Pyrometallurgical processes for recovery of actinide elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Battles, J.E.; Laidler, J.J.; McPheeters, C.C.; Miller, W.E.

1994-01-01

A metallic fuel alloy, nominally U-20-Pu-lOZr, is the key element of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle. Metallic fuel permits the use of an innovative, simple pyrometallurgical process, known as pyroprocessing, (the subject of this report), which features fused salt electrorefining of the spent fuel. Electrorefining separates the actinide elements from fission products, without producing a separate stream of plutonium. The plutonium-bearing product is contaminated with higher actinides and with a minor amount of rare earth fission products, making it diversion resistant while still suitable as a fuel material in the fast spectrum of the IFR core. The engineering-scale demonstration of this process will be conducted in the refurbished EBR-II Fuel Cycle Facility, which has entered the start-up phase. An additional pyrometallurgical process is under development for extracting transuranic (TRU) elements from Light Water Reactor (LWR) spent fuel in a form suitable for use as a feed to the IFR fuel cycle. Four candidate extraction processes have been investigated and shown to be chemically feasible. The main steps in each process are oxide reduction with calcium or lithium, regeneration of the reductant and recycle of the salt, and separation of the TRU product from the bulk uranium. Two processes, referred to as the lithium and salt transport (calcium reductant) processes, have been selected for engineering-scale demonstration, which is expected to start in late 1993. An integral part of pyroprocessing development is the treatment and packaging of high-level waste materials arising from the operations, along with the qualification of these waste forms for disposal in a geologic repository

Pyrometallurgical processes for recovery of actinide elements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Battles, J.E.; Laidler, J.J.; McPheeters, C.C.; Miller, W.E.

1994-01-01

A metallic fuel alloy, nominally U-20-Pu-lOZr, is the key element of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle. Metallic fuel permits the use of an innovative, simple pyrometallurgical process, known as pyroprocessing, (the subject of this report), which features fused salt electrorefining of the spent fuel. Electrorefining separates the actinide elements from fission products, without producing a separate stream of plutonium. The plutonium-bearing product is contaminated with higher actinides and with a minor amount of rare earth fission products, making it diversion resistant while still suitable as a fuel material in the fast spectrum of the IFR core. The engineering-scale demonstration of this process will be conducted in the refurbished EBR-II Fuel Cycle Facility, which has entered the start-up phase. An additional pyrometallurgical process is under development for extracting transuranic (TRU) elements from Light Water Reactor (LWR) spent fuel in a form suitable for use as a feed to the IFR fuel cycle. Four candidate extraction processes have been investigated and shown to be chemically feasible. The main steps in each process are oxide reduction with calcium or lithium, regeneration of the reductant and recycle of the salt, and separation of the TRU product from the bulk uranium. Two processes, referred to as the lithium and salt transport (calcium reductant) processes, have been selected for engineering-scale demonstration, which is expected to start in late 1993. An integral part of pyroprocessing development is the treatment and packaging of high-level waste materials arising from the operations, along with the qualification of these waste forms for disposal in a geologic repository.

Parallel direct solver for finite element modeling of manufacturing processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Chris Valentin; Martins, P.A.F.

2017-01-01

The central processing unit (CPU) time is of paramount importance in finite element modeling of manufacturing processes. Because the most significant part of the CPU time is consumed in solving the main system of equations resulting from finite element assemblies, different approaches have been...

Distribution of Selected Trace Elements in the Bayer Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johannes Vind

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to achieve an understanding of the distribution of selected bauxite trace elements (gallium (Ga, vanadium (V, arsenic (As, chromium (Cr, rare earth elements (REEs, scandium (Sc in the Bayer process. The assessment was designed as a case study in an alumina plant in operation to provide an overview of the trace elements behaviour in an actual industrial setup. A combination of analytical techniques was used, mainly inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and optical emission spectroscopy as well as instrumental neutron activation analysis. It was found that Ga, V and As as well as, to a minor extent, Cr are principally accumulated in Bayer process liquors. In addition, Ga is also fractionated to alumina at the end of the Bayer processing cycle. The rest of these elements pass to bauxite residue. REEs and Sc have the tendency to remain practically unaffected in the solid phases of the Bayer process and, therefore, at least 98% of their mass is transferred to bauxite residue. The interest in such a study originates from the fact that many of these trace constituents of bauxite ore could potentially become valuable by-products of the Bayer process; therefore, the understanding of their behaviour needs to be expanded. In fact, Ga and V are already by-products of the Bayer process, but their distribution patterns have not been provided in the existing open literature.

R -process Element Cosmic Rays from Neutron Star Mergers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Komiya, Yutaka; Shigeyama, Toshikazu [Research Center for the Early Universe, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, 113-0033, Tokyo (Japan)

2017-09-10

Neutron star mergers (NSMs) are one of the most plausible sources of r -process elements in the universe. Therefore, NSMs can also be a major source of ultra-heavy elements in cosmic rays. In this paper, we first estimate the contribution of r -process elements synthesized in NSMs to the ultra-heavy element cosmic rays (UHCRs) by calculating transport equations that take into account energy loss processes and spallations. We show that the flux of UHCRs accelerated by the NSMs themselves fluctuates by many orders of magnitude on a timescale of several million years and can overwhelm UHCRs accelerated by supernova remnants (SNRs) after an NSM takes place within a few kiloparsec from the solar system. Experiments with very long exposure times using meteorites as UHCR detectors can detect this fluctuation. As a consequence, we show that if NSMs are the primary source of UHCRs, future experiments using meteorites may be able to reveal the event history of NSMs in the solar vicinity. We also describe a possible difference in the abundance pattern and energy spectrum of UHCRs between NSM and SNR accelerations.

Environmental implications of element emissions from phosphate-processing operations in southeastern Idaho

Science.gov (United States)

Severson, R.C.; Gough, L.P.

1979-01-01

In order to assess the contribution to plants and soils of certain elements emitted by phosphate processing, we sampled sagebrush, grasses, and A- and C-horizon soils along upwind and downwind transects at Pocatello and Soda Springs, Idaho. Analyses for 70 elements in plants showed that, statistically, the concentration of 7 environmentally important elements, cadmium, chromium, fluorine, selenium, uranium, vanadium, and zinc, were related to emissions from phosphate-processing operations. Two additional elements, lithium and nickel, show probable relationships. The literature on the effects of these elements on plant and animal health is briefly surveyed. Relations between element content in plants and distance from the phosphate-processing operations were stronger at Soda Springs than at Pocatello and, in general, stronger in sagebrush than in the grasses. Analyses for 58 elements in soils showed that, statistically, beryllium, fluorine, iron, lead, lithium, potassium, rubidium, thorium, and zinc were related to emissions only at Pocatello and only in the A horizon. Moreover, six additional elements, copper, mercury, nickel, titanium, uranium, and vanadium, probably are similarly related along the same transect. The approximate amounts of elements added to the soils by the emissions are estimated. In C-horizon soils, no statistically significant relations were observed between element concentrations and distance from the processing sites. At Soda Springs, the nonuniformity of soils at the sampling locations may have obscured the relationship between soil-element content and emissions from phosphate processing.

Optimization of forging processes using finite element simulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bonte, M.H.A.; Fourment, Lionel; Do, Tien-tho; van den Boogaard, Antonius H.; Huetink, Han

2010-01-01

During the last decades, simulation software based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) has significantly contributed to the design of feasible forming processes. Coupling FEM to mathematical optimization algorithms offers a promising opportunity to design optimal metal forming processes rather than

Elements of random walk and diffusion processes

CERN Document Server

Ibe, Oliver C

2013-01-01

Presents an important and unique introduction to random walk theory Random walk is a stochastic process that has proven to be a useful model in understanding discrete-state discrete-time processes across a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines. Elements of Random Walk and Diffusion Processes provides an interdisciplinary approach by including numerous practical examples and exercises with real-world applications in operations research, economics, engineering, and physics. Featuring an introduction to powerful and general techniques that are used in the application of physical and dynamic

Finite element modeling of the filament winding process using ABAQUS

OpenAIRE

Miltenberger, Louis C.

1992-01-01

A comprehensive stress model of the filament winding fabrication process, previously implemented in the finite element program, WACSAFE, was implemented using the ABAQUS finite element software package. This new implementation, referred to as the ABWACSAFE procedure, consists of the ABAQUS software and a pre/postprocessing routine that was developed to prepare necessary ABAQUS input files and process ABAQUS displacement results for stress and strain computation. The ABWACSAF...

Quality control in the fuel elements production process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katanic-Popovic, J.; Spasic, Z.; Djuricis, Lj.

1977-01-01

Recently great attention has been paid at the international level to the analysis of production processes and quality control of fuel and fuel elements with the aim to speed up activity of proposing and accepting standards and measurement methods. IAEA also devoted great interest to these problems appealing to more active participation of all users and producers fuel elements in a general effort to secure successful work of nuclear plants. For adequate and timely participation in future in the establishment and analysis of general requirements and documentation for the control of purchased or self produced fuel elements in out country it is necessary to be well informed and to follow this activity at the international level. (author)

47 CFR 69.119 - Basic service element expedited approval process.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Basic service element expedited approval process. 69.119 Section 69.119 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES (CONTINUED) ACCESS CHARGES Computation of Charges § 69.119 Basic service element...

Model studying the processes arising during fuel element overheating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Usynin, G.B.; Anoshkin, Yu.I.; Vlasichev, G.N.; Galitskikh, Yu.N.; Semenychev, M.A.

1986-01-01

A calculational technique for studying heating and melting of fuel elements in the BN type reactors during an accident with heat release failure and a simulator with central rod heater intended for out-of-pile experiments is developed. The time rangeof the characteristic melting steps for the most thermally stressed fuel element at the reactor nominal power is calculated. The experimental study of the fuel element melting using a simulator with a tungsten heater has proved that the technique for the simultor and fuel can melting, respectively, is correct. The developed technique is used for determining the geometrical values and operational conditions for experiments with simulators, when quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the process under study are rather close to those natural for fuel elements

Transplutonium elements production program: extraction chromatographic process for plutonium irradiated targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bourges, J.; Madic, C.; Koehly, G.

1980-01-01

The treatment of irradiated plutonium targets by extraction chromatography allowed the purification of the isotopes 243 Am and 244 Cm on the scale of few tens of grams. This process proved to be extremely simple and flexible, and yielded results which are reproducible in time. The chief advantage of the TBP process over the HDEHP process in high and medium activity conditions lies in the rapid absorption/desorption kinetics of the elements to be purified and in the separation of americium from curium, which largely offsets its lower selectivity for lanthanide elements. it is certainly possible to improve the performance of this process by: a) optimization of the characteristics of the stationary phase, b) improvement in the filling technique and in hydraulic operation of the columns, c) on-line analysis of americium (the key element in actinide/lanthanide separation) in the eluate. The application of extraction chromatography with HD(DiBM)P to the purification of 243 Am of the end of treatment makes the process more consistent, eliminates the delicate stages implemented in hot cell, and considerably improves final product quality

Constructing large scale SCI-based processing systems by switch elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, B.; Kristiansen, E.; Skaali, B.; Bogaerts, A.; Divia, R.; Mueller, H.

