Ethanol Dehydration by Evaporation and Diffusion in an Inert Gas Layer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In-Sick, Chung; Kyu-Min, Song [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejeon (Korea, Republic of); Won-Hi, Hong; Ho-Nam, Chang [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejeon (Korea, Republic of)

1994-08-01

Ethanol dehydration of azeotropic mixture was performed by using diffusion distillation apparatus consisting of a wetted-wall column with two concentric tubes. Ethanol-water mixtures evaporated below the boiling point was separated during the diffusion through the gap filled with an inert gas. As the temperature difference between evaporation part and condensation part was increased, the total flux increased but the selectivity decreased. The effect of the annular width on the selectivity was not significant but the total flux was decreased with decreases in the annular width. Inert gas has an effect on the diffusivity of evaporated gas components. The total flux in case of helium as inert gas was larger than that in case of air but the selectivity in case of using helium was lower. (author). 14 refs. 1 tab. 12 figs.

Inert gas handling in ion plating systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goode, A.R.; Burden, M.St.J.

1979-01-01

The results of an investigation into the best methods for production and monitoring of the inert gas environment for ion plating systems are reported. Work carried out on Pirani gauges and high pressure ion gauges for the measurement of pressures in the ion plating region (1 - 50mtorr) and the use of furnaces for cleaning argon is outlined. A schematic of a gas handling system is shown and discussed. (UK)

Impact of airway gas exchange on the multiple inert gas elimination technique: theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Joseph C; Hlastala, Michael P

2010-03-01

The multiple inert gas elimination technique (MIGET) provides a method for estimating alveolar gas exchange efficiency. Six soluble inert gases are infused into a peripheral vein. Measurements of these gases in breath, arterial blood, and venous blood are interpreted using a mathematical model of alveolar gas exchange (MIGET model) that neglects airway gas exchange. A mathematical model describing airway and alveolar gas exchange predicts that two of these gases, ether and acetone, exchange primarily within the airways. To determine the effect of airway gas exchange on the MIGET, we selected two additional gases, toluene and m-dichlorobenzene, that have the same blood solubility as ether and acetone and minimize airway gas exchange via their low water solubility. The airway-alveolar gas exchange model simulated the exchange of toluene, m-dichlorobenzene, and the six MIGET gases under multiple conditions of alveolar ventilation-to-perfusion, VA/Q, heterogeneity. We increased the importance of airway gas exchange by changing bronchial blood flow, Qbr. From these simulations, we calculated the excretion and retention of the eight inert gases and divided the results into two groups: (1) the standard MIGET gases which included acetone and ether and (2) the modified MIGET gases which included toluene and m-dichlorobenzene. The MIGET mathematical model predicted distributions of ventilation and perfusion for each grouping of gases and multiple perturbations of VA/Q and Qbr. Using the modified MIGET gases, MIGET predicted a smaller dead space fraction, greater mean VA, greater log(SDVA), and more closely matched the imposed VA distribution than that using the standard MIGET gases. Perfusion distributions were relatively unaffected.

TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welding; Le soudage TIG

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

2010-09-15

After having recalled the Tungsten Inert Gas process principle and the different alternative TIG processes, the author explains the advantages and limits of this process. The applications and recent developments are given. (O.M.)

Radioactive substance removing device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeuchi, Jun; Tayama, Ryuichi; Teruyama, Hidehiko; Hikichi, Takayoshi.

1992-01-01

If inert gases are jetted from a jetting device to liquid metals in a capturing vessel, the inert gases are impinged on the inner wall surface of the capturing vessel, to reduce the thickness of a boundary layer as a diffusion region of radioactive materials formed between the inner wall surface of the capturing vessel and the liquid metals. Further, a portion of the boundary layer is peeled off to increase the adsorption amount of radioactive materials by the capturing vessel. When the inert gases are jetted on the inner or outer circumference of the capturing vessel to rotate the capturing vessel, the flow of the liquid metals is formed along with the rotation, and the thickness of the boundary layer is reduced or the boundary layer is peeled off to increase the absorption amount of the radioactive materials. If gas bubbles are formed in the liquid metals by the inert gases, the liquid metals are stirred by the gas bubbles to reduce the thickness of the boundary layer or peel it off, thereby enabling to increase the adsorption amount of the radioactive materials. Since it is not necessary to pass through the rotational member to the wall surface of the vessel, safety and reliability can be improved. (N.H.)

Inert gas thrusters

Science.gov (United States)

Kaufman, H. R.; Robinson, R. S.

1980-01-01

Some advances in component technology for inert gas thrusters are described. The maximum electron emission of a hollow cathode with Ar was increased 60-70% by the use of an enclosed keeper configuration. Operation with Ar, but without emissive oxide, was also obtained. A 30 cm thruster operated with Ar at moderate discharge voltages give double-ion measurements consistent with a double ion correlation developed previously using 15 cm thruster data. An attempt was made to reduce discharge losses by biasing anodes positive of the discharge plasma. The reason this attempt was unsuccessful is not yet clear. The performance of a single-grid ion-optics configuration was evaluated. The ion impingement on the single grid accelerator was found to approach the value expected from the projected blockage when the sheath thickness next to the accelerator was 2-3 times the aperture diameter.

Thermodilution versus inert gas rebreathing for estimation of effective pulmonary blood flow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, P; Clemensen, P; Andersen, P K

2000-01-01

To compare measurements of the effective pulmonary blood flow (Qep, i.e., nonshunted fraction of cardiac output, Qt) by the inert gas rebreathing (RB) method and the thermodilution (TD) technique in critically ill patients.......To compare measurements of the effective pulmonary blood flow (Qep, i.e., nonshunted fraction of cardiac output, Qt) by the inert gas rebreathing (RB) method and the thermodilution (TD) technique in critically ill patients....

Multiple inert gas elimination technique by micropore membrane inlet mass spectrometry--a comparison with reference gas chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Kretzschmar, Moritz; Schilling, Thomas; Vogt, Andreas; Rothen, Hans Ulrich; Borges, João Batista; Hachenberg, Thomas; Larsson, Anders; Baumgardner, James E; Hedenstierna, Göran

2013-10-15

The mismatching of alveolar ventilation and perfusion (VA/Q) is the major determinant of impaired gas exchange. The gold standard for measuring VA/Q distributions is based on measurements of the elimination and retention of infused inert gases. Conventional multiple inert gas elimination technique (MIGET) uses gas chromatography (GC) to measure the inert gas partial pressures, which requires tonometry of blood samples with a gas that can then be injected into the chromatograph. The method is laborious and requires meticulous care. A new technique based on micropore membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MMIMS) facilitates the handling of blood and gas samples and provides nearly real-time analysis. In this study we compared MIGET by GC and MMIMS in 10 piglets: 1) 3 with healthy lungs; 2) 4 with oleic acid injury; and 3) 3 with isolated left lower lobe ventilation. The different protocols ensured a large range of normal and abnormal VA/Q distributions. Eight inert gases (SF6, krypton, ethane, cyclopropane, desflurane, enflurane, diethyl ether, and acetone) were infused; six of these gases were measured with MMIMS, and six were measured with GC. We found close agreement of retention and excretion of the gases and the constructed VA/Q distributions between GC and MMIMS, and predicted PaO2 from both methods compared well with measured PaO2. VA/Q by GC produced more widely dispersed modes than MMIMS, explained in part by differences in the algorithms used to calculate VA/Q distributions. In conclusion, MMIMS enables faster measurement of VA/Q, is less demanding than GC, and produces comparable results.

FFTF gas processing systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halverson, T.G.

1977-01-01

The design and operation of the two radioactive gas processing systems at the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) exemplifies the concept that will be used in the first generation of Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBR's). The two systems, the Radioactive Argon Processing System (RAPS) and the Cell Atmosphere Processing System (CAPS), process the argon and nitrogen used in the FFTF for cover gas on liquid metal systems and as inert atmospheres in steel lined cells housing sodium equipment. The RAPS specifically processes the argon cover gas from the reactor coolant system, providing for decontamination and eventual reuse. The CAPS processes radioactive gasses from inerted cells and other liquid metal cover gas systems, providing for decontamination and ultimate discharge to the atmosphere. The cryogenic processing of waste gas by both systems is described

Trapping of He clusters by inert-gas impurities in tungsten: First-principles predictions and experimental validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen-Manh, Duc, E-mail: duc.nguyen@ccfe.ac.uk; Dudarev, S.L.

2015-06-01

Properties of point defects resulting from the incorporation of inert-gas atoms in bcc tungsten are investigated systematically using first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The most stable configuration for the interstitial neon, argon, krypton and xenon atoms is the tetrahedral site, similarly to what was found earlier for helium in W. The calculated formation energies for single inert-gas atoms at interstitial sites as well as at substitutional sites are much larger for Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe than for He. While the variation of the energy of insertion of inert-gas defects into interstitial configurations can be explained by a strong effect of their large atomic size, the trend exhibited by their substitutional energies is more likely related to the covalent interaction between the noble gas impurity atoms and the tungsten atoms. There is a remarkable variation exhibited by the energy of interaction between inert-gas impurities and vacancies, where a pronounced size effect is observed when going from He to Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe. The origin of this trend is explained by electronic structure calculations showing that p-orbitals play an important part in the formation of chemical bonds between a vacancy and an atom of any of the four inert-gas elements in comparison with helium, where the latter contains only 1s{sup 2} electrons in the outer shell. The binding energies of a helium atom trapped by five different defects (He-v, Ne-v, Ar-v, Kr-v, Xe-v, where v denotes a vacancy in bcc-W) are all in excellent agreement with experimental data derived from thermal desorption spectroscopy. Attachment of He clusters to inert gas impurity atom traps in tungsten is analysed as a function of the number of successive trapping helium atoms. Variation of the Young modulus due to inert-gas impurities is analysed on the basis of data derived from DFT calculations.

Measurements of hydrogen concentration in liquid sodium by using an inert gas carrier method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Funada, T.; Nihei, I.; Yuhara, S.; Nakasuji, T.

1979-01-01

A technique was developed to measure the hydrogen level in liquid sodium using an inert gas carrier method. Hydrogen was extracted into an inert gas from sodium through a thin nickel membrane in the form of a helically wound tube. The amount of hydrogen in the inert gas was analyzed by gas chromatography. The present method is unique in that it can be used over the wide range of sodium temperatures (150 to 700 0 C) and has no problems associated with vacuum systems. The partial pressure of hydrogen in sodium was determined as a function of cold-trap temperature (T/sub c/). Sieverts' constant (K/sub s/) was determined as a function of sodium temperature (T). From Sieverts' constant, the solubility of hydrogen in sodium is calculated. It was found that other impurities in sodium, such as (O) and (OH), have little effect on the hydrogen pressure in the sodium loop

Fuel hydrogen retention of tungsten and the reduction by inert gas glow discharges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hino, T., E-mail: tomhino@qe.eng.hokudai.ac.jp [Laboratory of Plasma Physics and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628 (Japan); Yamauchi, Y.; Kimura, Y. [Laboratory of Plasma Physics and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628 (Japan); Nishimura, K. [National Institute for Fusion Science, Toki-shi, Gifu-ken 509-5292 (Japan); Ueda, Y. [Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita-shi 565-0872 (Japan)

2012-08-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The performances of inert gas glow discharges for reduction of fuel hydrogen retention in tungsten were systematically investigated. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer For the tungsten with rough surface structure, the reduction of fuel hydrogen retention by inert gas discharges is quite small. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The deuterium glow discharge is quite useful to reduce the tritium retention in plasma facing walls in fusion reactor. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The wall baking with temperature higher than 700-800 K is also useful to reduce the tritium retention in plasma facing walls. - Abstract: Polycrystalline tungsten was exposed to deuterium glow discharge followed by He, Ne or Ar glow discharge. The amount of retained deuterium in the tungsten was measured using residual gas analysis. The amount of desorbed deuterium during the inert gas glow discharge was also measured. The amount of retained deuterium was 2-3 times larger compared with a case of stainless steel. The ratios of desorbed amount of deuterium by He, Ne and Ar glow discharges were 4.6, 3.1 and 2.9%, respectively. These values were one order of magnitude smaller compared with the case of stainless steel. The inert gas glow discharge is not suitable to reduce the fuel hydrogen retention for tungsten walls. However, the wall baking with a temperature higher than 700 K is suitable to reduce the fuel hydrogen retention. It is also shown that the use of deuterium glow discharge is effective to reduce the in-vessel tritium inventory in fusion reactors through the hydrogen isotope exchange.

Solidification method of radioactive wastes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baba, Tsutomu; Chino, Koichi; Sasahira, Akira; Ikeda, Takashi

1992-07-24

Metal solidification material can completely seal radioactive wastes and it has high sealing effect even if a trace amount of evaporation should be caused. In addition, the solidification operation can be conducted safely by using a metal having a melting point of lower than that of the decomposition temperature of the radioactive wastes. Further, the radioactive wastes having a possibility of evaporation and scattering along with oxidation can be solidified in a stable form by putting the solidification system under an inert gas atmosphere. Then in the present invention, a metal is selected as a solidification material for radioactive wastes, and a metal, for example, lead or tin having a melting point of lower than that of the decomposition temperature of the wastes is used in order to prevent the release of the wastes during the solidification operation. Radioactive wastes which are unstable in air and scatter easily, for example, Ru or the like can be converted into a stable solidification product by conducting the solidification processing under an inert gas atmosphere. (T.M.).

effects of metal inert gas welding parameters on some mechanical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

EFFECTS OF METAL INERT GAS WELDING PARAMETERS ON SOME MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF AUSTENITIC STAINLESS STEEL IN ACIDIC ... Design Expert Software, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Rockwell Hardness Test, Monsanto Tensometer and Izod Impact Test were used to determine the ...

Epileptiform activity during inert gas euthanasia of mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Gent, Thomas C; Detotto, Carlotta; Vyssotski, Alexei L; Bettschart-Wolfensberger, Regula

2018-01-01

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most commonly used euthanasia agents for mice, yet it is highly aversive and nociceptive. Inert gases are a possible alternative, however there are qualitative reports of seizures resulting from exposure. Here we evaluate epileptiform activity caused by inert gases (N2, He, Ar and Xe) and CO2 in mice chronically instrumented for EEG/EMG undergoing single-gas euthanasia. We found that N2, He and Ar caused epileptiform activity in all animals, CO2 in half of animals and no epileptiform activity produced by Xe. Atmospheric O2 concentrations at epileptiform activity onset were significantly higher for CO2 than for all other gases and occurred soon after loss of motion, whereas N2 and Ar epileptiform activity occurred at cessation of neocortical activity. Helium caused the longest epileptiform activity and these commenced significantly before isoelectric EEG. We did not detect any epileptiform activity during active behaviour. Taken together, these results demonstrate that whilst epileptiform activity from inert gases and particularly Ar and N2 are more prevalent than for CO2, their occurrence at the onset of an isoelectric EEG is unlikely to impact on the welfare of the animal. Epileptiform activity from these gases should not preclude them from further investigation as euthanasia agents. The genesis of epileptiform activity from CO2 is unlikely to result from hypoxia as with the inert gases. Helium caused epileptiform activity before cessation of neocortical activity and for a longer duration and is therefore less suitable as an alternative to CO2.

Process for separation of inert fission gases for waste gas of a reprocessing plant for nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schnez, H.

1980-01-01

The inert fission gases Kr and Xe released in the resolver and other waste gases are taken to an acid regeneration plant. Part of the inert fission gases is separated by compression, cooling and filtering and deposited. The other part flows back to the resolver as flushing gas so that a flushing gas circuit is formed, which prevents explosive gas mixtures occurring. (DG) [de

Radioactive krypton gas separation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, J.R.

1976-01-01

Radioactive krypton is separated from a gas mixture comprising nitrogen and traces of carbon dioxide and radioactive krypton by selective adsorption and then cryogenic distillation of the prepurified gas against nitrogen liquid to produce krypton bottoms concentrate liquid, using the nitrogen gas from the distillation for two step purging of the adsorbent. 16 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures

Seeded inert gas driven disk generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joshi, N.K.; Venkatramani, N.; Rohatgi, V.K.

1987-01-01

This report outlines the present status of work being carried out in closed cycle MHD and disk generators. It gives the basic principles and discusses a proposal for setting up an experimental facility to study nonequilibrium plasmas using an inert gas driven disk generator. Disk geometry is a near ideal geometry for plasma studies since it has single or few pair electrodes combined with near perfect insulating walls. The proposed outlay of facility with components and subsystem is given. The facility may also be used to study the concept of fully ionized seed and to develop advanced diagnostic techniques. The absic equation describing the working parameters of such a system is also given in the Appendix. (author). 57 refs

Possible 85Kr influence on the plant metabolism. Investigation of inert gas 85Kr interaction with plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butkus, D.

1999-01-01

Model experiments have shown that inert gas 85 Kr is accumulated by plants. The aim of the work was to determine the way of the capture of inert gas by growing plants: either only through their overground part from air or in addition through their overground part from air or in addition through roots which accumulate water dissolved materials. For this purpose potatoes were grown in the chamber where the 85 Kr volume activity was (3.6±0.1)*10 6 Bq*m -3 . It was determined that 85 Kr gas accumulation was greater in those plant parts which grow faster and are further from the soil. Measurement results of 85 Kr activity of a potato tuber slightly differed from the environment background activity. It shows that the main penetration of inert gas into the plant occurred by absorption from air. (author)

Estimation of radiation exposure associated with inert gas radionuclides discharged to the environment by the nuclear power industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bryant, P.M.; Jones, J.A.

1973-05-01

Several fission product isotopes of krypton and xenon are formed during operation of nuclear power stations, while other radioactive inert gases, notably isotopes of argon and nitrogen, are produced as neutron activation products. With the exception of 85 Kr these radionuclides are short-lived, and the containment and hold-up arrangements in different reactor systems influence the composition of the inert gas mixtures discharged to the environment. Cooling of irradiated fuel before chemical reprocessing reduces very substantially the amounts of the short-lived krypton and xenon isotopes available for discharge at reprocessing plants, but almost all the 85 Kr formed in the fuel is currently discharged to atmosphere from these plants. Estimates are made of the radiation exposure of the public associated with these discharges to atmosphere taking into account the type of radiation emitted, radioactive half-life and the local, regional and world-wide populations concerned. Such estimates are often based on simple models in which activity is assumed to be distributed in a semi-infinite cloud. The model used in this assessment takes into account the finite cloud near the point of its discharge and its behaviour when dispersion in the atmosphere is affected by the presence of buildings. This is particularly important in the case of discharges from those reactors which do not have high stacks. The model also provides in detail for the continued world-wide circulation of the longer-lived 85 Kr. (author)

Production of inert gas for substitution of a part of the cushion gas trapped in an aquifer underground storage reservoir

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, L.; Arnoult, J.P.

1990-01-01

In a natural gas storage reservoir operating over the different seasons, a varying fraction of the injected gas, the cushion gas, remains permanently trapped. This cushion gas may represent more than half the total gas volume, and more than 50% of the initial investment costs for the storage facility. Studies conducted by Gaz de France, backed up by experience acquired over the years, have shown that at least 20% of the cushion gas could be replaced by a less expensive inert gas. Nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or a mixture of the two, satisfy the specifications required for this inert gas. Two main production methods exist: recovery of natural gas combustion products (mixture of 88% N 2 and 12% Co 2 ) and physical separation of air components (more or less pure N 2 , depending on industrial conditions). For the specific needs of Gaz de France, the means of production must be suited to its programme of partial cushion gas substitution. The equipment must satisfy requirements of autonomy, operating flexibility and mobility. Gaz de France has tested two units for recovery of natural gas combustion products. In the first unit, the inert gas is produced in a combustion chamber, treated in a catalytic reactor to reduce nitrogen oxide content and then compressed by gas engine driven compressors. In the second unit, the exhaust gases of the compressor gas engines are collected, treated to eliminate nitrogen oxides and then compressed. The energy balance is improved. A PSA method nitrogen production unit by selective absorption of nitrogen in the air, will be put into service in 1989. The specific features of these two methods and the reasons for choosing them will be reviewed. (author). 1 fig

Arc melting in inert gas atmosphere of zirconium sponge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Julio Junior, O.; Andrade, A.H.P. de

1991-01-01

The obtainment of metallic zirconium in laboratory scale with commercial and nuclear quality is the objective of the Metallurgy Department of IEN/CNEN - Brazil, so a melting procedure of zirconium sponge in laboratory scale using an arc furnace in inert atmosphere is developed. The effects of atmosphere operation, and the use of gas absorber and the sponge characteristics over the quality of button in as-cast reporting with hardness measures are described. (C.G.C.)

Transcatheter embolization of renal neoplasms. A comparison of the merits of the radio-active infarct implant versus total embolization with inert material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lang, E.K.; Pisco, J.M.

1980-01-01

Transcatheter embolization with radio-active infarct particles and inert embolic material has been proposed for adjuvant therapy in the management of renal cell carcinoma. Transcatheter embolization with inert embolic material has been advocated in preparation for surgical resection of renal tumours. Embolization with radio-active infarct particles is undertaken to deliver a tumouricidal dose to the primary neoplasm. The resultant interstitial implant offers the advantage of a high dose to the primary tumour, choice of time of delivery of the radiant energy by selection of a radio-isotope with appropriate half-life, and limitation of the integral dose to the patient by selection of appropriate physical characteristics of the radio-isotope utilized. Transcatheter embolization with radio-active infarct particles is advocated either as definitive therapy for clearly inoperable neoplasms, or in hope to make an initially inoperable neoplasm operable. (Auth.)

Influence of composition and substrate bias on structure and inert-gas content of sputter-deposited Ni-La alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knoll, R.W.; McClanahan, E.D.

1982-09-01

X-ray diffraction patterns show that the disappearance of crystallinity in the deposit occurs gradually as the La content increases. At the same time, the deposit becomes saturated with Kr. Because there is no evidence of crystalline La metal or Ni-La intermetallic phase in the diffraction data, it may be concluded that each La atom creates a highly disordered (amorphous) region in the lattice, and that this region contains interstitial voids large enough to capture inert gas atoms. Saturation of the gas content with respect to La/Ni ratio might commence when these disordered regions begin to impinge upon one another. Finally, if inert gas atoms occupy interstitial voids within the deposit, then determination of the gas trapping characteristics of the material, using inert gas ions of different sizes, may be a means of studying the structure of glassy vapor-deposited materials. For example, the size distribution of the interstitial voids might be determined in this manner

TIG AISI-316 welds using an inert gas welding chamber and different filler metals: Changes in mechanical properties and microstructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sánchez, A.

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This report analyses the influence of the use of an inert gas welding chamber with a totally inert atmosphere on the microstructure and mechanical properties of austenitic AISI 316L stainless steel TIG welds, using AISI ER316L, AISI 308L and Inconel 625 as filler metals. When compared with the typical TIG process, the use of the inert gas chamber induced changes in the microstructure, mainly an increase in the presence of vermicular ferrite and ferrite stringers, what resulted in higher yield strengths and lower values of hardness. Its effect on other characteristics of the joins, such as tensile strength, depended on the filler metal. The best combination of mechanical characteristics was obtained when welding in the inert gas chamber using Inconel 625 as filler metal.

En este estudio se analiza la influencia que el uso de una cámara de soldadura de gas inerte tiene sobre la microestructura y las propiedades mecánicas de las soldaduras TIG en el acero inoxidable austenítico AISI-316L cuando se emplean AISI ER316L, AISI 308L e Inconel 625 como materiales de aporte. Cuando se compara con el típico proceso de TIG, el uso de una cámara de gas inerte induce cambios en la microestructura, incrementando la presencia de ferrita vermicular y de laminillas de ferrita, resultando en un aumento del límite elástico y una pérdida de dureza. Su influencia sobre otras características de las soldaduras como la carga de rotura depende de la composición del material de aporte. La mejor combinación de propiedades mecánicas se obtuvo usando el Inconel 625 como material de aporte y soldando en la cámara de gas inerte.

Experimental study of an aircraft fuel tank inerting system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cai Yan

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In this work, a simulated aircraft fuel tank inerting system has been successfully established based on a model tank. Experiments were conducted to investigate the influences of different operating parameters on the inerting effectiveness of the system, including flow rate of the inert gas (nitrogen-enriched air, inert gas concentration, fuel load of the tank and different inerting approaches. The experimental results show that under the same operating conditions, the time span of a complete inerting process decreased as the flow rate of inert gas was increased; the time span using the inert gas with 5% oxygen concentration was much longer than that using pure nitrogen; when the fuel tank was inerted using the ullage washing approach, the time span increased as the fuel load was decreased; the ullage washing approach showed the best inerting performance when the time span of a complete inerting process was the evaluation criterion, but when the decrease of dissolved oxygen concentration in the fuel was also considered to characterize the inerting effectiveness, the approach of ullage washing and fuel scrubbing at the same time was the most effective.

TIG AISI-316 welds using an inert gas welding chamber and different filler metals: Changes in mechanical properties and microstructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pascual, M.; Salas, F.; Carcel, F.J.; Perales, M.; Sanchez, A.

2010-07-01

This report analyses the influence of the use of an inert gas welding chamber with a totally inert atmosphere on the microstructure and mechanical properties of austenitic AISI 316L stainless steel TIG welds, using AISI ER316L, AISI 308L and Inconel 625 as filler metals. When compared with the typical TIG process, the use of the inert gas chamber induced changes in the microstructure, mainly an increase in the presence of vermicular ferrite and ferrite stringers, what resulted in higher yield strengths and lower values of hardness. Its effect on other characteristics of the joins, such as tensile strength, depended on the filler metal. The best combination of mechanical characteristics was obtained when welding in the inert gas chamber using Inconel 625 as filler metal. (Author). 12 refs.

Measurement of activity of radioactive gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhuo Renhong; Lei Jiarong; Wen Dezhi; Cheng Jing; Zheng Hui

2005-10-01

A set of standard instrument system with their accessories for the measurement of activity of radioactive gas have been developed. The specifications and performances of the system have been tested and examined. The conventional true values of activity of radioactive gas have been measured and its uncertainty has been assessed. The technique of the dissemination of the measurement of activity of radioactive gas has been researched. The specification and performance of the whole set of apparatus meet the requirements of the relational standard, critra, regulation, it can be regard as a work standard for the measurement of activity of radioactive gas in CAEP. (authors)

General Atomic's radioactive gas recovery system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahn, J.A.; Perry, C.A.

1975-01-01

General Atomic Company has developed a Radioactive Gas Recovery System for the HTGR which separates, for purposes of retention, the radioactive components from the non-radioactive reactor plant waste gases. This provides the capability for reducing to an insignificant level the amount of radioactivity released from the gas waste system to the atmosphere--a most significant improvement in reducing total activity release to the environment. (U.S.)

Radioactive waste gas processing systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kita, Kaoru; Minemoto, Masaki; Takezawa, Kazuaki.

1981-01-01

Purpose: To effectively separate and remove only hydrogen from hydrogen gas-containing radioactive waste gases produced from nuclear power plants without using large scaled facilities. Constitution: From hydrogen gas-enriched waste gases which contain radioactive rare gases (Kr, Xe) sent from the volume control tank of a chemical volume control system, only the hydrogen is separated in a hydrogen separator using palladium alloy membrane and rare gases are concentrated, volume-decreased and then stored. In this case, an activated carbon adsorption device is connected at its inlet to the radioactive gas outlet of the hydrogen separator and opened at its outlet to external atmosphere. In this system, while only the hydrogen gas permeates through the palladium alloy membrane, other gases are introduced, without permeation, into the activated carbon adsorption device. Then, the radioactive rare gases are decayed by the adsorption on the activated carbon and then released to the external atmosphere. (Furukawa, Y.)

Calibration method based on direct radioactivity measurement for radioactive gas monitoring instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Makoto; Ohi, Yoshihiro; Chida, Tohru; Wu, Youyang.

1993-01-01

A calibration method for radioactive gas monitoring instruments was studied. In the method, gaseous radioactivity standards were provided on the basis of the direct radioactivity measurement by the diffusion-in long proportional counter method (DLPC method). The radioactivity concentration of the gas mixture through a monitoring instrument was determined by sampling the known volume of the gas mixture into the proportional counter used for the DLPC method. Since oxygen in the gas mixture decreased the counting efficiency in a proportional counter, the influence on calibration was experimentally estimated. It was not serious and able to be easily corrected. By the present method, the relation between radioactivity concentration and ionization current was determined for a gas-flow ionization chamber with 1.5 l effective volume. It showed good agreement with the results in other works. (author)

Method of processing radioactive gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Masayuki.

1978-01-01

Purpose: To reduce the quantity of radioactive gas discharged at the time of starting a nuclear power plant. Method: After the stoppage of a nuclear power plant air containing a radioactive gas is extracted from a main condenser by operating an air extractor. The air is sent into a gaseous waste disposal device, and then introduced into the activated carbon adsorptive tower of a rare gas holdup device where xenon and krypton are trapped. Thereafter, the air passes through pipelines and returned to the main condenser. In this manner, the radioactive gas contained in air within the main condenser is removed during the stoppage of the operation of the nuclear power plant. After the plant has been started, when it enters the normal operation, a flow control valve is closed and another valve is opened, and a purified gas exhausted from the rare gas holdup device is discharged into the atmosphere through an exhaust cylinder. (Aizawa, K.)

Off-gas processing method in reprocessing plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Yoshihiro; Seki, Eiji.

1990-01-01

Off-gases containing a radioactive Kr gas generated in a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant are at first sent to a Kr gas separator. Then, the radioactive Kr gas extracted there is introduced to a Kr gas fixing device. A pretreatment and a post-treatment are applied by using a non-radioactive clean inert gas except for the Kr gas as a purge gas. If the radioactive Kr gas is contained in the off-gases discharged from the Kr gas fixing device after applying the post-treatment, the off gases are returned to the Kr gas separator. Accordingly, in a case where the radioactive Kr gas is contained in the off-gases discharged from the Kr gas fixing device, it is not necessary to apply the fixing treatment to all of the off gases. In view of the above, increase of the amount of processing gases can be suppressed and the radioactive Kr gas can be fixed efficiently and economically. (I.N.)

Collision-induced polarizabilities of inert gas atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clarke, K.L.; Madden, P.A.; Buckingham, A.D.

1978-01-01

The use of polarizability densities to calculate collision-induced polarizabilities is investigated. One method for computing polarizabilities of inert gas diatoms employs atomic polarizability densities from finite-field Hartree-Fock calculations, together with classical equations for the polarization of dielectrics. It is shown that this model gives inaccurate values for both the local fields and the local response to non-uniform fields. An alternative method incorporating the same physical effects is used to compute the pair polarizabilities to first order in the interatomic interaction. To first order the pair contribution to the trace of the polarizability is negative at short range. The calculated anisotropy does not differ significantly from the DID value, whereas the polarizability density calculation gives a substantial reduction in the anisotropy. (author)

NOx emission control in SI engine by adding argon inert gas to intake mixture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moneib, Hany A.; Abdelaal, Mohsen; Selim, Mohamed Y.E.; Abdallah, Osama A.

2009-01-01

The Argon inert gas is used to dilute the intake air of a spark ignition engine to decrease nitrogen oxides and improve the performance of the engine. A research engine Ricardo E6 with variable compression was used in the present work. A special test rig has been designed and built to admit the gas to the intake air of the engine for up to 15% of the intake air. The system could admit the inert gas, oxygen and nitrogen gases at preset amounts. The variables studied included the engine speed, Argon to inlet air ratio, and air to fuel ratio. The results presented here included the combustion pressure, temperature, burned mass fraction, heat release rate, brake power, thermal efficiency, volumetric efficiency, exhaust temperature, brake specific fuel consumption and emissions of CO, CO 2 , NO and O 2 . It was found that the addition of Argon gas to the intake air of the gasoline engine causes the nitrogen oxide to reduce effectively and also it caused the brake power and thermal efficiency of the engine to increase. Mathematical program has been used to obtain the mixture properties and the heat release when the Argon gas is used.

Using fumarolic inert gas composition to investigate magma dynamics at Campi Flegrei (Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Chiodini, G.; Caliro, S.; Paonita, A.; Cardellini, C.

2013-12-01

Since 2000 the Campi Flegrei caldera sited in Neapolitan area (Italy), has showed signs of reactivation, marked by ground uplift, seismic activity, compositional variations of fumarolic effluents from La Solfatara, an increase of the fumarolic activity as well as of soil CO2 fluxes. Comparing long time series of geochemical signals with ground deformation and seismicity, we show that these changes are at least partially caused by repeated injections of magmatic fluid into the hydrothermal system. The frequency of these degassing episodes has increased in the last years, causing pulsed uplift episodes and swarms of low magnitude earthquakes. We focus here in the inert gas species (CO2-He-Ar-N2) of Solfatara fumaroles which displayed in the time spectacular and persistent variation trends affecting all the monitored vents. The observed variations, which include a continuous decrease of both N2/He and N2/CO2 ratios since 1985, paralleled by an increase of He/CO2, can not be explained neither with changes in processes of boiling-condensation in the local hydrothermal system nor with changes in the mixing proportions between a magmatic vapour and hydrothermal fluids. Consequently we investigated the possibility that the trends of inert gas species are governed by changes in the conditions controlling magma degassing at depth. We applied a magma degassing model, with the most recent updates for inert gas solubilities, after to have included petrologic constraints from the ranges of melt composition and reservoir pressure at Campi Flegrei. The model simulations for mafic melts (trachybasalt and shoshonite) show a surprising agreement with the measured data. Both decompressive degassing of an ascending magma and mixing between magmatic fluids exsolved at various levels along the ascent path can explain the long-time geochemical changes. Our work highlights that, in caldera systems where the presence of hydrothermal aquifers commonly masks the magmatic signature of reactive

Gas transport during in vitro and in vivo preclinical testing of inert gas therapies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ira Katz

2016-01-01

Full Text Available New gas therapies using inert gases such as xenon and argon are being studied, which require in vitro and in vivo preclinical experiments. Examples of the kinetics of gas transport during such experiments are analyzed in this paper. Using analytical and numerical models, we analyze an in vitro experiment for gas transport to a 96 cell well plate and an in vivo delivery to a small animal chamber, where the key processes considered are the wash-in of test gas into an apparatus dead volume, the diffusion of test gas through the liquid media in a well of a cell test plate, and the pharmacokinetics in a rat. In the case of small animals in a chamber, the key variable controlling the kinetics is the chamber wash-in time constant that is a function of the chamber volume and the gas flow rate. For cells covered by a liquid media the diffusion of gas through the liquid media is the dominant mechanism, such that liquid depth and the gas diffusion constant are the key parameters. The key message from these analyses is that the transport of gas during preclinical experiments can be important in determining the true dose as experienced at the site of action in an animal or to a cell.

Radioactive gas solidification apparatus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Yoshihiro; Seki, Eiji; Yabu, Tomohiko; Matsunaga, Hiroyuki.

1990-01-01

Handling of a solidification container from the completion for the solidifying processing to the storage of radioactive gases by a remote control equipment such as a manipulator requires a great cost and is difficult to realize. In a radioactive gas solidification device for injection and solidification in accumulated layers of sputtered metals by glow discharge, radiation shieldings are disposed surrounding the entire container, and cooling water is supplied to a cooling vessel formed between the container and the shielding materials. The shielding materials are divided into upper and lower shielding materials, so that solidification container can be taken out from the shielding materials. As a result, the solidification container after the solidification of radioactive gases can be handled with ease. Further, after-heat can be removed effectively from the ion injection electrode upon solidifying treatment upon storage, to attain a radioactive gas solidifying processing apparatus which is safe, economical and highly reliable. (N.H.)

46 CFR 153.923 - Inerting systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Inerting systems. 153.923 Section 153.923 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) CERTAIN BULK DANGEROUS CARGOES SHIPS CARRYING BULK... Requirements § 153.923 Inerting systems. The master shall ensure that the inert gas systems for any cargo that...

Mn nanoparticles produced by inert gas condensation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward, M B; Brydson, R; Cochrane, R F

2006-01-01

The results from experiments using the inert gas condensation method to produce nanoparticles of manganese are presented. Structural and compositional data have been collected through electron diffraction, EDX (energy dispersive X-ray) and EELS (electron energy loss spectroscopy). Both Mn 3 O 4 and pure Mn particles have been produced. Moisture in untreated helium gas causes the particles to oxidize, whereas running the helium through a liquid nitrogen trap removes the moisture and produces β-Mn particles in a metastable state. The particle sizes and the size distribution have been determined. Particle sizes range from 2nm to above 100 nm, however the majority of particles lie in the range below 20 nm with a modal particle size of 6 nm. As well as the modal particle size of 6 nm, there is another peak in the frequency curve at 16 nm that represents another group particles that lie in the range 12 to 20 nm. The smaller particles are single crystals, but the larger particles appear to have a dense region around their edge with a less dense centre. Determination of their exact nature is ongoing

Natural radioactivity at Podravina gas fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovac, J.; Marovic, G.

2006-01-01

In Croatia, natural gas is an important source of energy, where its use exceeds other sources by one third. Composed primarily of the methane, natural gas from Croatian Podravina gas fields, beside other impurities, contains small amounts of radioactive elements. At Gas Treatment Plant (GTP) Molve, technological procedures for purification of natural gas and its distribution are performed. With yearly natural gas production of 3.5 109 m3 GTP Molve is major Croatian energy resource. Its safety and environment impact is matter of concern. Using different radioactivity measuring techniques the exposure of population to ionizing radiation were calculated at Central Natural Gas Station Molve and the underground wells. The measurement techniques included in-situ gamma spectrometric measurements, from which contribution to absorbed dose of the natural radionuclide in soil were calculated. Exposure dose measurements were performed using T.L.-dosimeters, and L.A.R.A. electronic dosimeters as well as field dose rate meter. Comparing used different radioactivity measuring methods, the correlations have been calculated. (authors)

Radioactive gas processing device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kita, Kaoru; Minemoto, Masaki; Takezawa, Kazuaki; Okazaki, Akira; Kumagaya, Koji.

1982-01-01

Purpose: To simplify the structure of a gas processing system which has hitherto been much complicated by the recyclic use of molecular sieve regeneration gas, by enabling to release the regeneration gas to outside in a once-through manner. Constitution: The system comprises a cooler for receiving and cooling gases to be processed containing radioactive rare gases, moisture-removing pipelines each connected in parallel to the exit of the cooler and having switching valves and a moisture removing column disposed between the valves and a charcoal absorber in communication with the moisture removing pipelines. Pipelines for flowing regeneration heating gases are separately connected to the moisture removing columns, and molecular sieve is charged in the moisture removing column by the amount depending on the types of the radioactive rare gases. (Aizawa, K.)

Ionization chamber for monitoring radioactive gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotrappa, P.; Dempsey, J.

1992-01-01

This present invention provides simple, effective and accurate cumulative measurement of radioactive gas over a time period. Measurements of radioactive gas are important for many purposes. Tritium concentrations in potentially exposed workers are measured, for example, with periodic urine specimens. Carbon-14 serves as a useful research tool for monitoring the progress of many chemical and biological reactions and interactions. For example, many microorganisms break down carbon-14 containing compounds in sugar to produce carbon-14 dioxide gas which can be collected and measured to determine various characteristics of the microorganisms. Both tritium and carbon-14 dioxide produce low energy radiation which cannot be easily measured by conventional radioactivity detectors. (author). 4 figs

Ionization chamber for monitoring radioactive gas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kotrappa, P; Dempsey, J

1992-09-22

This present invention provides simple, effective and accurate cumulative measurement of radioactive gas over a time period. Measurements of radioactive gas are important for many purposes. Tritium concentrations in potentially exposed workers are measured, for example, with periodic urine specimens. Carbon-14 serves as a useful research tool for monitoring the progress of many chemical and biological reactions and interactions. For example, many microorganisms break down carbon-14 containing compounds in sugar to produce carbon-14 dioxide gas which can be collected and measured to determine various characteristics of the microorganisms. Both tritium and carbon-14 dioxide produce low energy radiation which cannot be easily measured by conventional radioactivity detectors. (author). 4 figs.

The Assesment Of Radioactive Accident Management On The RSG-GAS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soejoedi, Agoes; Karmana, Endang

2000-01-01

In the operational reactor facilities include RSG-GAS, safety factor for radioactive accident very important to be prioritized. Till now the anticipate happening radioactive accident on the RSG-GAS threat only by the RSG-GAS Operation Manual. For increasing the working function need to create radioactive accident management by facility level. From studying result which source IAEA guidebook, can be composed the assessment accident management of radioactive the RSG-GAS.The sketching this accident management of radioactive to be hoped can helping P2TRR organization by handling radioactive accident if this moment happen on the RSG-GAS

An in vitro lung model to assess true shunt fraction by multiple inert gas elimination.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balamurugan Varadarajan

Full Text Available The Multiple Inert Gas Elimination Technique, based on Micropore Membrane Inlet Mass Spectrometry, (MMIMS-MIGET has been designed as a rapid and direct method to assess the full range of ventilation-to-perfusion (V/Q ratios. MMIMS-MIGET distributions have not been assessed in an experimental setup with predefined V/Q-distributions. We aimed (I to construct a novel in vitro lung model (IVLM for the simulation of predefined V/Q distributions with five gas exchange compartments and (II to correlate shunt fractions derived from MMIMS-MIGET with preset reference shunt values of the IVLM. Five hollow-fiber membrane oxygenators switched in parallel within a closed extracorporeal oxygenation circuit were ventilated with sweep gas (V and perfused with human red cell suspension or saline (Q. Inert gas solution was infused into the perfusion circuit of the gas exchange assembly. Sweep gas flow (V was kept constant and reference shunt fractions (IVLM-S were established by bypassing one or more oxygenators with perfusate flow (Q. The derived shunt fractions (MM-S were determined using MIGET by MMIMS from the retention data. Shunt derived by MMIMS-MIGET correlated well with preset reference shunt fractions. The in vitro lung model is a convenient system for the setup of predefined true shunt fractions in validation of MMIMS-MIGET.

Electron temperature and density measurement of tungsten inert gas arcs with Ar-He shielding gas mixture

Science.gov (United States)

Kühn-Kauffeldt, M.; Marques, J.-L.; Forster, G.; Schein, J.

2013-10-01

The diagnostics of atmospheric welding plasma is a well-established technology. In most cases the measurements are limited to processes using pure shielding gas. However in many applications shielding gas is a mixture of various components including metal vapor in gas metal arc welding (GMAW). Shielding gas mixtures are intentionally used for tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding in order to improve the welding performance. For example adding Helium to Argon shielding gas allows the weld geometry and porosity to be influenced. Yet thermal plasmas produced with gas mixtures or metal vapor still require further experimental investigation. In this work coherent Thomson scattering is used to measure electron temperature and density in these plasmas, since this technique allows independent measurements of electron and ion temperature. Here thermal plasmas generated by a TIG process with 50% Argon and 50% Helium shielding gas mixture have been investigated. Electron temperature and density measured by coherent Thomson scattering have been compared to the results of spectroscopic measurements of the plasma density using Stark broadening of the 696.5 nm Argon spectral line. Further investigations of MIG processes using Thomson scattering technique are planned.

Electron temperature and density measurement of tungsten inert gas arcs with Ar-He shielding gas mixture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kühn-Kauffeldt, M; Marques, J-L; Forster, G; Schein, J

2013-01-01

The diagnostics of atmospheric welding plasma is a well-established technology. In most cases the measurements are limited to processes using pure shielding gas. However in many applications shielding gas is a mixture of various components including metal vapor in gas metal arc welding (GMAW). Shielding gas mixtures are intentionally used for tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding in order to improve the welding performance. For example adding Helium to Argon shielding gas allows the weld geometry and porosity to be influenced. Yet thermal plasmas produced with gas mixtures or metal vapor still require further experimental investigation. In this work coherent Thomson scattering is used to measure electron temperature and density in these plasmas, since this technique allows independent measurements of electron and ion temperature. Here thermal plasmas generated by a TIG process with 50% Argon and 50% Helium shielding gas mixture have been investigated. Electron temperature and density measured by coherent Thomson scattering have been compared to the results of spectroscopic measurements of the plasma density using Stark broadening of the 696.5 nm Argon spectral line. Further investigations of MIG processes using Thomson scattering technique are planned

Device for adsorbing exhaled radioactive gases and process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glasser, H.; Panetta, P.F.

1976-01-01

Sorption means are provided for sorbing radioactive gases, as in the exhalations of a living subject, especially for nuclear diagnostic test studies, comprising means for adsorbing the radioactive gas onto activated carbon, the carbon being contained in a plurality of independent, series-connected, chambers. The sorption means are especially adapted for the adsorption of radioactive inert gases such as xenon-133 ( 133 Xe). There can also be provided indicator means for indicating the flow-through of xenon comprising an indicator which changes color upon contact with xenon, such as dioxygenylhexafluoroantimoniate. 14 claims, 7 drawing figures

Radioactively induced noise in gas-sampling uranium calorimeters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gordon, H.A.; Rehak, P.

1982-01-01

The signal induced by radioactivity of a U 238 absorber in a cell of a gas-sampling uranium calorimeter was studied. By means of Campbell's theorem, the levels of the radioactively induced noise in uranium gas-sampling calorimeters was calculated. It was shown that in order to obtain similar radioactive noise performance as U-liquid argon or U-scintillator combinations, the α-particles from the uranium must be stopped before entering the sensing volume of gas-uranium calorimeters

Radioactive gas waste processing device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soma, Koichi.

1996-01-01

The present invention concerns a radioactive gas waste processing device which extracts exhaust gases from a turbine condensator in a BWR type reactor and releases them after decaying radioactivity thereof during temporary storage. The turbine condensator is connected with an extracting ejector, a preheater, a recombiner for converting hydrogen gas into steams, an off gas condensator for removing water content, a flow rate control valve, a dehumidifier, a hold up device for removing radiation contaminated materials, a vacuum pump for sucking radiation decayed-off gases, a circulation water tank for final purification and an exhaustion cylinder by way of connection pipelines in this order. An exhaust gas circulation pipeline is disposed to circulate exhaust gases from an exhaust gas exit pipeline of the recycling water tank to an exhaust gas exit pipeline of the exhaust gas condensator, and a pressure control valve is disposed to the exhaust gas circulation pipeline. This enable to perform a system test for the dehumidification device under a test condition approximate to the load of the dehumidification device under actual operation state, and stabilize both of system flow rate and pressure. (T.M.)

Purification of inert gas circuits of nuclear power facilities from tritium and hydrogen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eichler, R.

1985-08-01

Removing hydrogen and tritium from the inert primary coolant of a high temperature reactor is very important in regard to the process heat disposition. In this work a gas purification for a high temperature module reactor was laid out constructionally and researched technically. This system removes the contamination of the primary circuit with the aid of chemical getter beds of Cer alloy particles. (orig./PW) [de

Modelling the transient behaviour of pulsed current tungsten-inert-gas weldpools

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, C. S.; Zheng, W.; Wu, L.

1999-01-01

A three-dimensional model is established to simulate the pulsed current tungsten-inert-gas (TIG) welding process. The goal is to analyse the cyclic variation of fluid flow and heat transfer in weldpools under periodic arc heat input. To this end, an algorithm, which is capable of handling the transience, nonlinearity, multiphase and strong coupling encountered in this work, is developed. The numerical simulations demonstrate the transient behaviour of weldpools under pulsed current. Experimental data are compared with numerical results to show the effectiveness of the developed model.

Radioactive gas solidification treatment device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Igarashi, Ryokichi; Watanabe, Yu; Seki, Eiji.

1992-01-01

In a radioactive gas solidification treatment device by using sputtering, spiral pipelines are disposed with a gap therebetween for cooling an ion injection electrode by passing cooling water during operation of the solidification treatment. During the operation of the solidification treatment, cooling water is passed in the pipelines to cool the ion injection electrode. During storage, a solidification vessel is cooled by natural heat dissipation from an exposed portion at the surface of the solidification vessel. Accordingly, after-heat of radioactive gas solidified in a metal accumulation layer can be removed efficiently, safely and economically to improve the reliability. (N.H.)

Dose dispenser for radioactive gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horwitz, N.H.; Gutkowski, R.E.

1977-01-01

An activity metering apparatus for metering predetermined activities of radioactive gas from a supply ampul to dose vials is described. The apparatus includes a shielded ampul housing, a fine metering valve communicating with the ampul housing chamber, a shielded vial housing and a hypodermic needle communicating with the metering valve and received through an opening in the vial housing. A Geiger-Muller tube is adjustably supported opposite an opening in the vial housing, whereby the activity of the radioactive gas dispensed to a partially evacuated vial within the vial chamber may be read directly by a standard laboratory rate meter

Experimental observations of effects of inert gas on cavity formation during irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farrell, K.

1980-04-01

Cavity (void) formation and swelling in non-fissile materials during neutron irradiation and charged particle bombardments are reviewed. Helium is the most important inert gas and is primarily active as a cavity nucleant. It also enhances formation of dislocation structure. Preimplantation of helium overstimulates cavity nucleation and gives a different temperature response of swelling than when helium is coimplanted during the damage process. Helium affects, and is affected by, radiation-induced phase instability. Many of these effects are explainable in terms of cavity nucleation on submicroscopic critical size gas bubbles, and on the influence of the neutral sink strength of such bubbles. Titanium and zirconium resist cavity formation when vacancy loops are present

Experimental observations of effects of inert gas on cavity formation during irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farrell, K.

1980-04-01

Cavity (void) formation and swelling in non-fissile materials during neutron irradiation and charged particle bombardments are reviewed. Helium is the most important inert gas and is primarily active as a cavity nucleant. It also enhances formation of dislocation structure. Preimplantation of helium overstimulates cavity nucleation and gives a different temperature response of swelling than when helium is coimplanted during the damage process. Helium affects, and is affected by, radiation-induced phase instability. Many of these effects are explainable in terms of cavity nucleation on submicroscopic critical size gas bubbles, and on the influence of the neutral sink strength of such bubbles. Titanium and zirconium resist cavity formation when vacancy loops are present.

Chemical identities of radioiodine released from U3O8 in oxygen and inert gas atmospheres

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tachikawa, E.; Nakashima, M.

1977-01-01

Irradiated U 3 O 8 was heated from room temperature to 1100 0 C in a temperature-programmed oven (5 0 C/min) in a flow of carrier gas. The iodine released to an inert gas was deposited in the temperature range from 200 to 300 0 C with a peak at 250 0 C (speciesA). This species is neither in a form combined with other fission products nor in elemental form. It is possibly a chemical combination with uranium. It reacts with oxygen, yielding species B characterized by its deposition at a temperature close to room temperature. The activation energy of this oxidation reaction was determined to be 6.0 +-0.5 Kcal/mol. Comparing the deposition-profile with those obtained with carrier-free I 2 and HI indicated that species B was I 2 . As for the formation of organic iodides accompanying the release in an inert gas, it was concluded that these were produced in radical reactions. Thus, in a presence of oxygen, organic iodides were formed in competition with the reactions of organic radicals with oxygen. (author)

Mobility of supercooled liquid toluene, ethylbenzene, and benzene near their glass transition temperatures investigated using inert gas permeation.

