study of the heat pipe to the passive decay heat removal system of the modular HTR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohashi, K.; Okamoto, F.; Hayakawa, H.; Hayashi, T.

2001-01-01

To investigate the applicability of the heat pipe to the decay hat removal (DHR) system of the modular HTRs, preliminary study of the Heat Pipe DHR System was performed. The results show that the Heat Pipe DHR System is applicable to the modular HTRs and its heat removal capability is sufficient. Especially by applying the variable conductance heat pipe, the possibility of a fully passive DHR system with lower heat loss during normal operation is suggested. The experiments to obtain the fundamental characteristics data of the variable conductance heat pipe were carried out. The experimental results show very clear features of self-control characteristics. The experimental results and the experimental analysis results are also shown. (author)

An experimental study on damping characteristics of thermal insulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiba, Toshio; Kobayashi, Hiroe; Aida, Shigekazu; Wada, Hidetoshi

1984-01-01

The damping ratio is one of the most important parameters in seismic analysis of piping systems in a nuclear power plant. Thermal insulation is considered contributing to the damping characteristics of piping systems. At the 6th SMiRT and 1983 ASME PVP conferences, the damping effect and damping estimating formula were presented as a result of regression analysis using the component test data for 2,4 and 8B diameter piping and the proof model test for 1,2 and 4B piping system. In this study, in order to clarify the damping characteristics of a larger diameter piping than 8B,the component test of 12 and 20B diameter piping with insulation was performed. From the results of these tests and the data survey of the previous papers, it was found that the damping ratio of anactual piping system with thermal insulation is at minimum 1% for all size diameter piping. (author)

Hot Leg Piping Materials Issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

V. Munne

2006-01-01

With Naval Reactors (NR) approval of the Naval Reactors Prime Contractor Team (NRPCT) recommendation to develop a gas cooled reactor directly coupled to a Brayton power conversion system as the space nuclear power plant (SNPP) for Project Prometheus (References a and b) the reactor outlet piping was recognized to require a design that utilizes internal insulation (Reference c). The initial pipe design suggested ceramic fiber blanket as the insulation material based on requirements associated with service temperature capability within the expected range, very low thermal conductivity, and low density. Nevertheless, it was not considered to be well suited for internal insulation use because its very high surface area and proclivity for holding adsorbed gases, especially water, would make outgassing a source of contaminant gases in the He-Xe working fluid. Additionally, ceramic fiber blanket insulating materials become very friable after relatively short service periods at working temperatures and small pieces of fiber could be dislodged and contaminate the system. Consequently, alternative insulation materials were sought that would have comparable thermal properties and density but superior structural integrity and greatly reduced outgassing. This letter provides technical information regarding insulation and materials issues for the Hot Leg Piping preconceptual design developed for the Project Prometheus space nuclear power plant (SNPP)

Shippingport Station Decommissioning Project: Removal of piping and equipment and removal of primary system components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-01-01

This report is a technical synopsis of the removal of contaminated and non-contaminated piping and equipment from the Shippingport Station Decommissioning Project (SSDP). The information is provided as a part of the Technology Transfer Program to document dismantling activities in support of reactor decommissioning. 5 refs., 29 figs., 4 tabs

Recovery of reactor electrical assemblies using differential de-encapsulation to remove dielectric insulation systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hubrig, J.G.; Hammerstone, E.B.

1986-01-01

State-of-the-art de-encapsulation technologies associated with the conventional dielectric insulation systems employed in the construction of electrical coils and power distribution systems do not allow for accurate fatigue/failure analysis or reliable recovery of costly assembly components. Differential de-encapsulation allows for the selective removal of contemporary thermoset resin based insulation systems to allow non-destructive penetration of insulation wall thicknesses to both examine critical areas and recover high performance metallic and non-metallic inserts for remanufacture; significantly reducing replacement costs and reactor downtime. The authors' analysis describes how the availability of engineering data from the selective and non-destructive removal of insulation materials will aid in the evaluation of original manufacture, materials and procedures; enabling redesign to enhance subsequent on line performance. They also discuss why the ability to recover coil and core assemblies for remanufacture will have a major economic impact on reactor management costs

Pipe support for use in a nuclear system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollono, L.P.; Mello, R.M.

1976-01-01

Description is given of a vertical pipe support system. It comprises a tubular pipe support structure having the same inside diameter and the same wall thickness as the pipe, the pipe support structure having a generally triangularly shaped extension formed integral with and extending circumferentially around its outward side, the bottom side of this extension generally forming a ledge; an annular load-bearing insulation formed adjacent to the extension; means for clamping the load-bearing insulation to extension; and means for providing constant vertical support to means for clamping [fr

Design and Development of a Landmines Removal Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K.T.M.U. Hemapala

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Humanitarian demining is a calamity of war affecting many third world countries. Mines are cheap weapons, built to sustain horrible injuries that target active people with a knock-on effect upon economic growth. The clearing is time consuming and expensive. Clearing is an engineering duty and the humanitarian goal is a technical challenge. Advanced robotics fulfils this task cleanly and reliably on the condition that upgrades and cost are met, meaning that they lose third-world appropriateness. The challenge is to turn local machines and awareness into effective robotic aids, willingly used by the local people, and to enhance the on-going outcomes. The solution to the demining problem shall be a low cost robotic outfit with resort to nearby available resources and competences (e.g., drawn from the local agricultural machinery and know-how. This paper discusses an ongoing project that aims to develop a low-cost robot with intelligent remote-command abilities, as a cheap productivity upgrading, assembled from standard farming devices, through the shared know-how and commitment of locally involved operators. During the study, the authors have developed a low-cost robot capable of removing mines. The robot consists of modified agricultural components including its mobile carrier and the mine effector.

Clinical validation of robot simulation of toothbrushing - comparative plaque removal efficacy

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Clinical validation of laboratory toothbrushing tests has important advantages. It was, therefore, the aim to demonstrate correlation of tooth cleaning efficiency of a new robot brushing simulation technique with clinical plaque removal. Methods Clinical programme: 27 subjects received dental cleaning prior to 3-day-plaque-regrowth-interval. Plaque was stained, photographically documented and scored using planimetrical index. Subjects brushed teeth 33–47 with three techniques (horizontal, rotating, vertical), each for 20s buccally and for 20s orally in 3 consecutive intervals. The force was calibrated, the brushing technique was video supported. Two different brushes were randomly assigned to the subject. Robot programme: Clinical brushing programmes were transfered to a 6-axis-robot. Artificial teeth 33–47 were covered with plaque-simulating substrate. All brushing techniques were repeated 7 times, results were scored according to clinical planimetry. All data underwent statistical analysis by t-test, U-test and multivariate analysis. Results The individual clinical cleaning patterns are well reproduced by the robot programmes. Differences in plaque removal are statistically significant for the two brushes, reproduced in clinical and robot data. Multivariate analysis confirms the higher cleaning efficiency for anterior teeth and for the buccal sites. Conclusions The robot tooth brushing simulation programme showed good correlation with clinically standardized tooth brushing. This new robot brushing simulation programme can be used for rapid, reproducible laboratory testing of tooth cleaning. PMID:24996973

Robots: l'embarras de richesses [:survey of robots available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meieran, H.; Brittain, K.; Sturkey, R.

1989-01-01

A survey of robots available for use in the nuclear industry is presented. Two new categories of mobile robots have been introduced since the last survey (April 1987): pipe crawlers and underwater robots. The number of robots available has risen to double what it was two years ago and four times what it was in 1986. (U.K.)

Layered Thermal Insulation Systems for Industrial and Commercial Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Fesmire, James E.

2015-01-01

From the high performance arena of cryogenic equipment, several different layered thermal insulation systems have been developed for industrial and commercial applications. In addition to the proven areas in cold-work applications for piping and tanks, the new Layered Composite Insulation for Extreme Environments (LCX) has potential for broader industrial use as well as for commercial applications. The LCX technology provides a unique combination of thermal, mechanical, and weathering performance capability that is both cost-effective and enabling. Industry applications may include, for example, liquid nitrogen (LN2) systems for food processing, liquefied natural gas (LNG) systems for transportation or power, and chilled water cooling facilities. Example commercial applications may include commercial residential building construction, hot water piping, HVAC systems, refrigerated trucks, cold chain shipping containers, and a various consumer products. The LCX system is highly tailorable to the end-use application and can be pre-fabricated or field assembled as needed. Product forms of LCX include rigid sheets, semi-flexible sheets, cylindrical clam-shells, removable covers, or flexible strips for wrapping. With increasing system control and reliability requirements as well as demands for higher energy efficiencies, thermal insulation in harsh environments is a growing challenge. The LCX technology grew out of solving problems in the insulation of mechanically complex cryogenic systems that must operate in outdoor, humid conditions. Insulation for cold work includes equipment for everything from liquid helium to chilled water. And in the middle are systems for LNG, LN2, liquid oxygen (LO2), liquid hydrogen (LH2) that must operate in the ambient environment. Different LCX systems have been demonstrated for sub-ambient conditions but are capable of moderately high temperature applications as well.

Grandstand view of phenolic foam insulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1987-03-01

Stadium Insulation Ltd, manufacture pipe sections, tank and vessel insulation products in Lowphen, polyisocyanurate, polyurethane foams and expanded polystyrene, though for certain specialist applications, cork is still employed in small quantities. Currently the emphasis is very much on Lowphen, the company's range of pipe sections based on phenolic foam. The company's manufacturing and marketing effort reflects the increasing market trend towards the use of insulating material capable of withstanding higher temperatures, and phenolic foam neatly satisfies the demand since it is capable of use at temperatures up to 140/sup 0/C. Moreover, phenolic foam has the lowest K value at 0.02W/m/sup 0/C of any of the currently available range of insulating materials, and while the product is slightly more expensive than alternatives such as polyisocyanurate and polyurethane, its high performance offsets that premium.

The Development of a Radiation Hardened Robot for Nuclear Facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Seung Ho; Kim, Chang Hoi; Seo, Yong Chil (and others)

2007-04-15

We has been developed two remotely controlled robotic systems. One is a underwater vehicle for inspection of the internal structures of PWRs and retrieving foreign stubs in the reactor pressure vessels and reactor coolant pipes. The other robotic system consists of a articulated-type mobile robot capable of recovering the failure of the fuel exchange machine and a mini modular mobile robot for inspection of feeder pipes with ultrasonic array sensors in PHWRs. The underwater robot has been designed by considering radiation effect, underwater condition, and accessibility to the working area. The size of underwater robot is designed to enter the cold legs. A extendable manipulator is mounted on the mobile robot, which can restore nuclear fuel exchange machine. The mini modular mobile robot is composed of dual inch worm mechanisms, which are constructed by two gripper bodies that can fix the robot body on to the pipe and move along the longitudinal and to rotate in a circumferential direction to access all of the outer surfaces of the pipe.

Robotic removal of eroded vaginal mesh into the bladder.

Science.gov (United States)

Macedo, Francisco Igor B; O'Connor, Jeffrey; Mittal, Vijay K; Hurley, Patrick

2013-11-01

Vaginal mesh erosion into the bladder after midurethral sling procedure or cystocele repair is uncommon, with only a few cases having been reported in the literature. The ideal surgical management is still controversial. Current options for removal of eroded mesh include: endoscopic, transvaginal or abdominal (either open or laparoscopic) approaches. We, herein, present the first case of robotic removal of a large eroded vaginal mesh into the bladder and discuss potential benefits and limitations of the technique. © 2013 The Japanese Urological Association.

B Plant process piping replacement feasibility study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howden, G.F.

1996-01-01

Reports on the feasibility of replacing existing embedded process piping with new more corrosion resistant piping between cells and between cells and a hot pipe trench of a Hanford Site style canyon facility. Provides concepts for replacement piping installation, and use of robotics to replace the use of the canyon crane as the primary means of performing/supporting facility modifications (eg, cell lining, pipe replacement, equipment reinstallation) and operational maintenenace

Aspects and mechanisms of austenitic stainless steel corrosion in case of sodium leaks under mineral wool insulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertrand, C.; Ardellier, A.

1996-01-01

Sodium pipe rupture tests representative of Fast Reactors Accidents have been carried out on austenitic stainless steel surfaces. These tests improve our knowledge of small sodium leakage propagation in mineral wool insulation. They explain the new and unexpected aspects of the crevice corrosion phenomenon which has been observed on austenitic stainless steel pipe surfaces. Experimental results show that corrosion is limited to a peripheral annular zone, which extends out in concentric waves. The diameter of this corrosion zone is practically constant. Tests show that sodium does not expand directly on the pipe surface. Sodium sprays through mineral wool insulation, where chemical reaction between silica fibers, occluded oxygen and water vapor occur at the same time. Simultaneously, there is a diffusion phenomenon of liquid Na droplets on the mineral wool fibers. The study allows to prove the electrochemical nature of the corrosion. The excess liquid Na, spraying as droplets induces an anodic dissolution mechanism by differential aeration. This phenomenon explains the random microscopic and macroscopic aspects of material removal. (authors). 1 ref., 16 figs

SEALING LARGE-DIAMETER CAST-IRON PIPE JOINTS UNDER LIVE CONDITIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiran M. Kothari, Gerard T. Pittard

2004-01-01

Utilities in the U.S. operate over 75,000 km (47,000 miles) of old cast-iron pipes for gas distribution. The bell-and-spigot joints that connect pipe sections together tend to leak as these pipes age. Current repair practices are costly and highly disruptive. The objective of this program is to design, test and commercialize a robotic system capable of sealing multiple cast iron bell and spigot joints from a single pipe entry point. The proposed system will perform repairs while the pipe remains in service by traveling through the pipe, cleaning each joint surface, and installing a stainless-steel sleeve lined with an epoxy-impregnated felt across the joint. This approach will save considerable time and labor, avoid traffic disruption, and eliminate any requirement to interrupt service to customers (which would result in enormous expense to utilities). Technical challenges include: (1) repair sleeves must compensate for diametric variation and eccentricity of cast-iron pipes; (2) the assembly must travel long distances through pipes containing debris; (3) the pipe wall must be effectively cleaned in the immediate area of the joint to assure good bonding of the sleeve; and (4) an innovative bolt-on entry fitting is required to conduct repair operations on live mains. The development effort is divided into eleven tasks. Task 1--Program Management and Task 2--were completed in prior quarters while Task 3--Design and Fabricate Ratcheting Stainless-Steel Repair Sleeves has progressed to installing prototype sleeves in cast iron test pipe segments. Efforts in this quarter continued to focus on Tasks 4--8, with significant progress made in each. Task 4 (Design, Fabricate and Test Patch Setting Robotic Train) progressed to the design of the control electronics and pneumatic system to inflate the bladder robotic patch setting module. Task 5 (Design & Fabricate Pipe-Wall Cleaning Robot Train with Pan/Zoom/Tilt Camera) continued with additional in-pipe testing required to

SEALING LARGE-DIAMETER CAST-IRON PIPE JOINTS UNDER LIVE CONDITIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiran M Kothari; Gerard T. Pittard

2004-07-01

Utilities in the U.S. operate over 75,000 km (47,000 miles) of old cast-iron pipes for gas distribution. The bell-and-spigot joints that connect pipe sections together tend to leak as these pipes age. Current repair practices are costly and highly disruptive. The objective of this program is to design, test and commercialize a robotic system capable of sealing multiple castiron bell and spigot joints from a single pipe entry point. The proposed system will perform repairs while the pipe remains in service by traveling through the pipe, cleaning each joint surface, and installing a stainless-steel sleeve lined with an epoxy-impregnated felt across the joint. This approach will save considerable time and labor, avoid traffic disruption, and eliminate any requirement to interrupt service to customers (which would result in enormous expense to utilities). Technical challenges include: (1) repair sleeves must compensate for diametric variation and eccentricity of cast-iron pipes; (2) the assembly must travel long distances through pipes containing debris; (3) the pipe wall must be effectively cleaned in the immediate area of the joint to assure good bonding of the sleeve; and (4) an innovative bolt-on entry fitting is required to conduct repair operations on live mains. The development effort is divided into eleven tasks. Task 1 (Program Management) and Task 2 (Establishment of Detailed Design Specifications) were completed in prior quarters while Task 3 (Design and Fabricate Ratcheting Stainless-Steel Repair Sleeves) has progressed to installing prototype sleeves in cast iron test pipe segments. Efforts in this quarter continued to focus on Tasks 4-8, with significant progress made in each. Task 4 (Design, Fabricate and Test Patch Setting Robotic Train) progressed to the design of the control electronics and pneumatic system to inflate the bladder robotic patch setting module. Task 5 (Design & Fabricate Pipe-Wall Cleaning Robot Train with Pan/Zoom/Tilt Camera

SEALING LARGE-DIAMETER CAST-IRON PIPE JOINTS UNDER LIVE CONDITIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiran M. Kothari; Gerard T. Pittard

2004-04-01

Utilities in the U.S. operate over 75,000 km (47,000 miles) of old cast-iron pipes for gas distribution. The bell-and-spigot joints that connect pipe sections together tend to leak as these pipes age. Current repair practices are costly and highly disruptive. The objective of this program is to design, test and commercialize a robotic system capable of sealing multiple cast-iron bell and spigot joints from a single pipe entry point. The proposed system will perform repairs while the pipe remains in service by traveling through the pipe, cleaning each joint surface, and installing a stainless-steel sleeve lined with an epoxy-impregnated felt across the joint. This approach will save considerable time and labor, avoid traffic disruption, and eliminate any requirement to interrupt service to customers (which would result in enormous expense to utilities). Technical challenges include: (1) repair sleeves must compensate for diametric variation and eccentricity of cast-iron pipes; (2) the assembly must travel long distances through pipes containing debris; (3) the pipe wall must be effectively cleaned in the immediate area of the joint to assure good bonding of the sleeve; and (4) an innovative bolt-on entry fitting is required to conduct repair operations on live mains. The development effort is divided into eleven tasks. Task 1--Program Management and Task 2--were completed in prior quarters while Task 3--Design and Fabricate Ratcheting Stainless-Steel Repair Sleeves has progressed to installing prototype sleeves in cast iron test pipe segments. Efforts in this quarter continued to focus on Tasks 4--8, with significant progress made in each. Task 4 (Design, Fabricate and Test Patch Setting Robotic Train) progressed to the design of the control electronics and pneumatic system to inflate the bladder robotic patch setting module. Task 5 (Design & Fabricate Pipe-Wall Cleaning Robot Train with Pan/Zoom/Tilt Camera) continued with additional in-pipe testing required to

Radiation transmission pipe thickness measurement system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higashi, Yasuhiko

2010-01-01

Fuji Electric Systems can be measured from the outer insulation of the transmission Characteristics and radiation detection equipment had been developed that can measure pipe wall thinning in plant and running, the recruitment of another three-beam calculation method by pipe thickness measurement system was developed to measure the thickness of the pipe side. This equipment has been possible to measure the thickness of the circumferential profile of the pipe attachment by adopting automatic rotation. (author)

Development of high pressure pipe scanners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jae H.; Lee, Jae C.; Moon, Soon S.; Eom, Heung S.; Choi, Yu R.

1998-12-01

This report describes an automatic ultrasonic scanning system for pressure pipe welds, which was developed in this project using recent advanced technologies on mobile robot and computer. The system consists of two modules: a robot scanner module which navigates and manipulates scanning devices, and a data acquisition module which generates ultrasonic signal and processes the data from the scanner. The robot has 4 magnetic wheels and 2 -axis manipulator on which ultrasonic transducer attached. The wheeled robot can navigate curved surface such as outer wall of circular pipes. Magnetic wheels were optimally designed through magnetic field analysis. Free surface sensing and line tracking control algorithm were developed and implemented, and the control devices and software can be used in practical inspection works. We expect our system can contribute to reduction of inspection time, performance enhancement, and effective management of inspection results

Robotic removal of zebra mussel accumulations in a nuclear power plant screenhouse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotler, S.R.; Mallen, E.C.; Tamms, K.M.

1995-01-01

Zebra mussel accumulations in the power plant intake system have increased over the last four years and have become a maintenance issue. Several treatment methods have been used, including mechanical cleaning by divers. This is limited to areas of relatively low flow velocity. Various sections of the screenhouse are not accessible except during an outage or when one of the intake tunnels can be otherwise be blocked and flow reduced. In addition, diver services are relatively costly. For the above reasons, the Indiana Michigan Power Co., Cook Nuclear Plant, contracted with ARD Environmental Inc. to develop and test a robotic system as an alternative to cleaning by divers. The first phase of this project addressed the requirement to clean the screenhouse floor in all areas, including those with high flow velocity. Subsequent phases will address robotic cleaning of other areas of the intake and the screenhouse structures. The objectives of the project were to: (1) Demonstrate the ability to deploy and retrieve a modified XT1000 vehicle in the inlet bay and screen bays; (2) Remove the accumulations of zebra mussels and possibly other pumpable material from the floor; (3) Reduce or eliminate the need for diver services and reduce overall cost of removing accumulations of zebra mussels; and, (4) Critique operations and develop recommendations for further enhancements to the robotic equipment and materials handling system. Implementation of the operating plan commenced on September 8, 1994, and was completed on October 7, 1994. The project demonstrated that robotic techniques are an efficient and cost effective alternative to diver operations for mechanical removal of zebra mussels. In particular, the robotic system was able to operate effectively in the high flow velocity areas including those at the intake tunnels. The ability to operate in the high flow areas means that zebra mussel removal may take place at any time, without affecting normal plant operations

A Reconfigurable Omnidirectional Soft Robot Based on Caterpillar Locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Jun; Lin, Yangqiao; Ji, Chen; Yang, Huayong

2018-04-01

A pneumatically powered, reconfigurable omnidirectional soft robot based on caterpillar locomotion is described. The robot is composed of nine modules arranged as a three by three matrix and the length of this matrix is 154 mm. The robot propagates a traveling wave inspired by caterpillar locomotion, and it has all three degrees of freedom on a plane (X, Y, and rotation). The speed of the robot is about 18.5 m/h (two body lengths per minute) and it can rotate at a speed of 1.63°/s. The modules have neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets embedded and can be easily replaced or combined into other configurations. Two different configurations are presented to demonstrate the possibilities of the modular structure: (1) by removing some modules, the omnidirectional robot can be reassembled into a form that can crawl in a pipe and (2) two omnidirectional robots can crawl close to each other and be assembled automatically into a bigger omnidirectional robot. Omnidirectional motion is important for soft robots to explore unstructured environments. The modular structure gives the soft robot the ability to cope with the challenges of different environments and tasks.

Casing free district heating pipes; Mantelfria fjaerrvaermeroer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saellberg, Sven-Erik; Nilsson, Stefan [Swedish National Testing and Research Inst., Goeteborg (Sweden)

2005-07-01

Previous studies have shown that polyurethane insulation (PUR foam) on district heating pipes acts as protection against water if it is of good quality, i.e. free from cracks, cavities and other defects. On the other hand water vapour easily diffuses through PUR foam. However this is not a problem as long as the steel pipe is warmer than the surface layer, since the high temperature will prevent the vapour from condensating. What will happen with the insulation of a casing free district heating pipe where the ground water level occasionally reaches above the pipe has not been studied in detail. The current project has studied to what extent moisture enters the PUR foam insulation of two approximately one meter long district heating pipes without casing which have been in the ground for four years. Occasionally, the ground-water has entirely covered the pipes. In addition, the foam has been studied with respect to damage from the surrounding backfill material. Test specimens were taken out of the casing free pipes and were analysed with respect to moisture content. Additional measurements were done with a moisture indicator, and the electric resistance between the steel pipes and the four surveillance wires in each pipe was measured. The results from the various measurement techniques were the compared. The results show that the PUR foam remains dry as long as the service pipe is hot if no defects, such as crack and cavities, are present. Close to the service pipe, the foam actually dries out over time. The moisture content of the middle layer remains more or less constant. Only the colder parts on the outside exhibit an increase in moisture content. It was also seen that defects may lead to water ingress with subsequent humidification of the foam. However, the damaged foam area is limited. This is not the case for a regular pipe with a vapour tight casing, where experience show that moisture tend to spread along the pipe. The pipes were buried in sand and no

Experimental basis for parameters contributing to energy dissipation in piping systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ibanez, P.; Ware, A.G.

1985-01-01

The paper reviews several pipe testing programs to suggest the phenomena causing energy dissipation in piping systems. Such phenomena include material damping, plasticity, collision in gaps and between pipes, water dynamics, insulation straining, coupling slippage, restraints (snubbers, struts, etc.), and pipe/structure interaction. These observations are supported by a large experimental data base. Data are available from in-situ and laboratory tests (pipe diameters up to about 20 inches, response levels from milli-g's to responses causing yielding, and from excitation wave forms including sinusoid, snapback, random, and seismic). A variety of pipe configurations have been tested, including simple, bare, straight sections and complex lines with bends, snubbers, struts, and insulation. Tests have been performed with and without water and at zero to operating pressure. Both light water reactor and LMFBR piping have been tested

Environmental impacts from the EPSPEX-system. Part 1. Life-cycle analysis of a District Heating System with PEX-pipes insulated by expanded polystyrene; Miljoebelastning fraan EPSPEX-systemet. Del 1: Livscykelanalys av Polystyrenisolerat Fjaerrvaermesytem med PEX-mediaroer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johansson, Kristin; Olsson, A. Maria; Froeling, Morgan [Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Goeteborg (Sweden). Dept. of Chemical Environmental Science

2005-07-15

The EPSPEX system is a distribution system for district heat with media pipes of cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) insulated by blocks of expanded polystyrene (EPS). In this low-pressure distribution system two pipes are used for a space heating circuit, having layers of EVAL to hinder oxygen diffusion, whereas two pipes without diffusion barrier are used for delivery of hot tap water and warm water circulation. The four pipes are placed in the insulating blocks of EPS. Environmental impacts from production, laying and use of an EPSPEX district heat distribution system have been investigated using life cycle methodology. The distribution system is a secondary system developed specially for areas with low heat density. The case studied is the installation and use of an EPSPEX system in Vraaen, Vaernamo, Sweden. The environmental impacts are described in four categories: climate change, acidification, eutrophication and use of finite resources. Four weighting methods have also been used in the evaluation: EPS2000, Ecoscarcity, ExternE and EcoIndicator99. While carefully considering the precise circumstances of this study, the findings can be adapted for using the EPSPEX district heat distribution systems in other areas. During this study the question was raised of how this district heat delivery system compares with systems that use conventional district heating pipes. This has been further investigated and is reported in the second part of this report. In the second part the environmental impacts from the EPSPEX system have been compared with the impacts from conventional twin pipes (polyurethane insulated steel media pipes) used in a comparable setting. A discussion on the environmental choice between media pipes of PEX and steel can also be found in the second part. It should be noted that the two systems for district heat distribution are not fully comparable in function. The EPSPEX system has stricter limitations regarding pressure and temperature compared with

Environmental impacts from the EPSPEX-system. Part 1. Life-cycle analysis of a District Heating System with PEX-pipes insulated by expanded polystyrene; Miljoebelastning fraan EPSPEX-systemet. Del 1: Livscykelanalys av Polystyrenisolerat Fjaerrvaermesytem med PEX-mediaroer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johansson, Kristin; Olsson, A Maria; Froeling, Morgan [Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Goeteborg (Sweden). Dept. of Chemical Environmental Science

2005-07-15

The EPSPEX system is a distribution system for district heat with media pipes of cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) insulated by blocks of expanded polystyrene (EPS). In this low-pressure distribution system two pipes are used for a space heating circuit, having layers of EVAL to hinder oxygen diffusion, whereas two pipes without diffusion barrier are used for delivery of hot tap water and warm water circulation. The four pipes are placed in the insulating blocks of EPS. Environmental impacts from production, laying and use of an EPSPEX district heat distribution system have been investigated using life cycle methodology. The distribution system is a secondary system developed specially for areas with low heat density. The case studied is the installation and use of an EPSPEX system in Vraaen, Vaernamo, Sweden. The environmental impacts are described in four categories: climate change, acidification, eutrophication and use of finite resources. Four weighting methods have also been used in the evaluation: EPS2000, Ecoscarcity, ExternE and EcoIndicator99. While carefully considering the precise circumstances of this study, the findings can be adapted for using the EPSPEX district heat distribution systems in other areas. During this study the question was raised of how this district heat delivery system compares with systems that use conventional district heating pipes. This has been further investigated and is reported in the second part of this report. In the second part the environmental impacts from the EPSPEX system have been compared with the impacts from conventional twin pipes (polyurethane insulated steel media pipes) used in a comparable setting. A discussion on the environmental choice between media pipes of PEX and steel can also be found in the second part. It should be noted that the two systems for district heat distribution are not fully comparable in function. The EPSPEX system has stricter limitations regarding pressure and temperature compared with

Experimental and numerical study of back-cooling car-seat system using embedded heat pipes to improve passenger’s comfort

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatoum, Omar; Ghaddar, Nesreen; Ghali, Kamel; Ismail, Nagham

2017-01-01

Graphical abstract: Heat pipe assembly (a) with the insulation layer (b) without the insulation layer; and (c) thermal manikin test on the heat pipe chair. - Highlights: • A new back cooling system for a car seat using embedded heat pipes was modeled numerically. • The heat-pipe seat model was experimentally validated using heated thermal manikin. • An integrated heat pipe model and bio-heat model was used to predict local thermal comfort. • The heat pipe system reduced the back skin temperature by 1 °C compared to seat without heat pipes. • The heat pipe system increased the overall thermal comfort of the passenger by 30%. - Abstract: This work develops a back-cooling system for a car seat using seat embedded heat pipes to improve passenger comfort. The heat pipe system utilizes the temperature difference between the passenger back and the car cabin air to remove heat from the human body and enhance the comfort state. The developed seat heat-pipe model was validated experimentally using a thermal manikin with controlled constant skin temperature mode in a climatic chamber. Good agreement was found between the measured and the numerically predicted values of base panel temperature. By integrating the validated heat pipe with a bio-heat model, the back segmental skin temperature as well as the overall thermal comfort was predicted and compared with the conventional seat case without the heat pipe system. The heat pipes were able to reduce the skin temperature by 1 °C and to increase the overall thermal comfort of the body by 30%. In addition, a parametric study was performed to determine the optimal number of heat pipes that ensure the thermal comfort of the passenger.

Small-bore-piping seismic-test findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severud, L.K.; Barta, D.A.; Anderson, M.J.

1981-12-01

Description is given of a test series in which a 1-inch diameter stainless steel pipe system was subjected to dynamic testing. The test system consisted of approximately 40-feet of schedule 40 pipe, with several bends and risers, supported from a rigid test frame. FFTF prototypic pipe clamps, dead weight supports, mechanical snubbers, and insulation were utilized. Several variations of the pipe support configuration were tested. Measured test results are compared with analytical predictions for each configuration. Plans for future testing are discussed

Behavior study on Na heat pipe in passive heat removal system of new concept molten salt reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Chenglong; Tian Wenxi; Su Guanghui; Zhang Dalin; Wu Yingwei; Qiu Suizheng

2013-01-01

The high temperature Na heat pipe is an effective device for transporting heat, which is characterized by remarkable advantages in conductivity, isothermally and passively working. The application of Na heat pipe on passive heat removal system of new concept molten salt reactor (MSR) is significant. The transient performance of high temperature Na heat pipe was simulated by numerical method under the MSR accident. The model of the Na heat pipe was composed of three conjugate heat transfer zones, i.e. the vapor, wick and wall. Based on finite element method, the governing equations were solved by making use of FORTRAN to acquire the profiles of the temperature, velocity and pressure for the heat pipe transient operation. The results show that the high temperature Na heat pipe has a good performance on operating characteristics and high heat transfer efficiency from the frozen state. (authors)

Development of portable gamma ray tomography for imaging corrosion under insulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasif Mohd Zain; Roslan Yahya

2009-01-01

Corrosion under insulation (CUI) on the external wall of steel pipes is a common problem in many types of industrial plants. This is mainly due to the presence of moisture or water in the insulation materials. This type of corrosion can cause failures in areas that are normally of a primary concern to an inspection program. The failures are often the result of localized corrosion and not general wasting over large area. These failures can tee catastrophic in nature at least have an adverse economic effect in terms of downtime and repairs. There are number of techniques used today for CUI investigations. The main ones are profile radiography, pulse eddy current (PEC), ultrasonic spot readings and insulation removal. A new system that has been developed is gamma-ray computer tomography. The system is based on parallel-beam gamma ray absorption technique using NaI(Tl) 1 ' x 1 ' scintillation detectors. This paper describes the development of gamma ray tomography system. (author)

Scaling effects in spiral capsule robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Liang; Hu, Rong; Chen, Bai; Tang, Yong; Xu, Yan

2017-04-01

Spiral capsule robots can be applied to human gastrointestinal tracts and blood vessels. Because of significant variations in the sizes of the inner diameters of the intestines as well as blood vessels, this research has been unable to meet the requirements for medical applications. By applying the fluid dynamic equations, using the computational fluid dynamics method, to a robot axial length ranging from 10 -5 to 10 -2  m, the operational performance indicators (axial driving force, load torque, and maximum fluid pressure on the pipe wall) of the spiral capsule robot and the fluid turbulent intensity around the robot spiral surfaces was numerically calculated in a straight rigid pipe filled with fluid. The reasonableness and validity of the calculation method adopted in this study were verified by the consistency of the calculated values by the computational fluid dynamics method and the experimental values from a relevant literature. The results show that the greater the fluid turbulent intensity, the greater the impact of the fluid turbulence on the driving performance of the spiral capsule robot and the higher the energy consumption of the robot. For the same level of size of the robot, the axial driving force, the load torque, and the maximum fluid pressure on the pipe wall of the outer spiral robot were larger than those of the inner spiral robot. For different requirements of the operating environment, we can choose a certain kind of spiral capsule robot. This study provides a theoretical foundation for spiral capsule robots.

A remotely operated robot for decontamination tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dudar, A.M.; Vandewalle, R.C.

1994-01-01

Engineers in the Robotics Development Group at the Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) have developed a robot which will be used to decontaminate a pipe gallery of a tank farm used for nuclear waste storage. Personnel access is required into this pipe gallery to inspect existing pipes and perform repairs to secondary containment walls around the tank farm. Presently, the pipe gallery is littered with debris of various sizes and its surface is contaminated with activity levels up to 2.5E6 DPM (disintegrations per minute) alpha and exposure levels as high as 20 Rad/hr. Cleaning up this pipe gallery win be the mission of an all-hydraulic robotic vehicle developed in-house at WSRC caged the ''Remote Decon'' robot. The Remote Decon is a tracked vehicle which utilizes skid steering and features a six-degree-of-freedom (DOF) manipulator arm, a five-DOF front end loader type bucket with a rotating brush for scrubbing and decontaminating surfaces, and a three-DOF pan/tilt mechanism with cameras and lights. The Remote Decon system is connected to a control console via a 200 foot tethered cable. The control console was designed with ergonomics and simplicity as the main design factors and features three joysticks, video monitors, LED panels, and audible alarms

Process insulation. Isolation thermique des equipements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1987-01-01

A manual is presented to assist managers and operating personnel to recognize industrial energy management opportunities, and provides mathematical equations, general information on proven techniques and technology, and examples. It deals with process insulation, focusing on the insulation of mechanical systems such as piping, process vessels, equipment, and ductwork. The manual describes the effects of insulation materials; commonly encountered types of insulation, coverings and protective finishes as well as common applications; energy management opportunities, divided into housekeeping, low cost, and retrofit; and includes worked examples of each. Includes glossary. 17 figs., 8 tabs.

Corrosion and deposit determination in large diameter pipes by radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harara, W.

2006-08-01

Two steel reference pipes with outer diameters of 8 and 12 inches were machined to make artificial defects on each of them, such as inside and outside steps of different wall thicknesses, inside and outside flat bottomed holes (FBH) of different diameters and depths on steps, flat area (FA), and ground patch (GP). The artificial defect were made to simulate natural corrosion attack as regular corrosion and pitting. The two reference pipes were tested according to tangential radiography technique and double wall single image technique. Tangential radiography technique had been applied using Co-60 radio-isotope to determine the steps thicknesses, the FBH, the remaining wall thickness under the FA, the remaining wall thickness above the GP, and the minimum detectable thickness of the artificial cement deposit on the two reference pipes, with and without insulation. Double wall single image technique had also been applied on the two reference pipes with and without insulation using Ir-192 radio-isotope to measure the flat bottomed holes depths, GP depth, and FA depth by density measurement. The measurement results obtained from the radiographs confirm that, tangential radiography technique can be applied to detect and evaluate the inside and outside regular corrosion attack in the large diameter pipes. It can also be applied to detect and evaluate the outside FBH with depth equal or greater than 10%. Inside 10% FBH and inside 20% FBH can not be detected if their diameters are not larger than certain value related to diameter and wall thickness of the pipe under test. Increasing the film density up to 5 outside the pipe did not provide any detection improvement of 10% and 20% inside FBH. Tangential radiography technique can also be applied to detect and measure the deposit inside the pipes. Double wall technique can be applied as an alternative method of the tangential radiography technique to detect and to evaluate the shallow and small diameter, 10% and 20% inside FBH

A thin gold coated hydrogen heat pipe-cryogenic target for external experiments at COSY

Science.gov (United States)

Abdel-Bary, M.; Abdel-Samad, S.; Elawadi, G. A.; Kilian, K.; Ritman, J.