1993-05-01

The goal of this paper is to study some of the design criteria for the switch elements to form the interconnection of large scale SCI-based processing systems. The approved IEEE standard 1596 makes it possible to couple up to 64K nodes together. In order to connect thousands of nodes to construct large scale SCI-based processing systems, one has to interconnect these nodes by switch elements to form different topologies. A summary of the requirements and key points of interconnection networks and switches is presented. Two models of the SCI switch elements are proposed. The authors investigate several examples of systems constructed for 4-switches with simulations and the results are analyzed. Some issues and enhancements are discussed to provide the ideas behind the switch design that can improve performance and reduce latency. 29 refs., 11 figs., 3 tabs

Chemical elements dynamic in the fermentation process of ethanol producing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nepomuceno, N.; Nadai Fernandes, E.A. de; Bacchi, M.A.

1994-01-01

This paper provides useful information about the dynamics of chemical elements analysed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and, found in the various segments of the fermentation process of producing ethanol from sugar cane. For this, a mass balance of Ce, Co, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Sc, Sm, and Th, terrigenous elements, as well as Br, K, Rb, and Zn, sugar cane plant elements, has been demonstrated for the fermentation vats in industrial conditions of ethanol production. (author). 10 refs, 4 figs, 1 tab

Dynamics of chemical elements in the fermentation process of ethanol production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nepomuceno, N.; Fernandes, E.A.N.; Bacchi, M.A.

1997-01-01

Brazil has become the largest producer of biomass ethanol derived from sugar cane. The industrial production is based on the fermentation of sugar cane juice by yeast, inside of large volume vats, in a fed-batch process that recycles yeast cells. To study the dynamics of chemical elements in each operating cycle, five stages of the fermentation process were considered: must, yeast suspension, wine, non-yeast wine and yeast cream. For this, a mass balance of the terrigenous elements, Ce, Co, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Na, Sc, Sm, and Th, and the sugar cane plant elements, Br, K, Rb, and Zn, were established in fermentation vats of an industrial scale unit, with sampling undertaken during different climatic conditions (dry and rainy periods). A similar distribution of the sugar cane characteristics elements was found for the stages analysed, while for the terrigenous elements a trend of accumulation in the yeast cream was observed. Preferential absorption of Br, K, Rb, and Zn by yeast cells was indicated by the smaller concentrations observed in yeast suspension than in yeast cream. (author)

Effect of Processing on the Elemental Composition of Selected Leafy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The elemental composition of leaves of Vernonia amygdalina, Gnetum africana, Gongronema latifolium and Ocimum gratissimum subjected to different processing methods were investigated. Processing methods employed include oven drying, sun drying, fresh milling, steaming and a combination of these while the mineral ...

PGAA method for control of the technologically important elements at processing of sulfide ores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurbanov, B.I.; Aripov, G.A.; Allamuratova, G.; Umaraliev, M.

2006-01-01

Full text: Many precious elements (Au, Re, Pt, Pd, Ag, Cu, Ni, Co, Mo) in ores mainly exist in the form of sulfide minerals and the flotation method is often used for processing of such kind of ores. To enhance the efficiency of the process it is very important to carry out the operative control of the elements of interest at various stages of ore processing. In this work the results of studies for developing methods for control of technologically important elements at processing and enrichment sulfide ores, which content the gold, copper, nickel, molybdenum in the ore-processing plants of Uzbekistan. The design of transportable experimental PGAA device on the basis of low-power radionuclide neutron source ( 252 Cf) with neutrons of 2x10 7 neutr/sec allowing to determine element content of the above named ores and their processing products is offered. It is shown that the use of the thermal neutron capture gamma-ray spectrometry in real samples and technological products allows prompt determination of such elements as S, Cu, Ti and others, which are important for flotation of sulfide ores. Efficiency control of the flotation processing of sulfide ores is based on quick determination of the content of sulfur and some other important elements at different stages of the process. It was found that to determine elements the following gamma lines are the most suitable - 840.3 keV for sulfur, 609 keV and 7307 keV for copper and 1381.5 keV, 1498.3 keV and 1585.3 keV for titanium. Based on the measurements of original ores, concentrates of various stages of flotation and flotation slime the possibility for prompt determination of S, Cu and Ti content and thus to get necessary information on the efficiency of the flotation process was shown. (author)

Invasive tightly coupled processor arrays

CERN Document Server

LARI, VAHID

2016-01-01

This book introduces new massively parallel computer (MPSoC) architectures called invasive tightly coupled processor arrays. It proposes strategies, architecture designs, and programming interfaces for invasive TCPAs that allow invading and subsequently executing loop programs with strict requirements or guarantees of non-functional execution qualities such as performance, power consumption, and reliability. For the first time, such a configurable processor array architecture consisting of locally interconnected VLIW processing elements can be claimed by programs, either in full or in part, using the principle of invasive computing. Invasive TCPAs provide unprecedented energy efficiency for the parallel execution of nested loop programs by avoiding any global memory access such as GPUs and may even support loops with complex dependencies such as loop-carried dependencies that are not amenable to parallel execution on GPUs. For this purpose, the book proposes different invasion strategies for claiming a desire...

Organic waste process containing at least one radioactive element

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Roy, F.

1977-01-01

The description is given of an organic waste process containing at least one element from the group comprising strontium, cesium, iodine and ruthenium. It comprises the introduction of the organic waste and gaseous oxygen in a bath of melted salt containing an alkaline carbonate, the bath being maintained at a high temperature between 400 and 1000 0 C and at a pressure of 0.5 to 10 bars, so that the organic waste is burnt and oxidised at least partly, the element selected being retained by the bath of melted salt [fr

Quality control of CANDU6 fuel element in fabrication process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yinxie; Zhang Jie

2012-01-01

To enhance the fine control over all aspects of the production process, improve product quality, fuel element fabrication process for CANDU6 quality process control activities carried out by professional technical and management technology combined mode, the quality of the fuel elements formed around CANDU6 weak links - - end plug , and brazing processes and procedures associated with this aspect of strict control, in improving staff quality consciousness, strengthening equipment maintenance, improved tooling, fixtures, optimization process test, strengthen supervision, fine inspection operations, timely delivery carry out aspects of the quality of information and concerns the production environment, etc., to find the problem from the improvement of product quality and factors affecting the source, and resolved to form the active control, comprehensive and systematic analysis of the problem of the quality management concepts, effectively reducing the end plug weld microstructure after the failure times and number of defects zirconium alloys brazed, improved product quality, and created economic benefits expressly provided, while staff quality consciousness and attention to detail, collaboration department, communication has been greatly improved and achieved very good management effectiveness. (authors)

The Origin of r-process Elements in the Milky Way

Science.gov (United States)

Côté, Benoit; Fryer, Chris L.; Belczynski, Krzysztof; Korobkin, Oleg; Chruślińska, Martyna; Vassh, Nicole; Mumpower, Matthew R.; Lippuner, Jonas; Sprouse, Trevor M.; Surman, Rebecca; Wollaeger, Ryan

2018-03-01

Some of the heavy elements, such as gold and europium (Eu), are almost exclusively formed by the rapid neutron capture process (r-process). However, it is still unclear which astrophysical site between core-collapse supernovae and neutron star–neutron star (NS–NS) mergers produced most of the r-process elements in the universe. Galactic chemical evolution (GCE) models can test these scenarios by quantifying the frequency and yields required to reproduce the amount of europium (Eu) observed in galaxies. Although NS–NS mergers have become popular candidates, their required frequency (or rate) needs to be consistent with that obtained from gravitational wave measurements. Here, we address the first NS–NS merger detected by LIGO/Virgo (GW170817) and its associated gamma-ray burst and analyze their implication for the origin of r-process elements. The range of NS–NS merger rate densities of 320–4740 Gpc‑3 yr‑1 provided by LIGO/Virgo is remarkably consistent with the range required by GCE to explain the Eu abundances in the Milky Way with NS–NS mergers, assuming the solar r-process abundance pattern for the ejecta. Under the same assumption, this event has produced about 1–5 Earth masses of Eu, and 3–13 Earth masses of gold. When using theoretical calculations to derive Eu yields, constraining the role of NS–NS mergers becomes more challenging because of nuclear astrophysics uncertainties. This is the first study that directly combines nuclear physics uncertainties with GCE calculations. If GW170817 is a representative event, NS–NS mergers can produce Eu in sufficient amounts and are likely to be the main r-process site.

Finite element simulation of ironing process under warm conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Swadesh Kumar Singh

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Metal forming is one of the most important steps in manufacturing of a large variety of products. Ironing in deep drawing is done by adjusting the clearance between the punch and the die and allow the material flow over the punch. In the present investigation effect of extent of ironing behavior on the characteristics of the product like thickness distribution with respect to temperature was studied. With the help of finite element simulation using explicit finite element code LS-DYNA the stress in the drawn cup were predicted in the drawn cup. To increase the accuracy in the simulation process, numbers of integration points were increased in the thickness direction and it was found that there is very close prediction of finite element results to that of experimental ones.

Elements and process for recording direct image neutron radiographs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poignant, R.V. Jr.; Przybylowicz, E.P.

1975-01-01

An element is provided for recording a direct image neutron radiograph, thus eliminating the need for a transfer step (i.e., the use of a transfer screen). The element is capable of holding an electrostatic charge and comprises a first layer for absorbing neutrons and generating a current by dissipation of said electrostatic charge in proportion to the number of neutrons absorbed, and a second layer for conducting the current generated by the absorbed neutrons, said neutron absorbing layer comprising an insulative layer comprising neutron absorbing agents in a concentration of at least 10 17 atoms per cm 3 . An element for enhancing the effect of the neutron beam by utilizing the secondary emanations of neutron absorbing materials is also disclosed along with a process for using the device. (U.S.)

Determining e-Portfolio Elements in Learning Process Using Fuzzy Delphi Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamad, Syamsul Nor Azlan; Embi, Mohamad Amin; Nordin, Norazah

2015-01-01

The present article introduces the Fuzzy Delphi method results obtained in the study on determining e-Portfolio elements in learning process for art and design context. This method bases on qualified experts that assure the validity of the collected information. In particular, the confirmation of elements is based on experts' opinion and…

Influences of in-fuel physical-chemical processes on serviceability of energy reactor fuel elements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bibilashvili, Yu K; Nekrasova, G A; Sukhanov, G I

1989-01-01

In-fuel physico-chemical processes and their effect on stress corrosion cracking of fuel element zirconium cladding are considered in the review. The mechanism of fission product release from the fuel is studied and the negative role of primarily iodine on the cladding corrosion process is demonstrated. Directions for improving the fuel element claddings and fuel to increase the fuel element serviceability are specified.

Influences of in-fuel physical-chemical processes on serviceability of energy reactor fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bibilashvili, Yu.K.; Nekrasova, G.A.; Sukhanov, G.I.

1989-01-01

In-fuel physico-chemical processes and their effect on stress corrosion cracking of fuel element zirconium cladding are considered in the review. The mechanism of fission product release from the fuel is studied and the negative role of primarily iodine on the cladding corrosion process is demonstrated. Directions for improving the fuel element claddings and fuel to increase the fuel element serviceability are specified

Cost model relationships between textile manufacturing processes and design details for transport fuselage elements

Science.gov (United States)

Metschan, Stephen L.; Wilden, Kurtis S.; Sharpless, Garrett C.; Andelman, Rich M.