Science.gov (United States)

May, R Alan; Smith, R Scott; Kay, Bruce D

2013-11-21

We investigate the mobility of supercooled liquid toluene, ethylbenzene, and benzene near their respective glass transition temperatures (Tg). The permeation rate of Ar, Kr, and Xe through the supercooled liquid created when initially amorphous overlayers are heated above their glass transition temperature is used to determine the diffusivity. Amorphous benzene crystallizes at temperatures well below its Tg, and as a result, the inert gas underlayer remains trapped until the onset of benzene desorption. In contrast, for toluene and ethylbenzene the onset of inert gas permeation is observed at temperatues near Tg. The inert gas desorption peak temperature as a function of the heating rate and overlayer thickness is used to quantify the diffusivity of supercooled liquid toluene and ethylbenzene from 115 to 135 K. In this temperature range, diffusivities are found to vary across 5 orders of magnitude (∼10(-14) to 10(-9) cm(2)/s). The diffusivity data are compared to viscosity measurements and reveal a breakdown in the Stokes-Einstein relationship at low temperatures. However, the data are well fit by the fractional Stokes-Einstein equation with an exponent of 0.66. Efforts to determine the diffusivity of a mixture of benzene and ethylbenzene are detailed, and the effect of mixing these materials on benzene crystallization is explored using infrared spectroscopy.

Inert carrier drying and coating process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-01-01

An inert carrier process is described for drying radioactive (particularly low level) waste material and for incorporating the dry material into a binder matrix from which the dried material will not be leached. Experimental details, and examples of the carrier and binder materials, are given. (U.K.)

Method and apparatus for removing radioactive gases from a nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frumerman, R.; Brown, W.W.

1975-01-01

A description is given of a method for removing radioactive gases from a nuclear reactor including the steps of draining coolant from a nuclear reactor to a level just below the coolant inlet and outlet nozzles to form a vapor space and then charging the space with an inert gas, circulating coolant through the reactor to assist the release of radioactive gases from the coolant into the vapor space, withdrawing the radioactive gases from the vapor space by a vacuum pump which then condenses and separates water from gases carried forward by the vacuum pump, discharging the water to a storage tank and supplying the separated gases to a gas compressor which pumps the gases to gas decay tanks. After the gases in the decay tanks lose their radioactive characteristics, the gases may be discharged to the atmosphere or returned to the reactor for further use

Assessment of Stress Corrosion Cracking Resistance of Activated Tungsten Inert Gas-Welded Duplex Stainless Steel Joints

Science.gov (United States)

Alwin, B.; Lakshminarayanan, A. K.; Vasudevan, M.; Vasantharaja, P.

2017-12-01

The stress corrosion cracking behavior of duplex stainless steel (DSS) weld joint largely depends on the ferrite-austenite phase microstructure balance. This phase balance is decided by the welding process used, heat input, welding conditions and the weld metal chemistry. In this investigation, the influence of activated tungsten inert gas (ATIG) and tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding processes on the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance of DSS joints was evaluated and compared. Boiling magnesium chloride (45 wt.%) environment maintained at 155 °C was used. The microstructure and ferrite content of different weld zones are correlated with the outcome of sustained load, SCC test. Irrespective of the welding processes used, SCC resistance of weld joints was inferior to that of the base metal. However, ATIG weld joint exhibited superior resistance to SCC than the TIG weld joint. The crack initiation and final failure were in the weld metal for the ATIG weld joint; they were in the heat-affected zone for the TIG weld joint.

Method of storing radioactive rare gas. [gas occupies spaces in the zeolite crystal lattice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nagao, H; Miharada, H; Takiguchi, Y; Kanazawa, T; Soya, M

1975-05-15

A method is provided to prevent dispersion of radioactive rare gas atoms by sealing them in a pressurised state within zeolite and thereby confining them in position within the zeolite crystal lattice. Radioactive rare gas is separated from exhaust gas and concentrated by using a low temperature adsorption means or liquefaction distillation means and necessary accessory means, and then it is temporarily stored in a gas holder. When a predetermined quantity of storage is reached, the gas is led to a sealing tank containing zeolite heated to 300 to 400/sup 0/C and held at 3,000 to 4,000 atmospheres, and under this condition radioactive rare gas is brought to occupy the spaces in the zeolite crystal lattice. After equilibrium pressure is reached by the pressure in the tank at that temperature, the gas is cooled in the pressurised state down to room temperature. Subsequently, the rare gas remaining in the tank and duct is recovered by a withdrawal pump into the gas holder. Thereafter, the zeolite with radioactive rare gas sealed in it is taken out from the tank and sealed within a long period storage container, which is then housed in a predetermined place for storage.

Radiochemical and inert gas analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrews, J.N.

1985-01-01

The subject is discussed under the headings: introduction (radioelement solution in groundwaters; U and Th; Ra and Rn; atmospheric and radiogenic solution in groundwaters; atmosphere derived gases; radiogenic helium; radiogenic argon; biogenic gases); analytical methods (sampling; U-content and 234 U/ 238 U activity ratio; 222 Ru; 226 Ra; dissolved inert gases; 4 He in core samples); the gamma spectrometric determination of U,Th and K. Results are presented and discussed. (U.K.)

Numerical modelling of inert gas bubble rising in liquid metal pool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pradeep, Arjun; Sharma, Anil Kumar; Ponraju, D.; Nashine, B K.

2016-01-01

Two-phase flow finds several applications in safe operation of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR). Numerical modelling of bubble rise dynamics in liquid metal pool of SFR is essential for the evaluation of residence time and shape changes, which are of utmost importance for simulating associated heat and mass transfer processes involved in reactor safety. A numerical model has been developed based on OpenFOAM for the evaluation of two-dimensional inert gas bubble rise dynamics in stagnant liquid metal pool. The governing model equations are discretized and solved using the Volume of Fluid based solver available in OpenFOAM with appropriate initial and boundary conditions. The model has been validated with available numerical benchmark results for laminar transient two-phase flow. The model has been used to evaluate velocity and rise trajectory of argon gas bubble with different diameters through a pool of liquid sodium. (author)

Determination of hydrogen in uranium-niobium-zirconium alloy by inert-gas fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carden, W.F.

1979-12-01

An improved method has been developed using inert-gas fusion for determining the hydrogen content in uranium-niobium-zirconium (U-7.5Nb-2.5Zr) alloy. The method is applicable to concentrations of hydrogen ranging from 1 to 250 micrograms per gram and may be adjusted for analysis of greater hydrogen concentrations. Hydrogen is determined using a hydrogen determinator. The limit of error for a single determination at the 95%-confidence level (at the 3.7-μg/g-hydrogen level) is +-1.4 micrograms per gram hydrogen

Radon Adsorbed in Activated Charcoal--A Simple and Safe Radiation Source for Teaching Practical Radioactivity in Schools and Colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Azmi, Darwish; Mustapha, Amidu O.; Karunakara, N.

2012-01-01

Simple procedures for teaching practical radioactivity are presented in a way that attracts students' attention and does not make them apprehensive about their safety. The radiation source is derived from the natural environment. It is based on the radioactivity of radon, a ubiquitous inert gas, and the adsorptive property of activated charcoal.…

The Influences of Time and Velocity of Inert Gas on the Quality of theProcessing Product of Graphite Matrix on the Baking Step

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imam-Dahroni; Dwi-Herwidhi; NS, Kasilani

2000-01-01

The research of the synthesis of matrix graphite on the step of bakingprocess was conducted, by focusing on the influence of time and velocityvariables of the inert gas. The investigation on baking times ranging from 5minutes to 55 minutes and by varying the velocity of inert gas from 0.30l/minute to 3.60 l/minute, resulted the product of different matrix.Optimizing at the time of operation and the flow rate of argon gas indicatedthat the baking time for 30 minutes and by the flow rate of argon gas of 2.60l/minute resulted best matrix graphite that has a hardness value of 11kg/mm 2 of hardness and the ductility of 1800 Newton. (author)

Flow measurements of the kidney after selective administration of radioactive xenon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franken, A.H.

1983-01-01

This thesis describes the results of perfusion studies in the kidney through the renal artery in human subjects, after selective administration of the inert radioactive gas Xenon-133. The examinations have been carried out in conjunction with renal angiography. From October 1979 to May 1981, a total of 150 studies have been performed in 86 patients. (Auth.)

Exhaust gas cleaning system for handling radioactive fission and activation gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Queiser, H.; Schwarz, H.

1975-01-01

An exhaust gas cleaning system utilizing the principle of delaying radioactive gases to permit their radioactive decay to a level acceptable for release to the atmosphere, comprising an adsorbent for adsorbing radioactive gas and a container for containing the adsorbent and for constraining gas to flow through the adsorbent, the adsorbent and the container forming simultaneously an adsorptive delay section and a mechanical delay section, by means of a predetermined ratio of volume of voids in the adsorbent to total volume of the container containing the adsorbent, for delaying radioactive gas to permit its radioactive decay to a level acceptable for release to the atmosphere is described. A method of using an adsorbent for cleaning a radioactive gas containing an isotope which is adsorbed by the adsorbent and containing an isotope whose adsorption by the adsorbent is low as compared to the isotope which is adsorbed and which is short-lived as compared to the isotope which is adsorbed, comprising constraining the gas to flow through the adsorbent with the retention time for the isotope which is adsorbed being at least the minimum for permitting radioactive decay to a level acceptable for release to the atmosphere and with the retention time for the isotope of relatively low adsorption and relatively short life being at least the minimum for permitting radioactive decay to a level acceptable for release to the atmosphere is also described. (U.S.)

Magnetotransport of Monolayer Graphene with Inert Gas Adsorption in the Quantum Hall Regime

Science.gov (United States)

Fukuda, A.; Terasawa, D.; Fujimoto, A.; Kanai, Y.; Matsumoto, K.

2018-03-01

The surface of graphene is easily accessible from outside, and thus it is a suitable material to study the effects of molecular adsorption on the electric transport properties. We investigate the magnetotransport of inert-gas-adsorbed monolayer graphene at a temperature of 4.4 K under a magnetic field ranging from 0 to 7 T. We introduce 4He or Ar gas at low temperature to graphene kept inside a sample cell. The magnetoresistance change ΔRxx and Hall resistance change ΔRxy from the pristine graphene are measured as a function of gate voltage and magnetic field for one layer of adsorbates. ΔRxx and ΔRxy show oscillating patterns related to the constant filling factor lines in a Landau-fan diagram. Magnitudes of these quantities are relatively higher around a charge neutral point and may be mass-sensitive. These conditions could be optimized for development of a highly sensitive gas sensor.

Radioactive gas storage device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seki, Eiji; Kobayashi, Yoshihiro.

1989-01-01

The present invention concerns a device of ionizing radioactive gases to be processed in gaseous nuclear fission products in nuclear fuel reprocessing plants, etc., and injecting them into metal substrates for storage. The device comprises a vessel for a tightly closed type outer electrode in which gases to be processed are introduced, an electrode disposed to the inside of the vessel and the target material, a high DC voltage power source for applying high voltage to the electrodes, etc. There are disposed a first electric discharging portion for preparting discharge plasma for ion injection of different electrode distance and a second electric discharging portion for causing stable discharge between the vessel and the electrode. The first electric discharging portion for the ion injection provides an electrode distance suitable to acceleration sputtering and the second electric discharging portion is used for stable discharge. Accordingly, if the gas pressure in the radioactive gas storage device is reduced by the external disturbance, etc., since the second electric discharging portion satisfies the electric discharging conditions, the device can continue electric discharge. (K.M.)

Release of radioactive fission products from BN-600 reactor untight fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osipov, S.L.; Tsikunov, A.G.; Lisitsin, E.C.

1996-01-01

The experimental data on the release of radioactive fission products from BN-600 reactor untight fuel elements are given in the report. Various groups of radionuclides: inert gases Xe, Kr, volatile Cs, J, non-volatile Nb, and La are considered. The results of calculation-experimental study of transfer and distribution of radionuclides in the reactor primary circuit, gas system and sodium coolant are considered. It is shown that some complex radioactivity transfer processes can be described by simple mathematical models. (author)

Techniques for optimizing inerting in electron processors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rangwalla, I.J.; Korn, D.J.; Nablo, S.V.

1993-01-01

The design of an ''inert gas'' distribution system in an electron processor must satisfy a number of requirements. The first of these is the elimination or control of beam produced ozone and NO x which can be transported from the process zone by the product into the work area. Since the tolerable levels for O 3 in occupied areas around the processor are 3 in the beam heated process zone, or exhausting and dilution of the gas at the processor exit. The second requirement of the inerting system is to provide a suitable environment for completing efficient, free radical initiated addition polymerization. The competition between radical loss through de-excitation and that from O 2 quenching must be understood. This group has used gas chromatographic analysis of electron cured coatings to study the trade-offs of delivered dose, dose rate and O 2 concentrations in the process zone to determine the tolerable ranges of parameter excursions for production quality control purposes. These techniques are described for an ink coating system on paperboard, where a broad range of process parameters have been studied (D, D radical, O 2 ). It is then shown how the technique is used to optimize the use of higher purity (10-100 ppm O 2 ) nitrogen gas for inerting, in combination with lower purity (2-20,000 ppm O 2 ) non-cryogenically produced gas, as from a membrane or pressure swing adsorption generators. (author)

Radioactive gas inhalator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LeMon, D.E.

1975-01-01

An ''inhalator'', or more particularly an apparatus for permitting a patient to inhale a radioactive gas in order to provide a diagnostic test of the patient's lung area, is described. The disclosed apparatus provides a simple, trouble-free mechanism for achieving this result; and, furthermore, provides an improved testing method. Moreover, the disclosed apparatus has the capability of gradually introducing the test condition in a manner that makes it easy for the patient to become acclimated to it. (U.S.)

Radioactive contamination monitoring device for off-gas in ventilation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osaki, Masahiko; Watabe, Atsushi; Kaneko, Itaru; Kubokoya, Takashi.

1990-01-01

In a conventional method of detecting leakage for primary coolants, radioactive iodine in off-gases was detected while going up the off-gas system. As an event resulting in abnormality to radioactive rare gas level, leakage of water, leakage in cleanup system-recycling system, leakage in main steams and leakage from wastes processing system are considered. An off-gas system to be measured is selectively sampled by a sample changer in order to measure radioactive rare gases in the off-gases, and sample gases are introduced to detect radioactivity. Detection signals are received for analysis and quantitative determination, the result of the analysis is diagnosed and the presence or absence of abnormality in an object to be measured is determined. Subsequently, an abnormality alarm and the result of the analysis are outputted. Since the radioactive rare gases are chemically inactive, they are neither combined with other materials nor deposited to wall surfaces. Abnormality can be easily detected by always monitoring a composition pattern and a radioactivity level. (N.H.)

Pyrochemical separation of radioactive components from inert materials in ICPP high-level calcined waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Del Debbio, J.A.; Nelson, L.O.; Todd, T.A.

1995-05-01

Since 1963, calcination of aqueous wastes from reprocessing of DOE-owned spent nuclear fuels has resulted in the accumulation of approximately 3800 m 3 of high-level waste (HLW) at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP). The waste is in the form of a granular solid called calcine and is stored on site in stainless steel bins which are encased in concrete. Due to the leachability of 137 Cs and 90 Sr and possibly other radioactive components, the calcine is not suitable for final disposal. Hence, a process to immobilize calcine in glass is being developed. Since radioactive components represent less than 1 wt % of the calcine, separation of actinides and fission products from inert components is being considered to reduce the volume of HLW requiring final disposal. Current estimates indicate that compared to direct vitrification, a volume reduction factor of 10 could result in significant cost savings. Aqueous processes, which involve calcine dissolution in nitric acid followed by separation of actinide and fission products by solvent extraction and ion exchange methods, are being developed. Pyrochemical separation methods, which generate small volumes of aqueous wastes and do not require calcine dissolution, have been evaluated as alternatives to aqueous processes. This report describes three proposed pyrochemical flowsheets and presents the results of experimental studies conducted to evaluate their feasibility. The information presented is a consolidation of three reports, which should be consulted for experimental details

Process for nondestructively testing with radioactive gas using a chill set sealant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibbons, C.B.

1975-01-01

An article surface is nondestructively tested for substantially invisible surface voids by absorbing a radioactive gas thereon. The adsorbed radioactive gas is disproportionately retained on those surfaces presented by the substantially invisible surface voids as compared to the remaining surfaces of the article contacted by the radioactive gas. The radiation released by the radioactive gas remaining adsorbed is used to identify the substantially invisible voids. To immobilize the radioactive gas adjacent or within the surface voids, a sealant composition is provided which is capable of being chill set. The temperatures of the article surface to be tested and the sealant composition are then related so that the article surface is at a temperature below the chill set temperature of the sealant composition and the sealant composition is at a temperature above its chill set temperature. The article portion to be tested is then coated with sealant composition to form a chill set coating thereon of substantially uniform thickness. (U.S.)

Entrapment process of radioactive gaseous wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gagneraud, Francis; Gagneraud, Michel.

1981-01-01

Process for collecting chemically inert gaseous radioactive waste in melted substances, whereby the gaseous waste is injected under pressure in a molten substance to its saturation point followed by fast cooling. This substance is constituted of glass, ceramics, metallurgical drosses and slag masses in fusion. Its cooling is carried out by quenching by means of running water or a gas fluid, or by casting into vessels with great thermal inertia such as cast iron or similar, before recovery and confinement in receptacles for storage [fr

Method of burying vessel containing radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koga, Yoshihito.

1989-01-01

A float having an inert gas sealed therein is attached to a tightly closed vessel containing radioactive wastes. The vessel is inserted and kept in a small hole for burying the tightly closed vessel in an excavated shaft in rocks such as of granite or rock salts, while filling bentonite as shielding material therearound. In this case, the float is so adjusted that the apparent specific gravity is made equal or nearer between the tightly closed vessel and the bentonite, so that the rightly closed vessel does not sink and cause direct contact with the rocks even if bentonite flows due to earthquakes, etc. This can prevent radioactivity contamination through water in the rocks. (S.K.)

Compatibility of Space Nuclear Power Plant Materials in an Inert He/Xe Working Gas Containing Reactive Impurities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MM Hall

2006-01-01

A major materials selection and qualification issue identified in the Space Materials Plan is the potential for creating materials compatibility problems by combining dissimilar reactor core, Brayton Unit and other power conversion plant materials in a recirculating, inert He/Xe gas loop containing reactive impurity gases. Reported here are results of equilibrium thermochemical analyses that address the compatibility of space nuclear power plant (SNPP) materials in high temperature impure He gas environments. These studies provide early information regarding the constraints that exist for SNPP materials selection and provide guidance for establishing test objectives and environments for SNPP materials qualification testing

Active flux tungsten inert gas welding of austenitic stainless steel AISI 304

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Klobčar

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the effects of flux assisted tungsten inert gas (A-TIG welding of 4 (10 mm thick austenitic stainless steel EN X5CrNi1810 (AISI 304 in the butt joint. The sample dimensions were 300 ´ 50 mm, and commercially available active flux QuickTIG was used for testing. In the planned study the influence of welding position and weld groove shape was analysed based on the penetration depth. A comparison of microstructure formation, grain size and ferrit number between TIG welding and A-TIG welding was done. The A-TIG welds were subjected to bending test. A comparative study of TIG and A-TIG welding shows that A-TIG welding increases the weld penetration depth.

Synthesis of Fe Nanoparticles Functionalized with Oleic Acid Synthesized by Inert Gas Condensation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. G. Silva

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this work, we study the synthesis of monodispersed Fe nanoparticles (Fe-NPs in situ functionalized with oleic acid. The nanoparticles were self-assembled by inert gas condensation (IGC technique by using magnetron-sputtering process. Structural characterization of Fe-NPs was performed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM. Particle size control was carried out through the following parameters: (i condensation zone length, (ii magnetron power, and (iii gas flow (Ar and He. Typically the nanoparticles generated by IGC showed diameters which ranged from ~0.7 to 20 nm. Mass spectroscopy of Fe-NPs in the deposition system allowed the study of in situ nanoparticle formation, through a quadrupole mass filter (QMF that one can use together with a mass filter. When the deposition system works without quadrupole mass filter, the particle diameter distribution is around +/−20%. When the quadrupole is in line, then the distribution can be reduced to around +/−2%.

Deposition of Size-Selected Cu Nanoparticles by Inert Gas Condensation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martínez E

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Nanometer size-selected Cu clusters in the size range of 1–5 nm have been produced by a plasma-gas-condensation-type cluster deposition apparatus, which combines a grow-discharge sputtering with an inert gas condensation technique. With this method, by controlling the experimental conditions, it was possible to produce nanoparticles with a strict control in size. The structure and size of Cu nanoparticles were determined by mass spectroscopy and confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM and scanning electron transmission microscopy (STEM measurements. In order to preserve the structural and morphological properties, the energy of cluster impact was controlled; the energy of acceleration of the nanoparticles was in near values at 0.1 ev/atom for being in soft landing regime. From SEM measurements developed in STEM-HAADF mode, we found that nanoparticles are near sized to those values fixed experimentally also confirmed by AFM observations. The results are relevant, since it demonstrates that proper optimization of operation conditions can lead to desired cluster sizes as well as desired cluster size distributions. It was also demonstrated the efficiency of the method to obtain size-selected Cu clusters films, as a random stacking of nanometer-size crystallites assembly. The deposition of size-selected metal clusters represents a novel method of preparing Cu nanostructures, with high potential in optical and catalytic applications.

The smoke ion source: A device for the generation of cluster ions via inert gas condensation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McHugh, K.M.; Sarkas, H.W.; Eaton, J.G.; Bowen, K.H.; Westgate, C.R.

1989-01-01

We report the development of an ion source for generating intense, continuous beams of both positive and negative cluster ions. This device is the result of the marriage of the inert gas condensation method with techniques for injecting electrons directly into expanding jets. In the preliminary studies described here, we have observed cluster ion size distributions ranging from n=1-400 for Pb n + and Pb n - and from n=12-5700 for Li n - . (orig.)

Development of high frequency tungsten inert gas welding method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morisada, Yoshiaki; Fujii, Hidetoshi; Inagaki, Fuminori; Kamai, Masayoshi

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► A new ultrasonic wave TIG welding method was developed. ► The area of the blowholes decreased to less than about 1/8 in the normal TIG weld. ► The number of blowholes decreased with the decreasing frequency. ► The number of blowholes increased when the frequency was less than 15 kHz. ► The microstructure of the weld was refined by ultrasonic wave. -- Abstract: A new welding method, called high frequency tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding, was developed to decrease blowholes in a weld. A1050 aluminum alloy plates (100 mm l × 50 mm w × 5 mm t ) were welded at a frequency from 10 to 40 kHz. An Ar-1% hydrogen mixture was used as the shielding gas to generate blowholes in the experiments. The welding was performed in the horizontal position so that the blowholes can easily be a problem. For comparison, a normal TIG welding was also performed at 60 Hz. After welding, the distribution of the blowholes in the welds was observed in order to evaluate the effect of the sonic wave. The number of blowholes changed with the frequency. A frequency near 15 kHz is the most suitable to decrease the blowholes. Using this new method, the area of blowholes is decreased to less than about 1/8 of the normal TIG weld. This method is much more effective for decreasing the number of blowholes, compared with an ultrasonic wave vibrator which is directly fixed to the sample.

Sn and Cu oxide nanoparticles deposited on TiO{sub 2} nanoflower 3D substrates by Inert Gas Condensation technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kusior, A., E-mail: akusior@agh.edu.pl [Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow (Poland); Kollbek, K. [Academic Centre for Materials and Nanotechnology, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow (Poland); Kowalski, K. [Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow (Poland); Borysiewicz, M. [Institute of Electron Technology, al. Lotnikow 32/46, 02-668 Warszawa (Poland); Wojciechowski, T. [Institute of Physics Polish Academy of Science, al. Lotnikow 32/46, 02-668 Warszawa (Poland); Adamczyk, A.; Trenczek-Zajac, A.; Radecka, M. [Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow (Poland); Zakrzewska, K. [Faculty of Computer Science, Electronics and Telecommunications, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow (Poland)

2016-09-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Inert Gas Condensation method yields non-agglomerated nanoparticles. • The growth of nanoparticles is controllable at the level of deposition. • Electrical conductivity increases with respect to pure nanostructured TiO{sub 2}. - Abstract: Sn and Cu oxide nanoparticles were deposited by Inert Gas Condensation (IGC) technique combined with dc magnetron sputtering onto nanoflower TiO{sub 2} 3D substrates obtained in the oxidation process of Ti-foil in 30% H{sub 2}O{sub 2}. Sputtering parameters such as insertion length and Ar/He flow rates were optimized taking into account the nanostructure morphology. Comparative studies with hydrothermal method were carried out. Surface properties of the synthesized nanomaterials were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy, SEM, Atomic Force Microscopy, AFM, and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, XPS. X-ray diffraction, XRD and Raman spectroscopy were performed in order to determine phase composition. Impedance spectroscopy demonstrated the influence of nanoparticles on the electrical conductivity.

The quantitative studies on gas explosion suppression by an inert rock dust deposit.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yifan; Zhang, Qi

2018-07-05

The traditional defence against propagating gas explosions is the application of dry rock dust, but not much quantitative study on explosion suppression of rock dust has been made. Based on the theories of fluid dynamics and combustion, a simulated study on the propagation of premixed gas explosion suppressed by deposited inert rock dust layer is carried out. The characteristics of the explosion field (overpressure, temperature, flame speed and combustion rate) at different deposited rock dust amounts are investigated. The flame in the pipeline cannot be extinguished when the deposited rock dust amount is less than 12 kg/m 3 . The effects of suppressing gas explosion become weak when the deposited rock dust amount is greater than 45 kg/m 3 . The overpressure decreases with the increase of the deposited rock dust amounts in the range of 18-36 kg/m 3 and the flame speed and the flame length show the same trends. When the deposited rock dust amount is 36 kg/m 3 , the overpressure can be reduced by 40%, the peak flame speed by 50%, and the flame length by 42% respectively, compared with those of the gas explosion of stoichiometric mixture. In this model, the effective raised dust concentrations to suppress explosion are 2.5-3.5 kg/m 3 . Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Radioactivity Contamination Level of Kartini Reactor Efluen Gas to the Environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suratman; Purwanto; Aminjoyo, S

1996-01-01

The analysis of radioactivity contamination level of Kartini reactor efluen gas to the environment has been done from 13-10-'95 until 8-2-'96. The aim of this research is to determine the radioactivity contamination level on the environment resulted from the release of Kartini reactor efluen gas and other facilities at Yogyakarta Nuclear Research Centre through stack. The analysis methods is the student t-test, the first count factor test and the gamma spectrometry. The gas sampling were carried out in the stack reactor, reactor room, environment and in other room for comparison. Efluen gas was sucked through a filter by a high volume vacuum pump. The filter was counted for beta, gamma and alpha activities. The radioactivity contamination level of the efluen gas passing through the stack to the environment was measured between 0.57 - 1.34 Bq/m3, which was equal to the airborne radioactivity in environment between 0.69 - 1.12 Bq/m3. This radioactivity comes from radon daughter, decay products result from the natural uranium and thorium series of the materials of the building

The draft Radioactive Substances (Natural Gas) Exemption Order (Northern Ireland) 2002. Consultation paper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

Natural gas, and products made from it such as liquefied petroleum gas, may contain small amounts of naturally occurring radioactive substances. The use, accumulation and disposal of radioactive substances by organisations is regulated by the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (RSA 93) and in Northern Ireland the regulatory authority is the Chief Radiochemical Inspector in the Environment and Heritage Service, which is part of the Department of the Environment (the Department). RSA 93 ensures the control of radioactive wastes by requiring registration of use of radioactive substances and authorisation of disposal of radioactive waste. It sets out the levels at which certain naturally occurring radioelements eg. uranium in gases, liquids and solids, and radon in gases, should be regarded as radioactive

Low-level radioactive gas monitor for natural gas operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armstrong, F.E.

1969-11-01

A portable radioactivity detection system for monitoring the tritium content of natural gas under field conditions has been developed. The sensing device employed is a complex proportional counting assembly operated without the use of massive shielding previously employed with such low-level radiation detectors. The practical limit of detection for the system is a tritium content of 10 -9 microcurie per cc of natural gas. All components of the system are packaged in three waterproof cases weighing slightly less than 30 kg each. Power requirement is 500 watts of 120 volt, 60 Hz current. Operation is fully automatic with a printed record produced at predetermined time intervals

Inerting of a Vented Aircraft Fuel Tank Test Article with Nitrogen-Enriched Air

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Burns, Michael

2001-01-01

...) required to inert a vented aircraft fuel tank. NEA, generated by a hollow fiber membrane gas separation system, was used to inert a laboratory fuel tank with a single vent on top designed to simulate a transport category airplane fuel tank...

Method of producing hydrogen, and rendering a contaminated biomass inert

Science.gov (United States)

Bingham, Dennis N [Idaho Falls, ID; Klingler, Kerry M [Idaho Falls, ID; Wilding, Bruce M [Idaho Falls, ID

2010-02-23

A method for rendering a contaminated biomass inert includes providing a first composition, providing a second composition, reacting the first and second compositions together to form an alkaline hydroxide, providing a contaminated biomass feedstock and reacting the alkaline hydroxide with the contaminated biomass feedstock to render the contaminated biomass feedstock inert and further producing hydrogen gas, and a byproduct that includes the first composition.

Inerting ballast tanks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baes, Gabriel L.; Bronneberg, Jos [SBM Offshore, AA Schiedam (Netherlands); Barros, Maria A.S.D. de [Universidade Estadual de Maringa (UEM), PR (Brazil)

2012-07-01

This report expands upon the work conducted by SBM Offshore to develop a tank preservation treatment, which is intended to achieve a service life of 30 years. This work focuses on the corrosion problems, in the ballast tanks, based on new built hulls, both for the Gas Exploration Market, the FLNG - Floating Liquefied Natural Gas, and for the Oil Exploration market - FPSO's - Floating Production Storage and offloading Units. Herein, the corrosion rate input comes from the various references related to the process of nitrogen injection, which is expected to extend the vessel's time life. The essential elements of this solution comprise the deoxygenation process, corrosion models, coating effects, tests from laboratory, shipboard tests, corrosion institutes and regulations applicable to the operation. The best corrosion protection system for ballast tanks area combines a coating system and an inert gas system. The condition of the tanks will be dependent upon the level of protection applied to the steel structure, including, but not limited to coating, cathodic protection, etc. There is a need for products which extend the life time. It is not sufficient, only have good theoretical base for the corrosion and an excellent treatment system. In addition, the design of the ships structure must also eliminate the presence of local stress concentrations which can result in fatigue cracking and rupture of the protective coating barrier starting the corrosion. As a direct result of this, more problems in corrosion can be mitigated, vessels can have a better corrosion performance with less maintenance and repairs to coating systems in ballast tanks. Furthermore ships will be positively impacted operationally due to less frequent dry docking. There is a huge potential in the application of inert gas to combat the corrosion rate inside the ballast tanks, one of the most corrosive environments on earth. This application can have a direct impact on vessel structure

Beyond low-level activity: On a 'non-radioactive' gas mantle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poljanc, Karin; Steinhauser, Georg; Sterba, Johannes H.; Buchtela, Karl; Bichler, Max

2007-01-01

Gas mantles for camping gas lanterns sometimes contain thorium compounds. During the last years, the use of thorium-free gas mantles has become more and more popular due to the avoidance of a radioactive heavy metal. We investigated a gas mantle type that is declared to be 'non-radioactive' and that can be bought in Austria at the moment. Methods used were Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA), γ-spectroscopy, and Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC). We found massive thorium contents of up to 259 mg per gas mantle. Leaching experiments showed that only 0.4% of the Th but approximately 90% of the decay products of 232 Th can be leached under conditions simulating sucking and chewing with human saliva. In this paper, the investigation of these gas mantles including the consideration of the environmental hazard caused by disposed mantles and the health hazard for unsuspecting consumers is presented and legal consequences are discussed for this fraud

Method of processing radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matagi, Yoshihiko; Takahara, Akira; Ootsuka, Katsuyuki.

1984-01-01

Purpose: To avoid the reduction in the atmospheric insulation by preventing the generation of CO 2 , H 2 O, etc. upon irradiation of microwave heat. Method: Radioactive wastes are charged into a hopper, supplied on a conveyor, fed each by a predetermined amount to a microwave furnace and heated by microwaves applied from a microwave guide. Simultaneously, inert gases are supplied from a supply line. The Radioactive wastes to be treated are shielded by the inert gases to prevent the combustion of decomposed gases produced from the wastes upon irradiation of microwave heat to thereby prevent the generation of CO 2 , H 2 , etc., as well as the generated decomposed gases are diluted with the inert gases to decrease the dissociation of the decomposed gases to prevent the reduction in the atmospheric insulation. Since the spent inert gases can be recovered for reuse, the amount of gaseous wastes released to the atmosphere can be decreased and the working life of the high performance air filters can be extended. (Sekiya, K.)

Radon adsorbed in activated charcoal—a simple and safe radiation source for teaching practical radioactivity in schools and colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Azmi, Darwish; Mustapha, Amidu O.; Karunakara, N.

2012-07-01

Simple procedures for teaching practical radioactivity are presented in a way that attracts students' attention and does not make them apprehensive about their safety. The radiation source is derived from the natural environment. It is based on the radioactivity of radon, a ubiquitous inert gas, and the adsorptive property of activated charcoal. Radon gas from ambient air in the laboratory was adsorbed into about 70 g of activated charcoal inside metallic canisters. Gamma radiation was subsequently emitted from the canisters, following the radioactive decay of radon and its progenies. The intensities of the emitted gamma-rays were measured at suitable intervals using a NaI gamma-ray detector. The counts obtained were analysed and used to demonstrate the radioactive decay law and determine the half-life of radon. In addition to learning the basic properties of radioactivity the students also get practical experience about the existence of natural sources of radiation in the environment.

Radon adsorbed in activated charcoal- a simple and safe radiation source for teaching practical radioactivity in schools and colleges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Azmi, D.S.

2014-01-01

Simple procedures for teaching practical radioactivity are presented in a way that attracts students' attention and does not make them apprehensive about their safety. The radiation source is derived from the natural environment. It is based on the radioactivity of radon, an ubiquitous inert gas, and the adsorptive property of activated charcoal. Radon gas from ambient air in the laboratory was adsorbed into about 70 gram of activated charcoal inside metallic canisters. Gamma radiation was subsequently emitted from the canisters, following the radioactive decay of radon and its progenies. The intensities of the emitted gamma-rays were measured at suitable intervals using a NaI gamma-ray detector. The counts obtained were analysed and used to demonstrate the radioactive decay law and determine the half-life of radon. In addition to learning the basic properties of radioactivity, the students also get practical experience about the existence of natural sources of radiation in the environment. (author)

Radioactive gas-containing polymeric capsule

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winchell, H.S.; Lewis, R.E.

1975-01-01

A disposable ventilation study system for dispensing a single patient dosage of gaseous radioisotopes to patients for pulmonary function studies is disclosed. A gas impermeable capsule encloses the gaseous radioisotope and is stored within a radioactivity shielding body of valve means which shears the capsule to dispense the radioisotope to the patient. A breathing bag receives the patient's exhalation of the radioisotope and permits rebreathing of the radioisotope by the patient. 18 claims, 7 drawing figures

Analysis of cracks in stainless steel TIG [tungsten inert gas] welds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakagaki, M.; Marschall, C.; Brust, F.

1986-12-01

This report contains the results of a combined experimental and analytical study of ductile crack growth in tungsten inert gas (TIG) weldments of austenitic stainless steel specimens. The substantially greater yield strength of the weld metal relative to the base metal causes more plastic deformation in the base metal adjacent to the weld than in the weld metal. Accordingly, the analytical studies focused on the stress-strain interaction between the crack tip and the weld/base-metal interface. Experimental work involved tests using compact (tension) specimens of three different sizes and pipe bend experiments. The compact specimens were machined from a TIG weldment in Type 304 stainless steel plate. The pipe specimens were also TIG welded using the same welding procedures. Elastic-plastic finite element methods were used to model the experiments. In addition to the J-integral, different crack-tip integral parameters such as ΔT/sub p/* and J were evaluated. Also, engineering J-estimation methods were employed to predict the load-carrying capacity of the welded pipe with a circumferential through-wall crack under bending

Fast reactor cover gas purification - The UK position

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thorley, A W

1987-07-01

The cover gas in the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) provides an inert gas blanket for both primary and secondary sodium circuits, ensures inert gas padding exists between the upper seals associated with penetrations through the reactor roof and provides argon to items of plant such as the control rods and the rotating shield and also to on line instruments such as the secondary circuit Katharometers. In order to meet these and other requirements purification of the argon cover gas is important to ensure: gas fed to purge gaps in the area of the magnetic hold device in the control rod mechanisms is not laden with sodium aerosols and reactive impurities (O{sub 2}, H{sub 2}) which could cause blocking both within the gaps and pipelines; gas phase detection systems which provide early warning of steam generator failures or oil ingress into the sodium are not affected by the presence of gaseous impurities such as H{sub 2}, CO/CO{sub 2} and CH{sub 4}; mass transfer processes involving both corrosion products and interstitial atoms cannot be sustained in the cover gas environment due to the presence of high levels of O{sub 2}, N{sub 2} and carburising gases; background levels of radioactivity (eg Xe 133) are sufficiently low to enable gas phase detection of failed fuel pins, and the primary circuit gas blanket activity is sufficiently reduced so that discharges to the atmosphere are minimised. This paper describes how the PFR cover gas purification system is coping with these various items and how current thinking regarding the design of cover gas purification systems for a Civil Demonstration Fast Reactor (CDFR), where larger gas volumes and higher levels of radioactivity may be involved, is being guided by current experience on PFR. The paper also briefly review the experimental work planned to study aerosol and caesium behaviour in cove gas environments and discusses the behaviour of those impurities such as Zn, oil and N{sub 2} which are potentially damaging if certain

Fast reactor cover gas purification - The UK position

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorley, A.W.

1987-01-01

The cover gas in the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) provides an inert gas blanket for both primary and secondary sodium circuits, ensures inert gas padding exists between the upper seals associated with penetrations through the reactor roof and provides argon to items of plant such as the control rods and the rotating shield and also to on line instruments such as the secondary circuit Katharometers. In order to meet these and other requirements purification of the argon cover gas is important to ensure: gas fed to purge gaps in the area of the magnetic hold device in the control rod mechanisms is not laden with sodium aerosols and reactive impurities (O 2 , H 2 ) which could cause blocking both within the gaps and pipelines; gas phase detection systems which provide early warning of steam generator failures or oil ingress into the sodium are not affected by the presence of gaseous impurities such as H 2 , CO/CO 2 and CH 4 ; mass transfer processes involving both corrosion products and interstitial atoms cannot be sustained in the cover gas environment due to the presence of high levels of O 2 , N 2 and carburising gases; background levels of radioactivity (eg Xe 133) are sufficiently low to enable gas phase detection of failed fuel pins, and the primary circuit gas blanket activity is sufficiently reduced so that discharges to the atmosphere are minimised. This paper describes how the PFR cover gas purification system is coping with these various items and how current thinking regarding the design of cover gas purification systems for a Civil Demonstration Fast Reactor (CDFR), where larger gas volumes and higher levels of radioactivity may be involved, is being guided by current experience on PFR. The paper also briefly review the experimental work planned to study aerosol and caesium behaviour in cove gas environments and discusses the behaviour of those impurities such as Zn, oil and N 2 which are potentially damaging if certain levels are exceeded in operating

Inert gas investigations of the Apollo 15 and 17 landing sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jordan, J.L.

1975-01-01

The inert gas contents in size fractions of the following fines from the Apollo 15 site: 15071, 15501, 15511, 15421, and 15080 has been determined. In addition, the same for size fractions of fines 79221, 79241, and 79261 from depths of 0 to 2 cm, 2 to 7 cm, and 7 to 17 cm in a trench near Van Serg Crater at the Apollo 17 site was determined. The very low gas contents and lack of anticorrelation with grain diameter of 15421 suggests that these fines are undersaturated with respect to solar wind irradiation. The decrease in slope of the curves for gas concentration vs grain diameter of 15071 for successively heavier gases is interpreted to be the effects of the Rosiwal principle + comminution + agglutinate formation. Evidence for heavily irradiated (with respect to cosmic rays) zones deep within or beneath the regolith exists at both Apollo 15 and 17 landing sites. This may in part explain the ''missing'' cosmic ray record. Scatter between ''young'' and ''old'' age limits in 40 Ar vs 36 Ar plots exists for 15511, and the 3 trench fines from the Apollo 17 landing site. In the case of 15511 the observed ratios suggest that these may be the result of large impacts on the Apennine Front contributing material to the site where 15511 was collected. The observed 40 Ar/ 36 Ar ratios in the trench fines may be the result of excavation of materials with high 40 Ar/ 36 Ar ratios during the Van Serg event. The low apparent 40 K-- 40 Ar ages of the Apollo 15 fines are interpreted to be the result of addition of young 40 K-- 40 Ar age material (less than 1.8 by) from Autolycus and Aristillus, two large craters north of the site, to the older (3.3 by) mare materials

Method of separating radioactive krypton gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimura, Shigeru; Awada, Yoshihisa.

1975-01-01

Object: To effectively and safely separate and recover Kr-85, which requires a long storage period for attenuating radioactivity, from a mixture gas consisting of Kr-85 and Xe by a liquefaction distillation method. Structure: A mixture gas consisting of Kr and Xe is subjected to heat exchange in a cooler with Freon gas from a plurality of distillation towers for its temperature reduction from normal temperature to a lower temperature, and then it is supplied to a distillation tower. The distillation tower is held at a pressure above 15 ata, preferably around 20 ata, and a condenser provided at the top of the distillation tower is furnished with Freon as cooling medium. The rare mixture gas is distilled by liquefaction within a distillation tower, and Kr-85 is obtained from a top duct while obtaining Xe from a bottom duct. Xe after separation by liquefaction is returned to a rare mixture gas supply inlet of a liquefaction distillation means for repeated refinement in the distillation tower. (Kamimura, M.)

Numerical analysis on hydrogen stratification and post-inerting of hydrogen risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Cheng; Tong, Lili; Cao, Xuewu

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A three-dimensional computational model was built and the applicability was discussed. • The formation of helium stratification was further studied. • Three influencing factors on the post-inerting of hydrogen risk were analyzed. - Abstract: In the case of severe accidents, the risk of hydrogen explosion threatens the integrity of the nuclear reactor containment. According to nuclear regulations, hydrogen control is required to ensure the safe operation of the nuclear reactor. In this study, the method of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been applied to analyze process of hydrogen stratification and the post-inerting of hydrogen risk in the Large-Scale Gas Mixing Facility. A three-dimensional computational model was built and the applicability of different turbulence models was discussed. The result shows that the helium concentration calculated by the standard k–ε turbulence model is closest to the experiment data. Through analyzing the formation of helium stratification at different injection velocities, it is found that when the injection mass flow is constant and the injection velocity of helium increases, the mixture of helium and air is enhanced while there is rarely influence on the formation of helium stratification. In addition, the influences of mass flow rate, injection location and direction and inert gas on the post-inerting of hydrogen risk have been analyzed and the results are as follows: with the increasing of mass flow rate, the mitigation effect of nitrogen on hydrogen risk will be further improved; there is an obvious local difference between the mitigation effects of nitrogen on hydrogen risk in different injection directions and locations; when the inert gas is injected at the same mass flow rate, the mitigation effect of steam on hydrogen risk is better than that of nitrogen. This study can provide technical support for the mitigation of hydrogen risk in the small LWR containment.

Radioactive gas standby treatment apparatus with high efficiency rechargeable charcoal filter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hickey, T.N.; Spulgis, I.S.

1975-01-01

Described is a standby gas treatment system for removal of radioactive release from a nuclear containment structure not only during normal purge operations but also in the event of a design basis accident. Ventiduct trains arranged in parallel so that one is redundant are each operative to extract dust in excess of 0.3 microns and adsorb radioactive iodine and compounds thereof at 99.9 percent plus efficiency. A rechargeable gasketless charcoal filter in each train can be filled or emptied without removing the filter enclosures per se. Laminar flow filter beds entirely encapsulate the gas stream to provide low gas velocity and even distribution across the charcoal cage without channeling, thereby securing long residence time

Gas replacement system for fuel cell. Nenryo denchi no gas chikan hoshiki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sugiyama, T

1990-02-14

When stopping the operation of a fuel cell, the gas in the reaction gas system is purged using such an inert gas as nitrogen for inactivation. A gas source such as inert gas bomb must be prepared beforehand for the purpose. This invention relates to a method of production of inert gas from the air collected from atmosphere to use it as the purge gas. The air collected from the atmosphere is passed through an oxygen remover filled with oxidation catalyst to remove oxygen, and dehumidified by a dehumidifier filled with drying agent, the obtained inert drying gas with nitrogen as the main constituent being used as the purge gas. Copper system catalyst supported by silica is used as the oxidation catalyst, and silica gel as the drying agent. After the operation of the fuel cell is re-started, a part of the high temperature fuel gas extracted from the reaction gas system is introduced to the oxygen remover for the reduction of oxidation catalyst and for heat regeneration of dehumidifying agent by the contained hydrogen. 1 fig.

Modelling gas generation in radioactive waste repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agg, P.J.

1993-02-01

In a repository containing low- and intermediate-level waste, gas generation will occur principally by the coupled processes of metal corrosion and microbial degradation of cellulosic waste. This Paper describes a mathematical model design to address gas generation by these mechanisms. The metal corrosion model incorporates a three-stage process encompassing both aerobic and anaerobic corrosion regimes; the microbial degradation model simulates the activities of eight different microbial populations, which are maintained as functions both of pH and of the concentrations of particular chemical species. Gas concentrations have been measured over a period of three years in large-scale drum experiments designed to simulate repository conditions. Model predictions are confirmed against the experimental measurements, and a prediction is then made of gas concentrations and generation rates over an assessment period of one million years in a radioactive waste repository. (author)

Modelling gas generation in radioactive waste repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agg, P.J.

1992-07-01

In a repository containing low- and intermediate-level waste, gas generation will occur principally by the coupled processes of metal corrosion and microbial degradation of cellulosic waste. This paper describes a mathematical model designed to address gas generation by these mechanisms. The metal corrosion model incorporates a three-stage process encompassing both aerobic and anaerobic corrosion regimes; the microbial degradation model simulates the activities of eight different microbial populations, which are maintained as functions both of pH and of the concentrations of particular chemical species. Gas concentrations have been measured over a period of three years in large-scale drum experiments designed to simulate repository conditions. Model predictions are confirmed against the experimental measurements, and a prediction is then made of gas concentrations and generation rates over an assessment period of one million years in a radioactive waste repository. (Author)

Inert gases in a terra sample - Measurements in six grain-size fractions and two single particles from Lunar 20.

Science.gov (United States)

Heymann, D.; Lakatos, S.; Walton, J. R.

1973-01-01

Review of the results of inert gas measurements performed on six grain-size fractions and two single particles from four samples of Luna 20 material. Presented and discussed data include the inert gas contents, element and isotope systematics, radiation ages, and Ar-36/Ar-40 systematics.

The Role of Spraying Parameters and Inert Gas Shrouding in Hybrid Water-Argon Plasma Spraying of Tungsten and Copper for Nuclear Fusion Applications

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Matějíček, Jiří; Kavka, Tetyana; Bertolissi, Gabriele; Ctibor, Pavel; Vilémová, Monika; Mušálek, Radek; Nevrlá, Barbara

2013-01-01

Roč. 22, č. 5 (2013), s. 744-755 ISSN 1059-9630 R&D Projects: GA MPO FR-TI2/702; GA TA ČR TA01010300 Institutional support: RVO:61389021 Keywords : plasma spraying * tungsten * copper * inert gas shrouding * water-argon plasma torch * gas shroud * hybrid plasma torch * influence of spray parameters * nuclear fusion * oxidation Subject RIV: JG - Metallurgy Impact factor: 1.491, year: 2013 http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11666-013-9895-x.pdf

Method for extending the useful shelf-life of refrigerated red blood cells by flushing with inert gas

Science.gov (United States)

Bitensky, Mark W.; Yoshida, Tatsuro

1997-01-01

Method using oxygen removal for extending the useful shelf-life of refrigerated red blood cells. A cost-effective, 4.degree. C. storage procedure that preserves red cell quality and prolongs post-transfusion in vivo survival is described. Preservation of adenosine triphosphate levels and reduction in hemolysis and in membrane vesicle production of red blood cells stored at 4.degree. C. for prolonged periods of time is achieved by removing oxygen therefrom at the time of storage; in particular, by flushing with an inert gas. Adenosine triphosphate levels of the stored red blood cells are boosted in some samples by addition of ammonium phosphate.

Validation of myocardial blood flow estimation with nitrogen-13 ammonia PET by the argon inert gas technique in humans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotzerke, J.; Glatting, G.; Neumaier, B.; Reske, S.N.; Hoff, J. van den; Hoeher, M.; Woehrle, J. n

2001-01-01

We simultaneously determined global myocardial blood flow (MBF) by the argon inert gas technique and by nitrogen-13 ammonia positron emission tomography (PET) to validate PET-derived MBF values in humans. A total of 19 patients were investigated at rest (n=19) and during adenosine-induced hyperaemia (n=16). Regional coronary artery stenoses were ruled out by angiography. The argon inert gas method uses the difference of arterial and coronary sinus argon concentrations during inhalation of a mixture of 75% argon and 25% oxygen to estimate global MBF. It can be considered as valid as the microspheres technique, which, however, cannot be applied in humans. Dynamic PET was performed after injection of 0.8±0.2 GBq 13 N-ammonia and MBF was calculated applying a two-tissue compartment model. MBF values derived from the argon method at rest and during the hyperaemic state were 1.03±0.24 ml min -1 g -1 and 2.64±1.02 ml min -1 g -1 , respectively. MBF values derived from ammonia PET at rest and during hyperaemia were 0.95±0.23 ml min -1 g -1 and 2.44±0.81 ml min -1 g -1 , respectively. The correlation between the two methods was close (y=0.92x+0.14, r=0.96; P 13 N-ammonia PET. (orig.)

Experimental investigations of tungsten inert gas assisted friction stir welding of pure copper plates

Science.gov (United States)

Constantin, M. A.; Boșneag, A.; Nitu, E.; Iordache, M.

2017-10-01

Welding copper and its alloys is usually difficult to join by conventional fusion welding processes because of high thermal diffusivity of the copper, alloying elements, necessity of using a shielding gas and a clean surface. To overcome this inconvenience, Friction Stir Welding (FSW), a solid state joining process that relies on frictional heating and plastic deformation, is used as a feasible welding process. In order to achieve an increased welding speed and a reduction in tool wear, this process is assisted by another one (WIG) which generates and adds heat to the process. The aim of this paper is to identify the influence of the additional heat on the process parameters and on the welding joint properties (distribution of the temperature, hardness and roughness). The research includes two experiments for the FSW process and one experiment for tungsten inert gas assisted FSW process. The outcomes of the investigation are compared and analysed for both welding variants. Adding a supplementary heat source, the plates are preheated and are obtain some advantages such as reduced forces used in process and FSW tool wear, faster and better plasticization of the material, increased welding speed and a proper weld quality.

The effect of electrode vertex angle on automatic tungsten-inert-gas welds for stainless steel 304L plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maarek, V.; Sharir, Y.; Stern, A.

1980-03-01

The effect of electrode vertex angle on penetration depth and weld bead width, in automatic tungsten-inert-gas (TIG) dcsp bead-on-plate welding with different currents, has been studied for stainless steel 304L plates 1.5 mm and 8 mm thick. It has been found that for thin plates, wider and deeper welds are obtained when using sharper electrodes while, for thick plates, narrower and deeper welds are produced when blunt electrodes (vertex angle 180 deg) are used. An explanation of the results, based on a literature survey, is included

Radioactive gas standby treatment apparatus with high efficiency rechargeable charcoal filter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hickey, T.N.; Spulgis, I.S.