2009-05-01

A gravity assisted Gold coated heat pipe (GCHP) with 5-mm diameter has been developed and tested to cool a liquid hydrogen target for external beam experiments at COSY. The need for a narrow target diameter leads us to study the effect of reducing the heat pipe diameter to 5 mm instead of 7 mm, to study the effect of coating the external surface of the heat pipe by a shiny gold layer (to decrease the radiation heat load), and to study the effect of using the heat pipe without using 20 layers of' super-insulation around it (aluminized Mylar foil) to keep the target diameter as small as possible. The developed gold coated heat pipe was tested with 20 layers of super-insulation (WI) and without super-insulation (WOI). The operating characteristics for both conditions were compared to show the advantages and disadvantages.

An in-pipe mobile micromachine using fluid power. A mechanism adaptable to pipe diameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Kazuhiro; Yokota, Shinichi; Takahashi, Ken

2000-01-01

To realize micro maintenance robots for small diameter pipes of nuclear reactors and so on, high power in-pipe mobile micromachines have been required. The authors have proposed the bellows microactuator using fluid power and have tried to apply the actuators to in-pipe mobile micromachines. In the previous papers, some inchworm mobile machine prototypes with 25 mm in diameter are fabricated and the traveling performances are experimentally investigated. In this paper, to miniaturize the in-pipe mobile machine and to make it adaptable to pipe diameters, firstly, a simple rubber-tube actuator constrained with a coil-spring is proposed and the static characteristics are investigated. Secondly, a supporting mechanism which utilizes a toggle mechanism and is adaptable to pipe diameters is proposed and the supporting forces are investigated. Finally, an in-pipe mobile micromachine for pipe with 4 - 5 mm in diameter is fabricated and the maximum traveling velocity of 7 mm/s in both ahead and astern movements is experimentally verified. (author)

Low-frequency and multiple-bands sound insulation using hollow boxes with membrane-type faces

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Wei-wei; Fan, Li; Ma, Ren-hao; Zhang, Hui; Zhang, Shu-yi

2018-04-01

Hollow boxes with their faces made up of elastic membranes are used to block acoustic waves. It is demonstrated that placing a cuboid membrane-type box inside a pipe can effectively insulate acoustic waves even if the box is smaller than the cross-section of the pipe. The sound insulation is achieved within multiple frequency-bands below 500 Hz based on different mechanisms, which originate from the coaction of the cavity, membrane-type faces, and the intervals between the box and pipe walls. Furthermore, by adjusting the structural parameters and establishing an array of boxes, we can achieve better sound insulation at more frequency-bands.

The thermal performance of a loop-type heat pipe for passively removing residual heat from spent fuel pool

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xiong, Zhenqin [School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240 (China); Gu, Hanyang, E-mail: guhanyang@stu.edu.cn [School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240 (China); Wang, Minglu [School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240 (China); Cheng, Ye [Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute, Shanghai 200233 (China)

2014-12-15

Highlights: • Feasibility of applying loop-type heat pipes for SFP is studied. • The heat transfer rate of the heat pipes was tested. • The heat transfer coefficient was between 200 and 490 W/m{sup 2}/s. • The effect of the water temperature is dominant. • Three kinds of the filling ratio 27%, 21% and 14% are compared. - Abstract: Heat pipe is an efficient heat transfer device without electrically driven parts. Therefore large-scale loop type heat pipe systems have potential uses for passively removing heat from spent fuel pools and reactor cores under the accidental conditions to improve the safety of the nuclear power station. However, temperature difference between the hot water in the spent fuel pool and the ambient air which is the heat sink is small, in the range of 20–60 °C. To understand and predict the heat removal capacity of such a large scale loop type heat pipe in the situation similar to the accidental condition of the spent fuel pool (SFP) for the design purpose, a loop-type heat pipe with a very high and large evaporator has been fabricated and was tested using ammonia as the working fluid. The evaporator with inner diameter of 65 mm and length of 7.6 m is immersed in a hot water tube which simulate the spent fuel pool. The condenser of the loop-type heat pipe is cooled by the air. The tests were performed with the velocity of the hot water in the tube in the range of 0.7–2.1 × 10{sup −2} m/s, the hot water inlet temperature between 50 and 90 °C and the air velocity ranging from 0.5 m/s to 2.5 m/s. Three kinds of the ammonia volumetric filling ratio in the heat pipe were tested, i.e. 27%, 21% and 14%. It is found that the heat transfer rate was in the range of 1.5–14.9 kW, and the heat transfer coefficient of evaporator was between 200 and 490 W/m{sup 2}/s. It is feasible to use the large scale loop type heat pipe to passively remove the residual heat from SFP. Furthermore, the effect of air velocity, air temperature, water flow

The thermal performance of a loop-type heat pipe for passively removing residual heat from spent fuel pool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiong, Zhenqin; Gu, Hanyang; Wang, Minglu; Cheng, Ye

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Feasibility of applying loop-type heat pipes for SFP is studied. • The heat transfer rate of the heat pipes was tested. • The heat transfer coefficient was between 200 and 490 W/m 2 /s. • The effect of the water temperature is dominant. • Three kinds of the filling ratio 27%, 21% and 14% are compared. - Abstract: Heat pipe is an efficient heat transfer device without electrically driven parts. Therefore large-scale loop type heat pipe systems have potential uses for passively removing heat from spent fuel pools and reactor cores under the accidental conditions to improve the safety of the nuclear power station. However, temperature difference between the hot water in the spent fuel pool and the ambient air which is the heat sink is small, in the range of 20–60 °C. To understand and predict the heat removal capacity of such a large scale loop type heat pipe in the situation similar to the accidental condition of the spent fuel pool (SFP) for the design purpose, a loop-type heat pipe with a very high and large evaporator has been fabricated and was tested using ammonia as the working fluid. The evaporator with inner diameter of 65 mm and length of 7.6 m is immersed in a hot water tube which simulate the spent fuel pool. The condenser of the loop-type heat pipe is cooled by the air. The tests were performed with the velocity of the hot water in the tube in the range of 0.7–2.1 × 10 −2 m/s, the hot water inlet temperature between 50 and 90 °C and the air velocity ranging from 0.5 m/s to 2.5 m/s. Three kinds of the ammonia volumetric filling ratio in the heat pipe were tested, i.e. 27%, 21% and 14%. It is found that the heat transfer rate was in the range of 1.5–14.9 kW, and the heat transfer coefficient of evaporator was between 200 and 490 W/m 2 /s. It is feasible to use the large scale loop type heat pipe to passively remove the residual heat from SFP. Furthermore, the effect of air velocity, air temperature, water flow rate and

Laboratory exercises on oscillation modes of pipes

Science.gov (United States)

Haeberli, Willy

2009-03-01

This paper describes an improved lab setup to study the vibrations of air columns in pipes. Features of the setup include transparent pipes which reveal the position of a movable microphone inside the pipe; excitation of pipe modes with a miniature microphone placed to allow access to the microphone stem for open, closed, or conical pipes; and sound insulation to avoid interference between different setups in a student lab. The suggested experiments on the modes of open, closed, and conical pipes, the transient response of a pipe, and the effect of pipe diameter are suitable for introductory physics laboratories, including laboratories for nonscience majors and music students, and for more advanced undergraduate laboratories. For honors students or for advanced laboratory exercises, the quantitative relation between the resonance width and damping time constant is of interest.

Measured residual stresses in overlay pipe weldments removed from service

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shack, W.J.

1985-02-01

Surface and throughwall residual stresses were measured on an elbow-to-pipe weldment that had been removed from the Hatch-2 reactor about a year after the application of a weld overlay. The results were compared with experimental measurements on three mock-up weldments and with finite-element calculations. The comparison shows that there are significant differences in the form and magnitude of the residual stress distributions. However, even after more than a year of service, the residual stresses over most of the inner surface of the actual plant weldment with an overlay were strongly compressive. 3 refs., 7 figs

Mechanism for in-pipe inspection; Dispositivo para inspecao de dutos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Freitas, Gustavo Medeiros; Dutra, Max Suell [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ (Brazil)

2008-07-01

The internal inspection of pipes is becoming a routine activity thanks to their importance on transportation of substances such as oil and natural gas. This paper addresses a mechanism capable of working inside pipes of different diameters that may present extreme curves and inclinations. The mechanism is composed of modules with devices that provide adjustable contact with the duct, using wheels on the contact points. The robot moves inside the pipe creating a virtual spindle. For that, two parts are used: the first one, guided along the pipe by a set of wheels, moves parallel to the axis of the pipe; the second part is attached to a motor. The motor rotation forces the mechanism to follow a helical motion, with tilted wheels rotating about the axis of the pipe. Each adjustable contact device works like a lever, pressing the wheel against the pipe. The base of the device can be actively rotated, modifying the angle of the wheel in relation to the pipe (equivalent to the step of the spindle), permitting the motion of the system in both directions, with specific velocity. According to the applied angle, the robot changes the relation between torque and displacement velocity. (author)

Heat resistance insulation for NPP pipelines and components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yurchenko, V.G.; Nazarova, G.A.; Popov, A.M.; Matveeva, N.F.

1986-01-01

To insulate hot surfaces of NPP process equipment and pipes it is suggested to use heat resistant insulation of foam aminoimides (FAI). Relative toxicity of aceton and acetaldehyd evolved from FAI in the process of thermal and thermal-oxidative break-down was determined. FAI can be used at 200 deg C

Quadruped robots for nuclear facilities. Development of cooperative carrying and unloading functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

As the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (hereafter refers to as 1F) became the high dose environment by the Great East Japan Earthquake, remotely operated robots were required in order to reduce workers' radiation exposure. We developed a quadruped robot to walk the stairs and narrow passages with carrying burdens such as investigation tools. This robot investigated water leakage from vent pipes at underground of 1F unit 2. There are various works towards the decommissioning such as measuring doses of radiation, cutting pipes, connecting wires and more. It is desirable to carry various work tools and to unload them at destinations with remotely operated robots. To this end, we have developed carrying and unloading functions of the robot. In addition, we have developed cooperative carrying functions that two quadruped robots carry and unload a burden which is too long or heavy for individual robot. As a result, it was realized that two robots carried the pipe of 48 kg while getting over a step of 100 mm and unloading it at a destination. (author)

Seismic testing and analysis of a prototypic nonlinear piping system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barta, D.A.; Anderson, M.J.; Severud, L.K.

1982-11-01

A series of seismic tests and analyses of a nonlinear Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) prototypic piping system are described, and measured responses are compared with analytical predictions. The test loop was representative of a typical LMFBR insulated small bore piping system and it was supported from a rigid test frame by prototypic dead weight supports, mechanical snubbers and pipe clamps. Various piping support configurations were tested and analyzed to evaluate the effects of free play and other nonlinear stiffness characteristics on the piping system response

Development of Live-working Robot for Power Transmission Lines

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Yu; Liu, Xiaqing; Ren, Chengxian; Li, Jinliang; Li, Hui

2017-07-01

Dream-I, the first reconfigurable live-working robot for power transmission lines successfully developed in China, has the functions of autonomous walking on lines and accurately positioning. This paper firstly described operation task and object of the robot; then designed a general platform, an insulator replacement end and a drainage plate bolt fastening end of the robot, presented a control system of the robot, and performed simulation analysis on operation plan of the robot; and finally completed electrical field withstand voltage tests in a high voltage hall as well as online test and trial on actual lines. Experimental results show that by replacing ends of manipulators, the robot can fulfill operation tasks of live replacement of suspension insulators and live drainage plate bolt fastening.

Pipe damping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ware, A.G.; Arendts, J.G.

1984-01-01

A program has been developed to assess the available piping damping data, to generate additional data and conduct seperate effects tests, and to establish a plan for reporting and storing future test results into a data bank. This effort is providing some of the basis for developing higher allowable damping values for piping seismic analyses, which will potentially permit removal of a considerable number of piping supports, particularly snubbers. This in turn will lead to more flexible piping systems which will be less susceptible to thermal cracking, will be easier to maintain and inspect, as well as less costly

Electrical breakdown studies with Mycalex insulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waldron, W.; Greenway, W.; Eylon, S.; Henestroza, E.; Yu, S.

2003-01-01

Insulating materials such as alumina and glass-bonded mica (Mycalex) are used in accelerator systems for high voltage feedthroughs, structural supports, and barriers between high voltage insulating oil and the vacuum beam pipe in induction accelerator cells. Electric fields in the triple points should be minimized to prevent voltage breakdown. Mechanical stress can compromise seals and result in oil contamination of the insulator surface. We have tested various insulator cleaning procedures including ultrasonic cleaning with a variety of aqueous-based detergents, and manual scrubbing with various detergents. Water sheeting tests were used to determine the initial results of the cleaning methods. Ultimately, voltage breakdown tests will be used to quantify the benefits of these cleaning procedures

Analytical model of heat transfer in porous insulation around cold pipes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guldbrandsen, Tom; Karlsson, Per W.; Korsgaard, Vagn

2011-01-01

cloth is wrapped around the cold tube and extended through a slit in the tubular insulation and a slot in the facing to the ambient so that condensed water can evaporate into the air. Some of the moisture in that part of the wicking cloth situated in the slit in the tubular insulation will diffuse......A thermal insulation system is analysed that consists of a cold tube insulated with a porous material faced with a vapour retarding foil.Water vapour will diffuse through the vapour retarding foil and condense on the cold tube. To avoid build-up of water in the insulation a hydrophilic wicking...

Free convection flow and heat transfer in pipe exposed to cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mme, Uduak Akpan

2010-10-15

One of the challenges with thermal insulation design in subsea equipment is to minimize the heat loss through cold spots during production shut down. Cold spots are system components where insulation is difficult to implement, resulting in an insulation discontinuity which creates by nature a thermal bridge. It is difficult to avoid cold spots or thermal bridges in items like sensors, valves, connectors and supporting structures. These areas of reduced or no insulation are referred to as cold spots. Heat is drained faster through these spots, resulting in an increased local fluid density resulting in an internal fluid flow due to gravity and accelerated cool- down. This natural convection flow is important for both heat loss and internal distribution of the temperature. This thesis is presenting both experimental work and modelling work. A series of cool down tests and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of these tests are presented. These tests and simulations were carried out in order to understand the flow physics involved in heat exchange processes caused by free convection flow in pipe exposed to cooling. Inclination of the pipe relative to the direction of gravity and temperature difference between cooling water and internal pipe water are the two main parameters investigated in this study. The experimental heat removal and temperature field is discussed and further interpreted by means of computational fluid dynamics. For prediction of the evolvement of the local temperature and heat flow, selection of an appropriate turbulence model is critical. Hence, different models and wall functions are investigated. The predicted temperature profiles and heat extraction rates are compered to the experiments for the selected turbulence models. Our main conclusions, supported by our experimental and CFD results, include: (i) Heat transfer from a localized cold spot in an inclined pipe is most efficient when the pipe orientation is close to horizontal. As the

The development of radiation hardened robot for nuclear facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seung Ho; Jung, Seung Ho; Kim, Byung Soo and others

2000-04-01

The work conducted in this stage covers development of core technology of tele-robot system including monitoring technique in high-level radioactive area, tele-sensing technology and radiation-hardened technology for the non-destructive tele-inspection system which monitors the primary coolant system during the normal operations of PHWR(Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor) NPPs and measures the decrease of bending part of feeder pipe during overall. Based on the developed core technology, the monitoring mobile robot system of the primary coolant system and the feeder pipe inspecting robot system are developed

The development of radiation hardened robot for nuclear facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Seung Ho; Jung, Seung Ho; Kim, Byung Soo and others

2000-04-01

The work conducted in this stage covers development of core technology of tele-robot system including monitoring technique in high-level radioactive area, tele-sensing technology and radiation-hardened technology for the non-destructive tele-inspection system which monitors the primary coolant system during the normal operations of PHWR(Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor) NPPs and measures the decrease of bending part of feeder pipe during overall. Based on the developed core technology, the monitoring mobile robot system of the primary coolant system and the feeder pipe inspecting robot system are developed.

Alternative design of pipe sleeve for liquid removal mechanism in mortar slab layer

Science.gov (United States)

Nazri, W. M. H. Wan; Anting, N.; Lim, A. J. M. S.; Prasetijo, J.; Shahidan, S.; Din, M. F. Md; Anuar, M. A. Mohd

2017-11-01

Porosity is one of the mortar’s characteristics that can cause problems, especially in the room space that used high amount of water, such as bathrooms. Waterproofing is one of the technology that normally used to minimize this problem which is preventing deep penetration of liquid water or moisture into underlying concrete layers. However, without the proper mechanism to remove liquid water and moisture from mortar system, waterproofing layer tends to be damaged after a long period of time by the static formation of liquid water and moisture at mortar layer. Thus, a solution has been proposed to drain out water that penetrated into the mortar layer. This paper introduces a new solution using a Modified Pipe Sleeve (MPS) that installed at the mortar layer. The MPS has been designed considering the percentage surface area of the pipe sleeve that having contact with mortar layer (2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10%) with angle of holes of 60°. Infiltration test and flow rate test have been conducted to identify the effectiveness of the MPS in order to drain out liquid water or moisture from the mortar layer. In this study shows that, MPS surface area 10%, angled 60°, function effectively as a water removal compared to other design.

Synchrotron radiation leakage from the B-factory beam pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenkins, T.M.; Nelson, W.R.; Ipe, N.

1990-01-01

The high-energy ring (HER) of the B-Factory, running at an energy of 9 GeV, generates the synchrotron spectrum when applied to a ring with the PEP bending radius. The B-Factory HER may also run at 12 GeV, producing the harder spectrum. Depending upon beam-pipe material and thickness, some of this radiation may escape and deposit energy in the surrounding material. This was originally pointed out in PEP-109 during the initial design of PEP, and subsequently verified by measurements at both PEP and PETRA at DESY. Of concern to the B Factory is magnet insulation, though other adjacent materials such as wire insulation and cooling water hoses are even more radiosensitive. Radiation damage to magnets is a function of the type of material used in the potting compound. The PEP magnets, which hopefully can be used for the high-energy ring of the B-Factory, are insulated with an epoxy composed of DER-332, DER-732, NMA and aluminum oxide. It is estimated that this epoxy compound should tolerate doses near the 10 10 rad range. To summarize the results of these calculations, 0.87 cm of copper is needed at the point of maximum dose from 12-GeV operation in order to reach the dose criterion if a rectangular beam pipe is used. The copper needs to be only 0.7-cm thick for an octagonal beam pipe and the same energy. For 9-GeV operation, an octagonal copper pipe needs only to be 0.25-cm thick. An octagonal aluminum pipe that is 0.5-cm thick also needs 0.3 cm of lead on the outside to reach the same criterion for 12-GeV operation. For 9-GeV operation, the aluminum pipe still requires a lead liner

Nuclear piping system damping data studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ware, A.G.; Arendts, J.G.

1985-01-01

A programm has been conducted at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory to study structural damping data for nuclear piping systems and to evaluate if changes in allowable damping values for structural seismic analyses are justified. The existing pipe damping data base was examined, from which a conclusion was made that there were several sets of data to support higher allowable values. The parameters which most influence pipe damping were identified and an analytical investigation demonstrated that increased damping would reduce the required number of seismic supports. A series of tests on several laboratory piping systems was used to determine the effect of various parameters such as types of supports, amplitude of vibration, frequency, insulation, and pressure on damping. A multiple regression analysis was used to statistically assess the influence of the various parameters on damping, and an international pipe damping data bank has been formed. (orig.)

Compact vacuum insulation

Science.gov (United States)

Benson, D.K.; Potter, T.F.

1993-01-05

An ultra-thin compact vacuum insulation panel is comprised of two hard, but bendable metal wall sheets closely spaced apart from each other and welded around the edges to enclose a vacuum chamber. Glass or ceramic spacers hold the wall sheets apart. The spacers can be discrete spherical beads or monolithic sheets of glass or ceramic webs with nodules protruding therefrom to form essentially point'' or line'' contacts with the metal wall sheets. In the case of monolithic spacers that form line'' contacts, two such spacers with the line contacts running perpendicular to each other form effectively point'' contacts at the intersections. Corrugations accommodate bending and expansion, tubular insulated pipes and conduits, and preferred applications are also included.

Thermal insulation layer for the vacuum containers of a thermonuclear device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishikawa, Masana; Yamada, Masao; Kameari, Akihisa; Niikura, Setsuo.

1980-01-01

Purpose: To prevent temperature rise of a thermal insulation layer for a vacuum container of a thermonuclear device higher than allowable value when irradiated by neutron by constructing the layer of a cooling unit in thermal insulation material. Constitution: A metal plate attached with cooling pipes is buried in a thermal insulation material forming a thermal insulation layer to form the layer provided between a vacuum container of a thermonuclear device and a shield. (Yoshihara, H.)

Development of measuring device for inner surfaces of embedded piping (Contract research)

CERN Document Server

Itoh, H; Tachibana, M; Yanagihara, S

2003-01-01

The measuring device for inner surfaces of embedded piping (MISE) was developed to evaluate low-level radiological contaminations of inner surfaces of piping. The MISE consists of a cylindrically-formed double layered type detector and a piping crawling robot, which were designed and manufactured separately. In measurements of the contaminations, an outer cylindrical detector close to the surface of piping measures beta-rays and gamma-rays and an inner cylindrical detector set after a shielding plate for shield of beta-rays measures gamma-rays. The beta-ray counting rates are derived by subtracting gamma-ray counts measured by the inner detector from gamma- and beta-ray counts measured by the outer detector. The piping crawling robot transports the cylindrically-formed double layered type detector with observing inner surfaces of piping. The detection limit for the contamination of sup 6 sup 0 Co was found to be about 0.17 Bq/cm sup 2 with measurement time of 30 seconds. It is expected that 0.2 Bq/cm sup 2 co...

46 CFR 61.15-5 - Steam piping.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Steam piping. 61.15-5 Section 61.15-5 Shipping COAST... Periodic Tests of Piping Systems § 61.15-5 Steam piping. (a) Main steam piping shall be subjected to a... removed and the piping thoroughly examined. (b) All steam piping subject to pressure from the main boiler...

The thermal insulating materials and its coatings for underground piping; Los aislamientos termicos y sus recubrimientos para tuberias subterraneos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salcido Lopez, Salvador [Aislantes Minerales, S. A. de C. V. Mexico, D. F. (Mexico)

1994-12-31

Energy Saving through the adequate selection and application of the thermal insulating materials, as well as its coatings for underground piping conducting fluids, both at high and at low temperature. The benefits are outlined at economical level for the investor as well as at ecological level (of vital importance today) and are observed as practical examples in industrial and commercial processes. [Espanol] Ahorro de energeticos mediante la adecuada seleccion y aplicacion de los aislamientos termicos, asi como de sus recubrimientos para tuberias subterraneas que conducen fluidos tanto en alta como en baja temperatura. Los beneficios son destacados tanto a nivel economico para el inversionista, como a nivel ecologico (de vital importancia en la actualidad), y son observados con ejemplos practicos en procesos industriales y comerciales.

High performance thermal insulation systems (HiPTI). Vacuum insulated products (VIP). Proceedings of the international conference and workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zimmermann, M.; Bertschinger, H.

2001-07-01

These are the proceedings of the International Conference and Workshop held at EMPA Duebendorf, Switzerland, in January 2001. The papers presented at the conference's first day included contributions on the role of high-performance insulation in energy efficiency - providing an overview of available technologies and reviewing physical aspects of heat transfer and the development of thermal insulation as well as the state of the art of glazing technologies such as high-performance and vacuum glazing. Also, vacuum-insulated products (VIP) with fumed silica, applications of VIP systems in technical building systems, nanogels, VIP packaging materials and technologies, measurement of physical properties, VIP for advanced retrofit solutions for buildings and existing and future applications for advanced low energy building are discussed. Finally, research and development concerning VIP for buildings are reported on. The workshops held on the second day covered a preliminary study on high-performance thermal insulation materials with gastight porosity, flexible pipes with high performance thermal insulation, evaluation of modern insulation systems by simulation methods as well as the development of vacuum insulation panels with a stainless steel envelope.

Development of measuring device for inner surfaces of embedded piping (Contract research)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Itoh, Hirokuni [Ohyo Koken Kogyo Co., Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Hatakeyama, Mutsuo [Radioactive Waste Management and Nuclear Facility Decommissioning Technology Center, Tokyo (Japan); Tachibana, Mitsuo; Yanagihara, Satoshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

2003-03-01

The measuring device for inner surfaces of embedded piping (MISE) was developed to evaluate low-level radiological contaminations of inner surfaces of piping. The MISE consists of a cylindrically-formed double layered type detector and a piping crawling robot, which were designed and manufactured separately. In measurements of the contaminations, an outer cylindrical detector close to the surface of piping measures {beta}-rays and {gamma}-rays and an inner cylindrical detector set after a shielding plate for shield of {beta}-rays measures {gamma}-rays. The {beta}-ray counting rates are derived by subtracting {gamma}-ray counts measured by the inner detector from {gamma}- and {beta}-ray counts measured by the outer detector. The piping crawling robot transports the cylindrically-formed double layered type detector with observing inner surfaces of piping. The detection limit for the contamination of {sup 60}Co was found to be about 0.17 Bq/cm{sup 2} with measurement time of 30 seconds. It is expected that 0.2 Bq/cm{sup 2} corresponding to clearance level of {sup 60}Co (0.4 Bq/g) can be evaluated with measurement time of 2 seconds, which is equal to measurement speed of 54 m/h. (author)

Radiation detector system having heat pipe based cooling

Science.gov (United States)

Iwanczyk, Jan S.; Saveliev, Valeri D.; Barkan, Shaul

2006-10-31

A radiation detector system having a heat pipe based cooling. The radiation detector system includes a radiation detector thermally coupled to a thermo electric cooler (TEC). The TEC cools down the radiation detector, whereby heat is generated by the TEC. A heat removal device dissipates the heat generated by the TEC to surrounding environment. A heat pipe has a first end thermally coupled to the TEC to receive the heat generated by the TEC, and a second end thermally coupled to the heat removal device. The heat pipe transfers the heat generated by the TEC from the first end to the second end to be removed by the heat removal device.

Thermal insulation system design and fabrication specification (nuclear) for the Clinch River Breeder Reactor plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-01-01

This specification defines the design, analysis, fabrication, testing, shipping, and quality requirements of the Insulation System for the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP), near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Insulation System includes all supports, convection barriers, jacketing, insulation, penetrations, fasteners, or other insulation support material or devices required to insulate the piping and equipment cryogenic and other special applications excluded. Site storage, handling and installation of the Insulation System are under the cognizance of the Purchaser

Inspection of Pipe Inner Surface using Advanced Pipe Crawler Robot with PVDF Sensor based Rotating Probe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vimal AGARWAL

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Due to corrosive environment, pipes used for transportation of water and gas at the plants often get damaged. Defects caused by corrosion and cracking may cause serious accidents like leakage, fire and blasts. It also reduces the life of the transportation system substantially. In order to inspect such defects, a Polyvinyledene Fluoride (PVDF based cantilever smart probe is developed to scan the surface quality of the pipes. The smart probe, during rotation, touches the inner surface of the pipe and experience a broad-band excitation in the absence of surface features. On the other hand, whenever the probe comes across any surface projection, there is a change in vibration pattern of the probe, which causes a high voltage peak/pulse. Such peaks/pulses could give useful information about the location and nature of a defect. Experiments are carried out on different patterns, sizes and shapes of surface projections artificially constructed inside the pipe. The sensor system has reliably predicted the presence and distribution of projections in every case. It is envisaged that the new sensing system could be used effectively for pipe health monitoring.

Structural consideration for hot and cold pipe clamps in LMFBR applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, M.J.; Huang, S.N.; Kappauf, H.; Wagner, S.E.; Wirtz, K.H.

1983-01-01

A series of analytical studies are described which evaluate stress levels induced in a 600 mm high temperature, thin-wall sodium pipeline by two alternate clamp designs. The first design consists of a band mounted directly on the pipe and is called the hot clamp. The second design consists of a band mounted using insulation standoffs and is called the cold clamp. Pipe stress levels induced by transient thermal dead weight and seismic loads are discussed. Pipe stress levels and system dynamic spring rates are presented. Procedures utilized to combine clamp induced pipe stress with other short and long term pipe system stresses are detailed. Recommendations for practical application in LMFBR pipe systems are made

Structural considerations for hot and cold pipe clamps in LMFBR applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, M.J.; Huang, S.N.; Wagner, S.E.; Kappauf, H.; Wirtz, K.H.

1983-01-01

A series of analytical studies are described which evaluate stress levels induced in a 600 mm high temperature, thin-wall sodium pipeline by two alternate clamp designs. The first design consists of a band mounted directly on the pipe and is called the hot clamp. The second design consists of a band mounted using insulation standoffs and is called the cold clamp. Pipe stress levels induced by transient thermal dead weight and seismic loads are discussed. Pipe stress levels and system dynamic spring rates are presented. Procedures utilized to combine clamp induced pipe stress with other short and long term pipe system stresses are detailed. Recommendations for practical application in LMFBR pipe systems are made

Clips supporting and spacing flanged sheets of reflective insulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carr, R.W.

1980-01-01

This invention relates to clips, spacing and supporting flanged sheets of reflective insulation used to encase the main body and associated piping of nuclear reactors to minimize heat and radiation losses. (UK)

Modular Micromachined Si Heat Removal (MOMS Heat Removal): Electronic Integration and System Test

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Brown, Elliott

2003-01-01

...: (1) insulated-gated bipolar transistors (IGBTs), and (2) laterally-diffused (LD) MOSFETs. Heat pipes were found to provide little or no advantage over conventional copper-based heat spreaders in both device applications...

Soft segmented inchworm robot with dielectric elastomer muscles

Science.gov (United States)

Conn, Andrew T.; Hinitt, Andrew D.; Wang, Pengchuan

2014-03-01

Robotic devices typically utilize rigid components in order to produce precise and robust operation. Rigidity becomes a significant impediment, however, when navigating confined or constricted environments e.g. search-and-rescue, industrial pipe inspection. In such cases adaptively conformable soft structures become optimal. Dielectric elastomers (DEs) are well suited for developing such soft robots since they are inherently compliant and can produce large musclelike actuation strains. In this paper, a soft segmented inchworm robot is presented that utilizes pneumatically-coupled DE membranes to produce inchworm-like locomotion. The robot is constructed from repeated body segments, each with a simple control architecture, so that the total length can be readily adapted by adding or removing segments. Each segment consists of a soft inflatable shell (internal pressure in range of 1.0-15.9 mBar) and a pair of antagonistic DE membranes (VHB 4905). Experimental testing of a single body segment is presented and the relationship between drive voltage, pneumatic pressure and active displacement is characterized. This demonstrates that pneumatic coupling of DE membranes induces complex non-linear electro-mechanical behaviour as drive voltage and pneumatic pressure are altered. Locomotion of a two-segment inchworm robot prototype with a passive length of 80 mm is presented. Artificial setae are included on the body shell to generate anisotropic friction for locomotion. A maximum locomotion speed of 4.1 mm/s was recorded at a drive frequency of 1.5 Hz, which compares favourably to biological counterparts. Future development of the soft inchworm robot are discussed including reflexive low-level control of individual segments.

Seismic response and damping tests of small bore LMFBR piping and supports

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barta, D.A.; Anderson, M.J.; Severud, L.K.; Lindquist, M.R.

1984-01-01

Seismic testing and analysis of a prototypical Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) small bore piping system is described. Measured responses to simulated seismic excitations are compared with analytical predictions based on NRC Regulatory Guide 1.61 and measured system damping values. The test specimen was representative of a typical LMFBR insulated small bore piping system, and it was supported from a rigid test frame by prototypic dead weight supports, mechanical snubbers and pipe clamps

Metallized ceramic vacuum pipe for particle beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butler, B.L.; Featherby, M.

1990-01-01

A ceramic vacuum chamber segment in the form of a long pipe of rectangular cross section has been assembled from standard shapes of alumina ceramic using glass bonding techniques. Prior to final glass bonding, the internal walls of the pipe are metallized using an electroplating technology. These advanced processes allow for precision patterning and conductivity control of surface conducting films. The ability to lay down both longitudinal and transverse conductor patterns separated by insulating layers of glass give the accelerator designer considerable freedom in tailoring longitudinal and transverse beam pipe impedances. Assembly techniques of these beam pipes are followed through two iterations of semi-scale pipe sections made using candidate materials and processes. These demonstrate the feasibility of the concepts and provide parts for electrical characterization and for further refinement of the approach. In a parallel effort, a variety of materials, joining processes and assembly procedures have been tried to assure flexibility and reliability in the construction of 10-meter long sections to any required specifications

A System for Complex Robotic Welding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Ole; Sørensen, Carsten Bro; Olsen, Birger

2002-01-01

This paper presents the architecture of a system for robotic welding of complex tasks. The system integrates off-line programming, control of redundant robots, collision-free motion planning and sensor-based control. An implementation for pipe structure welding made at Odense Steel Shipyard Ltd......., Denmark, demonstrates the system can be used for automatic welding of complex products in one-of-a-kind production....

Performance improvement of the finned passive PVT system using reflectors like removable insulation covers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ziapour, Behrooz M.; Palideh, Vahid; Mokhtari, Farhad

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A passive PVT system means the combination of a PV panel and a compact solar water heater. • Comparative study was done on performance characteristics in passive and hybrid PVT systems. • Reflectors effects on performance of a finned passive PVT system were numerically studied. • Results show that the finned passive PVT system has higher performance than the hybrid type. • Reflectors reduce the night heat losses and increase the solar radiation rate on PVT system. - Abstract: A passive photovoltaic–thermal system (PVT) is the combination of a photovoltaic (PV) panel and a compact solar water heater for co-generation of heat and electricity. This system bears considerable heat losses to ambient, particularly at noncollection times. One simple way to overcome this problem is to use a removable insulation cover on the collector's outer glazing. In this paper, the effects of the reflectors on day and night performance of a finned passive PVT system were numerically studied. At nonenergy collection time, the reflectors can turn and cover the collector cover glass as a nonconductor material. Simulation results showed that the reflectors reduce the night heat losses and increase the solar radiation rate on the absorber plate. The use of removable insulation reflectors resulted to saving extra sensibly thermal energy. Also, the solar cells power generation (P_s_c), in the case of reflectors installed, was reinforced.

Thermal insulation product for insulation, especially in nuclear power engineering, and method of its production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veselovsky, P.; Zink, S.; Balacek, P.; Mares, I.

1989-01-01

The insulation consists of a sewn fabric cover made of inorganic fibers, in which the fiber filling is reinforced mechanically by dense point interweaving. The inorganic fibers, 1 to 5 μm in diameter, consist of min. 97 wt.% mixture of aluminium and silicon oxides in the vitreous state. The fibers making up the cover consist of min. 95% silicon, aluminium, calcium, magnesium and boron oxides in the vitreous state; the rest can consist of alloy steel fibres. The bulk density of the insulation is 70 to 150 kg/m 3 . The product is highly resistant to temperature and to the action of chemicals, water, and acid and alkaline deactivation solutions. Its manufacture is fast and undemanding. It is designed for thermal insulation of pipes, tanks and valves in nuclear power plants. (M.D.). 2 figs

The fabrication of a vanadium-stainless steel test section for MHD testing of insulator coatings in flowing lithium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reed, C.B.; Mattas, R.F.; Smith, D.L.; Chung, H.; Tsai, H.-C.; Morgan, G.D.; Wille, G.W.; Young, C.

1996-01-01

To test the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pressure drop reduction performance of candidate insulator coatings for the ITER Vanadium/Lithium Breeding Blanket, a test section comprised of a V- 4Cr-4Ti liner inside a stainless steel pipe was designed and fabricated. Theoretically, the MHD pressure drop reduction benefit resulting, from an electrically insulating coating on a vanadium- lined pipe is identical to the benefit derived from an insulated pipe fabricated of vanadium alone. A duplex test section design consisting of a V alloy liner encased in a SS pressure boundary provided protection for vanadium from atmospheric contamination during operation at high temperature and obviated any potential problems with vanadium welding while also minimizing the amount of V alloy material required. From the MHD and insulator coating- point of view, the test section outer SS wall and inner V alloy liner can be modeled simply as a wall having a sandwich construction. Two 52.3 mm OD x 2.9 m long V-alloy tubes were fabricated by Century Tubes from 64 mm x 200 mm x 1245 mm extrusions produced by Teledyne Wah Chang. The test section's duplex structure was subsequently fabricated at Century Tubes by drawing down a SS pipe (2 inch schedule 10) over one of the 53.2 mm diameter V tubes

Compact vacuum insulation embodiments

Science.gov (United States)

Benson, D.K.; Potter, T.F.

1992-04-28

An ultra-thin compact vacuum insulation panel is comprised of two hard, but bendable metal wall sheets closely spaced apart from each other and welded around the edges to enclose a vacuum chamber. Glass or ceramic spacers hold the wall sheets apart. The spacers can be discrete spherical beads or monolithic sheets of glass or ceramic webs with nodules protruding therefrom to form essentially point' or line' contacts with the metal wall sheets. In the case of monolithic spacers that form line' contacts, two such spacers with the line contacts running perpendicular to each other form effectively point' contacts at the intersections. Corrugations accommodate bending and expansion, tubular insulated pipes and conduits, and preferred applications are also included. 26 figs.