1993-01-01

Textile manufacturing processes offer potential cost and weight advantages over traditional composite materials and processes for transport fuselage elements. In the current study, design cost modeling relationships between textile processes and element design details were developed. Such relationships are expected to help future aircraft designers to make timely decisions on the effect of design details and overall configurations on textile fabrication costs. The fundamental advantage of a design cost model is to insure that the element design is cost effective for the intended process. Trade studies on the effects of processing parameters also help to optimize the manufacturing steps for a particular structural element. Two methods of analyzing design detail/process cost relationships developed for the design cost model were pursued in the current study. The first makes use of existing databases and alternative cost modeling methods (e.g. detailed estimating). The second compares design cost model predictions with data collected during the fabrication of seven foot circumferential frames for ATCAS crown test panels. The process used in this case involves 2D dry braiding and resin transfer molding of curved 'J' cross section frame members having design details characteristic of the baseline ATCAS crown design.

Concentration and distribution of elements in plants and soils near phosphate processing factories, Pocatello, Idaho

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severson, R.C.; Gough, L.P.

1976-01-01

The processing of phosphatic shale near Pocatello, Idaho has a direct influence on the element content of local vegetation and soil. Samples of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. subsp. tridentata) and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) show important negative relations between the concentration of certain elements (Cd, Cr, F, Ni, P, Se, U, V, and Zn) and distance from phosphate processing factories. Plant tissues within 3 km of the processing factories contain unusually high amounts of these elements except Ni and Se. Important negative relations with distance were also found for certain elements (Be, F, Fe, K, Li, Pb, Rb, Th, and Zn) in A-horizon soil. Amounts of seven elements (Be, F, Li, Pb, Rb, Th, and Zn) being contributed to the upper 5 cm of the soil by phosphate processing, as well as two additional elements (U and V) suspected as being contributed to soil, were estimated, with F showing the greatest increase (about 300 kg/ha) added to soils as far as 4 km downwind from the factories. The greatest number of important relations for both plants and soils was found downwind (northeast) of the processing factories

Trace elements as quantitative probes of differentiation processes in planetary interiors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drake, M.J.

1980-01-01

Abundances of trace elements in extrusive igneous rocks may be used as petrological and geochemical probes of the source regions of the rocks if differentiation processes, partition coefficients, phase equilibria, and initial concentrations in the source region are known. The characteristic trace element signature that each mineral in the source region imparts on the magma forms the conceptual basis for trace element modeling. The task of the trace element geochemist is to solve mathematically the inverse problem. Given trace element abundances in a magma, what is the ode of its source region. The most successful modeling has been performed for small planetary bodies which underwent relatively simple igneous differentiation events. An example is the eucrite parent body, a planet which produced basals at approx. =4.6 Gy. and has been quiescent ever since. This simple differentiation history permits the calculation of its bulk composition (a feldspathic peridotite) and has led to the tentative identification of asteroid 4 Westa as the eucrite parent body. The differentiation of iron meteorite groups in parent body cores is amenable to similar treatment. The 'anomalous' behavior of Cr, suggests that IIIA, B irons and main group pallasites equilibrated with troilite, spinel, ferromagnesian silicates, or some combination thereof. The moon has undergone more complex differentiation, and quantitative geochemical modeling is correspondingly more difficult. Nevertheless, modeling the two-stage evolution of mare basals raises the possibility that the primordial moon did not have chondritic relative abundances of such refractory elements as Ca, Al, U, and the rare-earth elements. The nonchondritic element ratios are characteristic of planetary, not nebular, fractionation processes and are consistent with the derivation of the moon from a precursor planet, possibly the earth

Process to determine light elements content of steel and alloys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quintella, Cristina M.A.L.T.M.H.; Castro, Martha T.P.O. [Universidade Federal da Bahia (IQ/UFBA), Salvador, BA (Brazil). Inst. de Quimica. LabLaser; Mac-Culloch, Joao N.L.M. [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-07-01

The present work reports a process to determine qualitatively and quantitatively elements of molar mass inferior to 23 within materials, by X rays spectra associated with multivariate data analysis, or chemometric analysis. The spectra is acquired between 5 keV and 22 keV when the materials are exposed to X radiation. Here is reported the direct determination of carbon content in steel and metallic alloys. The process is more effective when using spectral regions which are not usually used. From the analysis of these spectral regions which were not considered before, it was possible to detect light elements with molar mass lower than 23, which have low capacity of absorbing and emitting radiation, but have high capacity of scattering radiation. The process here reported has the advantage that X-Ray spectra obtained are calibrated multivariately, showing high potential for development in order to be used in a portable field equipment. (author)

ABAQUS2MATLAB: A Novel Tool for Finite Element Post-Processing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martínez Pañeda, Emilio; Papazafeiropoulos, George; Muniz-Calvente, Miguel

2017-01-01

A novel piece of software is presented to connect Abaqus, a sophisticated finite element package, with Matlab, the most comprehensive program for mathematical analysis. This interface between these well-known codes not only benefits from the image processing and the integrated graph-plotting feat......A novel piece of software is presented to connect Abaqus, a sophisticated finite element package, with Matlab, the most comprehensive program for mathematical analysis. This interface between these well-known codes not only benefits from the image processing and the integrated graph...... to demonstrate its capabilities. The source code, detailed documentation and a large number of tutorials can be freely downloaded from www.abaqus2matlab.com....

Finite Element Modeling of Adsorption Processes for Gas Separation and Purification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Humble, Paul H.; Williams, Richard M.; Hayes, James C.

2009-01-01

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has expertise in the design and fabrication of automated radioxenon collection systems for nuclear explosion monitoring. In developing new systems there is an ever present need to reduce size, power consumption and complexity. Most of these systems have used adsorption based techniques for gas collection and/or concentration and purification. These processes include pressure swing adsorption, vacuum swing adsorption, temperature swing adsorption, gas chromatography and hybrid processes that combine elements of these techniques. To better understand these processes, and help with the development of improved hardware, a finite element software package (COMSOL Multiphysics) has been used to develop complex models of these adsorption based operations. The partial differential equations used include a mass balance for each gas species and adsorbed species along with a convection conduction energy balance equation. These equations in conjunction with multicomponent temperature dependent isotherm models are capable of simulating separation processes ranging from complex multibed PSA processes, and multicomponent temperature programmed gas chromatography, to simple two component temperature swing adsorption. These numerical simulations have been a valuable tool for assessing the capability of proposed processes and optimizing hardware and process parameters.

Solvent Refined Coal (SRC) process: trace elements. Research and development report No. 53, interim report No. 30. Volume III. Pilot plant development work. Part 6. The fate of trace elements in the SRC process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalil, S.R.

1980-02-01

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used to study the distribution and fate of up to 36 elements in the Solvent Refined Coal Process Pilot Plant located at Fort Lewis, Washington. The elements Ti, V, Mg, Ca, Al, Cl, Mn, As, Br, Na, K, Sm, La, Ga, Cu, Sb, Se, Hg, Ni, Co, Cr, Fe, Rb, Cs, Sc, Tb, Eu, Ce, Sr, Ba, Th, U, Hf, Ta, Zr and Zn were measured in feed coal, insoluble residues, process solvent, process and effluent waters, by-product sulfur, SRC-I solid product, liquid-liquid separator oils and SRC-II liquid products. The material balance was calculated for each element from the concentration data and yields of each process fraction for both the SRC-I and SRC-II processes. Except for Ti, Cl and Br in the SRC-I mode and Hg in the SRC-II mode, each element was substantially lower in the SRC products than in the original feed coal. Residues from the process contained more than 80% of the trace element content found in the coal, except for Hg. More than 98.5% of the total contents of K and Fe in coal were retained in the insoluble residues. Elements such as Hg, Se, As and Sb can form volatile compounds (such as Hg 0 , H 2 Se, AsH 3 and SbH 3 ) stable under the process conditions. The high enhancement factors of Se (957), As (202) and Sb (27.4) in the aqueous phase of the separator water compared to that of the oil are evidence for the formation of volatile species which are more soluble in water than in the oil phase

Astrophysical site(s of r-process elements in galactic chemodynamical evolution model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hirai Yutaka

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Astrophysical site(s of rapid neutron-capture process (r-process is (are not identified yet. Although core-collapse supernovae have been regarded as one of the possible candidates of the astrophysical site of r-process, nucleosynthesis studies suggest that serious difficulties in core-collapse supernovae to produce heavy elements with mass number of ≳110. Recent studies show that neutron star mergers (NSMs can synthesize these elements due to their neutron rich environment. Some chemical evolution studies of the Milky Way halo, however, hardly reproduce the observed star-to-star scatters of the abundance ratios of r-process elements (e.g., Eu in extremely metal-poor stars. This is because of their low rate (∼ 10−4 yr−1 for a Milky Way size galaxy and long merger time (≳ 100 Myr. This problem might be solved if the stars in the Galactic halo are consisted of the stars formed in dwarf galaxies where the star formation efficiencies were very low. In this study, we carry out numerical simulations of galactic chemo-dynamical evolution using an N-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamics code. We construct detailed chemo-dynamical evolution model for the Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs assuming that the NSMs are the major source of r-process elements. Our models successfully reproduce the observed dispersion in [Eu/Fe] as a function of [Fe/H] if we set merger time of NSMs, ≲ 300 Myr with the Galactic NSM rate of ∼ 10−4 yr−1. In addition, our results are consistent with the observed metallicity distribution of dSphs. In the early phase (≲1 Gyr of galaxy evolution is constant due to low star formation efficiency of dSphs. This study supports the idea that NSMs are the major site of r-process nucleosynthesis.

Strategic Alliance Development - A Process Model A Case Study Integrating Elements of Strategic Alliances

OpenAIRE

Mohd Yunos, Mohd Bulkiah

2007-01-01

There has been enormous increase in the formation of strategic alliance and the research efforts devoted to understanding alliance development process over the last few decades. However, the critical elements that influence the each stage of alliance development are yet unexplored. This dissertation aims to fill this gap and to supplement it by introducing an integrated process model of strategic alliance development and its critical elements. The process model for strategic alliance developm...

Gear hot forging process robust design based on finite element method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xuewen, Chen; Won, Jung Dong

2008-01-01

During the hot forging process, the shaping property and forging quality will fluctuate because of die wear, manufacturing tolerance, dimensional variation caused by temperature and the different friction conditions, etc. In order to control this variation in performance and to optimize the process parameters, a robust design method is proposed in this paper, based on the finite element method for the hot forging process. During the robust design process, the Taguchi method is the basic robust theory. The finite element analysis is incorporated in order to simulate the hot forging process. In addition, in order to calculate the objective function value, an orthogonal design method is selected to arrange experiments and collect sample points. The ANOVA method is employed to analyze the relationships of the design parameters and design objectives and to find the best parameters. Finally, a case study for the gear hot forging process is conducted. With the objective to reduce the forging force and its variation, the robust design mathematical model is established. The optimal design parameters obtained from this study indicate that the forging force has been reduced and its variation has been controlled

Abaqus2Matlab: A suitable tool for finite element post-processing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Papazafeiropoulos, George; Muñiz-Calvente, Miguel; Martínez Pañeda, Emilio

2017-01-01

A suitable piece of software is presented to connect Abaqus, a sophisticated finite element package, with Matlab, the most comprehensive program for mathematical analysis. This interface between these well- known codes not only benefits from the image processing and the integrated graph-plotting ......A suitable piece of software is presented to connect Abaqus, a sophisticated finite element package, with Matlab, the most comprehensive program for mathematical analysis. This interface between these well- known codes not only benefits from the image processing and the integrated graph...... crack propagation in structural materials by means of a cohesive zone approach. The source code, detailed documentation and a large number of tutorials can be freely downloaded from www.abaqus2matlab.com ....