1976-01-01

A description is given of a standby gas treatment system for removal of radioactive release from a nuclear containment structure not only during normal purge operations but also in the event of a design basis accident. Ventiduct trains arranged in parallel so that one is redundant are each operative to extract dust in excess of 0.3 microns and adsorb radioactive iodine and compounds thereof at 99.9 percent plus efficiency. A rechargeable gasketless charcoal filter in each train can be filled or emptied without removing the filter enclosures per se. Laminar flow filter beds entirely encapsulate the gas stream to provide low gas velocity and even distribution across the charcoal cage without channeling, thereby securing long residence time. 2 claims, 9 drawing figures

Beyond low-level activity: On a 'non-radioactive' gas mantle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poljanc, Karin [Atominstitut der Osterreichischen Universitaeten, Vienna University of Technology, Stadionallee 2, 1020 Vienna (Austria); Steinhauser, Georg [Atominstitut der Osterreichischen Universitaeten, Vienna University of Technology, Stadionallee 2, 1020 Vienna (Austria)]. E-mail: georg.steinhauser@ati.ac.at; Sterba, Johannes H. [Atominstitut der Osterreichischen Universitaeten, Vienna University of Technology, Stadionallee 2, 1020 Vienna (Austria); Buchtela, Karl [Atominstitut der Osterreichischen Universitaeten, Vienna University of Technology, Stadionallee 2, 1020 Vienna (Austria); Bichler, Max [Atominstitut der Osterreichischen Universitaeten, Vienna University of Technology, Stadionallee 2, 1020 Vienna (Austria)

2007-03-01

Gas mantles for camping gas lanterns sometimes contain thorium compounds. During the last years, the use of thorium-free gas mantles has become more and more popular due to the avoidance of a radioactive heavy metal. We investigated a gas mantle type that is declared to be 'non-radioactive' and that can be bought in Austria at the moment. Methods used were Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA), {gamma}-spectroscopy, and Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC). We found massive thorium contents of up to 259 mg per gas mantle. Leaching experiments showed that only 0.4% of the Th but approximately 90% of the decay products of {sup 232}Th can be leached under conditions simulating sucking and chewing with human saliva. In this paper, the investigation of these gas mantles including the consideration of the environmental hazard caused by disposed mantles and the health hazard for unsuspecting consumers is presented and legal consequences are discussed for this fraud.

Considerations for reduction of gas generation in a low-level radioactive waste repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Chan Hee; Son, Jung Kwon; Lee, Myung Chan; Song, Myung Jae

1997-01-01

In a low-level radioactive waste repository, H 2 , CO 2 , and CH 4 will be generated principally by the coupled processes of metal corrosion and microbial degradation of cellulosic waste. The metal corrosion model incorporates a three-stage process encompassing aerobic and anaerobic corrosion regimes; the microbial degradation model simulates the activities of eight different microbial populations, which are maintained as functions both of pH and of the concentrations of particular chemical species. A prediction is made for gas concentrations and generation rates over an assessment period of ten thousand years in a radioactive waste repository. The results suggest that H 2 is the principal gas generated within the radioactive waste cavern. The generation rates of CO 2 and CH 4 are likely to be insignificant by comparison with H 2 . Therefore, an effective way to decrease gas generation in a radioactive waste repository seems to be to reduce metal content since the generation rate of H 2 is most sensitive to the concentration of steel

An investigation of the microstructures and properties of metal inert ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Friction stir welding; metal inert gas welding; aluminum alloy 5083; ... (2008) have studied fatigue crack propagation behaviour of friction ..... Kumar K, Kailas SV 2008 The role of friction stir welding tool on material flow and weld formation,.

Process for the manufacture of a gas largely free of inert gases for synthesis. Verfahren zur Herstellung eines weitgehend inertfreien Gases zur Synthese

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eisenlohr, K H; Gaensslen, H; Kriebel, M; Tanz, H

1983-11-10

In a process for producing a gas largely free of inert gases for the synthesis of alcohols, particularly methanol, and of hydrocarbons from coal or heavy hydrocarbons by gasification under pressure with oxygen and steam, the crude gas is cooled, the impurities are removed by washing with methanol and the methanol is removed from the cold pure gas by molecular sieves. The pure gas is then cooled further by evaporation and methane is distilled from the liquid part while simultaneously obtaining the synthetic gas consisting of hydrogen and carbon monoxide which is largely free of methane. The methane is wholly or partly compressed and then split into carbon monoxide and hydrogen using steam and oxygen. The split gas is fed back and mixed with the synthesis gas or the partly cleaned crude gas. The synthesis gas heated to the ambient temperature, freed of impurities and free of methane is compressed to the required synthesis pressure.

Method for extending the useful shelf-life of refrigerated red blood cells by flushing with inert gas

Science.gov (United States)

Bitensky, M.W.; Yoshida, Tatsuro

1997-04-29

A method is disclosed using oxygen removal for extending the useful shelf-life of refrigerated red blood cells. A cost-effective, 4 C storage procedure that preserves red cell quality and prolongs post-transfusion in vivo survival is described. Preservation of adenosine triphosphate levels and reduction in hemolysis and in membrane vesicle production of red blood cells stored at 4 C for prolonged periods of time is achieved by removing oxygen from the red blood cells at the time of storage; in particular, by flushing with an inert gas. Adenosine triphosphate levels of the stored red blood cells are boosted in some samples by addition of ammonium phosphate. 4 figs.

Performance and emission characteristics of the thermal barrier coated SI engine by adding argon inert gas to intake mixture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Karthikeya Sharma

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Dilution of the intake air of the SI engine with the inert gases is one of the emission control techniques like exhaust gas recirculation, water injection into combustion chamber and cyclic variability, without scarifying power output and/or thermal efficiency (TE. This paper investigates the effects of using argon (Ar gas to mitigate the spark ignition engine intake air to enhance the performance and cut down the emissions mainly nitrogen oxides. The input variables of this study include the compression ratio, stroke length, and engine speed and argon concentration. Output parameters like TE, volumetric efficiency, heat release rates, brake power, exhaust gas temperature and emissions of NOx, CO2 and CO were studied in a thermal barrier coated SI engine, under variable argon concentrations. Results of this study showed that the inclusion of Argon to the input air of the thermal barrier coated SI engine has significantly improved the emission characteristics and engine’s performance within the range studied.

Performance and emission characteristics of the thermal barrier coated SI engine by adding argon inert gas to intake mixture.

Science.gov (United States)

Karthikeya Sharma, T

2015-11-01

Dilution of the intake air of the SI engine with the inert gases is one of the emission control techniques like exhaust gas recirculation, water injection into combustion chamber and cyclic variability, without scarifying power output and/or thermal efficiency (TE). This paper investigates the effects of using argon (Ar) gas to mitigate the spark ignition engine intake air to enhance the performance and cut down the emissions mainly nitrogen oxides. The input variables of this study include the compression ratio, stroke length, and engine speed and argon concentration. Output parameters like TE, volumetric efficiency, heat release rates, brake power, exhaust gas temperature and emissions of NOx, CO2 and CO were studied in a thermal barrier coated SI engine, under variable argon concentrations. Results of this study showed that the inclusion of Argon to the input air of the thermal barrier coated SI engine has significantly improved the emission characteristics and engine's performance within the range studied.

Realization of sanitary requirements concerning standardization of rare radioactive gas effluents at NPPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doroshenko, G.G.; Panchenko, S.V.; Chudajkin, O.G.

1987-01-01

The paper is aimed at determination of ways for practical realization of main sanitary requirements concerning environment and population protection under NPP operation. The idea of the requirements is reduced to not increasing permissible limits for radiation doses, minimum irradiation of population and decrease of unjustified irradiation of personnel. The given problem may be fully solved only in case of studying real chacteristics of operating reactors, taking into account statistic nature of effluents of inert radioactive gases (IRG). Methods of developing a system of working and reference standards of IRG effluents at NPPs are suggested. The considered approach may be realized in practice as the All-Union state on branch standards

Naturally occurring radioactive material in the oil and gas industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steingraber, W.A.

1994-01-01

Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) has been found in the Earth's crust and soil, the water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the tissues of every living organism. It is relatively easy to determine open-quotes concentrationsclose quotes, or specific activity levels, in the range of 1 part per trillion for radioactive materials. With radioactive elements so abundant and detection possible at such low levels, the presence of NORM in oil and gas operations shouldn't be surprising. In fact, this presence has been recognized since at least the 1930's, but the phenomenon received only minimal attention in the United States until the mid-1980's. At that time regulatory agencies in several oil- and gas-producing states began to focus on NORM in the exploration and production segment of the industry, expressing concern over potential health and safety implications. The most significant aspects of NORM in oil production operations include original source, transport media, composition/radionuclides present, measurement methods, health/safety issues, waste classification, and waste disposal. In addition, I will summarize industry-sponsored NORM data collection and analysis efforts being conducted to aid in development of sound policies and procedures to address environmental, health, and safety issues. Current activities by state and federal regulatory agencies relevant to NORM in the oil and gas industry will also be reviewed

Post-inertization of large dry containments in case of beyond-design base events in PWR plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tiltmann, M.; Risse, D.; Pana, P.; Huettermann, B.; Rohde, J.

1993-12-01

The objective is to present a summary of basic thoughts and concepts as described in various publications. The report points out the obvious advantages and disadvantages of individual strategies as wel as the requirements derived from the knowledge of possible accident sequences for such a concept. Scoping calculations on the injection of inert-gas into the containment during the progress of accidents revealed additional indications as regards e.g. the required amount of inert-gas, the injection rate, and the resulting pressure behaviour in the containment. Thereby an assessment of the effectiveness as well as of the feasibility of such measures has become possible. From the large number of different initial conclusions, two major ones are singled out and presented: 1) In principle, the technical realisation of post-inerting is possible. Thus a deflagration of hydrogen in the containment can be prevented; 2) Post-inerting cannot be realised independent of the accident progress. Specific criteria for carrying out such measures will require extensive examinations. (orig./HP) [de

Significance of chemotoxic admixtures in radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merz, E.R.

1989-01-01

The double hazard potential of mixed wastes is characterized by several criteria: radioactivity on the one hand, and chemical toxicity, in flammability, corrosiveness as well as chemical reactivity on the other. The author argues that mixed wastes assigned for ultimate disposal should therefore be thoroughly detoxified, inertized, or mineralized, prior to conditioning and packaging. Strategies and techniques are presented which ensure the elimination of hazardous organic chemicals and minimizing waste volumes to be disposed of. Advantage can be taken of mixing mineralized filter dusts, arising in the combustion of hazardous chemical wastes with low-activity inertized radioactive wastes as a solidifying reagent. Simultaneous geological disposal of such mixed waste is feasible without any drawbacks

Mechanical behaviour and diffusion of gas during neutron irradiation of actinides in ceramic inert matrices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Neeft, E.A.C.

2004-01-01

Fission of actinides from nuclear waste in inert matrices (materials without uranium) can reduce the period in time that nuclear waste is more radiotoxic than uranium ore that is the rock from which ordinary reactor fuel is made. A pioneering study is performed with the inert matrices: MgO, MgAl2O4,

Deposition of naturally occurring radioactivity in oil and gas production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lysebo, I.; Strand, T.

1997-01-01

This booklet contains general information about naturally occurring radioactive materials, NORM, in production of oil and natural gas, occupational doses, radiation protection procedures and measures, and classification methods of contaminated equipment. 6 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab

Study of the characteristics of duplex stainless steel activated tungsten inert gas welds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chern, Tsann-Shyi; Tseng, Kuang-Hung; Tsai, Hsien-Lung

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the specific fluxes used in the tungsten inert gas (TIG) process on surface appearance, weld morphology, angular distortion, mechanical properties, and microstructures when welding 6 mm thick duplex stainless steel. This study applies a novel variant of the autogenous TIG welding, using oxide powders (TiO 2 , MnO 2 , SiO 2 , MoO 3 , and Cr 2 O 3 ), to grade 2205 stainless steel through a thin layer of the flux to produce a bead-on-plate joint. Experimental results indicate that using SiO 2 , MoO 3 , and Cr 2 O 3 fluxes leads to a significant increase in the penetration capability of TIG welds. The activated TIG process can increase the joint penetration and the weld depth-to-width ratio, and tends to reduce the angular distortion of grade 2205 stainless steel weldment. The welded joint also exhibited greater mechanical strength. These results suggest that the plasma column and the anode root are a mechanism for determining the morphology of activated TIG welds.

Design and safety evaluation of radioactive gas handling and storage in the FFTF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armstrong, G.R.; Hale, J.P.; Halverson, T.G.

1976-01-01

During the operation of the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), radioactive gases, primarily xenon and krypton, will be produced which will require processing and storing. Two systems have been installed in the FFTF for handling these gases: (1) one to handle, primarily, the reactor cover gas system, and (2) a second to handle the cells and cover gas systems, other than the reactor, whose atmosphere may become contaminated. The system that processes the reactor cover gas, which is argon, is called the Radioactive Argon Processing System (RAPS). The effluent argon from RAPS will normally be sufficiently decontaminated to allow its reuse as the reactor cover gas. If the radioactive level in the RAPS becomes too high, the exhaust stream will be diverted to the Cell Atmosphere Processing System (CAPS), a system which can function as a backup to RAPS. The design and operation of the RAPS and CAPS systems are described and certain safety aspects of the systems are discussed. It is shown that these systems adequately provide the cleanup services required and that they provide the safety margins necessary to assure adequate safety to the public

A simple method for the measurement of radioactivity of samples separated by gas chromatography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farkas, T.

1981-01-01

Gas chromatographs with flame ionization detector can be used to determine the radioactivity ( 14 C) of separated peaks. After a suitable change in the detector output the combustion product 14 CO 2 can be trapped by hyamine hydroxyde and measured by liquid scintigraphy. 90% of peak activity can be collected and measured, thus the method can be applied to determine the distribution and specific radioactivity of the components separated by gas chromatography. (author)

Transformation of a beta gamma hot-cell under air in a tight hot-cell under inert gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambert, G.

1981-05-01

For several years now, fuel elements from graphite gas reactors have been stored in pools at the Cadarache Center after having been subjected (in general) to laboratory examinations. The CEA has adopted the following re-transfer procedure for these fuel elements while awaiting reprocessing: the fuel elements are extracted from their existing cartridges and transferred into new welded stainless steel containers capable of assuring long term storage. The storage, however, envisaged is temporary and is realized in the Pegase pool, specially adapted for this purpose. This re-transfer operation is envisaged for some 2.300 containers. All the appropriate safety measures will be taken. The various different fuel materials handled are often highly irradiated. The presence of water in certain containers due to loss of leaktightness has led to a series of chemical reactions (corrosion of uranium by water, reactions with magnesium, formation of hydrides). As a result, existing envelopes can contain UO 2 , UH 3 and hydrogen; operations must therefore being carried out in an inert atmosphere (preferably argon). The re-transfer process can not therefore be carried out in a conventional cell. It is therefore envisaged to carry out this work in a leaktight cell in an inert atmosphere. A laboratory cell could be modified to perform these functions. This cell would be reconverted to its original state when operations terminate (in about 3 years time) [fr

Emission of CO2 Gas and Radioactive Pollutant from Coal Fired Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ida, N.Finahari; Djati-HS; Heni-Susiati

2006-01-01

Energy utilization for power plant in Indonesia is still depending on burning fossil fuel such as coal, oil and gaseous fuel. The direct burning of coal produces CO 2 gas that can cause air pollution, and radioactive pollutant that can increase natural radioactive dosage. Natural radionuclide contained in coal is in the form of kalium, uranium, thorium and their decay products. The amount of CO 2 gas emission produced by coal fired power plant can be reduced by equipping the plant with waste-gas treatment facility. At this facility, CO 2 gas is reacted with calcium hydroxide producing calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate then can be used as basic material in food, pharmaceutical and construction industries. The alternative method to reduce impact of air pollution is by replacing coal fuel with nuclear fuel or new and renewable fuel. (author)

Flammable gas production in Land 2 and Land 3/4 radioactive waste repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-02-01

Geological, radiolytic and microbiological sources of gas are considered in relation to Land 2 and Land 3/4 type radioactive waste repositories. Geological sources are potentially the most troublesome and it is concluded that site investigation work should be designed to detect gas trap structures, reservoir lithologies or source rocks. Known source and reservoir lithologies should not be considered as suitable for the siting of waste repositories. Radiolytic and microbiological sources will depend on waste characteristics. A detailed review of the literature on radiolytic gas generation is presented and conclusions from this work indicate that water in waste and matrix should be kept to a minimum. Similarly, the level of radioactivity stored in each waste container should be kept to the minimum compatible with the storage design. Microbiological gas sources will be reduced by maintaining the cellulose content of the waste at a minimum. It is suggested that the removal of organics from the waste stream would be beneficial in terms of potential gas production. (author)

Reducibility of ceria-lanthana mixed oxides under temperature programmed hydrogen and inert gas flow conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernal, S.; Blanco, G.; Cifredo, G.; Perez-Omil, J.A.; Pintado, J.M.; Rodriguez-Izquierdo, J.M.

1997-01-01

The present paper deals with the preparation and characterization of La/Ce mixed oxides, with La molar contents of 20, 36 and 57%. We carry out the study of the structural, textural and redox properties of the mixed oxides, comparing our results with those for pure ceria. For this aim we use temperature programmed reduction (TPR), temperature programmed desorption (TPD), nitrogen physisorption at 77 K, X-ray diffraction and high resolution electron microscopy. The mixed oxides are more easy to reduce in a flow of hydrogen than ceria. Moreover, in an inert gas flow they release oxygen in higher amounts and at lower temperatures than pure CeO 2 . The textural stability of the mixed oxides is also improved by incorporation of lanthana. All these properties make the ceria-lanthana mixed oxides interesting alternative candidates to substitute ceria in three-way catalyst formulations. (orig.)

Inert gas narcosis has no influence on thermo-tactile sensation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jakovljević, Miroljub; Vidmar, Gaj; Mekjavic, Igor B

2012-05-01

Contribution of skin thermal sensors under inert gas narcosis to the raising hypothermia is not known. Such information is vital for understanding the impact of narcosis on behavioural thermoregulation, diver safety and judgment of thermal (dis)comfort in the hyperbaric environment. So this study aimed at establishing the effects of normoxic concentration of 30% nitrous oxide (N(2)O) on thermo-tactile threshold sensation by studying 16 subjects [eight females and eight males; eight sensitive (S) and eight non-sensitive (NS) to N(2)O]. Their mean (SD) age was 22.1 (1.8) years, weight 72.8 (15.3) kg, height 1.75 (0.10) m and body mass index 23.8 (3.8) kg m(-2). Quantitative thermo-tactile sensory testing was performed on forearm, upper arm and thigh under two experimental conditions: breathing air (air trial) and breathing normoxic mixture of 30% N(2)O (N(2)O trial) in the mixed sequence. Difference in thermo-tactile sensitivity thresholds between two groups of subjects in two experimental conditions was analysed by 3-way mixed-model analysis of covariance. There were no statistically significant differences in thermo-tactile thresholds either between the Air and N(2)O trials, or between S and NS groups, or between females and males, or with respect to body mass index. Some clinically insignificant lowering of thermo-tactile thresholds occurred only for warm thermo-tactile thresholds on upper arm and thigh. The results indicated that normoxic mixture of 30% N(2)O had no influence on thermo-tactile sensation in normothermia.

Hydrogen gettering the overpressure gas from highly radioactive liquids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riley, D.L.; Schicker, J.R.

1996-04-01

Remediation of current inventories of high-activity radioactive liquid waste (HALW) requires transportation of Type-B quantities of radioactive material, possibly up to several hundred liters. However, the only currently certified packaging is limited to quantities of 50 ml (0.01 gal) quantities of Type-B radioactive liquid. Efforts are under way to recertify the existing packaging to allow the shipment of up to 4 L (1.1 gal) of Type-B quantities of HALW, but significantly larger packaging could be needed in the future. Scoping studies and preliminary designs have identified the feasibility of retrofitting an insert into existing casks, allowing the transport of up to 380 L (100 gal) of HALW. However, the insert design and ultimate certification strategy depend heavily on the gas-generating attributes of the HALW. A non-vented containment vessel filled with HALW, in the absence of any gas-mitigation technologies, poses a deflagration threat and, therefore, gas generation, specifically hydrogen generation, must be reliably controlled during all phases of transportation. Two techniques are available to mitigate hydrogen accumulation: recombiners and getters. Getters have an advantage over recombiners in that oxides are not required to react with the hydrogen. A test plan was developed to evaluate three forms of getter material in the presence of both simulated HALW and the gases that are produced by the HALW. These tests demonstrated that getters can react with hydrogen in the presence of simulated waste and in the presence of several other gases generated by the HALW, such as nitrogen, ammonia, nitrous oxide, and carbon monoxide. Although the use of such a gettering system has been shown to be technically feasible, only a preliminary design for its use has been completed. No further development is planned until the requirement for bulk transport of Type-B quantities of HALW is more thoroughly defined

Spectroscopic Diagnostics of Barrier Discharge Plasmas in Mixtures of Zinc Diiodide with Inert Gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guivan, N.N.; Malinin, A.N.

2005-01-01

The spectral characteristics of the emission of gas discharge atmospheric pressure plasmas in mixtures of zinc diiodide vapor with inert gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe) are investigated. The formation of a gas discharge plasma and the excitation of the components of a working mixture were performed in a high-frequency (with a repetition frequency of sinusoidal voltage pulses of 100 kHz) barrier discharge. The gas discharge emission was analyzed in the spectral range 200-900 nm with a resolution of 0.05 nm. Emission bands of ZnI(B-X) exciplex molecules and I* 2 excimer molecules, lines of inert gases, and emission bands of XeI* exciplex molecules (in Xe-containing mixtures) were revealed. It is ascertained that the strongest emission of ZnI* molecules is observed in ZnI 2 /He(Ne) mixtures. The regularities in the spectral characteristics of the gas discharge plasma emission are considered

Hydrogeological investigations in the Harwell region: the use of environmental isotopes, inert gas contents, and the uranium decay series

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexander, J.; Andrews, J.N.

1984-12-01

A comprehensive range of environmental isotopes, radioelement and dissolved gas contents have been measured in groundwaters from the high permeability formations of the Harwell area. These analyses were undertaken as part of a hydrochemical validation of groundwater circulation patterns derived from potentiometric data. These investigations have focused upon the Corallian and Great Oolite formations since these sandwich the Oxford Clay. Geochemical, isotopic, radioelement and inert gas studies have demonstrated consistent trends which substantiate fluid migration patterns derived from hydraulic considerations. Groundwaters at downdip localities in both the Corallian and Great Oolite formations are the oldest waters sampled from the region. Variations in trends in parameters can be attributed to cross-formational flow and subsequent mixing of groundwaters. Individually these techniques can only provide limited information, but the combination of methods used have provided corroborative evidence concerning the direction of fluid circulation in the Harwell region. (author)

Devoluming method and device for radioactive metal wastes containing zirconium alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komatsu, Masahiko; Wada, Ryutaro.

1996-01-01

The present invention concerns a method of sealing radioactive metal wastes in a capsule and compressing the capsule for devoluming treatment. The method comprises a step of carrying radioactive metal wastes into a sealed chamber having a capacity somewhat greater than that of the capsule, a deaerating step of sucking the air in the sealed chamber to attain a substantially vacuum state, a compression-devoluming step of compression-devoluming the capsule by reducing the volume of the sealed chamber and a transporting step of transporting the devolumed capsule from the sealed chamber. The sealed chamber to which the capsule incorporated with radioactive metal wastes containing a zirconium alloy is carried is then deaerated into a substantially vacuum state. Even if ignitable powdery dusts are generated from the radioactive metal wastes crushed by compression-devoluming of the capsule in the succeeding compression-devoluming step, since the air necessary for ignition is not present, ignition of the powdery dusts is prevented. Alternatively, since the inside of the sealed chamber is filled with an inert gas, ignition of the powdery dusts can effectively be prevented. (N.H.)

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) in oil and gas industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Algalhoud, K. A.; AL-Fawaris, B. H.

2008-01-01

Oil and gas industry in the Great Jamahiriya is one of those industries that were accompanied with generation of some solid and liquid waste, which associated with risks that might lead to harmful effects to the man and the environment. Among those risks the continuous increase of radioactivity levels above natural radioactive background around operating oil fields, due to accumulation of solid and liquid radioactive scales and sludge as well as contaminated produced water that contain some naturally occurring radioactive materials ( NORM/TE-NORM). Emergence of NORM/TE-NORM in studied area noticed when the natural background radioactivity levels increased around some oil fields during end of 1998, For this study, six field trips and a radiation surveys were conducted within selected oil fields that managed and owned by six operating companies under NOC, in order to determine the effective radiation dose in contrast with dose limits set by International Counsel of Radiation Protection(ICRP),and International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) Additionally solid samples in a form of scales and liquid samples were also taken for further investigation and laboratory analysis. Results were tabulated and discussed within the text .However to be more specific results pointed out to the fact that existence of NORM/TE-NORM as 226 Ra, 228 Ra, within some scale samples from surface equipment in some oil and gas fields in Jamahiriya were significant. As a result of that, the workers might receive moderate radiation dose less than the limits set by ICRP,IAEA, and other parts of the world producing oil and gas. Results predicted that within the investigated oil fields if workers receive proper training about handling of NORM/TE-NORM and follow the operating procedure of clean ups, work over and maintenance plane carefully, their committed exposure from NORM/TE-NORM will be less than the set limits by ICRP and IAEA. In a trend to estimate internal radiation dose as a result of possible

Study of gel materials as radioactive 222Rn gas detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Espinosa, G.; Golzarri, J. I.; Rickards, J.; Gammage, R. B.

2006-01-01

Commercial hair gel material (polyvinyl pyrolidone triethanolamine carbo-pol in water) and bacteriological agar (phycocolloid extracted from a group of red-purple algae, usually Gelidium sp.) have been studied as radioactive radon gas detectors. The detection method is based on the diffusion of the radioactive gas in the gel material, and the subsequent measurement of trapped products of the natural decay of radon by gamma spectrometry. From the several radon daughters with gamma radiation emission ( 214 Pb, 214 Bi, 214 Po, 210 Pb, 210 Po), two elements, 214 Pb (0.352 MeV) and 214 Bi (0.609 MeV), were chosen for the analysis in this work; in order to determine the best sensitivity, corrections were made for the short half-life of the analysed isotopes. For the gamma spectrometry analysis, a hyper-pure germanium solid state detector was used, associated with a PC multichannel analyser card with Maestro R and Microsoft R Excel R software. The results show the viability of the method: a linear response in a wide radon concentration range (450-10,000 Bq m -3 ), reproducibility of data, easy handling and low cost of the gel material. This detection methodology opens new possibilities for measurements of radon and other radioactive gases. (authors)

An investigation of the microstructures and properties of metal inert ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Abstract. Two different types of welds, Metal Inert Gas (MIG) and Friction Stir. Welding (FSW), have been used to weld aluminum alloy 5083. The microstructure of the welds, including the nugget zone and heat affected zone, has been compared in these two methods using optical microscopy. The mechanical properties of ...

Off-Gas Analysis During the Vitrification of Hanford Radioactive Waste Samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ha, B.C.; Ferrara, D.M.; Crawford, C.L.; Choi, A.S.; Bibler, N.E.

1998-01-01

This paper describes the off-gas analysis of samples collected during the radioactive vitrification experiments. Production and characterization of the Hanford waste-containing LAW and HAW glasses are presented in related reports from this conference

Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding of Ni-rich NiTi plates: functional behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, J. P.; Barbosa, D.; Braz Fernandes, F. M.; Miranda, R. M.

2016-03-01

It is often reported that, to successfully join NiTi shape memory alloys, fusion-based processes with reduced thermal affected regions (as in laser welding) are required. This paper describes an experimental study performed on the tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding of 1.5 mm thick plates of Ni-rich NiTi. The functional behavior of the joints was assessed. The superelasticity was analyzed by cycling tests at maximum imposed strains of 4, 8 and 12% and for a total of 600 cycles, without rupture. The superelastic plateau was observed, in the stress-strain curves, 30 MPa below that of the base material. Shape-memory effect was evidenced by bending tests with full recovery of the initial shape of the welded joints. In parallel, uniaxial tensile tests of the joints showed a tensile strength of 700 MPa and an elongation to rupture of 20%. The elongation is the highest reported for fusion-welding of NiTi, including laser welding. These results can be of great interest for the wide-spread inclusion of NiTi in complex shaped components requiring welding, since TIG is not an expensive process and is simple to operate and implement in industrial environments.

Microstructure and magnetic properties of inert gas atomized rare earth permanent magnetic materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sellers, C.H.; Hyde, T.A.; Branagan, D.J.; Lewis, L.H.; Panchanathan, V.

1997-01-01

Several permanent magnet alloys based on the ternary Nd 2 Fe 14 B (2-14-1) composition have been prepared by inert gas atomization (IGA). The microstructure and magnetic properties of these alloys have been studied as a function of particle size, both before and after heat treatment. Different particle sizes have characteristic properties due to the differences in cooling rate experienced during solidification from the melt. These properties are also strongly dependent on the alloy composition due to the cooling rate close-quote s effect on the development of the phase structure; the use of rare earth rich compositions appears necessary to compensate for a generally inadequate cooling rate. After atomization, a brief heat treatment is necessary for the development of the optimal microstructure and magnetic properties, as seen from the hysteresis loop shape and improvements in key magnetic parameters (intrinsic coercivity H ci , remanence B r , and maximum energy product BH max ). By adjusting alloy compositions specifically for this process, magnetically isotropic powders with good magnetic properties can be obtained and opportunities for the achievement of better properties appear to be possible. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

Correction factor to determine total hydrogen+deuterium concentration obtained by inert gas fusion-thermal conductivity detection (IGF- TCD) technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramakumar, K.L.; Sesha Sayi, Y.; Shankaran, P.S.; Chhapru, G.C; Yadav, C.S.; Venugopal, V.

2004-01-01

The limitation of commercially available dedicated equipment based on Inert Gas Fusion- Thermal Conductivity Detection (IGF - TCD) for the determination of hydrogen+deuterium is described. For a given molar concentration, deuterium is underestimated vis a vis hydrogen because of lower thermal conductivity and not considering its molecular weight in calculations. An empirical correction factor based on the differences between the thermal conductivities of hydrogen, deuterium and the carrier gas argon, and the mole fraction of deuterium in the sample has been derived to correct the observed hydrogen+deuterium concentration. The corrected results obtained by IGF - TCD technique have been validated by determining hydrogen and deuterium contents in a few samples using an independent method based on hot vacuum extraction-quadrupole mass spectrometry (HVE-QMS). Knowledge of mole fraction of deuterium (XD) is necessary to effect the correction. The correction becomes insignificant at low X D values (XD < 0.2) as the precision in the IGF measurements is comparable with the extent of correction. (author)

Polarization of stable and radioactive noble gas nuclei by spin exchange with laser pumped alkali atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calaprice, F.; Happer, W.; Schreiber, D.

1984-01-01

The nuclei of noble gases can be strongly polarized by spin exchange with sufficiently dense optically pumped alkali vapors. Only a small fraction of the spin angular momentum of the alkali atoms is transferred to the nuclear spin of the noble gas. Most of the spin angular momentum is lost to translational angular momentum of the alkali and noble gas atoms about each other. For heavy noble gases most of the angular momentum transfer occurs in alkali-noble-gas van der Waals molecules. The transfer efficiency depends on the formation and breakup rates of the van der Waals molecules in the ambient gas. Experimental methods to measure the spin transfer efficiencies have been developed. Nuclei of radioactive noble gases have been polarized by these methods, and the polarization has been detected by observing the anisotropy of the radioactive decay products. Very precise measurements of the magnetic moments of the radioactive nuclei have been made. 12 references, 9 figures

Project on effects of gas in underground storage facilities for radioactive waste (Pegasus project)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haijtink, B.; McMenamin, T.

1993-01-01

Whereas the subject of gas generation and gas release from radioactive waste repositories has gained in interest on the international scene, the Commission of the European Communities has increased its research efforts on this issue. In particular, in the fourth five-year R and D programme on management and storage of radioactive waste (1990-94), a framework has been set up in which research efforts on the subject of gas generation and migration, supported by the CEC, are brought together and coordinated. In this project, called Pegasus, about 20 organizations and research institutes are involved. The project covers theoretical and experimental studies of the processes of gas formation and possible gas release from the different waste types, LLW, ILW and HLW, under typical repository conditions in suitable geological formations such as clay, salt and granite. In this report the present status of the various research activities are described and 13 papers have been selected

Doses from radioactive methane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phipps, A.W.; Kendall, G.M.; Fell, T.P.; Harrison, J.D.

1990-01-01

A possible radiation hazard arises from exposure to methane labelled with either a 3 H or a 14 C nuclide. This radioactive methane could be released from a variety of sources, e.g. land burial sites containing radioactive waste. Standard assumptions adopted for vapours would not apply to an inert alkane like methane. This paper discusses mechanisms by which radioactive methane would irradiate tissues and provides estimates of doses. Data on skin thickness and metabolism of methane are discussed with reference to these mechanisms. It is found that doses are dominated by dose from the small fraction of methane which is inhaled and metabolised. This component of dose has been calculated under rather conservative assumptions. (author)

Management of radioactive waste from reprocessing plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanwar Raj

2010-01-01

Reprocessing and recycling of both fissile and fertile components back into appropriate reactor systems is an integral part of three stage nuclear energy programme of India. Different steps involved in processing of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) are decladding, dissolution and recovery of fissile and fertile materials. Reprocessing of SNF is a complex process involving handling of large quantity of radioactive materials and processing chemicals. There are three reprocessing plants in operation in the country at Trombay, Tarapur and Kalpakkam. Out of these plants, Trombay reprocessing plant is engaged in reprocessing of SNF from research reactors and other two plants are processing of SNF from PHWRs. A facility is being built for reprocessing of thorium based spent fuel at BARC, Trombay based on the experience of pilot plant scale. Like other industrial activities of nuclear fuel cycle, fuel reprocessing facilities too generate various types of radioactive waste streams. These are generated in all the three physical forms namely solid, liquid and gas. These waste streams are primarily categorized on the basis of concentration of radionuclides, their half lives and toxicity. Management of these wastes aims at (a) recovery and recycle of useful materials, (b) concentration and confinement of radioactivity in inert and stable matrices, (c) minimization of final waste volume for disposal, (d) decontamination of effluents following ALARA principle and (e) minimization of radioactive discharge to the environment. The present paper outlines the salient features of management of different types of radioactive waste generated in reprocessing plants handling SNF from research reactors and PHWR

Inert atmosphere system for plutonium processing gloveboxes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogard, C.F.; Calkins, K.W.; Rogers, R.F.

1975-01-01

Recent efforts to reduce fire hazards in plutonium processing operations are described. In such operations, the major environmental controls are developed through various kinds of glovebox systems. In evaluating the air-atmosphere glovebox systems, formerly in use at Rocky Flats and many other plants, a decision was made to convert to a recirculating ''inert'' atmosphere. The inert atmosphere consists of nitrogen, supplied from an on-site generating plant, diluting oxygen content to one to 5 percent by volume. Problems encountered during the change over included: determination of all factors influencing air leakage into the system, and reducing leakage to the practical minimum; meeting all fire and safety standards on the filter plenum and exhaust systems; provision for converting portions of the system to an air atmosphere to conduct maintenance work; inclusion of oxygen analyzers throughout the system to check gas quality and monitor for leaks; and the use of automatic controls to protect against a variety of potential malfunctions. The current objectives to reduce fire hazards have been met and additional safeguards were added. The systems are operating satisfactorily. (U.S.)

Dissolved helium, inert gases, radium and radon in groundwaters from the Altnabreac research site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrews, J.N.; Kay, R.L.F.

1985-01-01

A groundwater geochemical study has been carried out at Altnabreac, Cenithness, Scotland, to investigate the feasibility of disposal of high-level radioactive wastes in crystalline rock. A groundwater flow model was constructed for sampling a section at depths up to 300 m. Measurements of inert gases dissolved in groundwaters are used, with parallel measurements of 14 C, tritium, oxygen and hydrogen isotopes to infer groundwater ages and residence times. (UK)

Assessment of radiation exposures from naturally occurring radioactive materials in the oil and gas industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamlat, M.S.; Djeffal, S.; Kadi, H.

2001-01-01

Radioactive deposits, often referred to as naturally occurring radioactive material scale, can, because of incompatibility of formation and injection waters, be formed inside production equipment of the oil and gas industry. These scales contain mainly 226 Ra and its daughter products, which can cause an exposure risk. The gamma ray dose rates, with the associated occupational doses in the oil and gas industry, and 226 Ra concentration in production water, crude oil and hard/soft scale samples were determined. Results obtained are discussed and compared to those from other studies

Qualifications of and acceptance criteria for transporting special form radioactive material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hovingh, J.

1991-01-01

A special form radioactive material is a radioactive material that is in an inert, insoluble, indispersible form such that even in the event of an accident, it will not be dispersed into the environment in a way that could have an adverse impact on public health and safety. Methods of qualifying a special form radioactive material are discussed. Interpretation of acceptance criteria are proposed for the transportation of Type B quantities of a special form radioactive material. 11 refs

Relevant aspects in licensing of radioactive installations at petroleum and gas well logging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miranda, Marcia Valeria da E. Sa

2002-01-01

The importance of the various factors considered during the process of licensing of radioactive installation for petroleum and gas well logging. This process involves the issuing of some public power acts, the co called Administrative Acts. For the radioactive installations the Administrative Acts are related to the Norm CNEN-NE-6.02 'Licensing of Radioactive Installation'. In the conduction of the licensing of radioactive installation of mobile nuclear measurement devices the safety evaluation of radioactive installation and equipment containing incorporated radiation source are included; certification of radioprotection supervisors; programing and evaluation of the radioprotection inspections; and the conduction of conformal inspection according to the project, safety analysis and audits. An evaluation of the impact of the importance grade attributed to each factor in the optimization of licensing process is related. Finally, the prediction of implantation of a control system for the displacement of radioactive sources in the installation is approached comprehending the up-to-date localization of each source at different work front of the Basis

Drying of encapsulated parts (nuclear fuel rods) in applying vacuum, by introducing dehydratings, vacuum, and filling with an inert gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, C.R.

1976-01-01

This invention concerns a decontamination technique, in particular a process and equipment for extracting the water contained in fuel rods and other similar components of a nuclear reactor. The extraction of the contaminants contained in the fuel rods is carried out by a standard method by drilling a small hole in the surface of the cladding and applying a vacuum to bleed the rod of its impurities (moisture and gas). The invention consists for example in applying a vacuum at the hole drilled in the cladding to extract the contaminants and introducing spirit into the rod through the same orifice. The spirit absorbs the remaining liquid and other impurities. The spirit charged with the impurities is then pumped out by the same aperture by means of a regulated atmosphere inside a closed receptacle. This receptacle is then filled with an inert gas cooled to ambient temperature. The rods are then pressurised and the small orifice is sealed [fr

Numerical Modeling of Fluid Flow, Heat Transfer and Arc-Melt Interaction in Tungsten Inert Gas Welding

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Linmin; Li, Baokuan; Liu, Lichao; Motoyama, Yuichi

2017-04-01

The present work develops a multi-region dynamic coupling model for fluid flow, heat transfer and arc-melt interaction in tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding using the dynamic mesh technique. The arc-weld pool unified model is developed on basis of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations and the interface is tracked using the dynamic mesh method. The numerical model for arc is firstly validated by comparing the calculated temperature profiles and essential results with the former experimental data. For weld pool convection solution, the drag, Marangoni, buoyancy and electromagnetic forces are separately validated, and then taken into account. Moreover, the model considering interface deformation is adopted in a stationary TIG welding process with SUS304 stainless steel and the effect of interface deformation is investigated. The depression of weld pool center and the lifting of pool periphery are both predicted. The results show that the weld pool shape calculated with considering the interface deformation is more accurate.

Collection of a radioactive source of $^{83}$Kr to study the gas distribution dynamics in a large GRPC detector

CERN Multimedia

An ultra-granular hadronic calorimeter was built using Glass Resistive Plate Chamber (GRPC) detectors as the sensitive medium. The gas of those detectors of $1 \\times 1$ m$^{2}$ each is constrained to be on one side of the detector. To ensure good gas distribution a prototype was built. Such a scheme could be extended to larger GRPC detectors of more than 2 m$^{2}$ if found efficient. To check the performance a radioactive gas could be used in association with the usual gas mixture used to operate the GRPC. The distribution of the radioactive gas can be monitored thanks to the 1 cm$^2$ resolution provided by the embedded electronics used to read out the detector. The radioactive $^{83}$Kr source (obtained from $^{83}$Rb decay) could be produced at the ISOLDE facility and will be used to study larger GRPC detectors at CERN.

Inert gas narcosis and the encoding and retrieval of long-term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Kneller, Wendy; Hobbs, Malcolm

2013-12-01

Prior research has indicated that inert gas narcosis (IGN) causes decrements in free recall memory performance and that these result from disruption of either encoding or self-guided search in the retrieval process. In a recent study we provided evidence, using a Levels of Processing approach, for the hypothesis that IGN affects the encoding of new information. The current study sought to replicate these results with an improved methodology. The effect of ambient pressure (111.5-212.8 kPa/1-11 msw vs. 456-516.8 kPa/35-41 msw) and level of processing (shallow vs. deep) on free recall memory performance was measured in 34 divers in the context of an underwater field experiment. Free recall was significantly worse at high ambient pressure compared to low ambient pressure in the deep processing condition (low pressure: M = 5.6; SD = 2.7; high pressure: M = 3.3; SD = 1.4), but not in the shallow processing condition (low pressure: M = 3.9; SD = 1.7; high pressure: M = 3.1; SD = 1.8), indicating IGN impaired memory ability in the deep processing condition. In the shallow water, deep processing improved recall over shallow processing but, significantly, this effect was eliminated in the deep water. In contrast to our earlier study this supported the hypothesis that IGN affects the self-guided search of information and not encoding. It is suggested that IGN may affect both encoding and self-guided search and further research is recommended.

Laser, tungsten inert gas, and metal active gas welding of DP780 steel: Comparison of hardness, tensile properties and fatigue resistance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jeong Hun; Park, Sung Hyuk; Kwon, Hyuk Sun; Kim, Gyo Sung; Lee, Chong Soo

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We report the mechanical properties of DP780 steel welded by three methods. • The size of the welded zone increases with heat input (MAG > TIG > laser). • The hardness of the welded zone increases with cooling rate (laser > TIG > MAG). • Tensile and fatigue properties are strongly dependent on welding method. • Crack initiation sites depend on the microstructural features of the welded zone. - Abstract: The microstructural characteristics, tensile properties and low-cycle fatigue properties of a dual-phase steel (DP780) were investigated following its joining by three methods: laser welding, tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding, and metal active gas (MAG) welding. Through this, it was found that the size of the welded zone increases with greater heat input (MAG > TIG > laser), whereas the hardness of the weld metal (WM) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) increases with cooling rate (laser > TIG > MAG). Consequently, laser- and TIG-welded steels exhibit higher yield strength than the base metal due to a substantially harder WM. In contrast, the strength of MAG-welded steel is reduced by a broad and soft WM and HAZ. The fatigue life of laser-and TIG-welded steel was similar, with both being greater than that of MAG-welded steel; however, the fatigue resistance of all welds was inferior to that of the non-welded base metal. Finally, crack initiation sites were found to differ depending on the microstructural characteristics of the welded zone, as well as the tensile and cyclic loading

A thermodynamics model for morphology prediction of aluminum nano crystals fabricated by the inert gas condensation method

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Yu; Xia, Dehong

2018-03-01

The purpose of this study is to provide scientific guidance for the morphological control of nanoparticle synthesis using the gas phase method. A universal thermodynamics model is developed to predict the morphology of nanoparticles fabricated using the inert gas condensation method. By using this model, the morphologies of aluminum nanocrystals are predicted under various preparation conditions. There are two types of energy that jointly determine the formation of nanoparticle morphology—Gibbs free energy for nanoparticles and energy variation during the process. The results show that energy variation dominates morphology formation when the cooling rate is less than 2 × 1011 K s-1 in the aluminum nanocrystal production process. At the beginning of the nanoparticle growth, the most stable morphology is predicted to be spherical, but the energetically preferred morphology becomes cubic as the particle grows. The turning point in the particle size at which spherical morphology is no longer the most stable morphology is exhibited as a function of pressure in a condensation chamber for different cooling rates. In this paper, we focus on the need for morphology prediction based on preparation conditions. It is concluded that nanoparticles with various morphologies could be obtained by adjusting the cooling rate and pressure in the condensation chamber.

Distribution of inert gases in fines from the Cayley-Descartes region

Science.gov (United States)

Walton, J. R.; Lakatos, S.; Heymann, D.

1973-01-01

The inert gases in 14 different fines and in one sample of 2 to 4 mm fines from Apollo 16 were measured by mass spectroscopy with respect to trapped solar wind gases, cosmogenic gases, and 'parentless' Ar-40. Such studies are helpful for the understanding of regolith evolution, of transport of regolith fines, and of the lunar atmosphere. The Apollo 16 soils are unique because they represent, after Luna 20, the second and much more extensive record from the lunar highlands. The landing site presents the problem of materials from the Cayley Formation vs those from the Descartes Formation. There are two large, relatively fresh craters in the area, North Ray and South Ray, whose ejecta patterns may be recognized in the inert-gas record.

Off-gas treatment and characterization for a radioactive in situ vitrification test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oma, K.H.; Timmerman, C.L.

1985-01-01

Effluents released to the off gas during the in situ vitrification (ISV) of a test site have been characterized. The site consisted of a 19 L waste package of soil containing 600 nCi/g transuranic and 30,000 nCi/g mixed fission products surrounded by uncontaminated soil. Radioactive isotopes present in the package were 241 Am, /sup 238/239/Pu, 137 Cs, 106 Ru, 90 Sr, and 60 Co. The ISV process melted the waste package and surrounding soil and immobilized the radionuclides in place, producing a durable, 8.6 metric ton glass and crystalline monolith. The test successfully demonstrated that the process provides containment of radioactive material. No release to the environment was detected during processing or cooldown. Due to the high temperatures during processing, some gases were released into the off-gas hood that was placed over the test site. The hood was maintained at a light negative pressure to contain any volatile or entrained material during processing. Gases passed from the hood to an off-gas treatment system where they were treated using a venturi-ejector scrubber, a tandem nozzle gas cleaner scrubber followed by a condenser, heater, and two stages of HEPA filters. The off-gas treatment system is located in the semi-trailer to allow transport of the process to other potential test sites. Retention of all radionuclides by the vitrified zone was greater than 99%. Soil-to-off-gas decontamination factors (DFs) for transuranic elements averaged greater than 4000 and for fission products, DFs ranged from 130 for 137 Cs to 3100 for 90 Sr

Technical basis for storage of Zircaloy-clad spent fuel in inert gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, A.B. Jr.; Gilbert, E.R.

1983-09-01

The technical bases to establish safe conditions for dry storage of Zircaloy-clad fuel are summarized. Dry storage of fuel with zirconium alloy cladding has been licensed in Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, and Switzerland. Dry storage demonstrations, hot cell tests, and modeling have been conducted using Zircaloy-clad fuel. The demonstrations have included irradiated boiling water reactor, pressurized heavy-water reactor, and pressurized water reactor fuel assemblies. Irradiated fuel has been emplaced in and retrieved from metal casks, dry wells, silos, and a vault. Dry storage tests and demonstrations have involved about 15,000 fuel rods, and about 5600 rods have been monitored during dry storage in inert gases with maximum cladding temperatures ranging from 50 to 570 0 C. Although some tests and demonstrations are still in progress, there is currently no evidence that any rods exposed to inert gases have failed (one PWR rod exposed to an air cover gas failed at about 270 0 C). Based on this favorable experience, it is concluded that there is sufficient information on fuel rod behavior, storage conditions, and potential cladding failure mechanisms to support licensing of dry storage in the US. This licensing position includes a requirement for inert cover gases and a maximum cladding temperature guideline of 380 0 C for Zircaloy-clad fuel. Using an inert cover gas assures that even if fuel with cladding defects were placed in dry storage, or if defects develop during storage, the defects would not propagate. Tests and demonstrations involving Zircaloy-clad rods and assemblies with maximum cladding temperatures above 400 0 C are in progress. When the results from these tests have been evaluated, the viability of higher temperature limits should be examined. Acceptable conditions for storage in air and dry storage of consolidated fuel are issues yet to be resolved

Treatment of off-gas from radioactive waste incinerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-01-01

An effective process reducing volume of radioactive wastes is incineration of combustible wastes. Appropriate design of the off-gas treatment system is necessary to ensure that any releases of airborne radionuclides into the environment are kept below acceptable limits. In many cases, the off-gas system must be designed to accommodate chemical constituents in the gas stream. The purpose of this publication is to provide the most up-to-date information regarding off-gas treatment as well as an account of some of the developments so as to aid users in the selection of an integrated system for a particular application. The choice of incinerator/off-gas system combination depends on the wastes to be treated, as well as other factors, such as regulatory requirements. Current problems and development needs are discussed. Following comprehensive discussions of the various factors affecting a choice, various incinerator and off-gas treatment systems are recommended for the various types of wastes that may be treated: low PVC content solid, high PVC content solid, organic liquid and resins. The economics or costs of the off-gas system and an evaluation of the overall cost effectiveness of incineration or direct burial is not discussed in detail. This publication is specifically directed toward technical aspects and addresses: incineration types and origin, sources and characteristics of off-gas streams; descriptions of available technologies for off-gas treatment; basic component design requirements and component description; operational experience of plants in active operation and their current practices; legal aspects and safety requirements; remaining problems to be solved and development trends in plant design and component structure. This report seeks to broaden and enhance the understanding of the developed technology and to indicate areas where improvements can be made by further research and development. 110 refs

Radioactive rare gas recoverying device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasai, Shigeo

1989-01-01

The apparatus of the present invention comprises a vessel for containing coolants, an introduction valve and an introduction pipe for introducing radioactive rare gases and an adsorption floor disposed in the coolants. A josephson device is disposed being immersed in the coolants between a radiation detector for detecting the radioactive level adsorbed to the adsorption floor and a driving section for driving the introduction valve by the signal from the detector. With this constitution, radioactive rare gases introduced into the coolants and then cooled and liquefied are recovered by the adsorption floor. As the adsorption proceeds and when the radioactivity level exceeds a maximum level in the effective shielding range of the recovery apparatus, the signal current from the radiation detector also exceeds a predetermined level. If radioactivity exceeds the maximum level, the electrical resistance of the josephson device is increased infinitely by the josephson effect to close the introduction valve. Accordingly, the radioactivity is not absorbed beyond the effective shielding range. (I.S.)