Pipe damping: experimental results from laboratory tests in the seismic frequency range

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ware, A.G.; Arendts, J.G.

1986-06-01

The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) has been conducting a research program to assist the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) in determining best-estimate damping values for the seismic analysis of nuclear piping systems. As part of this program, a 5-in. piping system was tested by the INEL, and data from USNRC/EPRI piping vibration tests at the ANCO Engineers facility were evaluated. These systems were subjected to various types of excitation methods and magnitudes, the support configurations were varied, and the effects of pipe insulation and internal pressure were investigated on the INEL system. The INEL has used several different methods to reduce the data to determine the damping in both these piping systems under the various test conditions. It was concluded that at representative seismic excitation levels, pressure was not a contributing factor, but the supports, insulation, and magnitude of response all were major influences contributing to damping. These tests are part of the ongoing program to determine how various parameters and data reduction methods affect piping system damping. The evaluation of all relevant test results, including these two series, will potentially lead to revised damping guidelines for the seismic analysis of nuclear plants, making them safer, less costly, and easier to inspect and maintain. The test results as well as accompanying evaluations and recommendations are presented in this report. 27 refs., 72 figs., 13 tabs

Analysis of piping system response to seismic excitations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, C.Y.

1987-01-01

This paper describes a numerical algorithm for analyzing piping system response to seismic excitations. The numerical model of the piping considers hoop, flexural, axial, and torsional modes of deformation. Hoop modes generated from internal hydrodynamic loading are superimposed on the bending and twisting modes by two extra degrees of freedom. A time-history analysis technique using the implicit temporal integration scheme is addressed. The time integrator uses a predictor-corrector successive iterative scheme which satisfies the equation of motion. Both geometrical and material nonlinearities are considered. Multiple support excitations, fluid effect, piping insulation, and material dampings can be included in the analysis. Two problems are presented to illustrate the method. The results are discussed in detail

Thermographic identification of wetted insulation on pipelines in the arctic oilfields

Science.gov (United States)

Miles, Jonathan J.; Dahlquist, A. L.; Dash, L. C.

2006-04-01

Steel pipes used at Alaskan oil-producing facilities to transport production crude, gas, and injection water between well house and drill site manifold building, and along cross-country lines to and from central processing facilities, must be insulated in order to protect against the severely cold temperatures that are common during the arctic winter. A problem inherent with this system is that the sealed joints between adjacent layers of the outer wrap will over time degrade and can allow water to breach the system and migrate into and through the insulation. The moisture can ultimately interact with the steel pipe and trigger external corrosion which, if left unchecked, can lead to pipe failure and spillage. A New Technology Evaluation Guideline prepared for ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. in 2001 is intended to guide the consideration of new technologies for pipeline inspection in a manner that is safer, faster, and more cost-effective than existing techniques. Infrared thermography (IRT) was identified as promising for identification of wetted insulation regions given that it offers the means to scan a large area quickly from a safe distance, and measure the temperature field associated with that area. However, it was also recognized that there are limiting factors associated with an IRT-based approach including instrument sensitivity, cost, portability, functionality in hostile (arctic) environments, and training required for proper interpretation of data. A methodology was developed and tested in the field that provides a technique to conduct large-scale screening for wetted regions along insulated pipelines. The results of predictive modeling analysis and testing demonstrate the feasibility under certain condition of identifying wetted insulation areas. The results of the study and recommendations for implementation are described.

Available Prediction Methods for Corrosion under Insulation (CUI: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Burhani Nurul Rawaida Ain

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Corrosion under insulation (CUI is an increasingly important issue for the piping in industries especially petrochemical and chemical plants due to its unexpected catastrophic disaster. Therefore, attention towards the maintenance and prediction of CUI occurrence, particularly in the corrosion rates, has grown in recent years. In this study, a literature review in determining the corrosion rates by using various prediction models and method of the corrosion occurrence between the external surface piping and its insulation was carried out. The results, prediction models and methods available were presented for future research references. However, most of the prediction methods available are based on each local industrial data only which might be different based on the plant location, environment, temperature and many other factors which may contribute to the difference and reliability of the model developed. Thus, it is more reliable if those models or method supported by laboratory testing or simulation which includes the factors promoting CUI such as environment temperature, insulation types, operating temperatures, and other factors.

Development of protocols for corrosion and deposits evaluation in pipes by radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-04-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency is promoting industrial applications of non-destructive testing (NDT) technology, which includes radiography testing (RT) and related methods, to assure safety and reliability of operation of nuclear, petrochemical and other industrial facilities. In many industries such as petroleum, power stations, refineries, petrochemical and chemical plants, desalination pipelines and urban gas installations, the reliability and safety of equipment can be substantially influenced by degradation processes such as corrosion, erosion, deposits and blocking of pipes, which can seriously affect the security and consistency. One of the most important parameters in a piping or pipeline to be monitored and measured is the wall thickness. Among NDT methods, radiography has the advantage in that in the process of an inspection it eliminates the need for the costly removal of the pipe insulation and also the added benefit that it can be carried out in high temperature environments. The Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on Validation of Protocols for Corrosion and Deposits Determination in Small Diameter Pipes by Radiography (CORDEP) was implemented from 1997 to 2000 with the participation of 11 NDT laboratories from Algeria, China, Costa Rica, France, India, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia and Turkey. The CRP tested and validated radiographic measurement of corrosion and deposits in straight and bent pipes made of carbon or stainless steels corroded/eroded on the outer or inner surfaces with or without insulation. Each participating laboratory produced three test specimens of straight and bent pipes containing natural as well as simulated corrosion defects. Typical diameters of these pipes were up to 168 mm. Radiography using X ray machines and radioisotopes of Iridium-192 and Cobalt-60 in conjunction with radiographic film using single and double wall penetrations for total inspection was performed. Selected

Recognition and automatic tracking of weld line in fringe welding by autonomous mobile robot with visual sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suga, Yasuo; Saito, Keishin; Ishii, Hideaki.

1994-01-01

An autonomous mobile robot with visual sensor and four driving axes for welding of pipe and fringe was constructed. The robot can move along a pipe, and detect the weld line to be welded by visual sensor. Moreover, in order to perform welding automatically, the tip of welding torch can track the weld line of the joint by rotating the robot head. In the case of welding of pipe and fringe, the robot can detect the contact angle between the two base metals to be welded, and the torch angle changes according to the contact angle. As the result of tracking test by the robot system, it was made clear that the recognition of geometry of the joint by the laser lighting method and automatic tracking of weld line were possible. The average tracking error was ±0.3 mm approximately and the torch angle could be always kept at the optimum angle. (author)

The development of advanced robotics for the nuclear industry -The development of advanced robotic technology-

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jong Min; Lee, Yong Bum; Park, Soon Yong; Cho, Jae Wan; Lee, Nam Hoh; Kim, Woong Kee; Moon, Byung Soo; Kim, Seung Hoh; Kim, Chang Heui; Kim, Byung Soo; Hwang, Suk Yong; Lee, Yung Kwang; Moon, Je Sun [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1995-07-01

Main activity in this year is to develop both remote handling system and telepresence techniques, which can be used for people involved in extremely hazardous working area to alleviate their burden. In the robot vision technology part, KAERI-PSM system, stereo imaging camera module, stereo BOOM/MOLLY unit, and stereo HMD unit are developed. Also, autostereo TV system which falls under the category of next generation stereo imaging technology has been studied. The performance of KAERI-PSM system for remote handling task is evaluated and compared with other stereo imaging systems as well as general TV imaging system. The result shows that KAERI-PSM system is superior to the other stereo imaging systems about remote operation speedup and accuracy. The automatic recognition algorithm of instrument panel is studied and passive visual target tracking system is developed. The 5 DOF camera serving unit has been designed and fabricated. It is designed to function like human`s eye. In the sensing and intelligent control research part, thermal image database system for thermal image analysis is developed and remote temperature monitoring technique using fiber optics is investigated. And also, two dimensional radioactivity sensor head for radiation profile monitoring system is designed. In the part of intelligent robotics, mobile robot is fabricated and its autonomous navigation using fuzzy control logic is studied. These remote handling and telepresence techniques developed in this project can be applied to nozzle-dam installation/removal robot system, reactor inspection unit, underwater nuclear pellet inspection and pipe abnormality inspection. And these developed remote handling and telepresence techniques will be applied in general industry, medical science, and military as well as nuclear facilities. 203 figs, 12 tabs, 72 refs. (Author).

Piping data retrieval system (PDRS): An integrated package to aid piping layout

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vyas, K.N.; Sharma, A.; Susandhi, R.; Basu, S.

1986-01-01

An integrated package to aid piping layout has been developed and implemented on PDP-11/34 system at Hall 7. The package allows various equipments to be modelled, consisting of primitive equipment components. The equipment layout for the plant can then be reproduced in the form of drawings such as plan, elevation, isometric or perspective. The package has the built in function to perform hidden line removal among equipments. Once the equipment layout is finalised, the package aids in superimposing the piping as per the specified pipe routine. The report discusses the general capabilities and the major input requirements for the package. (author)

Insulation performance data and assessment procedures for steam kiln energy conservation investments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zaccor, J.V.

1980-09-01

For a demonstration project, the costs and benefits of insulating concrete block curing kilns to isolate the kiln thermal mass from the curing cycle are determined. Data were developed on service life of FOAMGLAS insulation, the effect of Johnson burners on the insulation and mounting, performance of an alternative insulation (a rapidly installed, spray-on polyurethane foam), and a simple incentive to promote implementation of industrial energy conservation concepts. Data are tabulated and compared for the FOAMGLAS and CPR 480 polyurethane insulations. Specific studies of insulation that was installed on inside surfaces of kilns to lock the kiln-mass out of the curing cycle are given for Blocklite plant in California, the Ameron pipe plant in California, and the Superlite plant in Phoenix, Arizona. (MCW)

Heat losses through pipe connections in hot water stores

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Elsa; Fan, Jianhua; Furbo, Simon

2007-01-01

The heat loss from pipe connections at the top of hot water storage tanks with and without a heat trap is investigated theoretically and compared to similar experimental investigations. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used for the theoretical analysis. The investigations show that the heat...... loss from an ideally insulated pipe connected to the top of a hot water tank is mainly due to a natural convection flow in the pipe, that the heat loss coefficient of pipes connected to the top of a hot water tank is high, and that a heat trap can reduce the heat loss coefficient significantly. Further......, calculations show that the yearly thermal performance of solar domestic hot water systems is strongly reduced if the hot water tank has a thermal bridge located at the top of the tank....

Robotics in space-age manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Chip

1991-01-01

Robotics technologies are developed to improve manufacturing of space hardware. The following applications of robotics are covered: (1) welding for the space shuttle and space station Freedom programs; (2) manipulation of high-pressure water for shuttle solid rocket booster refurbishment; (3) automating the application of insulation materials; (4) precision application of sealants; and (5) automation of inspection procedures. Commercial robots are used for these development programs, but they are teamed with advanced sensors, process controls, and computer simulation to form highly productive manufacturing systems. Many of the technologies are also being actively pursued in private sector manufacturing operations.

Aerogel-Based Insulation for Industrial Steam Distribution Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

John Williams

2011-03-30

Thermal losses in industrial steam distribution systems account for 977 trillion Btu/year in the US, more than 1% of total domestic energy consumption. Aspen Aerogels worked with Department of Energy’s Industrial Technologies Program to specify, develop, scale-up, demonstrate, and deliver Pyrogel XT®, an aerogel-based pipe insulation, to market to reduce energy losses in industrial steam systems. The product developed has become Aspen’s best selling flexible aerogel blanket insulation and has led to over 60 new jobs. Additionally, this product has delivered more than ~0.7 TBTU of domestic energy savings to date, and could produce annual energy savings of 149 TBTU by 2030. Pyrogel XT’s commercial success has been driven by it’s 2-4X better thermal performance, improved durability, greater resistance to corrosion under insulation (CUI), and faster installation times than incumbent insulation materials.

Slab edge insulating form system and methods

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Brain E [Corral de Tierra, CA; Barsun, Stephan K [Davis, CA; Bourne, Richard C [Davis, CA; Hoeschele, Marc A [Davis, CA; Springer, David A [Winters, CA

2009-10-06

A method of forming an insulated concrete foundation is provided comprising constructing a foundation frame, the frame comprising an insulating form having an opening, inserting a pocket former into the opening; placing concrete inside the foundation frame; and removing the pocket former after the placed concrete has set, wherein the concrete forms a pocket in the placed concrete that is accessible through the opening. The method may further comprise sealing the opening by placing a sealing plug or sealing material in the opening. A system for forming an insulated concrete foundation is provided comprising a plurality of interconnected insulating forms, the insulating forms having a rigid outer member protecting and encasing an insulating material, and at least one gripping lip extending outwardly from the outer member to provide a pest barrier. At least one insulating form has an opening into which a removable pocket former is inserted. The system may also provide a tension anchor positioned in the pocket former and a tendon connected to the tension anchor.

Percutaneous cystostomy drainage for early removing urethral catheter in robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: Improving on patients' discomfort

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Che-Jui Yang

2015-12-01

Conclusion: The use of a percutaneous cystostomy device is feasible and safe for the early removal of urethral Foley catheter in robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy to decrease penile pain and patient discomfort.

Robotics in the nuclear environment-inspection and repairs inside the primary coolant system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guillet, J.; Marcel Tortolano

2005-01-01

The increase in the lifetime of the power plants and the ageing of materials require the intervention inside the components to carry out controls and possibly repairs in the event of discovered defects. Within this framework, EDF is investigating the feasibility of robotized repairs of the components and pipes of the main primary coolant system of a nuclear power plant. For several years, EDF R and D has engaged projects whose subject of study is the possibility of repairing components such as the main vessel; the pressurizer or the primary coolant pipes with the help of robots and dedicated tools. INTERVENTIONS INSIDE PRIMARY COOLANT PIPES: Studies undertaken by EDF highlighted that certain zones, particularly in pipe connections, can be affected by thermal fatigue which causes crackling defects or crackings. In anticipation of this phenomenon which would affect primary pipes and to avoid their replacements, EDF R and D has been studying the feasibility of examining and repairing these zones using robots. Robotized repair consists in introducing into the pipe while passing by the vessel, a 6 degrees of freedom manipulator mounted on a mobile carrier. This robot implements and carries out the trajectories of the different processes of repair: - Precise localization of the defects, - Elimination (possibly sampling) of the defects by machining, - Control that the defects were eliminated, - Weld metal buildup if the repair cavity is too deep, - Grinding followed by a new control of the surface. These studies and tests were conducted in the laboratory of EDF R and D in Chatou. The sequence of operations included machining by grinding and milling, profilometric control, dye penetrant testing, TIG welding and ultrasonic examinations. The results of the tests, executed on full scale models of components, are satisfactory and show the advantages of robotics compared with classical methods. ROBOTIZED INTERVENTIONS IN THE REACTOR VESSEL: Another difficult issue is the

Fault location method for unexposed gas trunk line insulation at stray current constant effect area

Science.gov (United States)

Tsenev, A. N.; Nosov, V. V.; Akimova, E. V.

2017-10-01

For the purpose of gas trunk lines safe operation, two types of pipe wall metal anticorrosion protection are generally used - the passive (insulation coating) protection and the active (electrochemical) protection. In the process of a pipeline long-term operation, its insulation is subject to wear and damage. Electrochemical protection means of a certain potential value prevent metal dissolution in the soil. When insulation wear and tear attains a level of insufficiency of the protection potential value, the insulating coating needs repair which is a labor-consuming procedure. To reduce the risk of such situation, it is necessary to make inspection rounds to monitor the condition of pipe insulation. A method for pipeline insulation coating unexposed fault location based on Pearson method is considered, wherein a working cathodic protection station signal of 100 Hz frequency is used, which makes installation of a generator unnecessary, and also a specific generator signal of 1 kHz frequency is used at high noise immunity and sensitivity of the instrument complex. This method enables detection and sizing of unexposed pipeline defects within the zones of earth current permanent action. High noise immunity of selective indicators allows for operation in proximity to 110 kV, 220 kV, and 500 kV power transmission lines in action.

Backward erosion piping : Initiation and progression

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Beek, V.M.

2015-01-01

Backward erosion piping is an internal erosion mechanism during which shallow pipes are formed in the direction opposite to the flow underneath water-retaining structures as a result of the gradual removal of sandy material by the action of water. It is an important failure mechanism in both dikes

Standard guide for laboratory simulation of corrosion under insulation

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

2007-01-01

1.1 This guide covers the simulation of corrosion under insulation (CUI), including both general and localized attack, on insulated specimens cut from pipe sections exposed to a corrosive environment usually at elevated temperature. It describes a CUI exposure apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a CUI-Cell), preparation of specimens, simulation procedures for isothermal or cyclic temperature, or both, and wet/dry conditions, which are parameters that need to be monitored during the simulation and the classification of simulation type. 1.2 The application of this guide is broad and can incorporate a range of materials, environments and conditions that are beyond the scope of a single test method. The apparatus and procedures contained herein are principally directed at establishing acceptable procedures for CUI simulation for the purposes of evaluating the corrosivity of CUI environments on carbon and low alloy pipe steels, and may possibly be applicable to other materials as well. However, the same or simi...

Thermal performance of horizontal closed-loop oscillating heat-pipe with check valves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rittidech, S.; Pipatpaiboon, N.; Thongdaeng, S.

2010-01-01

This research investigated the thermal performance of various horizontal closed-loop oscillating heat-pipe systems with check valves (HCLOHPs/CVs). Numerous test systems were constructed using copper capillary tubes with assorted inner diameters, evaporator lengths, and check valves. The test systems were evaluated under normal operating conditions using ethanol, R123, and distilled water as working fluids. The system's evaporator sections were heated by hot water from a hot bath, and the heat was removed from the condenser sections by cold water from a cool bath. The adiabatic sections were well insulated with foam insulators. The heat-transfer performance of the various systems was evaluated in terms of the rate of heat transferred to the cold water at the condenser. The results showed that the heat-transfer performance of an HCLOHP/CV system could be improved by decreasing the evaporator length. The highest performance of all tested systems was obtained when the maximum number of system check valves was 2. The maximum heat flux occurred with a 2 mm inner diameter tube, and R123 was determined to be the most suitable working fluid

Experimental investigation on Heat Transfer Performance of Annular Flow Path Heat Pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, In Guk; Kim, Kyung Mo; Jeong, Yeong Shin; Bang, In Cheol

2015-01-01

Mochizuki et al. was suggested the passive cooling system to spent nuclear fuel pool. Detail analysis of various heat pipe design cases was studied to determine the heat pipes cooling performance. Wang et al. suggested the concept PRHRS of MSR using sodium heat pipes, and the transient performance of high temperature sodium heat pipe was numerically simulated in the case of MSR accident. The meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants alarmed to the dangers of station blackout (SBO) accident. After the SBO accident, passive decay heat removal systems have been investigated to prevent the severe accidents. Mochizuki et al. suggested the heat pipes cooling system using loop heat pipes for decay heat removal cooling and analysis of heat pipe thermal resistance for boiling water reactor (BWR). The decay heat removal systems for pressurized water reactor (PWR) were suggested using natural convection mechanisms and modification of PWR design. Our group suggested the concept of a hybrid heat pipe with control rod as Passive IN-core Cooling System (PINCs) for decay heat removal for advanced nuclear power plant. Hybrid heat pipe is the combination of the heat pipe and control rod. In the present research, the main objective is to investigate the effect of the inner structure to the heat transfer performance of heat pipe containing neutron absorber material, B 4 C. The main objective is to investigate the effect of the inner structure in heat pipe to the heat transfer performance with annular flow path. ABS pellet was used instead of B 4 C pellet as cylindrical structures. The thermal performances of each heat pipes were measured experimentally. Among them, concentric heat pipe showed the best performance compared with others. 1. Annular evaporation section heat pipe and annular flow path heat pipe showed heat transfer degradation. 2. AHP also had annular vapor space and contact cooling surface per unit volume of vapor was increased. Heat transfer coefficient of

A Shear Horizontal Waveguide Technique for Monitoring of High Temperature Pipe Thinning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheong, Yongmoo; Kim, Hongpyo; Lee, Duckhyun

2014-01-01

An ultrasonic thickness measurement method is a well-known and most commonly used non-destructive testing technique for wall thickness monitoring of a piping or plate. However, current commonly available ultrasonic transducers cannot withstand high temperatures of, above 200 .deg. C. Currently, the variation of wall thickness of the pipes is determined by a portable ultrasonic gauge during plant shutdowns. This manual ultrasonic method reveals several disadvantages: inspections have to be performed during shutdowns with the possible consequences of prolonging down time and increasing production losses, insulation has to be removed and replaced for each manual measurement, and scaffolding has to be installed to inaccessible areas, resulting in considerable cost for intervention. In addition, differences of the measurement conditions such as examiner, temperature, and couplant could result in measurement errors. It has been suggested that a structural health monitoring approach with permanently installed ultrasonic thickness gauges could have substantial benefits over current practices. In order to solve those fundamental problems occurring during the propagation of ultrasound at high temperature, a shear horizontal waveguide technique for wall thickness monitoring at high temperatures is developed. A dry clamping device without a couplant for the acoustic contact between waveguide and pipe surface was designed and fabricated. The shear horizontal waveguides and clamping device result in an excellent S/N ratio and high accuracy of measurement with long exposure in an elevated temperature condition. A computer program for on-line monitoring of the pipe thickness at high temperature for a long period of time was developed. The system can be applied to monitor the FAC in carbon steel piping in a nuclear power plant after a verification test for a long period of time

49 CFR 192.311 - Repair of plastic pipe.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Repair of plastic pipe. 192.311 Section 192.311... Lines and Mains § 192.311 Repair of plastic pipe. Each imperfection or damage that would impair the serviceability of plastic pipe must be repaired or removed. [Amdt. 192-93, 68 FR 53900, Sept. 15, 2003] ...

The development of advanced robotics for the nuclear industry -The development of advanced robotic technology-

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jong Min; Lee, Yong Bum; Park, Soon Yong; Cho, Jae Wan; Lee, Nam Hoh; Kim, Woong Kee; Moon, Byung Soo; Kim, Seung Hoh; Kim, Chang Heui; Kim, Byung Soo; Hwang, Suk Yong; Lee, Yung Kwang; Moon, Je Sun

1995-07-01

Main activity in this year is to develop both remote handling system and telepresence techniques, which can be used for people involved in extremely hazardous working area to alleviate their burden. In the robot vision technology part, KAERI-PSM system, stereo imaging camera module, stereo BOOM/MOLLY unit, and stereo HMD unit are developed. Also, autostereo TV system which falls under the category of next generation stereo imaging technology has been studied. The performance of KAERI-PSM system for remote handling task is evaluated and compared with other stereo imaging systems as well as general TV imaging system. The result shows that KAERI-PSM system is superior to the other stereo imaging systems about remote operation speedup and accuracy. The automatic recognition algorithm of instrument panel is studied and passive visual target tracking system is developed. The 5 DOF camera serving unit has been designed and fabricated. It is designed to function like human's eye. In the sensing and intelligent control research part, thermal image database system for thermal image analysis is developed and remote temperature monitoring technique using fiber optics is investigated. And also, two dimensional radioactivity sensor head for radiation profile monitoring system is designed. In the part of intelligent robotics, mobile robot is fabricated and its autonomous navigation using fuzzy control logic is studied. These remote handling and telepresence techniques developed in this project can be applied to nozzle-dam installation/removal robot system, reactor inspection unit, underwater nuclear pellet inspection and pipe abnormality inspection. And these developed remote handling and telepresence techniques will be applied in general industry, medical science, and military as well as nuclear facilities. It has been looking for these techniques to expand the working area of human, raise the working efficiencies of remote task to the highest degree, and enhance the industrial

ALARA review for the decontamination and decommissioning of the 233-S pipe trench

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kornish, M.J.

1998-01-01

The 233-S Facility was completed in 1955 to expand plutonium production by further concentrating the plutonium nitrate product solution from the Reduction Oxidation (REDOX) Plant. The facility is radiologically contaminated because of operations and accidents. Isolation from REDOX and removal of the product transfer lines from the pipe trench is the second step in the decontamination and decommissioning of the entire 233-S Facility. The work scope is to isolate all piping from REDOX and then to remove all the piping/equipment from the pipe trench. The building is presently a Hazard Category 2 Nuclear Facility. A formal as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) review is required by BHI-SH-02, Vol. 1, Procedure No. 1.22, Planning Radiological Work, when radiological conditions exceed trigger levels. The level of contamination inside the pipe trench and the process fluid piping is unknown. The potential exists to exceed the level of loose surface contamination, which requires a formal ALARA review when opening the pipe trench and cutting of piping commences. This ALARA review is for task instruction 1997-03-18-009 Revision 1, 233-S Pipe Trench Decon and Pipe Removal

Pneumatic soil removal tool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neuhaus, J.E.

1992-01-01

A soil removal tool is provided for removing radioactive soil, rock and other debris from the bottom of an excavation, while permitting the operator to be located outside of a containment for that excavation. The tool includes a fixed jaw, secured to one end of an elongate pipe, which cooperates with a movable jaw pivotably mounted on the pipe. Movement of the movable jaw is controlled by a pneumatic cylinder mounted on the pipe. The actuator rod of the pneumatic cylinder is connected to a collar which is slidably mounted on the pipe and forms part of the pivotable mounting assembly for the movable jaw. Air is supplied to the pneumatic cylinder through a handle connected to the pipe, under the control of an actuator valve mounted on the handle, to provide movement of the movable jaw. 3 figs

Pneumatic soil removal tool

Science.gov (United States)

Neuhaus, John E.

1992-01-01

A soil removal tool is provided for removing radioactive soil, rock and other debris from the bottom of an excavation, while permitting the operator to be located outside of a containment for that excavation. The tool includes a fixed jaw, secured to one end of an elongate pipe, which cooperates with a movable jaw pivotably mounted on the pipe. Movement of the movable jaw is controlled by a pneumatic cylinder mounted on the pipe. The actuator rod of the pneumatic cylinder is connected to a collar which is slidably mounted on the pipe and forms part of the pivotable mounting assembly for the movable jaw. Air is supplied to the pneumatic cylinder through a handle connected to the pipe, under the control of an actuator valve mounted on the handle, to provide movement of the movable jaw.

Identification and location of catenary insulator in complex background based on machine vision

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Xiaotong; Pan, Yingli; Liu, Li; Cheng, Xiao

2018-04-01

It is an important premise to locate insulator precisely for fault detection. Current location algorithms for insulator under catenary checking images are not accurate, a target recognition and localization method based on binocular vision combined with SURF features is proposed. First of all, because of the location of the insulator in complex environment, using SURF features to achieve the coarse positioning of target recognition; then Using binocular vision principle to calculate the 3D coordinates of the object which has been coarsely located, realization of target object recognition and fine location; Finally, Finally, the key is to preserve the 3D coordinate of the object's center of mass, transfer to the inspection robot to control the detection position of the robot. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method has better recognition efficiency and accuracy, can successfully identify the target and has a define application value.

Laboratory piping system vibration tests to determine parametric effects on damping in the seismic frequency range

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ware, A.G.

1987-01-01

A pipe damping research program is being conducted for the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory to establish more realistic, best-estimate damping values for use in dynamic structural analyses of piping systems. As part of this program, tests were conducted on a 5-in. (128 mm ID) laboratory piping system to determine the effects of pressure, support configuration, insulation and response amplitude on damping. The tests were designed to produce a wide range of damping values, from very low damping in lightly excited uninsulated systems with few supports, to higher damping under conditions of either/or insulation, high level excitation, and various support arrangements. The effect of pressure at representative seismic levels was considered to be minimal. The supports influence damping at all excitation levels; damping was highest when a mechanical snubber was present in the system. The addition of insulation produced a large increase in damping for the hydraulic shaker excitation tests, but there was no comparable increase for the snapback excitation tests. Once a response amplitude of approximately one-half yield stress was reached, overall damping increased to relatively high levels (>10% of critical)

Corrosion and deposit evaluation in large diameter pipes using radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boateng, A.

2012-01-01

The reliability and safety of industrial equipment in the factories and processing industries are substantially influenced by degradation processes such as corrosion, erosion, deposits and blocking of pipes. These might lead to low production, unpredictable and costly shutdowns due to repair and replacement and sometimes combined environmental pollution and risk of personnel injuries. Only periodic inspection for the integrity of pipes and equipment can reduce the risk in connection with other maintenance activities. The research explored two methods of radiographic inspection techniques, the double wall technique and the tangential radiographic technique using Ir-192 for evaluating deposits and corrosion attacks across the inner and outer walls of steel pipes with diameter greater than 150 mm with or without insulation. The application of both techniques was conducted depending on pipe diameter, wall thickness, radiation source (Ir-92) and film combination. The iridium source was positioned perpendicular with respect to the pipe axis projecting the double wall of the pipe on the plated radiographic film. With the tangential radiographic technique, the source was placed tangential to the pipe wall and because of its large diameter, the source was collimated to prevent backscatter and also to focus the beam at the target area of interest. All measurements were performed on special designed test pieces to simulate corrosion attack and deposits on industrial pipes. Pitting corrosion measurements based on Tangential Radiographic Technique were more sophisticated, and therefore magnification factor and correction were used to establish the estimated pit depth on the film. The insulating material used to conserve the thermodynamic properties of the transported media had relatively negligible attenuation coefficient compared to the concrete deposit. The two explored techniques were successful in evaluating corrosion attack and deposit on the walls of the pipe and the risk

SEALING LARGE-DIAMETER CAST-IRON PIPE JOINTS UNDER LIVE CONDITIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiran M. Kothari; Gerard T. Pittard

2005-07-01

Utilities in the U.S. operate over 75,000 km (47,000 miles) of old cast-iron pipes for gas distribution. Bell-and-spigot joints that connect pipe sections together tend to leak as these pipes age. Current repair practices are costly and highly disruptive. The objective of this program is to design, test and commercialize a robotic system capable of sealing multiple castiron bell and spigot joints from a single pipe entry point. The proposed system will perform repairs with the pipe in service by traveling through the pipe, cleaning each joint surface, and installing a stainless-steel sleeve lined with an epoxy-impregnated felt across the joint. This approach will save considerable time and labor, minimize excavation, avoid traffic disruption, and eliminate any requirement to interrupt service to customers (which would result in enormous expense to utilities). Technical challenges include: (1) repair sleeves must compensate for diametric variation and eccentricity of old cast-iron pipes; (2) the assembly must travel long distances through pipes containing debris; (3) the pipe wall must be effectively cleaned in the immediate area of the joint to assure good bonding of the sleeve; and (4) an innovative bolt-on entry fitting is required to conduct safe repair operations on live mains.

An automated miniature robotic vehicle inspection system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dobie, Gordon; Summan, Rahul; MacLeod, Charles; Pierce, Gareth; Galbraith, Walter [Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering, University of Strathclyde, 204 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1XW (United Kingdom)

2014-02-18

A novel, autonomous reconfigurable robotic inspection system for quantitative NDE mapping is presented. The system consists of a fleet of wireless (802.11g) miniature robotic vehicles, each approximately 175 × 125 × 85 mm with magnetic wheels that enable them to inspect industrial structures such as storage tanks, chimneys and large diameter pipe work. The robots carry one of a number of payloads including a two channel MFL sensor, a 5 MHz dry coupled UT thickness wheel probe and a machine vision camera that images the surface. The system creates an NDE map of the structure overlaying results onto a 3D model in real time. The authors provide an overview of the robot design, data fusion algorithms (positioning and NDE) and visualization software.

An automated miniature robotic vehicle inspection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobie, Gordon; Summan, Rahul; MacLeod, Charles; Pierce, Gareth; Galbraith, Walter

2014-01-01

A novel, autonomous reconfigurable robotic inspection system for quantitative NDE mapping is presented. The system consists of a fleet of wireless (802.11g) miniature robotic vehicles, each approximately 175 × 125 × 85 mm with magnetic wheels that enable them to inspect industrial structures such as storage tanks, chimneys and large diameter pipe work. The robots carry one of a number of payloads including a two channel MFL sensor, a 5 MHz dry coupled UT thickness wheel probe and a machine vision camera that images the surface. The system creates an NDE map of the structure overlaying results onto a 3D model in real time. The authors provide an overview of the robot design, data fusion algorithms (positioning and NDE) and visualization software

Suitability of pipeline material for buried gas and water piping

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Funk, R

1976-01-01

Following a brief review of the development of the individual pipe materials and their use in the field of gas and water supply, the various stressing possibilities are dealt with. The corrosion influences from inside and outside, the material specifically for internal and external insulation, as well as the stressing due to sediments, are particularly brought out in this connection. A few remarks on the pressure pipes made of ductile cast iron, steel, reinforced concrete, asbestos cement and plastics are followed by comparisons with representations on material parameters to be proved, safety factors, tensile and pressure resistance, breaking tension and stress-strain diagram, wall thicknesses, friction losses, reactions depending on the E. modulus and distribution of the single pipe materials in the gas and water supply.

Basic maneuvers for an inspection robot for small diameter gas distribution mains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dertien, Edwin Christian; Stramigioli, Stefano

2011-01-01

This video shows the design of a mechanical structure of a miniature pipe inspection robot (MPR) capable of moving trough very small pipes (up to 41 mm inner diameter) as well as a wide range of diameters (63 to 125 mm outer diameter). The requirement to negotiate bends, T-joints and steep

Heat transfer characteristics and operation limit of pressurized hybrid heat pipe for small modular reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kyung Mo; Bang, In Cheol

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Thermal performances and operation limits of hybrid heat pipe were experimentally studied. • Models for predicting the operation limit of the hybrid heat pipe was developed. • Non-condensable gas affected heat transfer characteristics of the hybrid heat pipe. - Abstract: In this paper, a hybrid heat pipe is proposed for use in advanced nuclear power plants as a passive heat transfer device. The hybrid heat pipe combines the functions of a heat pipe and a control rod to simultaneously remove the decay heat generated from the core and shutdown the reactor under accident conditions. Thus, the hybrid heat pipe contains a neutron absorber in the evaporator section, which corresponds to the core of the reactor pressure vessel. The presence of the neutron absorber material leads to differences in the heated diameter and hydraulic diameter of the heat pipe. The cross-sectional areas of the vapor paths through the evaporator, adiabatic, and condenser sections are also different. The hybrid heat pipe must operate in a high-temperature, high-pressure environment to remove the decay heat. In other words, the operating pressure must be higher than those of the commercially available thermosyphons. Hence, the thermal performances, including operation limit of the hybrid heat pipe, were experimentally studied in the operating pressure range of 0.2–20 bar. The operating pressure of the hybrid heat pipe was controlled by charging the non-condensable gas which is unused method to achieve the high saturation pressure in conventional thermosyphons. The effect of operating pressure on evaporation heat transfer was negligible, while condensation heat transfer was affected by the amount of non-condensable gas in the test section. The operation limit of the hybrid heat pipe increased with the operating pressure. Maximum heat removal capacity of the hybrid heat pipe was up to 6 kW which is meaningful value as a passive decay heat removal device in the nuclear power

Pipe Penetrating Radar: a New Tool for the Assessment of Critical Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Ekes, C.; Neducz, B.

2012-04-01

This paper describes the development of Pipe Penetrating Radar (PPR), the underground in-pipe application of GPR, a non-destructive testing method that can detect defects and cavities within and outside mainline diameter (>18 in / 450mm) non-metallic (concrete, PVC, HDPE, etc.) underground pipes. The method uses two or more high frequency GPR antennae carried by a robot into underground pipes. The radar data is transmitted to the surface via fibre optic cable and is recorded together with the output from CCTV (and optionally sonar and laser). Proprietary software analyzes the data and pinpoints defects or cavities within and outside the pipe. Thus the testing can identify existing pipe and pipe bedding symptoms that can be addressed to prevent catastrophic failure due to sinkhole development and can provide useful information about the remaining service life of the pipe. The key innovative aspect is the unique ability to map pipe wall thickness and deterioration including cracks and voids outside the pipe, enabling accurate predictability of needed intervention or the timing of replacement. This reliable non-destructive testing method significantly impacts subsurface infrastructure condition based asset management by supplying previously unattainable measurable conditions. Keywords: pipe penetrating radar (PPR), ground penetrating radar (GPR), pipe inspection, concrete deterioration, municipal engineering

SAFIRE - a robotic inspection system for CANDU feeders

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buckingham, R. [OC Robotics, Bristol (United Kingdom)

2011-07-01

The condition of primary circuit feeder pipes in CANDU reactors is relevant to the commercial viability and plant life. One known wear mechanism is external fretting between feeder pipes and adjacent services or support structures, particularly within the Upper Feeder Cabinet (UFC). Fretting leads to wall thinning which must not exceed certain agreed limits. Chafe shields have been added to protect the feeder pipes. Regular inspections are required of the chafe shields, feeder pipes and other structures that may cause feeder damage. Historically, the dose received by inspectors conducting this work has been significant. For this reason Ontario Power Generation has invested in a remotely operated robot system to conduct visual inspections within the UFC. This system, called SAFIRE for 'Snake-Arm Feeder Inspection Robot Equipment' has been deployed at Pickering during 2010 and 2011 and has been used to inspect areas that are extremely difficult to inspect with existing manual techniques. The 2011 scope of work included inspection of a total of 660 feeder pipes in three UFC quadrants, in two reactors. The full scope was completed over a one-month period in Autumn 2011 in which SAFIRE was used during 23, twelve hour shifts. This included two periods each of 72 hours of continuous operation using multiple teams of operators. SAFIRE is remote controlled delivery system for multiple cameras to record still images and video. The main system elements include a snake-arm robot mounted on a mobile vehicle. It can be controlled from up to 500m away using a fibre/copper connection. The snake-arm is 2.2m long, 25mm wide and has 18 degrees of freedom. It is designed to snake between the rows of feeder pipes to inspect feeder/hanger interfaces, both above and below the feeder cabinet catwalks. Future upgrades offer the potential to add additional tools to increase functionality. This paper describes the SAFIRE development process from inception to operational experience

SAFIRE - a robotic inspection system for CANDU feeders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buckingham, R.