The AMBRE Project: r-process element abundances in the Milky Way thin and thick discs

Science.gov (United States)

Guiglion, Guillaume; de Laverny, Patrick; Recio-Blanco, Alejandra; Worley, C. Clare

2018-04-01

Chemical evolution of r-process elements in the Milky Way disc is still a matter of debate. We took advantage of high resolution HARPS spectra from the ESO archive in order to derive precise chemical abundances of 3 r-process elements Eu, Dy & Gd for a sample of 4 355 FGK Milky Way stars. The chemical analysis has been performed thanks to the automatic optimization pipeline GAUGUIN. Based on the [α/Fe] ratio, we chemically characterized the thin and the thick discs, and present here results of these 3 r-process element abundances in both discs. We found an unexpected Gadolinium and Dysprosium enrichment in the thick disc stars compared to Europium, while these three elements track well each other in the thin disc.

Complete Element Abundances of Nine Stars in the r-process Galaxy Reticulum II

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Alexander P.; Frebel, Anna; Simon, Joshua D.; Chiti, Anirudh

2016-10-01

We present chemical abundances derived from high-resolution Magellan/Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle spectra of the nine brightest known red giant members of the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Reticulum II (Ret II). These stars span the full metallicity range of Ret II (-3.5 contaminated known r-process pattern. The abundances of lighter elements up to the iron peak are otherwise similar to abundances of stars in the halo and in other ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. However, the scatter in abundance ratios is large enough to suggest that inhomogeneous metal mixing is required to explain the chemical evolution of this galaxy. The presence of low amounts of neutron-capture elements in other ultra-faint dwarf galaxies may imply the existence of additional r-process sites besides the source of r-process elements in Ret II. Galaxies like Ret II may be the original birth sites of r-process enhanced stars now found in the halo. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

The combined impact of vineyard origin and processing winery on the elemental profile of red wines.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopfer, Helene; Nelson, Jenny; Collins, Thomas S; Heymann, Hildegarde; Ebeler, Susan E

2015-04-01

The combined effects of vineyard origin and winery processing have been studied in 65 red wines samples. Grapes originating from five different vineyards within 40 miles of each other were processed in at least two different wineries. Sixty-three different elements were determined with inductively coupled-plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and wines were classified according to vineyard origin, processing winery, and the combination of both factors. Vineyard origin as well as winery processing have an impact on the elemental composition of wine, but each winery and each vineyard change the composition to a different degree. For some vineyards, wines showed a characteristic elemental pattern, independent of the processing winery, but the same was found for some wineries, with similar elemental pattern for all grapes processed in these wineries, independent of the vineyard origin. Studying the combined effects of grapegrowing and winemaking provides insight into the determination of geographical origin of red wines. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Finite Element Analysis for Bending Process of U-Bending Specimens

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Won Dong; Bahn, Chi Bum [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

ASTM G30 suggests that the applied strain can be calculated by dividing thickness by a bend radius. It should be noted, however, that the formula is reliable under an assumption that the ratio of thickness to bend radius is less than 0.2. Typically, to increase the applied stress/strain, the ratio of thickness to bend radius becomes larger than 0.2. This suggests that the estimated strain values by ASTM G30 are not reliable to predict the actual residual strain state of the highly deformed U-bend specimen. For this reason, finite element analysis (FEA) for the bending process of Ubend specimens was conducted by using a commercial finite element analysis software ABAQUS. ver.6.14- 2;2014. From the results of FEA, PWSCC initiation time and U-bend specimen size can be determined exactly. Since local stress and strain have a significant effect on the initiation of PWSCC, it was inappropriate to apply results of ASTM G30 to the PWSCC test directly. According to results of finite element analysis (FEA), elastic relaxation can cause inaccuracy in intended final residual stress. To modify this inaccuracy, additional process reducing the spring back is required. However this additional process also may cause uncertainty of stress/strain state. Therefore, the U-bending specimen size which is not creating uncertainty should be optimized and selected. With the bending radius of 8.3 mm, the thickness of 3 mm and the roller distance of 32.6 mm, calculated maximum stress and strain were 670 MPa and 0.21, respectively.

Data-processing strategies for nano-tomography with elemental specification

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yijin; Cats, Korneel H.; Nelson Weker, Johanna; Andrews, Joy C.; Weckhuysen, Bert M.; Pianetta, Piero

2013-10-01

Combining the energy tunability provided by synchrotron X-ray sources with transmission X-ray microscopy, the morphology of materials can be resolved in 3D at spatial resolution down to 30 nm with elemental/chemical specification. In order to study the energy dependence of the absorption coefficient over the investigated volume, the tomographic reconstruction and image registration (before and/or after the tomographic reconstruction) are critical. We show in this paper the comparison of two different data processing strategies and conclude that the signal to noise ratio (S/N) in the final result can be improved via performing tomographic reconstruction prior to the evaluation of energy dependence. Our result echoes the dose fractionation theorem, and is particularly helpful when the element of interest has low concentration.

Analysis of technology and quality control the fuel elements production process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katanic, J.; Spasic, Z.; Momcilovic, I.

1976-01-01

Recently great attention has been paid at the international level to the analysis of production processes and quality control of fuel elements with the aim to speed up activity of proposing and accepting standards and measurement methods. IAEA also devoted great interest to these problems appealing to more active participation of all users and procedures of fuel elements in a general effort to secure successful work with nuclear plants. For adequate and timely participation in future of the establishment and analysis of general requirements and documentation for the control of purchased or self produced fuel elements in our country, it is necessary to be well informed and to follow this activity at the international level

Finite element modelling of creep process - steady state stresses and strains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sedmak Aleksandar S.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Finite element modelling of steady state creep process has been described. Using an analogy of visco-plastic problem with a described procedure, the finite element method has been used to calculate steady state stresses and strains in 2D problems. An example of application of such a procedure have been presented, using real life problem - cylindrical pipe with longitudinal crack at high temperature, under internal pressure, and estimating its residual life, based on the C*integral evaluation.

Dynamic Training Elements in a Circuit Theory Course to Implement a Self-Directed Learning Process

Science.gov (United States)

Krouk, B. I.; Zhuravleva, O. B.

2009-01-01

This paper reports on the implementation of a self-directed learning process in a circuit theory course, incorporating dynamic training elements which were designed on the basis of a cybernetic model of cognitive process management. These elements are centrally linked in a dynamic learning frame, created on the monitor screen, which displays the…

Design Process for Integrated Concepts with Responsive Building Elements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aa, Van der A.; Heiselberg, Per

2008-01-01

An integrated building concept is a prerequisite to come to an energy efficient building with a good and healthy IAQ indoor comfort. A design process that defines the targets and boundary conditions in the very first stage of the design and guarantees them until the building is finished and used...... is needed. The hard question is however: how to make the right choice of the combination of individual measures from building components and building services elements. Within the framework of IEA-ECBCS Annex 44 research has been conducted about the design process for integrated building concepts...

Effects of Process Parameters on Copper Powder Compaction Process Using Multi-Particle Finite Element Method

Science.gov (United States)

Güner, F.; Sofuoğlu, H.

2018-01-01

Powder metallurgy (PM) has been widely used in several industries; especially automotive and aerospace industries and powder metallurgy products grow up every year. The mechanical properties of the final product that is obtained by cold compaction and sintering in powder metallurgy are closely related to the final relative density of the process. The distribution of the relative density in the die is affected by parameters such as compaction velocity, friction coefficient and temperature. Moreover, most of the numerical studies utilizing finite element approaches treat the examined environment as a continuous media with uniformly homogeneous porosity whereas Multi-Particle Finite Element Method (MPFEM) treats every particles as an individual body. In MPFEM, each of the particles can be defined as an elastic- plastic deformable body, so the interactions of the particles with each other and the die wall can be investigated. In this study, each particle was modelled and analyzed as individual deformable body with 3D tetrahedral elements by using MPFEM approach. This study, therefore, was performed to investigate the effects of different temperatures and compaction velocities on stress distribution and deformations of copper powders of 200 µm-diameter in compaction process. Furthermore, 3-D MPFEM model utilized von Mises material model and constant coefficient of friction of μ=0.05. In addition to MPFEM approach, continuum modelling approach was also performed for comparison purposes.

Application of the dual reciprocity boundary element method for numerical modelling of solidification process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Majchrzak

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The dual reciprocity boundary element method is applied for numerical modelling of solidification process. This variant of the BEM is connected with the transformation of the domain integral to the boundary integrals. In the paper the details of the dual reciprocity boundary element method are presented and the usefulness of this approach to solidification process modelling is demonstrated. In the final part of the paper the examples of computations are shown.

Possibilities of Particle Finite Element Methods in Industrial Forming Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, J.; Cante, J. C.; Weyler, R.; Hernandez, J.

2007-04-01

The work investigates the possibilities offered by the particle finite element method (PFEM) in the simulation of forming problems involving large deformations, multiple contacts, and new boundaries generation. The description of the most distinguishing aspects of the PFEM, and its application to simulation of representative forming processes, illustrate the proposed methodology.

ENRICHMENT OF r-PROCESS ELEMENTS IN DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXIES IN CHEMO-DYNAMICAL EVOLUTION MODEL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirai, Yutaka; Kajino, Toshitaka [Department of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan); Ishimaru, Yuhri [Department of Material Science,International Christian University, 3-10-2 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8585 (Japan); Saitoh, Takayuki R. [Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551 (Japan); Fujii, Michiko S.; Hidaka, Jun, E-mail: yutaka.hirai@nao.ac.jp [Division of Theoretical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)

2015-11-20

The rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) is a major process for the synthesis of elements heavier than iron-peak elements, but the astrophysical site(s) of the r-process has not yet been identified. Neutron star mergers (NSMs) are suggested to be a major r-process site according to nucleosynthesis studies. Previous chemical evolution studies, however, required unlikely short merger times of NSMs to reproduce the observed large star-to-star scatters in the abundance ratios of r-process elements to iron: the [Eu/Fe] of extremely metal-poor stars in the Milky Way (MW) halo. This problem can be solved by considering chemical evolution in dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs), which would be building blocks of the MW and have lower star formation efficiencies than the MW halo. We demonstrate the enrichment of r-process elements in dSphs by NSMs using an N-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamics code. Our high-resolution model reproduces the observed [Eu/Fe] due to NSMs with a merger time of 100 Myr when the effect of metal mixing is taken into account. This is because metallicity is not correlated with time ∼300 Myr from the start of the simulation due to the low star formation efficiency in dSphs. We also confirm that this model is consistent with observed properties of dSphs such as radial profiles and metallicity distribution. The merger time and the Galactic rate of NSMs are suggested to be ≲300 Myr and ∼10{sup −4} year{sup −1}, respectively, which are consistent with the values suggested by population synthesis and nucleosynthesis studies. This study supports the argument that NSMs are the major astrophysical site of the r-process.