Clinical application of inert gas Multiple Breath Washout in children and adolescents with asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Zwitserloot, Annelies; Fuchs, Susanne I; Müller, Christina; Bisdorf, Kornelia; Gappa, Monika

2014-09-01

Children with asthma often have normal spirometry despite significant disease. The pathology of the small airways in asthma may be assessed using Multiple Breath Washout (MBW) and calculating the Lung Clearance Index (LCI). There are only few studies using MBW in children with asthma and existing data regarding bronchodilator effect are contradictory. The aim of the present pilot study was to compare LCI in asthma and controls and assess the effect of salbutamol in children with asthma on the LCI. Unselected patients with a diagnosis of asthma visiting the outpatient department of our hospital between 04-2010 and 03-2011 were recruited and compared to a healthy control group. MBW was performed as inert gas MBW using sulfurhexafluorid (SF6) as the tracer gas. Clinical data were documented and spirometry and MBW (EasyOne Pro, MBW module, NDD Switzerland) were performed before and after the use of salbutamol (200-400 μg). Healthy controls performed baseline MBW only. 32 children diagnosed with asthma (4.7-17.4 years) and 42 controls (5.3-20.8) were included in the analysis. LCI differed between patients and controls, with a mean LCI (SD) of 6.48 (0.48) and 6.21 (0.38) (P = 0.008). Use of salbutamol had no significant effect on LCI for the group. These pilot data show that clinically stable asthma patients and controls both have a LCI in the normal range. However, in patients the LCI is significantly higher indicating that MBW may have a role in assessing small airways disease in asthma. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oriented Polar Molecules in a Solid Inert-Gas Matrix: A Proposed Method for Measuring the Electric Dipole Moment of the Electron

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. C. Vutha

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a very sensitive method for measuring the electric dipole moment of the electron using polar molecules embedded in a cryogenic solid matrix of inert-gas atoms. The polar molecules can be oriented in the z ^ -direction by an applied electric field, as has recently been demonstrated by Park et al. The trapped molecules are prepared into a state that has its electron spin perpendicular to z ^ , and a magnetic field along z ^ causes precession of this spin. An electron electric dipole moment d e would affect this precession due to the up to 100 GV/cm effective electric field produced by the polar molecule. The large number of polar molecules that can be embedded in a matrix, along with the expected long coherence times for the precession, allows for the possibility of measuring d e to an accuracy that surpasses current measurements by many orders of magnitude. Because the matrix can inhibit molecular rotations and lock the orientation of the polar molecules, it may not be necessary to have an electric field present during the precession. The proposed technique can be applied using a variety of polar molecules and inert gases, which, along with other experimental variables, should allow for careful study of systematic uncertainties in the measurement.

Reduction of impurity contamination in a working gas for closed-cycle MHD power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endo, N.; Yoshikawa, K.; Shioda, S.

1989-01-01

The reduction of impurity contamination in a working inert gas for closed-cycle MHD power generation is examined. A conceptual operation system of regenerative heat exchangers is proposed for minimizing the amount of combustion gas which mixes in the working inert gas. Experiments have shown that this mixing can be reduced significantly by evacuating and flushing the heat exchangers after being heated by combustion gas. Calculations have shown that, among the main molecular contaminants in the working inert gas, CO 2 , H 2 O and O 2 can be removed as compounds with the seed material, while N 2 and H 2 can be reduced by a partial purification of the circulating working inert gas. (author)

Assessment of a chemical getter for scavenging tritium from an inert gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maienschein, J.L.

1976-01-01

Results are presented of a study aimed at determining the feasibility of using chemical getter beds to scavenge tritium from inert gases. Two types of getter bed, fixed and fluidized, were considered, using cerium as the getter material. Mathematical-modeling results and capital-cost estimates indicate that not only is the gettering approach technically feasible, it could lead to considerable cost savings over catalytic oxidation, the tritium-removal method traditionally used

Corrosion characterisation of laser beam and tungsten inert gas weldment of nickel base alloys: Micro-cell technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abraham, Geogy J.; Kain, V.; Dey, G.K.; Raja, V.S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Grain matrix showed better corrosion resistance than grain boundary. • Microcell studies showed distinct corrosion behaviour of individual regions of weldment. • TIG welding resulted in increased stable anodic current density on weld fusion zone. • LB welding resulted in high stable anodic current density for heat affected zone. - Abstract: The electrochemical studies using micro-cell technique gave new understanding of electrochemical behaviour of nickel base alloys in solution annealed and welded conditions. The welding simulated regions depicted varied micro structural features. In case of tungsten inert gas (TIG) weldments, the weld fusion zone (WFZ) showed least corrosion resistance among all other regions. For laser beam (LB) weldments it was the heat-affected zone (HAZ) that showed comparatively high stable anodic current density. The high heat input of TIG welding resulted in slower heat dissipation hence increased carbide precipitation and segregation in WFZ resulting in high stable anodic current density

Off-gas treatment and characterization for a radioactive in situ vitrification test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oma, K.H.; Timmerman, C.L.

1984-08-01

Effluents released to the off gas during the in situ vitrification (ISV) of a test site have been characterized by Pacific Northwest Laboratory. The site consisted of a 19 L waste package of soil containing 600 nCi/g transuranic and 30,000 nCi/g mixed fission products surrounded by uncontaminated soil. Radioactive isotopes present in the package were 241 Am, 238 / 239 Pu, 137 Cs, 106 Ru, 90 Sr, and 60 Co. The ISV process melted the waste package and surrounding soil and immobilized the radionuclides in place, producing a durable, 8.6 metric ton glass and crystalline monolith. The test successfully demonstrated that the process provides containment of radioactive material. No release to the environment was detected during processing of cooldown. Due to the high temperature during processing, some gases were released into the off-gas hood that was over the test site. The hood was maintained at a slight negative pressure to contain any volatile or entrained material during processing. Gases passed from the hood to an off-gas treatment system where they were treated using a venturi-ejector scrubber, a tandem nozzle gas cleaner scrubber followed by a condenser, heater, and two stages of HEPA filters. The off-gas treatment system is located in the semi-trailer to allow transport of the process to other potential test sites. Retention of all radionuclides by the vitrified zone was greater than 99%. Soil-to-off-gas decontamination factors (DFs) for transuranic elements averaged greater than 4000 and for fission products, DFs ranged from 130 for 137 Cs to 3100 for 90 Sr. 7 references, 15 figures, 4 tables

Origins of inert Higgs doublets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas W. Kephart

2016-05-01

Full Text Available We consider beyond the standard model embedding of inert Higgs doublet fields. We argue that inert Higgs doublets can arise naturally in grand unified theories where the necessary associated Z2 symmetry can occur automatically. Several examples are discussed.

Deformation behavior of Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes under inert gas conditions in the temperature range from 600 to 12000C

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofmann, P.; Raff, S.; Gausmann, G.

1981-07-01

Within the temperature range from 600 0 to 1200 0 isothermal, isobaric creep rupture experiments were performed under inert gas with short Zircaloy-4 tube specimens in order to obtain experimental data supporting the development of the NORA cladding tube deformation model. The values of the tube inner pressure were so selected that the time-to-failure values varied between 2 and 2000 s. The corresponding creep rupture curves are indicated. Besides the temperature and the burst pressure the development of deformation over time of the tube specimens was measured. This allowed to draw diagrams of stress, strain rate and strain. On account of the type of specimen heating applied (radiation heating) the temperature difference at the cladding tube circumference is very small ( [de

Low-temperature thermal expansion of pure and inert gas-doped fullerite C sub 6 sub 0

CERN Document Server

Aleksandrovskii, A N; Eselson, V B; Gavrilko, V G; Manzhelii, V G; Udovidchenko, B G; Bakai, A S; Gadd, G E; Moricca, S; Sundqvist, B

2003-01-01

The low temperature (2-24 K) thermal expansion of pure (single-crystal and polycrystalline) C sub 6 sub 0 and polycrystalline C sub 6 sub 0 intercalated with He, Ne, Ar, and Kr has been investigated using the high-resolution capacitance dilatometer. The investigation of the time dependence of the sample length variations DELTA L(t) on heating by DELTA T shows that the thermal expansion is determined by the sum of positive and negative contributions, which have different relaxation times. The negative thermal expansion usually prevails at helium temperatures. The positive expansion is connected with the phonon thermalization of the system. The negative expansion is caused by reorientation of the C sub 6 sub 0 molecules. It is assumed that the reorientation is of a quantum character. The inert gas impurities affect the reorientation of the C6 sub sub 0 molecules very strongly, especially at liquid helium temperatures. A temperature hysteresis of the thermal expansion coefficient of Kr- and He-C sub 6 sub 0 solu...

Characterization of Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Welding Fume Generated by Apprentice Welders

Science.gov (United States)

Graczyk, Halshka; Lewinski, Nastassja; Zhao, Jiayuan; Concha-Lozano, Nicolas; Riediker, Michael

2016-01-01

Tungsten inert gas welding (TIG) represents one of the most widely used metal joining processes in industry. Its propensity to generate a greater portion of welding fume particles at the nanoscale poses a potential occupational health hazard for workers. However, current literature lacks comprehensive characterization of TIG welding fume particles. Even less is known about welding fumes generated by welding apprentices with little experience in welding. We characterized TIG welding fume generated by apprentice welders (N = 20) in a ventilated exposure cabin. Exposure assessment was conducted for each apprentice welder at the breathing zone (BZ) inside of the welding helmet and at a near-field (NF) location, 60cm away from the welding task. We characterized particulate matter (PM4), particle number concentration and particle size, particle morphology, chemical composition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production potential, and gaseous components. The mean particle number concentration at the BZ was 1.69E+06 particles cm−3, with a mean geometric mean diameter of 45nm. On average across all subjects, 92% of the particle counts at the BZ were below 100nm. We observed elevated concentrations of tungsten, which was most likely due to electrode consumption. Mean ROS production potential of TIG welding fumes at the BZ exceeded average concentrations previously found in traffic-polluted air. Furthermore, ROS production potential was significantly higher for apprentices that burned their metal during their welding task. We recommend that future exposure assessments take into consideration welding performance as a potential exposure modifier for apprentice welders or welders with minimal training. PMID:26464505

Dynamic characteristics of stay cables with inerter dampers

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Xiang; Zhu, Songye

2018-06-01

This study systematically investigates the dynamic characteristics of a stay cable with an inerter damper installed close to one end of a cable. The interest in applying inerter dampers to stay cables is partially inspired by the superior damping performance of negative stiffness dampers in the same application. A comprehensive parametric study on two major parameters, namely, inertance and damping coefficients, are conducted using analytical and numerical approaches. An inerter damper can be optimized for one vibration mode of a stay cable by generating identical wave numbers in two adjacent modes. An optimal design approach is proposed for inerter dampers installed on stay cables. The corresponding optimal inertance and damping coefficients are summarized for different damper locations and interested modes. Inerter dampers can offer better damping performance than conventional viscous dampers for the target mode of a stay cable that requires optimization. However, additional damping ratios in other vibration modes through inerter damper are relatively limited.

Tracheal volume in the pupa of the Saturniid moth Hyalophora cecropia determined with inert gases.

Science.gov (United States)

Bridges, C R; Kestler, P; Scheid, P

1980-06-01

Tracheal volume (VTr) was measured in pupae of the Giant silkworm moth Hyalophora cecropia (Saturniidae, Lepidoptera, Insecta) using inert gas wash-out techniques. The animal was placed in a small vessel that was continuously ventilated (rate, V) by a gas mixture containing 20% O2 in N2; the inflowing (F1) and outflowing gas fractions (FE) of the vessel could be continuously measured by a respiratory mass spectrometer. At the onset of a spiracular constriction period, which was evidenced from the FECO2 trace, the mixture was rapidly replaced by pure Ar. At the subsequent burst, the amount of N2 emerging from the animal, MN2, was calculated from V and the difference (FE--F1)N2. VTr was calculated from MN2 and the N2 concentration in the tracheal system before constriction (assumed to equal that in the ventilating gas before replacement by Ar). Measurements were repeated with N2 and Ar replacing each other. VTr average 48 microliter . g-1 (range 39 to 59) for animals of 5.8 g average body weight (range 3.4 to 9.9), when inert gas solubility in body fluids was accounted for. Both size and stage in pupal development appear to affect VTr. These values show reasonable agreement with literature data, mostly obtained by emptying the tracheal gas space by mechanical compression.

Effect of current and speed on porosity in autogenous Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding of aluminum alloys A1100 butt joint

Science.gov (United States)

Milyardi, Indra; Sunar Baskoro, Ario

2018-04-01

Autogenous Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding has been conducted on aluminum alloy A1100. The purpose of this research is to determine the proper current and speed of autogenous TIG welding with butt joint pattern. Variations on welding current are 150 A, 155 A, and 160 A with the variations on welding speed are 1 mm/seconds, 1.1 mm/seconds, 1.2 mm/seconds. The welded results were tested using non-destructive test (NDT) method using X-Ray radiography. After the test, it is found that the appropriate current for the best result without porosity can be achieved using the welding parameter of welding current of 160 A and the welding speed of 1.1 mm seconds.

Modelling of far-field gas migration from a deep radioactive waste repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodwell, W.R.; Nash, P.J.

1992-01-01

In assessing the post-closure safety of a deep radioactive waste repository, it is necessary to show that gas generated within the repository can migrate away, through the far-field geology, without affecting repository safety. This paper discusses the contribution of various mechanisms to gas migration through the far field; for example, diffusion of dissolved gas versus gas-phase movement, and bubble flow versus formation of a connected gas stream. It outlines different approaches to modelling gas movement from a repository, with simple semi-analytical models furnishing physical insights into the factors controlling gas migration in the absence of directly applicable experimental data, and more comprehensive numerical computations allowing the exploration of more detailed behaviour when appropriate data is obtained. If gas can induce groundwater movement, this could accelerate the transport of water-borne contaminants. Processes by which this could occur are noted, and the current status of work on possible effects of gas migration on groundwater movement in fractured hard rocks is indicated. 14 refs., 4 figs

Novel manufacturing process of nanoparticle/Al composite filler metals of tungsten inert gas welding by accumulative roll bonding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fattahi, M., E-mail: fattahi.put@gmail.com [Technical Inspection Engineering Department, Petroleum University of Technology, Abadan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Noei Aghaei, V. [Aerospace Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Dabiri, A.R. [Technical Inspection Engineering Department, Petroleum University of Technology, Abadan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Amirkhanlou, S. [Young Researchers and Elite Club, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Akhavan, S.; Fattahi, Y. [Materials Engineering Department, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-11-11

In the present work, accumulative roll bonding (ARB) was used as an effective method for manufacturing nanoparticle/Al composite filler metals of tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding. After welding, the distribution of ceramic nanoparticles and mechanical properties of welds were investigated. By applying ARB, ceramic nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed in the composite filler metals. Consequently, the welds produced by these filler metals had a uniform dispersion of ceramic nanoparticles in their compositions. The test results showed that the yield strength of welds was greatly increased when using the nanoparticle/Al composite filler metals. The improvement in the yield strength was attributed to the coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch and Orowan strengthening mechanisms. Therefore, according to the results presented in this paper, it can be concluded that the nanoparticle/Al composite filler metals can serve as a novel filler metal for TIG welding of aluminum and its alloys.

Safety protection suggestion of naturally occurring radioactive materials in the oil and gas industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Xiaojian; Zhou Qifu; Wang Xiaotao; Xu Zhongyang; Song Peifeng

2014-01-01

It's not enough concern about the naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) of oil and gas industry in China. NORM with radium and radon mainly exist in the scale, sludge and production water, and they tend to deposit on the pipe wall, wellhead equipment and so on. These materials are a threat to the health of workers, so it is very important to have the safe disposal of them. This paper introduces the radioactive hazards and puts for-ward the safe disposal measures so as to provide the reference for the safe disposal of radioactive materials. Some management and technical advices are presented too. (authors)

Radiation Protection and the Management of Radioactive Waste in the Oil and Gas Industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

The oil and gas industry, a global industry operating in many Member States, makes extensive use of radiation generators and sealed and unsealed radioactive sources, some of which are potentially dangerous to human health and the environment if not properly controlled. In addition, significant quantities of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) originating from the reservoir rock are encountered during production, maintenance and decommissioning. The oil and gas industry operates in all climates and environments, including the most arduous conditions, and is continuously challenged to achieve high efficiency of operation while maintaining a high standard of safety and control - this includes the need to maintain control over occupational exposures to radiation, as well as to protect the public and the environment through proper management of wastes that may be radiologically and chemically hazardous. The oil and gas industry is organizationally and technically complex, and relies heavily on specialized service and supply companies to provide the necessary equipment and expertise, including expertise in radiation safety. This training manual is used by the IAEA as the basis for delivering its training course on radiation protection and the management of radioactive waste in the oil and gas industry. Enclosed with this manual is a CD-ROM that contains the presentational material used in the training course, the course syllabus and additional notes for course presenters. The course material is based principally on IAEA Safety Reports Series No. 34 Radiation Protection and the Management of Radioactive Waste in the Oil and Gas Industry, published by the IAEA in 2003. The training course is aimed at regulatory bodies; oil and gas field operators and support companies; workers and their representatives; health, safety and environmental professionals; and health and safety training officers. A pilot training course was held in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2000 as

Radioactive consumer products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Otomaru

1981-01-01

Present situation of utilizing the radioactive consumer products and exposure dose were reviewed with published data. Practically, consumer products are divided into three categories, (1) radioactive nuclides intentionally incorporated into radioluminous dye, ionization chambers for smoke detector, eliminator of static electricity, and glow lamp (2) natural radioactive nuclides contained in false teeth, porcelain, glass, and gas mantle (3) natural radioactive nuclides accumulated as industrial waste at the consumption of coal, petroleum, and natural gas or in fertilizer and materials for construction. (Nakanishi, T.)

Models of bending strength for Gilsocarbon graphites irradiated in inert and oxidising environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eason, Ernest D.; Hall, Graham N.; Marsden, Barry J.; Heys, Graham B.

2013-01-01

This paper presents the development and validation of an empirical model of fast neutron damage and radiolytic oxidation effects on bending strength for the moulded Gilsocarbon graphites used in Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs). The inert environment model is based on evidence of essentially constant strength as fast neutron dose increases in inert environment. The model of combined irradiation and oxidation calibrates that constant along with an exponential function representing the degree of radiolytic oxidation as measured by weight loss. The change in strength with exposure was found to vary from one AGR station to another. The model was calibrated to data on material trepanned from AGR moderator bricks after varying operating times

Method for solidification of radioactive iodine-containing solid wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozawa, Yoshihiro; Funabashi, Kiyomi; Uetake, Naoto.

1987-01-01

Purpose: To process radioactive iodine containing solid wastes as non-leaching solidified wastes with no risk of iodine release. Method: It has been known for the thermal stability of CuI, PbI 2 or adsorbents containing the same that they do not release iodine in an inert gas atmosphere or in a reducing atmosphere at a temperature lower than 480 deg C. In view of the above, adsorbents containing iodine in the chemical form of CuI or PbI 2 , or CuI or powdery PbI 2 per se are sealed and solidified into low melting glass at a temperature of lower than 480 deg C at which no iodine release occurs in a non-oxidative atmosphere. Since the products are vitrified wastes, they scarcely show leaching property and are excellent in durability and stability. (Takahashi, M.)

Adsorption of radioactive I2 gas onto atmospheric aerosol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noguchi, Hiroshi; Murata, Mikio; Suzuki, Katsumi.

1990-01-01

Laboratory scale experiments on the adsorption of radioactive elemental iodine (I 2 ) gas onto atmospheric aerosol showed that the adsorption reached an equilibrium state in about twelve minutes at high initial I 2 concentrations. The proportion of iodine which was adsorbed on the aerosol gradually decreased with increading initial I 2 concentration ranging over 10 -13 to 10 -9 g/cm 3 at a reaction time of 31 min but was almost constant at a reaction time of 2 min. A fraction of iodine desorbed from particulate iodine as mainly I 2 gas. An adsorption isotherm of atmospheric aerosol for I 2 gas was estimated from the experimental data of long reaction time and high I 2 concentrations. Using this adsorption isotherm, a theoretical equation, which was similar to our previous equation, was derived to explain the experimental results. A geometric mean and standard deviation of sticking probability in the equation were estimated to be 1.2 x 10 -2 and 2.7, respectively. Almost all experimental data were within ranges of calculated results considering the geometric standard deviation of sticking probability. (author)

Aerosol release from a hot sodium pool and behaviour in inert gas atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sauter, H.; Schuetz, W.

1986-01-01

In the KfK-NALA program, experiments were carried out on the subject of aerosol release from a contaminated sodium pool into inert gas atmosphere under various conditions. Besides the determination of retention factors for fuel and fission products, the sodium aerosol system was investigated and characterized, concerning aerosol generation (evaporation rate), particle size, mass concentration, and deposition behaviour. Pool temperatures were varied between 700 and 1000 K at different geometrical and convective conditions. Technical scale experiments with a 531-cm 2 pool surface area were performed at natural convection in a 2.2-m 3 heated vessel, as well as additional small scale experiments at forced convection and 38.5-cm 2 pool surface area. A best-fit formula is given for the specific evaporation rate into a 400 K argon atmosphere. Approximately, the very convenient relation (dm/dt) (kg/m 2 /h) = 0.1 p (mm Hg) was found. The sodium aerosol diameter lay between 0.6 μm, less than 1 sec after production, and 2.5 μm at maximum concentration. The deposition behaviour was characterized by very small quantities ( 80%) on the bottom cover of the vessel. In the model theoretic studies with the PARDISEKO code, calculations were performed of the mass concentration, particle diameter and deposition behaviour. Agreement with the experimental values could not be achieved until a modulus was introduced to allow for turbulent deposition. (author)

Conceptual Design of Portable Filtered Air Suction Systems For Prevention of Released Radioactive Gas under Severe Accidents of NPP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gu, Beom W.; Choi, Su Y.; Yim, Man S.; Rim, Chun T. [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

It becomes evident that severe accidents may occur by unexpected disasters such as tsunami, heavy flood, or terror. Once radioactive material is released from NPP through severe accidents, there are no ways to prevent the released radioactive gas spreading in the air. As a remedy for this problem, the idea on the portable filtered air suction system (PoFASS) for the prevention of released radioactive gas under severe accidents was proposed. In this paper, the conceptual design of a PoFASS focusing on the number of robot fingers and robot arm rods are proposed. In order to design a flexible robot suction nozzle, mathematical models for the gaps which represent the lifted heights of extensible covers for given convex shapes of pipes and for the covered areas are developed. In addition, the system requirements for the design of the robot arms of PoFASS are proposed, which determine the accessible range of leakage points of released radioactive gas. In this paper, the conceptual designs of the flexible robot suction nozzle and robot arm have been conducted. As a result, the minimum number of robot fingers and robot arm rods are defined to be four and three, respectively. For further works, extensible cover designs on the flexible robot suction nozzle and the application of the PoFASS to the inside of NPP should be studied because the radioactive gas may be released from connection pipes between the containment building and auxiliary buildings.

Oriented Polar Molecules in a Solid Inert-Gas Matrix: A Proposed Method for Measuring the Electric Dipole Moment of the Electron

Science.gov (United States)

Vutha, A.; Horbatsch, M.; Hessels, E.

2018-01-01

We propose a very sensitive method for measuring the electric dipole moment of the electron using polar molecules embedded in a cryogenic solid matrix of inert-gas atoms. The polar molecules can be oriented in the $\\hat{\\rm{z}}$ direction by an applied electric field, as has recently been demonstrated by Park, et al. [Angewandte Chemie {\\bf 129}, 1066 (2017)]. The trapped molecules are prepared into a state which has its electron spin perpendicular to $\\hat{\\rm{z}}$, and a magnetic field along $\\hat{\\rm{z}}$ causes precession of this spin. An electron electric dipole moment $d_e$ would affect this precession due to the up to 100~GV/cm effective electric field produced by the polar molecule. The large number of polar molecules that can be embedded in a matrix, along with the expected long coherence times for the precession, allows for the possibility of measuring $d_e$ to an accuracy that surpasses current measurements by many orders of magnitude. Because the matrix can inhibit molecular rotations and lock the orientation of the polar molecules, it may not be necessary to have an electric field present during the precession. The proposed technique can be applied using a variety of polar molecules and inert gases, which, along with other experimental variables, should allow for careful study of systematic uncertainties in the measurement.

The gas-filled counting tube of the PTB - a device for the activity determination of radioactive gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guenther, E.W.

1993-08-01

A measuring device for the activity determination of gaseous radioactive materials (H-3, Kr-85, C-14 O 2 ) has been set up as a PTB primary standard. Samples measured in it or their initial substances are the basis for activity standards. The gaseous samples are introduced directly into the vacuum device. The amount of gas filled can be determined by measuring pressure, volume and temperature. After the gas has been mixed with a counting gas (methane, argon/methane or propane), the count-rates are measured and the activity of the gas calculated. The activity of solid or liquid radioactive substances can also be determined with the device described, if they can be converted into a suitable gas. For this purpose there are additional devices (e.g. for producing hydrogen from water or C-14 O 2 from carbonate). The first models of these devices have been developed and are described. (orig.) [de

INERT Atmosphere confinement operability test procedure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

RISENMAY, H.R.

1999-01-01

This Operability Test Procedure (OTP) provides instructions for testing operability of the Inert Atmosphere Confinement (IAC). The Inert Atmosphere Confinement was designed and built for opening cans of metal items that might have hydrided surfaces. Unreviewed Safety Question (USQ) PFP-97-005 addresses the discovery of suspected plutonium hydride forming on plutonium metal currently stored in the Plutonium Finishing Plant vaults. Plutonium hydride reacts quickly with air, liberating energy. The Inert Atmosphere Confinement was designed to prevent this sudden liberation of energy by opening the material in an inert argon atmosphere instead of the normal glovebox atmosphere. The IAC is located in glovebox HC-21A, room 230B of the 234-5Z Building at the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) in the 200-West Area of the Hanford Site

Characterization of Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Welding Fume Generated by Apprentice Welders.

Science.gov (United States)

Graczyk, Halshka; Lewinski, Nastassja; Zhao, Jiayuan; Concha-Lozano, Nicolas; Riediker, Michael

2016-03-01

Tungsten inert gas welding (TIG) represents one of the most widely used metal joining processes in industry. Its propensity to generate a greater portion of welding fume particles at the nanoscale poses a potential occupational health hazard for workers. However, current literature lacks comprehensive characterization of TIG welding fume particles. Even less is known about welding fumes generated by welding apprentices with little experience in welding. We characterized TIG welding fume generated by apprentice welders (N = 20) in a ventilated exposure cabin. Exposure assessment was conducted for each apprentice welder at the breathing zone (BZ) inside of the welding helmet and at a near-field (NF) location, 60cm away from the welding task. We characterized particulate matter (PM4), particle number concentration and particle size, particle morphology, chemical composition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production potential, and gaseous components. The mean particle number concentration at the BZ was 1.69E+06 particles cm(-3), with a mean geometric mean diameter of 45nm. On average across all subjects, 92% of the particle counts at the BZ were below 100nm. We observed elevated concentrations of tungsten, which was most likely due to electrode consumption. Mean ROS production potential of TIG welding fumes at the BZ exceeded average concentrations previously found in traffic-polluted air. Furthermore, ROS production potential was significantly higher for apprentices that burned their metal during their welding task. We recommend that future exposure assessments take into consideration welding performance as a potential exposure modifier for apprentice welders or welders with minimal training. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society.

Inert gas narcosis disrupts encoding but not retrieval of long term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Hobbs, Malcolm; Kneller, Wendy

2015-05-15

Exposure to increased ambient pressure causes inert gas narcosis of which one symptom is long-term memory (LTM) impairment. Narcosis is posited to impair LTM by disrupting information encoding, retrieval (self-guided search), or both. The effect of narcosis on the encoding and retrieval of LTM was investigated by testing the effect of learning-recall pressure and levels of processing (LoP) on the free-recall of word lists in divers underwater. All participants (n=60) took part in four conditions in which words were learnt and then recalled at either low pressure (1.4-1.9atm/4-9msw) or high pressure (4.4-5.0atm/34-40msw), as manipulated by changes in depth underwater: low-low (LL), low-high(LH), high-high (HH), and high-low (HL). In addition, participants were assigned to either a deep or shallow processing condition, using LoP methodology. Free-recall memory ability was significantly impaired only when words were initially learned at high pressure (HH & HL conditions). When words were learned at low pressure and then recalled at low pressure (LL condition) or high pressure (LH condition) free-recall was not impaired. Although numerically superior in several conditions, deeper processing failed to significantly improve free-recall ability in any of the learning-recall conditions. This pattern of results support the hypothesis that narcosis disrupts encoding of information into LTM, while retrieval appears to be unaffected. These findings are discussed in relation to similar effects reported by some memory impairing drugs and the practical implications for workers in pressurised environments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Emanation thermal analysis. Application in solid state chemistry, analytical chemistry and engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balek, V.; Tel'deshi, Yu.

1986-01-01

Voluminous material on application of emenation thermal analysis for investigation of solids is systematized. General concepts and historical review of development of the method are given. Methods of introduction of inert gases into solids are considered. Theoretical aspects of inert gas evolution from solids labelled by radioactive gas or its maternal isotope are stated. The methods for measuring inert gases are considered. The possibilities, limitations and perspectives of development of radiometric emanation methods for the solution of various problems of analytical chemistry and thechnology are discussed

Protection and safety functions of different off-gas treatment systems in radioactive waste incineration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caramelle, D.; Chevalier, G.; Chevalier, G.

1986-01-01

Gaseous effluent cleaning installations are designed to protect workmen and environment and must be efficient enough to guarantee that the amounts of gases and dusts emitted by a furnace operating normally or accidentally are at an acceptable level in the atmosphere on the incinerator site. The process equipments necessary to operations and the monitoring devices must be reliable. The main risk in normal operation is occupational exposure close to the radioactive products accumulation points. The accidental risks are mainly related to an outage of the off-gas cleaning or a tightness failure with radioactive products dissemination resulting from either internal perturbation (filter tear, exhauster failure, ...) or external incident (electricity cut-off, furnace disarrangements, fire or explosion inside the incinerator). In view of these risks, it is interesting to examine the safety and protection functions of different components of off-gas treatment systems

Deposits of naturally occurring radioactivity in production of oil and natural gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strand, T.; Lysebo, I.; Kristensen, D.; Birovljev, A.

1997-01-01

Deposits of naturally occurring radioactive materials is an increasing problem in Norwegian oil and gas production. Activity concentration in solid-state samples and production water, and doses to workers involved in different operations off-shore, have been measured. The report also includes a discussion of different methods of monitoring and alternatives for final disposal of wastes. 154 refs

Study of the mobility activation in ZnSe thin films deposited using inert gas condensation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeewan Sharma

2017-12-01

Full Text Available ZnSe thin films were synthesized on glass substrates using the inert gas condensation technique at substrate temperature ranging from 25 °C to 100 °C. The hexagonal structure and average crystallite size (6.1–8.4 nm were determined from X-ray diffraction data. The transient photoconductivity was investigated using white light of intensity 8450 lx to deduce the effective density of states (Neff in the order of 1.02 × 1010–13.90 × 1010 cm−3, the frequency factor (S in the range 2.5 × 105–24.6 × 105 s−1 and the trap depth (E ranging between 0.37–0.64 eV of these films. The trap depth study revealed three different types of levels with quasi-continuous distribution below the conduction band. An increase in the photoconductivity was observed as a result of the formation of potential barriers (Vb and of the increase of carrier mobility at the crystallite boundaries. The study of the dependence of various mobility activation parameters on the deposition temperature and the crystallite size has provided better understanding of the mobility activation mechanism.

Storage process of large solid radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morin, Bruno; Thiery, Daniel.

1976-01-01

Process for the storage of large size solid radioactive waste, consisting of contaminated objects such as cartridge filters, metal swarf, tools, etc, whereby such waste is incorporated in a thermohardening resin at room temperature, after prior addition of at least one inert charge to the resin. Cross-linking of the resin is then brought about [fr

Comfort-oriented vehicle suspension design with skyhook inerter configuration

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yinlong; Chen, Michael Z. Q.; Sun, Yonghui

2017-09-01

This paper is concerned with the comfort-oriented vehicle suspension design problem by using a skyhook inerter configuration. The rationale of the skyhook inerter is to use a grounded inerter to virtually increase the sprung mass of a vehicle, as it is analytically demonstrated that increasing the sprung mass can always improve the ride comfort performance. Semi-active means to realize the skyhook inerter configuration are investigated by using semi-active inerters. Three control laws, that is the on-off control, the anti-chatter on-off control, and the continuous control, are proposed for the semi-active inerter to approximate the skyhook inerter. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness and performances of these control laws. It is shown that the semi-active realizations of the skyhook inerter by using the proposed control laws can achieve over 10% improvement compared with the traditional strut, and similar performances are obtained for these control laws, with slight differences with respect to different static stiffnesses of the suspension system.

In situ laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy measurements of chemical compositions in stainless steels during tungsten inert gas welding

Science.gov (United States)

Taparli, Ugur Alp; Jacobsen, Lars; Griesche, Axel; Michalik, Katarzyna; Mory, David; Kannengiesser, Thomas

2018-01-01

A laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system was combined with a bead-on-plate Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding process for the in situ measurement of chemical compositions in austenitic stainless steels during welding. Monitoring the weld pool's chemical composition allows governing the weld pool solidification behavior, and thus enables the reduction of susceptibility to weld defects. Conventional inspection methods for weld seams (e.g. ultrasonic inspection) cannot be performed during the welding process. The analysis system also allows in situ study of the correlation between the occurrence of weld defects and changes in the chemical composition in the weld pool or in the two-phase region where solid and liquid phase coexist. First experiments showed that both the shielding Ar gas and the welding arc plasma have a significant effect on the selected Cr II, Ni II and Mn II characteristic emissions, namely an artificial increase of intensity values via unspecific emission in the spectra. In situ investigations showed that this artificial intensity increase reached a maximum in presence of weld plume. Moreover, an explicit decay has been observed with the termination of the welding plume due to infrared radiation during sample cooling. Furthermore, LIBS can be used after welding to map element distribution. For austenitic stainless steels, Mn accumulations on both sides of the weld could be detected between the heat affected zone (HAZ) and the base material.

Application of the permeation to the production of low radioactive calibrated gas flows. Low radioactive tritium measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pilot, Guy.

1979-12-01

The permeation of compounds (HT, HTO, 131 ICH 3 , and 129 ICH 3 ) through organic membranes in view of producing low radioactive calibrated gas flows has been studied. This process of which the diffusion is the main stage enables respecting certain conditions (choice of the membrane, temperature, partial pressure differential) our aims to be reached with a good accuracy. In order to measure radioactivity of tritiated standard gases, a detector was built. This detector is an Oeschger type proportional counter with a total volume of 17.4 dm 3 and an useful volume of 3.9 dm 3 . In the conditions of operation, the background is of 1.7.10 -6 I s -1 cm -3 . The counter coupled with a feed-rack enables various samples to be measured and it is possible in the best conditions to detect some 10 -11 μCi cm -3 NTP [fr

Microbial aspects of gas generation from low level radioactive waste simulant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kidby, D.W.; Billington, R.S.

1992-01-01

This report details the experimental work undertaken to further the understanding of the kinetics of methanogenesis associated with radioactive LLW disposal. A series of treatments were established by inoculating a LLW simulant and investigating the kinetics of methanogenesis in small Wheaton bottles. Treatments were set up to study the effects of waste compaction, the addition of metal to the simulant, the initial aerobic phase, pH and temperature on gas production. A separate experiment was also established to determine whether cellulose in the simulant acted as a biogas precursor. Results are presented from the head space gas analysis and the solid and liquid phase analyses undertaken over a 600 day period. (Author)

Roadmapping the Resolution of Gas Generation Issues in Packages Containing Radioactive Waste/Materials - A Status Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luke, D.E.; Hamp, S.

2002-01-01

Gas generation issues, particularly hydrogen, have been an area of concern for the transport and storage of radioactive materials and waste in the Department of Energy (DOE) Complex. Potentially combustible gases can be generated through a variety of reactions, including chemical reactions and radiolytic decomposition of hydrogen-containing material. Since transportation regulations prohibit shipment of explosives and radioactive materials together, it was decided that hydrogen generation was a problem that warranted the execution of a high-level roadmapping effort. This paper discusses the major gas generation issues within the DOE Complex and the research that has been and is being conducted by the transuranic (TRU) waste, nuclear materials, and spent nuclear fuels (SNF) programs within DOE's Environmental Management (EM) organizations to address gas generation concerns. This paper presents a ''program level'' roadmap that links technology development to program needs and identifies the probability of success in an effort to understand the programmatic risk associated with the issue of gas generation. This paper also presents the status of the roadmap and follow-up activities

WVNS Tank Farm Process Support: Experimental evaluation of an inert gas (nitrogen) to mitigate external corrosion of high-level waste storage tanks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elmore, M.R.

1996-02-01

Corrosion of the carbon steel waste storage tanks at West Valley Nuclear Services continues to be of concern, especially as the planned duration of waste storage time increases and sludge washing operations are conducted. The external surfaces of Tanks 8D-1 and 8D-2 have been exposed for more than 10 years to water that has intruded into the tank vaults. Visual inspection of the external tank surfaces using a remote video camera has shown indications of heavy corrosion in localized areas on the tank walls. Tests on mild steel specimens under simulated tank vault conditions showed that corrosion is related to the availability of oxygen for the corrosion reactions; consequently, removing oxygen as one of the reactants should effectively eliminate corrosion. In terms of the waste tanks, excluding oxygen from the annular vault space, such as by continuous flushing with an inert gas, should substantially decrease corrosion of the external surfaces of the mild steel tanks (100% exclusion of oxygen is probably not practicable). Laboratory corrosion testing was conducted at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to give a preliminary assessment of the ability of nitrogen-inerting to reduce steel corrosion. This report summarizes test results obtained after 18-month corrosion tests comparing open-quotes nitrogen-inertedclose quotes corrosion with open-quotes air-equilibratedclose quotes corrosion under simulated tank vault conditions

The Production of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Anions in Inert Gas Matrices Doped with Alkali Metals. Electronic Absorption Spectra of the Pentacene Anion (C22H14(-))

Science.gov (United States)

Halasinski, Thomas M.; Hudgins, Douglas M.; Salama, Farid; Allamandola, Louis J.; Mead, Susan (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

The absorption spectra of pentacene (C22H14) and its radical cation (C22H14(+)) and anion (C22H14(-)) isolated in inert-gas matrices of Ne, Ar, and Kr are reported from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared. The associated vibronic band systems and their spectroscopic assignments are discussed together with the physical and chemical conditions governing ion (and counterion) production in the solid matrix. In particular, the formation of isolated pentacene anions is found to be optimized in matrices doped with alkali metal (Na and K).

Hazardous waste disposal in relationship to radon gas emanation in atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, H.Y.

1990-01-01

Radioactive/toxic radon gas (Rn) produced naturally in the ground by the normal decay of uranium (U) and radium (Ra) is widely distributed in trace amounts in the earth's crust. It is a colorless, odorless and tasteless element and is one of the six generally known noble gases which are inert gases lacking the usual or anticipated chemical or biological action. Most radon gas is concentrated in the oxidation belt which is at a relatively shallow depth from the ground surface. Under normal conditions, the amount of radon gas seeping into the atmosphere or entering into residential buildings is very little and will not be harmful to human health. In recent years, due to population growth, a progressive living standard and industrial progress, many natural farm lands, forests and wetlands have been destroyed by conversion into residential and industrial compounds; consequently, such construction activities and industrial waste disposal changes the dynamic equilibrium of the ecosystem which can trigger and accelerate radon gas emanation and mobilization. This change is the major reason for the problem of indoor radon concentration which has significantly increased in recent years. Recent findings indicate that radon is not a totally inert element as previously thought. It can be influenced by local environments such as temperature, pH value, ion exchange, redox reaction, etc. to some degree. Also radon gas interacts with soil, water, air and others; unfortunately, the interface mechanisms between radon and the environment are not yet clearly understood and little information on these aspects is available. In this paper only the hazardous waste disposal causes for radon emanation are discussed. To deal with such complex phenomena, a new approach is presented that assumes radon gas interaction with the environment through dust in the air and suspensions in the water and soil-water system

Gaseous radioactive waste processing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onizawa, Hideo.

1976-01-01

Object: To prevent explosion of hydrogen gas within gaseous radioactive waste by removing the hydrogen gas by means of a hydrogen absorber. Structure: A coolant extracted from a reactor cooling system is sprayed by nozzle into a gaseous phase (hydrogen) portion within a tank, thus causing slipping of radioactive rare gas. The gaseous radioactive waste rich in hydrogen, which is purged in the tank, is forced by a waste gas compressor into a hydrogen occlusion device. The hydrogen occlusion device is filled with hydrogen occluding agents such as Mg, Mg-Ni alloy, V-Nb alloy, La-Ni alloy and so forth, and hydrogen in the waste gas is removed through reaction to produce hydrogen metal. The gaseous radioactive waste, which is deprived of hydrogen and reduced in volume, is stored in an attenuation tank. The hydrogen stored in the hydrogen absorber is released and used again as purge gas. (Horiuchi, T.)

Removal of organics from radioactive waste. V. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, J.; Kitchin, J.; Burton, W.H.

1989-05-01

This report reviews the available literature concerning the removal of organic substances from radioactive waste streams. A substantial portion of low level wastes generated in the various parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear laboratories and other places where radionuclides are used for research, industrial medical and defense related activities is organic (paper, wood, plastics, rubber etc.) and combustible. These combustible wastes can be processed by incineration. Incineration converts combustible wastes into radioactive ashes and residues that are non-flammable, chemically inert and more homogenous than the initial waste. (author)

Released radioactivity reducing facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Takeaki.

1992-01-01

Upon occurrence of a reactor accident, penetration portions of a reactor container, as a main leakage source from a reactor container, are surrounded by a plurality of gas-tight chambers, the outside of which is surrounded by highly gas-tightly buildings. Branched pipelines of an emergency gas processing system are introduced to each of the gas-tight chambers and they are joined and in communication with an emergency gas processing device. With such a constitution, radioactive materials are prevented from leaking directly from the buildings. Further, pipeline openings of the emergency gas processing facility are disposed in the plurality highly gas-tight penetration chambers. If the radioactive materials are leaked from the reactor to elevate the pressure in the penetration chambers, the radioactive materials are introduced to a filter device in the emergency gas processing facility by way of the branched pipelines, filtered and then released to the atmosphere. Accordingly, the reliability and safety of the system can be improved. (T.M.)

Enhanced mechanical properties of tungsten inert gas welded AZ31 magnesium alloy joint using two-pass friction stir processing with rapid cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Nan, E-mail: xunan@hhu.edu.cn; Bao, Yefeng

2016-02-08

In this study, tungsten inert gas (TIG) welded AZ31 magnesium alloy joint was subjected to two-pass rapid cooling friction stir processing (RC-FSP). The main results show that, two-pass RC-FSP causes the significant dissolution of the coarse eutectic β-Mg{sub 17}Al{sub 12} phase into the magnesium matrix and the remarkable grain refinement in the stir zone. The low-hardness region which frequently located at heat-affected zone was eliminated. The stir zone showed ultrafine grains of 3.1 μm, and exhibited a good combination of ultrahigh tensile strength of 284 MPa and large elongation of 7.1%. This work provides an effective strategy to enhance the strength of TIG welded magnesium alloy joint without ductility loss.

Enhanced mechanical properties of tungsten inert gas welded AZ31 magnesium alloy joint using two-pass friction stir processing with rapid cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Nan; Bao, Yefeng

2016-01-01

In this study, tungsten inert gas (TIG) welded AZ31 magnesium alloy joint was subjected to two-pass rapid cooling friction stir processing (RC-FSP). The main results show that, two-pass RC-FSP causes the significant dissolution of the coarse eutectic β-Mg_1_7Al_1_2 phase into the magnesium matrix and the remarkable grain refinement in the stir zone. The low-hardness region which frequently located at heat-affected zone was eliminated. The stir zone showed ultrafine grains of 3.1 μm, and exhibited a good combination of ultrahigh tensile strength of 284 MPa and large elongation of 7.1%. This work provides an effective strategy to enhance the strength of TIG welded magnesium alloy joint without ductility loss.

Modeling, Testing, and Characteristic Analysis of a Planetary Flywheel Inerter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng Ge

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We propose the planetary flywheel inerter, which is a new type of ball screw inerter. A planetary flywheel consists of several planetary gears mounted on a flywheel bracket. When the flywheel bracket is driven by a screw and rotating, each planetary gear meshing with an outer ring gear generates a compound motion composed of revolution and rotation. Theoretical analysis shows that the output force of the planetary flywheel inerter is proportional to the relative acceleration of one terminal of the inerter to the other. Optimizing the gear ratio of the planetary gears to the ring gear allows the planetary flywheel to be lighter than its traditional counterpart, without any loss on the inertance. According to the structure of the planetary flywheel inerter, nonlinear factors of the inerter are analyzed, and a nonlinear dynamical model of the inerter is established. Then the parameters in the model are identified and the accuracy of the model is validated by experiment. Theoretical analysis and experimental data show that the dynamical characteristics of a planetary flywheel inerter and those of a traditional flywheel inerter are basically the same. It is concluded that a planetary flywheel can completely replace a traditional flywheel, making the inerter lighter.

Gas generation in deep radioactive waste repositories: a review of processes, controls and models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, M.A.

1990-10-01

Gas generation within radioactive waste repositories may produce two general problems: 1) breaching of engineered and natural barriers due to high gas pressures; 2) enhanced radiological risk due to reduced groundwater travel times and/or greater aqueous or gaseous activities reaching the biosphere. As a result of these concerns, HMIP must be aware of the current status of relevant research, together with any associated deficiencies. This report addresses the current status of published research on near-field gas generation from worldwide sources and documents the important gas generating processes, the factors controlling them and models available to simulate them. In the absence of suitable models, outline technical specifications for corrosion and microbial degradation gas generation models are defined and the deficiencies in the current understanding of gas generation are highlighted; a conceptual research programme to correct these deficiencies is presented. (author)

Fog inerting criteria for hydrogen/air mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, S.S.; Liparulo, N.J.

1982-01-01

A distributed ignition system has been proposed to ignite hydrogen at low concentration in the ice condenser containment during severe accidents. The post-accident containment atmosphere could be misty due to fog generation from the break flow and condensation in the ice bed. Thus it is important to establish a fog inerting criterion for effective performance of the ignition system. This paper presents such a criterion that specifies the necessary fogging conditions, i.e., fog concentration and drop size, for inerting a hydrogen/air mixture. The criterion shows that the minimum fog inerting concentration varies with the square of the volume mean fog drop size. The present fog inerting criterion is shown to be in general agreement with the Factory Mutual test data

Microstructure and erosion characteristic of nodular cast iron surface modified by tungsten inert gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abboud, Jaafar Hadi

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Local surface melting. ► Significant improvement in erosion resistance. ► The ductile behaviour was found. -- Abstract: The surface of nodular cast iron has been melted and rapidly solidified by Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) process to produce a chilled structure of high hardness and better erosion resistance. Welding currents of magnitude 100, 150, and 200 A at a constant voltage of 72 have been used to melt the surface of nodular cast iron. Microstructural characterization, hardness measurements, and erosion wear tests have been performed on these modified surfaces as well as on the untreated material. Microstructural characterization has shown that surface melting resulted in complete or partial dissolution of the graphite nodules and resolidification of primary austenite dendrites, which undergo further decomposition into ferrite and cementite, and interdendritic of acicular eutectic; their microhardness measured across the melted depth ranged between 600 and 800 Hv. The scale of the dendrites and the interdendritic eutectic became coarser when a higher current is used. The results also indicated that remelting process by TIG improved erosion resistance by three to four times. Eroded surface observations of the as-received and TIG melted samples showed a ductile behavior with a maximum erosion rate at 30°. The fine microstructures obtained by the rapid cooling and the formation of a large amount of eutectic cementite instead of the graphite have contributed greatly to the plastic flow and consequently to the better erosion resistance of the TIG surface melted samples.

Comparison of methods for separating small quantities of hydrogen isotopes from an inert gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Willms, R.S.; Tuggle, D.; Birdsell, S.; Parkinson, J.; Price, B.; Lohmeir, D.

1998-03-01

It is frequent within tritium processing systems that a small amount of hydrogen isotopes (Q 2 ) must be separated from an inert gas such as He, Ar and N 2 . Thus, a study of presently available technologies for effecting such a separation was performed. A base case and seven technology alternatives were identified and a simple design of each was prepared. These technologies included oxidation-adsorption-metal bed reduction, oxidation-adsorption-palladium membrane reactor, cryogenic adsorption, cryogenic trapping, cryogenic distillation, hollow fiber membranes, gettering and permeators. It was found that all but the last two methods were unattractive for recovering Q 2 from N 2 . Reasons for technology rejection included (1) the method unnecessarily turns the hydrogen isotopes into water, resulting in a cumbersome and more hazardous operation, (2) the method would not work without further processing, and (3) while the method would work, it would only do so in an impractical way. On the other hand, getters and permeators were found to be attractive methods for this application. Both of these methods would perform the separation in a straightforward, essentially zero-waste, single step operation. The only drawback for permeators was that limited low-partial Q 2 pressure data is available. The drawbacks for getters are their susceptibility to irreversible and exothermic reaction with common species such as oxygen and water, and the lack of long-term operation of such beds. More research is envisioned for both of these methods to mature these attractive technologies

Gas generation from low-level radioactive waste: Concerns for disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siskind, B.

1992-01-01

The Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW) has urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reexamine the topic of hydrogen gas generation from low-level radioactive waste (LLW) in closed spaces to ensure that the slow buildup of hydrogen from water-bearing wastes in sealed containers does not become a problem for long-term safe disposal. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has prepared a report, summarized in this paper, for the NRC to respond to these concerns. The paper discusses the range of values for G(H 2 ) reported for materials of relevance to LLW disposal; most of these values are in the range of 0.1 to 0.6. Most studies of radiolytic hydrogen generation indicate a leveling off of pressurization, probably because of chemical kinetics involving, in many cases, the radiolysis of water within the waste. Even if no leveling off occurs, realistic gas leakage rates (indicating poor closure by gaskets on drums and liners) will result in adequate relief of pressure for radiolytic gas generation from the majority of commercial sector LLW packages. Biodegradative gas generation, however, could pose a pressurization hazard even at realistic gas leakage rates. Recommendations include passive vents on LLW containers (as already specified for high integrity containers) and upper limits to the G values and/or the specific activity of the LLW

Development of Key-Enabling Technologies for a Variable-blend Natural Gas Vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

2017-12-01

A portable, economic and reliable sensor for the Natural Gas (NG) fuel quality has been developed. Both Wobbe Index (WI) and Methane Indexes (MI) as well as inert gas content (inert%) of the NG fuel can be measured in real time within 5% accuracy. Th...

Gasification of the southern spread of Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frisoli, Caetano; Senna, Ferando Jose Ennes de; Faria, Jose Aurelio Carvalho de

2000-01-01

As to the commissioning of the Northern spread, Inert Direct Purging was also adopted for purging the Southern Spread of Bolivia-Brazil Gas Pipeline. This section is 1191 km long and lies between the city of Paulinia in the State of Sao Paulo up to Canoas in the Sate of Rio Grande do Sul. The Inert Direct Purging is based on the principle of high gas injection flow rates at the initial point and the purging of air at the other end, separated by a nitrogen plug. A purging model, developed by The Gas Research Institute, was used in conjunction with the software Pipeline Studio for planning purposes. The arrival of gas at each valve and the size of gas/nitrogen/air interfaces were also recorded. Graphs and tables compare calculated and recorded data. Final results demonstrated model accuracy and its suitable applicability for purging, as well as the Inert Direct Purging method for gas pipelines of extensive lengths. (author)

Construction and test of a box system for operations with air-sensitive and radioactive compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuenstler, K.; Betzl, K.; Grosser, H.J.; Furkert, W.; Novotny, D.