2011-01-01

The condition of primary circuit feeder pipes in CANDU reactors is relevant to the commercial viability and plant life. One known wear mechanism is external fretting between feeder pipes and adjacent services or support structures, particularly within the Upper Feeder Cabinet (UFC). Fretting leads to wall thinning which must not exceed certain agreed limits. Chafe shields have been added to protect the feeder pipes. Regular inspections are required of the chafe shields, feeder pipes and other structures that may cause feeder damage. Historically, the dose received by inspectors conducting this work has been significant. For this reason Ontario Power Generation has invested in a remotely operated robot system to conduct visual inspections within the UFC. This system, called SAFIRE for 'Snake-Arm Feeder Inspection Robot Equipment' has been deployed at Pickering during 2010 and 2011 and has been used to inspect areas that are extremely difficult to inspect with existing manual techniques. The 2011 scope of work included inspection of a total of 660 feeder pipes in three UFC quadrants, in two reactors. The full scope was completed over a one-month period in Autumn 2011 in which SAFIRE was used during 23, twelve hour shifts. This included two periods each of 72 hours of continuous operation using multiple teams of operators. SAFIRE is remote controlled delivery system for multiple cameras to record still images and video. The main system elements include a snake-arm robot mounted on a mobile vehicle. It can be controlled from up to 500m away using a fibre/copper connection. The snake-arm is 2.2m long, 25mm wide and has 18 degrees of freedom. It is designed to snake between the rows of feeder pipes to inspect feeder/hanger interfaces, both above and below the feeder cabinet catwalks. Future upgrades offer the potential to add additional tools to increase functionality. This paper describes the SAFIRE development process from inception to operational experience gained

A study on autonomous maintenance robot, 7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuda, Toshio; Hosokai, Hidemi; Shimasaka, Naoki; Kaneshige, Masanori; Iwasaki, Shinnosuke.

1990-01-01

This paper deals with the new mechanism of a new maintenance robot, Mark IV, following the previous reports on pipeline inspection and maintenance robots of Mark I, II, and III. The Mark IV has a mechanism capable of inspecting surfaces of storage tanks as well as pipeline outer surfaces, which is another capability of the maintenance robots, different from the previous ones. The main features of Mark IV are as follows, (i) The robot has a multijoint structure, so that it has better adaptability to the curvartures of pipelines and storage tanks. (ii) The joint of the robot has SMA actuators to make the robot lighter in weight. Some actuator shape characteristics are also examined for the robot structure and control. (iii) The robot has suckers at both ends so that the robot can climb up along the wall from the ground. (iv) A robot with the inch worm mechanisms has many functional motions, such that it can pass over flanges and T-joints, and transfer to adjacent pipelines with a wider range of pipe diameters. (v) A control method is given for the mobile motion control. Thus, the functional level of the maintenance robot has been greatly improved by the introduction of the Mark IV robot. (author)

Heat pipe as a cooling mechanism in an aeroponic system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Srihajong, N.; Terdtoon, P.; Kamonpet, P. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200 (Thailand); Ruamrungsri, S. [Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200 (Thailand); Ohyama, T. [Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University (Japan)

2006-02-01

This paper presents an establishment of a mathematical model explaining the operation of an aeroponic system for agricultural products. The purpose is to study the rate of energy consumption in a conventional aeroponic system and the feasibility of employing a heat pipe as an energy saver in such a system. A heat pipe can be theoretically employed to remove heat from the liquid nutrient that flows through the growing chamber of an aeroponic system. When the evaporator of the heat pipe receives heat from the nutrient, the inside working fluid evaporates into vapor and flows to condense at the condenser section. The outlet temperature of the nutrient from the evaporator section is, therefore, decreased by the heat removal mechanism. The heat pipe can also be used to remove heat from the greenhouse by applying it on the greenhouse wall. By doing this, the nutrient temperature before entering into the nutrient tank decreases and the cooling load of evaporative cooling will subsequently be decreased. To justify the heat pipe application as an energy saver, numerical computations have been done on typical days in the month of April from which maximum heating load occurs and an appropriate heat pipe set was theoretically designed. It can be seen from the simulation that the heat pipe can reduce the electric energy consumption of an evaporative cooling and a refrigeration systems in a day by 17.19% and 10.34% respectively. (author)

An iterative regularization method in estimating the transient heat-transfer rate on the surface of the insulation layer of a double circular pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, W.-L.; Yang, Y.-C.

2009-01-01

In this study, a conjugate gradient method based inverse algorithm is applied to estimate the unknown space- and time-dependent heat-transfer rate on the surface of the insulation layer of a double circular pipe heat exchanger using temperature measurements. It is assumed that no prior information is available on the functional form of the unknown heat-transfer rate; hence the procedure is classified as the function estimation in inverse calculation. The temperature data obtained from the direct problem are used to simulate the temperature measurements. The accuracy of the inverse analysis is examined by using simulated exact and inexact temperature measurements. Results show that an excellent estimation on the space- and time-dependent heat-transfer rate can be obtained for the test case considered in this study.

A Robotic System for Inspection and Repair of Small Diameter Pipelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. A. Vorotnikov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the construction and control system of miniature robotic system that is designed to move and make inspection inside small diameter pipelines. It gives an overview of ways to move a microsize robotic system inside the small diameter pipe. The proposed design consists of information module and three traction modules, including modules for fixing, linear moving and angular positioning. This paper describes the design and operation of a robotic system and its different modules. Also are shown the structure of the robot control system, the basic calculations of construct and some simulation results of the individual modules of the robot.

Development of bore tools for pipe welding and cutting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oka, Kiyoshi; Ito, Akira; Takiguchi, Yuji

1998-01-01

In the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), in-vessel components replacement and maintenance requires that connected cooling pipes be cut and removed beforehand and that new components be installed to which cooling pipes must be rewelded. All welding must be inspected for soundness after completion. These tasks require a new task concept for ensuring shielded areas and access from narrow ports. Thus, it became necessary to develop autonomous locomotion welding and cutting tools for branch and main pipes to weld pipes by in-pipe access; a system was proposed that cut and welded branch and main pipes after passing inside pipe curves, and elemental technologies developed. This paper introduces current development in tools for welding and cutting branch pipes and other tools for welding and cutting the main pipe. (author)

Development of bore tools for pipe welding and cutting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oka, Kiyoshi; Ito, Akira; Takiguchi, Yuji [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

1998-04-01

In the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), in-vessel components replacement and maintenance requires that connected cooling pipes be cut and removed beforehand and that new components be installed to which cooling pipes must be rewelded. All welding must be inspected for soundness after completion. These tasks require a new task concept for ensuring shielded areas and access from narrow ports. Thus, it became necessary to develop autonomous locomotion welding and cutting tools for branch and main pipes to weld pipes by in-pipe access; a system was proposed that cut and welded branch and main pipes after passing inside pipe curves, and elemental technologies developed. This paper introduces current development in tools for welding and cutting branch pipes and other tools for welding and cutting the main pipe. (author)

Technical considerations for flexible piping design in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, S.C.; Chou, C.K.

1985-01-01

The overall objective of this research project is to develop a technical basis for flexible piping designs which will improve piping reliability and minimize the use of pipe supports, snubbers, and pipe whip restraints. The current study was conducted to establish the necessary groundwork based on the piping reliability analysis. A confirmatory piping reliability assessment indicated that removing rigid supports and snubbers tends to either improve or affect very little the piping reliability. A couple of changes to be implemented in Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.61 and RG 1.122 aimed at more flexible piping design were investigated. It was concluded that these changes substantially reduce calculated piping responses and allows piping redesigns with significant reduction in number of supports and snubbers without violating ASME code requirements

Development of bore tools for pipe inspection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oka, Kiyoshi; Nakahira, Masataka; Taguchi, Kou; Ito, Akira [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

1998-04-01

In the International Thermonuclear Reactor (ITER), replacement and maintenance on in-vessel components requires that all cooling pipes connected be cut and removed, that a new component be installed, and that all cooling pipes be rewelded. After welding is completed, welded area must be inspected for soundness. These tasks require a new work concept for securing shielded area and access from narrow ports. Tools had to be developed for nondestructive inspection and leak testing to evaluate pipe welding soundness by accessing areas from inside pipes using autonomous locomotion welding and cutting tools. A system was proposed for nondestructive inspection of branch pipes and the main pipe after passing through pipe curves, the same as for welding and cutting tool development. Nondestructive inspection and leak testing sensors were developed and the basic parameters were obtained. In addition, the inspection systems which can move inside pipes and conduct the nondestructive inspection and the leak testing were developed. In this paper, an introduction will be given to the current situation concerning the development of nondestructive inspection and leak testing machines for the branch pipes. (author)

Robotic hand with modular extensions

Science.gov (United States)

Salisbury, Curt Michael; Quigley, Morgan

2015-01-20

A robotic device is described herein. The robotic device includes a frame that comprises a plurality of receiving regions that are configured to receive a respective plurality of modular robotic extensions. The modular robotic extensions are removably attachable to the frame at the respective receiving regions by way of respective mechanical fuses. Each mechanical fuse is configured to trip when a respective modular robotic extension experiences a predefined load condition, such that the respective modular robotic extension detaches from the frame when the load condition is met.

Reliability analysis of stiff versus flexible piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, S.C.

1985-01-01

The overall objective of this research project is to develop a technical basis for flexible piping designs which will improve piping reliability and minimize the use of pipe supports, snubbers, and pipe whip restraints. The current study was conducted to establish the necessary groundwork based on the piping reliability analysis. A confirmatory piping reliability assessment indicated that removing rigid supports and snubbers tends to either improve or affect very little the piping reliability. The authors then investigated a couple of changes to be implemented in Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.61 and RG 1.122 aimed at more flexible piping design. They concluded that these changes substantially reduce calculated piping responses and allow piping redesigns with significant reduction in number of supports and snubbers without violating ASME code requirements. Furthermore, the more flexible piping redesigns are capable of exhibiting reliability levels equal to or higher than the original stiffer design. An investigation of the malfunction of pipe whip restraints confirmed that the malfunction introduced higher thermal stresses and tended to reduce the overall piping reliability. Finally, support and component reliabilities were evaluated based on available fragility data. Results indicated that the support reliability usually exhibits a moderate decrease as the piping flexibility increases. Most on-line pumps and valves showed an insignificant reduction in reliability for a more flexible piping design

Influence of wick properties in a vertical LHP on remove waste heat from electronic equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smitka, Martin; Nemec, Patrik; Malcho, Milan

2014-01-01

The loop heat pipe is a vapour-liquid phase-change device that transfers heat from evaporator to condenser. One of the most important parts of the LHP is the porous wick structure. The wick structure provides capillary force to circulate the working fluid. To achieve good thermal performance of LHP, capillary wicks with high permeability and porosity and fine pore radius are expected. The aim of this work is to develop porous wick of sintered nickel powder with different grain sizes. These porous wicks were used in LHP and there were performed a series of measurements to remove waste heat from the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)

Influence of wick properties in a vertical LHP on remove waste heat from electronic equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smitka, Martin, E-mail: martin.smitka@fstroj.uniza.sk, E-mail: patrik.nemec@fstroj.uniza.sk, E-mail: milan.malcho@fstroj.uniza.sk; Nemec, Patrik, E-mail: martin.smitka@fstroj.uniza.sk, E-mail: patrik.nemec@fstroj.uniza.sk, E-mail: milan.malcho@fstroj.uniza.sk; Malcho, Milan, E-mail: martin.smitka@fstroj.uniza.sk, E-mail: patrik.nemec@fstroj.uniza.sk, E-mail: milan.malcho@fstroj.uniza.sk [University of Žilina, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Power Engeneering, Univerzitna 1, 010 26 Žilina (Slovakia)

2014-08-06

The loop heat pipe is a vapour-liquid phase-change device that transfers heat from evaporator to condenser. One of the most important parts of the LHP is the porous wick structure. The wick structure provides capillary force to circulate the working fluid. To achieve good thermal performance of LHP, capillary wicks with high permeability and porosity and fine pore radius are expected. The aim of this work is to develop porous wick of sintered nickel powder with different grain sizes. These porous wicks were used in LHP and there were performed a series of measurements to remove waste heat from the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)

Simulation and Experimental Determination of Technological Liquid Molding Parameters of Tubing Basalt Insulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. V. Badanina

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to one of the most important and urgent tasks in mechanical engineering development - the creation of low-density and environmentally-friendly thermoinsulation from available cheap basalt fibers for products to operate at temperatures up to 700°C.One of the most effective applications of such thermo-insulation is to develop and provide highly porous coatings from short basalt fibers by liquid filtration for tubing (T to supply superheated up to 420° C steam under pressure of 35 MPa in the deep layers with severe highviscosity oil. Tubing with the short low-density basalt insulation can be used for a greater depth than the vacuum-insulated tubing, which are also called "thermo-cases", and do not fully meet business needs for long-term reliability of oil vacuum tubes, too large mass per unit length of their design and, as a consequence, the impossibility to use such pipes for deep wells.The aim of the work is to simulate a liquid filtration process of short fibers and determine technological parameters of producing thermal insulation coatings of tubing pipes from basalt fibers and mineral binder shaped as cylinders and cylindrical shells. The paper proposes a mathematical model of free filtration deposition of short fibers from liquid slurry, which describes dynamics of creating thermal insulation products and allows us to determine the rational parameters of their manufacturing process. It shows methods to improve the products quality while forming the thermal insulation by filtration through additional vacuum deposition of a filtrate chamber and the final prepressing of sediment layer, giving dimensions and shape to the final product.The paper defines a prescription hydro mass composition. It shows that to increase the compressive strength of highly fibrous rings and cylindrical shells it is necessary to use based on oxide А12O3 5-7% by weight mineral binder, which fixes basalt fibers in places of their contacts. It

Non-destructive qualification tests for ITER cryogenic axial insulating breaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosek, Jacek; Lopez, Roberto; Tommasini, Davide; Rodriguez-Mateos, Felix

2014-01-01

In the ITER superconducting magnets the dielectric separation between the CICC (Cable-In-Conduit Conductors) and the helium supply pipes is made through the so-called insulating breaks (IB). These devices shall provide the required dielectric insulation at a 30 kV level under different types of stresses and constraints: thermal, mechanical, dielectric and ionizing radiations. As part of the R and D program, the ITER Organization launched contracts with industrial companies aimed at the qualification of the manufacturing techniques. After reviewing the main functional aspects, this paper describes and discusses the protocol established for non-destructive qualification tests of the prototypes

Non-destructive qualification tests for ITER cryogenic axial insulating breaks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kosek, Jacek [Wroclaw University of Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland and CERN, Geneva 23,CH-1211 (Switzerland); Lopez, Roberto; Tommasini, Davide [CERN, Geneva 23,CH-1211 (Switzerland); Rodriguez-Mateos, Felix [CERN, Geneva 23,CH-1211, Switzerland and ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13115 Saint Paul lez Durance (France)

2014-01-29

In the ITER superconducting magnets the dielectric separation between the CICC (Cable-In-Conduit Conductors) and the helium supply pipes is made through the so-called insulating breaks (IB). These devices shall provide the required dielectric insulation at a 30 kV level under different types of stresses and constraints: thermal, mechanical, dielectric and ionizing radiations. As part of the R and D program, the ITER Organization launched contracts with industrial companies aimed at the qualification of the manufacturing techniques. After reviewing the main functional aspects, this paper describes and discusses the protocol established for non-destructive qualification tests of the prototypes.

Noncondensable gas accumulation phenomena in nuclear power plant piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Yasushi; Aoki, Kazuyoshi; Sato, Teruaki; Shida, Akira; Ichikawa, Nagayoshi; Nishikawa, Akira; Inagaki, Tetsuhiko

2011-01-01

In the case of the boiling water reactor, hydrogen and oxygen slightly exist in the main steam, because these noncondensable gases are generated by the radiolytic decomposition of the reactor water. BWR plants have taken measures to prevent noncondensable gas accumulation. However, in 2001, the detonation of noncondensable gases occurred at Hamaoka-1 and Brunsbuttel, resulting in ruptured piping. The accumulation phenomena of noncondensable gases in BWR closed piping must be investigated and understood in order to prevent similar events from occurring in the future. Therefore, an experimental study on noncondensable gas accumulation was carried out. The piping geometries for testing were classified and modeled after the piping of actual BWR plants. The test results showed that 1) noncondensable gases accumulate in vertical piping, 2) it is hard for noncondensable gases to accumulate in horizontal piping, and 3) noncondensable gases accumulate under low-pressure conditions. A simple accumulation analysis method was proposed. To evaluate noncondensable gas accumulation phenomena, the three component gases were treated as a mixture. It was assumed that the condensation amount of the vapor is small, because the piping is certainly wrapped with heat insulation material. Moreover, local thermal equilibrium was assumed. This analysis method was verified using the noncondensable gas accumulation test data on branch piping with a closed top. Moreover, an experimental study on drain trap piping was carried out. The test results showed that the noncondensable gases dissolved in the drain water were discharged from the drain trap, and Henry's law could be applied to evaluate the amount of dissolved noncondensable gases in the drain water. (author)

A trend of robotics in nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakayama, Ryoichi

1993-01-01

In order to operate stably nuclear power stations, the periodic inspection determined by the law has been carried out once every year in Japan. For reducing the radiation exposure of workers and improving work efficiency and work quality, the automation and the use of robots have been promoted. Also in fuel reprocessing plants and the facilities for storing radioactive wastes, the remotely operated devices for handling uranium and plutonium are indispensable. The course of the development of the robots for nuclear power plants classified by ages is shown. The research and development have been advanced from special automatic machines of first generation since 1965, through versatile robots of second generation since 1980 to intellectual robots of third generation since 1985. Automatic fuel exchanger, control rod moving mechanism and the ultrasonic flaw detector for pipings are those of first generation. As those of second generation, various movable inspection robots and the manipulators for them were developed. The ultimate working robot completed in 1990 is that of third generation. As the trend of the practical use, monorail type inspection robots and underwater inspection robots and various manipulators are reported. (K.I.)

Sodium Variable Conductance Heat Pipe for Radioisotope Stirling Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Tarau, Calin; Anderson, William G.; Walker, Kara

2009-01-01

In a Stirling radioisotope system, heat must continually be removed from the General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules to maintain the modules and surrounding insulation at acceptable temperatures. Normally, the Stirling convertor provides this cooling. If the converter stops in the current system, the insulation is designed to spoil, preventing damage to the GPHS, and also ending the mission. An alkali-metal Variable Conductance Heat Pipe (VCHP) has been designed to allow multiple stops and restarts of the Stirling convertor in an Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG). When the Stirling convertor is turned off, the VCHP will activate when the temperatures rises 30 C above the setpoint temperature. A prototype VCHP with sodium as the working fluid was fabricated and tested in both gravity aided and against gravity conditions for a nominal heater head temperature of 790 C. The results show very good agreement with the predictions and validate the model. The gas front was located at the exit of the reservoir when heater head temperature was 790 C while cooling was ON, simulating an operating Advanced Stirling Converter (ASC). When cooling stopped, the temperature increased by 30 C, allowing the gas front to move past the radiator, which transferred the heat to the case. After resuming the cooling flow, the front returned at the initial location turning OFF the VCHP. The against gravity working conditions showed a colder reservoir and faster transients.

Evaluation of new technology for detection of erosion-corrosion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, S.M.; Martinez, E.

1994-01-01

Faster and more accurate methods of wall thickness measurement have received considerable attention by utilities. Examination without removing insulation has been of particularly high interest because insulation removal is the largest component of the inspection cost. Several inspection systems have been developed which are touted as applicable to erosion corrosion detection through insulation. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Center has recently evaluated two of these systems. During the evaluation, accuracy and repeatability measurements were made on insulated pipe of known thickness

Tests and Analysis of the Compressive Performance of an Integrated Masonry Structure of a Brick-Stem-Insulating Layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suizi Jia

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes, for low buildings, an integrated wall structure of a brick-stem-insulating layer, which plays a major part in both heat preservation and force bearing. The research team has tested the thermal performance of the structure, the results of which are satisfying. To further study the force-bearing performance, the paper carries out compressive tests of specimens of different structural design, with two types of bricks, i.e., clay and recycled concrete bricks; three types of stems, i.e., square-shaped wood, square-shaped steel pipe and circular steel pipe; and one type of insulating layer, i.e., fly ash masonry blocks. Afterward, the force bearing performance, damage that occurred, compressive deformation and ductility of all of the specimens are compared. On the sideline, the structure is applied in the construction of a pilot residence project, yielding favorable outcomes. The results indicate that in comparison with a brick wall with an insulating layer sandwiched in between, the integrated wall structure of bricks and fly ash blocks is a more preferable choice in terms of compressive performance and ductility. The integrated wall structure of brick-stem-fly ash blocks delivers much better performance to this end. Note that regarding the stem’s contribution to compressive strength, circular steel pipe is highest, followed by square-shaped steel pipe and then square-shaped wood. The compressive performance of the sandwiched blocks surpasses that of the two brick wall pieces combined by a large margin.

Sheath insulator final test report, TFE Verification Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-07-01

The sheath insulator in a thermionic cell has two functions. First, the sheath insulator must electrically isolate the collector form the outer containment sheath tube that is in contact with the reactor liquid metal coolant. Second, The sheath insulator must provide for high uniform thermal conductance between the collector and the reactor coolant to remove away waste heat. The goals of the sheath insulator test program were to demonstrate that suitable ceramic materials and fabrication processes were available, and to validate the performance of the sheath insulator for TFE-VP requirements. This report discusses the objectives of the test program, fabrication development, ex-reactor test program, in-reactor test program, and the insulator seal specifications.

Sheath insulator final test report, TFE Verification Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-07-01

The sheath insulator in a thermionic cell has two functions. First, the sheath insulator must electrically isolate the collector form the outer containment sheath tube that is in contact with the reactor liquid metal coolant. Second, The sheath insulator must provide for high uniform thermal conductance between the collector and the reactor coolant to remove away waste heat. The goals of the sheath insulator test program were to demonstrate that suitable ceramic materials and fabrication processes were available, and to validate the performance of the sheath insulator for TFE-VP requirements. This report discusses the objectives of the test program, fabrication development, ex-reactor test program, in-reactor test program, and the insulator seal specifications

Applications of heat pipes for HVAC dehumidification at Walt Disney World

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, P.J.; Dinh, K.

1993-01-01

This paper presents the theory and application of heat pipes for HVAC dehumidification purposes. In HVAC applications, a heat pipe is used as a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the return air directly to the supply air. The air is pre-cooled entering the cooling coil and reheated using the same heat removed from the return air. While consuming no energy, the heat pipe lets the evaporator coil operate at a lower temperature, increasing the moisture removal capabilities of the HVAC system by 50% to 100%. WALT DISNEY WORLD is currently testing several heat pipe applications ranging from 1 to 240 tons. The applications include (1) water attractions (2) museums/artifacts areas (3) resort guest rooms and (4) locker rooms. Actual energy usage and relative humidity reductions are shown to determine the effectiveness of the heat pipe as an energy efficient method of humidity control

A mechanism for corrosion product deposition on the carbon steel piping in the residual heat removal system of BWRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aizawa, Motohiro; Chiba, Yoshinori; Hosokawa, Hideyuki; Ohsumi, Katsumi; Uchida, Shunsuke; Ishizawa, Noboru

2002-01-01

The dose rate of the residual heat removal (RHR) piping has been considered to be caused by accumulation of insoluble (crud) radioactive corrosion products on carbon steel surfaces. Soft shutdown procedures (i.e., plant shutdown with moderate coolant temperature reduction rate) used to be applied to reduce crud radioactivity release from the fuel surface, but these are no longer used because of the need for shorter plant shutdown times. In order to apply other suitable countermeasures to reduce RHR dose rate, assessment of plant data, experiments on deposition of crud and ion species on carbon steel, and mass balance evaluation of radioactive corrosion products based on plant and laboratory data were carried out and the following findings were made. (1) Deposits of ion species on carbon steel surfaces of the RHR piping was much more numerous than for crud. (2) Ion species accumulation behavior on RHR piping, which is temperature dependent, can be evaluated with the calculation model used for the dehydration reaction of corrosion products generated during the wet lay-up period. (3) Deposition amounts could be reduced to 1/2.5 when the starting RHR system operation temperature was lowered from 155degC to 120degC. (author)

Pipe and hose decontamination apparatus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fowler, D.E.

1985-01-01

A pipe and hose decontamination apparatus is disclosed using freshly filtered high pressure Freon solvent in an integrated closed loop to remove radioactive particles or other contaminants from items having a long cylindrical geometry such as hoses, pipes, cables and the like. The pipe and hose decontamination apparatus comprises a chamber capable of accomodating a long cylindrical work piece to be decontaminated. The chamber has a downward sloped bottom draining to a solvent holding tank. An entrance zone, a cleaning zone and an exit drying zone are defined within the chamber by removable partitions having slotted rubber gaskets in their centers. The entrance and exit drying zones contain a horizontally mounted cylindrical housing which supports in combination a plurality of slotted rubber gaskets and circular brushes to initiate mechanical decontamination. Solvent is delivered at high pressure to a spray ring located in the cleaning zone having a plurality of nozzles surrounding the work piece. The solvent drains into a solvent holding tank located below the nozzles and means are provided for circulating the solvent to and from a solvent cleaning, distilling and filter unit

Short cracks in piping and piping welds. Seventh program report, March 1993-December 1994. Volume 4, Number 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilkowski, G.M.; Ghadiali, N.; Rudland, D.; Krishnaswamy, P.; Rahman, S.; Scott, P. [Battelle, Columbus, OH (United States)

1995-04-01

This is the seventh progress report of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission`s research program entitled {open_quotes}Short Cracks in Piping and Piping Welds{close_quotes}. The program objective is to verify and improve fracture analyses for circumferentially cracked large-diameter nuclear piping with crack sizes typically used in leak-before-break (LBB) analyses and in-service flaw evaluations. All work in the eight technical tasks have been completed. Ten topical reports are scheduled to be published. Progress only during the reporting period, March 1993 - December 1994, not covered in the topical reports is presented in this report. Details about the following efforts are covered in this report: (1) Improvements to the two computer programs NRCPIPE and NRCPIPES to assess the failure behavior of circumferential through-wall and surface-cracked pipe, respectively; (2) Pipe material property database PIFRAC; (3) Circumferentially cracked pipe database CIRCUMCK.WKI; (4) An assessment of the proposed ASME Section III design stress rule changes on pipe flaw tolerance; and (5) A pipe fracture experiment on a section of pipe removed from service degraded by microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC) which contained a girth weld crack. Progress in the other tasks is not repeated here as it has been covered in great detail in the topical reports.

Short cracks in piping and piping welds. Seventh program report, March 1993-December 1994. Volume 4, Number 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkowski, G.M.; Ghadiali, N.; Rudland, D.; Krishnaswamy, P.; Rahman, S.; Scott, P.

1995-04-01

This is the seventh progress report of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's research program entitled open-quotes Short Cracks in Piping and Piping Weldsclose quotes. The program objective is to verify and improve fracture analyses for circumferentially cracked large-diameter nuclear piping with crack sizes typically used in leak-before-break (LBB) analyses and in-service flaw evaluations. All work in the eight technical tasks have been completed. Ten topical reports are scheduled to be published. Progress only during the reporting period, March 1993 - December 1994, not covered in the topical reports is presented in this report. Details about the following efforts are covered in this report: (1) Improvements to the two computer programs NRCPIPE and NRCPIPES to assess the failure behavior of circumferential through-wall and surface-cracked pipe, respectively; (2) Pipe material property database PIFRAC; (3) Circumferentially cracked pipe database CIRCUMCK.WKI; (4) An assessment of the proposed ASME Section III design stress rule changes on pipe flaw tolerance; and (5) A pipe fracture experiment on a section of pipe removed from service degraded by microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC) which contained a girth weld crack. Progress in the other tasks is not repeated here as it has been covered in great detail in the topical reports

Localization of a Robotic Crawler for CANDU Fuel Channel Inspection

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, Mark

This thesis discusses the design and development of a pipe crawling robot for the purpose of CANDU fuel channel inspection. The pipe crawling robot shall be capable of deploying the existing CIGAR (Channel Inspection and Gauging Apparatus for Reactors) sensor head. The main focus of this thesis is the design of the localization system for this robot and the many tests that were completed to demonstrate its accuracy. The proposed localization system consists of three redundant resolver wheels mounted to the robot's frame and two resolvers that are mounted inside a custom made cable drum. This cable drum shall be referred to in this thesis as the emergency retrieval device. This device serves the dual-purpose of providing absolute position measurements (via the cable that is tethered to the robot) as well as retrieving the robot if it is inoperable. The estimated accuracy of the proposed design is demonstrated with the use of a proof-of-concept prototype and a custom made test bench that uses a vision system to provide a more accurate estimate of the robot's position. The only major difference between the proof-of-concept prototype and the proposed solution is that the more expensive radiation hardened components were not used in the proof-of-concept prototype design. For example, the proposed solution shall use radiation hardened resolver wheels, whereas the proof-of-concept prototype used encoder wheels. These encoder wheels provide the same specified accuracy as the radiation hardened resolvers for the most realistic results possible. The rationale behind the design of the proof-of-concept prototype, the proposed final design, the design of the localization system test bench, and the test plan for developing all of the components of the design related to the robot's localization system are discussed in the thesis. The test plan provides a step by step guide to the configuration and optimization of an Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF). The UKF was selected as the ideal

Method of vertically and horizontally cutting steel pipe piles and removing them based on the development of a steel pipe pile vertically cutting machine; Kokanko tatehoko setsudanki no kaihatsu ni yoru kochi chubu no juo setsudan tekkyo koho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Watanabe, S.; Takeshita, A.; Kobayashi, K.

1997-07-25

A machine for vertically cutting steel pipe piles has newly been developed for the purpose of removing the end portions the shore protection steel pipe piles which interfere with the shield tunneling work in the Ohokagawa River tunneling section on the Minato Mirai 21 Line. This paper reports the development of the machine for vertically cutting steel pipe piles, and a method of cutting the shield tunneling work hindering piles under the ground by using this machine. The obstacle-constituting portions of the piles are removed by destroying the copings, excavating the interior of the piles to make the same hollow so that a cutting machine can be inserted, and cutting the piles vertically and horizontally. The basic structure of the cutting machine comprises a lower cutting unit for making forward and backward and upward and downward movements of a cutter, and an upper movable unit for controlling the rotation of the cutting unit. The cutting of a pile is done by projecting the cutter by a cylinder the base of which is joined to a cutter driver, and then moving the rotating cutter upward. The amounts of movements of these parts are detected by sensors, and an arbitrary range of the underground portion of a pile can be cut by a remote control operation. 10 figs., 1 tab.

Pipe Wall Thickness Monitoring Using Dry-Coupled Ultrasonic Waveguide Technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheong, Yong Moo; Kim, Ha Nam; Kim, Hong Pyo

2012-01-01

In order to monitor a corrosion or FAC (Flow Accelerated Corrosion) in a pipe, there is a need to measure pipe wall thickness at high temperature. Ultrasonic thickness gauging is the most commonly used non-destructive testing technique for wall thickness measurement. However, current commonly available ultrasonic transducers cannot withstand high temperatures, such as above 200 .deg. C. It is therefore necessary to carry out manual measurements during plant shutdowns. The current method thus reveals several disadvantages: inspection have to be performed during shutdowns with the possible consequences of prolonging down time and increasing production losses, insulation has to be removed and replaced for each manual measurement, and scaffolding has to be installed to inaccessible areas, resulting in considerable cost for interventions. It has been suggested that a structural health monitoring approach with permanently installed ultrasonic thickness gauges could have substantial benefits over current practices. The main reasons why conventional piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers cannot be used at high temperatures are that the piezo-ceramic becomes depolarized at temperature above the Curie temperature and because differential thermal expansion of the substrate, couplant, and piezoelectric materials cause failure. In this paper, a shear horizontal waveguide technique for wall thickness monitoring at high temperature is investigated. Two different designs for contact to strip waveguide are shown and the quality of output signal is compared and reviewed. After a success of acquiring high quality ultrasonic signal, experiment on the wall thickness monitoring at high temperature is planned

Conformally encapsulated multi-electrode arrays with seamless insulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tabada, Phillipe J.; Shah, Kedar G.; Tolosa, Vanessa; Pannu, Satinderall S.; Tooker, Angela; Delima, Terri; Sheth, Heeral; Felix, Sarah

2016-11-22

Thin-film multi-electrode arrays (MEA) having one or more electrically conductive beams conformally encapsulated in a seamless block of electrically insulating material, and methods of fabricating such MEAs using reproducible, microfabrication processes. One or more electrically conductive traces are formed on scaffold material that is subsequently removed to suspend the traces over a substrate by support portions of the trace beam in contact with the substrate. By encapsulating the suspended traces, either individually or together, with a single continuous layer of an electrically insulating material, a seamless block of electrically insulating material is formed that conforms to the shape of the trace beam structure, including any trace backings which provide suspension support. Electrical contacts, electrodes, or leads of the traces are exposed from the encapsulated trace beam structure by removing the substrate.

Heat losses estimation associated with the physical state of the thermal insulation of pipes vaporductos network in Cerro Prieto geothermal field; Estimacion de perdidas de calor asociadas al estado fisico del aislamiento termico de las tuberias de la red de vaporductos del campo geotermico Cerro Prieto

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ovando Castelar, Rosember; Martinez Estrella, Juan Ignacio; Garcia Gutierrez, Alfonso [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca, Morelos (Mexico)]. E-mail: rovando@iie.org.mx; jime@iie.org.mx; aggarcia@iie.org.mx; Canchola Felix, Ismael; Miranda Herrera, Carlos; Jacobo Galvan, Paul [Campo Geotermico de Cerro Prieto, Comision Federal de Electricidad, Mexicali, B.C. (Mexico)

2010-11-15

The Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field (CPGF) steam transportation network is constituted by 140 km of pipes with diameters ranging from 8 to 48 inches, which transport the steam of 165 producing wells to 13 power plants which have a total installed capacity of 720 MWe. Originally, the pipes are thermally insulated with a mineral wool or fiber glass layer and an external aluminum or iron cover. Due to the insulation material has been exposed to weather conditions during the field operation it shows nowadays different grades of wear-out, or even it is lacking in some parts of the network, causing higher heat losses from the pipes to the environment. In this work, the magnitude of the heat losses related with the present condition of the thermal insulation throughout the pipeline network is assessed. This involved determining the longitude and diameter, as well as the insulation condition of each single pipeline section, and the calculation of the heat transfer coefficients for the different thermal insulation conditions defined for this study. [Spanish] La red de transporte de vapor del campo geotermico Cerro Prieto (CGCP) esta constituida por aproximadamente 140 km de tuberias de 8 a 48 pulgadas de diametro, las cuales conducen el vapor producido por 165 pozos hacia 13 plantas generadoras, cuya capacidad instalada es de 720 MWe. Originalmente, estas tuberias son aisladas termicamente con una capa de 2 pulgadas de material aislante a base de lana mineral o fibra de vidrio, y una proteccion exterior de aluminio o hierro. Debido principalmente al impacto de las condiciones meteorologicas durante el tiempo de operacion del campo, en algunas porciones de la red el aislante presenta actualmente distintos grados de deterioro, o incluso se encuentra ausente, lo cual se traduce en una mayor perdida de calor desde las tuberias hacia el medio ambiente. En el presente trabajo se evalua la magnitud de las perdidas de calor asociadas al estado fisico del aislamiento termico de las

Remote controlled in-pipe manipulators for dye-penetrant inspection and grinding of weld roots inside of pipes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seeberger, E.K.