Optimization of the flexible mould process for the production of double-curved concrete elements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schipper, H.R.; Grunewald, S.; Eigenraam, P.; Raghunath, P.; Kok, M.

2014-01-01

Free-form buildings tend to be expensive. By optimizing the production process, economical and wellperforming concrete structures and elements can be manufactured. In this paper, an innovative method is presented that allows producing highly accurate double curved-elements without the need for

Heterogeneity and loss of soil nutrient elements under aeolian processes in the Otindag Desert, China

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Danfeng; Wang, Xunming; Lou, Junpeng; Liu, Wenbin; Li, Hui; Ma, Wenyong; Jiao, Linlin

2018-02-01

The heterogeneity of the composition of surface soils that are affected by aeolian processes plays important roles in ecological evolution and the occurrence of aeolian desertification in fragile ecological zones, but the associated mechanisms are poorly understood. Using field investigation, wind tunnel experiments, and particle size and element analyses, we discuss the variation in the nutrient elements of surface soils that forms in the presence of aeolian processes of four vegetation species (Caragana microphylla Lam, Artemisia frigida Willd. Sp. Pl., Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel. and Stipa grandis P. Smirn) growing in the Otindag Desert, China. These four vegetation communities correspond to increasing degrees of degradation. A total of 40 macro elements, trace elements, and oxides were measured in the surface soil and in wind-transported samples. The results showed that under the different degradation stages, the compositions and concentrations of nutrients in surface soils differed for the four vegetation species. Aeolian processes may cause higher heterogeneity and higher loss of soil nutrient elements for the communities of Artemisia frigida Willd. Sp. Pl., Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel, and Stipa grandis P. Smirn than for the Caragana microphylla Lam community. There was remarkable variation in the loss of nutrients under different aeolian transportation processes. Over the past several decades, the highest loss of soil elements occurred in the 1970s, whereas the loss from 2011 to the present was generally 4.0% of that in the 1970s. These results indicate that the evident decrease in nutrient loss has played an important role in the rehabilitation that has occurred in the region recently.

Finite Element Simulation of Sheet Metal Forming Process Using Local Interpolation for Tool Surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hama, Takayuki; Takuda, Hirohiko; Takamura, Masato; Makinouchi, Akitake; Teodosiu, Cristian

2005-01-01

Treatment of contact between a sheet and tools is one of the most difficult problems to deal with in finite-element simulations of sheet forming processes. In order to obtain more accurate tool models without increasing the number of elements, this paper describes a new formulation for contact problems using interpolation proposed by Nagata for tool surfaces. A contact search algorithm between sheet nodes and the interpolated tool surfaces was developed and was introduced into the static-explicit elastoplastic finite-element method code STAMP3D. Simulations of a square cup deep drawing process with a very coarsely discretized punch model were carried out. The simulated results showed that the proposed algorithm gave the proper drawn shape, demonstrating the validity of the proposed algorithm

Mobility of rare earth element in hydrothermal process and weathering product: a review

Science.gov (United States)

Lintjewas, L.; Setiawan, I.

2018-02-01

The Rare Earth Element (REE), consists of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Lu, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, are important elements to be used as raw materials of advanced technology such as semiconductors, magnets, and lasers. The research of REE in Indonesia has not been done. Several researches were conducted on granitic rocks and weathering product such as Bangka, Sibolga, West Kalimantan, West Sulawesi and Papua. REE can be formed by hydrothermal processes such as Bayan Obo, South China. The REE study on active hydrothermal system (geothermal) in this case also has the potential to produce mineral deposits. The purpose of this review paper is to know the mobility of REE on hydrothermal process and weathering products. Mobility of REE in the hydrothermal process can change the distribution patterns and REE content such as Ce, Eu, La, Lu, Nd, Sm, and Y. Another process besides the hydrothermal is weathering process. REE mobility is influenced by weathering products, where the REE will experience residual and secondary enrichment processes in heavier minerals.

Effect of microbial processes on transuranium elements behaviour in soil, plants and animal organism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uajldung, R.Eh.; Garlend, T.P.

1985-01-01

Results of preliminary studies discussed in the present paper bring about the supposition that concentration and chemical from of an element in a plant play an essential role in variation of its availability for animals consuming plants. That is why any assessment of long-term behaviour of transuranium elements in terrestrialenvironment should be based on determination of factors affecting solubility and forms of soluble compounds in soil. These factors include concentration and chemical form of the element migrating to soil; effect of the properties of soil on element distribution between solid and liquid phases; effect soil processes on kinetics of sorption reactions, concentration of transuranium elements, forms of soluble and non-soluble chemical compounds

Process development for elemental recovery from PGM tailings by thermochemical treatment: Preliminary major element extraction studies using ammonium sulphate as extracting agent.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, Sameera; van der Merwe, Elizabet M; Altermann, Wladyslaw; Doucet, Frédéric J

2016-04-01

Mine tailings can represent untapped secondary resources of non-ferrous, ferrous, precious, rare and trace metals. Continuous research is conducted to identify opportunities for the utilisation of these materials. This preliminary study investigated the possibility of extracting major elements from South African tailings associated with the mining of Platinum Group Metals (PGM) at the Two Rivers mine operations. These PGM tailings typically contain four major elements (11% Al2O3; 12% MgO; 22% Fe2O3; 34% Cr2O3), with lesser amounts of SiO2 (18%) and CaO (2%). Extraction was achieved via thermochemical treatment followed by aqueous dissolution, as an alternative to conventional hydrometallurgical processes. The thermochemical treatment step used ammonium sulphate, a widely available, low-cost, recyclable chemical agent. Quantification of the efficiency of the thermochemical process required the development and optimisation of the dissolution technique. Dissolution in water promoted the formation of secondary iron precipitates, which could be prevented by leaching thermochemically-treated tailings in 0.6M HNO3 solution. The best extraction efficiencies were achieved for aluminium (ca. 60%) and calcium (ca. 80%). 35% iron and 32% silicon were also extracted, alongside chromium (27%) and magnesium (25%). Thermochemical treatment using ammonium sulphate may therefore represent a promising technology for extracting valuable elements from PGM tailings, which could be subsequently converted to value-added products. However, it is not element-selective, and major elements were found to compete with the reagent to form water-soluble sulphate-metal species. Further development of this integrated process, which aims at achieving the full potential of utilisation of PGM tailings, is currently underway. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A SIMD-VLIW Smart Camera Architecture for Real-Time Face Recognition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleihorst, R.P.; Broers, H.A.T.; Abbo, A.A.; Ebrahimmalek, H.; Fatemi, H.; Corporaal, H.; Jonker, P.P.

2003-01-01

There is a rapidly growing demand for using smart cameras for various applications in surveillance and identification. Although having a small form-factor, most of these applications demand huge processing performance for real-time processing. Face recognition is one of those applications. In this

Asymmetric Rolling Process Simulations by Dynamic Explicit Crystallographic Homogenized Finite Element Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ngoc Tam, Nguyen; Nakamura, Yasunori; Terao, Toshihiro; Kuramae, Hiroyuki; Nakamachi, Eiji; Sakamoto, Hidetoshi; Morimoto, Hideo

2007-01-01

Recently, the asymmetric rolling (ASR) has been applied to the material processing of aluminum alloy sheet to control micro-crystal structure and texture in order to improve the mechanical properties. Previously, several studies aimed at high formability sheet generation have been carried out experimentally, but finite element simulations to predict the deformation induced texture evolution of the asymmetrically rolled sheet metals have not been investigated rigorously. In this study, crystallographic homogenized finite element (FE) codes are developed and applied to analyze the asymmetrical rolling processes. The textures of sheet metals were measured by electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD), and compared with FE simulations. The results from the dynamic explicit type Crystallographic homogenization FEM code shows that this type of simulation is a comprehensive tool to predict the plastic induced texture evolution

Online elemental analysis of process gases with ICP-OES: A case study on waste wood combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wellinger, Marco; Wochele, Joerg; Biollaz, Serge M.A.; Ludwig, Christian

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Simultaneous measurements of 23 elements in process gases of a waste wood combustor. ► Mobile ICP spectrometer allows measurements of high quality at industrial plants. ► Continuous online measurements with high temporal resolution. ► Linear correlations among element concentrations in the raw flue gas were detected. ► Novel sampling and calibration methods for ICP-OES analysis of process gases. - Abstract: A mobile sampling and measurement system for the analysis of gaseous and liquid samples in the field was developed. An inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), which is built into a van, was used as detector. The analytical system was calibrated with liquid and/or gaseous standards. It was shown that identical mass flows of either gaseous or liquid standards resulted in identical ICP-OES signal intensities. In a field measurement campaign trace and minor elements in the raw flue gas of a waste wood combustor were monitored. Sampling was performed with a highly transport efficient liquid quench system, which allowed to observe temporal variations in the elemental process gas composition. After a change in feedstock an immediate change of the element concentrations in the flue gas was detected. A comparison of the average element concentrations during the combustion of the two feedstocks showed a high reproducibility for matrix elements that are expected to be present in similar concentrations. On the other hand elements that showed strong differences in their concentration in the feedstock were also represented by a higher concentration in the flue gas. Following the temporal variations of different elements revealed strong correlations between a number of elements, such as chlorine with sodium, potassium and zinc, as well as arsenic with lead, and calcium with strontium.

The Release of Trace Elements in the Process of Coal Coking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Konieczyński

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In order to assess the penetration of individual trace elements into the air through their release in the coal coking process, it is necessary to determine the loss of these elements by comparing their contents in the charge coal and in coke obtained. The present research covered four coke oven batteries differing in age, technology, and technical equipment. By using mercury analyzer MA-2 and the method of ICP MS As, Be, Cd, Co, Hg, Mn, Ni, Se, Sr, Tl, V, and Zn were determined in samples of charge coal and yielded coke. Basing on the analyses results, the release coefficients of selected elements were determined. Their values ranged from 0.5 to 94%. High volatility of cadmium, mercury, and thallium was confirmed. The tests have shown that although the results refer to the selected case studies, it may be concluded that the air purity is affected by controlled emission occurring when coke oven batteries are fired by crude coke oven gas. Fugitive emission of the trace elements investigated, occurring due to coke oven leaks and openings, is small and, is not a real threat to the environment except mercury.

A discrete element based simulation framework to investigate particulate spray deposition processes

KAUST Repository

Mukherjee, Debanjan; Zohdi, Tarek I.

2015-01-01

© 2015 Elsevier Inc. This work presents a computer simulation framework based on discrete element method to analyze manufacturing processes that comprise a loosely flowing stream of particles in a carrier fluid being deposited on a target surface

Influence of near-edge processes in the elemental analysis using X

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The near-edge processes, such as X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) andresonant ... away from the shell/subshell ionization thresholds of the attenuator element. ... The influence of XAFS to the attenuation coefficient depends upon the ...

Finite element simulation of dynamic wetting flows as an interface formation process

KAUST Repository

Sprittles, J.E.; Shikhmurzaev, Y.D.