1985-06-01

A system of mechanical components has been develoed, which can be used to design inert atmosphere boxes as well as radioactive boxes. The advantage in comparison with known designs consists in the modular construction principle which permits variable dimensions. Standard parts (flanges, bushings, air locks and so on) possess a uniform size. The system for the maintenance of a high-purity atmosphere in the box has been improved, decreasing the level of oxygen and water vapour below 10 vpm. The low impurity level in the inert atmosphere is attained by means of continuous circulation of the gases through a purification system. The usefulness of the boxes for handling air-sensitive and radioactive compounds has been tested over a period of some years. (author)

Environmental Radioactivity. Chapter 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhamat Omar; Ismail Sulaiman; Zalina Laili

2015-01-01

This chapter explains several things which consist radioactivity measurements, regular and high background radioactivity, radioactive contaminated soil and radioactivity in fertilizers, rocks, building materials, food, water, environments, sediments, flora and fauna. Besides, the natural radioactive gas concentration of radon and toron in the environment also been discussed specifically in this chapter.

Radiation Protection and the Management of Radioactive Waste in the Oil and Gas Industry. Additional Information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

The oil and gas industry, a global industry operating in many Member States, makes extensive use of radiation generators and sealed and unsealed radioactive sources, some of which are potentially dangerous to human health and the environment if not properly controlled. In addition, significant quantities of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) originating from the reservoir rock are encountered during production, maintenance and decommissioning. The oil and gas industry operates in all climates and environments, including the most arduous conditions, and is continuously challenged to achieve high efficiency of operation while maintaining a high standard of safety and control - this includes the need to maintain control over occupational exposures to radiation, as well as to protect the public and the environment through proper management of wastes that may be radiologically and chemically hazardous. The oil and gas industry is organizationally and technically complex, and relies heavily on specialized service and supply companies to provide the necessary equipment and expertise, including expertise in radiation safety. This training manual is used by the IAEA as the basis for delivering its training course on radiation protection and the management of radioactive waste in the oil and gas industry. Enclosed with this manual is a CD-ROM that contains the presentational material used in the training course, the course syllabus and additional notes for course presenters. The course material is based principally on IAEA Safety Reports Series No. 34 Radiation Protection and the Management of Radioactive Waste in the Oil and Gas Industry, published by the IAEA in 2003. The training course is aimed at regulatory bodies; oil and gas field operators and support companies; workers and their representatives; health, safety and environmental professionals; and health and safety training officers. A pilot training course was held in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2000 as

Calculations of the mean regional dispersion of a radioactive gas emitted from a continuous source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persson, C.

1974-10-01

The mean dispersion of a radioactive gas over distances of the order of 1000 kilometers is estimated with the aid of a statistical treatment of computed geostrophic trajectories and simplified vertical diffusion calculations based on the eddy diffusivity theory. (author)

Uptake of the natural radioactive gas radon by an epiphytic plant.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Peng; Zhang, Ruiwen; Gu, Mintian; Zheng, Guiling

2018-01-15

Radon ( 222 Rn) is a natural radioactive gas and the major radioactive contributor to human exposure. The present effective ways to control Rn contamination are ventilation and adsorption with activated carbon. Plants are believed to be negligible in reducing airborne Rn. Here, we found epiphytic Tillandsia brachycaulos (Bromeliaceae) was effective in reducing airborne Rn via the leaves. Rn concentrations in the Rn chamber after Tillandsia plant treatments decreased more than those in the natural situation. The specialized foliar trichomes densely covering Tillandsia leaves play a major role in the uptake of Rn because the amplified rough leaf surface area facilitates deposition of Rn progeny particles and the powdery epicuticular wax layer of foliar trichomes uptakes liposoluble Rn. The results provide us a new ecological strategy for Rn contamination control, and movable epiphytic Tillandsia plants can be applied widely in Rn removal systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

7 CFR 201.51 - Inert matter.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... REGULATIONS Purity Analysis in the Administration of the Act § 201.51 Inert matter. Inert matter shall include... kochia that pass through a 1 mm opening, square-hole sieve, when shaken for 30 seconds. (8) The thin... devoid of the husk and pass through a 1/13th-inch, round-hole sieve. (ii) Bulblets which show evident...

Inert Reassessment Document for Gluconic Acid and Sodium Salt

Science.gov (United States)

Gluconic acid and D-gluconic acid are classified as List 3 inert ingredients, sodium gluconate is classified as a List 4B inert ingredient, and D-gluconic acid, sodium salt has not been categorized as to inert ingredient list classification status.

On the Benefits of Semi-Active Suspensions with Inerters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin-Jie Zhang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Inerters have become a hot topic in recent years especially in vehicle, train, building suspension systems, etc. Eight different layouts of suspensions were analyzed with a quarter-car model in this paper. Dimensionless root mean square (RMS responses of the sprung mass vertical acceleration, the suspension travel, and the tire deflection are derived which were used to evaluate the performance of the quarter-car model. The behaviour of semi-active suspensions with inerters using Groundhook, Skyhook, and Hybrid control has been evaluated and compared to the performance of passive suspensions with inerters. Sensitivity analysis was applied to the development of a high performance semi-active suspension with an inerter. Numerical simulations indicate that a semi-active suspension with an inerter has much better performance than the passive suspension with an inerter, especially with the Hybrid control method, which has the best compromise between comfort and road holding quality.

Evaluation method of gas leakage rate from transportation casks of radioactive materials (gas leakage rates from scratches on O-ring surface)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aritomi, Masanori; Li Ninghua; Asano, Ryoji; Kawa, Tsunemichi

2004-01-01

A sealing function is essential for transportation and/or storage casks of radioactive materials under both normal and accidental operating conditions in order to prevent radioactive materials from being released into the environment. In the safety analysis report, the release rate of radioactive materials into the environment is evaluated using the correlations specified in the ANSI N14.5, 1987. The purposes of the work are to reveal the underlying problems on the correlations specified in the ANSI N14.5 related to gas leakage rates from a scratch on O-ring surface and from multi-leak paths, to offer a data base to study the evaluation method of the leakage rate and to propose the evaluation method. In this paper, the following insights were obtained and clarified: 1. If a characteristic value of a leak path is defined as D 4 /a ('D' is the diameter and 'a' is the length), a scratch on the O-ring surface can be evaluated as a circular tube. 2. It is proper to use the width of O-ring groove on the flange as the leak path length for elastomer O-rings. 3. Gas leakage rates from multi leak paths of the transportation cask can be evaluated in the same manner as a single leak path if an effective D4/a is introduced. (author)

Alternative inerting agents

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Du

1997-08-01

Full Text Available Final Project Report ALTERNATIVE INERTING AGENTS Author/s: J J L DU PLESSIS Research Agency: OSIR MINING TECHNOLOGY Project No: Date: 3 2 7 2 COL 443 APRIL 1999 N’ ) ( G~6~ I Title: 9 / The results show...

Corrosion in the off-gas system of a radioactive-waste incinerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenkins, C.F.; Peters, J.J.

1987-01-01

Corrosion in a low-level radioactive-waste incinerator off-gas system at the Department of Energy's Savannah River Plant is discussed. Severe corrosive attack and failure of an alloy 600 part exposed to high-temperature (>1000 0 C) gases was observed. Rapid attack of carbon steel components, and cracking of austenitic stainless steel parts also occurred at locations where lower gas temperatures and periodic condensate exposure occurred. Investigation showed HCl, SO 2 , SO 3 and phosphorus-oxides were present and contributed to the failures. Mechanisms of high-temperature failure include alloy separation and reactions with phosphorus. Coupons placed in the exhaust stream have provided information for selection of future materials of construction for system components. Several nickel- and iron-base alloys, and a stainless steel with an aluminum-diffusion coating were investigated

Adsorption of radioactive I2 gas onto fly-ash aerosol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noguchi, Hiroshi; Murata, Mikio; Suzuki, Katsumi.

1988-01-01

The adsorption of radioactive elemental iodine (I 2 ) gas onto fly-ash aerosol has been studied to provide basic data for the realistic and precise assessment of dose to the general public from radioiodine released from nuclear facilities. A mixture of fly-ash aerosol and 131 I 2 gas was passed through a cylindrical glass vessel so that particulate iodine was formed by adsorption of I 2 onto aerosol. Then the concentrations of I 2 and particulate iodine were measured. It was found that the adsorption reached an equilibrium state between 5 and 12 min and that the proportion of iodine which was adsorbed on the aerosol decreased with increasing initial I 2 concentration ranging over 10 -13 to 10 -9 g/cm 3 . The adsorption isotherm of the aerosol for I 2 gas approximately followed Freundlich isotherm. Using the adsorption isotherm, a theoretical equation was derived to explain the adsorption on the basis of FUCHS' theory on the evaporation of droplets. A sticking probability in the equation decreased with increasing adsorbed amount. The calculated results were in good agreement with the experimental ones. (author)

Radiolytic gas generation from cement-based waste hosts for DOE low-level radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dole, L.R.; Friedman, H.A.

1986-01-01

Using cement-based immobilization binders with simulated radioactive waste containing sulfate, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, and fluoride anions, the gamma- and alpha-radiolytic gas generation factors (G/sub t/, molecules/100 eV) and gas compositions were measured on specimens of cured grouts. These tests studied the effects of; (1) waste composition; (2) the sample surface-to-volume ratio; (3) the waste slurry particle size; and (4) the water content of the waste host formula. The radiolysis test vessels were designed to minimize the ''dead'' volume and to simulate the configuration of waste packages

R and D for an off-gas treatment system for a slagging pyrolysis radioactive waste incinerator. Final report for Phase I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christian, J.D.; Kirstein, B.E.; Pence, D.T.

1978-01-01

Preliminary evaluations were made of off-gas treatment needs for a slagging pyrolysis incinerator (SPI) of Andco--Torrax design for the treatment of radioactive waste at the INEL. Approximate decontamination factors (DFs) for particulates of 10 7 and for volatilized radionuclides of 10 3 will be required across the off-gas system. If lead is present in the waste at concentrations greater than 25-to-120 g/metric ton, volatilized lead will result in formation of substantial deposits in the off-gas system and regenerative towers. A review was made of radioactive incinerator development. Particulate and volatile component removal mechanisms and devices were reviewed. Three off-gas treatment systems were proposed for the SPI which will provide DFs for particulates of 10 8 . 9 figures, 7 tables

Investigation of produced waters radioactivity of oil and gas deposits in the Dnieper-Donets province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Plyatsuk L. D.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The process of radioactive pollution of produced waters, oilfield equipment, oil-contaminated soils and sludge is widely spread and differs within the various oil and gas regions. Formation waters contained radioactive element isotopes become the significant source and cause of elevated level of equivalent dose power and as a consequence, an increase in the incidence among the population. The author's idea is formulation of specific recommendations on the decontamination of the investigated objects by conducting the necessary appropriate experimental studies. The purpose of the article is to determine the content of radionuclides, γ- and α-emitters in technogenic objects of Bugruvate oil and gas fields, and to reveal the relationship with the features of mineralogical composition, geological structure and technological process. The γ-spectrometric analysis was used to determine the radionuclide composition of the natural radiators of the 238U (226Ra, 214Pо, 214Bi and 232Th (228Ac, 212Pb, 212Вi series in samples of technological sludge, oil, individual soil samples and water. The content of radionuclides of α-emitters was determined using separate radiochemical techniques. It was investigated that the radioactivity of the formation water is mainly determined by 226Ra and 228Ra and the products of their decay.

Natural gas extraction and artificial gas injection experiments in Opalinus Clay, Mont Terri rock laboratory (Switzerland)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vinsot, A.; Lundy, M. [Agence Nationale pour la Gestion des Déchets Radioactifs ANDRA, Meuse Haute-Marne Center, Bure (France); Appelo, C.A.J. [Dr C.A.J. Appelo, Hydrochemical Consultant, Amsterdam (Netherlands); and others

2017-04-15

Two experiments have been installed at Mont Terri in 2004 and 2009 that allowed gas circulation within a borehole at a pressure between 1 and 2 bar. These experiments made it possible to observe the natural gases that were initially dissolved in pore-water degassing into the borehole and to monitor their content evolution in the borehole over several years. They also allowed for inert (He, Ne) and reactive (H{sub 2}) gases to be injected into the borehole with the aim either to determine their diffusion properties into the rock pore-water or to evaluate their removal reaction kinetics. The natural gases identified were CO{sub 2}, light alkanes, He, and more importantly N{sub 2}. The natural concentration of four gases in Opalinus Clay pore-water was evaluated at the experiment location: N{sub 2} 2.2 mmol/L ± 25%, CH{sub 4} 0.30 mmol/L ± 25%, C{sub 2}H{sub 6} 0.023 mmol/L ± 25%, C{sub 3}H{sub 8} 0.012 mmol/L ± 25%. Retention properties of methane, ethane, and propane were estimated. Ne injection tests helped to characterize rock diffusion properties regarding the dissolved inert gases. These experimental results are highly relevant towards evaluating how the fluid composition could possibly evolve in the drifts of a radioactive waste disposal facility. (authors)

The effects of alloying elements on microstructures and mechanical properties of tungsten inert gas welded AZ80 magnesium alloys joint

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hui; Zhang, Jiansheng; Ding, Rongrong

2017-11-01

The effects of alloying elements on the macrostructures, microstructures and tensile strength of AZ80 Mg alloy weldments were studied in the present study. The results indicate that with the decrease of Al element content of filler wire, the welding defects of seam are gradually eliminated and the β-Mg17Al12 phases at α-Mg boundaries are refined and become discontinuous, which are beneficial to the improvement of tensile strength. With AZ31 Mg alloy filler wire, the maximum tensile strength of AZ80 weldment is 220 MPa and fracture occurs at the welding seam of joint. It is experimentally proved that robust AZ80 Mg alloy joints can be obtained by tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process with AZ31 Mg alloy filler wire. However, further study is required to improve the microstructures and reduce welding defects of joint in order to further improve the joining strength of AZ80 Mg alloy joint.

Investigation of the Hall MHD channel operating with the ionized instable plasma of inert gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasi'leva, R.V.; D'yakova, E.A.; Erofeev, A.V.; Zuev, A.D.; Lapushkina, T.A.; Markhotok, A.A.

1997-01-01

Possibility of applying ionization-instable plasma of pure inert gases as perspective working substance for closed-cycle MHD generators is studied. The experiment was produced in the model of the disk Hall MHD channel. The ionized gas flux was produced in a shock tube. Xenon was used as a working substance. Gas pressure, flux velocity, electron concentration and temperature, azimuthal current density, potential distribution in the channel and near-electrode voltage drop values were measured in the experiment. Volt-ampere characteristics were taken by various indices of magnetic field and load resistance

Catalytic Reactor for Inerting of Aircraft Fuel Tanks

Science.gov (United States)

1974-06-01

Aluminum Panels After Triphase Corrosion Test 79 35 Inerting System Flows in Various Flight Modes 82 36 High Flow Reactor Parametric Data 84 37 System...AD/A-000 939 CATALYTIC REACTOR FOR INERTING OF AIRCRAFT FUEL TANKS George H. McDonald, et al AiResearch Manufacturing Company Prepared for: Air Force...190th Street 2b. GROUP Torrance, California .. REPORT TITLE CATALYTIC REACTOR FOR INERTING OF AIRCRAFT FUEL TANKS . OESCRIP TIVE NOTEs (Thpe of refpoft

Design of a radioactive gas sampling system for NESHAP compliance measurements of 41Ar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newton, G.J.; McDonald, M.J.; Ghanbari, F.; Hoover, M.D.; Barr, E.B.

1994-01-01

United States Department of Energy facilities are required to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) 40 CFR, part 61, subpart H. Compliance generally requires confirmatory measurements of emitted radionuclides. Although a number of standard procedures exist for extractive sampling of particle-associated radionuclides, sampling approaches for radioactive gases are less defined. Real-time, flow-through sampling of radioactive gases can be done when concentrations are high compared to interferences from background radiation. Cold traps can be used to collect and concentrate condensible effluents in applications where cryogenic conditions can be established and maintained. Commercially available gas-sampling cylinders can be used to capture grab samples of contaminated air under ambient or compressed conditions, if suitable sampling and control hardware are added to the cylinders. The purpose of the current study was to develop an efficient and compact set of sampling and control hardware for use with commercially available gas-sampling cylinders, and to demonstrate its use in NESHAP compliance testing of 41 Ar at two experimental research reactors

The use of radioactive and other tracers in oil and gas measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edmonds, E.A.

1985-01-01

A description and critical discussion of the use of tracer techniques of flowrate measurement in the oil and gas industries. Radioactive tracers are discussed in particular, with emphasis on the practical aspects of their use. Radiotracers suitable for use in industrial environments are described and discussed. The advantages of radiotracers over conventional chemical tracers are reviewed and the logistical problems associated with the use of radioactive materials are considered. The results of measurements conducted using radiotracers on operating plant and on calibration facilities are presented with a discussion of the accuracy of measurement of flowrate which is achievable: potentially, in ideal circumstances, and in practical situations. The modification of tracer techniques of flow measurement to enable residence time distributions to be evaluated and leaks to be located and quantified on operating process plant is illustrated and discussed. The use of specially synthesized radiochemicals for tracing complex petrochemical processes involving chemical reactions and multiproduct streams is described. The use of novel non-radioactive tracers and specialized detection systems is also described, again with practical illustrations of experience in the field. The benefits offered by the use of these tracers and the limitations encountered are discussed. (author)

Using gas blow methods to realize accurate volume measurement of radioactivity liquid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Caiyun

2010-01-01

For liquid which has radioactivity, Realized the accurate volume measurement uncertainty less than 0.2% (k=2) by means of gas blow methods presented in the 'American National Standard-Nuclear Material Control-Volume Calibration Methods(ANSI N15.19-1989)' and the 'ISO Committee Drafts (ISO/TC/85/SC 5N 282 )' and Explored a set methods of Data Processing. In the article, the major problems is to solve data acquisition and function foundation and measurement uncertainty estimate. (authors)

Methanol Droplet Combustion in Oxygen-Inert Environments in Microgravity

Science.gov (United States)

Nayagam, Vedha; Dietrich, Daniel L.; Hicks, Michael C.; Williams, Forman A.

2013-01-01

The Flame Extinguishment (FLEX) experiment that is currently underway in the Combustion Integrated Rack facility onboard the International Space Station is aimed at understanding the effects of inert diluents on the flammability of condensed phase fuels. To this end, droplets of various fuels, including alkanes and alcohols, are burned in a quiescent microgravity environment with varying amounts of oxygen and inert diluents to determine the limiting oxygen index (LOI) for these fuels. In this study we report experimental observations of methanol droplets burning in oxygen-nitrogen-carbon dioxide and oxygen-nitrogen-helium gas mixtures at 0.7 and 1 atmospheric pressures. The initial droplet size varied between approximately 1.5 mm and 4 mm to capture both diffusive extinction brought about by insufficient residence time at the flame and radiative extinction caused by excessive heat loss from the flame zone. The ambient oxygen concentration varied from a high value of 30% by volume to as low as 12%, approaching the limiting oxygen index for the fuel. The inert dilution by carbon dioxide and helium varied over a range of 0% to 70% by volume. In these experiments, both freely floated and tethered droplets were ignited using symmetrically opposed hot-wire igniters and the burning histories were recorded onboard using digital cameras, downlinked later to the ground for analysis. The digital images yielded droplet and flame diameters as functions of time and subsequently droplet burning rate, flame standoff ratio, and initial and extinction droplet diameters. Simplified theoretical models correlate the measured burning rate constant and the flame standoff ratio reasonably well. An activation energy asymptotic theory accounting for time-dependent water dissolution or evaporation from the droplet is shown to predict the measured diffusive extinction conditions well. The experiments also show that the limiting oxygen index for methanol in these diluent gases is around 12% to

Exhaust gas processing facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terada, Shin-ichi.

1995-01-01

The facility of the present invention comprises a radioactive liquid storage vessel, an exhaust gas dehumidifying device for dehumidifying gases exhausted from the vessel and an exhaust gas processing device for reducing radioactive materials in the exhaust gases. A purified gas line is disposed to the radioactive liquid storage vessel for purging exhaust gases generated from the radioactive liquid, then dehumidified and condensed liquid is recovered, and exhaust gases are discharged through an exhaust gas pipe disposed downstream of the exhaust gas processing device. With such procedures, the scale of the exhaust gas processing facility can be reduced and exhaust gases can be processed efficiently. (T.M.)

Determination of hydrogen in zirconium hydride and uranium-zirconium hydride by inert gas exraction-gravimetric method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoshino, Akira; Iso, Shuichi

1976-01-01

An inert gas extraction-gravimetric method has been applied to the determination of hydrogen in zirconium hydride and uranium-zirconium hydride which are used as neutron moderator and fuel of nuclear safety research reactor (NSRR), respectively. The sample in a graphite-enclosed quartz crucible is heated inductively to 1200 0 C for 20 min in a helium stream. Hydrogen liberated from the sample is oxidized to water by copper(I) oxide-copper(II) oxide at 400 0 C, and the water is determined gravimetrically by absorption in anhydrone. The extraction curves of hydrogen for zirconium hydride and uranium-zirconium hydride samples are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Hydrogen in the samples is extracted quantitatively by heating at (1000 -- 1250) 0 C for (10 -- 40) min. Recoveries of hydrogen in the case of zirconium hydride were examined as follows: a weighed zirconium rod (5 phi x 6 mm, hydrogen -5 Torr. After the chamber was filled with purified hydrogen to 200 Torr, the rod was heated to 400 0 C for 15 h, and again weighed to determine the increase in weight. Hydrogen in the rod was then determined by the proposed method. The results are in excellent agreement with the increase in weight as shown in Table 1. Analytical results of hydrogen in zirconium hydride samples and an uranium-zirconium hydride sample are shown in Table 2. (auth.)

Mass transfer between gas and particles in a gas-solid trickle flow reactor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kiel, J.H.A.; Kiel, J.H.A.; Prins, W.; van Swaaij, Willibrordus Petrus Maria

1992-01-01

Gas-solids mass transfer was studied for counter-current flow of gas and millimetre-sized solid particles over an inert packing at dilute phase or trickle flow conditions. Experimental data were obtained from the adsorption of water vapour on 640 and 2200 ¿m diameter molecular sieve spheres at

The anisotropic potential of molecular hydrogen determined from the scattering of oriented H2 on inert gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zandee, A.P.L.M.

1977-01-01

This thesis deals with an experiment aimed at determining the angle dependence of an intermolecular potential between H 2 molecule and a rare gas atom. The small relative difference in total collision cross section for beams of differently oriented H 2 molecules colliding with inert gas atoms in a scattering box is measured (anisotropy A). Through variation of the orientation and by studying its influence on the total collision cross sections, the angle dependence of the intermolecular potential can be arrived at

Fundamentals of gas flow in shale; What the unconventional reservoir industry can learn from the radioactive waste industry

Science.gov (United States)

Cuss, Robert; Harrington, Jon; Graham, Caroline

2013-04-01

Tight formations, such as shale, have a wide range of potential usage; this includes shale gas exploitation, hydrocarbon sealing, carbon capture & storage and radioactive waste disposal. Considerable research effort has been conducted over the last 20 years on the fundamental controls on gas flow in a range of clay-rich materials at the British Geological Survey (BGS) mainly focused on radioactive waste disposal; including French Callovo-Oxfordian claystone, Belgian Boom Clay, Swiss Opalinus Clay, British Oxford Clay, as well as engineered barrier material such as bentonite and concrete. Recent work has concentrated on the underlying physics governing fluid flow, with evidence of dilatancy controlled advective flow demonstrated in Callovo-Oxfordian claystone. This has resulted in a review of how advective gas flow is dealt with in Performance Assessment and the applicability of numerical codes. Dilatancy flow has been shown in Boom clay using nano-particles and is seen in bentonite by the strong hydro-mechanical coupling displayed at the onset of gas flow. As well as observations made at BGS, dilatancy flow has been shown by other workers on shale (Cuss et al., 2012; Angeli et al. 2009). As well as experimental studies using cores of intact material, fractured material has been investigated in bespoke shear apparatus. Experimental results have shown that the transmission of gas by fractures is highly localised, dependent on normal stress, varies with shear, is strongly linked with stress history, is highly temporal in nature, and shows a clear correlation with fracture angle. Several orders of magnitude variation in fracture transmissivity is seen during individual tests. Flow experiments have been conducted using gas and water, showing remarkably different behaviour. The radioactive waste industry has also noted a number of important features related to sample preservation. Differences in gas entry pressure have been shown across many laboratories and these may be

Model identification methodology for fluid-based inerters

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiaofu; Jiang, Jason Zheng; Titurus, Branislav; Harrison, Andrew

2018-06-01

Inerter is the mechanical dual of the capacitor via the force-current analogy. It has the property that the force across the terminals is proportional to their relative acceleration. Compared with flywheel-based inerters, fluid-based forms have advantages of improved durability, inherent damping and simplicity of design. In order to improve the understanding of the physical behaviour of this fluid-based device, especially caused by the hydraulic resistance and inertial effects in the external tube, this work proposes a comprehensive model identification methodology. Firstly, a modelling procedure is established, which allows the topological arrangement of the mechanical networks to be obtained by mapping the damping, inertance and stiffness effects directly to their respective hydraulic counterparts. Secondly, an experimental sequence is followed, which separates the identification of friction, stiffness and various damping effects. Furthermore, an experimental set-up is introduced, where two pressure gauges are used to accurately measure the pressure drop across the external tube. The theoretical models with improved confidence are obtained using the proposed methodology for a helical-tube fluid inerter prototype. The sources of remaining discrepancies are further analysed.

The evolution of minor active and toxic gases in repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biddle, P.; Rees, J.H.; Davies, A.A.; McGahan, D.J.; Rushbrook, P.E.

1988-09-01

This study has considered a number of toxic and active gases which could potentially form in relatively small amounts in a deep repository for radioactive wastes. It has been concluded that many of these would react under repository conditions or be highly soluble in groundwater. The minor amounts of the inert and relatively insoluble gas krypton-85 would dissolve in a small volume of repository water. The wide range of organic gases and vapours that could form in trace amounts has been shortened to a list of 21 by consideration of their toxicity, volatibility and extent of formation at a landfill site for non-radioactive waste. The amounts of the inert and inactive gas helium formed from α-particles and the decay of tritium will have only a very minor effect on the overall rate of gas production. (author)

Clamp and Gas Nozzle for TIG Welding

Science.gov (United States)

Gue, G. B.; Goller, H. L.

1982-01-01

Tool that combines clamp with gas nozzle is aid to tungsten/inert-gas (TIG) welding in hard-to-reach spots. Tool holds work to be welded while directing a stream of argon gas at weld joint, providing an oxygen-free environment for tungsten-arc welding.

Self-Flammability of Gases Generated by Hanford Tank Waste and the Potential of Nitrogen Inerting to Eliminate Flammability Safety Concerns

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahoney, Lenna A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2015-10-12

Through radiolytic and thermolytic reactions, Hanford tank wastes generate and retain a variety of gases, including hydrogen, nitrous oxide, methane (and other hydrocarbons), ammonia, and nitrogen. This gas generation can be expected to continue during processing in the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The generation rates in the WTP will change from those for the in-situ tank waste because of different process temperatures, different dose rates produced by in-process changes in the proportions of solid and liquid, and dilution of the waste liquid. The flammability of the generated gas that is continuously released, and of any retained gas that might be released into a vessel headspace in quantity due to a spontaneous release, depends on the concentrations not only of the fuel gases—primarily hydrogen (H2), methane, other hydrocarbons, and ammonia—but of the oxidizer nitrous oxide (N2O). As a result of high concentrations of N2O, some gas mixtures are “self-flammable” (i.e., ignition can occur when no air is present because N2O provides the only oxidizer needed). Self-flammability could potentially reduce the effectiveness of using a nitrogen (N2) purge in the headspace as a flammability control, if its effects are not accounted for. A given amount of inertant gas (N2) can accommodate only a certain amount of a generated self-flammable gas before the mixture with inertant gas becomes flammable.

Membrane methods for separation of radioactive noble gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bekman, I.N.; Bozhenko, E.I.; Ievlev, A.L.; Kazankin, Yu.N.; Nikonov, V.N.; Teplyakov, V.V.; Shvyryaev, A.A.

1984-01-01

Using the different ial permeability method at different temperatures (20-120 deg C) transport characteristics of inert gases, N 2 , O 2 , CH 4 , CQ 2 and H 2 as the main components of waste gases in homogeneous films of arylate-siloxane block-copolymer (silar) of different composition, as well as of its components - polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyarylate, have been measured. Dependences of diffusion and permeability coefficients on inert gas atom dimensions, and solubility coefficient - on strength constant of the Lennard-Jones potential, are analyzed. It is shown that selectivity of silar gas permbility is determined by the properties of siloxane component, and the values of permeability coefficients decrease with the increase of polyarylate block part due to dominating decrease in diffusion coefficients as compared with solubility coefficients

A new technique for the strengthening of aluminum tungsten inert gas weld metals: using carbon nanotube/aluminum composite as a filler metal.

Science.gov (United States)

Fattahi, M; Nabhani, N; Rashidkhani, E; Fattahi, Y; Akhavan, S; Arabian, N

2013-01-01

The effect of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) on the mechanical properties of aluminum multipass weld metal prepared by the tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process was investigated. High energy ball milling was used to disperse MWCNT in the aluminum powder. Carbon nanotube/aluminum composite filler metal was fabricated for the first time by hot extrusion of ball-milled powders. After welding, the tensile strength, microhardness and MWCNT distribution in the weld metal were investigated. The test results showed that the tensile strength and microhardness of weld metal was greatly increased when using the filler metal containing 1.5 wt.% MWCNT. Therefore, according to the results presented in this paper, it can be concluded that the filler metal containing MWCNT can serve as a super filler metal to improve the mechanical properties of TIG welds of Al and its alloys. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A study of thorium exposure during tungsten inert gas welding in an airline engineering population.

Science.gov (United States)

McElearney, N; Irvine, D

1993-07-01

To investigate the theoretic possibility of excessive exposure to thorium during the process of tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding using thoriated rods we carried out a cross-sectional study of TIG welders and an age- and skill-matched group. We measured the radiation doses from inhaled thorium that was retained in the body and investigated whether any differences in health or biologic indices could have been attributable to the welding and tip-grinding process. Sixty-four TIG welders, 11 non-TIG welders, and 61 control subjects from an airline engineering population participated. All of the subjects were interviewed for biographic, occupational history and morbidity details. All of the welders and eight control subjects carried out large-volume urine sampling to recover thorium 232 and thorium 228; this group also had chest radiographs. All of the subjects had a blood sample taken to estimate liver enzymes, and they provided small-volume urine samples for the estimation of retinol-binding protein and beta 2-microglobulin. We found no excess of morbidity among the TIG or non-TIG welding groups, and the levels of retinol-binding protein and beta 2-microglobulin were the same for both groups. There was a higher aspartate aminotransferase level in the control group. The internal radiation doses were estimated at less than an annual level of intake in all cases, and considerably less if the exposure (as was the case) was assumed to be chronic over many years. Some additional precautionary measures are suggested to reduce further any potential hazard from this process.

On the Gas Dynamics of Inert-Gas-Assisted Laser Cutting of Steel Plate

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, A. D.; Settles, G. S.; Scroggs, S. D.

1996-11-01

Laser beam cutting of sheet metal requires an assist gas to blow away the molten material. Since the assist-gas dynamics influences the quality and speed of the cut, the orientation of the gas nozzle with respect to the kerf is also expected to be important. A 1 kW cw CO2 laser with nitrogen assist gas was used to cut mild steel sheet of 1 to 4 mm thickness, using a sonic coaxial nozzle as a baseline. Off-axis nozzles were oriented from 20 deg to 60 deg from normal with exit Mach numbers from 1 to 2.4. Results showed maximum cutting speed at a 40 deg nozzle orientation. Shadowgrams of a geometrically-similar model kerf then revealed a separated shock wave-boundary layer interaction within the kerf for the (untilted) coaxial nozzle case. This was alleviated, resulting in a uniform supersonic flow throughout the kerf and consequent higher cutting speeds, by tilting the nozzle between 20 deg and 45 deg from the normal. This result did not depend upon the exit Mach number of the nozzle. (Research supported by NSF Grant DMI-9400119.)

Inert Anode Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

1999-07-01

This ASME report provides a broad assessment of open literature and patents that exist in the area of inert anodes and their related cathode systems and cell designs, technologies that are relevant for the advanced smelting of aluminum. The report also discusses the opportunities, barriers, and issues associated with these technologies from a technical, environmental, and economic viewpoint.

Improved Assembly for Gas Shielding During Welding or Brazing

Science.gov (United States)

Gradl, Paul; Baker, Kevin; Weeks, Jack

2009-01-01

An improved assembly for inert-gas shielding of a metallic joint is designed to be useable during any of a variety of both laser-based and traditional welding and brazing processes. The basic purpose of this assembly or of a typical prior related assembly is to channel the flow of a chemically inert gas to a joint to prevent environmental contamination of the joint during the welding or brazing process and, if required, to accelerate cooling upon completion of the process.

Biomarkers of exposure to stainless steel tungsten inert gas welding fumes and the effect of exposure on exhaled breath condensate.

Science.gov (United States)

Riccelli, Maria Grazia; Goldoni, Matteo; Andreoli, Roberta; Mozzoni, Paola; Pinelli, Silvana; Alinovi, Rossella; Selis, Luisella; Mutti, Antonio; Corradi, Massimo

2018-08-01

The respiratory tract is the main target organ of the inhaled hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) and nickel (Ni) contained in stainless steel (SS) welding fumes (WFs). The aim of this study was to investigate the Cr and Ni content of the exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of SS tungsten inert gas (TIG) welders, and relate their concentrations with oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers. EBC and urine from 100 SS TIG welders were collected pre-(T 0 ) and post-shift (T 1 ) on a Friday, and pre-shift (T 2 ) on the following Monday morning. Both EBC and urinary Cr concentrations were higher at T 1 (0.08 μg/L and 0.71 μg/g creatinine) and T 0 (0.06 μg/L and 0.74 μg/g creatinine) than at T 2 (below the limit of detection [LOD] and 0.59 μg/g creatinine), and EBC Ni concentrations generally remained welding also play a role in generating lung oxidative stress. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Process and device for subdividing a glass tube filled with a radioactive gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caffarella, T.E.; Radda, G.J.; Watts, D.J.

1977-01-01

A process is described for subdividing into individual sealed segments an elongated glass tube coated internally with a luminescent material and filled with a radioactive gas, this tube having a longitudinal axis. It consists in directing a focused laser beam on to the surface of the tube in an ambient atmosphere with a pressure greater than that of the gas in the tube and to create a relative, repetitive and alternating movement between the laser beam and the surface of the tube. This movement is transversal to the longitudinal axis of the tube, so as to heat and soften the tube along a cutting line until the tube divides and presents new ends where it contracts, causing these ends to seal up [fr

Selecting device for processing method of radioactive gaseous wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Ryoichi; Komoda, Norihisa.

1976-01-01

Object: To extend the period of replacement of a filter for adsorbing radioactive material by discharging waste gas containing radioactive material produced from an atomic power equipment after treating it by a method selected on the basis of the results of measurement of wind direction. Structure: Exhaust gas containing radioactive material produced from atomic power equipment is discharged after it is treated by a method selected on the basis of the results of wind direction measurement. For Instance, in case of sea wind the waste gas passes through a route selected for this case and is discharged through the waste gas outlet. When the sea wind disappears (that is, when a land wind or calm sets in), the exhaust gas is switched to a route for the case other than that of the sea wind, so that it passes through a filter consisting of active carbon where the radioactive material is removed through adsorption. The waste gas now free from the radioactive material is discharged through the waste gas outlet. (Moriyama, K.)

Influence of non-radioactive payload parameters on radioactive shipping packages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drez, P.E.; Murthy, D.V.S.; Temus, C.J.; Quinn, G.J.; Ozaki, C.

1989-01-01

The transport of radioactive waste materials in radioactive material (RAM) packages involves two components: the packaging used for transportation, and the waste which forms the payload. The payload is usually comprised of non-radioactive materials contaminated with radionuclides. The non-radionuclide payload characteristics can often be a controlling factor in determining the restrictions imposed on the certification of the package. This paper describes these package/payload interactions and the limiting parameters for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II), designed for the transportation of Contact Handled Transuranic (CH-TRU) waste. The parameters discussed include the physical and chemical form of the payload, the configuration of the waste, and resulting gas generation and gas release phenomena. Brief descriptions of the TRUPACT-II package and its payload are presented initially

Prevention of radioactive gas seeping into buildings through constructive materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khaydarov, R.A.; Gapurova, O.U.; Khaydarov, R.R.

2004-01-01

Full text: One of possible method of realization of the terrorist acts is using gases and liquids, which easily permeate through the constructive materials of walls, floor, ceiling, roof, etc. into buildings by the capillary action of the pores. Toxic volatile organic compounds, organic and inorganic gases, radioactive elements, especially, which emits alpha particles can be used as the dangerous substances. Increased ventilation may help in removing the gases, but can actually increase the gases level by increasing the suction through the pores of concrete. If the gases and liquids are soluble in water and are easily volatilized from it, they can also get by groundwater up to underground structures and penetrate inside through opening and pores in concrete or pushed by hydrostatic pressure. The purpose of this work is creating a method to reduce concentration of toxic and radioactive gases in homes, buildings, underground buildings, tunnels, hangars, garages, bomb shelters, etc. The most effective method to prevent penetration of radionuclides into premises of buildings and underground structures through walls, roofs, floors is using special chemicals, which seal micropores inside the construction materials against gases. Worked out chemicals which consist of blend of polymeric compounds are described in the paper. Radioactive gases permeability in constructive materials after treatment by chemicals was studied. Influence of types of cement, sand and gypsum, preliminary treatment by different chemicals, different types of polymeric compounds, time between treatments, moisture of materials, time between preparation of chemicals and treatment of materials (aging of chemicals), time between treatment of concrete and testing (aging of treated concrete) were examined. Experiments have shown that our method allows reducing the coefficient of gas permeability 200 - 400 times

The release code package REVOLS/RENONS for fission product release from a liquid sodium pool into an inert gas atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Starflinger, J.; Scholtyssek, W.; Unger, H.

1994-12-01

For aerosol source term considerations in the field of nuclear safety, the investigation of the release of volatile and non-volatile species from liquid surfaces into a gas atmosphere is important. In case of a hypothetical liquid metal fast breeder reactor accident with tank failure, primary coolant sodium with suspended or solved fuel particles and fission products may be released into the containment. The computer code package REVOLS/RENONS, based on a theoretical mechanistic model with a modular structure, has been developed for the prediction of sodium release as well as volatile and non-volatile radionuclide release from a liquid pool surface into the inert gas atmosphere of the inner containment. Hereby the release of sodium and volatile fission products, like cesium and sodium iodide, is calculated using a theoretical model in a mass transfer coefficient formulation. This model has been transposed into the code version REVOLS.MOD1.1, which is discussed here. It enables parameter analysis under highly variable user-defined boundary conditions. Whereas the evaporative release of the volatile components is governed by diffusive and convective transport processes, the release of the non-volatile ones may be governed by mechanical processes which lead to droplet entrainment from the wavy pool surface under conditions of natural or forced convection into the atmosphere. The mechanistic model calculates the liquid entrainment rate of the non-volatile species, like the fission product strontium oxide and the fuel (uranium dioxide) from a liquid pool surface into a parallel gas flow. The mechanistic model has been transposed into the computer code package REVOLS/RENONS, which is discussed here. Hereby the module REVOLS (RElease of VOLatile Species) calculates the evaporative release of the volatile species, while the module RENONS (RElease of NON-Volatile Species) computes the entrainment release of the non-volatile radionuclides. (orig./HP) [de

Reactor cover gas monitoring at the Fast Flux Test Facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bechtold, R A; Holt, F E; Meadows, G E; Schenter, R E [Westinghouse Hanford Company, Richland, WA (United States)

1987-07-01

The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) is a 400 megawatt (thermal) sodium cooled reactor designed for irradiation testing of fuels, materials and components for LMRs. It is operated by the Westinghouse Hanford Company for the U. S. Department of Energy on the government-owned Hanford reservation near Richland, Washington. The first 100 day operating cycle began in April 1982 and the eighth operating cycle was completed In July 1986. Argon is used as the cover gas for all sodium systems at the plant. A program for cover gas monitoring has been in effect since the start of sodium fill in 1978. The argon is supplied to the FFTF by a liquid argon Dewar System and used without further purification. A liquid argon Dewar system provides the large volume of inert gas required for operation of the FFTF. The gas is used as received and is not recycled. Low concentrations of krypton and xenon in the argon supply are essential to preclude interference with the gas tag system. Gas chromatography has been valuable for detection of inadvertent air in leakage during refueling operations. A temporary system is installed over the reactor during outages to prevent oxide formation in the sodium vapor traps upstream from the on line gas chromatograph. On line gas monitoring by gamma spectrometry and grab sampling with GTSTs has been successful for the identification of numerous radioactive gas releases from creep capsule experiments as well as 9 fuel pin ruptures. A redundant fission gas monitoring system has been installed to insure constant surveillance of the reactor cover gas.

Principles for disposal of radioactive and chemical hazardous wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merz, E. R.

1991-01-01

The double hazard of mixed wastes is characterized by several criteria: radioactivity on the one hand, and chemical toxicity, flammability, corrosiveness as well as chemical reactivity on the other hand. Chemotoxic waste normally has a much more complex composition than radioactive waste and appears in much larger quantities. However, the two types of waste have some properties in common when it comes to their long-term impact on health and the environment. In order to minimize the risk associated with mixed waste management, the material assigned for ultimate disposal should be thoroughly detoxified, inertized, or mineralized prior to conditioning and packaging. Good control over the environmental consequence of waste disposal requires that detailed criteria for tolerable contamination should be established, and that compliance with these criteria can be demonstrated. For radioactive waste, there has been an extensive international development of criteria to protect human health. For non-radioactive waste, derived criteria exist only for a limited number of substances

Hydrogen gas detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bohl, T.L.

1982-01-01

A differential thermocouple hydrogen gas detector has one thermocouple junction coated with an activated palladium or palladium-silver alloy catalytic material to allow heated hydrogen gas to react with the catalyst and raise the temperature of that junction. The other juction is covered with inert glass or epoxy resin, and does not experience a rise in temperature in the presence of hydrogen gas. A coil heater may be mounted around the thermocouple junctions to heat the hydrogen, or the gas may be passed through a heated block prior to exposing it to the thermocouples

Fatigue behaviour of T welded joints rehabilitated by tungsten inert gas and plasma dressing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramalho, Armando L.; Ferreira, Jose A.M.; Branco, Carlos A.G.M.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → This study addresses the use of improvement techniques for repair T welded joints. → TIG and plasma arc re-melting are applied in joints with fatigue cracks at weld toes. → Plasma dressing provides reasonable repair in joints with cracks greater than 4 mm. → TIG dressing produces a deficient repair in joints with cracks greater than 4 mm. → TIG dressing provides good repair in joints with fatigue cracks lesser than 2.5 mm. -- Abstract: This paper concerns a fatigue study on the effect of tungsten inert gas (TIG) and plasma dressing in non-load-carrying fillet welds of structural steel with medium strength. The fatigue tests were performed in three point bending at the main plate under constant amplitude loading, with a stress ratio of R = 0.05 and a frequency of 7 Hz. Fatigue results are presented in the form of nominal stress range versus fatigue life (S-N) curves obtained from the as welded joints and the TIG dressing joints at the welded toe. These results were compared with the ones obtained in repaired joints, where TIG and plasma dressing were applied at the welded toes, containing fatigue cracks with a depth of 3-5 mm in the main plate and through the plate thickness. A deficient repair was obtained by TIG dressing, caused by the excessive depth of the crack. A reasonable fatigue life benefits were obtained with plasma dressing. Good results were obtained with the TIG dressing technique for specimens with shallower initial defects (depth lesser than 2.5 mm). The fatigue life benefits were presented in terms of a gain parameter assessed using both experimental data and life predictions based on the fatigue crack propagation law.

Decontamination by foams: A promising treatment for the removal of radioactive dust from gas streams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, J.P.

1989-06-01

Foams provide a promising method for the treatment of gas streams containing radioactive aerosol particles. A review of the literature has been undertaken to define and assess the mechanics of aerosol behaviour in contact with foams. Applications are also examined in which foams have been used to treat aerosols. Key issues are identified which require further study. In particular, the efficiency of sub-micron particle removal can be determined using recently developed analysers and the use of the process gas to generate the foam could have a major impact on the design of commercial units. (author)

Influences of pulsed current tungsten inert gas welding parameters on the tensile properties of AA 6061 aluminium alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Senthil Kumar, T.; Balasubramanian, V.; Sanavullah, M.Y.

2007-01-01

Medium strength aluminium alloy (Al-Mg-Si alloy) has gathered wide acceptance in the fabrication of light weight structures requiring a high strength-to-weight ratio, such as transportable bridge girders, military vehicles, road tankers and railway transport systems. In any structural application of this alloy consideration its weldability is of utmost importance as welding is largely used for joining of structural components. The preferred welding process of aluminium alloy is frequently tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding due to its comparatively easier applicability and better economy. In the case of single pass TIG welding of thinner section of this alloy, the pulsed current has been found beneficial due to its advantages over the conventional continuous current process. The use of pulsed current parameters has been found to improve the mechanical properties of the welds compared to those of continuous current welds of this alloy due to grain refinement occurring in the fusion zone. Many considerations come into the picture and one need to carefully balance various pulse current parameters to arrive at an optimum combination. Hence, in this investigation an attempt has been made to study the influence of pulsed current TIG welding parameters on tensile properties of AA 6061 aluminium alloy weldments

Source term analysis in severe accident induced by large break loss of coolant accident coincident with ship blackout for ship reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yanzhao; Zhang Fan; Zhao Xinwen; Zheng Yingfeng

2013-01-01

Using MELCOR code, the accident analysis model was established for a ship reactor. The behaviors of radioactive fission products were analyzed in the case of severe accident induced by large break loss of coolant accident coincident with ship blackout. The research mainly focused on the behaviors of release, transport, retention and the final distribution of inert gas and CsI. The results show that 83.12% of inert gas releases from the core, and the most of inert gas exists in the containment. About 83.08% of CsI release from the core, 72.66% of which is detained in the debris and the primary system, and 27.34% releases into the containment. The results can give a reference for the evaluation of cabin dose and nuclear emergency management. (authors)

Experimental Study of an On-board Fuel Tank Inerting System

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Fei; Lin, Guiping; Zeng, Yu; Pan, Rui; Sun, Haoyang

2017-03-01

A simulated aircraft fuel tank inerting system was established and experiments were conducted to investigate the performance of the system. The system uses hollow fiber membrane which is widely used in aircraft as the air separation device and a simplified 20% scale multi compartment fuel tank as the inerting object. Experiments were carried out to investigate the influences of different operating parameters on the inerting effectiveness of the system, including NEA (nitrogen-enriched air) flow rate, NEA oxygen concentration, NEA distribution, pressure of bleeding air and fuel load of the tank. Results showed that for the multi compartment fuel tank, concentrated flow washing inerting would cause great differences throughout the distribution of oxygen concentration in the fuel tank, and inerting dead zone would exist. The inerting effectiveness was greatly improved and the ullage oxygen concentration of the tank would reduce to 12% successfully when NEA entered three compartments evenly. The time span of a complete inerting process reduced obviously with increasing NEA flow rate and decreasing NEA concentration, but the trend became weaker gradually. However, the reduction of NEA concentration will decrease the utilization efficiency of the bleeding air. In addition, the time span can also be reduced by raising the pressure of bleeding air, which will improve the bleeding air utilization efficiency at the same time. The time span decreases linearly as the fuel load increases.

Measuring the absolute disintegration rate of a radioactive gas with a moveable endplate discharge counter (MEP) and theoretical calculation of wall effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaffey, A.H.; Gray, J.; Bentley, W.C.; Lerner, J.L.

1987-09-01

A precision built moveable endplate Geiger-Mueller counter was used to measure the absolute disintegration rate of a beta-emitting radioactive gas. A Geiger-Mueller counter used for measuring gaseous radioactivity has 85 Kr (beta energy, 0.67 MeV). The wall effect calculation is readily extendable to other beta energies

Two-step laser ionization schemes for in-gas laser ionization and spectroscopy of radioactive isotopesa

OpenAIRE

Kudryavtsev, Yuri; Ferrer, Rafael; Huyse, Mark; Van den Bergh, Paul; Van Duppen, Piet; Vermeeren, L.

2014-01-01

The in-gas laser ionization and spectroscopy technique has been developed at the Leuven isotope separator on-line facility for the production and in-source laser spectroscopy studies of short-lived radioactive isotopes. In this article, results from a study to identify efficient optical schemes for the two-step resonance laser ionization of 18 elements are presented. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

One-loop contributions to neutral minima in the inert doublet model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferreira, P.M. [Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa - ISEL,1959-007 Lisboa (Portugal); Centro de Física Teórica e Computacional - FCUL,Universidade de Lisboa, R. Ernesto de Vasconcelos, 1749-016 Lisboa (Portugal); Świeżewska, Bogumiła [Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw,Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw (Poland)

2016-04-15

The vacuum structure of the inert doublet model is analysed at the one-loop level using the effective potential formalism, to verify the validity of tree-level predictions for the properties of the global minimum. An inert minimum (with massive fermions) and an inert-like minimum (with massless fermions) can coexist at tree level. But the one-loop analysis reveals that the allowed parameter space for the coexistence of more than one minimum is larger than the tree-level expected one. It is also shown that for some choices of parameters, the global minimum found at the one-loop level may be inert (or inert-like), contrary to what the tree-level analysis indicates.

Waste gas combustion in a Hanford radioactive waste tank

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Travis, J.R.; Fujita, R.K.; Spore, J.W.

1994-01-01

It has been observed that a high-level radioactive waste tank generates quantities of hydrogen, ammonia, nitrous oxide, and nitrogen that are potentially well within flammability limits. These gases are produced from chemical and nuclear decay reactions in a slurry of radioactive waste materials. Significant amounts of combustible and reactant gases accumulate in the waste over a 110- to 120-d period. The slurry becomes Taylor unstable owing to the buoyancy of the gases trapped in a matrix of sodium nitrate and nitrite salts. As the contents of the tank roll over, the generated waste gases rupture through the waste material surface, allowing the gases to be transported and mixed with air in the cover-gas space in the dome of the tank. An ignition source is postulated in the dome space where the waste gases combust in the presence of air resulting in pressure and temperature loadings on the double-walled waste tank. This analysis is conducted with hydrogen mixing studies HMS, a three-dimensional, time-dependent fluid dynamics code coupled with finite-rate chemical kinetics. The waste tank has a ventilation system designed to maintain a slight negative gage pressure during normal operation. We modeled the ventilation system with the transient reactor analysis code (TRAC), and we coupled these two best-estimate accident analysis computer codes to model the ventilation system response to pressures and temperatures generated by the hydrogen and ammonia combustion

Development of KALIMER auxiliary sodium and cover gas management system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Sang Woon; Hwang, Sung Tae

1996-11-01

The objectives of this report are to develop and to describe the auxiliary liquid metal and cover gas management systems of KALIMER. the system includes following system: (1) Auxiliary liquid metal system (2) Inert gas receiving and processing system (3) Impurity monitoring and analysis system. Auxiliary liquid metal and cover gas management system of KALIMER was developed. Functions of each systems and design basis were describes. The auxiliary liquid metal system receives, transfers, and purifies all sodium used in the plant. The system furnishes the required sodium quantity at the pressure, temperature, flow rate, and purity specified by the interfacing system. The intermediated sodium processing subsystem (ISPS) provides continuous purification of IHTS sodium, as well as performs the initial fill operation for both the IHTS and reactor vessel. The primary sodium processing subsystem provides purification (cold trapping) for sodium used in the reactor vessel. The inert gas receiving and processing (IGRP) system provides liquefied and ambient gas storage, delivers inert gases of specified composition and purity at regulated flow rates and pressures to points of usage throughout the KALIMER, and accepts the contaminated gases through its vacuum facilities for storage and transfer to the gas radwaste system. Three gases are used in the KALIMER: helium, argon, and nitrogen. 11 tabs., 12 figs. (Author)

Development of KALIMER auxiliary sodium and cover gas management system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Sang Woon; Hwang, Sung Tae [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1996-11-01

The objectives of this report are to develop and to describe the auxiliary liquid metal and cover gas management systems of KALIMER. the system includes following system: (1) Auxiliary liquid metal system (2) Inert gas receiving and processing system (3) Impurity monitoring and analysis system. Auxiliary liquid metal and cover gas management system of KALIMER was developed. Functions of each systems and design basis were describes. The auxiliary liquid metal system receives, transfers, and purifies all sodium used in the plant. The system furnishes the required sodium quantity at the pressure, temperature, flow rate, and purity specified by the interfacing system. The intermediated sodium processing subsystem (ISPS) provides continuous purification of IHTS sodium, as well as performs the initial fill operation for both the IHTS and reactor vessel. The primary sodium processing subsystem provides purification (cold trapping) for sodium used in the reactor vessel. The inert gas receiving and processing (IGRP) system provides liquefied and ambient gas storage, delivers inert gases of specified composition and purity at regulated flow rates and pressures to points of usage throughout the KALIMER, and accepts the contaminated gases through its vacuum facilities for storage and transfer to the gas radwaste system. Three gases are used in the KALIMER: helium, argon, and nitrogen. 11 tabs., 12 figs. (Author).