2000-01-01

Technical plants which have to satisfy stringent safety criteria must be continuously kept in line with the state of art. This applies in particular to nuclear power plants. The quality of piping in nuclear power plants has been improved quite considerably in recent years. By virtue of the very high quality requirements fulfilled in the manufacture of medium-carrying and pressure-retaining piping, one of the focal aspects of in-service inspections is the medium wetted inside of the piping. A remote controlled pipe crawler has been developed to allow to perform dye penetrant testing of weld roots inside piping (ID ≥ 150 mm). The light crawler has been designed such that it can be inserted into the piping via valves (gate valves, check valves,...) with their internals removed. Once in the piping, all crawler movements are remotely controlled (horizontal and vertical pipes incl. the elbows). If indications are found these discontinuities are ground according to a qualified procedure using a special grinding head attached to the crawler with complete extraction of all grinding residues. The in-pipe grinding is a special qualified three (3) step performance that ensures no residual tensile stress (less than 50 N/mm 2 ) in the finish machined austenitic material surface. The in-pipe inspection system, qualified according to both the specifications of the German Nuclear Safety Standards Commission (KTA) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), has already been used successfully in nuclear power plants on many occasions. (author)

Removal of proprioception by BCI raises a stronger body ownership illusion in control of a humanlike robot.

Science.gov (United States)

Alimardani, Maryam; Nishio, Shuichi; Ishiguro, Hiroshi

2016-09-22

Body ownership illusions provide evidence that our sense of self is not coherent and can be extended to non-body objects. Studying about these illusions gives us practical tools to understand the brain mechanisms that underlie body recognition and the experience of self. We previously introduced an illusion of body ownership transfer (BOT) for operators of a very humanlike robot. This sensation of owning the robot's body was confirmed when operators controlled the robot either by performing the desired motion with their body (motion-control) or by employing a brain-computer interface (BCI) that translated motor imagery commands to robot movement (BCI-control). The interesting observation during BCI-control was that the illusion could be induced even with a noticeable delay in the BCI system. Temporal discrepancy has always shown critical weakening effects on body ownership illusions. However the delay-robustness of BOT during BCI-control raised a question about the interaction between the proprioceptive inputs and delayed visual feedback in agency-driven illusions. In this work, we compared the intensity of BOT illusion for operators in two conditions; motion-control and BCI-control. Our results revealed a significantly stronger BOT illusion for the case of BCI-control. This finding highlights BCI's potential in inducing stronger agency-driven illusions by building a direct communication between the brain and controlled body, and therefore removing awareness from the subject's own body.

Variable Conductance Heat Pipe Cooling of Stirling Convertor and General Purpose Heat Source

Science.gov (United States)

Tarau, Calin; Schwendeman, Carl; Anderson, William G.; Cornell, Peggy A.; Schifer, Nicholas A.

2013-01-01

In a Stirling Radioisotope Power System (RPS), heat must be continuously removed from the General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules to maintain the modules and surrounding insulation at acceptable temperatures. The Stirling convertor normally provides this cooling. If the Stirling convertor stops in the current system, the insulation is designed to spoil, preventing damage to the GPHS at the cost of an early termination of the mission. An alkali-metal Variable Conductance Heat Pipe (VCHP) can be used to passively allow multiple stops and restarts of the Stirling convertor. In a previous NASA SBIR Program, Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) developed a series of sodium VCHPs as backup cooling systems for Stirling RPS. The operation of these VCHPs was demonstrated using Stirling heater head simulators and GPHS simulators. In the most recent effort, a sodium VCHP with a stainless steel envelope was designed, fabricated and tested at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) with a Stirling convertor for two concepts; one for the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) back up cooling system and one for the Long-lived Venus Lander thermal management system. The VCHP is designed to activate and remove heat from the stopped convertor at a 19 degC temperature increase from the nominal vapor temperature. The 19 degC temperature increase from nominal is low enough to avoid risking standard ASRG operation and spoiling of the Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI). In addition, the same backup cooling system can be applied to the Stirling convertor used for the refrigeration system of the Long-lived Venus Lander. The VCHP will allow the refrigeration system to: 1) rest during transit at a lower temperature than nominal; 2) pre-cool the modules to an even lower temperature before the entry in Venus atmosphere; 3) work at nominal temperature on Venus surface; 4) briefly stop multiple times on the Venus surface to allow scientific measurements. This paper presents the experimental

Small pipe characterization system (SPCS) conceptual design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, M.O.; Ferrante, T.A.; McKay, M.D.

1995-01-01

Throughout the Department of Energy (DOE) complex there are many facilities that have been identified for Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D). As processes are terminated or brought off-line, facilities are placed on the inactive list, and facility managers and site contractors are required to assure a safe and reliable decommissioning and transition of these facilities to a clean final state. Decommissioning of facilities requires extensive reliable characterization, decontamination and in some cases dismantlement. Characterization of piping systems throughout the DOE complex is becoming more and more necessary. In addition to decommissioning activities, characterization activities are performed as part of surveillance and maintenance (S&M). Because of the extent of contamination, all inactive facilities require some type of S&M. These S&M activities include visual assessment, equipment and material accounting, and maintenance. The majority of the inactive facilities have piping systems 3 inches or smaller that are inaccessible because they are contaminated, imbedded in concrete, or run through hot cells. Many of these piping systems have been inactive for a number of years and there exists no current system condition information or the historical records are poor and/or missing altogether. Many of these piping systems are placed on the contaminated list, not because of known contamination, but because of the risk of internal contamination. Many of the piping systems placed on the contamination list may not have internal contamination. Because there is a potential however, they are treated as such. The cost of D&D can be greatly reduced by identifying and removing hot spot contamination, leaving clean piping to be removed using conventional methods. Accurate characterization of these piping systems is essential before, during and after all D&D activities.

Small pipe characterization system (SPCS) conceptual design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, M.O.; Ferrante, T.A.; McKay, M.D.

1995-01-01

Throughout the Department of Energy (DOE) complex there are many facilities that have been identified for Decontamination and Decommissioning (D ampersand D). As processes are terminated or brought off-line, facilities are placed on the inactive list, and facility managers and site contractors are required to assure a safe and reliable decommissioning and transition of these facilities to a clean final state. Decommissioning of facilities requires extensive reliable characterization, decontamination and in some cases dismantlement. Characterization of piping systems throughout the DOE complex is becoming more and more necessary. In addition to decommissioning activities, characterization activities are performed as part of surveillance and maintenance (S ampersand M). Because of the extent of contamination, all inactive facilities require some type of S ampersand M. These S ampersand M activities include visual assessment, equipment and material accounting, and maintenance. The majority of the inactive facilities have piping systems 3 inches or smaller that are inaccessible because they are contaminated, imbedded in concrete, or run through hot cells. Many of these piping systems have been inactive for a number of years and there exists no current system condition information or the historical records are poor and/or missing altogether. Many of these piping systems are placed on the contaminated list, not because of known contamination, but because of the risk of internal contamination. Many of the piping systems placed on the contamination list may not have internal contamination. Because there is a potential however, they are treated as such. The cost of D ampersand D can be greatly reduced by identifying and removing hot spot contamination, leaving clean piping to be removed using conventional methods. Accurate characterization of these piping systems is essential before, during and after all D ampersand D activities

Stress analysis of the O-element pipe during the process of flue gases purification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nekvasil R.

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Equipment for flue gases purification from undesired substances is used throughout power and other types of industry. This paper deals with damaging of the O-element pipe designed to remove sulphur from the flue gases, i.e. damaging of the pipe during flue gases purification. This purification is conducted by spraying the water into the O-shaped pipe where the flue gases flow. Thus the sulphur binds itself onto the water and gets removed from the flue gas. Injection of cold water into hot flue gases, however, causes high stress on the inside of the pipe, which can gradually damage the O-element pipe. In this paper initial injection of water into hot pipe all the way to stabilization of temperature fields will be analyzed and the most dangerous places which shall be considered for fatigue will be determined.

System for leaks inspection in a nuclear plant by means of a mobile robot; Sistema para inspeccion de fugas en una planta nuclear por medio de un robot movil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramirez S, R.; Segovia de los Rios, J.A. [ININ, Km. 36.5 Carretera Mexico-Toluca, Salazar, Edo. de Mexico (Mexico)]. E-mail: ramses@nuclear.inin.mx

2004-07-01

In this work a supervision system that could allow to carry out the detection of leaks of vapor in pipe lines, using a mobile robot Pioneer 2 -D Xe, which is controlled by means of an external micro controller 68HC912B32 programmed in Forth and using diffuse control to travel a road by means of the one to follow one lines painted in the floor is described. The robot takes in his superior part, a thermographic camera that allows to determine if leaks of vapor exist in pipes and a dosemeter to measure the present radiation levels in the place, besides a video camera. This way, the personnel, can make sure of having a propitious situation to make the maintenance of the facilities. (Author)

Efficient methods of piping cleaning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orlov Vladimir Aleksandrovich

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article contains the analysis of the efficient methods of piping cleaning of water supply and sanitation systems. Special attention is paid to the ice cleaning method, in course of which biological foil and various mineral and organic deposits are removed due to the ice crust buildup on the inner surface of water supply and drainage pipes. These impurities are responsible for the deterioration of the organoleptic properties of the transported drinking water or narrowing cross-section of drainage pipes. The co-authors emphasize that the use of ice compared to other methods of pipe cleaning has a number of advantages due to the relative simplicity and cheapness of the process, economical efficiency and lack of environmental risk. The equipment for performing ice cleaning is presented, its technological options, terms of cleansing operations, as well as the volumes of disposed pollution per unit length of the water supply and drainage pipelines. It is noted that ice cleaning requires careful planning in the process of cooking ice and in the process of its supply in the pipe. There are specific requirements to its quality. In particular, when you clean drinking water system the ice applied should be hygienically clean and meet sanitary requirements.In pilot projects, in particular, quantitative and qualitative analysis of sediments adsorbed by ice is conducted, as well as temperature and the duration of the process. The degree of pollution of the pipeline was estimated by the volume of the remote sediment on 1 km of pipeline. Cleaning pipelines using ice can be considered one of the methods of trenchless technologies, being a significant alternative to traditional methods of cleaning the pipes. The method can be applied in urban pipeline systems of drinking water supply for the diameters of 100—600 mm, and also to diversion collectors. In the world today 450 km of pipelines are subject to ice cleaning method.Ice cleaning method is simple

IBL Thermal Mockup Bake-Out Tests

CERN Document Server

Nuiry, FX

2014-01-01

This note summarizes different bake-out tests that have been performed with the ATLAS Insertable B-Layer (IBL) mockup. Two beam pipe configurations have been tested: one with the aerogel insulation layer all along the pipe and one without insulation over 622 mm around Z0. These tests have been crucial for decisions about aerogel removal, choice of heaters for the LHC beam pipe bake-out, and choice of temperature setpoints for the cooling system during nominal IBL operation. They also revealed very useful information on integration issues and the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the IBL detector.

Development of automatic inspection robot for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamada, K.; Suzuki, K.; Saitoh, K.; Sakaki, T.; Ohe, Y.; Mizutani, T.; Segawa, M.; Kubo, K.

1987-01-01

This robot system has been developed for automatic inspection of nuclear power plants. The system configuration is composed of vehicle that runs on monorail, the sensors on the vehicle, an image processer that processes the image information from the sensors, a computer that creates the inspection planning of the robot and an operation panel. This system has two main features, the first is the robot control system. The vehicle and the sensors are controlled by the output data calculated in the computer with the three dimensional plant data. The malfunction is recognized by the combination of the results of image processing, information from the microphone and infrared camera. Tests for a prototype automatic inspection robot system have been performed in the simulated main steam piping room of a nuclear power plant

Silicon on insulator self-aligned transistors

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Anthony M.

2003-11-18

A method for fabricating thin-film single-crystal silicon-on-insulator (SOI) self-aligned transistors. Standard processing of silicon substrates is used to fabricate the transistors. Physical spaces, between the source and gate, and the drain and gate, introduced by etching the polysilicon gate material, are used to provide connecting implants (bridges) which allow the transistor to perform normally. After completion of the silicon substrate processing, the silicon wafer is bonded to an insulator (glass) substrate, and the silicon substrate is removed leaving the transistors on the insulator (glass) substrate. Transistors fabricated by this method may be utilized, for example, in flat panel displays, etc.

Ultrasonic decontamination robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patenaude, R.S.

1984-01-01

An ultrasonic decontamination robot removes radioactive contamination from the internal surface of the inlet and outlet headers, divider plate, tube sheet, and lower portions of tubes of a nuclear power plant steam generator. A programmable microprocessor controller guides the movement of a robotic arm mounted in the header manway. An ultrasonic transducer having a solvent delivery subsystem through which ultrasonic action is achieved is moved by the arm over the surfaces. A solvent recovery suction tube is positioned within the header to remove solvent therefrom while avoiding interference with the main robotic arm. The solvent composition, temperature, pressure, viscosity, and purity are controlled to optimize the ultrasonic scrubbing action. The ultrasonic transducer is controlled at a power density, frequency, and on-off mode cycle such as to optimize scrubbing action within the range of transducer-to-surface distance and solvent layer thickness selected for the particular conditions encountered. Both solvent and transducer control actions are optimized by the programmable microprocessor. (author)

Welding robot package; Arc yosetsu robot package

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nishikawa, S. [Yaskawa Electric Corp., Kitakyushu (Japan)

1998-09-01

For the conventional high-speed welding robot, the welding current was controlled mainly for reducing the spatters during short circuits and for stabilizing the beads by the periodic short circuits. However, an increase of deposition amount in response to the speed is required for the high-speed welding. Large-current low-spatter welding current region control was added. Units were integrated into a package by which the arc length is kept in short without dispersion of arc length for welding without defects such as undercut and unequal beads. In automobile industry, use of aluminum parts is extended for the light weight. The welding is very difficult, and automation is not so progressing in spite of the poor environment. Buckling of welding wire is easy to occur, and supply of wire is obstructed by the deposition of chipped powders on the torch cable, which stay within the contact chip resulting in the deposition. Dislocation of locus is easy to occur at the corner of rectangular pipe during the welding. By improving these troubles, an aluminum MIG welding robot package has been developed. 13 figs.

Improved Thermal-Insulation Systems for Low Temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Fesmire, James E.; Augustynowicz, Stanislaw D.

2003-01-01

Improved thermal-insulation materials and structures and the techniques for manufacturing them are undergoing development for use in low-temperature applications. Examples of low-temperature equipment for which these thermal insulation systems could provide improved energy efficiency include storage tanks for cryogens, superconducting electric-power-transmission equipment, containers for transport of food and other perishable commodities, and cold boxes for low-temperature industrial processes. These systems could also be used to insulate piping used to transfer cryogens and other fluids, such as liquefied natural gas, refrigerants, chilled water, crude oil, or low-pressure steam. The present thermal-insulation systems are layer composites based partly on the older class of thermal-insulation systems denoted generally as multilayer insulation (MLI). A typical MLI structure includes an evacuated jacket, within which many layers of radiation shields are stacked or wrapped close together. Low-thermal-conductivity spacers are typically placed between the reflection layers to keep them from touching. MLI can work very well when a high vacuum level (less than 10(exp-4) torr) is maintained and utmost care is taken during installation, but its thermal performance deteriorates sharply as the pressure in the evacuated space rises into the soft vacuum range [pressures greater than 0.1 torr (greater than 13 Pa)]. In addition, the thermal performance of MLI is extremely sensitive to mechanical compression and edge effects and can easily decrease from one to two orders of magnitude from its ideal value even when the MLI is kept under high vacuum condition. The present thermal-insulation systems are designed to perform well under soft vacuum level, in particular the range of 1 to 10 torr. They are also designed with larger interlayer spacings to reduce vulnerability to compression (and consequent heat leak) caused by installation and use. The superiority of these systems is the

Efficient worm-like locomotion: slip and control of soft-bodied peristaltic robots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daltorio, Kathryn A; Horchler, Andrew D; Quinn, Roger D; Boxerbaum, Alexander S; Shaw, Kendrick M; Chiel, Hillel J

2013-01-01

In this work, we present a dynamic simulation of an earthworm-like robot moving in a pipe with radially symmetric Coulomb friction contact. Under these conditions, peristaltic locomotion is efficient if slip is minimized. We characterize ways to reduce slip-related losses in a constant-radius pipe. Using these principles, we can design controllers that can navigate pipes even with a narrowing in radius. We propose a stable heteroclinic channel controller that takes advantage of contact force feedback on each segment. In an example narrowing pipe, this controller loses 40% less energy to slip compared to the best-fit sine wave controller. The peristaltic locomotion with feedback also has greater speed and more consistent forward progress. (paper)

Efficient worm-like locomotion: slip and control of soft-bodied peristaltic robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Daltorio, Kathryn A; Boxerbaum, Alexander S; Horchler, Andrew D; Shaw, Kendrick M; Chiel, Hillel J; Quinn, Roger D

2013-09-01

In this work, we present a dynamic simulation of an earthworm-like robot moving in a pipe with radially symmetric Coulomb friction contact. Under these conditions, peristaltic locomotion is efficient if slip is minimized. We characterize ways to reduce slip-related losses in a constant-radius pipe. Using these principles, we can design controllers that can navigate pipes even with a narrowing in radius. We propose a stable heteroclinic channel controller that takes advantage of contact force feedback on each segment. In an example narrowing pipe, this controller loses 40% less energy to slip compared to the best-fit sine wave controller. The peristaltic locomotion with feedback also has greater speed and more consistent forward progress

Optimized Heat Pipe Backup Cooling System Tested with a Stirling Convertor

Science.gov (United States)

Schwendeman, Carl L.; Tarau, Calin; Schifer, Nicholas A.; Anderson, William G.; Garner, Scott

2016-01-01

In a Stirling Radioisotope Power System (RPS), heat must be continuously removed from the General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules to maintain the modules and surrounding insulation at acceptable temperatures. The Stirling convertor normally provides this cooling. If the Stirling convertor stops in the current system, the insulation is designed to spoil, preventing damage to the GPHS at the cost of an early termination of the mission. An alkali-metal variable conductance heat pipe (VCHP) can be used to passively allow multiple stops and restarts of the Stirling convertor by bypassing the heat during stops. In a previous NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) developed a series of sodium VCHPs as backup cooling systems for the Stirling RPS. In 2012, one of these VCHPs was successfully tested at NASA Glenn Research Center with a Stirling convertor as an Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) backup cooling system. The prototype; however, was not optimized and did not reflect the final heat rejection path. ACT through further funding has developed a semioptimized prototype with the finalized heat path for testing at Glenn with a Stirling convertor. The semioptimized system features a two-phase radiator and is significantly smaller and lighter than the prior prototype to reflect a higher level of flight readiness. The VCHP is designed to activate and remove heat from the GPHS during stoppage with a small temperature increase from the nominal vapor temperature. This small temperature increase from nominal is low enough to avoid risking standard ASRG operation and spoiling of the multilayer insulation (MLI). The VCHP passively allows the Stirling convertor to be turned off multiple times during a mission with potentially unlimited off durations. Having the ability to turn the Stirling off allows for the Stirling to be reset and reduces vibrations on the platform during sensitive measurements or

IEA-R1 renewed primary coolant piping system stress analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fainer, Gerson; Faloppa, Altair A.; Oliveira, Carlos A. de; Mattar Neto, Miguel

2015-01-01

A partial replacement of the IEA-R1 piping system was conducted in 2014. The aim of this work is to perform the stress analysis of the renewed primary piping system of the IEA-R1, taking into account the as built conditions and the pipe modifications. The nuclear research reactor IEA-R1 is a pool type reactor designed by Babcox-Willcox, which is operated by IPEN since 1957. The primary coolant system is responsible for removing the residual heat of the Reactor core. As a part of the life management, a regular inspection detected some degradation in the primary piping system. In consequence, part of the piping system was replaced. The partial renewing of the primary piping system did not imply in major piping layout modifications. However, the stress condition of the piping systems had to be reanalyzed. The structural stress analysis of the primary piping systems is now presented and the final results are discussed. (author)

Surveys of embedded piping for Shoreham license termination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, D.E. Jr.

2004-01-01

In planning the decommissioning of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station (SNPS) in Wading River, N.Y., it was determined that the cost of removing contaminated floor drain piping was prohibitive. The piping is typically embedded approximately four feet deep in reinforced concrete, often below structural I-beams. A decision was made to develop remote survey devices ('pipe crawlers') that would allow SNPS to decontaminate and survey embedded piping within NRC free release limits. Pipe crawlers currently in use at SNPS are able to traverse multiple 45 and 90 degree bends while maintaining all detectors in the required geometry (less than 1 cm detector to surface distance). The following aspects of this project will be presented: 1) System classification and cost-benefit analysis 2) Overview of system decontamination 3) Pipe crawler mechanical and electrical development 4) Detector backgrounds and MDA's 5) Additional devices and techniques 6) NRC position on crawler use. 7) SNPS results to date. (author)

A case study of application of guided waves for detecting corrosion in pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

Rostami, Javad; Safizadeh, Mir Saeed

2012-05-01

Every year noticeable amount of money is spent on fixing and replacing the damaged pipes which carry gas and fuel. Since there is a possibility for a catastrophic failure, knowing the proper time of this repair is of great importance. Because significant proportion of failures is due to wall thinning of pipes because of the corrosion, detecting the wall thinning has been a main part of nondestructive testing of pipes. There are wide variety of NDT techniques to detect this kind of defect such as conventional ultrasonic, eddy current, radiography etc. but some of these techniques, for example conventional ultrasonic needs the insulation of pipes removed and in some other cases such as radiography the test is not done at a reasonable speed. A new method of nondestructive testing of pipes which has the potential to test a long distance in a short period of time and does not need the whole insulation removed, has drawn a lot of attention. In this paper, the ability of ultrasonic guided waves for detecting corrosion in gas pipelines is experimentally investigated.

Robotic requirements for plutonium handling automation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heywood, A.C.; Armantrout, G.A.

1990-01-01

While over 200,000 robots are in manufacturing service worldwide, only two are in use for the handling of plutonium in a glovebox. The difficulties of applying robotics to the glovebox environment include limited access for service and maintenance, radiation damage to electronics and insulators, and abrasion damage to bearings and sliding surfaces. The limited volume of the glovebox environment, and the need to handle heavy workloads, and the need to maximize work volume dictates the use of an overhead gantry system. This paper discusses how the application of such a system will require a robot with extensive safety features, a high degree of flexibility to perform a variety of tasks, and high reliability coupled with an easily serviced design. Substantial challenges exist in control system design, sensor and operator integration, and programming to achieve these goals

SEALING LARGE-DIAMETER CAST-IRON PIPE JOINTS UNDER LIVE CONDITIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiran M. Kothari; Gerard T. Pittard

2003-06-01

Utilities in the U.S. operate over 75,000 km (47,000 miles) of old cast-iron pipes for gas distribution. The bell-and-spigot joints tend to leak as these pipes age. Current repair practices are costly and highly disruptive. The objective of this program is to design, test and commercialize a robotic system capable of sealing multiple cast-iron bell and spigot joints from a single pipe entry point. The proposed system will perform repairs while the pipe remains in service by traveling through the pipe, cleaning each joint surface, and attaching a stainless-steel sleeve lined with an epoxy-impregnated felt across the joint. This approach will save considerable time and labor, avoid traffic disruption, and eliminate any requirement to interrupt service (which results in enormous expense to utilities). Technical challenges include: (1) repair sleeves must compensate for diametric variation and eccentricity of cast-iron pipes; (2) the assembly must travel long distances through pipes containing debris; (3) the pipe wall must be effectively cleaned in the immediate area of the joint to assure good bonding of the sleeve; and (4) an innovative bolt-on entry fitting is required to conduct repair operations on live mains. The development effort is divided into eleven tasks. Task 1-Program Management was previously completed. Two reports, one describing the program management plan and the other consisting of the technology assessment, were submitted to the DOE COR in the first quarter. Task 2-Establishment of Detailed Design Specifications and Task 3-Design and Fabricate Ratcheting Stainless-Steel Repair Sleeves are now well underway. First-quarter activities included conducting detailed analyses to determine the capabilities of coiled-tubing locomotion for entering and repairing gas mains and the first design iteration of the joint-sealing sleeve. The maximum horizontal reach of coiled tubing inside a pipeline before buckling prevents further access was calculated for a wide

Metallurgical investigation of cracking of the isolation valve downstream piping of regenerative heat exchanger at beaver valley unit 1 station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao, G.V.

1998-01-01

A metallurgical investigation was conducted to establish the mechanism and cause of cracking in the regenerative heat exchanger piping at Beaver Valley Unit 1 PWR station in the USA. The investigation, which was centered on an eight inch long pipe section containing the cracking included surface examinations, metallographic and fractographic examinations, and chemistry evaluations. The results of the examinations showed that there were two types of pipe degradation mechanisms that affected the type 304 stainless schedule 40 piping. These consisted of localized corrosive attack on the OD surface due to the presence of chlorides, sulphates and phosphates, and transgranular stress corrosion cracking in the pipe wall due to the presence of chloride contaminants. The overall results of the investigation showed that the introduction of contaminants from external sources other than pipe insulation was the cause of heat exchanger pipe cracking. (author)

Incrustations detection system for petroleum transport pipes based on gamma transmission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares, Milton

2014-01-01

The scale formed over the inner walls of the ducts conveying the extracted product from offshore oil wheels is a major cause of losses to companies and in some cases even the safety is affected. The consequence of such fouling is the duct's square section reduction that causes extraction flow decrease and can also cause an increase in pressure inside the wheel, with serious consequences for safety. The objective of this work is to propose a mobile inspection system, which can be transported by underwater robots to inspect the lines of ducts in the outputs of the oil wheels. The measurement method to be adopted will be the gamma rays' beam attenuation at a predetermined position of the pipe. This transmission value compared to a clear pipe reading will show if the thickness of the inlay is larger or smaller than an assumed thickness. To carry out the measurements it was designed and built an electronic system comprising power supply, amplifier, single channel analyzer and a counter timer that was connected to a CsI scintillator detector coupled to a PIN photodiode. The system was set up to perform measurements with constant accuracy of ±1%. Tests during the study demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method with the obtained results with a carbon steel duct section of 270 mm diameter, removed from the field, with asymmetric BaSO4 inlay. (author)

Impact of tamsulosin on urinary retention following early catheter removal after robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: a prospective randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, In Gab; You, Dalsan; Yoon, Jong Hyun; Hong, Sungwoo; Lim, Ju Hyun; Hong, Jun Hyuk; Choo, Myung-Soo; Ahn, Hanjong; Kim, Choung-Soo

2014-02-01

To examine the impact of tamsulosin on the rate of acute urinary retention following early catheter removal after robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. A total of 236 patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer carried out by a single surgeon were enrolled in this randomized study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups: treatment with tamsulosin (0.4 mg) from 1 day before to 14 days after surgery (tamsulosin group), or no tamsulosin treatment (control group). The urethral catheter was removed on the fifth postoperative day. The primary end-point was the acute urinary retention rate. Changes in each domain of the International Continence Society male short-form questionnaire and uroflowmetry parameters were secondary end-points. The primary end-point was assessed in 218 patients (92.4%; n = 109 in each group). It was not assessed in 18 patients because of cystographic leak from the vesicourethral anastomosis. The acute urinary retention rate was lower in the tamsulosin group (7.3%) than in the control group (17.4%, P = 0.018). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified tamsulosin treatment and the operative experience of the surgeon as independent risk factors for acute urinary retention. Tamsulosin-treated patients had a 0.30-fold lower risk of developing acute urinary retention compared with control patients (95% confidence interval 0.12-0.76; P = 0.011). None of the International Continence Society male questionnaire domain scores showed significant changes between the groups. Perioperative treatment with tamsulosin in patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy reduces the rate of acute urinary retention after early catheter removal, without aggravating urinary incontinence. © 2013 The Japanese Urological Association.

Advanced robotics for decontamination and dismantlement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamel, W.R.; Haley, D.C.

1994-01-01

The decontamination and dismantlement (D ampersand D) robotics technology application area of the US Department of Energy's Robotics Technology Development Program is explained and described. D ampersand D robotic systems show real promise for the reduction of human exposure to hazards, for improvement of productivity, and for the reduction of secondary waste generation. Current research and development pertaining to automated floor characterization, robotic equipment removal, and special inspection is summarized. Future research directions for these and emerging activities is given

Available Prediction Methods for Corrosion under Insulation (CUI): A Review

OpenAIRE

Burhani Nurul Rawaida Ain; Muhammad Masdi; Ismail Mokhtar Che

2014-01-01

Corrosion under insulation (CUI) is an increasingly important issue for the piping in industries especially petrochemical and chemical plants due to its unexpected catastrophic disaster. Therefore, attention towards the maintenance and prediction of CUI occurrence, particularly in the corrosion rates, has grown in recent years. In this study, a literature review in determining the corrosion rates by using various prediction models and method of the corrosion occurrence between the external su...

Heat pipes for ground heating and cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vasiliev, L L

1988-01-01

Different versions of heat pipe ground heating and cooling devices are considered. Solar energy, biomass, ground stored energy, recovered heat of industrial enterprises and ambient cold air are used as energy and cold sources. Heat pipe utilization of air in winter makes it possible to design accumulators of cold and ensures deep freezing of ground in order to increase its mechanical strength when building roadways through the swamps and ponds in Siberia. Long-term underground heat storage systems are considered, in which the solar and biomass energy is accumulated and then transferred to heat dwellings and greenhouses, as well as to remove snow from roadways with the help of heat pipes and solar collectors.

Methodology for characterization of corrosive agents of thermal insulating foams; Desenvolvimento de metodologia para caracterizacao de agentes corrosivos de espumas de isolamento termico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sousa, Flavio V. Vasques de [Universidade Federal, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-graduacao de Engenharia. Fundacao Coordenacao de Projetos, Pesquisas e Estudos Tecnologicos - COPPETEC; Mattos, Oscar R.; Mota, Rafael O. da [Universidade Federal, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-graduacao de Engenharia. Programa de Engenharia Metalurgica e de Materiais; Margarit-Mattos, Isabel C.P. [Universidade Federal, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Escola de Quimica. Dept. de Processos Organicos; Quintela, Joaquim P. [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Vieira, Magda M. [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas

2005-07-01

Warming up oil and derivatives is a required procedure to make their transportation more efficient due to the increase in fluidity. Therefore, the use of thermally insulated pipeline becomes essential. The commonly practice has been the use of pipelines covered with an optional anticorrosive coating, followed by a polyurethane foam layer, as thermal insulator, and a polyethylene top coating for mechanical protection. During the life time of the pipeline, local ruptures of the polyethylene coating frequently occur, allowing the water permeation throughout the thermal insulator. This water may cause foam leaching that would release corrosive agents on the external wall pipe. The objective of the present work was to investigate the effects of the blowing agents, the addition of flame retardant to the foam as well as operating temperatures on the generation of corrosive solutions on the external wall of thermally insulated pipes. In this sense, polyurethane foams expanded with HCFC-141b, CFC-11 and CO{sub 2}, with and without flame retardant, were evaluated at the temperatures of 80 and 120 deg C. (author)

System for leaks inspection in a nuclear plant by means of a mobile robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez S, R.; Segovia de los Rios, J.A.

2004-01-01

In this work a supervision system that could allow to carry out the detection of leaks of vapor in pipe lines, using a mobile robot Pioneer 2 -D Xe, which is controlled by means of an external micro controller 68HC912B32 programmed in Forth and using diffuse control to travel a road by means of the one to follow one lines painted in the floor is described. The robot takes in his superior part, a thermographic camera that allows to determine if leaks of vapor exist in pipes and a dosemeter to measure the present radiation levels in the place, besides a video camera. This way, the personnel, can make sure of having a propitious situation to make the maintenance of the facilities. (Author)

Glass Bubbles Insulation for Liquid Hydrogen Storage Tanks

Science.gov (United States)

Sass, J. P.; SaintCyr, W. W.; Barrett, T. M.; Baumgartner, R. G.; Lott, J. W.; Fesmire, J. E.

2009-01-01

A full-scale field application of glass bubbles insulation has been demonstrated in a 218,000 L liquid hydrogen storage tank. This work is the evolution of extensive materials testing, laboratory scale testing, and system studies leading to the use of glass bubbles insulation as a cost efficient and high performance alternative in cryogenic storage tanks of any size. The tank utilized is part of a rocket propulsion test complex at the NASA Stennis Space Center and is a 1960's vintage spherical double wall tank with an evacuated annulus. The original perlite that was removed from the annulus was in pristine condition and showed no signs of deterioration or compaction. Test results show a significant reduction in liquid hydrogen boiloff when compared to recent baseline data prior to removal of the perlite insulation. The data also validates the previous laboratory scale testing (1000 L) and full-scale numerical modeling (3,200,000 L) of boiloff in spherical cryogenic storage tanks. The performance of the tank will continue to be monitored during operation of the tank over the coming years. KEYWORDS: Glass bubble, perlite, insulation, liquid hydrogen, storage tank.

Non-metallic structural wrap systems for pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, R.H.; Wesley Rowley, C.

2001-01-01

The use of thermoplastics and reinforcing fiber has been a long-term application of non-metallic material for structural applications. With the advent of specialized epoxies and carbon reinforcing fiber, structural strength approaching and surpassing steel has been used in a wide variety of applications, including nuclear power plants. One of those applications is a NSWS for pipe and other structural members. The NSWS is system of integrating epoxies with reinforcing fiber in a wrapped geometrical configuration. This paper specifically addresses the repair of degraded pipe in heat removal systems used in nuclear power plants, which is typically caused by corrosion, erosion, or abrasion. Loss of structural material leads to leaks, which can be arrested by a NSWS for the pipe. The technical aspects of using thermoplastics to structurally improve degraded pipe in nuclear power plants has been addressed in the ASME B and PV Code Case N-589. Using the fundamentals described in that Code Case, this paper shows how this technology can be extended to pipe repair from the outside. This NSWS has already been used extensively in non-nuclear applications and in one nuclear application. The cost to apply this NSWS is typically substantially less than replacing the pipe and may be technically superior to replacing the pipe. (author)

A low frequency acoustic insulator by using the acoustic metasurface to a Helmholtz resonator

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xiang; Cai, Li; Yu, Dianlong; Lu, Zhimiao; Wen, Jihong

2017-06-01

Acoustic metasurfaces (AMSs) are able to manipulate wavefronts at an anomalous angle through a subwavelength layer. Their application provide a new way to control sound waves in addition to traditional materials. In this work, we introduced the AMS into the design of a Helmholtz resonator (HR) and studied the acoustic transmission through the modified HR in a pipe with one branch. The variation of sound insulation capacity with the phase gradient of the AMS was studied, and the results show that the AMS can remarkably lower the frequency band of the sound insulation without increasing the size. Our investigation provides a new degree of freedom for acoustic control with a Helmholtz resonator, which is of great significance in acoustic metasurface theory and sound insulation design.

Heat pipes as perspective base elements of heat recovery in heat supply and ventilating systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matveev Andrey

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Thermotechnical characteristics of heat pipes are considered as high-efficient heat-transfer devices, which can provide energy-saving technologies for heat supply and ventilating systems and for different branches of industry. Thermotechnical and working (”performance capability” characteristics of heat pipes are investigated. By ”performance capability” of heat pipes and heat-transfer devices on heat pipes we mean the system state, where it can perform set functions and keep parameter values (thermal power, conductivity, thermal resistance, heat-transfer coefficient, temperature level and differential, etc. within the regulations of standardized specifications. The article presents theoretical and experimental methods of «gaslock» length determination on noncondensable gases during long-lasting tests of ammonia heat pipes made of aluminum shape АS – КRА 7.5 – R1 (alloy АD – 31. The paper gives results of research of thermotechnical characteristics of heat pipes in horizontal and vertical states (separate and as a set part while using different systems of thermal insulation. The obtained results of thermotechnical and resource tests show the advantages of ammonia heat pipes as basic elements for heat exchanger design in heating and ventilation systems.

Pyrotechnic robot - constructive design and command

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionel A. Staretu

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Pyrotechnic robots are service robots used to reduce the time for intervention of pyrotechnic troops and to diminish the danger for the operators. Pyrotechnic robots are used to inspect dangerous areas or/and to remove and to distroy explosive or suspicious devices/objects. These robots can be used to make corridors through mined battle fields, for manipulation and neutralization of unexploded ammunition, for inspection of vehicles, trains, airplanes and buildings. For these robots, a good functional activity is determined with regard to work space dimensions,, robotic arm kinematics and gripper characteristics. The paper shows the structural, kinematic, static synthesis and analysis as well as the design and functional simulation of the robotic arm and the grippers attached on the pyrotechnic robot designed by the authors.

The effect of 25 years of oil field flow line service on epoxy fiberglass pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oswald, K.J.

1988-01-01

Glass fiber reinforced epoxy and vinyl ester piping systems have been used for over 35 years to control corrosion problems in oil fields and chemical and industrial plants and many case histories have been reported to document the successful performances of fiberglass reinforced thermosetting plastics in a wide range of corrosive services. This information is reinforced by laboratory test data from flat laminates and pipe exposed to numerous chemicals and mixtures of chemicals, but little has been published to document the effect of long-term, in-service exposure on fiberglass equipment. The purpose of this paper is to help to fill this void by comparing data from physical testing of pipe removed from successful corrosive service applications with data obtained from the same type of pipe at the time of manufacture. The information supplied in these papers represents only a few of the successful applications of filament wound epoxy and vinyl ester pipe as it is difficult to obtain permission to remove pipe from an operating line

Residual stresses and stress corrosion cracking in pipe fittings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parrington, R.J.; Scott, J.J.; Torres, F.