2013-01-01

A mathematically challenging model of dynamic wetting as a process of interface formation has been, for the first time, fully incorporated into a numerical code based on the finite element method and applied, as a test case, to the problem

Supervised Classification Processes for the Characterization of Heritage Elements, Case Study: Cuenca-Ecuador

Science.gov (United States)

Briones, J. C.; Heras, V.; Abril, C.; Sinchi, E.

2017-08-01

The proper control of built heritage entails many challenges related to the complexity of heritage elements and the extent of the area to be managed, for which the available resources must be efficiently used. In this scenario, the preventive conservation approach, based on the concept that prevent is better than cure, emerges as a strategy to avoid the progressive and imminent loss of monuments and heritage sites. Regular monitoring appears as a key tool to identify timely changes in heritage assets. This research demonstrates that the supervised learning model (Support Vector Machines - SVM) is an ideal tool that supports the monitoring process detecting visible elements in aerial images such as roofs structures, vegetation and pavements. The linear, gaussian and polynomial kernel functions were tested; the lineal function provided better results over the other functions. It is important to mention that due to the high level of segmentation generated by the classification procedure, it was necessary to apply a generalization process through opening a mathematical morphological operation, which simplified the over classification for the monitored elements.

A finite element simulation of biological conversion processes in landfills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robeck, M.; Ricken, T.; Widmann, R.

2011-01-01

Landfills are the most common way of waste disposal worldwide. Biological processes convert the organic material into an environmentally harmful landfill gas, which has an impact on the greenhouse effect. After the depositing of waste has been stopped, current conversion processes continue and emissions last for several decades and even up to 100 years and longer. A good prediction of these processes is of high importance for landfill operators as well as for authorities, but suitable models for a realistic description of landfill processes are rather poor. In order to take the strong coupled conversion processes into account, a constitutive three-dimensional model based on the multiphase Theory of Porous Media (TPM) has been developed at the University of Duisburg-Essen. The theoretical formulations are implemented in the finite element code FEAP. With the presented calculation concept we are able to simulate the coupled processes that occur in an actual landfill. The model's theoretical background and the results of the simulations as well as the meantime successfully performed simulation of a real landfill body will be shown in the following.

Fission in R-processes Elements (FIRE) - Annual Report: Fiscal Year 2017

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schunck, Nicolas [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-10-18

The goal of the FIRE topical collaboration in nuclear theory is to determine the astrophysical conditions of the rapid neutron capture process (r-process), which is responsible for the formation of heavy elements. This will be achieved by including in r-process simulations the most advanced models of fission (spontaneous, neutron-induced, beta-delayed) that have been developed at LLNL and LANL. The collaboration is composed of LLNL (lead) and LANL for work on nuclear data (ground-state properties, fission, beta-decay), BNL for nuclear data management, and the university of Notre Dame and North Carolina State University for r-process simulations. Under DOE/NNSA agreement, both universities receive funds from the DOE Office of Science, while national laboratories receive funds directly from NA221.

Solvent refined coal (SRC) process: trace elements research and development report no. 53, interim report no. 34. Volume III. Pilot plant development work part 6: the fate of trace elements in the SRC process for the period, August 1, 1977 - February 28, 1979

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filby, R.H.; Khalil, S.R.; Grimm, C.A.; Ekabaram, V.; Hunt, M.L.

1980-12-01

This work reports the results of neutron activation analysis determination of the fate of trace elements in the SRC II process. Six coals were studied for their behavior in material balance runs carried out at the Fort Lewis Pilot Plant. The distribution of trace elements among products and input streams was determined by thermal neutron activation analysis using thermal neutron flux of 8 x 10 12 neutrons cm -2 sec -1 followed by Ge(Li) gamma ray spectroscopy. National Bureau of Standards Standard Reference Materials (SRM) were used to evaluate the analytical precision and accuracy of the methods used. For each material balance study the trace element input stream was taken as ground coal and the output streams were vacuum bottoms, SRC II product oil, and process water. In addition to these major components, oils, sludges and waters from liquid-liquid separators, effluent waters, biosludges, and by-product sulfur were also analyzed. Concerning the distribution of trace elements in the SRC II process, it was found that the vacuum bottoms was the major sink for all trace element studied, with the exception of Hg. Much lower trace element concentrations (except for Hg) were found in the SRC II product oil relative to the vacuum bottoms or the feed coal, irrespective of coal type. The results indicate excellent balances for the elements studied, except for Hg. Except for Hg, Se, and C1, the SRC II product and process waters contributed less than 1% of the elemental balances for light oil fractions and process waters indicates that Hg, and to a lesser degree As, Se, and Sb, exhibited volatile behavior in the SRC II process but that the degree of volatility is strongly dependent on conditions or coal type

The R-process: supernovae and other sources of the heaviest elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thielemann, F.-K.; Moceli, D.; Panov, I.

2007-01-01

Rapid neutron capture in stellar explosions is responsible for the heaviest elements in nature, up to Th, U and beyond. This nucleosynthesis process, the r-process, is unique in the sense that a combination of nuclear physics far from stability (masses, half-lives, neutron-capture and photodisintegration, neutron-induced and beta-delayed fission and last but not least neutrino-nucleus interactions) is intimately linked to ejecta from astrophysical explosions (core collapse supernovae or other neutron star related events). The astrophysics and nuclear physics involved still harbor many uncertainties, either in the extrapolation of nuclear properties far beyond present experimental explorations or in the modeling of multidimensional, general relativistic (neutrino-radiation) hydrodynamics with rotation and possibly required magnetic fields. Observational clues about the working of the r-process are mostly obtained from solar abundances and from the abundance evolution of the heaviest elements as a function of galactic age, as witnessed in old extremely metal-poor stars. They contain information whether the r-process is identical for all stellar events, how abundance features develop with galactic time and whether the frequency of r-process events is comparable to that of average core collapse supernovae - producing oxygen through titanium, as well as iron-group nuclei. The theoretical modeling of the r-process has advanced from simple approaches, where the use of static neutron densities and temperatures can aid to test the influence of nuclear properties far from stability on abundance features, to more realistic expansions with a given entropy, global neutron/proton ratio and expansion timescales, as expected from explosive astrophysical events. The direct modeling in astrophysical events such as supernovae still faces the problem whether the required conditions can be met. (author)

Amphibole trace elements as indicators of magmatic processes at Mount St. Helens

Science.gov (United States)

Hampel, T. R.; Rowe, M. C.; Kent, A.; Thornber, C. R.

2011-12-01

Amphibole has the capability of incorporating a wide variety of trace elements resulting from a range of magmatic processes. Prior studies have used trace elements such as Li and Cu in amphibole to investigate volatile mobility associated with magma ascent regarding the 2004-2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens (Rowe et al. 2008). In order to investigate magmatic processes associated with the 2004-2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens we have measured a range of fluid-mobile trace elements in conjunction with major element compositions of amphibole phenocrysts in dacite lava. Major elements and volatiles (Cl, F) were measured by electron microprobe analysis at Washington State University and trace elements (Li, Sc, Co, Cu, Zn, Sr, Y, Zr, Mo, Ag, Sn, Sb, Te, Ba, Ce, W, and Pb) were analyzed by laser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS at Oregon State University. Amphibole crystallization temperatures were calculated after Ridolfi et al. (2010). Core to rim transects were measured by electron microprobe to evaluate volatile concentrations and temperature profiles across individual phenocrysts. Core temperatures from 17 days and 226 days post eruption are consistently hotter than the rim temperatures 997 to 881 degrees C, respectively. Amphiboles from the end of the eruption (811 days post eruption) appear to be more complex, with phenocrysts having both increasing and decreasing temperatures toward the rims. The overall calculated temperature range of the amphiboles at the end of the eruption is 1022 to 919 degrees C. There is much diversity in the concentrations of Li and Cu within the phenocrysts in both the samples and throughout the eruption. Concentrations steadily increase in the beginning of the eruption then drop dramatically toward the middle, slowly increase toward the end eruption. Overall concentrations of Sr, Sb, Co, Sn, Mo, Ba, Ce, Sc, and Y do not change over the course of the eruption but do vary sample to sample. Preliminary data for Zn, Sb, Ag, and W suggest the

Parallel finite elements with domain decomposition and its pre-processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, A.; Yagawa, G.; Hamada, S.

1993-01-01

This paper describes a parallel finite element analysis using a domain decomposition method, and the pre-processing for the parallel calculation. Computer simulations are about to replace experiments in various fields, and the scale of model to be simulated tends to be extremely large. On the other hand, computational environment has drastically changed in these years. Especially, parallel processing on massively parallel computers or computer networks is considered to be promising techniques. In order to achieve high efficiency on such parallel computation environment, large granularity of tasks, a well-balanced workload distribution are key issues. It is also important to reduce the cost of pre-processing in such parallel FEM. From the point of view, the authors developed the domain decomposition FEM with the automatic and dynamic task-allocation mechanism and the automatic mesh generation/domain subdivision system for it. (author)

TTAs : missing the ILP complexity wall

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Corporaal, H.

1999-01-01

A common approach to enhance the performance of processors is to increase the number of function units which operate concurrently. We observe this development in all recent general purpose superscalar processors, and in VLIW (very long instruction word) processors used for more dedicated application

Formation of Globular Clusters with Internal Abundance Spreads in r -Process Elements: Strong Evidence for Prolonged Star Formation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bekki, Kenji [ICRAR, M468, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009 (Australia); Tsujimoto, Takuji [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)

2017-07-20

Several globular clusters (GCs) in the Galaxy are observed to show internal abundance spreads in r -process elements (e.g., Eu). We propose a new scenario that explains the origin of these GCs (e.g., M5 and M15). In this scenario, stars with no/little abundance variations first form from a massive molecular cloud (MC). After all of the remaining gas of the MC is expelled by numerous supernovae, gas ejected from asymptotic giant branch stars can be accumulated in the central region of the GC to form a high-density intracluster medium (ICM). Merging of neutron stars then occurs to eject r -process elements, which can be efficiently trapped in and subsequently mixed with the ICM. New stars formed from the ICM can have r -process abundances that are quite different from those of earlier generations of stars within the GC. This scenario can explain both (i) why r -process elements can be trapped within GCs and (ii) why GCs with internal abundance spreads in r -process elements do not show [Fe/H] spreads. Our model shows (i) that a large fraction of Eu-rich stars can be seen in Na-enhanced stellar populations of GCs, as observed in M15, and (ii) why most of the Galactic GCs do not exhibit such internal abundance spreads. Our model demonstrates that the observed internal spreads of r -process elements in GCs provide strong evidence for prolonged star formation (∼10{sup 8} yr).

NEW RARE EARTH ELEMENT ABUNDANCE DISTRIBUTIONS FOR THE SUN AND FIVE r-PROCESS-RICH VERY METAL-POOR STARS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sneden, Christopher; Lawler, James E.; Den Hartog, Elizabeth A.; Cowan, John J.; Ivans, Inese I.

2009-01-01

We have derived new abundances of the rare earth elements Pr, Dy, Tm, Yb, and Lu for the solar photosphere and for five very metal-poor, neutron-capture r-process-rich giant stars. The photospheric values for all five elements are in good agreement with meteoritic abundances. For the low-metallicity sample, these abundances have been combined with new Ce abundances from a companion paper, and reconsideration of a few other elements in individual stars, to produce internally consistent Ba, rare earth, and Hf (56 ≤ Z ≤ 72) element distributions. These have been used in a critical comparison between stellar and solar r-process abundance mixes.