Radioactive tracer system to indicate drill bit wear or failure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fries, B.A.

1975-01-01

A radioactive tracer system for indicating drill bit wear or failure utilizing radioactive krypton 85 in clathrate form, in the form of water-soluble kryptonates, or dissolved grease, is described. Preferably the radioactive krypton is placed so that when drill bit wear or failure occurs, the radioactive krypton 85 is relased and effectively becomes diffused in the circulating drilling fluid. At the surface, the radioactive krypton 85 gas is separated from the circulating drilling fluid by gas-mud separating means and is transported as a gas to a counting chamber where an accurate radioactivity count of beta rays released from the krypton is obtained. (Patent Office Record)

Assessment of microbial processes on gas production at radioactive low-level waste disposal sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weiss, A.J.; Tate, R.L. III; Colombo, P.

1982-05-01

Factors controlling gaseous emanations from low level radioactive waste disposal sites are assessed. Importance of gaseous fluxes of methane, carbon dioxide, and possible hydrogen from the site, stems from the inclusion of tritium and/or carbon-14 into the elemental composition of these compounds. In that the primary source of these gases is the biodegradation of organic components of the waste material, primary emphasis of the study involved an examination of the biochemical pathways producing methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen, and the environmental parameters controlling the activity of the microbial community involved. Initial examination of the data indicates that the ecosystem is anaerobic. As the result of the complexity of the pathway leading to methane production, factors such as substrate availability, which limit the initial reaction in the sequence, greatly affect the overall rate of methane evolution. Biochemical transformations of methane, hydrogen and carbon dioxide as they pass through the soil profile above the trench are discussed. Results of gas studies performed at three commercial low level radioactive waste disposal sites are reviewed. Methods used to obtain trench and soil gas samples are discussed. Estimates of rates of gas production and amounts released into the atmosphere (by the GASFLOW model) are evaluated. Tritium and carbon-14 gaseous compounds have been measured in these studies; tritiated methane is the major radionuclide species in all disposal trenches studied. The concentration of methane in a typical trench increases with the age of the trench, whereas the concentration of carbon dioxide is similar in all trenches

System efficiency for two-step metal oxide solar thermochemical hydrogen production – Part 2: Impact of gas heat recuperation and separation temperatures

KAUST Repository

Ehrhart, Brian D.

2016-09-22

The solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency is calculated for various operating conditions for a two-step metal oxide solar thermochemical hydrogen production cycle using cerium(IV) oxide. An inert sweep gas was considered as the O2 removal method. Gas and solid heat recuperation effectiveness values were varied between 0 and 100% in order to determine the limits of the effect of these parameters. The temperature at which the inert gas is separated from oxygen for an open-loop and recycled system is varied. The hydrogen and water separation temperature was also varied and the effect on STH efficiency quantified. This study shows that gas heat recuperation is critical for high efficiency cycles, especially at conditions that require high steam and inert gas flowrates. A key area for future study is identified to be the development of ceramic heat exchangers for high temperature gas-gas heat exchange. Solid heat recuperation is more important at lower oxidation temperatures that favor temperature-swing redox processing, and the relative impact of this heat recuperation is muted if the heat can be used elsewhere in the system. A high separation temperature for the recycled inert gas has been shown to be beneficial, especially for cases of lower gas heat recuperation and increased inert gas flowrates. A higher water/hydrogen separation temperature is beneficial for most gas heat recuperation effectiveness values, though the overall impact on optimal system efficiency is relatively small for the values considered. © 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC.

Relevant aspects in licensing of radioactive installations at petroleum and gas well logging; Aspectos relevantes no licenciamento de instalacoes radiativas em perfilagem de pocos de petroleo ou gas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miranda, Marcia Valeria da E. Sa [Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear (CNEN), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2002-07-01

The importance of the various factors considered during the process of licensing of radioactive installation for petroleum and gas well logging. This process involves the issuing of some public power acts, the co called Administrative Acts. For the radioactive installations the Administrative Acts are related to the Norm CNEN-NE-6.02 'Licensing of Radioactive Installation'. In the conduction of the licensing of radioactive installation of mobile nuclear measurement devices the safety evaluation of radioactive installation and equipment containing incorporated radiation source are included; certification of radioprotection supervisors; programing and evaluation of the radioprotection inspections; and the conduction of conformal inspection according to the project, safety analysis and audits. An evaluation of the impact of the importance grade attributed to each factor in the optimization of licensing process is related. Finally, the prediction of implantation of a control system for the displacement of radioactive sources in the installation is approached comprehending the up-to-date localization of each source at different work front of the Basis.

Neutralino dark matter with inert higgsinos and singlinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, Jonathan P.; King, Stephen F.

2009-01-01

We discuss neutralino dark matter arising from supersymmetric models with extra inert Higgsinos and singlinos, where inert means that their scalar partners do not get vacuum expectation values. As an example, we consider the extended neutralino sector of the E 6 SSM, which predicts three families of Higgs doublet pairs, plus three singlets, plus a Z', together with their fermionic superpartners. We show that the two families of inert doublet Higgsinos and singlinos predicted by this model provide an almost decoupled neutralino sector with a naturally light LSP which can account for the cold dark matter relic abundance independently of the rest of the model, providing that the ratio of the two usual Higgs doublets satisfies tan β < 2.

Handling of natural occurring radioactive deposits in the oil and gas industry in Norway, United Kingdom and the Netherlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lysebo, I.; Tufto, P.

1999-03-01

Deposits containing naturally occurring radioactive materials is an increasing problem in oil and gas production. Laws and regulations in this area is under preparation, and it is a wish for harmonization with the other oil and gas producing countries in the North Sea. The report gives an overview of amounts of waste and activity levels, decontamination methods and waste handling in Norway, Great Britain and the Netherlands

Gas Generation in Radioactive Wastes - MAGGAS Predictive Life Cycle Model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Streatfield, R.E.; Hebditch, D.J.; Swift, B.T.; Hoch, A.R.; Constable, M.

2006-01-01

Gases may form from radioactive waste in quantities posing different potential hazards throughout the waste package life cycle. The latter includes surface storage, transport, placing in an operating repository, storage in the repository prior to backfill, closure and the post-closure stage. Potentially hazardous situations involving gas include fire, flood, dropped packages, blocked package vents and disruption to a sealed repository. The MAGGAS (Magnox Gas generation) model was developed to assess gas formation for safety assessments during all stages of the waste package life cycle. This is a requirement of the U.K. regulatory authorities and Nirex and progress in this context is discussed. The processes represented in the model include: Corrosion, microbial degradation, radiolysis, solid-state diffusion, chemico-physical degradation and pressurisation. The calculation was split into three time periods. First the 'aerobic phase' is used to model the periods of surface storage, transport and repository operations including storage in the repository prior to backfill. The second and third periods were designated 'anaerobic phase 1' and 'anaerobic phase 2' and used to model the waste packages in the post-closure phase of the repository. The various significant gas production processes are modeled in each phase. MAGGAS (currently Version 8) is mounted on an Excel spreadsheet for ease of use and speed, has 22 worksheets and is operated routinely for assessing waste packages (e.g. for ventilation of stores and pressurisation of containers). Ten operational and decommissioning generic nuclear power station waste streams were defined as initial inputs, which included ion exchange materials, sludges and concentrates, fuel element debris, graphite debris, activated components, contaminated items, desiccants and catalysts. (authors)

Fusion radioactivity confinement and application to postulated ITER accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piet, S.J.; Brereton, S.J.

1991-01-01

An assessment of the ITER radioactivity confinement shows reduction of potential accidental releases to the environment by two orders of magnitude. Important credits are the 1% volume/day confinement leakage rate, radioactivity decay for short-lived isotopes, resumption of detritiation/negative pressure within seven days of the accident, and wind meander during the slow confinement leakage. Achieving this two order of magnitude credit in practice requires appropriate design details, especially the leakage rate and detritiation/negative pressure equipment, and research to validate some key assumptions. The confinement maximizes dependence on passive safety features, thereby working toward using fusion's potential safety advantages. The confinement includes several confinement zones with varying human access allowances. Some confinement areas are normally isolated from the environment, the closed ventilation zone. Some areas have an inert cover gas to inhibit combustion. If future assessments of accidental overpressure show the need, we propose a filter/vent system. This report documents our work for the ITER Conceptual Design Activity (CDA). The report is consistent with the final CDA design reports and descriptions, except that our analysis includes a filter/vent. For gaseous or vapor tritium and for most activated aerosols, the reference release fraction is about 2%. For short-lived tungsten-rhenium aerosols, the reference release fraction is somewhat lower, as low as 0.5% for some accident scenarios. Even without resumption of detritiation/decontamination or negative pressure within seven days of the accident, the release fraction for stays below 4%

Combustión de mezclas ricas de etano-aire en medios porosos inertes Combustion of rich ethane-air mixtures in inert porous media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khriscia Utria S

2013-04-01

Full Text Available El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo analizar teórica-experimentalmente la combustión de mezclas ricas de etano-aire en medios porosos inertes (MPI para evaluar la producción de hidrógeno y gas de síntesis. Se analizan los perfiles de temperatura, las velocidades de propagación de llama y los productos principales de la combustión, como son el hidrógeno (H2 y el monóxido de carbono (CO, mediante el uso de cromatografía gaseosa, para relaciones de equivalencia en el rango de 1,0 a 2,5 y dos diámetros de esferas de alúmina que componen el medio poroso. Se simula numéricamente el proceso de combustión mediante el uso del programa PREMIX utilizando dos mecanismos de reacción, como son el GRI-MECH 1.2 y GRI-MECH 3.0. Con GRI-MECH 3.0 se obtienen resultados numéricos que predicen correctamente los resultados experimentales para todo el rango de relaciones de equivalencia con un medio poroso compuesto por esferas de alúmina de 3,5 mm. La máxima generación de hidrógeno H2 y CO presentes en los productos de combustión son de 14,3% y 18,0%, respectivamente. El porcentaje de conversión de etano en H2 (61,3% y en CO (81% muestra el potencial de este combustible como generador de gas de síntesis.This research develops the theoretical and experimental analysis of ethane-air combustion in inert porous media (IPM to evaluate hydrogen and syngas production. Temperature profiles, flame propagation rates and major combustion products such as hydrogen (H2 and carbon monoxide (CO, through gas chromatography, are analysed at a range of equivalence ratios between 1.0 and 2.5, with two different alumina sphere diameters composing the porous media. Combustion of ethane-air mixture in IPM is simulated numerically using the PREMIX program with two reaction mechanisms, such as GRI-MECH 1.2 and GRI-MECH 3.0. GRI-MECH 3.0 numerical results predict correctly experimental results for a porous media with 3.5 mm alumina spheres along the range of

Emanation of 232U and its radioactive daughter products from respirable size particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cuddihy, R.G.; Griffith, W.C.; Hoover, M.D.; Kanapilly, G.M.; Stalnaker, N.D.

1978-01-01

This study is to develop a model for the emanation of 232 U and its radioactive daughter products from particles of Th-U fuel material. The radiation doses to internal organs following inhalation of these particles can only be calculated by knowing the rate of emanation of the daughters from particles in the lung and the subsequent excretion or translocation of the daughters to other organs. The emanation mechanisms are recoil of the daughter nuclei from the particle during alpha decay of the parent, diffusion of inert gas daughters from the particle and dissolution of the particle itself in biological fluids. Experiments to evaluate these mechanisms will involve ThO 2 and UO 2 particles in the size range 0.1 to 1.0 μm MMAD uniformly labeled with 232 U. The influence of the material temperature history on emanation will be investigated by heat treating particles at 600 and 1400 0 C

Treatment of radioactive wastes by incineration; Tratamiento de desechos radiactivos por incineracion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Priego C, E., E-mail: emmanuel.priego@inin.gob.mx [ININ, Carretera Mexico-Toluca s/n, 52750 Ocoyoacac, Estado de Mexico (Mexico)

2013-10-15

Great part of the radioactive wastes of low and intermediate level generated during the nuclear fuel cycle, in laboratories and other sites where the radionuclides are used for the research in the industry, in medicine and other activities, are combustible wastes. The incineration of these radioactive wastes provides a very high reduction factor and at the same time converts the wastes in radioactive ashes and no-flammable residuals, chemically inert and much more homogeneous that the initial wastes. With the increment of the costs in the repositories and those every time but strict regulations, the incineration of radioactive wastes has been able to occupy an important place in the strategy of the wastes management. However, in a particular way, the incineration is a complex process of high temperature that demands the execution of safety and operation requirements very specific. (author)

Operational improvement to the flue gas cleaning system in radioactive waste incineration facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng Bowen; Li Xiaohai; Wang Peiyi

2012-01-01

After years of operation, some problems, such as corrosion and waste water treatment, have been found in the first domestic whole-scale radioactive waste incineration facility. According to the origin of the problems, the flue gas cleaning system has been optimized and improved in terms of technical process, material and structure. It improves the operational stability, extends the equipment life-time, and also reduces the amount of secondary waste. In addition, as major sources of problems, waste management, operational experiences and information exchange deserve more attention. (authors)

Removal of nitrogen oxides, 106RuO4 vapors and radioactive aerosols from the gas originating in radioactive wastes solidification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kepak, F.; Pecak, V.; Uher, E.; Kanka, J.; Koutova, S.; Matous, V.

1985-01-01

Procedures and equipment for the disposal of nitrogen oxides, RuO 4 vapors and radioactive aerosols of 90 Sr, 137 Cs, 60 Co and 125 Sb contained in the gas generated in the solidification of high- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes were tested on models. Nitrogen oxides were disposed of by absorption and chemical decomposition in various solutions of which the best results gave solutions of ammonium salts. Absorption in solutions, physical and chemical sorption on inorganic sorbents were tested for the disposal of RuO 4 . Aerosols were disposed of by absorption in absorption media with subsequent filtration. Of fibrous filter materials, Czechoslovak AEROS-2 and RA-2 filter papers were proven in the tests. Attention was also devoted to granular filter materials of which silica gel was chosen. On the basis of laboratory tests a multi-step treatment system was designed which consists of a condenser, a nitrogen oxide absorber, a liquid aerosol separator, absorption columns and aerosol filters. The whole system has been manufactured on pilot plant scale and the different parts are being produced. (Z.M.)

Evaluation Of Radioactivity Concentration In The Primary Cooling Water System Of The RSG-GAS During Operation With 30% Silicide Fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartoyo, Unggul; Udiyani, P.M.; Setiawanto, Anto

2001-01-01

The evaluating radioactivity concentration in the primary cooling water of the RSG-GAS during operation with 30% silicide fuels has been performed. The method of the research is sampling of primary cooling water during operation of the reactor and calculation of its radioactivity concentration. Based on the data obtained from calculation, the identified nuclides in the water are, Mn-56, Sb-124, Sb-122 and Na-24, under the limit of safety value

Miniature radioactive light source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caffarella, T.E.; Radda, G.J.; Dooley, H.H.

1980-01-01

A miniature radioactive light source for illuminating digital watches is described consisting of a glass tube with improved laser sealing and strength containing tritium gas and a transducer responsive to the gas. (U.K.)

In situ vitrification pilot-scale radioactive test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timmerman, C.L.; Oma, K.H.

1984-10-01

Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) is developing in situ vitrification (ISV) as an in-place stabilization technique for selected liquid radioactive waste disposal sites. The process melts the wastes and surrounding soil to produce a durable glass and crystalline waste form. These ISV process development testing and evaluation studies are being conducted for the US Department of Energy. The results of an ISV pilot-scale test conducted in June of 1983 in which soils contaminated with actual radioactive transuranic and mixed fission product elements were vitrified are discussed. The primary objectives of the radioactive test were to: demonstrate containment and confinement of the radioactive material; verify equipment performance of the power and off-gas systems; identify losses to the off-gas system; and characterize the behavior of the radioactive material in the vitrified soil. The test successfully demonstrated the processing containment of radionuclides both within the vitrified mass and in the off-gas system. No environmental release of radioactive material was measured during testing operations. The vitrified soil had a greater than 99% retention of all radionuclides. Losses to the off-gas system varied from less than or equal to 0.03% for particulate materials (plutonium and strontium) to 0.8% for cesium which is a more volatile element. The off-gas system effectively contained both volatile and entrained radioactive materials. Analysis of the vitrified soil revealed that all radionuclides were distributed throughout the vitrified zone, some more uniformly than others. No migration of radionuclides outside the vitrification zone occurred, as indicated by analysis of soil samples from around the block. Previous waste form leaching studies indicate an acceptable durability of the ISV product. 8 references, 34 figures, 8 tables

In situ vitrification pilot-scale radioactive test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Timmerman, C.L.; Oma, K.H.

1984-10-01

Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) is developing in situ vitrification (ISV) as an in-place stabilization technique for selected liquid radioactive waste disposal sites. The process melts the wastes and surrounding soil to produce a durable glass and crystalline waste form. These ISV process development testing and evaluation studies are being conducted for the US Department of Energy. The results of an ISV pilot-scale test conducted in June of 1983 in which soils contaminated with actual radioactive transuranic and mixed fission product elements were vitrified are discussed. The primary objectives of the radioactive test were to: demonstrate containment and confinement of the radioactive material; verify equipment performance of the power and off-gas systems; identify losses to the off-gas system; and characterize the behavior of the radioactive material in the vitrified soil. The test successfully demonstrated the processing containment of radionuclides both within the vitrified mass and in the off-gas system. No environmental release of radioactive material was measured during testing operations. The vitrified soil had a greater than 99% retention of all radionuclides. Losses to the off-gas system varied from less than or equal to 0.03% for particulate materials (plutonium and strontium) to 0.8% for cesium which is a more volatile element. The off-gas system effectively contained both volatile and entrained radioactive materials. Analysis of the vitrified soil revealed that all radionuclides were distributed throughout the vitrified zone, some more uniformly than others. No migration of radionuclides outside the vitrification zone occurred, as indicated by analysis of soil samples from around the block. Previous waste form leaching studies indicate an acceptable durability of the ISV product. 8 references, 34 figures, 8 tables.

Dose dependence of nano-hardness of 6H-SiC crystal under irradiation with inert gas ions

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yitao; Zhang, Chonghong; Su, Changhao; Ding, Zhaonan; Song, Yin

2018-05-01

Single crystal 6H-SiC was irradiated by inert gas ions (He, Ne, Kr and Xe ions) to various damage levels at room temperature. Nano-indentation test was performed to investigate the hardness change behavior with damage. The depth profile of nano-hardness for 6H-SiC decreased with increasing depth for both the pristine and irradiated samples, which was known as indentation size effect (ISE). Nix-Gao model was proposed to determine an asymptotic value of nano-hardness by taking account of ISE for both the pristine and irradiated samples. In this study, nano-hardness of the irradiated samples showed a strong dependence on damage level and showed a weak dependence on ions species. From the dependence of hardness on damage, it was found that the change of hardness demonstrated three distinguishable stages with damage: (I) The hardness increased with damage from 0 to 0.2 dpa and achieved a maximum of hardening fraction ∼20% at 0.2 dpa. The increase of hardness in this damage range was contributed to defects produced by ion irradiation, which can be described well by Taylor relation. (II) The hardness reduced rapidly with large decrement in the damage range from 0.2 to 0.5 dpa, which was considered to be from the covalent bond breaking. (III) The hardness reduced with small decrement in the damage range from 0.5 to 2.2 dpa, which was induced by extension of the amorphous layer around damage peak.

Detector module for gas monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-01-01

The invention relates to radioactive source detector module for use in a gas monitor. It is adapted to contain the source and other detector components to allow sealed coupling of those components with other portions of the gas monitor. It is particularly concerned with the use of radioactive materials used as electron sources in gas monitors. The module is used to detect changes in electron flow caused by partial absorption of the electron capture gas flowing between two electrodes. The assembly includes a gas flow source, a gas receiver and an electronic assembly for receiving a signal from the detector. The radioactive source and electrodes are housed so that they are connected to the gas flow source so as to prevent accidental or undesired disconnection. It is designed so that the detector module may be removed or replaced into the gas monitor assemblies by untrained personnel so as to prevent exposure to the radioactive material. Full details are given. (U.K.)

The treatment of radioactive waste in Institute of Nuclear Physics of Uzbekistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radyuk, R.I.

2001-01-01

Full text: The main purpose of radioactive waste treatment is security of humanity and environment for future. The formation of radioactive waste in Institute of Nuclear Physics connects with scientific and research works on reactor and cyclotron. There are works in the field of radiochemistry, activation analysis, research of material. It is connected with some different materials used in practical work: mountain rock, food-stuffs, biological materials and other. The Institute of Nuclear Physics has enterprise, making radioactive isotopes. In consequence of this work radioactive wastes form. Average annual volume of liquid radioactive waste is 2000 m 3 in year. During normal work of nuclear reactor and enterprise of radioactive isotope small part of radionuclides with gaseous waste gets in environment. The content of inert gas does not exceed 2% of permissible level . Value of radionuclides fall out in area from 0.5 Km to 10 Km does not differ global fall out and changes from 1.1.10 6 Bq/km 2 to 1.6.10 7 Bq/km 2 month (permissible doze - 5.6.10 8 Bq/km 2 .month). The solid radioactive waste of medium and low activity are burying on Republic point of radioactive waste storage. Annual volume of solid radioactive waste is 60 m 3 in year and total radioactivity is 10 11 Bk. The solid radioactive waste of high activity are going to of Chelyabinsk. The liquid radioactive waste belong to second and third group of radioactive waste (classification of IAEA). The decontamination of liquid radioactive waste are made on the station of liquid radioactive waste treatment by method of sedimentation and distillation. The productivity of this plant is 15m 3 in day. Before treatment liquid radioactive waste is analyzed to determine chemical and radiochemical composition. It is solution with content of salt from 0.8 g/l to 15 g/l, salt Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ - 20 mg-eqv/l, oxygen - 100 mg O 2 /l , activity from 10 2 Bq/l to 10 4 Bq/l. The radionuclides composition of liquid radioactive

UNS S31603 Stainless Steel Tungsten Inert Gas Welds Made with Microparticle and Nanoparticle Oxides

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuang-Hung Tseng

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference between tungsten inert gas (TIG welding of austenitic stainless steel assisted by microparticle oxides and that assisted by nanoparticle oxides. SiO2 and Al2O3 were used to investigate the effects of the thermal stability and the particle size of the activated compounds on the surface appearance, geometric shape, angular distortion, delta ferrite content and Vickers hardness of the UNS S31603 stainless steel TIG weld. The results show that the use of SiO2 leads to a satisfactory surface appearance compared to that of the TIG weld made with Al2O3. The surface appearance of the TIG weld made with nanoparticle oxide has less flux slag compared with the one made with microparticle oxide of the same type. Compared with microparticle SiO2, the TIG welding with nanoparticle SiO2 has the potential benefits of high joint penetration and less angular distortion in the resulting weldment. The TIG welding with nanoparticle Al2O3 does not result in a significant increase in the penetration or reduction of distortion. The TIG welding with microparticle or nanoparticle SiO2 uses a heat source with higher power density, resulting in a higher ferrite content and hardness of the stainless steel weld metal. In contrast, microparticle or nanoparticle Al2O3 results in no significant difference in metallurgical properties compared to that of the C-TIG weld metal. Compared with oxide particle size, the thermal stability of the oxide plays a significant role in enhancing the joint penetration capability of the weld, for the UNS S31603 stainless steel TIG welds made with activated oxides.

Foaming and Antifoaming and Gas Entrainment in Radioactive Waste Pretreatment and Immobilization Processes. Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wasan, Darsh T.

2007-01-01

The Savannah River Site (SRS) and Hanford site are in the process of stabilizing millions of gallons of radioactive waste slurries remaining from production of nuclear materials for the Department of Energy (DOE). The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at SRS is currently vitrifying the waste in borosilicate glass, while the facilities at the Hanford site are in the construction phase. Both processes utilize slurry-fed joule-heated melters to vitrify the waste slurries. The DWPF has experienced difficulty during operations. The cause of the operational problems has been attributed to foaming, gas entrainment and the rheological properties of the process slurries. The rheological properties of the waste slurries limit the total solids content that can be processed by the remote equipment during the pretreatment and meter feed processes. Highly viscous material can lead to air entrainment during agitation and difficulties with pump operations. Excessive foaming in waste evaporators can cause carryover of radionuclides and non-radioactive waste to the condensate system. Experimental and theoretical investigations of the surface phenomena, suspension rheology and bubble generation of interactions that lead to foaming and air entrainment problems in the DOE High Level and Low Activity Radioactive Waste separation and immobilization processes were pursued under this project. The first major task accomplished in the grant proposal involved development of a theoretical model of the phenomenon of foaming in a three-phase gas-liquid-solid slurry system. This work was presented in a recently completed Ph.D. thesis (9). The second major task involved the investigation of the inter-particle interaction and microstructure formation in a model slurry by the batch sedimentation method. Both experiments and modeling studies were carried out. The results were presented in a recently completed Ph.D. thesis. The third task involved the use of laser confocal microscopy to study

Characterization of a Gas-Purge Method to Access 11C-Carbon-Dioxide Radioactivity in Blood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ng, Y.; Green, M.A.

2014-01-01

Carbon-11 (t 1/2 : 20 minutes) labeled radiotracers, such as 11 C-acetate and 11 C-palmitate are widely used in positron emission tomography (PET) for noninvasive evaluation of myocardial metabolism under varied physiological conditions. These tracers are attractive probes of tissue physiology, because they are simply radiolabeled versions of the native biochemical substrates. One of the major metabolites generated by these tracers upon the administration is 11 CO 2 produced via the citric acid cycle. In quantitative modeling of 11 C-acetate and 11 C-palmitate PET data, the fraction of blood 11 C radioactivity present as 11 CO 2 needs to be measured to obtain a correct radiotracer arterial input function. Accordingly, the literature describes a method whereby the total blood 11 C-activity is counted in blood samples treated with base solution, while the fraction of 11 CO 2 is measured after the blood is treated with acid followed by a 10 minutes gas-purge. However, a detailed description of the experimental validation of this method was not provided. The goal of this study was to test the reliability of a 10-minute gas purging method used to assay 11 CO 2 radioactivity in blood. (author)

Preliminary Design Report Shippingport Spent Fuel Drying and Inerting System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

JEPPSON, D.W.

2000-01-01

A process description and system flow sheets have been prepared to support the design/build package for the Shippingport Spent Fuel Canister drying and inerting process skid. A process flow diagram was prepared to show the general steps to dry and inert the Shippingport fuel loaded into SSFCs for transport and dry storage. Flow sheets have been prepared to show the flows and conditions for the various steps of the drying and inerting process. Calculations and data supporting the development of the flow sheets are included

Method for immobilizing radioactive iodine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babad, H.; Strachan, D. M.

1980-01-01

Radioactive iodine, present as alkali metal iodides or iodates in an aqueous solution, is incorporated into an inert solid material for long-term storage by adding to the solution a stoichiometric amount with respect to the formation of a sodalite (3M2O.3Al2O3. 6SiO2.2MX, where M alkali metal; X I - or IO 3- ) of an alkali metal, alumina and silica, stirring the solution to form a homogeneous mixture, drying the mixture to form a powder, compacting and sintering the compacted powder at 1073 to 1373 K (800 0 to 1100 0 C.) for a time sufficient to form sodalite

Peculiarity of radioactivity pollution of manufacturing environment gas and oil producing firms of the apsheron region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mamedov, A.M.; Alekperova, J.A.

2002-01-01

Full text: Present time protection of the biosphere from technogene pollution is the important problem, having common to all mankind value. In circuits of the technogene pollution of the environment the soil is a carrying on link for through soil the contaminants freely go to air environment, in underground waters in plants and in foodstuff of a vegetative and animal genesis. In subsequent these contaminants on the indicated chains by penetrating in an organism of the people render an ill effect on their health. In this plane the radiological contamination of soil introduces still large dangerous. As the radionuclides of soil can render as external radiation, and by getting in an organism with air, water and foodstuff can cause internal radiation. In this plane, for detection of a role of gas and oil producing firms in radiological contamination soil as object of an environment, we conduct researches by a hygienic estimation of radiological contamination of soil of territory of oil-fields OOGE 'Gum adasi' of the Apsheron region. By spectrometric method were studied a natural background radiation and radioactivity of soil of different territories of shop of complex opening-up of oil. Established, that for the raw tank the specific activity reaches 4438-9967 Bk/kg, close of the product repair shop the radioactivity reached 650- 700 micro R/hour. In territory of the region 'Gum adasi', where the waste from cleaning chisel tubes were accumulated, the radioactivity made 600 micro R/hour. These indexes the superior background level is significant. The analysis of power spectrums a gamma of radiations is model from the indicated sites has shown, that the radioactivity is conditioned by isotopes of a radium. The researches have allowed to demonstrate a radioactivity technogene of impurity of rocks to recommend urgent dumping of above-stated waste in bunkers on sites, retracted by it. Thus, was established, that gas and oil producing firms contributing to radiological

Comparison of creep rupture behavior of tungsten inert gas and electron beam welded grade 91 steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dey, H.C.; Vanaja, J.; Laha, K.; Bhaduri, A.K.; Albert, S.K.; Roy, G.G.

2016-01-01

Creep rupture behavior of Grade 91 steel weld joints fabricated by multi-pass tungsten inert gas (TIG) and electron beam welding (EBW) processes has been studied and compared with base metal. Cross-weld creep specimens were fabricated from the X-ray radiography qualified and post weld heat treated (760°C/4 h) weld joints. Creep testing of weld joints and base metal was carried out at 650°C over a stress range of 40°120 MPa. Creep life of EBW joint is comparable to base metal; whereas multi-pass TIG joint have shown significant drop in creep life tested for the same stress level. Both types of weld joints show Type IV cracking for all the stress levels. The steady state creep rate of multi-pass TIG is found to be fifteen times than that of EBW joint for stress level of 80 MPa, which may be attributed to over tempering, more re-austenization, and fine grain structure of inter-critical and fine grain heat affected zone regions of the TIG joint. In contrast, single-pass and rapid weld thermal cycles associated with EBW process causes minimum phase transformation in the corresponding regions of heat affected zone. Microstructure studies on creep tested specimens shows creep cavities formed at the primary austenite grain boundaries nucleated on coarse carbide precipitates. The hardness measured across the weld on creep tested specimens shows significant drop in hardness in the inter-critical and fine grain heat affected zone regions of multi-pass TIG (176 VHN) in comparison to 192 VHN in the corresponding locations in EBW joint. (author)

SEM facility for examination of reactive and radioactive materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Downs, G.L.; Tucker, P.A.

1977-01-01

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) facility for the examination of tritium-containing materials is operational at Mound Laboratory. The SEM is installed with the sample chamber incorporated as an integral part of an inert gas glovebox facility to enable easy handling of radioactive and pyrophoric materials. A standard SEM (ETEC Model B-1) was modified to meet dimensional, operational, and safety-related requirements. a glovebox was designed and fabricated which permitted access with the gloves to all parts of the SEM sample chamber to facilitate director and accessory replacement and repairs. A separate console combining the electron optical column and specimen chamber was interfaced to the glovebox by a custom-made, neoprene bellows so that the vibrations normally associated with the blowers and pumps were damped. Photomicrographs of tritiated pyrophoric materials show the usefulness of this facility. Some of the difficulties involved in the investigation of these materials are also discussed. The SEM is also equipped with an energy dispersive x-ray detector (ORTEC) and a Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (3M) attachments. This latter attachment allows analysis of secondary ions with masses ranging from 1-300 amu. (Auth.)

Inert-Gas Condensed Co-W Nanoclusters: Formation, Structure and Magnetic Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Golkar-Fard, Farhad Reza

Rare-earth permanent magnets are used extensively in numerous technical applications, e.g. wind turbines, audio speakers, and hybrid/electric vehicles. The demand and production of rare-earth permanent magnets in the world has in the past decades increased significantly. However, the decrease in export of rare-earth elements from China in recent time has led to a renewed interest in developing rare-earth free permanent magnets. Elements such as Fe and Co have potential, due to their high magnetization, to be used as hosts in rare-earth free permanent magnets but a major challenge is to increase their magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant, K1, which largely drives the coercivity. Theoretical calculations indicate that dissolving the 5d transition metal W in Fe or Co increases the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The challenge, though, is in creating a solid solution in hcp Co or bcc Fe, which under equilibrium conditions have negligible solubility. In this dissertation, the formation, structure, and magnetic properties of sub-10 nm Co-W clusters with W content ranging from 4 to 24 atomic percent were studied. Co-W alloy clusters with extended solubility of W in hcp Co were produced by inert gas condensation. The different processing conditions such as the cooling scheme and sputtering power were found to control the structural state of the as-deposited Co-W clusters. For clusters formed in the water-cooled formation chamber, the mean size and the fraction crystalline clusters increased with increasing power, while the fraction of crystalline clusters formed in the liquid nitrogen-cooled formation chamber was not as affected by the sputtering power. For the low W content clusters, the structural characterization revealed clusters predominantly single crystalline hcp Co(W) structure, a significant extension of W solubility when compared to the equilibrium solubility, but fcc Co(W) and Co3W structures were observed in very small and large clusters, respectively. At high

Method of producing radioactive carbon powder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imamura, Y.

1980-01-01

Carbon powder, placed in a hermetically closed apparatus under vacuum together with radium ore, adsorbs radon gas emanating from the radium ore thus producing a radioactive carbonaceous material, the radioactivity of which is due to the presence of adsorbed radon. The radioactive carbon powder thus obtained has excellent therapeutical efficacy and is suitable for a variety of applications because of the mild radioactivity of radon. Radium ore permits substantially limitlessly repeated production of the radioactive carbon powder

Possibilities of gas-phase radio-chromatography application to permanent-gas analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dupuis, M.C.; Charrier, G.; Alba, C.; Massimino, D.

1970-01-01

The gas-phase radio-chromatography technique has been applied to the rapid analysis of permanent gases (H 2 , O 2 , N 2 , A, Kr, Xe, CO, CH 4 ) labelled with radioactive indicators ( 3 H, 37 A, 85 Kr, 133 Xe). After calibration, the components of such a mixture can be identified and their concentrations measured in less than two hours, using a sample volume of from 0.1 to 10 cm 3 . The minimum detectable activity is of the order of 10 -4 μC for each radioactive isotope. The measurements are reproducible to about 2 to 3 per cent. This work has been mainly concerned with the influence of parameters affecting the response of the radioactivity detector (ionization chamber or gas flow proportional counter). The method has very numerous applications both theoretically, for the study of chromatographic phenomena under ideal conditions (infinitesimal concentrations made possible by the use of radioactive tracers), and practically, for rapid and accurate radiochemical analysis of radioactive gas mixtures. (authors) [fr

The Optimum Plutonium Inert Matrix Fuel Form for Reactor-Based Plutonium Disposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tulenko, J.S.; Wang, J.; Acosta, C.

2004-01-01

The University of Florida has underway an ongoing research program to validate the economic, operational and performance benefits of developing an inert matrix fuel (IMF) for the disposition of the U.S. weapons plutonium (Pu) and for the recycle of reprocessed Pu. The current fuel form of choice for Pu disposition for the Department of Energy is as a mixed oxide (MOX) (PuO2/UO2). We will show analyses that demonstrate that a Silicon Carbide (SiC) IMF offers improved performance capabilities as a fuel form for Pu recycle and disposition. The reason that UF is reviewing various materials to serve as an inert matrix fuel is that an IMF fuel form can offer greatly reduced Pu and transuranic isotope (TRU) production and also improved thermal performance characteristics. Our studies showed that the Pu content is reduced by an order of magnitude while centerline fuel temperatures are reduced approximately 380 degrees centigrade compared to MOX. These reduced temperatures result in reduced stored heat and thermal stresses in the pellet. The reduced stored heat reduces the consequences of the loss of coolant accident, while the reduced temperatures and thermal stresses yield greatly improved fuel performance. Silicon Carbide is not new to the nuclear industry, being a basic fuel material in gas cooled reactors

Method of examination of blood microcirculation in skin by multiple using of an identical dose of radioactive Xe/sup 133/ gas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lewandowski, J.; Bogdanowski, T.; Brzezinska-Wcislo, L. (Slaska Akademia Medyczna, Katowice (Poland))

1981-01-01

The introduced method of Xe/sup 133/ gas application on epidermis serves to the investigation of microcirculation of blood within skin. It consists in a single use a dose of radioactive gas which is injected under the plastic membrane adhering to the skin surface. Our method of gaseous Xe/sup 133/ contact with epidermis enabling the multiple utilization of once applied dose to further examination is described.

Characteristics of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in the oil and gas industries: an overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohamad Puad Abu; Mohd Noor Mohd Yunus; Sopian, K.; Amran Abd Majid

1999-01-01

Activities and work practices in which radiation exposure of workers and members of the public is increased due to the presence of NORM are receiving increased attention from regulatory agencies and, to lesser extent, from the general public. In Malaysia the main sources of NORM are from the technological activities of tin mining, ore and heavy mineral processing, combustion of coal to generate power, and oil and gas extraction. The crude oil sludge that contains NORM arising from the oil and gas extraction activities lately has received special attention by the Malaysian regulatory authorities. These crude oil sludge are considered as Scheduled Waste (contains heavy metals) by Department of Environmental (DOE) and very low level radioactive waste which contains NORM by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), and its cannot be disposed without permission and proper control. This paper reviewed the radiological behaviour and characteristic o NORM in the crude oil sludge from the oil and gas production activities in Malaysia. (Author)

Decontamination by foams: a promising treatment for the removal of radioactive dust from gas streams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, J.P.

1989-06-01

Foams provide a promising method for the treatment of gas streams containing radioactive aerosol particles. They contain a very large surface area of liquid-gas interface in small cells; thus it is possible to achieve rapid capture of airborne particles in the liquid phase, particularly if the aerosol can be incorporated in the foam structure. The foam can be collapsed into a small volume of liquid, immobilising any trapped aerosol in a form that may be treated as liquid waste. A review of the literature has been undertaken to define and assess the mechanics of aerosol behaviour in contact with foams. Applications are also examined in which foams have been used to treat aerosols. Key issues are identified which require further study. In particular, the efficiency of sub-micron particle removal can be determined using recently developed analysers and the use of the process gas to generate the foam could have a major impact on the design of commercial units. (author)

Mathematical modelling of immobilization of radioactive evaporator concentrate from nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plecas, I.B.

2005-01-01

Traditional methods of processing evaporator concentrates from NPP are evaporation and cementation.These methods allow to transform a liquid radioactive waste into the rather inert form, suitable for a final disposal. To assess the safety for disposal of radioactive mortar-waste composition, the leaching of 137 Cs from immobilized radioactive evaporator concentrate into a surrounding fluid has been studied. Leaching tests were carried out in accordance with a method recommended by IAEA. Determination of retardation factors, K F and coefficients of distribution, k d , using a simplified mathematical model for analyzing the migration of radionuclides, has been developed. In our experiment we have achieved the lowest leaching values after 60 days in samples. Results presented in this paper are examples of results obtained in a 20 year mortar and concrete testing project, which will influence the design of the engineered trenches system for a future central Serbian radioactive waste disposal center. (author)

Effect of post-weld aging treatment on mechanical properties of Tungsten Inert Gas welded low thickness 7075 aluminium alloy joints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Temmar, M.; Hadji, M.; Sahraoui, T.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → The effects of post-weld aging treatment on the properties of joints is studied. → The post-weld aging treatment increases the tensile strength of TIG welded joints. → The strengthening is due to a balance of dissolution, reversion and precipitation. → Simple post-weld aging at 140 o C enhances the properties of the welded joints. -- Abstract: This paper reports the influence of post-weld aging treatment on the microstructure, tensile strength, hardness and Charpy impact energy of weld joints low thickness 7075 T6 aluminium alloy welded by Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG). Hot cracking occurs in aluminium welds when high levels of thermal stress and solidification shrinkage are present while the weld is undergoing various degrees of solidification. Weld fusion zones typically exhibit microstructure modifications because of the thermal conditions during weld metal solidification. This often results in low weld mechanical properties and low resistance to hot cracking. It has been observed that the mechanical properties are very sensitive to microstructure of weld metal. Simple post-weld aging treatment at 140 o C applied to the joints is found to be beneficial to enhance the mechanical properties of the welded joints. Correlations between microstructures and mechanical properties were discussed.

Effects of radiative heat transfer on the turbulence structure in inert and reacting mixing layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, Somnath; Friedrich, Rainer

2015-01-01

We use large-eddy simulation to study the interaction between turbulence and radiative heat transfer in low-speed inert and reacting plane temporal mixing layers. An explicit filtering scheme based on approximate deconvolution is applied to treat the closure problem arising from quadratic nonlinearities of the filtered transport equations. In the reacting case, the working fluid is a mixture of ideal gases where the low-speed stream consists of hydrogen and nitrogen and the high-speed stream consists of oxygen and nitrogen. Both streams are premixed in a way that the free-stream densities are the same and the stoichiometric mixture fraction is 0.3. The filtered heat release term is modelled using equilibrium chemistry. In the inert case, the low-speed stream consists of nitrogen at a temperature of 1000 K and the highspeed stream is pure water vapour of 2000 K, when radiation is turned off. Simulations assuming the gas mixtures as gray gases with artificially increased Planck mean absorption coefficients are performed in which the large-eddy simulation code and the radiation code PRISSMA are fully coupled. In both cases, radiative heat transfer is found to clearly affect fluctuations of thermodynamic variables, Reynolds stresses, and Reynolds stress budget terms like pressure-strain correlations. Source terms in the transport equation for the variance of temperature are used to explain the decrease of this variance in the reacting case and its increase in the inert case

Spraying of metallic powders by hybrid gas/water torch and the effects of inert gas shrouding

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kavka, Tetyana; Matějíček, Jiří; Ctibor, Pavel; Hrabovský, Milan

2012-01-01

Roč. 21, 3-4 (2012), s. 695-705 ISSN 1059-9630 R&D Projects: GA MPO FR-TI2/702; GA MPO FR-TI2/561 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : copper * tungsten * hybrid water-gas torch * plasma facing materials * plasma spraying * gas shroud Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.481, year: 2012 http://www.springerlink.com/content/j07t3222hnv87882/fulltext.pdf

Heat transfer problems in gas-cooled solid blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fillo, J.A.; Powell, J.R.

1976-01-01

In all fusion reactors using the deuterium-tritium fuel cycle, a large fraction approximately 80 percent of the fusion energy will be released as approximately 14 MeV neutrons which must be slowed down in a relatively thick blanket surrounding the plasma, thereby, converting their kinetic energy to high temperature heat which can be continuously removed by a coolant stream and converted in part to electricity in a conventional power turbine. Because of the primary goal of achieving minimum radioactivity, to date Brookhaven blanket concepts have been restricted to the use of some form of solid lithium, with inert gas-cooling and in some design cases, water-cooling of the shell structure. Aluminum and graphite have been identified as very promising structural materials for fusion blankets, and conceptual designs based on these materials have been made. Depending on the thermal loading on the ''first'' wall which surrounds the plasma as well as blanket design, heat transfer problems may be noticeably different in gas-cooled solid blankets. Approaches to solution of heat removal problems as well as explanation of: (a) the after-heat problems in blankets; (b) tritium breeding in solids; and (c) materials selection for radiation shields relative to the minimum activity blanket efforts at Brookhaven are discussed

Radioactivity in Dutch consumer products

CERN Document Server

Janssen, M P M

2002-01-01

This study took place within the framework of a general update of the average radiation dose for the Dutch population. It focuses on consumer products in which radionuclides have been intentionally incorporated and on radiation-emitting devices that can be supplied to members of the public without special surveillance. Eleven consumer products were studied in more detail. The radiation from these products determined 90% of the total collective dose due to consumer products in the Netherlands in 1988. Individual and collective doses are presented here for each product. The total collective dose has decreased from 130 personSv in 1988 to 4.6 personSv at present. This reduction was attributed to: a decrease in the number of radioactive products (gas mantles), lower estimates of the number of radioactive products present in the Netherlands thanks to new information (camera lenses, smoke detectors containing Ra-226), replacement of radioactive by non-radioactive products (gas mantles, dental protheses), and a lowe...

Method for storing radioactive rare gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watabe, Atsushi; Nagao, Hiroyuki; Takiguchi, Yukio; Kanazawa, Toshio; Soya, Masataka.

1975-01-01

Object: To safely and securely store radioactive rare gases for a long period of time. Structure: The waste gases produced in nuclear power plant are cooled by a cooler and then introduced into a low temperature adsorbing device so that the gases are adsorbed by adsorbents, and then discharged into atmosphere through the purifying gas discharge line. When the radioactive rare gases reach a level of saturation in the amount of adsorption, they are heated and extracted by a suction pump and heated by a heater. The gases are then introduced into an oxygen-impurity removing device and the purified rare gases containing no oxygen and impurities are cooled by a cooler and fed into a gas holder. When the amount of radioactive rare gases stored within the gas holder reaches a given level, they are compressed and sealed by a compressure into a storing cylinder and residual gases in the piping are sucked and recovered into the gas holder, after which the cylinder is removed and stored in a fixed room. (Kamimura, M.)

Nuclear activated cw chemical laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, T.G.

1982-01-01

A cw chemical laser which uses processed radioactive waste to produce active atoms from a chemically inactive gas before being mixed with another molecule such as hydrogen or deuterium is disclosed. This laser uses no toxic or corrosive fuels and does not require any electrical or other type of auxiliary power supply. The energy released by the radioactive material is used to produce the active atoms such as fluorine. This is accomplished by using the radiation products from processed radioactive waste to dissociate the inert gas in the plenum of the laser. The radioactive material is held in the passageway walls of a device similar to a heat exchanger. The exchanger device may be located in the gas generator section of a chemical laser. The inactive gas is passed through the exchanger device and while passing through it the radiation from the radioactive material dissociates the gas, producing a concentration of free active atoms. This active atom generator then feeds the nozzle bank or mixing section of a laser to produce a lasing action

Emanation of /sup 232/U daughter products from submicrometer particles of uranium oxide and thorium dioxide by nuclear recoil and inert gas diffusion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coombs, M.A.; Cuddihy, R.G. (Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Inst., Albuquerque, NM (USA). Inhalation Toxicology Research Inst.)

1983-01-01

Emanation of /sup 232/U daughter products by nuclear recoil and inert gas diffusion from spherical, submicrometer particles of uranium oxide and thorium dioxide was studied. Monodisperse samples of particles containing 1% /sup 232/U and having physical diameters between 0.1 and 1 ..mu..m were used for the emanation measurements. Thorium-228 ions recoiling from the particles after alpha-decay of /sup 232/U were collected electrostatically on a recoil cathode. Radon-220 diffusing from the particles was swept by an airstream into a 4 l. chamber where the /sup 220/Rn daughters were collected on a second cathode. Mathematical models of radionuclide emanation from spherical particles were used to calculate the recoil range of /sup 228/Th and the diffusion coefficient of /sup 220/Rn in the particle matrix. A /sup 228/Th recoil range of 0.02 ..mu..m and a /sup 220/Rn diffusion coefficient of 3 x 10/sup -14/ cm/sup 2//sec were obtained in both uranium oxide and thorium dioxide particles.

INERT-MATRIX FUEL: ACTINIDE ''BURNING'' AND DIRECT DISPOSAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodney C. Ewing; Lumin Wang

2002-01-01

Excess actinides result from the dismantlement of nuclear weapons (Pu) and the reprocessing of commercial spent nuclear fuel (mainly 241 Am, 244 Cm and 237 Np). In Europe, Canada and Japan studies have determined much improved efficiencies for burnup of actinides using inert-matrix fuels. This innovative approach also considers the properties of the inert-matrix fuel as a nuclear waste form for direct disposal after one-cycle of burn-up. Direct disposal can considerably reduce cost, processing requirements, and radiation exposure to workers

The Inert and the Noble

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 4; Issue 3. The Inert and the Noble. A G Samuelson. Article-in-a-Box Volume 4 Issue 3 March 1999 pp 3-5 ... Author Affiliations. A G Samuelson1. Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.

Deposits of naturally occurring radioactivity in production of oil and natural gas; Radioaktive avleiringer i olje- og gassproduksjon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strand, T; Lysebo, I; Kristensen, D; Birovljev, A

1997-01-01

Deposits of naturally occurring radioactive materials is an increasing problem in Norwegian oil and gas production. Activity concentration in solid-state samples and production water, and doses to workers involved in different operations off-shore, have been measured. The report also includes a discussion of different methods of monitoring and alternatives for final disposal of wastes. 154 refs.

Comparative Study between Two Schemes of Active-Control-Based Mechatronic Inerter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

He Lingduo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Based on force-current analogy and velocity-voltage analogy in the theory of electromechanical analogy, the inerter is a device that corresponded to the capacitor completely where conquers the nature restriction of mass, what’s more, it is significant to improve the ratio of the inerter’s inertance to its mass for mechanical networks synthesis. And according to the principle of active-control-based mechatronic inerter, we present two implementation schemes. One was based on linear motor, and the other was based on the ball screw and rotary motor. We introduced the implementation methods and established theoretical model of the two schemes, then compared the ratio of the inerter’s inertance to its mass for the two schemes. Finally, we consider the scheme is better which was based on the ball screw and rotary motor.

Compact rock material gas permeability properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Huanling, E-mail: whl_hm@163.com [Key Laboratory of Coastal Disaster and Defence, Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098 (China); LML, University of Lille, Cite Scientifique, 59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq (France); Xu, Weiya; Zuo, Jing [Institutes of Geotechnical Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098 (China)

2014-09-15

Natural compact rocks, such as sandstone, granite, and rock salt, are the main materials and geological environment for storing underground oil, gas, CO{sub 2,} shale gas, and radioactive waste because they have extremely low permeabilities and high mechanical strengths. Using the inert gas argon as the fluid medium, the stress-dependent permeability and porosity of monzonitic granite and granite gneiss from an underground oil storage depot were measured using a permeability and porosity measurement system. Based on the test results, models for describing the relationships among the permeability, porosity, and confining pressure of rock specimens were analyzed and are discussed. A power law is suggested to describe the relationship between the stress-dependent porosity and permeability; for the monzonitic granite and granite gneiss (for monzonitic granite (A-2), the initial porosity is approximately 4.05%, and the permeability is approximately 10{sup −19} m{sup 2}; for the granite gneiss (B-2), the initial porosity is approximately 7.09%, the permeability is approximately 10{sup −17} m{sup 2}; and the porosity-sensitivity exponents that link porosity and permeability are 0.98 and 3.11, respectively). Compared with moderate-porosity and high-porosity rocks, for which φ > 15%, low-porosity rock permeability has a relatively lower sensitivity to stress, but the porosity is more sensitive to stress, and different types of rocks show similar trends. From the test results, it can be inferred that the test rock specimens’ permeability evolution is related to the relative particle movements and microcrack closure.