1994-06-01

Residual stresses can play a key role in the SCC performance of susceptible materials in PWR primary water applications. Residual stresses are stresses stored within the metal that develop during deformation and persist in the absence of external forces or temperature gradients. Sources of residual stresses in pipe fittings include fabrication processes, installation and welding. There are a number of methods to characterize the magnitude and orientation of residual stresses. These include numerical analysis, chemical cracking tests, and measurement (e.g., X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, strain gage/hole drilling, strain gage/trepanning, strain gage/section and layer removal, and acoustics). This paper presents 400 C steam SCC test results demonstrating that residual stresses in as-fabricated Alloy 600 pipe fittings are sufficient to induce SCC. Residual stresses present in as-fabricated pipe fittings are characterized by chemical cracking tests (stainless steel fittings tested in boiling magnesium chloride solution) and by the sectioning and layer removal (SLR) technique

Effects of herring gulls and great black-backed gulls on breeding piping plovers, South Monomoy Island, Massachusetts. Final Report

Science.gov (United States)

Keane, S.E.; Fraser, J.D.; Buckley, P.A.

2002-01-01

The large population of breeding herring gulls and great black-backed gulls on South Monomoy Island, Cape Cod, Massachusetts has been thought to negatively affect the breeding success of the threatened piping plover. Following the Piping Plover Recovery Plan's call for gull colonies to be removed from piping plover breeding sites, in 1996, the USFWS conducted gull removal on part of South Monomoy Island. We determined relative gull abundance on South Monomoy Island from 1998-2000 by counting gulls within 100-m radius plots located on the shoreline. We quantified piping plover behavior and habitat use by conducting instantaneous and 5-minute behavioral observations. We quantified characteristics of piping plover nesting habitat by measuring characteristics along random transects. We measured gull abundance, beach width, and prey abundance, and then used logistic regression to determine what habitat characteristics influenced piping plover nesting area selection. We monitored piping plover reproductive success and population fluctuations on South Monomoy Island. Gull abundance in the gull-removal area was lower than gull abundance in the reference area throughout the piping plover breeding season. The difference in gull abundance between the areas did not affect piping plover behavior, nest success, chick survival, or productivity. We found that gull removal did not result in an increased piping plover population on the island. In both management areas, prenesting plovers preferred to forage in moist substrate habitats. Wide backshore and open vegetation habitats characterized nesting areas. Broods spent most of their time foraging and preferred moist substrate habitats when available. Plovers were not prevented from occupying more suitable habitat by large gulls. Fewer large gulls were observed near prenesting plovers, plover nests, and plover broods than near random plots. Fewer large gulls were observed in plover nesting areas than in unused areas when the nesting

Theseus: tethered distributed robotics (TDR)

Science.gov (United States)

Digney, Bruce L.; Penzes, Steven G.

2003-09-01

The Defence Research and Development Canada's (DRDC) Autonomous Intelligent System's program conducts research to increase the independence and effectiveness of military vehicles and systems. DRDC-Suffield's Autonomous Land Systems (ALS) is creating new concept vehicles and autonomous control systems for use in outdoor areas, urban streets, urban interiors and urban subspaces. This paper will first give an overview of the ALS program and then give a specific description of the work being done for mobility in urban subspaces. Discussed will be the Theseus: Thethered Distributed Robotics (TDR) system, which will not only manage an unavoidable tether but exploit it for mobility and navigation. Also discussed will be the prototype robot called the Hedgehog, which uses conformal 3D mobility in ducts, sewer pipes, collapsed rubble voids and chimneys.

Development of sea water pipe thickness measurement technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morimoto, Kazuo; Wakayama, Seiichi; Takeuchi, Iwao; Masamori, Sigero; Yamasita, Takesi.

1995-01-01

In nuclear and thermal power plants, wall wear of sea water pipes is reported to occur in the inner surface due to corrosion and erosion. From the viewpoint of improving the equipments reliability, it is desirable that wall thickness should be measured from the outer surface of the pipe during operation. In the conventional method, paint on the outer surface of the pipe was locally removed at each point of a 20 by 50 mm grid, and inspection was carried out at these spots. However, this method had some problems, such as (1) it was necessary to replace the paint, and (2) it was difficult to obtain the precise distribution of wall thickness. Therefore, we have developed a wall thickness measuring system which has the following features. (1) It is possible to perform inspection from the outer surface without removing paint during operation. (2) It is possible to measure the distribution of wall thickness and display it as color contour map simultaneously. (3) The work of inspectors can be alleviated by the automatic recording of measured data. (author)

Revisited the mathematical derivation wall thickness measurement of pipe for radiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamzah, A.R.; Amir, S.M.M. [Non Destructive Testing(NDT) Group, Industrial Technology Div., Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Selangor (Malaysia)

2007-07-01

Wall thickness measurement of pipe is very important of the structural integrity of the industrial plant. However, the radiography method has an advantage because the ability of penetrating the insulated pipe. This will have economic benefit for industry. Moreover, the era of digital radiography has more advantages because the speed of radiographic work, less exposure time and no chemical used for film development. Either the conventional radiography or digital radiology, the wall thickness measurement is using the tangential radiography technique (TRT). In case, of a large diameter, pipe (more than inches) the determination maximum penetration wall thickness must be taken into the consideration. This paper is revisited the mathematical derivation of the determination of wall thickness measurement based on tangential radiography technique (TRT). The mathematical approach used in this derivation is the Pythagoras theorem and geometrical principles. In order to derive the maximum penetration wall thickness a similar approach is used. (authors)

Applications of the energy differentiation type radiation line sensor to such as inspection for the plumbing corrosion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomita, Yasuhiro; Shirayanagi, Yuji; Matsui, Shinjiro; Kamiya, Yosuke; Kobayashi, Akira

2015-01-01

The authors have engaged in development of the next-generation radiation detectors that can give information on energy such as X-rays and γ-rays, and commercialized an energy discrimination type radiation line sensor capable of discriminating the energy of photons using a CdTe radiation detector element. This paper introduces the structure and principles of this energy discrimination type radiation line sensor. As the basic application, it also introduces the material identification, energy discrimination type X-ray CT imaging, and the quantitative determination of iron plate thickness using X-ray. In addition, it introduces the radiation line sensor we have developed for inspecting the reduced amount of wall thickness of piping with insulation materials. This radiation line sensor for pipe thinning inspection combined with radiation sources (X-rays, γ-rays) and a transport system is capable of accurately and efficiently inspecting reduced wall thickness, while moving the censor on the covered pipe with heat insulating materials through remote control, without removing piping insulation materials and without stopping the use of piping. (A.O.)

Vacuum Bellows, Vacuum Piping, Cryogenic Break, and Copper Joint Failure Rate Estimates for ITER Design Use

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

L. C. Cadwallader

2010-06-01

The ITER international project design teams are working to produce an engineering design in preparation for construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) tokamak. During the course of this work, questions have arisen in regard to safety barriers and equipment reliability as important facets of system design. The vacuum system designers have asked several questions about the reliability of vacuum bellows and vacuum piping. The vessel design team has asked about the reliability of electrical breaks and copper-copper joints used in cryogenic piping. Research into operating experiences of similar equipment has been performed to determine representative failure rates for these components. The following chapters give the research results and the findings for vacuum system bellows, power plant stainless steel piping (amended to represent vacuum system piping), cryogenic system electrical insulating breaks, and copper joints.

Coating application procedure qualification for internal girth weld using a robot device

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koebsch, Andre; Cunha, Bruno Rocha Marques da; Barreto, Eduardo Chave; Nunes, Erik Barbosa; Solymossy, Victor [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-12-19

This year PETROBRAS complete 55 years old filling up our country of energy necessary to support our development. Some oil fields, especially from the northeast region, has being had their production decrease by their ageing. In order to have their live protracted some retrieval technical has being used. For example we can mention gas lift, production water injection, CO{sub 2} injection and so on. The produced water even treated has an elevated tenor of chloride, acid ph, presence of organics acids, H{sub 2}S and no O{sub 2}. The water became too corrosive by those characteristics. Due to it an anti corrosive coating application is demanded on the pipe internal surface and on the girth weld. The pipes are coated in a coating plant and it has a qualified coating procedure. Therefore an application of anti corrosive coating is demanded on the girth weld after the pipe welding. To accomplish this job an application procedure was developed using a robot. The PETROBRAS' Engineer witnesses the PQT of this procedure aiming to guarantee the applied coating quality. This paper will show the PQT results and a basic description of the robot operation. (author)

Diseño y construcción de un robot explorador de tubería interna horizontal (Alcantarillado Pluvial) para detección de daño dentro de la tubería

OpenAIRE

Huasco Macancela, Andrés Esteban; Yacelga Araque, Juan Carlos

2015-01-01

The mobile robot deployed to detect, locate precisely the obstruction and reconstruct the path where the pipe is moving, so corrective action can be taken to avoid loss of money, time and resources for better scan it. The project will provide a solution in a horizontal inner pipe (storm sewer), so that the robot will be a very useful and effective tool in use; This project consists of the following functions: detection of damage inside the pipe by video inspection to observe large breaks f...

Flexible, pre-insulated pipelines for heat and water supply. Systems with integrated quality and service; Flexible, vorgedaemmte Rohrsysteme fuer die Versorgungstechnik. Gesamtsysteme mit Qualitaet und Service

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hetzel, Michaela [Uponor Central Europe, Hassfurt (Germany). Unternehmenskommunikation

2010-10-15

Flexible pipes are suited for heat distribution, cooling water and freshwater transport. Uponor uses a modified, cross-linked polythene for insulation. The material is flexible, ageing-resistant, and will reduce the heat loss. Pipes are supplied to the construction site within two days, cut to measure and with all required parts. (orig.)

Corrosion and deposit evaluation in industrial plants by non destructive testing method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azali Muhammad; Abd Razak Hamzah; Abd Aziz Mohamed; Mohd Pauzi Ismail; S Saad; S Sayuti; S Ahmad

2000-01-01

In petrochemical plants, the detection of corrosion and evaluation of deposit in insulated pipes using a radiography method are very challenging tasks. This main degradation problem experienced by pipelines is due to water condensation. It will cause deposit and scale inside the pipe, as well as between the insulation and pipe for the cold temperature pipes. On the other hand, for the hot temperature pipes the main problem is mainly due to corrosion/erosion attack inside the pipe. In the case of corrosion study one of the most important parameters in a piping or pipeline to be monitored and measured is that the wall thickness. In general, most pipeline corrosion monitoring and evaluation for both insulated and non-insulated pipes is done by using an ultrasonic method. The most common technique for corrosion is that based on the A-Scan, using either a normal flow detector or some form of dedicated equipment. However, with recent development of ultrasonic technology, more advance method, namely B-Scan and C-scan techniques are also available. The most notable disadvantage of using this current method is that the insulation covered the pipe has to be removed before the inspection can be carried out and this is considered as not so cost effective. Due to this reason other alternative NDT method, namely radiographic testing method has been studied. The testing technique used in this studied are tangential technique and double wall radiographic technique which involve studying the changing in density of radiographic film. The result found using tangential technique is consistent with real thickness of the pipe. However for the later technique the result is only achieved with a reasonable accuracy when the changing in wall thickness is very small. The result of the studies is discussed in this paper

The Analysis of the Field Application Methodology of Electromagnetic Ultrasonic Testing for Piping in Nuclear Power Plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Chi Seung; Joo, Keum Jong; Choi, Jung Kweun; Um, Byung Kook; Park, Jea Suk [Korea Advanced Ispection Technology Co., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2008-08-15

Nuclear plant piping is classified as the safety class and non-safety class piping in usual. Safety class piping has been examined in accordance with ASME Section XI and V during PSI/ISI using RT, UT, PT, ECT, etc and evaluated periodically for integrity. But failures in piping had reported at non-welded parts and non-safety class pipings as well as the safety class pipings. The existing NDT methods are suitable for the specific parts for instance weldments to inspect but difficult to examine all parts (total coverage) of pipe line and very expensive in cost and consume the time. And also inspection using those methods is difficult and limited for the parts which are complex configuration, embedded under ground and installed at high radiation area in nuclear power plants. In order to inspect all parts of long range piping systems and reduce the inspection time and cost, the electromagnetic ultrasonic inspection technology is suitable and effective. The electromagnetic ultrasonic method can cover more than 50 m apart from sensor at one time without moving the sensor and examined the parts which are in difficulties for accessibility, for example, high radiation area, insulated components and embedded under ground.

Mergeable nervous systems for robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathews, Nithin; Christensen, Anders Lyhne; O'Grady, Rehan; Mondada, Francesco; Dorigo, Marco

2017-09-12

Robots have the potential to display a higher degree of lifetime morphological adaptation than natural organisms. By adopting a modular approach, robots with different capabilities, shapes, and sizes could, in theory, construct and reconfigure themselves as required. However, current modular robots have only been able to display a limited range of hardwired behaviors because they rely solely on distributed control. Here, we present robots whose bodies and control systems can merge to form entirely new robots that retain full sensorimotor control. Our control paradigm enables robots to exhibit properties that go beyond those of any existing machine or of any biological organism: the robots we present can merge to form larger bodies with a single centralized controller, split into separate bodies with independent controllers, and self-heal by removing or replacing malfunctioning body parts. This work takes us closer to robots that can autonomously change their size, form and function.Robots that can self-assemble into different morphologies are desired to perform tasks that require different physical capabilities. Mathews et al. design robots whose bodies and control systems can merge and split to form new robots that retain full sensorimotor control and act as a single entity.

ELRA: The exposure limiting robotic apparatus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knighton, G.C.; Rosenberg, K.E.; Henslee, S.P.; Michelbacher, J.A.; Wilkes, C.W.

1992-09-01

A problem situation involving the handling of radioactive material at Argonne National Laboratory -- West (ANL-W) was solved through the use of remote handling techniques, providing significant exposure reduction to personnel. Robotic devices can be useful, but the cost of a robot is often prohibitive for many jobs. A low cost, disposable robot was built which successfully removed a highly radioactive and potentially explosive system from a hot cell at ANL-W

Polyimide Foams Offer Superior Insulation

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

At Langley Research Center, Erik Weiser and his colleagues in the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch were working with a new substance for fabricating composites for use in supersonic aircraft. The team, however, was experiencing some frustration. Every time they tried to create a solid composite from the polyimide (an advanced polymer) material, it bubbled and foamed. It seemed like the team had reached a dead end in their research - until they had another idea. "We said, This isn t going to work for composites, but maybe we could make a foam out of it," Weiser says. "That was kind of our eureka moment, to see if we could go in a whole other direction. And it worked." Weiser and his colleagues invented a new kind of polyimide foam insulation they named TEEK. The innovation displayed a host of advantages over existing insulation options. Compared to other commercial foams, Weiser explains, polyimide foams perform well across a broad range of temperatures, noting that the NASA TEEK foams provide effective structural insulation up to 600 F and down to cryogenic temperatures. The foam does not burn or off-gas toxic fumes, and even at -423 F - the temperature of liquid hydrogen - the material stays flexible. The inventors could produce the TEEK foam at a range of densities, from 0.5 pounds per cubic foot up to 20 pounds per cubic foot, making the foam ideal for a range of applications, including as insulation for reusable launch vehicles and for cryogenic tanks and lines. They also developed a unique, friable balloon format for manufacturing the foam, producing it as hollow microspheres that allowed the foam to be molded and then cured into any desired shape - perfect for insulating pipes of different sizes and configurations. The team s originally unplanned invention won an "R&D 100" award, and a later form of the foam, called LaRC FPF-44 (Spinoff 2009), was named "NASA Invention of the Year" in 2007.

A low frequency acoustic insulator by using the acoustic metasurface to a Helmholtz resonator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiang Zhao

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Acoustic metasurfaces (AMSs are able to manipulate wavefronts at an anomalous angle through a subwavelength layer. Their application provide a new way to control sound waves in addition to traditional materials. In this work, we introduced the AMS into the design of a Helmholtz resonator (HR and studied the acoustic transmission through the modified HR in a pipe with one branch. The variation of sound insulation capacity with the phase gradient of the AMS was studied, and the results show that the AMS can remarkably lower the frequency band of the sound insulation without increasing the size. Our investigation provides a new degree of freedom for acoustic control with a Helmholtz resonator, which is of great significance in acoustic metasurface theory and sound insulation design.

Application of robotics to distribution systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramsbottom, W

1986-06-01

Robotic technology has been recognized as having potential application in lifeline maintenance and repair. A study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of utilizing robotics for this purpose, and to prepare a general design of appropriate equipment. Four lifeline tasks were selected as representative of the majority of work. Based on a detailed task decomposition, subtasks were rated on amenability to robot completion. All tasks are feasible, but in some cases special tooling is required. Based on today's robotics, it is concluded that a force reflecting master/slave telemanipulator, augmented by automatic robot tasks under a supervisory control system, provides the optimal approach. No commercially available products are currently adequate for lifeline work. A general design of the telemanipulator, which has been named the SKYARM has been developed, addressing all subsystems such as the manipulator, video, control power and insulation. The baseline system is attainable using today's technology. Improved performance and lower cost will be achieved through developments in artificial intelligence, machine vision, supervisory control and dielectrics. Immediate benefits to utilities include increased safety, better service and savings on a subset of maintenance tasks. In 3-5 years, the SKYARM will prove cost effective as a general purpose lifeline tool. 7 refs., 26 figs., 3 tabs.

Flow conditions of fresh mortar and concrete in different pipes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobsen, Stefan; Haugan, Lars; Hammer, Tor Arne; Kalogiannidis, Evangelos

2009-01-01

The variation in fresh concrete flow rate over the pipe cross section was investigated on differently coloured and highly flowable concrete mixes flowing through pipes of different materials (rubber, steel, acryl). First, uncoloured (gray) concrete was poured through the pipe and the pipe blocked. Similar but coloured (black) concrete was then poured into the pipe filled with gray concrete, flowing after the gray concrete for a while before being blocked and hardened. The advance of the colouring along the pipe wall (showing boundary flow rate) was observed on the moulded concrete surface appearing after removing the pipe from the hardened concrete. The shapes of the interfaces between uncoloured and coloured concrete (showing variation of flow rate over the pipe cross section) were observed on sawn surfaces of concrete half cylinders cut along the length axes of the concrete-filled pipe. Flow profiles over the pipe cross section were clearly seen with maximum flow rates near the centre of the pipe and low flow rate at the pipe wall (typically rubber pipe with reference concrete without silica fume and/or stabilizers). More plug-shaped profiles, with long slip layers and less variation of flow rate over the cross section, were also seen (typically in smooth acrylic pipes). Flow rate, amount of concrete sticking to the wall after flow and SEM-images of pipe surface roughness were observed, illustrating the problem of testing full scale pumping.

In service inspection of pipes based on risk methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendoza G, G.; Viais J, J.; Carmona C, M.

2006-01-01

The politics of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (by its initials in English NRC) of the United States of America on the use of the Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) in activities of nuclear regulation it foments the use of this analysis technique to improve the decisions making, to reduce the unnecessary work in maintenance aspects, inspection and tests and to improve the regulatory efficiency. The inspection programs in service (ISI by its initials in English) developed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (by its initials in English ASME) it has been the one primary mechanism to prove the mechanical equipment in plants of nuclear energy, these programs indeed have been carried out in plants of nuclear energy by more of two decades. Their purpose is to identify the conditions, such as indications of cracks that are precursory of flights and ruptures which violate the integrity principles of the pressure frontier. The inspection in service activities include ultrasonic tests, surface tests and penetrating liquids test, also activities that include the scaffolds construction, removal of insulations and welding polishing. The inspections in service every 18 months during the times outside of service are executed. One of the objectives is to lower the costs of the inspections during the times outside of service and to reduce the exposure to the radiation by part of the personnel during these times out for inspections, while it is increased or it maintains the personnel's safety and the reliability. As part of the methodology a pipe segment is selected for which a fault in any point has the same consequences, being calculated the fault probability of the tube using the dimensions of the segment. In this work the inspection in service methodology is applied based on risk to an aspersion system of low pressure of the Laguna Verde Nucleo electric Central. For this system a reduction in the number of welding to inspect of 103 to only 15 is obtained

Minimization of the negative influence on the biosphere in heavy oil extraction and ecologically clean technology for the injection of the steam with supercritical parameters in oil strata on the basis of new ecologically clean tubing pipes with heat-resistant coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Komkov, M. A.; Moiseev, V. A.; Tarasov, V. A.; Timofeev, M. P.

2015-12-01

Some ecological problems related to heavy-oil extraction and ways for minimizing the negative impacts of this process on the biosphere are discussed. The ecological hazard of, for example, frequently used multistage hydraulic fracturing of formation is noted and the advantages and perspectives of superheated steam injection are considered. Steam generators of a new type and ecologically clean and costeffective insulating for tubing pipes (TPs) are necessary to develop the superheated steam injection method. The article is devoted to solving one of the most important and urgent tasks, i.e., the development and usage of lightweight, nonflammable, environmentally safe, and cost-effective insulating materials. It is shown that, for tubing shielding operating at temperatures up to 420°C, the most effective thermal insulation is a highly porous material based on basalt fiber. The process of filtration deposition of short basalt fibers with a bunch of alumina thermal insulation tubing pipe coatings in the form of cylinders and cylindrical shells from liquid pulp is substantiated. Based on the thermophysical characteristics of basalt fibers and on the technological features of manufacturing highly porous coating insulation, the thickness of a tubing pipe is determined. During the prolonged pumping of the air at an operating temperature of 400°C in the model sample of tubing pipes with insulation and a protective layer, we find that the surface temperature of the thermal barrier coating does not exceed 60°C. Introducing the described technology will considerably reduce the negative impact of heavy-oil extraction on the biosphere.

UWSim, an underwater robotic simulator on the cloud as educational tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier Pérez

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Due to the introduction of robotic applications in the modern society, such as service robots or self-driving cars, it is possible to use this trend as motivating factor in the learning process of robotics. Several possibilities about how to use this motivation to increase learning rate are analysed, focusing on underwater robotic simulators. Moreover, a cloud learning environment able to evaluate the students with a robotic simulator is proposed as key element of the system. These kinds of tools can be used with just an Internet-capable system through a web browser, reaching a virtually unlimited amount of resources. The implemented features are used in a underwater pipe following application, creating a comparison environment on the cloud that immerse students in a competition to reach the best possible result. Finally, a first experience in a real educational environment using the proposed tool is detailed, demonstrating the viability and suitability of the proposed tool.

Device of connecting the metal sheet lining a concrete enclosure to a pipe opening inside the enclosure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petit, Guy.

1975-01-01

Said invention relates to a sealed device connecting a metal sheet anchored on the internal side of a concrete vessel containing a hot pressurized fluid, with a metallic pipe opening inside said vessel. It is intended for heat insulating structures so-called 'hot skin' used for the pressure vessels of some boiling water reactors. Said invention is intended for different types of said pipe such as: the penetrations for the inlets and outlets of the primary circuit, or anchoring cylindrical sheaths used as supports of components or other elements located inside said pressure vessel [fr

Conceptual design of cesium removal device for ITER NBI maintenance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oka, Kiyoshi; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

2003-03-01

Cesium is required in order to generate a stable negative ion of hydrogen in an ion source of the neutral beam injector (NBI), which is one of the plasma-heating devices for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). After long time operation of the NBI, the cesium deposits to the insulators supporting the electrode. Due to the deterioration of the insulation resistance, the continuous operation of the NBI will be difficult. In addition, the NBI device is activated by neutrons from D-T plasma, so that periodic removal and cleaning of the cesium on the insulators by remove handling is required. A study of the cesium removal scenario and the device is therefore required considering remote handling. In this report, a cesium removal procedure and conceptual design of the cesium removal device using laser ablation technique are studied, and the feasibility of the laser ablation method is shown. (author)

241-SY-101 air lance removal lessons learned

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, T.L.; Titzler, P.A.

1994-01-01

An emergency task was undertaken to remove four air lances and one thermocouple (TC) tree from tank 241-SY-101 (SY-101). This resulted from video observation that these pipes were being severely bent during periodic gas release events that regularly occurred every three to four months. At the time, the gas release events were considered to be the number one safety issue within the US Department of Energy (DOE) complex. This emergency removal task was undertaken on an extremely short schedule that required all activities possible to be completed in parallel. This approach and extremely short schedule, while successful, resulted in some undesirable consequences from less than desired time for design, reviews, equipment testing, operations training, and bad weather conditions. These consequences included leakage of liquid waste from the containers to the ground, higher than expected dose rates at the container surface, difficult field operations, and unexpected pipe configuration during removal. In addition, changes to environmental regulations and severe winter weather impacted the packaging and shipping activities required the prepare the removed pipes for storage at the Central Waste Complex (CWC). The purpose of this document is to identify lessons to be learned for future activities. In context of the emergency conditions that existed at the time and the urgency to remove these pipes, their removal was successfully completed under extremely difficult conditions and schedule. The success of the task should not be overshadowed by the desire to identify areas needing improvement and lessons to be learned. Many of the lessons identified in this document have already resulted in improved conduct of operations and engineering

A thermal insulation system intended for a prestressed concrete vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aubert, Gilles; Petit, Guy.

1975-01-01

The description is given of a thermal insulation system withstanding the pressure of a vaporisable fluid for a prestressed concrete vessel, particularly the vessel of a boiling water nuclear reactor. The ring in the lower part of the vessel has, between the fluid inlet pipes and the bottom of the vessel, an annular opening of which the bottom edge is integral with an annular part rising inside the ring and parallel to it. This ring is hermetically connected to the bottom of the vessel and is coated with a metal lagging, at least facing the annular opening. This annular opening is made in the ring half-way up between the fluid inlet pipes and the bottom of the vessel. It is connected to the bottom of the vessel through the internal structure enveloping the reactor core [fr

Analysis of gamma ray intensity on the S/C vent pipes area in the unit 2 reactor building of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Jai Wan; Choi, Young Soo; Jeong, Kyung Min [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

The robot is equipped with cameras, a dosimeter, and 2 DOF (degree of freedom) manipulation arms. It loads a small vehicle equipped with a camera that can access and inspect narrow areas. TEPCO is using the four-legged walking robot to inspect the suppression chamber (S/C) area of the unit 2 reactor building basement in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The robot carried out 6 missions for about four months, from 11 December, 2012 to 15 March, 2013, where it examined an evidence of a leakage of radioactivity contaminated water in the S/C area of unit 2 reactor building. When a camera's signal processing unit, which is consist of ASIC and FPGA devices manufactured by a CMOS fabrication process, is exposed to a higher dose rate gamma ray, the speckle distribution in the camera image increase more. From the inspection videos, released by TEPCO, of the underground 8 vent pipes in the unit 2 reactor building, we analyzed the speckle distribution from the high dose-rate gamma rays. Based on the distribution of the speckle, we attempted to characterize the vent pipe with much radioactivity contaminated materials among the eight vent pipes connected to the PCV. The numbers of speckles viewed in the image of a CCD (or CMOS) camera are related to an intensity of the gamma ray energy emitted by a nuclear fission reaction from radioactivity materials. The numbers of speckles generated by gamma ray irradiation in the camera image are calculated by an image processing technique. Therefore, calculating the speckles counts, we can determine the vent pipe with relatively most radioactivity-contaminated materials among the other vent pipes. From the comparison of speckles counts calculated in the inspection image of the vent pipe with the speckles counts extracted by gamma ray irradiation experiment of the same small vehicle camera model loaded with the four-legged walking robot, we can qualitatively estimate the gamma ray dose-rate in the S/C vent pipe area of the

Rapid, long range inspection of chemical plant pipework using guided waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alleynel, D.N.; Pavlakovicl, B.; Lowel, M.J.S.; Cawley, P.

2002-01-01

Corrosion in pipe work is a major problem in the oil, chemical and other industries. Many pipes are insulated which means that even external corrosion cannot be seen without removing the insulation, which is prohibitively expensive. Particularly severe problems are encountered at road crossings where the pipe cannot be inspected without excavation. Ultrasonic guided waves in the pipe wall provide an attractive solution to this problem because they can be excited at one location on the pipe and will propagate many meters along the pipe returning echoes indicating the presence of corrosion or other pipe features. The technique has now been commercialized and this paper describes the results of an extensive set of field trials using the method, together with the results of systematic laboratory and theoretical investigations of the influence of defect depth and circumferential extent on the guided wave reflectivity. It is shown that propagation distances of over 25 meters in pipe diameters from 2 to 24 inch can be obtained using a dry coupled piezoelectric transducer system. The defect detection sensitivity is generally set to the removal of 10% of the cross-sectional area of the pipe at a single location, but it is often possible to find smaller defects if required. This technique was originally designed to work on pipes that were either uncoated or covered with, for example, epoxy paint. Recent tests have shown promising results with more attenuative coatings and these are discussed. The results show that the technique has wide application in pipe systems in the chemical and other industries. (author)

Robots accelerate into new roles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meieran, H.B.

1993-01-01

Although robotics and remote controlled devices have been employed in the nuclear industry for more than 30 years, the rate of their application is beginning to increase rapidly. The largest group of prospective robotic activities will be those supporting Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (ER and WM) programmes to be conducted at several of the US DoE's national laboratories and facilities. Robots can assist in: transferring hazardous radioactive chemicals from older into newer storage tanks; decontaminating and decommissioning hundreds of obsolete facilities and buildings; and determining the specific locations of buried wastes before removal. (Author)

Laboratory robotics systems at the Savannah River Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dyches, G.M.; Burkett, S.D.

1983-01-01

Many analytical chemistry methods normally used at the Savannah River site require repetitive procedures and handling of radioactive and other hazardous solutions. Robotics is being investigated as a method of reducing personnel fatigue and radiation exposure and also increasing product quality. Several applications of various commercially available robot systems are discussed involving cold (nonradioactive) and hot (radioactive) sample preparations and glovebox waste removal. Problems encountered in robot programming, parts fixturing, design of special robot hands and other support equipment, glovebox operation, and operator-system interaction are discussed. A typical robot system cost analysis for one application is given

A vacuum system for the thermal insulation of the SciFi distribution lines and manifolds

CERN Document Server

Joram, Christian

2017-01-01

This note describes some calculations and estimates for the layout, technology choice and performance of a vacuum system which shall ensure thermal insulation of the distribution lines and manifolds of the SiPM cooling system of the LHCb SciFi detector. We estimate the heat losses in concentric corrugated stainless steel pipes which leads to the conclusion that the pipes need to be evacuated to a pressure of about 1·10$^{-4}$ mbar. We then estimate the pumping conductance of the pipes and find that it will dominate over the effective pumping speed of any pump. We therefore conclude that a turbo molecular pump of small nominal pumping speed, which can easily achieve end pressures below 10$^{-5}$ mbar is adequate for this purpose. A preliminary layout of the vacuum system is being discussed at the end of the document.

Influence of pipe material and surfaces on sulfide related odor and corrosion in sewers.

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Asbjørn Haaning; Vollertsen, Jes; Jensen, Henriette Stokbro; Wium-Andersen, Tove; Hvitved-Jacobsen, Thorkild

2008-09-01

Hydrogen sulfide oxidation on sewer pipe surfaces was investigated in a pilot scale experimental setup. The experiments were aimed at replicating conditions in a gravity sewer located immediately downstream of a force main where sulfide related concrete corrosion and odor is often observed. During the experiments, hydrogen sulfide gas was injected intermittently into the headspace of partially filled concrete and plastic (PVC and HDPE) sewer pipes in concentrations of approximately 1,000 ppm(v). Between each injection, the hydrogen sulfide concentration was monitored while it decreased because of adsorption and subsequent oxidation on the pipe surfaces. The experiments showed that the rate of hydrogen sulfide oxidation was approximately two orders of magnitude faster on the concrete pipe surfaces than on the plastic pipe surfaces. Removal of the layer of reaction (corrosion) products from the concrete pipes was found to reduce the rate of hydrogen sulfide oxidation significantly. However, the rate of sulfide oxidation was restored to its background level within 10-20 days. A similar treatment had no observable effect on hydrogen sulfide removal in the plastic pipe reactors. The experimental results were used to model hydrogen sulfide oxidation under field conditions. This showed that the gas-phase hydrogen sulfide concentration in concrete sewers would typically amount to a few percent of the equilibrium concentration calculated from Henry's law. In the plastic pipe sewers, significantly higher concentrations were predicted because of the slower adsorption and oxidation kinetics on such surfaces.

Easy Reconfiguration of Modular Industrial Collaborative Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schou, Casper

2016-01-01

the production staff collaborating to perform common tasks. This change of environment imposes a much more dynamic lifecycle for the robot which consequently requires new ways of interacting. This thesis investigates how the changeover to a new task on a collaborative robot can be performed by the shop floor...... operators already working alongside the robot. To effectively perform this changeover, the operator must both reconfigure the hardware of the robot and reprogram the robot to match the new task. To enable shop floor operators to quickly and intuitively program the robot, this thesis proposes the use...... of parametric, task-related robot skills with a manual parameterization method. Reconfiguring the hardware entails adding, removing, or modifying some of the robot’s components. This thesis investigate how software configurator tools can aid the operator in selecting appropriate hardware modules, and how agent...

Refurbishment of the IEAR1 primary coolant system piping supports

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fainer, Gerson; Faloppa, Altair A.; Oliveira, Carlos A. de; Mattar Neto, Miguel

2015-01-01

A partial replacement of the IEA-R1 piping system was concluded in 2014. This paper presents the study and the structural analysis of the IEA-R1 primary circuit piping supports, considering all the changes involved in the replacement. The IEA-R1 is a nuclear reactor for research purposes designed by Babcox-Willcox that is operated by IPEN since 1957. The reactor life management and modernization program is being conducted for the last two decades and already resulted in a series of changes, especially on the reactor coolant system. This set of components, divided in primary and secondary circuit, is responsible for the circulation of water into the core to remove heat. In the ageing management program that includes regular inspection, some degradation was observed in the primary piping system. As result, the renewing of the piping system was conducted in 2014. Moreover the poor condition of some original piping supports gave rise to the refurbishment of all piping supports. The aim of the present work is to review the design of the primary system piping supports taking into account the current conditions after the changes and refurbishment. (author)

Pure robotic retrocaval ureter repair

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashok k. Hemal

2008-12-01

Full Text Available PURPOSE: To demonstrate the feasibility of pure robotic retrocaval ureter repair. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 33 year old female presented with right loin pain and obstruction on intravenous urography with the classical "fish-hook" appearance. She was counseled on the various methods of repair and elected to have a robot assisted repair. The following steps are performed during a pure robotic retrocaval ureter repair. The patient is placed in a modified flank position, pneumoperitoneum created and ports inserted. The colon is mobilized to expose the retroperitoneal structures: inferior vena cava, right gonadal vein, right ureter, and duodenum. The renal pelvis and ureter are mobilized and the renal pelvis transected. The ureter is transposed anterior to the inferior vena cava and a pyelopyelostomy is performed over a JJ stent. RESULTS: This patient was discharged on postoperative day 3. The catheter and drain tube were removed on day 1. Her JJ stent was removed at 6 weeks postoperatively. The postoperative intravenous urography at 3 months confirmed normal drainage of contrast medium. CONCLUSION: Pure robotic retrocaval ureter is a feasible procedure; however, there does not appear to be any great advantage over pure laparoscopy, apart from the ergonomic ease for the surgeon as well the simpler intracorporeal suturing.

Electric drive motors for industrial robots

Science.gov (United States)

Fichtner, K.

1985-04-01

In robotized industrial plants it is possible to use electric motors in the technological process and also for control, assembly, transport, testing, and measurements. Particularly suitable for these applications are permanent-magnet d.c. motors. A new special series was developed for industrial robots with hinge joints in kinematic pairs. The complete drive includes thyristors or transistor controls with regulators and, if necessary, a line transformer as well as a servomotor with tachometer and odometer for speed, current, and position control. The drive is coupled to a robot tong through mechanical torque and force converters. In addition to a 0 to 4000 rpm speed regulation, without wobble at low speeds, and a high torque-to-weight ratio for repetitive short-time heavy duty, these low-inertia motors develop high starting and accelerating torques over the entire speed range. They operate from a 1 to O 220 V a.c. line through a rectifier. The motors are totally enclosed, or of open construction for better ventilation. Their windings have class F insulation for operation at ambient temperatures up to 40 C.