Chemical evolution with rotating massive star yields - I. The solar neighbourhood and the s-process elements

Science.gov (United States)

Prantzos, N.; Abia, C.; Limongi, M.; Chieffi, A.; Cristallo, S.

2018-05-01

We present a comprehensive study of the abundance evolution of the elements from H to U in the Milky Way halo and local disc. We use a consistent chemical evolution model, metallicity-dependent isotopic yields from low and intermediate mass stars and yields from massive stars which include, for the first time, the combined effect of metallicity, mass loss, and rotation for a large grid of stellar masses and for all stages of stellar evolution. The yields of massive stars are weighted by a metallicity-dependent function of the rotational velocities, constrained by observations as to obtain a primary-like 14N behaviour at low metallicity and to avoid overproduction of s-elements at intermediate metallicities. We show that the Solar system isotopic composition can be reproduced to better than a factor of 2 for isotopes up to the Fe-peak, and at the 10 per cent level for most pure s-isotopes, both light ones (resulting from the weak s-process in rotating massive stars) and the heavy ones (resulting from the main s-process in low and intermediate mass stars). We conclude that the light element primary process (LEPP), invoked to explain the apparent abundance deficiency of the s-elements with A values of ^{12}C/^{13}C in halo red giants, which is rather due to internal processes in those stars.

A finite element simulation of biological conversion processes in landfills.

Science.gov (United States)

Robeck, M; Ricken, T; Widmann, R

2011-04-01

Landfills are the most common way of waste disposal worldwide. Biological processes convert the organic material into an environmentally harmful landfill gas, which has an impact on the greenhouse effect. After the depositing of waste has been stopped, current conversion processes continue and emissions last for several decades and even up to 100years and longer. A good prediction of these processes is of high importance for landfill operators as well as for authorities, but suitable models for a realistic description of landfill processes are rather poor. In order to take the strong coupled conversion processes into account, a constitutive three-dimensional model based on the multiphase Theory of Porous Media (TPM) has been developed at the University of Duisburg-Essen. The theoretical formulations are implemented in the finite element code FEAP. With the presented calculation concept we are able to simulate the coupled processes that occur in an actual landfill. The model's theoretical background and the results of the simulations as well as the meantime successfully performed simulation of a real landfill body will be shown in the following. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tube Bulge Process : Theoretical Analysis and Finite Element Simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velasco, Raphael; Boudeau, Nathalie

2007-01-01

This paper is focused on the determination of mechanics characteristics for tubular materials, using tube bulge process. A comparative study is made between two different models: theoretical model and finite element analysis. The theoretical model is completely developed, based first on a geometrical analysis of the tube profile during bulging, which is assumed to strain in arc of circles. Strain and stress analysis complete the theoretical model, which allows to evaluate tube thickness and state of stress, at any point of the free bulge region. Free bulging of a 304L stainless steel is simulated using Ls-Dyna 970. To validate FE simulations approach, a comparison between theoretical and finite elements models is led on several parameters such as: thickness variation at the free bulge region pole with bulge height, tube thickness variation with z axial coordinate, and von Mises stress variation with plastic strain. Finally, the influence of geometrical parameters deviations on flow stress curve is observed using analytical model: deviations of the tube outer diameter, its initial thickness and the bulge height measurement are taken into account to obtain a resulting error on plastic strain and von Mises stress

Tension optimization of the conductor-and-support cable elements during stranding process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.M. Chayun

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Steel lifting ropes, cables and other similar products are rod statically undeterminable prestressed structures. Preliminary deformations of their elements (wires are caused by their manufacturing technology. Wires suffer stretching, bending with torsion in a stage of elastoplastic deformation. In this work the mechanic-mathematical model of residual forces determination in the wires of polymetallic conductor-and-support cable is offered. Aim: The aim of the work is studying of the mechanical and mathematical model defining residual forces in the wires of conductor-and-support cable and also the optimization of parameters of a twist by the criterion of residual forces lack after production process finishing. Materials and methods: The method developed by the authors earlier to the study the strain-stressed state of twisted wire products off-loading from technological internal forces has been applied to assess the impact of the approximate value of the longitudinal stiffness of the product. In this paper, each wire is considered as an element of the product individually. This is necessary to investigate the impact of uneven wire tensions on defects of conductor-and-support cable (out-of-straight in a free state and stripping-down. Results: On the basis of the conducted deformation studies of conductor-and-support cable during off-loading process from twist tension of its elements the dependencies of residual forces on the level and interrelation of elements tension has been determined. The condition of ensuring of zero residual forces in the wires of conductor-and-support cable after production is formulated. It was found that calculated values of residual forces are almost identical when using of the approximate and exact values of longitudinal stiffness of conductor-and-support cable.

High speed vision processor with reconfigurable processing element array based on full-custom distributed memory

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhe; Yang, Jie; Shi, Cong; Qin, Qi; Liu, Liyuan; Wu, Nanjian

2016-04-01

In this paper, a hybrid vision processor based on a compact full-custom distributed memory for near-sensor high-speed image processing is proposed. The proposed processor consists of a reconfigurable processing element (PE) array, a row processor (RP) array, and a dual-core microprocessor. The PE array includes two-dimensional processing elements with a compact full-custom distributed memory. It supports real-time reconfiguration between the PE array and the self-organized map (SOM) neural network. The vision processor is fabricated using a 0.18 µm CMOS technology. The circuit area of the distributed memory is reduced markedly into 1/3 of that of the conventional memory so that the circuit area of the vision processor is reduced by 44.2%. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed design achieves correct functions.

Relationship of microbial processes to the fate and behavior of transuranic elements in soils, plants, and animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wildung, R.E.; Garland, T.R.

1977-10-01

This review considers the influence of soil physicochemical and microbial processes on the long-term solubility, form, and bioavailability of plutonium and other transuranic elements important in the nuclear fuel cycle. Emphasis is placed on delineation of the relationships between soil chemical and microbial processes and the role of soil microorganisms in effecting solubilization, transformation and plant/animal uptake of elements considered largely insoluble in soils strictly on the basis of their inorganic chemical characteristics

NON-LINEAR FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF DEEP DRAWING PROCESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasan YILDIZ

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Deep drawing process is one of the main procedures used in different branches of industry. Finding numerical solutions for determination of the mechanical behaviour of this process will save time and money. In die surfaces, which have complex geometries, it is hard to determine the effects of parameters of sheet metal forming. Some of these parameters are wrinkling, tearing, and determination of the flow of the thin sheet metal in the die and thickness change. However, the most difficult one is determination of material properties during plastic deformation. In this study, the effects of all these parameters are analyzed before producing the dies. The explicit non-linear finite element method is chosen to be used in the analysis. The numerical results obtained for non-linear material and contact models are also compared with the experiments. A good agreement between the numerical and the experimental results is obtained. The results obtained for the models are given in detail.

Method of manufacturing iron aluminide by thermomechanical processing of elemental powders

Science.gov (United States)

Deevi, Seetharama C.; Lilly, Jr., A. Clifton; Sikka, Vinod K.; Hajaligol, Mohammed R.

2000-01-01

A powder metallurgical process of preparing iron aluminide useful as electrical resistance heating elements having improved room temperature ductility, electrical resistivity, cyclic fatigue resistance, high temperature oxidation resistance, low and high temperature strength, and/or resistance to high temperature sagging. The iron aluminide has an entirely ferritic microstructure which is free of austenite and can include, in weight %, 20 to 32% Al, and optional additions such as .ltoreq.1% Cr, .gtoreq.05% Zr or ZrO.sub.2 stringers extending perpendicular to an exposed surface of the heating element, .ltoreq.2% Ti, .ltoreq.2% Mo, .ltoreq.1% Zr, .ltoreq.1% C, .ltoreq.0.1% B, .ltoreq.30% oxide dispersoid and/or electrically insulating or electrically conductive covalent ceramic particles, .ltoreq.1 % rare earth metal, .ltoreq.1% oxygen, and/or .ltoreq.3% Cu. The process includes forming a mixture of aluminum powder and iron powder, shaping the mixture into an article such as by cold rolling the mixture into a sheet, and sintering the article at a temperature sufficient to react the iron and aluminum powders and form iron aluminide. The sintering can be followed by hot or cold rolling to reduce porosity created during the sintering step and optional annealing steps in a vacuum or inert atmosphere.

Evolution of the Campanian Ignimbrite Magmatic System II: Trace Element and Th Isotopic Evidence for Open-System Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Bohrson, W. A.; Spera, F. J.; Fowler, S.; Belkin, H.; de Vivo, B.

2005-12-01

The Campanian Ignimbrite, a large volume (~200 km3 DRE) trachytic to phonolitic ignimbrite was deposited at ~39.3 ka and represents the largest of a number of highly explosive volcanic events in the region near Naples, Italy. Thermodynamic modeling of the major element evolution using the MELTS algorithm (see companion contribution by Fowler et al.) provides detailed information about the identity of and changes in proportions of solids along the liquid line of descent during isobaric fractional crystallization. We have derived trace element mass balance equations that explicitly accommodate changing mineral-melt bulk distribution coefficients during crystallization and also simultaneously satisfy energy and major element mass conservation. Although major element patterns are reasonably modeled assuming closed system fractional crystallization, modeling of trace elements that represent a range of behaviors (e.g. Zr, Nb, Th, U, Rb, Sm, Sr) yields trends for closed system fractionation that are distinct from those observed. These results suggest open-system processes were also important in the evolution of the Campanian magmatic system. Th isotope data yield an apparent isochron that is ~20 kyr younger than the age of the deposit, and age-corrected Th isotope data indicate that the magma body was an open-system at the time of eruption. Because open-system processes can profoundly change isotopic characteristics of a magma body, these results illustrate that it is critical to understand the contribution that open-system processes make to silicic magma bodies prior to assigning relevance to age or timescale information derived from isotope systematics. Fluid-magma interaction has been proposed as a mechanism to change isotopic and elemental characteristics of magma bodies, but an evaluation of the mass and thermal constraints on such a process suggest large-scale fluid-melt interaction at liquidus temperatures is unlikely. In the case of the magma body associated with

Source/process apportionment of major and trace elements in sinking particles in the Sargasso sea

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, S.; Conte, M. H.