Manufacturing and test of a low cost polypropylene bag to reduce the radioactive gas released by a radiopharmaceutical production facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tavares, Jose Carlos Freitas; Lacerda, Marco Aurelio de Sousa, E-mail: jcft@cdtn.b, E-mail: masl@cdtn.b [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (SEPRA/ CDTN/CNEN-MG) Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Servico de Protecao Radiologica; Nascimento, Leonardo Tafas Constantino do; Silva, Juliana Batista da, E-mail: ltcn@cdtn.b, E-mail: silvajb@cdtn.b [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (SECPRA/ CDTN/CNEN-MG) Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Secao de Producao de Radiofarmacos

2011-07-01

The main objective of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of a plastic gas storage bag to reduce the radioactive gas released by the chimney of a radiopharmaceutical production facility during the 2-[{sup 18}F]fluoro-2- deoxy-D-glucose ({sup 18}FDG) synthesis. The studied facility was the Development Centre of Nuclear Technology (CDTN/CNEN) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The bag was manufactured utilizing foils of polypropylene of 360 x 550 x 0.16 mm and disposable components of the cassette of the synthesizer. Two synthesis of {sup 18}FDG were done using the same hot cell and synthesizer to evaluate the efficiency of the bag. The manufactured bag was put in the gas exit of the synthesizer and the activity reported by the online radiation monitoring system in the first synthesis. These results were compared to the activity released in a synthesis performed without the bag. We observed when the bag was used the amount released was about 0.2% in 270 minutes. The second synthesis was performed without the bag, about 7,1% of the input activity was released by the exhaust of the facility in the same time interval. The bag presented a very good efficiency in the reducing of the radioactive gas released by the chimney of the radiopharmaceutical production facility. (author)

Manufacturing and test of a low cost polypropylene bag to reduce the radioactive gas released by a radiopharmaceutical production facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tavares, Jose Carlos Freitas; Lacerda, Marco Aurelio de Sousa; Nascimento, Leonardo Tafas Constantino do; Silva, Juliana Batista da

2011-01-01

The main objective of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of a plastic gas storage bag to reduce the radioactive gas released by the chimney of a radiopharmaceutical production facility during the 2-[ 18 F]fluoro-2- deoxy-D-glucose ( 18 FDG) synthesis. The studied facility was the Development Centre of Nuclear Technology (CDTN/CNEN) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The bag was manufactured utilizing foils of polypropylene of 360 x 550 x 0.16 mm and disposable components of the cassette of the synthesizer. Two synthesis of 18 FDG were done using the same hot cell and synthesizer to evaluate the efficiency of the bag. The manufactured bag was put in the gas exit of the synthesizer and the activity reported by the online radiation monitoring system in the first synthesis. These results were compared to the activity released in a synthesis performed without the bag. We observed when the bag was used the amount released was about 0.2% in 270 minutes. The second synthesis was performed without the bag, about 7,1% of the input activity was released by the exhaust of the facility in the same time interval. The bag presented a very good efficiency in the reducing of the radioactive gas released by the chimney of the radiopharmaceutical production facility. (author)

Reducing Actinide Production Using Inert Matrix Fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deinert, Mark [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)

2017-08-23

The environmental and geopolitical problems that surround nuclear power stem largely from the longlived transuranic isotopes of Am, Cm, Np and Pu that are contained in spent nuclear fuel. New methods for transmuting these elements into more benign forms are needed. Current research efforts focus largely on the development of fast burner reactors, because it has been shown that they could dramatically reduce the accumulation of transuranics. However, despite five decades of effort, fast reactors have yet to achieve industrial viability. A critical limitation to this, and other such strategies, is that they require a type of spent fuel reprocessing that can efficiently separate all of the transuranics from the fission products with which they are mixed. Unfortunately, the technology for doing this on an industrial scale is still in development. In this project, we explore a strategy for transmutation that can be deployed using existing, current generation reactors and reprocessing systems. We show that use of an inert matrix fuel to recycle transuranics in a conventional pressurized water reactor could reduce overall production of these materials by an amount that is similar to what is achievable using proposed fast reactor cycles. Furthermore, we show that these transuranic reductions can be achieved even if the fission products are carried into the inert matrix fuel along with the transuranics, bypassing the critical separations hurdle described above. The implications of these findings are significant, because they imply that inert matrix fuel could be made directly from the material streams produced by the commercially available PUREX process. Zirconium dioxide would be an ideal choice of inert matrix in this context because it is known to form a stable solid solution with both fission products and transuranics.

Irradiation of inert matrix and mixed oxide fuel in the Halden test reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hellwig, Ch.; Kasemeyer, U.

2001-01-01

In a new type of fuel, called Inert Matrix Fuel (IMF), plutonium is embedded in a U-free matrix. This offers advantages for more efficient plutonium consumption, higher proliferation resistance, and for inert behaviour later in a waste repository. In the fuel type investigated at PSI, plutonium is dissolved in yttrium-stabilized zirconium oxide (YSZ), a highly radiation-resistant cubic phase, with addition of erbium as burnable poison for reactivity control. A first irradiation experiment of YSZ-based IMF is ongoing in the OECD Material Test Reactor in Halden (HBWR), together with MOX fuel (Rig IFA-651.1). The experiment is described herein and results are presented of the first 120 days of irradiation with an average assembly burnup of 47 kWd/cm 3 . The results are compared with neutronic calculations performed before the experiment, and are used to model the fuel behaviour with the PSI-modified TRANSURANUS code. The measured fuel temperatures are within the expected range. An unexpectedly strong densification of the IMF during the first irradiation cycle does not alter the fuel temperatures. An explanation for this behaviour is proposed. The irradiation at higher linear heat rates during forthcoming cycles will deliver information about the fission gas release behaviour of the IMF. (author)

Irradiation of inert matrix and mixed oxide fuel in the Halden test reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hellwig, Ch.; Kasemeyer, U

2001-03-01

In a new type of fuel, called Inert Matrix Fuel (IMF), plutonium is embedded in a U-free matrix. This offers advantages for more efficient plutonium consumption, higher proliferation resistance, and for inert behaviour later in a waste repository. In the fuel type investigated at PSI, plutonium is dissolved in yttrium-stabilized zirconium oxide (YSZ), a highly radiation-resistant cubic phase, with addition of erbium as burnable poison for reactivity control. A first irradiation experiment of YSZ-based IMF is ongoing in the OECD Material Test Reactor in Halden (HBWR), together with MOX fuel (Rig IFA-651.1). The experiment is described herein and results are presented of the first 120 days of irradiation with an average assembly burnup of 47 kWd/cm{sup 3}. The results are compared with neutronic calculations performed before the experiment, and are used to model the fuel behaviour with the PSI-modified TRANSURANUS code. The measured fuel temperatures are within the expected range. An unexpectedly strong densification of the IMF during the first irradiation cycle does not alter the fuel temperatures. An explanation for this behaviour is proposed. The irradiation at higher linear heat rates during forthcoming cycles will deliver information about the fission gas release behaviour of the IMF. (author)

Construction and calibration of a simple scintillation counter for monitoring radioactive gases in ducts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnston, M.S.

1984-07-01

A report is given of the practical construction, laboratory calibration and simple-in-situ calibration check of scintillation detectors used for monitoring radioactive inert gases in gaseous effluents. The βγ-ray and γ-ray detectors are identical except for an absorber which is placed over the window of the γ-ray detector after calibration. The construction and calibration of both detectors is therefore identical. (author)

Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in the oil and gas processing and production facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Najera F, J.

1994-01-01

NORM contamination is produced by concentration in petroleum facilities of naturally occurring radioactive materials. The presence of NORM in petroleum reservoirs and in the oil and gas industry has been widely recognized. It's not a critical technical problem if you proceed timely to solve it. NORM is a great but controllable hazard to the human health and the environment, and represents a severe waste management problem. We suggest to the latino american oil companies to conduct studies to detect NORM contamination in their facilities an use to them to plan the appropriate actions to control the situation. (author). 15 refs

Source terms for airborne radioactivity arising from uranium mill wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Riordan, M.C.; Downing, A.L.

1978-01-01

One of the problems in assessing the radiological impact of uranium milling is to determine the rates of release to the air of material from the various sources of radioactivity. Such source terms are required for modelling the transport of radioactive material in the atmosphere. Activity arises from various point and area sources in the mill itself and from the mill tailings. The state of the tailings changes in time from slurry to solid. A layer of water may be maintained over the solids during the life of the mine, and the tailings may be covered with inert material on abandonment. Releases may be both gaseous and particulate. This paper indicates ways in which radon emanation and the suspension of long-lived particulate activity might be quantified, and areas requiring further exploration are identified

Concentration dynamics in lakes and reservoirs. Studies using radioactive tracers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilath, Ch.

1983-01-01

The use of radioactive tracers for the investigation of concentration dynamics of inert soluble matter in lakes and reservoirs is reviewed. Shallow and deep stratified lakes are considered. The mechanism of mixing in lakes, flow pattern and input - output response are discussed. The methodology of the use of radioactive tracers for concentration dynamic studies is described. Examples of various investigations are reviewed. The dynamics of shallow lakes can be found and expressed in terms of transfer functions, axial dispersion models, residence time distributions and sometimes only semiquantitative information about the flow pattern. The dynamics of deep, stratified lakes is more complex and difficult to investigate with tracers. Flow pattern, horizontal and vertical eddy diffusivities, mass transfer between the hypolimnion and epilimnion are tools used for describing this dynamics. (author)

Effects of N2 gas on preheated laminar LPG jet diffusion flame

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mishra, D.P.; Kumar, P.

2010-01-01

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the inert gas effect on flame length, NO x and soot free length fraction (SFLF) in a laminar LPG diffusion flame. Besides this, flame radiant fraction and temperature are also measured to explain observed NO x emission and SFLF. The inert is added to both air and fuel stream at each base line condition by maintaining a constant mass flow rate in each stream. Results indicate that inert addition leads to a significant enhancement in flame length for air-diluted stream than fuel-diluted stream. However, the flame length is observed to reduce with increasing reactant temperature. It is also observed that the SFLF increases with addition of N 2 for fuel-diluted stream. In contrast, SFLF remains almost constant when N 2 is added to air stream. The decrease in fuel concentration and gas temperature caused by inert addition leads to reduction in soot volume fraction and hence enhances SFLF. Interestingly, the SFLF reduces with increasing reactant temperature, due to reduction in induction period of soot formation caused by enhanced flame temperature. Besides this, the reduction in NO x emission level with inert addition is also observed. For all the three cases, the air dilution proved to be much efficient in reducing NO x emission level as compared to fuel dilution. This can be attributed to the differences in reduced gas temperature and residence time between air and fuel-diluted streams. On the contrary, NO x emission level enhances significantly with increasing reactant temperature as a result of increase in thermal NO x through Zeldovich mechanism.

Advanced Off-Gas Control System Design For Radioactive And Mixed Waste Treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nick Soelberg

2005-01-01

Treatment of radioactive and mixed wastes is often required to destroy or immobilize hazardous constituents, reduce waste volume, and convert the waste to a form suitable for final disposal. These kinds of treatments usually evolve off-gas. Air emission regulations have become increasingly stringent in recent years. Mixed waste thermal treatment in the United States is now generally regulated under the Hazardous Waste Combustor (HWC) Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards. These standards impose unprecedented requirements for operation, monitoring and control, and emissions control. Off-gas control technologies and system designs that were satisfactorily proven in mixed waste operation prior to the implementation of new regulatory standards are in some cases no longer suitable in new mixed waste treatment system designs. Some mixed waste treatment facilities have been shut down rather than have excessively restrictive feed rate limits or facility upgrades to comply with the new standards. New mixed waste treatment facilities in the U. S. are being designed to operate in compliance with the HWC MACT standards. Activities have been underway for the past 10 years at the INL and elsewhere to identify, develop, demonstrate, and design technologies for enabling HWC MACT compliance for mixed waste treatment facilities. Some specific off-gas control technologies and system designs have been identified and tested to show that even the stringent HWC MACT standards can be met, while minimizing treatment facility size and cost

The injection of inert gas ions into solids: their trapping and escape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carter, G.; Armour, D.G.; Donnelly, S.E.; Ingram, D.C.; Webb, R.P.

1980-01-01

Basic information is required to understand fission gas generation and its consequence for swelling and embrittlement in fission reactors, for understanding and controlling first wall problems in fusion reactors and for attempting to design storage for active gas waste. In all of these areas the rare gas atoms are generated with kinetic energy and may thus interact differently, during their slowing down, with the solid than if they had been introduced more gently (e.g. via diffusion) into the solid. An important method of simulating the behaviour of such energetic rare gas atoms in solids is via external irradiation of the solid with rare gas ions of appropriate species and energies and it is the purpose of this review to evaluate studies of this nature. The review is divided into three parts. The first describes experimental techniques, discusses the results of measurements of how ions penetrate into and may be retained in a solid, and outlines theoretical interpretations of the data. The mechanisms of gas atom dissolution and thermal transport in solids are of profound importance and so, in the second part of this review, attention is devoted to how the technique of post-implantation thermal evolution spectrometry can be employed to attempt to understand some of these processes. Particular attention is paid to the difficulties of unique interpretation of evolution spectra. In the final section, consideration will be given to the processes which lead to the inevitable saturation of solids undergoing continued irradiation with rare gas ions and experimental measurements and their probable interpretation will be discussed. Since many materials are of importance in the context of this symposium, reference will be made to as broad a range of studies as possible. (author)

Radioactive wastes. Management prospects. Appendixes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guillaumont, R.

2003-01-01

These appendixes complete the article BN3661 entitled 'Radioactive wastes. Management prospects'. They develop the principles of the different separation processes under study and make a status of the conditioning matrices that are envisaged: 1 - principles of advanced separation (separation of U, Np, Pu, Tc and I; separation of Am and Cm in two extraction steps (Diamex and Sanex processes); separation of Am and Cm in a single extraction step (Paladin process); separation of Am and Cm (Sesame process); separation of Cs (Calixarene process); 2 - principles of separation in pyro-chemistry: separation under inert atmosphere (non-oxidizing); separation in oxidizing conditions; 3 - conditioning matrices under study for separate elements: objectives and methodology, matrices for iodine, for cesium and for actinides. (J.S.)

Theories of fission gas behaviour

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dias, J W.C. [Companhia Brasileira de Tecnologia Nuclear, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Diretoria de Tecnologia e Desenvolvimento; Merckx, K R

1976-01-01

A review is presented of the theoretical developments and experimental evidence that have helped to evolve current models used to describe the behavior of inert fission gases created during the irradiation of reactor fuel materials. The phenomena which are stressed relate primarily to steady state behavior of fuel elements but are also relevant to an understanding of transient behavior. The processes considered include gas atom solubility; gas atom diffusivity; bubble nucleation; and bubble growth by bubble coalescence.

Moment analysis of the time-dependent transmission of a step-function input of a radioactive gas through an adsorber bed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, T.V.; Rothstein, D.; Madey, R.

1986-01-01

The time-dependent concentration of a radioactive gas at the outlet of an adsorber bed for a step change in the input concentration is analyzed by the method of moments. This moment analysis yields analytical expressions for calculating the kinetic parameters of a gas adsorbed on a porous solid in terms of observables from a time-dependent transmission curve. Transmission is the ratio of the adsorbate outlet concentration to that at the inlet. The three nonequilibrium parameters are the longitudinal diffusion coefficient, the solid-phase diffusion coefficient, and the interfacial mass-transfer coefficient. Three quantities that can be extracted in principle from an experimental transmission curve are the equilibrium transmission, the average residence (or propagation) time, and the first-moment relative to the propagation time. The propagation time for a radioactive gas is given by the time integral of one minus the transmission (expressed as a fraction of the steady-state transmission). The steady-state transmission, the propagation time, and the first-order moment are functions of the three kinetic parameters and the equilibrium adsorption capacity. The equilibrium adsorption capacity is extracted from an experimental transmission curve for a stable gaseous isotope. The three kinetic parameters can be obtained by solving the three analytical expressions simultaneously. No empirical correlations are required

Gas tungsten arc welder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christiansen, D.W.; Brown, W.F.

1984-01-01

A welder for automated closure of fuel pins by a gas tungsten arc process in which a rotating length of cladding is positioned adjacent a welding electrode in a sealed enclosure. An independently movable grinder, co-axial with the electrode, is provided in the enclosure for refurbishing the used electrode between welds. The specification also discloses means for loading of the cladding with fuel pellets and for placement of reflectors, gas capsules and end caps. Gravity feed conveyor and inerting means are also described. (author)

Radon gas in oil and natural gas production facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chandler, W.P.

1994-01-01

Radon gas is a naturally occurring radionuclide that can be found in some oil and natural gas production facilities, either as a contaminant in a natural gas stream or derived from Radium dissolved in formation waters. The gas itself is not normally a health hazard, but it's decay products, which can be concentrated by plate-out or deposition as a scale in process equipment, can be a health hazard for maintenance personnel. To evaluate possible health hazards, it is necessary to monitor for naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in the gas stream and in the formation water. If Radon and/or Radium is found, a monitoring programme should be initiated to comply with National or State requirements. In some instances, it has been found necessary to dispose of silt and scale materials as low level radioactive waste. 8 refs

[Microbiological Aspects of Radioactive Waste Storage].

Science.gov (United States)

Safonov, A V; Gorbunova, O A; German, K E; Zakharova, E V; Tregubova, V E; Ershov, B G; Nazina, T N

2015-01-01

The article gives information about the microorganisms inhabiting in surface storages of solid radioactive waste and deep disposal sites of liquid radioactive waste. It was shown that intensification of microbial processes can lead to significant changes in the chemical composition and physical state of the radioactive waste. It was concluded that the biogeochemical processes can have both a positive effect on the safety of radioactive waste storages (immobilization of RW macrocomponents, a decreased migration ability of radionuclides) and a negative one (biogenic gas production in subterranean formations and destruction of cement matrix).

Passive and active vibration isolation systems using inerter

Science.gov (United States)

Alujević, N.; Čakmak, D.; Wolf, H.; Jokić, M.

2018-03-01

This paper presents a theoretical study on passive and active vibration isolation schemes using inerter elements in a two degree of freedom (DOF) mechanical system. The aim of the work is to discuss basic capabilities and limitations of the vibration control systems at hand using simple and physically transparent models. Broad frequency band dynamic excitation of the source DOF is assumed. The purpose of the isolator system is to prevent vibration transmission to the receiving DOF. The frequency averaged kinetic energy of the receiving mass is used as the metric for vibration isolation quality. It is shown that the use of inerter element in the passive vibration isolation scheme can enhance the isolation effect. In the active case, a feedback disturbance rejection scheme is considered. Here, the error signal is the receiving body absolute velocity which is directly fed to a reactive force actuator between the source and the receiving bodies. In such a scheme, the so-called subcritical vibration isolation problems exist. These problems are characterised by the uncoupled natural frequency of the receiving body larger than the uncoupled natural frequency of the source body. In subcritical vibration isolation problems, the performance of the active control is limited by poor stability margins. This is because the stable feedback gain is restricted in a narrow range between a minimum and a maximum. However, with the inclusion of an inerter in the isolator, one of the two stability margins can be opened. This enables large, theoretically unlimited negative feedback gains and large active damping of the receiving body vibration. A simple expression for the required inertance is derived.

Method of detecting stacks with leaky fuel elements in liquid-metal-cooled reactor and apparatus for effecting same

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aristarkhov, N.N.; Efimov, I.A.; Zaistev, B.I.; Peters, I.G.; Tymosh, B.S.

1976-01-01

Described is a method of detecting stacks with leaky fuel elements in a liquid-metal-cooled reactor, consisting in that prior to withdrawing a coolant sample, gas is accumulated in the coolant of the stack being controlled, the reactor being shut down, separated from the sample by means of an inert carrier gas, and the radioactivity of the separated gas is measured. An apparatus for carrying out said method comprises a sampler in the form of a tube parallel to the reactor axis in the hole of a rotating plug and adapted to move along the reactor axis. Made in the top portion of the tube are holes for the introduction of the inert carrier gas and the removal thereof together with the gases evolved from the coolant, while the bottom portion of the tube is provided with a sealing member

Experimental and theoretical analysis of effects of atomic, diatomic and polyatomic inert gases in air and EGR on mixture properties, combustion, thermal efficiency and NOx emissions of a pilot-ignited NG engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Weifeng; Liu, Zhongchang; Wang, Zhongshu; Dou, Huili

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The specific heat ratio of the mixture increases with increasing Ar. • The thermal efficiency increases first and then decreases with increasing Ar. • Mechanisms of reducing NOx emissions are different for different dilution gases. • A suitable inert gas should be used to meet different requirements. - Abstract: Argon (Ar), nitrogen (N_2) and carbon dioxide (CO_2), present in exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and air, are common atomic, diatomic and polyatomic inert gases, separately. As dilution gases, they are always added into the intake charge to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, directly or along with EGR and air. This paper presents the effects of Ar, N_2 and CO_2 on mixture properties, combustion, thermal efficiency and NOx emissions of pilot-ignited natural gas engines. Thermodynamic properties of the air-dilution gas mixture with increasing dilution gases, including density, gas constant, specific heat ratio, specific heat capacity, heat capacity and thermal diffusivity, were analyzed theoretically using thermodynamic relations and ideal gas equations based on experimental results. The thermal and diluent effects of dilution gases on NOx emissions were investigated based on Arrhenius Law and Zeldovich Mechanism, experimentally and theoretically. The experiments were arranged based on an electronically controlled heavy-duty, 6-cylinder, turbocharged, pilot-ignited natural gas engine. The resulted show that adding different inert gases into the intake charge had different influences on the thermodynamic properties of the air-dilution gas mixture. No great change in combustion phase was found with increasing dilution ratio (DR) of Ar, while the flame development duration increased significantly and CA50 moved far away from combustion top dead center (TDC) obviously with increasing DR for both of N_2 and CO_2. Adding Ar was superior in maintaining high thermal efficiencies than CO_2 and N_2, but adding CO_2 was superior in maintaining

Disposal of Kr-85 separated from the dissolver off-gas of a reprocessing plant for LWR fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nommensen, O.

1981-08-01

The principle of the radiation protection to keep the radiation load of the population as low as possible requires the development of methods for retaining the radionuclide Krypton 85 seperated off the dissolver waste gas of future reprocessing plants for LWR-nuclear fuel elements. In a recommendation of the RSK the long-termed storage of the Kr-85 in a pressure gas bottle and the marine disposal we considered to be disposal methods low in risk. The present work develops a concept for both of the disposal methods and demonstrates their technical feasibility. The comparison of the cost estimations effected for both of the disposal methods shows that the costs related with the marine disposal of the pressure gas bottles amounting to 1.90 DM/kg of reprocessed U fall by the factor 10 below the costs that result from the surface storage of the bottles. In both cases was referred to a reprocessing capacity of 1400 t U/a corresponding to 50 GW installed nuclear power, thereby accumulating approximately 629 PBq (17 MCi) Kr-85 per year. Both concepts project the seperated radioactive inert gas to be filled in pressure gas bottles in a low temperature rectification plant. Each of the 85 bottles to be filled per year contains 7.4 PBq (200 kCi) Kr-85. (orig./HP) [de

Effects of N{sub 2} gas on preheated laminar LPG jet diffusion flame

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mishra, D.P.; Kumar, P. [Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208 016 (India)

2010-11-15

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the inert gas effect on flame length, NO{sub x} and soot free length fraction (SFLF) in a laminar LPG diffusion flame. Besides this, flame radiant fraction and temperature are also measured to explain observed NO{sub x} emission and SFLF. The inert is added to both air and fuel stream at each base line condition by maintaining a constant mass flow rate in each stream. Results indicate that inert addition leads to a significant enhancement in flame length for air-diluted stream than fuel-diluted stream. However, the flame length is observed to reduce with increasing reactant temperature. It is also observed that the SFLF increases with addition of N{sub 2} for fuel-diluted stream. In contrast, SFLF remains almost constant when N{sub 2} is added to air stream. The decrease in fuel concentration and gas temperature caused by inert addition leads to reduction in soot volume fraction and hence enhances SFLF. Interestingly, the SFLF reduces with increasing reactant temperature, due to reduction in induction period of soot formation caused by enhanced flame temperature. Besides this, the reduction in NO{sub x} emission level with inert addition is also observed. For all the three cases, the air dilution proved to be much efficient in reducing NO{sub x} emission level as compared to fuel dilution. This can be attributed to the differences in reduced gas temperature and residence time between air and fuel-diluted streams. On the contrary, NO{sub x} emission level enhances significantly with increasing reactant temperature as a result of increase in thermal NO{sub x} through Zeldovich mechanism. (author)

Control of degradation of spent LWR [light-water reactor] fuel during dry storage in an inert atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cunningham, M.E.; Simonen, E.P.; Allemann, R.T.; Levy, I.S.; Hazelton, R.F.

1987-10-01

Dry storage of Zircaloy-clad spent fuel in inert gas (referred to as inerted dry storage or IDS) is being developed as an alternative to water pool storage of spent fuel. The objectives of the activities described in this report are to identify potential Zircaloy degradation mechanisms and evaluate their applicability to cladding breach during IDS, develop models of the dominant Zircaloy degradation mechanisms, and recommend cladding temperature limits during IDS to control Zircaloy degradation. The principal potential Zircaloy cladding breach mechanisms during IDS have been identified as creep rupture, stress corrosion cracking (SCC), and delayed hydride cracking (DHC). Creep rupture is concluded to be the primary cladding breach mechanism during IDS. Deformation and fracture maps based on creep rupture were developed for Zircaloy. These maps were then used as the basis for developing spent fuel cladding temperature limits that would prevent cladding breach during a 40-year IDS period. The probability of cladding breach for spent fuel stored at the temperature limit is less than 0.5% per spent fuel rod. 52 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab

The ''invisible'' radioactive scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjoernstad, T.; Ramsoey, T.

1999-04-01

Production and up-concentration of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) in the petroleum industry has attracted steadily increasing attention during the last 15 years. Most production engineers today associate this radioactivity with precipitates (scales) and sludges in production tubing, pumps, valves, separators, settling tanks etc., wherever water is being transported or treated. 226 Ra and 228 Ra are the most well known radioactive constituents in scale. Surprisingly little known is the radioactive contamination by 210 Pb and progeny 210 Bi and 210 Po. These are found in combination with 226 Ra in ordinary scale, often in layer of non-radioactive metallic lead in water transportation systems, but also in pure gas and condensate handling systems ''unsupported'' by 226 Ra, but due to transportation and decay of the noble gas 222 Rn in NG/LNG. This latter contamination may be rather thin, in some cases virtually invisible. When, in addition, the radiation energies are low enough for not being detectable on the equipment outer surface, its existence has for most people in the industry been a secret. The report discusses transportation and deposition mechanisms, detection methods and provides some examples of measured results from the North Sea on equipment sent for maintenance. It is concluded that a regular measurement program for this type of contamination should be mandatory under all dismantling processes of transportation and fluid handling equipment for fluids and gases offshore and onshore

temperature fluctuation inside inert atmosphere silos

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... the two silos for twenty-eight (28) months of storage were recorded in order to monitor temperature fluctuation at different sections inside the inert atmosphere silos loaded with two varieties of wheat namely LACRIWHT-2 (Cettia) and LACRIWHT-4 (Atilla-Gan-Atilla) from Lake Chad Research Institute, Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Nanotoxicity of Inert Materials: The Case of Gold, Silver and Iron.

Science.gov (United States)

Umair, Muhammad; Javed, Ibrahim; Rehman, Mubashar; Madni, Asadullah; Javeed, Aqeel; Ghafoor, Aamir; Ashraf, Muhammad

2016-01-01

Nanotechnology has opened a new horizon of research in various fields including applied physics, chemistry, electronics, optics, robotics, biotechnology and medicine. In the biomedical field, nanomaterials have shown remarkable potential as theranostic agents. Materials which are considered inert are often used in nanomedicine owning to their nontoxic profile. At nanoscale, these inert materials have shown unique properties that differ from bulk and dissolved counterparts. In the case of metals, this unique behavior not only imparts paramount advantages but also confers toxicity due to their unwanted interaction with different cellular processes. In the literature, the toxicity of nanoparticles made from inert materials has been investigated and many of these have revealed toxic potential under specific conditions. The surge to understand underlying mechanism of toxicity has increased and different means have been employed to overcome toxicity problems associated with these agents. In this review, we have focused nanoparticles of three inert metallic materials i.e. gold, silver and iron as these are regarded as biologically inert in the bulk and dissolved form. These materials have gained wider research interest and studies indicating the toxicity of these materials are also emerging. Oxidative stress, physical binding and interference with intracellular signaling are the major role player in nanotoxicity and their predominance is highly dependent upon size, surface coating and administered dose of nanoparticles. Current strategies to overcome toxicity have also been reviewed in the light of recent literature. The authors also suggested that uniform testing standards and well-designed studies are needed to evaluate nanotoxicity of these materials that are otherwise considered as inert. This article is open to POST-PUBLICATION REVIEW. Registered readers (see "For Readers") may comment by clicking on ABSTRACT on the issue's contents page.

Plasma separation process: Disposal of PSP radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-07-01

Radioactive wastes, in the form of natural uranium contaminated scrap hardware and residual materials from decontamination operations, were generated in the PSP facilities in buildings R1 and 106. Based on evaluation of the characteristics of these wastes and the applicable regulations, the various options for the processing and disposal of PSP radioactive wastes were investigated and recommended procedures were developed. The essential features of waste processing included: (1) the solidification of all liquid wastes prior to shipment; (2) cutting of scrap hardware to fit 55-gallon drums and use of inerting agents (diatomaceous earth) to eliminate pyrophoric hazards; and (3) compaction of soft wastes. All PSP radioactive wastes were shipped to the Hanford Site for disposal. As part of the waste disposal process, a detailed plan was formulated for handling and tracking of PSP radioactive wastes, from the point of generation through shipping. In addition, a waste minimization program was implemented to reduce the waste volume or quantity. Included in this document are discussions of the applicable regulations, the types of PSP wastes, the selection of the preferred waste disposal approach and disposal site, the analysis and classification of PSP wastes, the processing and ultimate disposition of PSP wastes, the handling and tracking of PSP wastes, and the implementation of the PSP waste minimization program. 9 refs., 1 fig., 8 tabs

Radcalc: A computer program to calculate the radiolytic production of hydrogen gas from radioactive wastes in packages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, J.R.; Schwarz, R.A.; Hillesland, K.E.; Roetman, V.E.; Field, J.G.

1995-11-01

Radcalc for Windows' is a menu-driven Microsoft2 Windows-compatible computer code that calculates the radiolytic production of hydrogen gas in high- and low-level radioactive waste. In addition, the code also determines US Department of Transportation (DOT) transportation classifications, calculates the activities of parent and daughter isotopes for a specified period of time, calculates decay heat, and calculates pressure buildup from the production of hydrogen gas in a given package geometry. Radcalc for Windows was developed by Packaging Engineering, Transportation and Packaging, Westinghouse Hanford Company, Richland, Washington, for the US Department of Energy (DOE). It is available from Packaging Engineering and is issued with a user's manual and a technical manual. The code has been verified and validated

Dry boxes and inert atmosphere techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartak, D.E.

1987-01-01

Practitioners need to conduct experiments with molten salts in an inert atmosphere owing to the chemical reactivity of these media. Most fused salt solvent systems show reactivity to water and/or oxygen, which results in significant chemical changes in the properties of these solvents. Although several studies on the nature of an oxygen/oxide electrode in this melt have been reported, the reactions have not been fully understood because of apparent water contamination in many cases. Nitrate melt systems are also hygroscopic; for example, the LiNO 3 -KNO 3 eutectic (177 0 C) absorbs water to at least 0.2% by weight. The result is that the electrochemistry of heavier, electropositive metal ions has been significantly altered. In addition, trace amounts of water have been shown to significantly affect the oxygen-oxide redox chemistry in NaNO 3 -KNO 3 melts (250 0 C). The haloaluminates, which include AlCl 3 -NaCl (175 0 C), as well as AlCl 3 -organic salt binaries are particularly sensitive to the presence of both oxygen and moisture. Oxygen is a strong oxidant in the fused hydroxide systems with formation of superoxide ion from either oxide or water. This chapter describes general, inert atmosphere techniques which can be used by the molten salt experimentalist. Because of the limitations of volatility, vacuum manipulations are not considered. Rather, the use of glove boxes, glove bags, and inert bench-top techniques are discussed. The areas covered are: glove box and bag equipment, operation and maintenance of glove boxes and glove bags, and common operations conducted inside glove boxes

ELECTROCHEMICAL SEPARATION AND CONCENTRATION OF HYDROGEN SULFIDE FROM GAS MIXTURES

Science.gov (United States)

Winnick, Jack; Sather, Norman F.; Huang, Hann S.

1984-10-30

A method of removing sulfur oxides of H.sub.2 S from high temperature gas mixtures (150.degree.-1000.degree. C.) is the subject of the present invention. An electrochemical cell is employed. The cell is provided with inert electrodes and an electrolyte which will provide anions compatible with the sulfur containing anions formed at the anode. The electrolyte is also selected to provide inert stable cations at the temperatures encountered. The gas mixture is passed by the cathode where the sulfur gases are converted to SO.sub.4 -- or, in the case of H.sub.2 S, to S--. The anions migrate to the anode where they are converted to a stable gaseous form at much greater concentration levels (>10X). Current flow may be effected by utilizing an external source of electrical energy or by passing a reducing gas such as hydrogen past the anode.

Monitoring of the release of gaseous and aerosol-bound radioactive materials. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

KTA 1503 contains requirements on technical installations and supplementary organizational measures considered necessary in order to monitor the release of gaseous and aerosol-bound radioactive materials. It consists of part 1: Monitoring of the release of radioactive materials together with stack gas during normal operation; part 2: Monitoring of the release of radioactive materials together with stack gas in the event of incidents; part 3: Monitoring of radioactive materials not released together with stack gas. The concept on which this rule is based is to ensure that in the case of incidents during which the result of effluent monitoring remains meaningful, such monitoring can be reliably performed. (orig./HSCH) [de

Trapping radioactive ions

CERN Document Server

Kluge, Heinz-Jürgen

2004-01-01

Trapping devices for atomic and nuclear physics experiments with radioactive ions are becoming more and more important at accelerator facilities. While about ten years ago only one online Penning trap experiment existed, namely ISOLTRAP at ISOLDE/CERN, meanwhile almost every radioactive beam facility has installed or plans an ion trap setup. This article gives an overview on ion traps in the operation, construction or planing phase which will be used for fundamental studies with short-lived radioactive nuclides such as mass spectrometry, laser spectroscopy and nuclear decay spectroscopy. In addition, this article summarizes the use of gas cells and radiofrequency quadrupole (Paul) traps at different facilities as a versatile tool for ion beam manipulation like retardation, cooling, bunching, and cleaning.

Trapping radioactive ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kluge, H.-J.; Blaum, K.

2004-01-01

Trapping devices for atomic and nuclear physics experiments with radioactive ions are becoming more and more important at accelerator facilities. While about ten years ago only one online Penning trap experiment existed, namely ISOLTRAP at ISOLDE/CERN, meanwhile almost every radioactive beam facility has installed or plans an ion trap setup. This article gives an overview on ion traps in the operation, construction or planing phase which will be used for fundamental studies with short-lived radioactive nuclides such as mass spectrometry, laser spectroscopy and nuclear decay spectroscopy. In addition, this article summarizes the use of gas cells and radiofrequency quadrupole (Paul) traps at different facilities as a versatile tool for ion beam manipulation like retardation, cooling, bunching, and cleaning

Thermodynamic evaluation of hydrogen production for fuel cells by using bio-ethanol steam reforming: Effect of carrier gas addition

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández, Liliana; Kafarov, Viatcheslav

Omitting the influence of the addition of carrier gas to the reaction system for hydrogen production by bio-ethanol steam reforming can lead to wrong conclusions, especially when it is going to be made to scale. The effect of carrier gas addition to produce hydrogen using bio-ethanol steam reforming to feed fuel cells was evaluated. Thermodynamic calculations in equilibrium conditions were made, however the analysis derived from them can also be applied to kinetic conditions. These calculations were made by using the Aspen-HYSYS software at atmospheric pressure and different values of temperature, water/ethanol molar ratios, and inert (argon)/(water/ethanol) molar ratios. The addition of inert carrier gas modifies the concentrations of the reaction products in comparison to those obtained without its presence. This behavior occurs because most of the reactions which take place in bio-ethanol steam reforming have a positive difference of moles. This fact enhances the system sensitivity to inert concentration at low and moderated temperatures (<700 °C). At high values of temperature, the inert addition does not influence the composition of the reaction products because of the predominant effect of inverse WGS reaction.

Thermodynamic evaluation of hydrogen production for fuel cells by using bio-ethanol steam reforming: Effect of carrier gas addition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hernandez, Liliana; Kafarov, Viatcheslav [Universidad Industrial de Santander, Escuela de Ingenieria Quimica, Bucaramanga 678 (Colombia)

2009-07-01

Omitting the influence of the addition of carrier gas to the reaction system for hydrogen production by bio-ethanol steam reforming can lead to wrong conclusions, especially when it is going to be made to scale. The effect of carrier gas addition to produce hydrogen using bio-ethanol steam reforming to feed fuel cells was evaluated. Thermodynamic calculations in equilibrium conditions were made, however the analysis derived from them can also be applied to kinetic conditions. These calculations were made by using the Aspen-HYSYS software at atmospheric pressure and different values of temperature, water/ethanol molar ratios, and inert (argon)/(water/ethanol) molar ratios. The addition of inert carrier gas modifies the concentrations of the reaction products in comparison to those obtained without its presence. This behavior occurs because most of the reactions which take place in bio-ethanol steam reforming have a positive difference of moles. This fact enhances the system sensitivity to inert concentration at low and moderated temperatures (<700 C). At high values of temperature, the inert addition does not influence the composition of the reaction products because of the predominant effect of inverse WGS reaction. (author)

Method of treatment in a system passing radioactive material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kamiya, K; Kinoshita, M; Asakura, Y

1976-05-14

A method to ensure the safety of the reactor and reduce radiation exposure dose by preventing oxygen hydrogen reaction of the reactor off-gas and accumulation of the radioactive material is described. Substances which are accumulated in an off-gas duct and are likely to capture radioactive material (for instance Pd catalyst falling from a recombiner) is changed into a stable material (for instance, PdI/sub 2/) which is hot likely to capture radioactive material through reaction with a stabilizer (for instance, I/sub 2/, Cl/sub 2/, HCl, etc.). This stabilized material is washed off the atomic power plant system.

Preparation of mesoporous zirconia microspheres as inert matrix

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo, Ting [State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084 (China); Wang, Chen; Lv, Jinlong [Beijing Key Laboratory of Fine Ceramics, Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084 (China); Liang, Tongxiang, E-mail: txliang@tsinghua.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084 (China)

2016-12-01

Mesoporous zirconia microspheres, with a diameter of 900 μm, were prepared as an inert accelerator driven system (ADS) transmutation element matrix by the sol-gel method. The purpose of mesopores is to improve the adsorption capacity of inert matrix fuel (IMF) for minor actinides. The study indicated that the mesoporous zirconia performance was improved after the microspheres were hydrothermally treated at 150 °C, the specific surface area increased from 28.29 m{sup 2}/g to 61.28 m{sup 2}/g, and hydrothermal treatment avoided the cracking of the microspheres. Pre-decomposition of the organics during the hydrothermal process stabilized the mesoporous structure. The average pore diameter of mesoporous microsphere was 14.3 nm. - Highlights: • Mesoporous zirconia microspheres with a diameter of 900 μm were prepared as ADS transmutation element inert matrix. • The mesoporous performance was improved after the microspheres were hydrothermally treated at 150 °C. • The specific surface area increased from 28.29 m{sup 2}/g to 61.28 m{sup 2}/g. • The hydrothermal treatment could avoid the cracking of the microspheres. • The specific surface area of mesoporous microsphere was 61.28 m{sup 2}/g and the average pore diameter was 14.3 nm.

Formulation and evaluation of gas release scenarios for the silo in Swedish Final Repository for Radioactive Waste (SFR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlsson, J.; Moreno, L.

1992-01-01

The Swedish Final Repository for Radioactive Waste (SFR) has been in operation since 1988 and is located in the crystalline rock, 60 m below the Baltic Sea. In the licensing procedure for the SFR the safety assessment has been complemented with a detailed scenario analysis of the performance of the repository. The scenarios include the influence on radionuclide release by gas formation and gas transport processes in the silo. The overall conclusion is that the release of most radionuclides from the silo is only marginally affected by the formation and release of gas, even for scenarios considering unexpected events. The largest effects were found for short-lived radionuclides and radionuclides that have no or low sorption ability. Except for very extreme scenarios for the silo the overall impact from repository on the environment is by far dominated by the release of radionuclides from the rock vaults. 10 refs., 6 figs

Radioactive action code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1988-01-01

A new coding system, 'Hazrad', for buildings and transportation containers for alerting emergency services personnel to the presence of radioactive materials has been developed in the United Kingdom. The hazards of materials in the buildings or transport container, together with the recommended emergency action, are represented by a number of codes which are marked on the building or container and interpreted from a chart carried as a pocket-size guide. Buildings would be marked with the familiar yellow 'radioactive' trefoil, the written information 'Radioactive materials' and a list of isotopes. Under this the 'Hazrad' code would be written - three symbols to denote the relative radioactive risk (low, medium or high), the biological risk (also low, medium or high) and the third showing the type of radiation emitted, alpha, beta or gamma. The response cards indicate appropriate measures to take, eg for a high biological risk, Bio3, the wearing of a gas-tight protection suit is advised. The code and its uses are explained. (U.K.)

Devoluming method of acidic radioactive liquid waste and processing system therefor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirai, Takamori; Honda, Tadahiro

1998-01-01

Radioactive liquid wastes such as liquid wastes discharged from chemical decontamination (containing free acids, metal salts dissolved in acids, not-dissolved iron rust and radioactive metals) are introduced to an acid recovering device using a diffusion permeation membrane and separated to a deacidified liquid and separated acid liquid. The separated acid liquid mainly comprising free acids is recovered to a tank for recovered acids, and used repeatedly for removing crud. The deacidified liquid mainly comprising salts is concentrated in a reverse osmosis membrane (RO) concentration device. RO concentrated liquid containing radioactive metals is dried, and salts are decomposed in a drying/salt-decomposing device and separated into metal oxides and a mixed gas of an acidic gas and steams. The gas is cooled in an acid absorbing device and recovered as free acids. The metal oxides containing radioactive metals are solidified. (I.N.)

Post-accident hydrogen control in GKT-containment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komurka, M.

1983-06-01

The maximum possible temperature and pressure rise is analysed by assuming hydrogen deflagration with no heat loss to the vessel walls for hydrogen concentrations up to 10 Vol%. Alternative hydrogen control system to inerting, air dilution and recombiners based on controlled venting by passing the vented gas through the delay line of the gas treatment system is recommended. The combination of hydrogen control with control of noble gas radioactivity is though to have a positive effect on safety. (Author) [de

Management of Radioactive Wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tchokosa, P.

2010-01-01

Management of Radioactive Wastes is to protect workers and the public from the radiological risk associated with radioactive waste for the present and future. It application of the principles to the management of waste generated in a radioisotope uses in the industry. Any material that contains or is contaminated with radionuclides at concentrations or radioactivity levels greater than ‘exempt quantities’ established by the competent regulatory authorities and for which no further use is foreseen or intended. Origin of the Radioactive Waste includes Uranium and Thorium mining and milling, nuclear fuel cycle operations, Operation of Nuclear power station, Decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities and Institutional uses of isotopes. There are types of radioactive waste: Low-level Waste (LLW) and High-level Waste. The Management Options for Radioactive Waste Depends on Form, Activity, Concentration and half-lives of the radioactive waste, Storage and disposal methods will vary according to the following; the radionuclides present, and their concentration, and radio toxicity. The contamination results basically from: Contact between radioactive materials and any surface especially during handling. And it may occur in the solid, liquid or gas state. Decontamination is any process that will either reduce or completely remove the amount of radionuclides from a contaminated surface

Thermochromatography study of volatile polonium species in various gas atmospheres

CERN Document Server

Maugeri, Emilio Andrea; Eichler, Robert; Piguet,David; Mendonça, Tania Melo; Stora, Thierry; Schumann, Dorothea

2014-01-01

Phenomena related to the volatilization of polonium and its compounds are critical issues for the safety assessment of the innovative lead–bismuth cooled type of nuclear reactor or accelerator driven systems. The formation and volatilization of different species of polonium and their interaction with fused silica was studied by thermochromatography using carrier gases with varied redox potential. The obtained results show that under inert and reducing conditions in the absence of moisture, elemental polonium is formed. Polonium compounds more volatile than elemental polonium can be formed if traces of moisture are present in both inert and reducing carrier gas. The use of dried oxygen as carrier gas leads to the formation of polonium oxides, which are less volatile than elemental polonium. It was also found that the volatility of polonium oxides increases with increasing oxidation state. In the presence of moisture in an oxidizing carrier gas, species are formed that are more volatile than the oxides and le...

Build up of Radioactive Krypton and Xenon Analysis System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, D. K.; Choi, C. S.; Chung, K. H.; Lee, W.; Cho, Y. H.; Lee, C. W.

2008-03-01

The objective of this project is to build up an analysis system to measure the activity of the atmospheric radioactive krypton and xenon in Korea. The work scopes of the project include the purchase and the installation of the analysis system to measure the activity of the radioactive krypton and xenon in air, and the establishment of the operation capability of the system through the training of the operator. The system consists of two air sampling systems, and one radioactivity analysis system, which incorporates the enrichment system, the gas chromatography to purify a mixture gas, and the gas proportional counter to count the activity of pure krypton and xenon gas. As planned originally, the establishment of the analysis system has been completed. At present, one air sampler is successfully being operated at a specific site of the South Korea to measure the background radioactivities of Kr-85 and Xe-133 in air. The other air sampler is being reserved at the KAERI in the Daejeon for a emergency like the second nuclear test of the North Korea. During the normal time, the reserved air sampler will be used to collect the air sample for the performance test of the analysis system and the cross analysis for the calibration of the system. The radioactivity analysis system has been installed at the KAERI, and is being used to measure the activity of Kr-85 and Xe-133 in the air sample from a domestic site

Laser spectroscopy of radioactive barium and strontium isotopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, A.G.

1986-01-01

An atomic beam system and a high resolution computer controlled dye laser system were developed to perform isotope shift measurements on accelerator-produced radioactive isotopes. Two different techniques were used to transport the radioactive isotopes to the laser interaction region. The first technique was based on the thermalization and deionization of the nuclear reaction products in a helium buffer gas. The reaction products were subsequently transported in the gas to the laser beam along a capillary tube. This technique suffered from problems with chemical reactions between impurities in the buffer gas and the reaction products and proved to be unsuccessful. The second technique was based on the implantation of the reaction products into a metal lattice. Subsequent heating of the metal lattice released the implanted ions from which an atomic beam was formed. The photon burst technique was used to enable detection of the extremely weak atomic beams formed in this manner. Measurements were performed of the known isotope shifts of radioactive 128 Ba and 126 Ba to test the sensitivity of the system. The previously unmeasured isotope shift of radioactive 82 Sr also was determined, and the result obtained was compared to predictions using the droplet model

Investigation of gas-phase decontamination of internally radioactively contaminated gaseous diffusion process equipment and piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bundy, R.D.; Munday, E.B.

1991-01-01

Construction of the gaseous diffusion plants (GDPs) was begun during World War 2 to produce enriched uranium for defense purposes. These plants, which utilized UF 6 gas, were used primarily for this purpose through 1964. From 1959 through 1968, production shifted primarily to uranium enrichment to supply the nuclear power industry. Additional UF 6 -handling facilities were built in feed and fuel-processing plants associated with the uranium enrichment process. Two of the five process buildings at Oak ridge were shut down in 1964. Uranium enrichment activities at Oak Ridge were discontinued altogether in 1985. In 1987, the Department of Energy (DOE) decided to proceed with a permanent shutdown of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP). DOE intends to begin decommissioning and decontamination (D ampersand D) of ORGDP early in the next century. The remaining two GDPs are expected to be shut down during the next 10 to 40 years and will also require D ampersand D, as will the other UF 6 -handling facilities. This paper presents an investigation of gas- phase decontamination of internally radioactively contaminated gaseous diffusion process equipment and piping using powerful fluorinating reagents that convert nonvolatile uranium compounds to volatile UF 6 . These reagents include ClF 3 , F 2 , and other compounds. The scope of D ampersand D at the GDPs, previous work of gas-phase decontamination, four concepts for using gas-phase decontamination, plans for further study of gas-phase decontamination, and the current status of this work are discussed. 13 refs., 15 figs

Cyclotron production of radioactive gas from gaseous targets: inhomogeneity of the target activity - optimum flow rate of the carrier gas - cross sections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peters, J.-M.; Fiore, G. del; Quaglia, L.; Depresseux, J.-C.; Bartsch, P.

1979-01-01

When short-lived radioactive gases are produced by cyclotron-irradiated gaseous targets, the yield of activity, at the site of delivery, depends on the flow rate in the gas-carrying line. The authors improve a preliminarily published previous single model by the introduction of a supplementary hypothesis which takes into account the inhomogeneity of the activity in the gaseous target. By substituting the NTP volume of the gas in the irradiation cell Vsub(c) by a visible volume Vsub(a) depending on the flow rate and expressed by Vsub(a) = Vsub(infinity) +(V 0 - Vsub(infinity))exp(-kDsub(p)), they derive the following general expression for the optimum flow rate D which gives a maximum yield of production. D 2 -bD-bc-D 2 akexp(-kD)-abexp(-kD) = 0, a=lambda(V 0 -Vsub(infinity)), b = lambdaVsub(r), c = lambdaVsub(infinity), lambda = the decay constant of the radionuclide produced,Vsub(r) the inner volume of the gas-carrying line. The unknown parameters Vsub(r), Vsub(a), V 0 , Vsub(infinity), and k can be determined experimentally. The authors also suggest a new method for the determination of experimental cross sections with their gaseous target. (Auth.)

Apparatus for delivering and receiving radioactive gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dansky, B.; Epifano, L.; Farella, R.

1980-01-01

An apparatus for delivering and receiving gas to and from a patient, such as for lung ventilation studies. In accordance with the invention there is provided a restrictive breathing chamber adapted for coupling to the patient's breathing organs. A system, including a first check valve, is provided for coupling the breathing chamber to an inflatable gas receptacle so as to allow flow only toward the inflatable gas receptacle. Active gas input apparatus, including a second check valve, is also coupled to the breathing chamber, the second check valve allowing flow only toward the breathing chamber means. First and second auxiliary tubes and a gas filter are also provided. A system is provided for coupling the first auxiliary tube from the inflatable receptacle through the gas filter and to an ambient air environment. The second auxiliary tube is coupled from the inflatable receptacle to an ambient air environment. Finally, a gas pump is switchably coupled as between the first and second auxiliary tubes and operative to selectively cause gas flow in the first auxiliary tube toward the ambient environment, and in the second auxiliary tube toward the inflatable receptacle. A gas trap structure is also disclosed

A prediction of the inert gas solubilities in stoichiometric molten UO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gunnerson, F.S.; Cronenberg, A.W.