Pressurized Hybrid Heat Pipe for Passive IN-Core Cooling System (PINCs) in Advanced Nuclear Power Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Kyung Mo; Bang, In Cheol [Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

The representative operating limit of the thermosyphon heat pipe is flooding limit that arises from the countercurrent flow of vapor and liquid. The effect of difference between wetted perimeter and heated perimeter on the flooding limit of the thermosyphons has not been studied; despite the effect of cross-sectional area of the vapor path on the heat transfer characteristics of thermosyphons have been studied. Additionally, the hybrid heat pipe must operate at the high temperature and high pressure environment because it will be inserted to the active core to remove the decay heat. However, the previously studied heat pipes operated below the atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the effect of the unique geometry for hybrid heat pipe and operating pressure on the heat transfer characteristics including the flooding limit of hybrid heat pipe was experimentally measured. Hybrid heat pipe as a new conceptual decay heat removal device was proposed. For the development of hybrid heat pipe operating at high temperature and high pressure conditions, the pressurized hybrid heat pipe was prepared and the thermal performances including operation limits of hybrid heat pipe were experimentally measured. Followings were obtained: (1) As operating pressure of the heat pipe increases, the evaporation heat transfer coefficient increases due to heat transfer with convective pool boiling mode. (2) Non-condensable gas charged in the test section for the pressurization lowered the condensation heat transfer by impeding the vapor flow to the condenser. (3) The deviations between experimentally measured flooding limits for hybrid heat pipes and the values from correlation for annular thermosyphon were observed.

Long-Range Untethered Real-Time Live Gas Main Robotic Inspection System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hagen Schempf; Daphne D' Zurko

2004-10-31

Under funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Northeast Gas Association (NGA), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) developed an untethered, wireless remote controlled inspection robot dubbed Explorer. The project entailed the design and prototyping of a wireless self-powered video-inspection robot capable of accessing live 6- and 8-inch diameter cast-iron and steel mains, while traversing turns and Ts and elbows under real-time control with live video feedback to an operator. The design is that of a segmented actively articulated and wheel-leg powered robot design, with fisheye imaging capability and self-powered battery storage and wireless real-time communication link. The prototype was functionally tested in an above ground pipe-network, in order to debug all mechanical, electrical and software subsystems, and develop the necessary deployment and retrieval, as well as obstacle-handling scripts. A pressurized natural gas test-section was used to certify it for operation in natural gas at up to 60 psig. Two subsequent live-main field-trials in both cast-iron and steel pipe, demonstrated its ability to be safely launched, operated and retrieved under real-world conditions. The system's ability to safely and repeatably exidrecover from angled and vertical launchers, traverse multi-thousand foot long pipe-sections, make T and varied-angle elbow-turns while wirelessly sending live video and handling command and control messages, was clearly demonstrated. Video-inspection was clearly shown to be a viable tool to understand the state of this critical buried infrastructure, irrespective of low- (cast-iron) or high-pressure (steel) conditions. This report covers the different aspects of specifications, requirements, design, prototyping, integration and testing and field-trialing of the Explorer platform.

A study on an autonomous pipeline maintenance robot, 5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuda, Toshio; Hosokai, Hidemi; Otsuka, Masashi.

1989-01-01

The path planning is very important for the pipeline maintenance robot because there are many obstacles on pipeline such as flanges and T-joints and others, and because pipelines are constructed as a connected network in a very complicated way. Furthermore the maintenance robot Mark III previously reported has the ability to transit from one pipe to another the path planner should consider. The expert system especially aimed for path planning, named PPES (Path Planning Expert System), is described in this paper. A human-operator has only to give some tasks to this system. This system automatically replies with the optimal path, which is based on the calculation of the task levels and list of some control commands. Task level is a criterion to determine one optimal path. It consists of the difference of potential energies, the static joint torques, velocity of the robot, step numbers of the grippers' or body's movement, which the robot requires. This system also has graphic illustrations, so that the operator can easily check and understand the plant map and the result of the path planning. (author)

Radiaton-resistant electrical insulation on the base of cement binders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Afanas'ev, V.V.; Korenevskij, V.V.; Pisachev, S.Yu.

1985-01-01

The problems of designing radiation-resistant electrical insulations on the base of BATs and Talum cements for the UNK magnets operating under constant and pulse modes are discussed. The data characterizing dielectrical ad physico-mechanical properties of 25 various compositions are given. Two variants of manufacturing coils are considered: solid and with the use of asbestos tape impregnated with aluminous cement solution. The data obtained testify to the fact that the advantages of insulation on Talum cement are raised radiation resistance, high strength (particularly compression strength), weak porosity, high elasticity modulus and high thermal conductivity. BATs cement insulation is characterized by high radiation resistance, absence of shrinkage, rather low elasticity modulus and high dielectrical characteristics under normal conditions. The qualities of the solid insulation variant are its high technological effectiveness and posibility to fill up the spaces of complex configuration. In case of using as solid insulation Talum cement, however special measures for moisture removal are required. The advantage of insulation on the base of the asbestos tape is its reliability. For complex configuration magnets, however to realize is such insulation somewhat difficult

Solid0Core Heat-Pipe Nuclear Batterly Type Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ehud Greenspan

2008-09-30

This project was devoted to a preliminary assessment of the feasibility of designing an Encapsulated Nuclear Heat Source (ENHS) reactor to have a solid core from which heat is removed by liquid-metal heat pipes (HP).

Studies on the characteristics of the separated type heat pipe system with non-condensible gas for the use of the passive decay heat removal in reactor systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, Takao; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Ohashi, Kazutaka; Hayakawa, Hitoshi; Yamada, Masao.

1995-01-01

This study is the fundamental research by experiments to aim at the development of the complete passive decay heat removal system on the modular reactor systems by the form of the separated type of heat pipe system utilizing the features of both the big latent heat for vaporization from water to steam and easy transportation characteristics. Special intention in our study on the fundamental experiments is to look for the effects in such a separated type of heat pipe system to introduce non-condensible gas such as nitrogen gas together with the working fluid of water. Many interesting findings have been obtained so far on the experiments for the variable conductance heat pipe characteristics from viewpoint of the actual application on the aim said above. This study has been carried out by the joint study between Tokai University and Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. and this paper is made up from the several papers presented so far at both the national and international symposiums under the name of joint study of the both bodies. (author)

How to get the best from robotic thoracic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Ricciardi, Sara; Zirafa, Carmelina Cristina; Davini, Federico; Melfi, Franca

2018-04-01

The application of Robotic technology in thoracic surgery has become widespread in the last decades. Thanks to its advanced features, the robotic system allows to perform a broad range of complex operations safely and in a comfortable way, with valuable advantages related to low invasiveness. Regarding lung tumours, several studies have shown the benefits of robotic surgery including lower blood loss and improved lymph node removal when compared with other minimally invasive techniques. Moreover, the robotic instruments allow to reach deep and narrow spaces permitting safe and precise removal of tumours located in remote areas, such as retrosternal and posterior mediastinal spaces with outstanding postoperative and oncological results. One controversial finding about the application of robotic system is its high capital and running costs. For this reason, a limited number of centres worldwide are able to employ this groundbreaking technology and there are limited possibilities for the trainees to acquire the necessary skills in robotic surgery. Therefore, a training programme based on three steps of learning, associated with a solid surgical background and a consistent operating activity, are required to obtain effective results. Putting this highest technological innovation in the hand of expert surgeons we can assure safe and effective procedures getting the best from robotic thoracic surgery.

Pipe-to-pipe impact program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alzheimer, J.M.; Bampton, M.C.C.; Friley, J.R.; Simonen, F.A.

1984-06-01

This report documents the tests and analyses performed as part of the Pipe-to-Pipe Impact (PTPI) Program at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory. This work was performed to assist the NRC in making licensing decisions regarding pipe-to-pipe impact events following postulated breaks in high energy fluid system piping. The report scope encompasses work conducted from the program's start through the completion of the initial hot oil tests. The test equipment, procedures, and results are described, as are analytic studies of failure potential and data correlation. Because the PTPI Program is only partially completed, the total significance of the current test results cannot yet be accurately assessed. Therefore, although trends in the data are discussed, final conclusions and recommendations will be possible only after the completion of the program, which is scheduled to end in FY 1984

Development of robot for light repairing work of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katayanagi, Hiroshi; Shoji, Yoshito; Tamura, Kimiyoshi; Yamashita, Shigeru.

1990-01-01

When leakage occurs in the primary cooling system and auxiliary machinery system of nuclear reactors, in order to limit the leakage to outside to minimum, and prevent the escalation to accidents and troubles, the retightening of valve glands, the repair of leakage at piping flanges and so on become necessary. For the labor saving and the reduction of radiation exposure of workers, the development of a robot which can carry out these repair works by remote operation has been performed from 1985 to 1989. At the time of the development, the working areas in nuclear power stations were surveyed, the objects of application were narrowed down, and the development of elementary technologies and job analysis were carried out, thereafter, a robot was manufactured for trial. Subsequently, it was confirmed by using the mock-up facilities that the robot can do remote repair. The robot for light repairing works which was developed is described in this report. The functional features of the robot, the course of its development and the results of the mock-up test are reported. Hereafter, the expansion of the range of repair works and to make the robot intelligent are intended to make it into a practical robot. (K.I.)

Performance Evaluation of the Concept of Hybrid Heat Pipe as Passive In-core Cooling Systems for Advanced Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Yeong Shin; Kim, Kyung Mo; Kim, In Guk; Bang, In Cheol

2015-01-01

As an arising issue for inherent safety of nuclear power plant, the concept of hybrid heat pipe as passive in-core cooling systems was introduced. Hybrid heat pipe has unique features that it is inserted in core directly to remove decay heat from nuclear fuel without any changes of structures of existing facilities of nuclear power plant, substituting conventional control rod. Hybrid heat pipe consists of metal cladding, working fluid, wick structure, and neutron absorber. Same with working principle of the heat pipe, heat is transported by phase change of working fluid inside metal cask. Figure 1 shows the systematic design of the hybrid heat pipe cooling system. In this study, the concept of a hybrid heat pipe was introduced as a Passive IN-core Cooling Systems (PINCs) and demonstrated for internal design features of heat pipe containing neutron absorber. Using a commercial CFD code, single hybrid heat pipe model was analyzed to evaluate thermal performance in designated operating condition. Also, 1-dimensional reactor transient analysis was done by calculating temperature change of the coolant inside reactor pressure vessel using MATLAB. As a passive decay heat removal device, hybrid heat pipe was suggested with a concept of combination of heat pipe and control rod. Hybrid heat pipe has distinct feature that it can be a unique solution to cool the reactor when depressurization process is impossible so that refueling water cannot be injected into RPV by conventional ECCS. It contains neutron absorber material inside heat pipe, so it can stop the reactor and at the same time, remove decay heat in core. For evaluating the concept of hybrid heat pipe, its thermal performance was analyzed using CFD and one-dimensional transient analysis. From single hybrid heat pipe simulation, the hybrid heat pipe can transport heat from the core inside to outside about 18.20 kW, and total thermal resistance of hybrid heat pipe is 0.015 .deg. C/W. Due to unique features of long heat

Remote-Controlled Inspection Robot for Nuclear Facilities in Underwater Environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yasuhiro Miwa; Syuichi Satoh; Naoya Hirose

2002-01-01

A remote-controlled inspection robot for nuclear facilities was developed. This is a underwater robot technology combined with inspection and flaw removal technologies. This report will describe the structure and performance of this robot. The inspection robot consists of two parts. The one is driving equipment, and the other is inspection and grinding units. It can swim in the tank, move around the tank wall, and stay on the inspection area. After that it starts inspection and flaw removal with a special grinding wheel. This technology had been developed to inspect some Radioactive Waste (RW) tanks in operating nuclear power plants. There are many RW tanks in these plants, which human workers can be hard to access because of a high level dose. This technology is too useful for inspection works of human-inaccessible areas. And also, in conventional inspection process, some worker go into the tank and set up scaffolding after full drainage and decontamination. It spends too much time for these preparations. If tank inspection and flaw removal can be performed in underwater, the outage period will be reduced. Remote-controlled process can be performed in underwater. This is the great advantage for plant owners. Since 1999 we have been applying this inspection robot to operating nuclear 11 facilities in Japan. (authors)

Thin-plate-type embedded ultrasonic transducer based on magnetostriction for the thickness monitoring of the secondary piping system of a nuclear power plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heo, Tae Hoon; Cho, Seung Hyun [Center for Safety Measurement, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-12-15

Pipe wall thinning in the secondary piping system of a nuclear power plant is currently a major problem that typically affects the safety and reliability of the nuclear power plant directly. Regular in-service inspections are carried out to manage the piping system only during the overhaul. Online thickness monitoring is necessary to avoid abrupt breakage due to wall thinning. To this end, a transducer that can withstand a high-temperature environment and should be installed under the insulation layer. We propose a thin plate type of embedded ultrasonic transducer based on magnetostriction. The transducer was designed and fabricated to measure the thickness of a pipe under a high-temperature condition. A number of experimental results confirmed the validity of the present transducer.

A study on ultrasonic inspection of long steel pipes using lamb waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Moon Ho

1996-02-01

An ultrasonic inspection technique with use of Lamb waves was evaluated to detect and determine the exact location of flaws present in long steel pipes. Since multiple modes of Lamb waves are generated in the inspected pipes due to their dispersive characteristics, selection of a specific Lamb wave mode is very important for inspection of flaws. Experimental studies of flaw detectability with use of each Lamb wave mode, namely, A 0 , S 0 , A 1 , and S 1 mode and their ultrasonic attenuation characteristics were conducted. Experimental results showed that A 0 mode is the most effective for detection and exact determination of the location of flaws. A lucite wedge containing water column that generates the A 0 Lamb wave mode was developed and used in the present inspection study. It was found that the ultrasonic beam divergence after its wrapping around once the inspected pipe interferes with exact determination of the location of flaws and that maximum reflection signals are obtained when the transducer is located axially offset from the straight line with the position of the flaw. The present study showed feasibility of ultrasonic inspection with use of Lamb waves for detection of flaws in several meters long insulated or inaccessible steel pipes

Adaptive heterogeneous multi-robot teams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parker, L.E.

1998-11-01

This research addresses the problem of achieving fault tolerant cooperation within small- to medium-sized teams of heterogeneous mobile robots. The author describes a novel behavior-based, fully distributed architecture, called ALLIANCE, that utilizes adaptive action selection to achieve fault tolerant cooperative control in robot missions involving loosely coupled, largely independent tasks. The robots in this architecture possess a variety of high-level functions that they can perform during a mission, and must at all times select an appropriate action based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and their own internal states. Since such cooperative teams often work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, the software architecture allows the team members to respond robustly and reliably to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. After presenting ALLIANCE, the author describes in detail the experimental results of an implementation of this architecture on a team of physical mobile robots performing a cooperative box pushing demonstration. These experiments illustrate the ability of ALLIANCE to achieve adaptive, fault-tolerant cooperative control amidst dynamic changes in the capabilities of the robot team.

Robotics at Savannah River site: activity report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byrd, J.S.

1984-09-01

The objectives of the Robotics Technology Group at the Savannah River Laboratory are to employ modern industrial robots and to develop unique automation and robotic systems to enhance process operations at the Savannah River site (SRP and SRL). The incentives are to improve safety, reduce personnel radiation exposure, improve product quality and productivity, and to reduce operating costs. During the past year robotic systems have been installed to fill chemical dilution vials in a SRP laboratory at 772-F and remove radioactive waste materials in the SRL Californium Production Facility at 773-A. A robotic system to lubricate an extrusion press has been developed and demonstrated in the SRL robotics laboratory and is scheduled for installation at the 321-M fuel fabrication area. A mobile robot was employed by SRP for a radiation monitoring task at a waste tank top in H-Area. Several other robots are installed in the SRL robotics laboratories and application development programs are underway. The status of these applications is presented in this report

Fabrication of high gradient insulators by stack compression

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, John Richardson; Sanders, Dave; Hawkins, Steven Anthony; Norona, Marcelo

2014-04-29

Individual layers of a high gradient insulator (HGI) are first pre-cut to their final dimensions. The pre-cut layers are then stacked to form an assembly that is subsequently pressed into an HGI unit with the desired dimension. The individual layers are stacked, and alignment is maintained, using a sacrificial alignment tube that is removed after the stack is hot pressed. The HGI's are used as high voltage vacuum insulators in energy storage and transmission structures or devices, e.g. in particle accelerators and pulsed power systems.

Development of robots for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Masayoshi

1982-01-01

In nuclear power plants, the reduction of maintenance time, the reduction of radiation exposure and man-power saving are increasingly required. To achieve these purposes, various remote-controlled devices, such as robots in a broad sense, have been earnestly developed. Of these, three machines for replacing, four devices for inspection, two systems for cleaning, and two equipment for processing are tabulated in this paper. Typical eight machines or equipment are briefly introduced, mainly describing their features or characteristics. Those are: a remotely handling machine for control rod drive mechanism, an automatic refueling machine, an automatic ultrasonic flaw detection system replacing for a manually operated testing system for the welded parts of primary cooling system, an automatic cask washing machine for decontamination, a floor-type remote inspection vehicle for various devices operating inside power plants, a monorail-type remote inspection vehicle for inspection in spaces where floor space is short, and a remote-controlled automatic pipe welding machine for welding operations in a radioactive environment such as replacing the piping of primary cooling system. Most of these devices serves for radiation exposure reduction at the same time. Existing nuclear power plant design assumes direct manual maintenance, which limits the introduction of robots. Future nuclear power plants should be designed on the assumption of automatic remote-controlled tools and devices being used in maintenance work. (Wakatsuki, Y.)

An Innovative Use of Renewable Ground Heat for Insulation in Low Exergy Building Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hansjürg Leibundgut

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Ground heat is a renewable resource that is readily available for buildings in cool climates, but its relatively low temperature requires the use of a heat pump to extract it for heating. We developed a system that uses low temperature ground heat directly in a building wall to reduce transmission heat losses. The Active Low Exergy Geothermal Insulation Systems (ALEGIS minimizes exergy demand and maximizes the use of renewable geothermal heat from the ground. A fluid is pumped into a small pipe network in an external layer of a wall construction that is linked to a ground heat source. This decouples the building from the outside temperature, therefore eliminating large peak demands and reducing the primary energy demand. Our steady-state analysis shows that at a design temperature of −10 °C the 6 cm thick active insulation system has equivalent performance to 11 cm of passive insulation. Our comparison of heating performance of a building with our active insulation system versus a building with static insulation of the same thickness shows a 15% reduction in annual electricity demand, and thus exergy input. We present an overview of the operation and analysis of our low exergy concept and its modeled performance.

An Autonomous Robotic System for Mapping Weeds in Fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Karl Damkjær; Garcia Ruiz, Francisco Jose; Kazmi, Wajahat

2013-01-01

The ASETA project develops theory and methods for robotic agricultural systems. In ASETA, unmanned aircraft and unmanned ground vehicles are used to automate the task of identifying and removing weeds in sugar beet fields. The framework for a working automatic robotic weeding system is presented...

Robotic assisted radical prostatectomy: a different treatment for prostate cancer?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandre Den Julio

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Considering the Health Care System in Brazil, a developing country,and public healthcare policies, robotic surgery is a reality to veryfew citizens. Therefore, robotic assisted radical prostatectomy isfar removed from the daily practice of the vast majority of Brazilianurologists. Scientific evidence of the superiority of robotic assistedradical prostatectomy does not presently justify public investmentsfor widespread development of robotic centers. Maybe over timeand with reductions in costs, robotic technology will become amore established practice, as observed in other countries, and morefeasible for the Brazilian urological community.

Residual stress measurement in 304 stainless steel weld overlay pipes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yen, H.J.; Lin, M.C.C.; Chen, L.J.

1996-01-01

Welding overlay repair (WOR) is commonly employed to rebuild piping systems suffering from intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC). To understand the effects of this repair, it is necessary to investigate the distribution of residual stresses in the welding pipe. The overlay welding technique must induce compressive residual stress at the inner surface of the welded pipe to prevent IGSCC. To understand the bulk residual stress distribution, the stress profile as a function of location within wall is examined. In this study the full destructive residual stress measurement technique -- a cutting and sectioning method -- is used to determine the residual stress distribution. The sample is type 304 stainless steel weld overlay pipe with an outside diameter of 267 mm. A pipe segment is cut from the circular pipe; then a thin layer is removed axially from the inner to the outer surfaces until further sectioning is impractical. The total residual stress is calculated by adding the stress relieved by cutting the section away to the stress relieved by axially sectioning. The axial and hoop residual stresses are compressive at the inner surface of the weld overlay pipe. Compressive stress exists not only at the surface but is also distributed over most of the pipe's cross section. On the one hand, the maximum compressive hoop residual stress appears at the pipe's inner surface. The thermal-mechanical induced crack closure from significant compressive residual stress is discussed. This crack closure can thus prevent IGSCC very effectively

Hybrid heat pipe based passive cooling device for spent nuclear fuel dry storage cask

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Yeong Shin; Bang, In Cheol

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Hybrid heat pipe was presented as a passive cooling device for dry storage cask of SNF. • A method to utilize waste heat from spent fuel was suggested using hybrid heat pipe. • CFD analysis was performed to evaluate the thermal performance of hybrid heat pipe. • Hybrid heat pipe can increase safety margin and storage capacity of the dry storage cask. - Abstract: Conventional dry storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) were designed to remove decay heat through the natural convection of air, but this method has limited cooling capacity and a possible re-criticality accident in case of flooding. To enhance the safety and capacity of dry storage cask of SNF, hybrid heat pipe-based passive cooling device was suggested. Heat pipe is an excellent passive heat transfer device using the principles of both conduction and phase change of the working fluid. The heat pipe containing neutron absorber material, the so-called hybrid heat pipe, is expected to prevent the re-criticality accidents of SNF and to increase the safety margin during interim and long term storage period. Moreover, a hybrid heat pipe with thermoelectric module, a Stirling engine and a phase change material tank can be used for utilization of the waste heat as heat-transfer medium. Located at the guide tube or instrumentation tube, hybrid heat pipe can remove decay heat from inside the sealed metal cask to outside, decreasing fuel rod temperature. In this paper, a 2-step analysis was performed using computational fluid dynamics code to evaluate the heat and fluid flow inside a cask, which consisted of a single spent fuel assembly simulation and a full-scope dry cask simulation. For a normal dry storage cask, the maximum fuel temperature is 290.0 °C. With hybrid heat pipe cooling, the temperature decreased to 261.6 °C with application of one hybrid heat pipe per assembly, and to 195.1 °C with the application of five hybrid heat pipes per assembly. Therefore, a dry

Robotic applications at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griebenow, B.E.; Marts, D.J.

1990-01-01

The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) has several programs and projected programs that involve work in hazardous environments. Robotics/remote handling technology is being considered for an active role in these programs. The most appealing aspect of using robotics is in the area of personnel safety. Any task requiring an individual to enter a hazardous or potentially hazardous environment can benefit substantially from robotics by removing the operator from the environment and having him conduct the work remotely. Several INEL programs were evaluated based on their applications for robotics and the results and some conclusions are discussed in this paper. 1 fig

Monitoring of Defects in a Pipe Weld by a Comparison of Magnetostrictive Guided Wave Signals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheong, Yong-Moo; Oh, Se-Beom; Lee, Duck-Hyun

2016-01-01

In this study a computer program for an accurate comparison and subtraction of guided wave signals were developed. The program contains an algorithm for calibration with the flight time and phases of ultrasonic signals in the time domain. Once the reference signals were acquired at the beginning of the monitoring, the signals can be compared to the reference. The signals due to the geometry can be eliminated clearly and an evolution of defect in a pipe can be monitored accurately. In order to improve the detectability and solve the problems of the guided wave methods, a magnetostrictive guided wave sensor technique was proposed. Because the waveforms by the magnetostrictive sensors are quite clear and repeatable, it is possible to detect the defects at the weld regions or even monitor the small variations of the defects after a permanent installation of the magnetostrictive strip sensors. In order to eliminate the signals from the geometry, such as weld, pipe support, branch connection, a computer algorithm and program were developed. A notch with 1.5% of CSA of the pipe can be detected with increased accuracy. The guided wave monitoring technique developed in this study can be a promising tool for inspection of the pipe with limited accessibility, such as insulated or buried pipe

Monitoring of Defects in a Pipe Weld by a Comparison of Magnetostrictive Guided Wave Signals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheong, Yong-Moo; Oh, Se-Beom; Lee, Duck-Hyun [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

In this study a computer program for an accurate comparison and subtraction of guided wave signals were developed. The program contains an algorithm for calibration with the flight time and phases of ultrasonic signals in the time domain. Once the reference signals were acquired at the beginning of the monitoring, the signals can be compared to the reference. The signals due to the geometry can be eliminated clearly and an evolution of defect in a pipe can be monitored accurately. In order to improve the detectability and solve the problems of the guided wave methods, a magnetostrictive guided wave sensor technique was proposed. Because the waveforms by the magnetostrictive sensors are quite clear and repeatable, it is possible to detect the defects at the weld regions or even monitor the small variations of the defects after a permanent installation of the magnetostrictive strip sensors. In order to eliminate the signals from the geometry, such as weld, pipe support, branch connection, a computer algorithm and program were developed. A notch with 1.5% of CSA of the pipe can be detected with increased accuracy. The guided wave monitoring technique developed in this study can be a promising tool for inspection of the pipe with limited accessibility, such as insulated or buried pipe.

Pipe whip: a summary of the damage observed in BNL pipe-on-pipe impact tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baum, M.R.

1987-01-01

This paper describes examples of the damage resulting from the impact of a whipping pipe on a nearby pressurised pipe. The work is a by-product of a study of the motion of a whipping pipe. The tests were conducted with small-diameter pipes mounted in rigid supports and hence the results are not directly applicable to large-scale plant applications where flexible support mountings are employed. The results illustrate the influence of whipping pipe energy, impact position and support type on the damage sustained by the target pipe. (author)

Removal of unwanted fluid

Science.gov (United States)

Subudhi, Sudhakar; Sreenivas, K. R.; Arakeri, Jaywant H.

2013-01-01

This work is concerned with the removal of unwanted fluid through the source-sink pair. The source consists of fluid issuing out of a nozzle in the form of a jet and the sink is a pipe that is kept some distance from the source pipe. Of concern is the percentage of source fluid sucked through the sink. The experiments have been carried in a large glass water tank. The source nozzle diameter is 6 mm and the sink pipe diameter is either 10 or 20 mm. The horizontal and vertical separations and angles between these source and sink pipes are adjustable. The flow was visualized using KMnO4 dye, planer laser induced fluorescence and particle streak photographs. To obtain the effectiveness (that is percentage of source fluid entering the sink pipe), titration method is used. The velocity profiles with and without the sink were obtained using particle image velocimetry. The sink flow rate to obtain a certain effectiveness increase dramatically with lateral separation. The sink diameter and the angle between source and the sink axes don't influence effectiveness as much as the lateral separation.

Heat pipe cooling system for underground, radioactive waste storage tanks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooper, K.C.; Prenger, F.C.

1980-02-01

An array of 37 heat pipes inserted through the central hole at the top of a radioactive waste storage tank will remove 100,000 Btu/h with a heat sink of 70 0 F atmospheric air. Heat transfer inside the tank to the heat pipe is by natural convection. Heat rejection to outside air utilizes a blower to force air past the heat pipe condenser. The heat pipe evaporator section is axially finned, and is constructed of stainless steel. The working fluid is ammonia. The finned pipes are individually shrouded and extend 35 ft down into the tank air space. The hot tank air enters the shroud at the top of the tank and flows downward as it is cooled, with the resulting increased density furnishing the pressure difference for circulation. The cooled air discharges at the center of the tank above the sludge surface, flows radially outward, and picks up heat from the radioactive sludge. At the tank wall the heated air rises and then flows inward to comple the cycle

Comparison and evaluation of flexible and stiff piping systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahn, W.; Tang, H.T.; Tang, Y.K.

1983-01-01

An experimental and numerical study was performed on a piping system, with various support configurations, to assess the difference in piping response for flexible and stiff piping systems. Questions have arisen concerning a basic design philosophy employed in present day piping designs. One basic question is, the reliability of a flexible piping system greater than that of a stiff piping system by virtue of the fact that a flexible system has fewer snubber supports. With fewer snubbers, the pipe is less susceptible to inadvertent thermal stresses introduced by snubber malfunction during normal operation. In addition to the technical issue, the matter of cost savings in flexible piping system design is a significant one. The costs associated with construction, in-service inspection and maintenance are all significantly reduced by reducing the number of snubber supports. The evaluation study, sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute, was performed on a boiler feedwater line at Consolidated Edison's Indian Point Unit 1. In this study, the boiler feedwater line was tested and analyzed with two fundamentally different support systems. The first system was very flexible, employing rod and spring hangers, and represented the 'old' design philosophy. The pipe system was very flexible with this support system, due to the long pipe span lengths between supports and the fact that there was only one lateral support. This support did not provide much restraint since it was near an anchor. The second system employed strut and snubber supports and represented the 'modern' design philosophy. The pipe system was relatively stiff with this support system, primarily due to the increased number of supports, including lateral supports, thereby reducing the pipe span lengths between supports. The second support system was designed with removable supports to facilitate interchange of the supports with different support types (i.e., struts, mechanical snubbers and hydraulic

Round dance in pipes; Runddans i roer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steensen, Anders J.

2004-07-01

On the offshore production plants, oil, water, and gas are separated from the well streams. The oil is sold on the market while the gas is in part exported, in part reinjected into the wells in large quantities to sustain the pressure in the reservoirs. The water is cleaned, some is pumped to the sea and some returned to the reservoir. Although these processes may seem straightforward, they cause a great deal of worry since there are so many complex processing and pipe systems taking up space. Pipes vibrate and make noise, most often because of pressure fluctuations created by the flowing liquid and gas. Or vortices form inside the pipe that make the whole pipe drone. In the offshore activities, these phenomena can be very annoying; on the Statfjord B platform people baulked at entering the area where the produced water treatment system was standing. A new system had to be developed since existing equipment would take up too much space. In the new system, a pipe section is installed in the pipeline that makes the gas/liquid mixture spin rapidly as in a centrifuge. The gas collects along the centre of the pipe and is tapped off. The principle can also be used to separate liquid from gas. In many gas treatment systems, liquid accumulation, or carry over, is detrimental. But gas dehydrators are usually dimensioned for a minimal content of liquid in the gas. Important features of these new pipe-based separators are that they are small, remove bottlenecks in the production, and are straightforward to install. But operators who live with the problems every day are very sceptical about the new separators and should be given the opportunity to test them on land before they are installed in the field.

Pipe clamp effects on thin-walled pipe design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindquist, M.R.

1980-01-01

Clamp induced stresses in FFTF piping are sufficiently large to require structural assessment. The basic principles and procedures used in analyzing FFTF piping at clamp support locations for compliance with ASME Code rules are given. Typical results from a three-dimensional shell finite element pipe model with clamp loads applied over the clamp/pipe contact area are shown. Analyses performed to categorize clamp induced piping loads as primary or secondary in nature are described. The ELCLAMP Computer Code, which performs analyses at clamp locations combining clamp induced stresses with stresses from overall piping system loads, is discussed. Grouping and enveloping methods to reduce the number of individual clamp locations requiring analysis are described

Characteristics on the heat storage and recovery by the underground spiral heat exchange pipe; Chichu maisetsu spiral kan ni yoru chikunetsu shunetsu tokusei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Imai, I [Kure National College of Technology, Hiroshima (Japan); Taga, M [Kinki University, Osaka (Japan)

1996-10-27

The consistency between the experimental value of a soil temperature and the calculation value of a soil temperature given by a non-steady heat conduction equation was confirmed. The experimental value is obtained by laying a spiral heat exchange pipe in the heat-insulated soil box and circulating hot water forcibly in the pipe. The temperature conductivity in soil significantly influences the heat transfer in soil. The storage performance is improved when the temperature conductivity increases because of the contained moisture. As the difference between the initial soil temperature and circulating water temperature becomes greater, the heat storage and recovery values increase. A thermal core heat transfer is done in the spiral pipe. Therefore, the diameter of the pipe little influences the heat storage performance, and the pitch influences largely. About 50 hours after heat is stored, the storage performance is almost the same as for a straight pipe that uses the spiral diameter as a pipe diameter. To obtain the same heat storage value, the spiral pipe is made of fewer materials than the straight pipe and low in price. The spiral pipe is more advantageous than the straight pipe in the necessary motive power and supply heat of a pump. 1 ref., 11 figs., 1 tab.

Applicability of Related Data, Algorithms, and Models to the Simulation of Ground-Coupled Residential Hot Water Piping in California

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warner, J.L.; Lutz, J.D.

2006-01-01

Residential water heating is an important consideration in California?s building energy efficiency standard. Explicit treatment of ground-coupled hot water piping is one of several planned improvements to the standard. The properties of water, piping, insulation, backfill materials, concrete slabs, and soil, their interactions, and their variations with temperature and over time are important considerations in the required supporting analysis. Heat transfer algorithms and models devised for generalized, hot water distribution system, ground-source heat pump and ground heat exchanger, nuclear waste repository, buried oil pipeline, and underground electricity transmission cable applications can be adapted to the simulation of under-slab water piping. A numerical model that permits detailed examination of and broad variations in many inputs while employing a technique to conserve computer run time is recommended.

The French A.E.C. nuclear robotic program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foult, T.

1991-01-01

The new French nuclear robotic program launched by the CEA was started at the beginning of 1988 for the duration of two years and with the total subsidy of about 130 million French franc. This program includes the following four steps: the definition of model missions dedicated to inspection and intervention in nuclear environment, the system analysis to define the systems, functions and specifications required to perform these model missions, the technological development required to achieve these systems, and the design of demonstration models with the partial integration of the above developments. The whole program including these four steps is called SYROCO (modular SYstem for RObots COoperating in radioactive environment). The repair of leak in a pipe in a reprocessing cell, the model mission in a PWR nuclear power plant, autonomous load bearing mobile robots, squirrel concept light modular carrier concept, radiation hardening, mechanic, perception of environment, communication, control and simulation and the demonstration models are described. SHERPA project, perception management, force controlled manipulator, squirrel project, light modular carrier, processes and NAB model mission simulation are particularly mentioned

Seismic Design of ITER Component Cooling Water System-1 Piping

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Aditya P.; Jadhav, Mahesh; Sharma, Lalit K.; Gupta, Dinesh K.; Patel, Nirav; Ranjan, Rakesh; Gohil, Guman; Patel, Hiren; Dangi, Jinendra; Kumar, Mohit; Kumar, A. G. A.

2017-04-01

The successful performance of ITER machine very much depends upon the effective removal of heat from the in-vessel components and other auxiliary systems during Tokamak operation. This objective will be accomplished by the design of an effective Cooling Water System (CWS). The optimized piping layout design is an important element in CWS design and is one of the major design challenges owing to the factors of large thermal expansion and seismic accelerations; considering safety, accessibility and maintainability aspects. An important sub-system of ITER CWS, Component Cooling Water System-1 (CCWS-1) has very large diameter of pipes up to DN1600 with many intersections to fulfill the process flow requirements of clients for heat removal. Pipe intersection is the weakest link in the layout due to high stress intensification factor. CCWS-1 piping up to secondary confinement isolation valves as well as in-between these isolation valves need to survive a Seismic Level-2 (SL-2) earthquake during the Tokamak operation period to ensure structural stability of the system in the Safe Shutdown Earthquake (SSE) event. This paper presents the design, qualification and optimization of layout of ITER CCWS-1 loop to withstand SSE event combined with sustained and thermal loads as per the load combinations defined by ITER and allowable limits as per ASME B31.3, This paper also highlights the Modal and Response Spectrum Analyses done to find out the natural frequency and system behavior during the seismic event.

Design and testing of a model CELSS chamber robot

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Mark; Dezego, Shawn; Jones, Kinzy; Kewley, Christopher; Langlais, Mike; McCarthy, John; Penny, Damon; Bonner, Tom; Funderburke, C. Ashley; Hailey, Ruth

1994-08-01

A robot system for use in an enclosed environment was designed and tested. The conceptual design will be used to assist in research performed by the Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) project. Design specifications include maximum load capacity, operation at specified environmental conditions, low maintenance, and safety. The robot system must not be hazardous to the sealed environment, and be capable of stowing and deploying within a minimum area of the CELSS chamber facility. This design consists of a telescoping robot arm that slides vertically on a shaft positioned in the center of the CELSS chamber. The telescoping robot arm consists of a series of links which can be fully extended to a length equal to the radius of the working envelope of the CELSS chamber. The vertical motion of the robot arm is achieved through the use of a combination ball screw/ball spline actuator system. The robot arm rotates cylindrically about the vertical axis through use of a turntable bearing attached to a central mounting structure fitted to the actuator shaft. The shaft is installed in an overhead rail system allowing the entire structure to be stowed and deployed within the CELSS chamber. The overhead rail system is located above the chamber's upper lamps and extends to the center of the CELSS chamber. The mounting interface of the actuator shaft and rail system allows the entire actuator shaft to be detached and removed from the CELSS chamber. When the actuator shaft is deployed, it is held fixed at the bottom of the chamber by placing a square knob on the bottom of the shaft into a recessed square fitting in the bottom of the chamber floor. A support boot ensures the rigidity of the shaft. Three student teams combined into one group designed a model of the CELSS chamber robot that they could build. They investigated materials, availability, and strength in their design. After the model arm and stand were built, the class performed pre-tests on the entire system

Robotic-assisted transoral removal of a bilateral floor of mouth ranulas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stromeyer Frederick W

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objective To describe the management of bilateral oral ranulas with the use of the da Vinci Si Surgical System and discuss advantages and disadvantages over traditional transoral resection. Study Design Case Report and Review of Literature. Results A 47 year old woman presented to our service with an obvious right floor of mouth swelling. Clinical evaluation and computerized tomography scan confirmed a large floor of mouth ranula on the right and an incidental asymptomatic early ranula of the left sublingual gland. After obtaining an informed consent, the patient underwent a right transoral robotic-assisted transoral excision of the ranula and sublingual gland with identification and dissection of the submandibular duct and lingual nerve. The patient had an excellent outcome with no evidence of lingual nerve paresis and a return to oral intake on the first postoperative day. Subsequently, the patient underwent an elective transoral robotic-assisted excision of the incidental ranula on the left sublingual gland. Conclusion We describe the first robotic-assisted excision of bilateral oral ranulas in current literature. The use of the da Vinci system provides excellent visualization, magnification, and dexterity for transoral surgical management of ranulas with preservation of the lingual nerve and Wharton's duct with good functional outcomes. However, the use of the robotic system for anterior floor of mouth surgery in terms of improved surgical outcomes as compared to traditional transoral surgery, long-term recurrence rates, and cost effectiveness needs further validation.