1975-01-01

To analyze the effect of fission gas behaviour on fast reactor fuels during a hypothetical overpower transient, the solubility characteristics of the noble gases in molten UO 2 have been assessed. To accomplish this, a theoretical estimation of such solubilities is made by determining the reversible work required to introduce a hard sphere, the size of the gas atom, into the liquid solvent. Results indicate that the solubility of the noble gases in molten UO 2 is quite low, the molar fraction of gas-to-liquid being approximately 10 -6 . Such a low solubility of fission gases suggests that for preirradiated fuels, added swelling or formation may occur upon melting. In addition, such low solubility potential indicates that the fission gases do not play an appreciable role in the fragmentation of molten UO 2 upon quenching in sodium coolant. (Auth.)

Radioactive Waste in Oil Exploration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landsberger, S.; Graham, G.

2014-01-01

Naturally occurring radioactive material commonly known as NORM composes the majority of the dose received by a person each year at approximately 80% of the total amount. However, there is a noticeably higher concentration of radioisotopes present in technologically enhanced NORM, often called TENORM, which results directly from human industrial activities. NORM is formed in the process of mineral mining including phosphate production, where the end goal is to concentrate high quantities of metals or elements (e.g. phosphorous). However, NORM has also become a widely recognized problem in the oil and gas industry. It is approximately one hundred and fifty years since oil was discovered in the continental United States and the mention of radioactivity in mineral oils and natural gases occurred in 1904, just eight years after the discovery of radioactivity by Henri Bequerel in 1896. In just over three decades the problems from naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) wastes arising from the oil and gas industry have been much more scrutinized. In the 1980’s 226Ra began to be noticed when scrap metal dealers would detect unacceptably high levels of radiation from oil-field piping1. In 1991 Raloff2 published an article on the new hot wastes in NORM and in 1992 Wilson et. al3 described the health physics aspects of radioactive petroleum piping scale. NORM will develop in high concentrations in by-product oil and gas waste streams4-7. The NORM will chemically separate from other piped material in the process of the extraction of oil, resulting in high concentrations of 226Ra, 228 Ra and 210Pb and other radioisotopes in a densely caked layer on the inner surfaces of the piping1 . The activity of the 226Ra from NORM ranges from 185 to several tens of thousands Bq/kg of sample. By comparison, the NORM concentrations of radium in rock and soil is, at a natural level, 18.5 - 185 Bq/kg1. Disposal of NORM becomes more problematic as higher concentrations of

Effect of cracks in coating on gas release from a fuel microparticle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bondarenko, A.G.; Gudkov, A.N.; Tselishchev, Yu.V.

1988-01-01

Effect of cracks in protective coating on gas release from a fuel microparticle is investigated in a general form. A fuel microparticle comprizing a kern, a buffer layer and an external protective coating is considered. The pressure of radioactive inert gases in the microparticle buffer layer is evaluated within the 1000-1800 K temperature range on the base of diffusion-defect-trap transport theory. It is shown that the process of radionuclide adsorption interaction with the coating material leads to a more abrupt than by exponent, weakening of mass transfer coefficient. In this case for long-living isotopes the effect of adsorption processes manifests weaker than for short-living ones. Mass transfer coefficient for the crack system depends sufficiently on the total pressure of gas mixture under the coating while for a single cracks such dependence is not observed. A conclusion is drawn that the obtained ratios can be applied for evaluating the character of fuel microparticle protective coating destruction (single non-intersecting cracks or a crack system) using the data on various nuclide release. These ratios can be also applied for the choice of the coating thichness under which gaseous fission product release from the fuel microparticle in case of its protective coating failure does not exceed the acceptable limits

Optimisation of the neutron source based on gas dynamic trap for transmutation of radioactive wastes

Science.gov (United States)

Anikeev, Andrey V.

2012-06-01

The Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics in collaboration with the Russian and foreign organizations develop the project of 14 MeV neutron source, which can be used for fusion material studies and for other application. The projected neutron source of plasma type is based on the plasma Gas Dynamic Trap (GDT), which is a special magnetic mirror system for plasma confinement. Presented work continues the subject of development the GDT-based neutron source (GDT-NS) for hybrid fusion-fission reactors. The paper presents the results of recent numerical optimization of such neutron source for transmutation of the long-lives radioactive wastes in spent nuclear fuel.

Behavior of radioactive organic iodide in an atmosphere of High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saeki, Masakatsu; Nakashima, Mikio; Sagawa, Chiaki; Masaki, Nobuyuki; Hirabayashi, Takakuni; Aratono, Yasuyuki

1990-06-01

Formation and decomposition behavior of radioactive organic iodide have been studied in an atmosphere of High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor, HTTR). Na 125 I was chosen for radioactive iodine source instead of CsI diffusing from coated fuel particles. Na 125 I adsorbed on graphite was heated in pure He and He containing O 2 or H 2 O atmosphere. The results obtained are as follows. It was proved that organic iodide was formed with organic radicals released from graphite even in He atmosphere. Thus, the interchange rate of inorganic iodide with organic iodide was remarkably decreased with prolonged preheat-treatment period at 1000degC. Organic iodide formed was easily decomposed by its recirculation into hot reaction tube kept at 900degC. When organic iodide was passed through powdered graphite bed, more than 70% was decomposed at 90degC. Oxygen and water vapour intermixed in He suppressed the interchange rate of inorganic iodide with organic iodide. These results suggest that organic iodide rarely exists in the pressure vessel under normal operating condition of HTTR, and, under hypothetical accident condition of HTTR, organic iodide fraction never exceeds the value used for a safety assessment of light water reactor. (author)

Ignition of a reactive solid by an inert hot spot

OpenAIRE

Liñán Martínez, Amable; Kindelan Gómez, Manuel

1981-01-01

A theoretical analysis is presented for the description of the ignition of a reactive media by inert hot bodies of finite size, when the activation energy of the reaction is large. The analysis leads to closed-form relations for the minimum "critical" size of the hot spot resulting in ignition and for the ignition time by hot spots of supercritical size. The analysis is carried out, first, for inert spots with heat conductivities and diff usivities of the order of those of the reactive media,...

Retrofitting of an improved stack monitoring system in Rajasthan atomic power station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Natarajan, K.

1985-01-01

The problems encountered in the measurement of inert gas activities, iodine activity and tritium activity released through the stack in RAPS are described and the considerations for the development of improved instruments outlined. The new approach provides for better accuracy of measurement of all the relevant radioactive parameters in the stack at one centralised place. The construction work in the station for the newly conceived stack activity monitoring system is completed and the earlier equipment used is installed in the room temporarily. Development prototypes of stack inert gas monitoring system and iodine monitoring system as described in Section 5 are made and evaluated. Fabrication of new equipment for retrofitting in RAPS is in progress and these will replace the equipment temporarily installed in the station

A novel technique based on 85Kr for quantification of gas-liquid mass transfer in bioreactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedersen, A.G.; Andersen, H.; Nielsen, J.; Villadsen, J.

1994-01-01

A promising technique for quantification of the mass transfer coefficient k l a for oxygen in bioreactors is described. The method is based on injection of the volatile, inert 85 Kr isotope into the medium followed by measurement of the radioactivity in the gas leaving the head space. The measured response is interpreted using a simple model for the gas flow through the bioreactor. The method is compared with two other methods: (1) a dynamic method based on N 2 and (2) the classical sulphite method. The isotope method compares well with the dynamic method and, from the comparison with the sulphite method, it is concluded that the sulphite method gives an overestimation of k l a which cannot be explained solely by reduced coalescence due to the electrolyte. The extra effect is probably due to chemical reaction in the liquid film. The isotope method has been used to study the influence of the medium composition on the oxygen mass transfer. A major advantage of the 85 Kr method is that it can by applied during real process conditions as illustrated in an experiment with growth of Aspergillus oryzae. (Author)

Characterization of the solid radioactive waste from Cernavoda NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iordache, M.; Lautaru, V.; Bujoreanu, D.

2005-01-01

During the operation of a nuclear plant significant quantities of radioactive waste result that have a very large diversity. At Cernavoda NPP large amounts of wastes are either non-radioactive wastes or radioactive wastes, each of these being managed completely different from each other. For a CANDU type reactor, the occurrence of radioactive wastes is due to contamination with the following types of radioactive substances: - fission products resulting from nuclear fuel burning; - activated products from materials composing the technological systems; - activated products in process fluids. Radioactive wastes can be in solid, liquid or gas form. At Cernavoda NPP the solid wastes represent about 70% of the waste volume which is produced during plant operation and as a consequence of maintenance and decontamination operations. The most important types of solid wastes that are obtained and then handled, processed (if necessary) and temporarily stored are: solid low-level radioactive wastes (classified as compactible and non-compactible), solid medium radioactive wastes, spent resins, used filters and filter cartridges. The liquid radioactive waste class includes organic liquids (used oil, scintillator liquids and used solvents) and aqueous wastes resulting from process system operating, from decontamination and maintenance operations. Radioactive gas wastes occur subsequently to the fission process inside the fuel elements as well as due to the neutron activation of process fluids in the reactor systems. As result of plant operation, iodine, noble gases, tritium and radioactive particles occur and are passed toward the ventilation stack in a controlled manner so that environmental release of radioactive materials with concentrations exceeding the maximum permissible level could not occur. (authors)

Photoinduced C-C Cross-Coupling of Aryl Chlorides and Inert Arenes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lele Wang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Here we report a facile, efficient, and catalyst-free method to realize C-C cross-coupling of aryl chlorides and inert arenes under UV light irradiation. The aryl radical upon homolytic cleavage of C-Cl bond initiated the nucleophilic substitution reaction with inert arenes to give biaryl products. This mild reaction mode can also be applied to other synthetic reactions, such as the construction of C-N bonds and trifluoromethylated compounds.

A quantification method for peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) using gas chromatography (GC) with a non-radioactive pulsed discharge detector (PDD)

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lei; Jaffe, Daniel A.; Gao, Xin; McClure, Crystal D.

2018-04-01

In this study, we developed a method for continuous PAN measurements by gas chromatography (GC) with a non-radioactive pulsed discharge detector (PDD). Operational parameters were optimized based on the ratio of peak height over baseline noise (P/N ratio). The GC/PDD system was compared with a traditional radioactive electron-capture detector (ECD). In the lab, the method detection limit (MDL) of the new GC/PDD method (9 pptv) was lower than the radioactive GC/ECD method (15 pptv), demonstrating its excellent potential. The MDL of GC/PDD in the field campaign at the Mt. Bachelor Observatory (MBO) was 23 pptv, higher than in the lab. This was caused in part by the decreased slope of the calibration curve resulting from the low air pressure level at MBO. However, the MDL level of GC/PDD at MBO is still low enough for accurate PAN measurements, although special attention should be paid to its application at high-elevation sites. Observations of PAN were conducted at MBO in the summer of 2016 with the GC/PDD system, and provided more evidence of the performance of the system. PAN was found to be highly correlated with CO. The promising performance of GC/PDD which does not require a radioactive source makes it a useful approach for accurate PAN measurements in the field.

Formation of Load Parameters of Destroyed Massife in Explosion of Multicharge Composition with Separation of its Parts by Profile Inert Interval

Science.gov (United States)

Paramonov, G. P.; Mysin, A. V.; Babkin, R. S.

2017-10-01

The paper introduces construction of multicharge composition with separation of parts by the profile inert interval. On the basis of the previous researches, the pulse-forming process at explosion of the borehole multicharge taking into account the offered design is considered. The physical model for definition of reflected wavelet taking into account an increment of radius of cross section of a charging cavity and the expiration of detonation products is offered. A technique is developed for numerical modeling of gas-dynamic processes in a borehole with a change in the axial channel of a profile inert interval caused by a high-temperature flow of gaseous products of an explosion. The authors obtained the dependence of the change in mean pressure on the borehole wall on time for each of the parts of the multicharge. To blast a series of charges of the proposed design, taking into account optimization of the stress fields of neighboring charges, the delay interval is determined for a short-delayed explosion.

Method of processing radioactive solid wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ootaka, Hisashi; Aizu, Tadashi.

1980-01-01

Purpose: To improve the volume-reducing effect for the radioactive solids wastes by freezing and then pulverizing them. Method: Miscellaneous radioactive solid wastes produced from a nuclear power plant and packed in vinyl resin bags are filled in a drum can and nitrogen gas at low temperature (lower than 0 0 C) from a cylinder previously prepared by filling liquid nitrogen (at 15kg/cm 2 , -196 0 C) to freeze the radioactive solid wastes. Thereafter, a hydraulic press is inserted into the drum can to compress and pulverize the thus freezed miscellaneous radioactive solid wastes into powder. The powder thus formed does not expand even after removing the hydraulic press from the drum can, whereby the volume reduction of the radioactive solid wastes can be carried out effectively. (Horiuchi, T.)

Helium in inert matrix dispersion fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veen, A. van; Konings, R.J.M.; Fedorov, A.V.

2003-01-01

The behaviour of helium, an important decay product in the transmutation chains of actinides, in dispersion-type inert matrix fuels is discussed. A phenomenological description of its accumulation and release in CERCER and CERMET fuel is given. A summary of recent He-implantation studies with inert matrix metal oxides (ZrO 2 , MgAl 2 O 4 , MgO and Al 2 O 3 ) is presented. A general picture is that for high helium concentrations helium and vacancy defects form helium clusters which convert into over-pressurized bubbles. At elevated temperature helium is released from the bubbles. On some occasions thermal stable nano-cavities or nano-pores remain. On the basis of these results the consequences for helium induced swelling and helium storage in oxide matrices kept at 800-1000 deg. C will be discussed. In addition, results of He-implantation studies for metal matrices (W, Mo, Nb and V alloys) will be presented. Introduction of helium in metals at elevated temperatures leads to clustering of helium to bubbles. When operational temperatures are higher than 0.5 melting temperature, swelling and helium embrittlement might occur

Importance of individual fission nuclide to incontainment radioactive reading during PWR accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Junfeng; Shi Zhongqi

2004-01-01

Containment radiation level is one of the most important base for core damage assessment and protective actions recommendation during accidents. Incontainment radioactive reading calculations is the precondition of using this kind of method. Importance of individual nuclides were compared during normal coolant release, gap release and core melt. Conclusions are deduced that when the spray is off, the radioactive reading in containment is mainly from iodine and noble gas, and the spray is on, the radioactive reading is mainly from noble gas. (authors)

Testes de toxicidade aguda através de bioensaios no extrato solubilizado dos resíduos classe II A - não inertes e classe II B - inertes Acute toxicity tests by bioassays applied to the solubilized extracts of solid wastes class II A - non inerts and class II B - inerts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nébora Liz Vendramin Brasil Rodrigues

2007-03-01

Full Text Available A grande diversidade de substâncias potencialmente tóxicas contribuem para a deterioração do meio ambiente. O objetivo deste trabalho foi propor a utilização de bioensaios, através de testes de toxicidade aguda com Daphnia magna e Vibrio fischeri, como mais um parâmetro a ser analisado no extrato solubilizado dos resíduos que, segundo a NBR 10004/04 fossem classificados como classe II A - não inertes ou classe II B - inertes. Realizaram-se, também, testes de toxicidade no drenado dos aterros classe II A e II B. Verificou-se que a toxicidade foi constatada nos extratos solubilizados dos 18 resíduos analisados e que, apenas três das amostras estariam próprias para lançamento, ou seja os resíduos 04, 14 e 15. Já, a toxicidade encontrada no drenado dos aterros, ficou muito superior do que a toxicidade de cada extrato solubilizado analisado separadamente.A great diversity of substances potencially toxic contributes to the deterioration of the environment. The aim of this research was to propose the use of bioassays using Daphnia magna and Vibrio fischeri, as another parameter to be analyzed in the solubilized extraction of waste according to NBR 10004/04 and classified as class II A - non inerts or class II B - inerts. Besides, another test was performed to measure the level of toxicity in the drainage of the landfill class II A and II B. It was verified that the toxicity found in the solubilized extracts of the 18 wastes analysed.Only 3 wastes (04, 14 and 15 were within the emission limits. On the other hand the toxicity found in the drainage of the landfill, from which all the samples came from, was much higher than the individual one.

Characterisation of gas transport properties of the Opalinus clay, a potential host rock formation for radioactive waste disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marschall, P.; Horseman, S.; Gimmi, T.

2005-01-01

The Opalinus Clay in Northern Switzerland has been identified as a potential host rock formation for the disposal of radioactive waste. Comprehensive understanding of gas transport processes through this low-permeability formation forms a key issue in the assessment of repository performance. Field investigations and laboratory experiments suggest an intrinsic permeability of the Opalinus Clay in the order of 10 -20 to 10 -21 m 2 and a moderate anisotropy ratio ≤ 10. Porosity depends on clay content and burial depth; values of ∼ 0.12 are reported for the region of interest. Porosimetry indicates that about 10-30% of voids can be classed as macro-pores, corresponding to an equivalent pore radius > 25 nm. The determined entry pressures are in the range of 0.4-10 MPa and exhibit a marked dependence on intrinsic permeability. Both in situ gas tests and gas permeameter tests on drill-cores demonstrate that gas transport through the rock is accompanied by pore water displacement, suggesting that classical flow concepts of immiscible displacement in porous media can be applied when the gas entry pressure (i.e. capillary threshold pressure) is less than the minimum principal stress acting within the rock. Essentially, the pore space accessible to gas flow is restricted to the network of connected macro-pores, which implies a very low degree of desaturation of the rock during the gas imbibition process. At elevated gas pressures (i.e. when gas pressure approaches the level of total stress that acts on the rock body), evidence was seen for dilatancy controlled gas transport mechanisms. Further field experiments were aimed at creating extended tensile fractures with high fracture transmissivity (hydro- or gas-fractures). The test results lead to the conclusion that gas fracturing can be largely ruled out as a risk for post-closure repository performance. (authors)

Engineering-scale tests of in situ vitrification to PCB and radioactive contaminated soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liikala, S.C.

1991-01-01

In Situ Vitrification (ISV) is a thermal treatment technology applicable to the remediation of hazardous chemical and radioactive contaminated soil and sludge sites. The ISV process utilizes electricity, through joule heating, to melt contaminated soil and form an inert glass and microcrystalline residual product. Applications of ISV to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and radionuclides have been demonstrated at engineering-scale in numerous tests (1,2,3). An updated evaluation of ISV applicability to treatment of PCBs and radionuclides, and recent test results are presented herein

Deactivation of tracer-flo equipment thru retrieval of its radioactive Krypton-85 gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domondon, D.B.; Rara, R.B.; Borras, A.M.

1994-01-01

Tracer-flo equipment must be cleared of Krypton-85 before these can be transported. The rules and regulations on safe transport of radioactive materials require Kr-85 gas to be transported in an approved container. A new innovative technique/procedure in deactivating tracer-flo equipment i.e., without separation of the Kr-85 from the nitrogen was developed by the authors. The developed procedure was successfully applied in four tracer-flo equipment of three (3) semiconductor firms. In the process, the three firms have saved about US$ 28,000.00 (P 800,000.00) if the deactivation were undertaken by a foreign service company. The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) retrieved about P 382,000.00 worth of Kr-85 that could be used in industrial applications such as leak tracing of buried pipes, etc. (author). 1 ref.; 5 figs

Radioactivities evaluation code system for high temperature gas cooled reactors during normal operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogura, Kenji; Morimoto, Toshio; Suzuki, Katsuo.

1979-01-01

A radioactivity evaluation code system for high temperature gas-cooled reactors during normal operation was developed to study the behavior of fission products (FP) in the plants. The system consists of a code for the calculation of diffusion of FPs in fuel (FIPERX), a code for the deposition of FPs in primary cooling system (PLATO), a code for the transfer and emission of FPs in nuclear power plants (FIPPI-2), and a code for the exposure dose due to emitted FPs (FEDOSE). The FIPERX code can calculate the changes in the course of time FP of the distribution of FP concentration, the distribution of FP flow, the distribution of FP partial pressure, and the emission rate of FP into coolant. The amount of deposition of FPs and their distribution in primary cooling system can be evaluated by the PLATO code. The FIPPI-2 code can be used for the estimation of the amount of FPs in nuclear power plants and the amount of emitted FPs from the plants. The exposure dose of residents around nuclear power plants in case of the operation of the plants is calculated by the FEDOSE code. This code evaluates the dose due to the external exposure in the normal operation and in the accident, and the internal dose by the inhalation of radioactive plume and foods. Further studies of this code system by the comparison with the experimental data are considered. (Kato, T.)

Experience with radioactive waste incineration at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le, V.T.; Beamer, N.V.; Buckley, L.P.

1988-06-01

Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories is a nuclear research centre operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. A full-scale waste treatment centre has been constructed to process low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes generated on-site. A batch-loaded, two-stage, starved-air incinerator for solid combustible waste is one of the processes installed in this facility. The incinerator has been operating since 1982. It has consistently reduced combustible wastes to an inert ash product, with an average volume reduction factor of about 150:1. The incinerator ash is stored in 200 L drums awaiting solidification in bitumen. The incinerator and a 50-ton hydraulic baler have provided treatment for a combined volume of about 1300 m 3 /a of solid low-level radioactive waste. This paper presents a review of the performance of the incinerator during its six years of operation. In addition to presenting operational experience, an assessment of the starved-air incineration technique will also be discussed

A comparative study of gas-gas miscibility processes in underground gas storage reservoirs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rafiee, M.M.; Schmitz, S. [DBI - Gastechnologisches Institut gGmbH, Freiberg (Germany)

2013-08-01

Intermixture of gases in underground gas reservoirs have had great weight for natural gas storage in UGS projects with substitution of cushion gas by inert gases or changing the stored gas quality or origin, as for the replacement of town gas by natural gas. It was also investigated during the last years for Enhanced Gas Recovery (EGR) and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects. The actual importance of its mechanisms is discussed for the H{sub 2} storage in Power to Gas to Power projects (PGP). In these approaches miscibility of the injected gas with the gas in place in the reservoir plays an important role in the displacement process. The conditions and parameters for the gas-gas displacement and mixing have been investigated in previous projects, as e.g. the miscibility of CO{sub 2} with natural gas (CLEAN). Furthermore the miscibility process of town gas with natural gas and sauer gas with sweet gas were also previously measured and compared in laboratory. The objective of this work is to investigate the miscibility of H{sub 2} injection into natural gas reservoirs using a compositional and a black oil reservoir simulator. Three processes of convection, dispersion and diffusion are considered precisely. The effect of gas miscibility is studied for both simulators and the results are compared to find optimum miscibility parameters. The findings of this work could be helpful for further pilot and field case studies to predict and monitor the changes in gas composition and quality. In future this monitoring might become more important when PGP together with H{sub 2}-UGS, as storage technology, will help to successfully implement the change to an energy supply from more renewable sources. Similarly the method confirms the use of the black oil simulator as an alternative for gas-gas displacement and sequestration reservoir simulation in comparison to the compositional simulator. (orig.)

Multi-Canister Overpack (MCO) Combustible Gas Management Leak Test Acceptance Criteria (OCRWM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

SHERRELL, D.L.

2000-01-01

The purpose of this document is to support the Spent Nuclear Fuel Project's combustible gas management strategy while avoiding the need to impose any requirements for oxygen free atmospheres within storage tubes that contain multi-canister overpacks (MCO). In order to avoid inerting requirements it is necessary to establish and confirm leak test acceptance criteria for mechanically sealed and weld sealed MCOs that are adequte to ensure that, in the unlikely event the leak test results for any MCO were to approach either of those criteria, it could still be handled and stored in stagnant air without compromising the SNF Project's overall strategy to prevent accumulation of combustible gas mixtures within MCOs or within their surroundings. To support that strategy, this document: (1) establishes combustible gas management functions and minimum functional requirements for the MCO's mechanical seals and closure weld(s); (2) establishes a maximum practical value for the minimum required initial MCO inert backfill gas pressure; and (3) based on items 1 and 2, establishes and confirms leak test acceptance criteria for the MCO's mechanical seal and final closure weld(s)

Recovery and storage method for radioactive iodine by vacuum freeze-drying

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otsuka, Katsuyuki; Ouchi, Hitoshi; Suzuki, Toru.

1990-01-01

After scrubbing off-gas formed in a re-processing process for spent nuclear fuels, scrubbing liquids after use are subjected, as they are or with addition of additives, to a precipitating treatment. Then, liquid wastes containing radioactive iodine was subjected to freeze-drying treatment by freeze-drying under vacuum to recover radioactive iodine as iodine compounds. Off-gas scrubbing is conducted by using a sodium hydroxide solution and copper or silver ions may be added as additives in the precipitating treatment. Recovered iodine compounds containing radioactive iodine are solidified, either directly or after formulating into a composition of naturally existing iodine-containing ores by means of high pressure pressing into ores. This can prevent radioactive iodine 1 29I of long half-decay time from diffusing into the circumference and store the radioactive iodine stably for a long period of time. (T.M.)

Mixed Inert scalar triplet dark matter, radiative neutrino masses and leptogenesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen-Bin Lu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The neutral component of an inert scalar multiplet with hypercharge can provide a stable dark matter particle when its real and imaginary parts have a splitting mass spectrum. Otherwise, a tree-level dark-matter-nucleon scattering mediated by the Z boson will be much above the experimental limit. In this paper we focus on a mixed inert scalar triplet dark matter scenario where a complex scalar triplet with hypercharge can mix with another real scalar triplet without hypercharge through their renormalizable coupling to the standard model Higgs doublet. We consider three specified cases that carry most of the relevant features of the full parameter space: (i the neutral component of the real triplet dominates the dark matter particle, (ii the neutral component of the complex triplet dominates the dark matter particle; and (iii the neutral components of the real and complex triplets equally constitute the dark matter particle. Subject to the dark matter relic abundance and direct detection constraint, we perform a systematic study on the allowed parameter space with particular emphasis on the interplay among triplet-doublet terms and gauge interactions. In the presence of these mixed inert scalar triplets, some heavy Dirac fermions composed of inert fermion doublets can be utilized to generate a tiny Majorana neutrino mass term at one-loop level and realize a successful leptogenesis for explaining the cosmic baryon asymmetry.

Characterization of the solid radioactive waste From Cernavoda NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iordache, M.; Laotaru, V.

2005-01-01

Full text: During the operation of a nuclear plant significant quantities of radioactive waste result that have a very large diversity. At Cernavoda NPP large amounts of wastes are either non-radioactive wastes or radioactive wastes, each of these being managed completely different from which other. For a CANDU type reactor, the appearance of radioactive wastes is due to contamination with the following types of radioactive substances: - fission products resulting from nuclear fuel burning; - activated products from materials composing the technological systems; - activated products in process fluids. Radioactive wastes can be in solid, liquid or gas form. At Cernavoda NPP the solid wastes represent about 70% of the waste volume which is produced during plant operation and as a consequence of maintenance and decontamination operations. The most important types of solid wastes that are obtained and then handled, processed (if necessary) and temporarily stored are: solid low-level radioactive wastes (classified as compactible and non-compactible), solid medium radioactive wastes, spent resins, used filters and filter cartridges. The liquid radioactive waste class includes organic liquids (used oil, scintillator liquids and used solvents) and aqueous wastes resulting from process system operating, from decontamination and maintenance operations. Radioactive gas wastes occur subsequently to the fission process inside the fuel elements as well as due to the neutron activation of process fluids in the reactor systems. As result of plant operation, iodine, noble gases, tritium and radioactive particles occur and are passed toward the ventilation stack in a controlled manner so that environmental release of radioactive materials with concentrations exceeding the maximum permissible level could not occur. (authors)

Radioactivity reference levels in ceramics tiles as building materials for different countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortiz, Josefina; Ballesteros, Luisa; Serradell, Vicente

2008-01-01

Measurements campaigns of ceramic tiles and raw materials used in them, shows that natural radionuclides of uranium ( 238 U) and thorium ( 232 Th) series, together with the radioactive isotope of potassium ( 40 K ), are presents. Uranium series contain radium, which decays to radon ( 222 Rn), an inert gas that can be released from materials and inhaled by individuals. Limits of 226 Ra concentrations are established by different countries in order to control Radon levels (200 Bq.m -3 in European Union). Potassium -40 and others gamma emitters of 226 Ra and 232 Th descendent, can cause an external dose. Therefore, with the purpose that individual doses due to building materials doesn't exceed a certain level recommendations or regulations have been established. A maximum value of 1 mSv.y -1 is recommended in European Union. In practice an easy way to avoid ceramic tiles provide doses to individuals over the reference level is to introduce an index, depending on activities concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K, defined so that the dose limits due, exclusively, to building materials, will never be exceeded. These limits and indexes present differences between countries. In this paper indexes are compared and differences are discussed. (author)

Natural radioactivity in industry, medicine, dentistry, hobbies, and camping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robertson, M.

1996-01-01

A recent enquiry asked about the potential hazards of radioactivity in gas lamp mantles. This has prompted a quick review of uses, for other reasons, of materials which are incidentally radioactive. Thorium and uranium are the two highest atomic number elements which occur naturally in commercial quantities. They are both naturally radioactive. Both have been used for a variety of purposes utilising their chemical and physical, rather than radioactive properties. They have been incorporated in specialised industrial items and in some materials encountered in everyday life. While the properties of uranium and thorium make these materials useful for a variety of purposes, the fact that they are also incidentally radioactive materials means that any potential radiological hazards should also be taken into accoutnt. The use of these materials for medical and dental purposes has been discontiunued for these reasons. The only readily availabe consumer product which uses these materials on any scale is the thoriated gas lamp mantle. The radiological consequences of this use are small. (author). 2 refs

AGENTES INERTES PARA CONTOLE DE TOMBAMENTO EM SEMENTEIRAS DE OLERÍCOLAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Silveiro Balardin

1994-01-01

Full Text Available RESUMO Este trabalho foi conduzido com o objetivo de avaliar o comportamento de materiais inertes para controle de tombamento durante a emergência. Os tratamentos foram cobertura do sulco de semeadura com areia e serragem, tratamento químico com brometo de metila e uma testemunha. Os parâmetros avaliados foram percentagem e velocidade de emergência, percentagem de tombamento de pré e pós-emergência. Os dados obtidos permitiram concluir que, dentre os materiais inertes testados, a areia pode constituir-se em uma alternativa eficiente no controle do tombamento em sementeiras de repolho e beterraba, pois permitiu o maior número de plântulas emergidas e o menor número de plântulas tombadas não alterando a velocidade de emergência, enquanto que nas sementeiras de alface a utilização dos materiais inertes prejudicou a emergência normal das plântulas, não se constituindo em agente de controle eficiente.

Improvements in or relating to trapping and reuse of radioactive xenon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bolmsjoe, M.S.; Persson, B.R.

1981-01-01

A method is described suitable for recovering, from a mixture of gases contaning radioactive xenon, a mixture of gases containing an increased concentration of radioactive xenon, which method comprises the steps of passing xenon-containing gas through a bed of activated charcoal to adsorb the xenon therein, thereafter heating the charcoal bed to a temperature within the range of from 200 to 400 0 C, passing a moisture-free sweep gas through the bed when heated to said temperature to desorb xenon therefrom and then collecting the xenon-containing gas thus formed. (author)

Measurement of cross-sections for step-bystep excitation of inert gas atoms from metastable states by electron collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mityureva, A.A.; Penkin, N.P.; Smirnov, V.V.

1989-01-01

Excitation of argon atoms by electron collisions from metastable (MS) to high-lying states of inert gases (the so-called step-by-step excitation) is investigated. Formation of MS atoms m and their further step-by-step excitation up to k level is carried out by an electron beam with energy from 1 up to 40 eV. Time distribution of forming metastable and step-by-step electron collisions is used. The method used permits to measure the functions of step-by-step excitation and the absolute values of cross sections. Absolute values of cross-sections and functions of step-by-step excitation of some lines and argon levels are obtained

A technique for measuring hydrogen and water in inert gases and the hydrogen concentration in liquid sodium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, C.A.

1978-04-01

A method is described of measuring the hydrogen and water content of an inert gas. It is based upon the use of an electrochemical oxygen cell and has a high sensitivity at low hydrogen and water levels. The following possible applications of the method are described together with supporting experimental measurements: improving the sensitivity and range of the present PFR secondary circuit hydrogen detection instruments; the measurement of hydrogen diffusion coefficients in steels; the measurement of waterside corrosion rates of boiler steels; on-line monitoring of waterside boiler corrosion. Attention is given to the characteristics of diffusion barriers in relation to the first and last of these. (author)

An electromagnetic inerter-based vibration suppression device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez-Buelga, A; Clare, L R; Neild, S A; Jiang, J Z; Inman, D J

2015-01-01

This paper describes how an inerter-based device for structural vibration suppression can be realized using an electromagnetic transducer such as a linear motor. When the motor shaft moves, a difference of voltage is generated across the transducer coil. The voltage difference is proportional to the relative velocity between its two terminals. The electromagnetic transducer will exert a force proportional to current following the Lorentz principle if the circuit is closed around the transducer coil. If an electronic circuit consisting of a capacitor, an inductance and a resistance with the appropriate configuration is connected, the resulting force reflected back into the mechanical domain is equivalent to that achieved by a mechanical inerter-based device. The proposed configuration is easy to implement and very versatile, provided a high quality conversion system with negligible losses. With the use of electromagnetic devices, a new generation of vibration absorbers can be realized, for example in the electrical domain it would be relatively uncomplicated to synthesize multi-frequency or real time tunable vibration absorbers by adding electrical components in parallel. In addition by using resistance emulators in the electrical circuits, part of the absorbed vibration energy can be converted into usable power. Here an electromagnetic tuned inerter damper (E-TID) is tested experimentally using real time dynamic substructuring. A voltage compensation unit was developed in order to compensate for coil losses. This voltage compensation unit requires power, which is acquired through harvesting from the vibration energy using a resistance emulator. A power balance analysis was developed in order to ensure the device can be self sufficient. Promising experimental results, using this approach, have been obtained and are presented in this paper. The ultimate goal of this research is the development of autonomous electromagnetic vibration absorbers, able to harvest energy

Method of processing radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Funabashi, Kiyomi; Sugimoto, Yoshikazu; Kikuchi, Makoto; Yusa, Hideo.

1979-01-01

Purpose: To obtain solidified radioactive wastes at high packing density by packing radioactive waste pellets in a container and then packing and curing a thermosetting resin therein. Method: Radioactive liquid wastes are dried into power and subjected to compression molding. The pellets thus obtained are supplied in a predetermined amount from the hopper to the inside of a drum can. Then, thermosetting plastic and a curing agent are filled in the drum can. Gas between the pellets is completely expelled by the intrusion of the thermosetting resin and the curing agent among the pellets. Thereafter, the drum can is heated by a heater and curing is effected. After the curing, the drum can is sealed. (Kawakami, Y.)

Underground radioactive waste disposal concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frgic, L.; Tor, K.; Hudec, M.

2002-01-01

The paper presents some solutions for radioactive waste disposal. An underground disposal of radioactive waste is proposed in deep boreholes of greater diameter, fitted with containers. In northern part of Croatia, the geological data are available on numerous boreholes. The boreholes were drilled during investigations and prospecting of petroleum and gas fields. The available data may prove useful in defining safe deep layers suitable for waste repositories. The paper describes a Russian disposal design, execution and verification procedure. The aim of the paper is to discuss some earlier proposed solutions, and present a solution that has not yet been considered - lowering of containers with high level radioactive waste (HLW) to at least 500 m under the ground surface.(author)

Concrete containers in radioactive waste management: a review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tavares, Bárbara L.; Tello, Clédola Cássia O. de, E-mail: barbaralacerdat@gmail.com [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte/MG (Brazil)

2017-07-01

Nuclear power is considered a clean energy, because it does not produce the gases responsible for greenhouse effect. However, like all human activities, it is susceptible to waste generation. With increasing demand for energy in Brazil, the use of nuclear power is being expanded, as a result, the implementation of correct treatment and disposal are a necessity, in order to ensure the non-contamination of the public or environment and that exposure doses are lower than limits by legislation. Most of waste produced in Brazil are classified as low and intermediate radiation level; consequently, the national repository will be near surface, in accordance with the legislation. Considering the multi-barrier concept for the repository, the radioactive waste product is the first barrier. To have a qualified radioactive waste product, it should be solid or solidified using an inert material. With the intention of standardize the disposal process, all radioactive waste products will be placed in concrete containers. These containers will be settled in a concrete cell, the final engineered barrier of the repository. The state of the art is the first part of the study of the concrete containers and its specific criteria acceptation. Since the repository’s operational and surveillance period is 60 and 300 years, respectively, tests still need to be fulfilled in order to ensure the stability and resistance of the material. (author)

Concrete containers in radioactive waste management: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tavares, Bárbara L.; Tello, Clédola Cássia O. de

2017-01-01

Nuclear power is considered a clean energy, because it does not produce the gases responsible for greenhouse effect. However, like all human activities, it is susceptible to waste generation. With increasing demand for energy in Brazil, the use of nuclear power is being expanded, as a result, the implementation of correct treatment and disposal are a necessity, in order to ensure the non-contamination of the public or environment and that exposure doses are lower than limits by legislation. Most of waste produced in Brazil are classified as low and intermediate radiation level; consequently, the national repository will be near surface, in accordance with the legislation. Considering the multi-barrier concept for the repository, the radioactive waste product is the first barrier. To have a qualified radioactive waste product, it should be solid or solidified using an inert material. With the intention of standardize the disposal process, all radioactive waste products will be placed in concrete containers. These containers will be settled in a concrete cell, the final engineered barrier of the repository. The state of the art is the first part of the study of the concrete containers and its specific criteria acceptation. Since the repository’s operational and surveillance period is 60 and 300 years, respectively, tests still need to be fulfilled in order to ensure the stability and resistance of the material. (author)

The effect of ion irradiation on inert gas bubble mobility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexander, D.E.; Birtcher, R.C.

1991-09-01

The effect of Al ion irradiation on the mobility of Xe gas bubbles in Al thin films was investigated. Transmission electron microscopy was used to determine bubble diffusivities in films irradiated and/or annealed at 673K, 723K and 773K. Irradiation increased bubble diffusivity by a factor of 2--9 over that due to thermal annealing alone. The Arrhenius behavior and dose rate dependence of bubble diffusivity are consistent with a radiation enhanced diffusion phenomenon affecting a volume diffusion mechanism of bubble transport. 9 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs

Treatment of solid radioactive waste: The incineration of low level radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dirks, F.; Hempelmann, W.

1982-01-01

Nuclear facilities produce large quantities of burnable solid radioactive waste which incineration can reduce in volume and change into a form capable of ultimate storage. Experiments over many years were carried out at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center to determine the boundary conditions for the design and construction of incineration plants for radioactive waste. On the basis of those experiments a test facility was started up in 1971. This operating facility consists of a shaft furnace lined with ceramics with a downstream series of ceramic flue gas filters. In 1976 the plant was exchanged by the installation of a pilot facility for burning organic solvents and of a flue gas scrubber. The plant has so far been in operation for more than 28000 hours and has processed in excess of 1500 to of solid and some 300 m 3 of liquid low level radioactive wastes. Various repairs and interventions were carried out without greatly impairing availability, which was 81 % on the average. The plant design is being used by various licensees in Japan and Europe; three plants are either in operation or completed, three more are under construction or in the planning stage. On the basis of the available process an incineration plant for alpha contaminated waste will be built at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center in the next few years. (orig.)

BEARS: Radioactive ion beams at LBNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powell, J.; Guo, F.Q.; Haustein, P.E.

1998-01-01

BEARS (Berkeley Experiments with Accelerated Radioactive Species) is an initiative to develop a radioactive ion-beam capability at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The aim is to produce isotopes at an existing medical cyclotron and to accelerate them at the 88 inch Cyclotron. To overcome the 300-meter physical separation of these two accelerators, a carrier-gas transport system will be used. At the terminus of the capillary, the carrier gas will be separated and the isotopes will be injected into the 88 inch Cyclotron's Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion source. The first radioactive beams to be developed will include 20-min 11 C and 70-sec 14 O, produced by (p,n) and (p,α) reactions on low-Z targets. A test program is currently being conducted at the 88 inch Cyclotron to develop the parts of the BEARS system. Preliminary results of these tests lead to projections of initial 11 C beams of up to 2.5 x 10 7 ions/sec and 14 O beams of 3 x 10 5 ions/sec

Thermoregulated Nitric Cryosystem for Cooling Gas-Filled Detectors of Ionizing Radiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zharkov I.P.

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Cryosystem for cooling and filling of gas-filled detectors of ionizing radiation with compressed inert gas on the basis of wide-nitrogen cryostat, which provides detetector temperature control in a range of 173 — 293 K and its stabilization with accuracy of ± 1°. The work was carried out within the Ukraine — NATO Program of Collaboration, Grant SfP #984655.

Purification by molecular sieve of helium used as inert cover gas in nuclear reactors; Epuration de l'helium de couverture des reacteurs nucleaires par adsorption sur tamis moleculaire

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rozenberg, J; Kahan, H [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1967-07-01

A method carried out at fairly low temperatures (between -50 and -80 deg. C) has been studied for the purification of the helium used as cover gas for heavy water in reactors. The use of the 5A molecular sieve has been adopted because of its superiority over other adsorbents in this temperature range. The particular problems connected with adsorption under dynamic conditions have been dealt with separately. The nitrogen adsorption isotherms have been plotted and the heat of adsorption calculated. (authors) [French] Une methode d'epuration, a temperature moderement basse (comprise entre -50 et -80 deg. C) de l'helium servant de couverture inerte a l'eau lourde des reacteurs a ete etudiee. L'emploi au tamis moleculaire 5A a ete retenu pour la superiorite de celui-ci sur d'autres adsorbants dans ce domaine de temperatures. Les problemes particuliers a l'adsorption en regime dynamique ont ete separement traites. Les isothermes d'adsorption d'azote ont ete tracees et la chaleur d'adsorp. tion calculee. (auteurs)

Experimental investigations of the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of inert and combustible dust cloud mixtures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Addai, Emmanuel Kwasi, E-mail: emmanueladdai41@yahoo.com; Gabel, Dieter; Krause, Ulrich

2016-04-15

Highlights: • Ignition sensitivity of a highly flammable dust decreases upon addition of inert dust. • Minimum ignition temperature of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • Minimum ignition energy of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%. - Abstract: The risks associated with dust explosions still exist in industries that either process or handle combustible dust. This explosion risk could be prevented or mitigated by applying the principle of inherent safety (moderation). This is achieved by adding an inert material to a highly combustible material in order to decrease the ignition sensitivity of the combustible dust. The presented paper deals with the experimental investigation of the influence of adding an inert dust on the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of the combustible/inert dust mixtures. The experimental investigation was done in two laboratory scale equipment: the Hartmann apparatus and the Godbert-Greenwald furnace for the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature test respectively. This was achieved by mixing various amounts of three inert materials (magnesium oxide, ammonium sulphate and sand) and six combustible dusts (brown coal, lycopodium, toner, niacin, corn starch and high density polyethylene). Generally, increasing the inert materials concentration increases the minimum ignition energy as well as the minimum ignition temperatures until a threshold is reached where no ignition was obtained. The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%.

Experimental investigations of the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of inert and combustible dust cloud mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Addai, Emmanuel Kwasi; Gabel, Dieter; Krause, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Ignition sensitivity of a highly flammable dust decreases upon addition of inert dust. • Minimum ignition temperature of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • Minimum ignition energy of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%. - Abstract: The risks associated with dust explosions still exist in industries that either process or handle combustible dust. This explosion risk could be prevented or mitigated by applying the principle of inherent safety (moderation). This is achieved by adding an inert material to a highly combustible material in order to decrease the ignition sensitivity of the combustible dust. The presented paper deals with the experimental investigation of the influence of adding an inert dust on the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of the combustible/inert dust mixtures. The experimental investigation was done in two laboratory scale equipment: the Hartmann apparatus and the Godbert-Greenwald furnace for the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature test respectively. This was achieved by mixing various amounts of three inert materials (magnesium oxide, ammonium sulphate and sand) and six combustible dusts (brown coal, lycopodium, toner, niacin, corn starch and high density polyethylene). Generally, increasing the inert materials concentration increases the minimum ignition energy as well as the minimum ignition temperatures until a threshold is reached where no ignition was obtained. The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%.

Method for removing radioactive iodine and radioactive organic iodides from effluent gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-01-01

A method and composition for removing radioactive and organic iodides from an 131 I-containing off-gas stream is provided. The composition for removal by adsorption is a ceramic material with a surface area of from about 5 m 2 /g to about 250 m 2 /g impregnated with a metallic salt. The method for removing the iodine or iodide is accomplished by passing the off-gas stream over the ceramic material impregnated with the metallic salt. It finds special application in air filters for nuclear power plants

Simplified scheme or radioactive plume calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibson, T.A.; Montan, D.N.

1976-01-01

A simplified mathematical scheme to estimate external whole-body γ radiation exposure rates from gaseous radioactive plumes was developed for the Rio Blanco Gas Field Nuclear Stimulation Experiment. The method enables one to calculate swiftly, in the field, downwind exposure rates knowing the meteorological conditions and γ radiation exposure rates measured by detectors positioned near the plume source. The method is straightforward and easy to use under field conditions without the help of mini-computers. It is applicable to a wide range of radioactive plume situations. It should be noted that the Rio Blanco experiment was detonated on May 17, 1973, and no seep or release of radioactive material occurred

Design and operation of off-gas cleaning and ventilation systems in facilities handling low and intermediate level radioactive material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

The number of developing countries constructing new nuclear facilities is increasing. These facilities include the production and processing of radioisotopes, as well as all types of laboratories and installations, which handle radioactive material and deal with the treatment of radioactive wastes. Ventilation and air cleaning systems are a vital part of the general design of any nuclear facility. The combination of a well designed ventilation system with thorough cleaning of exhaust air is the main method of preventing radioactive contamination of the air in working areas and in the surrounding atmosphere. This report provides the latest information on the design and operation of off-gas cleaning and ventilation systems for designers and regulatory authorities in the control and operation of such systems in nuclear establishments. The report presents the findings of an Advisory Group Meeting held in Vienna from 1 to 5 December 1986 and attended by 12 experts from 11 Member States. Following this meeting, a revised report was prepared by the International Atomic Energy Agency Secretariat and three consultants, M.J. Kabat (Canada), W. Stotz (Federal Republic of Germany) and W.A. Fairhurst (United Kingdom). The final draft was commented upon and approved by the participants of the meeting. 69 refs, 37 figs, 12 tabs

Cementification for radioactive waste including high-concentration sodium sulfate and high-concentration radioactive nuclide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyamoto, Shinya; Sato, Tatsuaki; Sasoh, Michitaka; Sakurai, Jiro; Takada, Takao

2005-01-01

For the cementification of radioactive waste that has large concentrations of sodium sulfate and radioactive nuclide, a way of fixation for sulfate ion was studied comprising the pH control of water in contact with the cement solid, and the removal of the excess water from the cement matrix to prevent hydrogen gas generation with radiolysis. It was confirmed that the sulfate ion concentration in the contacted water with the cement solid is decreased with the formation of ettringite or barium sulfate before solidification, the pH value of the pore water in the cement solid can control less than 12.5 by the application of zeolite and a low-alkali cement such as alumina cement or fly ash mixed cement, and removal of the excess water from the cement matrix by heating is possible with aggregate addition. Consequently, radioactive waste including high-concentration sodium sulfate and high-concentration radioactive nuclide can be solidified with cementitious materials. (author)

Cover gas box for handling sodium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuenstler, K.; Betzl, K.

1978-01-01

An inert atmosphere box has been developed to work with sodium experimentally and analytically. The volumen of the box is 0.6 m 3 . A blower mounted inside the work chamber constantly circulates the argon from the work chamber through a gas purification system (nickel-catalyst 6525 and molecular sieve 4A). The flow rate is 450 l/h. The box is equipped with neoprene gloves. The glove ports can be closed with interior flanges. The work chamber is constantly kept to a low superpressure of 25 mm water gange. In a bypass the oxygen concentration is measured with the OXYLYT-electrolyte cell and the water vapour concentration with the KEIDEL-electrolytic hygrometer. During long-term operation oxygen levels of 35 vpm and water vapour levels of 50 vpm can be hold even when the gloves are not covered. By means of putting a vessel with liquid sodium in the work chamber oxygen levels of 8 vpm and water vapour levels of 20 vpm can be attained for short times. The inert atmosphere purity can be improved by means of increasing the gas flow rate. (author)

Emergency gas processing device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taruishi, Yoshiaki; Sasaki, Susumu.

1984-01-01

Purpose: To enable the reduction of radioactive substances released out of reactor buildings irrespective of the aging change in the buildings. Constitution: There are provided an exhaust gas flow channel for cleaning contaminated airs within a reactor building by way of a series of filters and exhausting the cleaned airs by means of exhaust fans to the outside and a gas recycling flow channel having a cooler in connection with the exhaust gas flow channel at a position downstream of the exhaust fans for returning the cleaned airs in the exhaust gas flow channel to the inside of the reactor buildings. The pressure difference between the outside and the inside of the reactor buildings is made constant by controlling the air flow channel within the gas recycling flow channel by a flow control valve. The airs cleaned by the series of the filters are recycled to the inside of the buildings to decrease the radioactive substance within the buildings. (Horiuchi, T.)

Inert anode containing base metal and noble metal useful for the electrolytic production of aluminum

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Siba P.; Liu, Xinghua

2000-01-01

An inert anode for production of metals such as aluminum is disclosed. The inert anode comprises a base metal selected from Cu and Ag, and at least one noble metal selected from Ag, Pd, Pt, Au, Rh, Ru, Ir and Os. The inert anode may optionally be formed of sintered particles having interior portions containing more base metal than noble metal and exterior portions containing more noble metal than base metal. In a preferred embodiment, the base metal comprises Cu, and the noble metal comprises Ag, Pd or a combination thereof.

Pennsylvania's technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive material experiences and studies of the oil and gas industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Allard, David J

2015-02-01

This presentation provides an overview of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's experiences and ongoing studies related to technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) in the oil and gas industry. It has been known for many years that Pennsylvania's geology is unique, with several areas having relatively high levels of natural uranium and thorium. In the 1950s, a few areas of the state were evaluated for commercial uranium production. In the late 1970s, scoping studies of radon in homes prompted the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Bureau of Radiation Protection (BRP) to begin planning for a larger state-wide radon study. The BRP and Oil and Gas Bureau also performed a TENORM study of produced water in the early 1990s for a number of conventional oil and gas wells. More recently, BRP and the Bureau of Solid Waste developed radiation monitoring regulations for all Pennsylvania solid waste disposal facilities. These were implemented in 2001, prompting another evaluation of oil and gas operations and sludge generated from the treatment of conventionally produced water and brine but mainly focused on the disposal of TENORM solid waste in the state's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Subtitle D landfills. However, since 2008, the increase in volumes of gas well wastewater and levels of Ra observed in the unconventional shale gas well flow-back fracking water has compelled DEP to fully re-examine these oil and gas operations. Specifically, with BRP in the lead, a new TENORM study of oil and gas operations and related wastewater treatment operations has been initiated (), supported by an American National Standards Institute standard on TENORM () and a U.S. Government Accountability Office report on shale resource development and risks (). This study began in early 2013 and will examine the potential public and worker radiation exposure and environmental impact as well as re-evaluate TENORM waste disposal. This