Solar chemical heat pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levy, M.; Levitan, R.; Rosin, H.; Rubin, R.

1991-08-01

The performance of a solar chemical heat pipe was studied using CO 2 reforming of methane as a vehicle for storage and transport of solar energy. The endothermic reforming reaction was carried out in an Inconel reactor, packed with a Rh catalyst. The reactor was suspended in an insulated box receiver which was placed in the focal plane of the Schaeffer Solar Furnace of the Weizman Institute of Science. The exothermic methanation reaction was run in a 6-stage adiabatic reactor filled with the same Rh catalyst. Conversions of over 80% were achieved for both reactions. In the closed loop mode the products from the reformer and from the metanator were compressed into separate storage tanks. The two reactions were run either separately or 'on-line'. The complete process was repeated for over 60 cycles. The overall performance of the closed loop was quite satisfactory and scale-up work is in progress in the Solar Tower. (authors). 35 refs., 2 figs

Automatic Battery Swap System for Home Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Wu

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the design and implementation of an automatic battery swap system for the prolonged activities of home robots. A battery swap station is proposed to implement battery off-line recharging and on-line exchanging functions. It consists of a loading and unloading mechanism, a shifting mechanism, a locking device and a shell. The home robot is a palm-sized wheeled robot with an onboard camera and a removable battery case in the front. It communicates with the battery swap station wirelessly through ZigBee. The influences of battery case deflection and robot docking deflection on the battery swap operations have been investigated. The experimental results show that it takes an average time of 84.2s to complete the battery swap operations. The home robot does not have to wait several hours for the batteries to be fully charged. The proposed battery swap system is proved to be efficient in home robot applications that need the robots to work continuously over a long period.

A Vision-Based Wireless Charging System for Robot Trophallaxis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jae-O Kim

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The need to recharge the batteries of a mobile robot has presented an important challenge for a long time. In this paper, a vision-based wireless charging method for robot energy trophallaxis between two robots is presented. Even though wireless power transmission allows more positional error between receiver-transmitter coils than with a contact-type charging system, both coils have to be aligned as accurately as possible for efficient power transfer. To align the coils, a transmitter robot recognizes the coarse pose of a receiver robot via a camera image and the ambiguity of the estimated pose is removed with a Bayesian estimator. The precise pose of the receiver coil is calculated using a marker image attached to a receiver robot. Experiments with several types of receiver robots have been conducted to verify the proposed method.

Summary of Activities for Nondestructive Evaluation of Insulation in Cryogenic Tanks

Science.gov (United States)

Arens, Ellen

2012-01-01

This project was undertaken to investigate methods to non-intrusively determine the existence and density of perlite insulation in the annular region of the cryogenic storage vessels, specifically considering the Launch Complex 39 hydrogen tanks at Kennedy Space Center. Lack of insulation in the tanks (as existed in the pad B hydrogen tank at Kennedy Space Center) results in an excessive loss of commodity and can pose operational and safety risks if precautions are not taken to relieve the excessive gas build-up. Insulation with a density that is higher than normal (due to settling or compaction) may also pose an operational and safety risk if the insulation prevents the system from moving and responding to expansions and contractions as fluid is removed and added to the tank.

Design of megawatt power level heat pipe reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mcclure, Patrick Ray [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Poston, David Irvin [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Dasari, Venkateswara Rao [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Reid, Robert Stowers [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-11-12

An important niche for nuclear energy is the need for power at remote locations removed from a reliable electrical grid. Nuclear energy has potential applications at strategic defense locations, theaters of battle, remote communities, and emergency locations. With proper safeguards, a 1 to 10-MWe (megawatt electric) mobile reactor system could provide robust, self-contained, and long-term power in any environment. Heat pipe-cooled fast-spectrum nuclear reactors have been identified as a candidate for these applications. Heat pipe reactors, using alkali metal heat pipes, are perfectly suited for mobile applications because their nature is inherently simpler, smaller, and more reliable than “traditional” reactors. The goal of this project was to develop a scalable conceptual design for a compact reactor and to identify scaling issues for compact heat pipe cooled reactors in general. Toward this goal two detailed concepts were developed, the first concept with more conventional materials and a power of about 2 MWe and a the second concept with less conventional materials and a power level of about 5 MWe. A series of more qualitative advanced designs were developed (with less detail) that show power levels can be pushed to approximately 30 MWe.

Sodium heat pipe module test for the SAFE-30 reactor prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reid, Robert S.; Sena, J. Tom; Martinez, Adam L.

2001-01-01

Reliable, long-life, low-cost heat pipes can enable safe, affordable space fission power and propulsion systems. Advanced versions of these systems can in turn allow rapid access to any point in the solar system. Twelve stainless steel-sodium heat pipe modules were built and tested at Los Alamos for use in a non-nuclear thermohydraulic simulation of the SAFE-30 reactor (Poston et al., 2000). SAFE-30 is a near-term, low-cost space fission system demonstration. The heat pipes were designed to remove thermal power from the SAFE-30 core, and transfer this power to an electrical power conversion system. These heat pipe modules were delivered to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in August 2000 and were assembled and tested in a prototypical configuration during September and October 2000. The construction and test of one of the SAFE-30 modules is described

Security robots for nuclear materials management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deming, R.

1986-01-01

Robots have successfully invaded industry where they have replaced costly personnel performing their tasks cheaper and better in most cases. There may be a place for a unique class of robots, security robots, in nuclear materials management. Robots could be employed in the functions of general response, patrol and neutralizing dangerous situations. The last is perhaps most important. Ion Track Instruments of Burlington, Massachusetts has designed an excellent unit to protect life in hazardous situations. The unit can detect, disrupt or remove explosives. It can enter dangerous areas to reconnoiter the extent of danger. It can communicate with those in a dangerous area. It can fight fires or clean an area using a 2 1/2 inch, two man hose. If necessary, it can engage an adversary in a fire fight using a twelve gauge shot gun

Prediction of three-dimensional residual stresses at localised indentations in pipes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hyde, T.H.; Luo, R.; Becker, A.A.

2012-01-01

Residual stresses are investigated using Finite Element (FE) analyses at localised indentations in pipes with and without internal pressures due to reverse plasticity caused by springback of the surrounding material after removal of the indenter. The indentation loading is applied via rigid 3D short indenters. The effects of the residual indentation depth, internal pressure, indenter size and different material properties on the residual stresses for different pipes have been investigated by carrying out parametric sensitivity studies. In order to predict the residual stresses, empirical formulations have been developed, which show a good correlation with the FE for residual stresses for pipes with diameter to thickness ratios of 35–72. - Highlights: ► A comprehensive elastic–plastic FE analysis of residual stresses caused by localised pipe indentations is presented. ► The effects of residual indentation depth, internal pressure, indenter size and material properties have been studied. ► Empirical formulations have been developed, which show a good correlation with the FE for residual stresses for pipes with diameter to thickness ratios of 35–72.

Device for removing alkali metal residues from heat exchanger

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matal, O.

1987-01-01

The main parts of the facility consists of a condensing vessel and a vacuum pump unit interconnected via a vacuum pipe. The heat exchanger is heated to a temperature at which the alkali metal residues evaporate. Metal vapors are collected in the condensing vessel where they condense. The removal of the alkali metal residues from the heat exchanger pipes allows thorough inspection of the pipe inside during scheduled nuclear power plant shutdowns. The facility can be used especially with reverse steam generators. (E.S.). 1 fig

New optimized drill pipe size for deep-water, extended reach and ultra-deep drilling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jellison, Michael J.; Delgado, Ivanni [Grant Prideco, Inc., Hoston, TX (United States); Falcao, Jose Luiz; Sato, Ademar Takashi [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Moura, Carlos Amsler [Comercial Perfuradora Delba Baiana Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2004-07-01

A new drill pipe size, 5-7/8 in. OD, represents enabling technology for Extended Reach Drilling (ERD), deep water and other deep well applications. Most world-class ERD and deep water wells have traditionally been drilled with 5-1/2 in. drill pipe or a combination of 6-5/8 in. and 5-1/2 in. drill pipe. The hydraulic performance of 5-1/2 in. drill pipe can be a major limitation in substantial ERD and deep water wells resulting in poor cuttings removal, slower penetration rates, diminished control over well trajectory and more tendency for drill pipe sticking. The 5-7/8 in. drill pipe provides a significant improvement in hydraulic efficiency compared to 5-1/2 in. drill pipe and does not suffer from the disadvantages associated with use of 6-5/8 in. drill pipe. It represents a drill pipe assembly that is optimized dimensionally and on a performance basis for casing and bit programs that are commonly used for ERD, deep water and ultra-deep wells. The paper discusses the engineering philosophy behind 5-7/8 in. drill pipe, the design challenges associated with development of the product and reviews the features and capabilities of the second-generation double-shoulder connection. The paper provides drilling case history information on significant projects where the pipe has been used and details results achieved with the pipe. (author)

Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Management of Caliceal Diverticular Calculi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anneleen Verbrugghe

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Standard treatment modalities of caliceal diverticular calculi range from extracorporal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL over retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS, percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL and laparoscopic stone removal. A 55-year-old woman presented with a history of pyelonephritis based on a caliceal diverticular calculus. Due to the narrow infundibulum and anterior location, a robot-assisted laparoscopic calicotomy with extraction of the calculi and fulguration of the diverticulum was performed, with no specific perioperative problems and good stone-free results. This article shows technical feasibility with minimal morbidity of robot-assisted laparoscopic stone removal and obliteration of a caliceal diverticulum.

PPOOLEX experiments with a modified blowdown pipe outlet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laine, J.; Puustinen, M.; Raesaenen, A.

2009-08-01

This report summarizes the results of the experiments with a modified blowdown pipe outlet carried out with the PPOOLEX test facility designed and constructed at Lappeenranta University of Technology. Steam was blown into the dry well compartment and from there through a vertical DN200 blowdown pipe to the condensation pool. Four reference experiments with a straight pipe and ten with the Forsmark type collar were carried out. The main purpose of the experiment series was to study the effect of a blowdown pipe outlet collar design on loads caused by chugging phenomena (rapid condensation) while steam is discharged into the condensation pool. The PPOOLEX test facility is a closed stainless steel vessel divided into two compartments, dry well and wet well. During the experiments the initial temperature level of the condensation pool water was either 20-25 or 50-55 deg. C. The steam flow rate varied from 400 to 1200 g/s and the temperature of incoming steam from 142 to 185 deg. C. In the experiments with 20-25 deg. C pool water, even 10 times higher pressure pulses were measured inside the blowdown pipe in the case of the straight pipe than with the collar. In this respect, the collar design worked as planned and removed the high pressure spikes from the blowdown pipe. Meanwhile, there seemed to be no suppressing effect on the loads due to the collar in the pool side in this temperature range. Registered loads in the pool were approximately in the same range (or even a little higher) with the collar as with the straight pipe. In the experiments with 50-55 deg. C pool water no high pressure pulses were measured inside the blowdown pipe either with the straight pipe or with the collar. In this case, more of the suppressing effect is probably due to the warmer pool water than due to the modified pipe outlet. It has been observed already in the earlier experiments with a straight pipe in the POOLEX and PPOOLEX facilities that warm pool water has a diminishing effect on

PPOOLEX experiments with a modified blowdown pipe outlet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laine, J.; Puustinen, M.; Raesaenen, A. (Lappeenranta Univ. of Technology, Nuclear Safety Research Unit (Finland))

2009-08-15

This report summarizes the results of the experiments with a modified blowdown pipe outlet carried out with the PPOOLEX test facility designed and constructed at Lappeenranta University of Technology. Steam was blown into the dry well compartment and from there through a vertical DN200 blowdown pipe to the condensation pool. Four reference experiments with a straight pipe and ten with the Forsmark type collar were carried out. The main purpose of the experiment series was to study the effect of a blowdown pipe outlet collar design on loads caused by chugging phenomena (rapid condensation) while steam is discharged into the condensation pool. The PPOOLEX test facility is a closed stainless steel vessel divided into two compartments, dry well and wet well. During the experiments the initial temperature level of the condensation pool water was either 20-25 or 50-55 deg. C. The steam flow rate varied from 400 to 1200 g/s and the temperature of incoming steam from 142 to 185 deg. C. In the experiments with 20-25 deg. C pool water, even 10 times higher pressure pulses were measured inside the blowdown pipe in the case of the straight pipe than with the collar. In this respect, the collar design worked as planned and removed the high pressure spikes from the blowdown pipe. Meanwhile, there seemed to be no suppressing effect on the loads due to the collar in the pool side in this temperature range. Registered loads in the pool were approximately in the same range (or even a little higher) with the collar as with the straight pipe. In the experiments with 50-55 deg. C pool water no high pressure pulses were measured inside the blowdown pipe either with the straight pipe or with the collar. In this case, more of the suppressing effect is probably due to the warmer pool water than due to the modified pipe outlet. It has been observed already in the earlier experiments with a straight pipe in the POOLEX and PPOOLEX facilities that warm pool water has a diminishing effect on

Determination of times maximum insulation in case of internal flooding by pipe break

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varas, M. I.; Orteu, E.; Laserna, J. A.

2014-01-01

This paper demonstrates the process followed in the preparation of the Manual of floods of Cofrentes NPP to identify the allowed maximum time available to the central in the isolation of a moderate or high energy pipe break, until it affects security (1E) participating in the safe stop of Reactor or in pools of spent fuel cooling-related equipment , and to determine the recommended isolation mode from the point of view of the location of the break or rupture, of the location of the 1E equipment and human factors. (Author)

Nuclear piping and pipe support design and operability relating to loadings and small bore piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stout, D.H.; Tubbs, J.M.; Callaway, W.O.; Tang, H.T.; Van Duyne, D.A.

1994-01-01

The present nuclear piping system design practices for loadings, multiple support design and small bore piping evaluation are overly conservative. The paper discusses the results developed for realistic definitions of loadings and loading combinations with methodology for combining loads under various conditions for supports and multiple support design. The paper also discusses a simplified method developed for performing deadweight and thermal evaluations of small bore piping systems. Although the simplified method is oriented towards the qualification of piping in older plants, this approach is applicable to plants designed to any edition of the ASME Section III or B31.1 piping codes

Remote Handling behind port plug in ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bede, O.; Neuberger, H.

2006-01-01

of high importance to find a safe way for weld seam audit. The installation and removal of thermal insulations around the pipes at the interface is an additional requirement which has to be met by a special tool. With application of a fast tool changer adapter the arm can easily exchange the tools stored in the envelope area of robot. Conceptual design is made by CAD modelling. Work area accessibility is assessed using a kinematic analyse. (author)

Decontamination laboratory design for iron pipes contaminated with uranium and thorium series

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahyun, Adelia; Sordi, Gian M.; Ghobril, Carlos N.; Puga Sanches, Matias; Rodrigues, Demerval L.

2008-01-01

The Brazilian soil is very rich in the ore processing, after some time, the pipes are contaminated with trace levels of uranium and thorium. When the pipes are exchanged, to recovery the funds, the best is to sell them as scrap, however, because they are contaminated and present a considerable amount of dose can not be marketed until they are decontaminated. The question is that the tube is incrusted with the contaminated material, and is difficult to remove it. For the removal this material, that comes to be 2 inches thick, for the larger pipes diameter, requires special equipment as a motor-pump units with ultra high pressure water jetting, of the order of 40000 psi. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a design of one laboratory able to perform the decontamination avoiding large scale production of radioactive wastes. The solids and liquids wastes produced during the process of decontamination will be collected in different containers and classified according to their contamination level. The laboratory was designed to facilitate its decontamination with a minimum dose for their operators. The most difficult question to be solved during the project, was to perform the laboratory decontamination during the pipe decontamination in continuous operation since we can't stop the process for the reason of it expensive cost. The paper will show how will be made all the steps of the tubes decontamination and the laboratory decontamination. It will be shown how we collect the liquids and solids wastes, separate, for their classification. After the pipe, decontamination we show as will be measure the dose to release or to return for the laboratory to development a further decontamination. At last, it will show the temporary storage place for the decontaminated pipes that will be later collected as scrap. (author)

Numerical simulation of double-pipe condensers and evaporators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garcia-Valladares, O. [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Morelos (Mexico). Centro de Investigacion en Energia; Perez-Segarra, C.D.; Rigola, J. [Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Terrassa (Spain). Centre Tecnologic de Transferencia de Calor, Lab. de Termotecnia i Energetica

2004-09-01

A detailed one-dimensional steady and transient numerical simulation of the thermal and fluid-dynamic behaviour of double-pipe heat exchangers (evaporators and condensers) has been carried out. The governing equations (continuity, momentum and energy) inside the internal tube and the annulus, together with the energy equation in the internal tube wall, external tube wall and insulation, are solved iteratively in a segregated manner. The discretized governing equations in the zones with fluid flow are efficiently coupled using an implicit step by step method. This formulation requires the use of empirical correlations for the evaluation of convective heat transfer, shear stress and void fraction. An implicit central difference numerical scheme and a line-by-line solver was used in the internal and external tube walls and insulation. A special treatment has been implemented in order to consider transitions (single-phase/two-phase, dry-out,...). All the flow variables (enthalpies, temperatures, pressures, mass fractions, velocities, heat fluxes,...) together with the thermophysical properties are evaluated at each point of the grid in which the domain is discretized. Different numerical aspects and comparisons with analytical and experimental results are presented in order to verify and validate the model. (author)

ALLIANCE: An architecture for fault tolerant multi-robot cooperation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parker, L.E.

1995-02-01

ALLIANCE is a software architecture that facilitates the fault tolerant cooperative control of teams of heterogeneous mobile robots performing missions composed of loosely coupled, largely independent subtasks. ALLIANCE allows teams of robots, each of which possesses a variety of high-level functions that it can perform during a mission, to individually select appropriate actions throughout the mission based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and the robot`s own internal states. ALLIANCE is a fully distributed, behavior-based architecture that incorporates the use of mathematically modeled motivations (such as impatience and acquiescence) within each robot to achieve adaptive action selection. Since cooperative robotic teams usually work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, this software architecture allows the robot team members to respond robustly, reliably, flexibly, and coherently to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. The feasibility of this architecture is demonstrated in an implementation on a team of mobile robots performing a laboratory version of hazardous waste cleanup.

Robotics in pediatric surgery: perspectives for imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kant, Adrien J.; Klein, Michael D. [Stuart Frankel Foundation Computer-Assisted Robot-Enhanced Surgery Program, Children' s Research Center of Michigan, Detroit, MI 48201 (United States); Langenburg, Scott E. [Stuart Frankel Foundation Computer-Assisted Robot-Enhanced Surgery Program, Children' s Research Center of Michigan, Detroit, MI 48201 (United States); Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children' s Hospital of Michigan, 3901 Beaubien, Detroit, MI 48201 (United States)

2004-06-01

Robotic surgery will give surgeons the ability to perform essentially tremorless microsurgery in tiny spaces with delicate precision and may enable procedures never before possible on children, neonates, and fetuses. Collaboration with radiologists, engineers, and other scientists will permit refinement of image-guided technologies and allow the realization of truly remarkable concepts in minimally invasive surgery. While robotic surgery is now in clinical use in several surgical specialties (heart bypass, prostate removal, and various gastrointestinal procedures), the greatest promise of robotics lies in pediatric surgery. We will briefly review the history and background of robotic technology in surgery, discuss its present benefits and uses and those being explored, and speculate on the future, with attention to the current and potential involvement of imaging modalities and the role of image guidance. (orig.)

Robotics in pediatric surgery: perspectives for imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kant, Adrien J.; Klein, Michael D.; Langenburg, Scott E.

2004-01-01

Robotic surgery will give surgeons the ability to perform essentially tremorless microsurgery in tiny spaces with delicate precision and may enable procedures never before possible on children, neonates, and fetuses. Collaboration with radiologists, engineers, and other scientists will permit refinement of image-guided technologies and allow the realization of truly remarkable concepts in minimally invasive surgery. While robotic surgery is now in clinical use in several surgical specialties (heart bypass, prostate removal, and various gastrointestinal procedures), the greatest promise of robotics lies in pediatric surgery. We will briefly review the history and background of robotic technology in surgery, discuss its present benefits and uses and those being explored, and speculate on the future, with attention to the current and potential involvement of imaging modalities and the role of image guidance. (orig.)

Guided Acoustic and Optical Waves in Silicon-on-Insulator for Brillouin Scattering and Optomechanics

Science.gov (United States)

2016-08-01

APL PHOTONICS 1, 071301 (2016) Guided acoustic and optical waves in silicon-on- insulator for Brillouin scattering and optomechanics Christopher J...is possible to simultaneously guide optical and acoustic waves in the technologically important silicon on insulator (SOI) material system. Thin...high sound velocity — makes guiding acoustic waves difficult, motivating the use of soft chalcogenide glasses and partial or complete releases (removal

Manufacture of a conformal multilayer rf antenna substrate using excimer mask imaging technology and a 6-axis robot

Science.gov (United States)

Charrier, Michel; Everett, Daniel; Fieret, Jim; Karrer, Tobias; Rau, Sven; Valard, Jean-Luc

2001-06-01

A novel method is presented to produce a high precision pattern of copper tracks on both sides of a 4-layer conformal radar antenna made of PEI polymer and shaped as a truncated pseudo-parabolic cylinder. The antenna is an active emitter-receiver so that an accuracy of a fraction of the wavelength of the microwave radiation is required. After 2D layer design in Allegro, the resulting Gerber file-format circuits are wrapped around the antenna shape, resulting in a cutter-path file which provides the input for a postprocessor that outputs G-code for robot- and laser control. A rules file contains embedded information such as laser parameters and mask aperture related to the Allegro symbols. The robot consists of 6 axes that manipulate the antenna, and 2 axes for the mask plate. The antenna can be manipulated to an accuracy of +/- 20 micrometers over its full dimensions of 200x300x50 mm. The four layers are constructed by successive copper coating, resist coating, laser ablation, copper etching, resist removal, insulation polyimide film lamination and laser dielectric drilling for microvia holes and through-holes drilling. Applications are in space and aeronautical communication and radar detection systems, with possible extensions to automotive and mobile hand-sets, and land stations.

Electrolytic etching of fine stainless-steel pipes patterned by laser-scan lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Hiroshi; Sagara, Tomoya; Horiuchi, Toshiyuki

2017-07-01

Recently, it is required to develop a method for fabricating cylindrical micro-components in the field of measurement and medical engineering. Here, electrolytic etching of fine stainless-steel pipes patterned by laser-scan lithography was researched. The pipe diameter was 100 μm. At first, a pipe coated with 3-7 μm thick positive resist (tok, PMER P LA-900) was exposed to a violet laser beam with a wavelength of 408 nm (Neoark,TC20-4030-45). The laser beam was reshaped in a circle by placing a pinhole, and irradiated on the pipe by reducing the size in 1/20 using a reduction projection optics. Linearly arrayed 22 slit patterns with a width of 25 μm and a length of 175 μm were delineated in every 90-degree circumferential direction. That is, 88 slits in total were delineated at an exposure speed of 110 μm/s. In the axial direction, patterns were delineated at intervals of 90 μm. Following the pattern delineation, the pipe masked by the resist patterns was electrolytically etched. The pipe was used as an anode and an aluminum cylinder was set as a cathode around the pipe. As the electrolyte, aqueous solution of NaCl and NH4Cl was used. After etching the pipe, the resist was removed by ultrasonic cleaning in acetone. Although feasibility for fabricating multi-slit pipes was demonstrated, sizes of the etched slits were enlarged being caused by the undercut, and the shapes were partially deformed, and all the pipes were snapped at the chuck side.

27 CFR 45.45a - Notice for pipe tobacco.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Notice for pipe tobacco. 45.45a Section 45.45a Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) TOBACCO REMOVAL OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND CIGARETTE PAPERS AND TUBES...

Development of remote pipe cutting tool for divertor cassettes in JT-60SA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, Takao; Sakurai, Shinji; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi; Sakasai, Akira

2014-01-01

Remote pipe cutting tool accessing from inside pipe has been newly developed for JT-60SA. The tool head equips a disk-shaped cutter blade and four rollers which are subjected to the reaction force. The tool pushes out the cutter blade by decreasing the distance between two cams. The tool cuts a cooling pipe by both pushing out the cutter blade and rotating the tool head itself. The roller holder is not pushed out anymore after touching the inner wall of the pipe. In other words, only cutter blade is pushed out after bringing the tool axis into the pipe axis. Outer diameter of the cutting tool head is 44 mm. The cutting tool is able to push out the cutter blade up to 32.5 mm in radius, i.e. 65 mm in diameter, which is enough to cut the pipe having an outer diameter of 59.8 mm. The thickness and material of the cooling pipe are 2.8 mm and SUS316L, respectively. The length of the cutting tool head is about 1 m. The tool is able to cut a pipe locates about 480 mm in depth from the mounting surface on the divertor cassette. The pipe cutting system equips two cutting heads and they are able to cut two pipes at the same time in order to remove the inner target plate. Reproducibility of the cross-sectional shape of the cut pipe is required for re-welding. The degree of reproducibility is inside 0.1 mm except for burr at outside of the pipe, which is enough to re-weld the cut pipe. Some swarf is generated during cutting the double-layered pipe assuming a plug located on the top of the pipe. The swarf is deposited on the bottom of the plug and collected by pulling out the plug in the actual equipment

Modelling the transient analysis of flat miniature heat pipes in printed circuit boards using a control volume approacht

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wits, W.W.; Kok, J.B.W.; van Steenhoven, A.A.; van der Meer, T.H.; Stoffels, G.G.M.

2008-01-01

The heat pipe is a two-phase cooling solution, offering very high thermal coefficients, for heat transport. Therefore, it is increasingly used in the design of electronic products. Flat miniature heat pipes are able to effectively remove heat from several hot spots on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB).

ALLIANCE: An architecture for fault tolerant multi-robot cooperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parker, L.E.

1995-02-01

ALLIANCE is a software architecture that facilitates the fault tolerant cooperative control of teams of heterogeneous mobile robots performing missions composed of loosely coupled, largely independent subtasks. ALLIANCE allows teams of robots, each of which possesses a variety of high-level functions that it can perform during a mission, to individually select appropriate actions throughout the mission based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and the robot's own internal states. ALLIANCE is a fully distributed, behavior-based architecture that incorporates the use of mathematically modeled motivations (such as impatience and acquiescence) within each robot to achieve adaptive action selection. Since cooperative robotic teams usually work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, this software architecture allows the robot team members to respond robustly, reliably, flexibly, and coherently to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. The feasibility of this architecture is demonstrated in an implementation on a team of mobile robots performing a laboratory version of hazardous waste cleanup

The influence of end constraints on smooth pipe bends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomson, G.; Spence, J.

1981-01-01

With present trends in the power industries towards higher operating temperatures and pressures, problems associated with the design and safety assessment of pipework systems have become increasingly complex. Within such systems, the importance of smooth pipe bends is well established. The work which will be presented will attempt to clarify the situation and unify the results. An analytical solution of the problem of a linear elastic smooth pipe bend with end constraints under in-plane bending will be presented. The analysis will deal with constraints in the form of flanged tangents of any length. The analysis employs the theorem of minimum total potential energy with suitable kinematically admissible displacements in the form of Fourier series. The integrations and minimisation were performed numerically, thereby permitting the removal of several of the assumptions made by previous authors. Typical results for flexibilities will be given along with comparisons with other works. The differences in some earlier theory are clarified and other more recent work using different solution techniques is substantiated. The bend behaviour is shown to be strongly influenced by the pipe bend parameter, the bend angle, the tangent pipe length and the bend/cross-sectional radius ratio. (orig./GL)

HPFRCC - Extruded Pipes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stang, Henrik; Pedersen, Carsten

1996-01-01

The present paper gives an overview of the research onHigh Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composite -- HPFRCC --pipes recently carried out at Department of Structural Engineering, Technical University of Denmark. The project combines material development, processing technique development......-w$ relationship is presented. Structural development involved definition of a new type of semi-flexiblecement based pipe, i.e. a cement based pipe characterized by the fact that the soil-pipe interaction related to pipe deformation is an importantcontribution to the in-situ load carrying capacity of the pipe...

Pipe damping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ware, A.G.

1985-01-01

Studies are being conducted at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory to determine whether an increase in the damping values used in seismic structural analyses of nuclear piping systems is justified. Increasing the allowable damping would allow fewer piping supports which could lead to safer, more reliable, and less costly piping systems. Test data from availble literature were examined to determine the important parameters contributing to piping system damping, and each was investigated in separate-effects tests. From the combined results a world pipe damping data bank was established and multiple regression analyses performed to assess the relative contributions of the various parameters. The program is being extended to determine damping applicable to higher frequency (33 to 100 Hz) fluid-induced loadings. The goals of the program are to establish a methodology for predicting piping system damping and to recommend revised guidelines for the damping values to be included in analyses

Variation of structural damping with response amplitude in piping systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ware, A.G.

1986-01-01

From tests conducted over the last several years, it has become apparent that structural damping is not a single number applicable to all piping systems, but is highly dependent on piping system parameters such as supports, response amplitude, and insulation. As a result, there is considerable scatter in the available data. Furthermore, the relationships between the parameters and damping are often highly complex, interrelated, and difficult to predict. From tests of piping supported by various typical methods, two basic types of energy dissipation in the supports can be observed. The first is friction such as between spring hangers and their housings or in the internal mechanisms of constant force hangers. The second is impacting such as occurs in snubbers, rigid struts, and rod hangers. Overall, these effects lead to a wide variety of possibilities that can occur at low vibration levels and can change with only a slight perturbation of vibration amplitude. This can account for much of the scatter in the data at low strain levels. Thus damping is almost impossible to predict at low amplitudes, and extrapolation of this type data to higher amplitudes is cautioned. However, once strain levels rise above 100 to 200 micro in/in, the damping trend becomes easier to characterize. From the 100 to 200 micro in/in to 800 to 1000 micro in/in range the damping is fairly constant and is induced primarily by the supports. At the upper end of this range a threshold is reached in which damping increases with increasing strain amplitude. Data in the high strain (plastic range) is sparse since the test usually renders the pipe unsuitable for further use. 15 refs

Robotized system for in-pipe inspection using pressure tolerant electronics technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Costa, Ramon R; Hsu, Liu; Peixoto, Alessandro J; Gomes, Luiz P.C.S. [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-graduacao de Engenharia (UFRJ/COPPE), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Programa de Engenharia Eletrica. Grupo de Simulacao e Controle em Automacao e Robotica (GSCAR)]. E-mail: ramon, liu, jacoud, lpgomes@coep.ufrj.br; Reis, Ney R.S. dos [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas. Lab. de Robotica]. E-mail: salvireis@cenpes.petrobras.com.br

2003-07-01

This paper reports the development and experimental evaluation of a robotized system devised to perform two kinds of measurements inside a pipeline: the thickness of the internal wall painting layer and the internal radius. The thickness measurement allows the inspection of the painting layer quality and by measuring several radii it is possible to estimate the pipeline transversal section shape. The proposed scheme is shown to yield very satisfactory results on an actual 14'' (inches) pipeline in a real site. (author)

Robotized system for in-pipe inspection using pressure tolerant electronics technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Costa, Ramon R.; Hsu, Liu; Peixoto, Alessandro J.; Gomes, Luiz P.C.S. [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-graduacao de Engenharia (UFRJ/COPPE), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Programa de Engenharia Eletrica. Grupo de Simulacao e Controle em Automacao e Robotica (GSCAR)]. E-mail: ramon, liu, jacoud, lpgomes@coep.ufrj.br; Reis, Ney R.S. dos [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas. Lab. de Robotica]. E-mail: salvireis@cenpes.petrobras.com.br

2003-07-01

This paper reports the development and experimental evaluation of a robotized system devised to perform two kinds of measurements inside a pipeline: the thickness of the internal wall painting layer and the internal radius. The thickness measurement allows the inspection of the painting layer quality and by measuring several radii it is possible to estimate the pipeline transversal section shape. The proposed scheme is shown to yield very satisfactory results on an actual 14'' (inches) pipeline in a real site. (author)

Radiological assessment of petroleum pipe scale waste streams from dry rattling operations - 16323

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamilton, Ian S.; Arno, Matthew G.; Fruchtnicht, Erich H.; Berry, Robert O.

2009-01-01

Petroleum pipe scale consists of inorganic solids, such as barium sulfate. These solids can precipitate out of brine solutions that are pumped out of oil wells as part of normal oil field operations. The precipitates can nucleate on down hole pipe walls, causing the buildup of hard scales in some tubular in a pipe string, while leaving others virtually untouched. Once the scale buildup is sufficient to restrict flow in the string significantly, the tubular are removed from service. Once removed, tubular are transported to storage yards for storage, subsequent inspection, and possible recycling. Many of the tubular are never returned to service, either because the threads were too damaged, pipe walls too thin, or the scale buildup too thick. Historically, the tubular refurbishment industry used primarily one of two processes, either a high-pressure water lance or a dry, abrasive 'rattling' process to ream pipes free of scale buildup. The dry rattling process was primarily for touching up new pipes that have rusted slightly during storage; however, pipes with varying levels of scale were reamed, leaving only a thin coating of scale on the inner diameter, and then returned to service. Chemically, radium is an analog for barium, and radium is present in parts-per-million quantities in the brines produced from downhole pumping operations. Thus, some of the scales contain radium salts. When the radium-bearing scales are reamed with a dry process there is the possibility of generating radioactive aerosols, as well as bulk waste materials. At Texas A and M University, and under the university's radioactive materials broad scope license, an outdoor laboratory was constructed and operated with dry rattling equipment restored to the 'as was' condition typical of historical pipe cleaning yards. A battery of measurements were obtained to determine the radiological and aerodynamic properties of scale-waste products liberated from the inner surfaces of a variety of tubular

Hydrogen permeation resistant heat pipe for bi-modal reactors. Final report, October 1, 1994--September 30, 1995

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

North, M.T.; Anderson, W.G.

1995-01-01

The principal objective of this program was to demonstrate technology that will make a sodium heat pipe tolerant of hydrogen permeation for a bimodal space reactor application. Special focus was placed on techniques which enhance the permeation of hydrogen out of the heat pipe. Specific objectives include: define the detailed requirements for the bimodal reactor application; design and fabricate a prototype heat pipe tolerant of hydrogen permeation; and test the prototype heat pipe and demonstrate that hydrogen which permeates into the heat pipe is removed or reduced to acceptable levels. The results of the program were fully successful. Analyses were performed on two different heat pipe designs and an experimental heat pipe was fabricated and tested. A model of the experimental heat pipe was developed to predict the enhancement in the hydrogen permeation rate out of the heat pipe. A significant improvement in the rate at which hydrogen permeates out of a heat pipe was predicted for the use of the special condenser geometry developed here. Agreement between the model and the experimental results was qualitatively good. Inclusion of the additional effects of fluid flow in the heat pipe are recommended for future work

Pipe inspection using the pipe crawler. Innovative technology summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-05-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) continually seeks safer and more cost-effective remediation technologies for use in the decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) of nuclear facilities. In several of the buildings at the Fernald Site, there is piping that was used to transport process materials. As the demolition of these buildings occur, disposal of this piping has become a costly issue. Currently, all process piping is cut into ten-foot or less sections, the ends of the piping are wrapped and taped to prevent the release of any potential contaminants into the air, and the piping is placed in roll off boxes for eventual repackaging and shipment to the Nevada Test Site (NTS) for disposal. Alternatives that allow for the onsite disposal of process piping are greatly desired due to the potential for dramatic savings in current offsite disposal costs. No means is currently employed to allow for the adequate inspection of the interior of piping, and consequently, process piping has been assumed to be internally contaminated and thus routinely disposed of at NTS. The BTX-II system incorporates a high-resolution micro color camera with lightheads, cabling, a monitor, and a video recorder. The complete probe is capable of inspecting pipes with an internal diameter (ID) as small as 1.4 inches. By using readily interchangeable lightheads, the same system is capable of inspecting piping up to 24 inches in ID. The original development of the BTX system was for inspection of boiler tubes and small diameter pipes for build-up, pitting, and corrosion. However, the system is well suited for inspecting the interior of most types of piping and other small, confined areas. The report describes the technology, its performance, uses, cost, regulatory and policy issues, and lessons learned