2009-01-01

Elemental composition of the particle flux at the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP) time-series site off Bermuda was measured from January 2002 to March 2005. Eighteen elements (Mg, Al, Si, P, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Cd, Ba and Pb) in sediment trap material from 500, 1500 and 3200 m depths were quantified using fusion-HR-ICPMS. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was used to elucidate sources, elemental associations and processes that affect geochemical behavior in the water column. Results provide evidence for intense elemental cycling between the sinking flux material and the dissolved and suspended pools within mesopelagic and bathypelagic waters. Biological processing and remineralization rapidly deplete the sinking flux material in organic matter and associated elements (N, P, Cd, Zn) between 500 and 1500 m depth. Suspended particle aggregation, authigenic mineral precipitation, and chemical scavenging enriches the flux material in lithogenic minerals, barite and redox sensitive elements (Mn, Co, V, Fe). A large increase in the flux of lithogenic elements is observed with depth and confirms that the northeast Sargasso is a significant sink for advected continental materials, likely supplied via Gulf Stream circulation. PMF resolved major sources that contribute to sinking flux at all depths (carbonate, high-Mg carbonate, opal, organic matter, lithogenic material, and barite) as well as additional depth-specific elemental associations that contribute about half of the compositional variability in the flux. PMF solutions indicate close geochemical associations of barite-opal, Cd-P, Zn-Co, Zn-Pb and redox sensitive elements in the sinking flux material at 500 m depth. Major reorganizations of element associations occur as labile carrier phases break down and elements redistribute among new carrier phases deeper in the water column. Factor scores show strong covariation and similar temporal phasing among the three trap depths and indicate a tight

Modelling of destructive ability of water-ice-jet while machine processing of machine elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Burnashov Mikhail

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper represents the classification of the most common contaminants, appearing on the surfaces of machine elements after a long-term service.The existing well-known surface cleaning methods are described and analyzed in the framework of this paper. The article is intended to provide the reader with an understanding of the process of cleaning and removing contamination from machine elements surface by means of water-ice-jet with preprepared beforehand particles, as well as the process of water-ice-jet formation. The paper deals with the description of such advantages of this method as low costs, wastelessness, high quality of the surface, undergoing processing, minimization of harmful impact upon environment and eco-friendliness, which makes it differ radically from formerly known methods. The scheme of interection between the surface and ice particle is represented. A thermo-physical model of destruction of contaminants by means of a water-ice-jet cleaning technology was developed on its basis. The thermo-physical model allows us to make setting of processing mode and the parameters of water-ice-jet scientifically substantiated and well-grounded.

3D finite element modelling of sheet metal blanking process

Science.gov (United States)

Bohdal, Lukasz; Kukielka, Leon; Chodor, Jaroslaw; Kulakowska, Agnieszka; Patyk, Radoslaw; Kaldunski, Pawel

2018-05-01

The shearing process such as the blanking of sheet metals has been used often to prepare workpieces for subsequent forming operations. The use of FEM simulation is increasing for investigation and optimizing the blanking process. In the current literature a blanking FEM simulations for the limited capability and large computational cost of the three dimensional (3D) analysis has been largely limited to two dimensional (2D) plane axis-symmetry problems. However, a significant progress in modelling which takes into account the influence of real material (e.g. microstructure of the material), physical and technological conditions can be obtained by using 3D numerical analysis methods in this area. The objective of this paper is to present 3D finite element analysis of the ductile fracture, strain distribution and stress in blanking process with the assumption geometrical and physical nonlinearities. The physical, mathematical and computer model of the process are elaborated. Dynamic effects, mechanical coupling, constitutive damage law and contact friction are taken into account. The application in ANSYS/LS-DYNA program is elaborated. The effect of the main process parameter a blanking clearance on the deformation of 1018 steel and quality of the blank's sheared edge is analyzed. The results of computer simulations can be used to forecasting quality of the final parts optimization.

Using rare earth element tracers and neutron activation analysis to study rill erosion process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Mian; Li Zhanbin; Ding Wengfeng; Liu Puling; Yao Wenyi

2006-01-01

Spatially averaged soil erosion data provide little information on the process of rill erosion. The dynamically varied data on the temporal and spatial distributions in the rill erosion process are needed to better understand the erosion process and reveal its innate characteristics. The objectives of this study were to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of rare earth element (REE) tracers and the neutron activation analysis (NAA) method on the study of the rill erosion process and to reveal quantitatively the relationships and characteristics of temporal and spatial distributions of sediment yield in rill erosion. Four REEs were used to study the changeable process of rill erosion at 4 slope positions. Four water inflow rates were applied to a 0.3x5 m soil bed at 3 slopes of 10.5%, 15.8% and 21.2% in scouring experiments. All of the runoff was collected in the experiment. Each sample was air-dried and well mixed. Then 20 g of each sample was sieved through 100-mesh and about a 50 mg sample was weighed for analysis of the four elemental compositions by NAA. Results indicate that the REE tracers and NAA method can be used to not only quantitatively determine soil erosion amounts on different slope segments, but also to reveal the changeable process of rill erosion amount. All of the relative errors of the experimental results were less than 25%, which is considered satisfactory on the study of rill erosion process

Using rare earth element tracers and neutron activation analysis to study rill erosion process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Mian [Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research, Yellow River Conservancy Commission, Key Laboratory of Yellow River Sediment Research of Ministry of Water Resources, Shunhelu 45, Zhengzhou, Henan 450003 (China)]. E-mail: hnli-mian@163.com; Li Zhanbin [Xi' an University of Technology, Xi' an, Shaanxi 710048 (China); Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100 (China); Ding Wengfeng [Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Yangtse River' s Scientific Research Institute, Wuhan, Hubei 430010 (China); Liu Puling [Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100 (China); Yao Wenyi [Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research, Yellow River Conservancy Commission, Key Laboratory of Yellow River Sediment Research of Ministry of Water Resources, Shunhelu 45, Zhengzhou, Henan 450003 (China)

2006-03-15

Spatially averaged soil erosion data provide little information on the process of rill erosion. The dynamically varied data on the temporal and spatial distributions in the rill erosion process are needed to better understand the erosion process and reveal its innate characteristics. The objectives of this study were to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of rare earth element (REE) tracers and the neutron activation analysis (NAA) method on the study of the rill erosion process and to reveal quantitatively the relationships and characteristics of temporal and spatial distributions of sediment yield in rill erosion. Four REEs were used to study the changeable process of rill erosion at 4 slope positions. Four water inflow rates were applied to a 0.3x5 m soil bed at 3 slopes of 10.5%, 15.8% and 21.2% in scouring experiments. All of the runoff was collected in the experiment. Each sample was air-dried and well mixed. Then 20 g of each sample was sieved through 100-mesh and about a 50 mg sample was weighed for analysis of the four elemental compositions by NAA. Results indicate that the REE tracers and NAA method can be used to not only quantitatively determine soil erosion amounts on different slope segments, but also to reveal the changeable process of rill erosion amount. All of the relative errors of the experimental results were less than 25%, which is considered satisfactory on the study of rill erosion process.

DETECTION OF THE SECOND r-PROCESS PEAK ELEMENT TELLURIUM IN METAL-POOR STARS ,

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roederer, Ian U.; Lawler, James E.; Cowan, John J.; Beers, Timothy C.; Frebel, Anna; Ivans, Inese I.; Schatz, Hendrik; Sobeck, Jennifer S.; Sneden, Christopher

2012-01-01

Using near-ultraviolet spectra obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope, we detect neutral tellurium in three metal-poor stars enriched by products of r-process nucleosynthesis, BD +17 3248, HD 108317, and HD 128279. Tellurium (Te, Z = 52) is found at the second r-process peak (A ≈ 130) associated with the N = 82 neutron shell closure, and it has not been detected previously in Galactic halo stars. The derived tellurium abundances match the scaled solar system r-process distribution within the uncertainties, confirming the predicted second peak r-process residuals. These results suggest that tellurium is predominantly produced in the main component of the r-process, along with the rare earth elements.

Thermal analysis of fused deposition modeling process using infrared thermography imaging and finite element modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xunfei; Hsieh, Sheng-Jen

2017-05-01

After years of development, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) has become the most popular technique in commercial 3D printing due to its cost effectiveness and easy-to-operate fabrication process. Mechanical strength and dimensional accuracy are two of the most important factors for reliability of FDM products. However, the solid-liquid-solid state changes of material in the FDM process make it difficult to monitor and model. In this paper, an experimental model was developed to apply cost-effective infrared thermography imaging method to acquire temperature history of filaments at the interface and their corresponding cooling mechanism. A three-dimensional finite element model was constructed to simulate the same process using element "birth and death" feature and validated with the thermal response from the experimental model. In 6 of 9 experimental conditions, a maximum of 13% difference existed between the experimental and numerical models. This work suggests that numerical modeling of FDM process is reliable and can facilitate better understanding of bead spreading and road-to-road bonding mechanics during fabrication.

Feasibility Study for Monitoring Actinide Elements in Process Materials Using FO-LIBS at Advanced spent fuel Conditioning Process Facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Han, Bo-Young; Choi, Daewoong; Park, Se Hwan; Kim, Ho-Dong [Nonproliferation System Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, 305-353 (Korea, Republic of); Dae, Dongsun [Department of Chemistry, Mokpo National University, Jeonnam 534-729 (Korea, Republic of); Whitehouse, Andrew I. [Applied Photonics Ltd., Unit 8 Carleton Business Park, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 2DE (United Kingdom)

2015-07-01

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) have been developing the design and deployment methodology of Laser- Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument for safeguards application within the argon hot cell environment at Advanced spent fuel Conditioning Process Facility (ACPF), where ACPF is a facility being refurbished for the laboratory-scaled demonstration of advanced spent fuel conditioning process. LIBS is an analysis technology used to measure the emission spectra of excited elements in the local plasma of a target material induced by a laser. The spectra measured by LIBS are analyzed to verify the quality and quantity of the specific element in the target matrix. Recently LIBS has been recognized as a promising technology for safeguards purposes in terms of several advantages including a simple sample preparation and in-situ analysis capability. In particular, a feasibility study of LIBS to remotely monitor the nuclear material in a high radiation environment has been carried out for supporting the IAEA safeguards implementation. Fiber-Optic LIBS (FO-LIBS) deployment was proposed by Applied Photonics Ltd because the use of fiber optics had benefited applications of LIBS by delivering the laser energy to the target and by collecting the plasma light. The design of FO-LIBS instrument for the measurement of actinides in the spent fuel and high temperature molten salt at ACPF had been developed in cooperation with Applied Photonics Ltd. FO-LIBS has some advantages as followings: the detectable plasma light wavelength range is not limited by the optical properties of the thick lead-glass shield window and the potential risk of laser damage to the lead-glass shield window is not considered. The remote LIBS instrument had been installed at ACPF and then the feasibility study for monitoring actinide elements such as uranium, plutonium, and curium in process materials has been carried out. (authors)

Feasibility Study for Monitoring Actinide Elements in Process Materials Using FO-LIBS at Advanced spent fuel Conditioning Process Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Bo-Young; Choi, Daewoong; Park, Se Hwan; Kim, Ho-Dong; Dae, Dongsun; Whitehouse, Andrew I.

2015-01-01

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) have been developing the design and deployment methodology of Laser- Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument for safeguards application within the argon hot cell environment at Advanced spent fuel Conditioning Process Facility (ACPF), where ACPF is a facility being refurbished for the laboratory-scaled demonstration of advanced spent fuel conditioning process. LIBS is an analysis technology used to measure the emission spectra of excited elements in the local plasma of a target material induced by a laser. The spectra measured by LIBS are analyzed to verify the quality and quantity of the specific element in the target matrix. Recently LIBS has been recognized as a promising technology for safeguards purposes in terms of several advantages including a simple sample preparation and in-situ analysis capability. In particular, a feasibility study of LIBS to remotely monitor the nuclear material in a high radiation environment has been carried out for supporting the IAEA safeguards implementation. Fiber-Optic LIBS (FO-LIBS) deployment was proposed by Applied Photonics Ltd because the use of fiber optics had benefited applications of LIBS by delivering the laser energy to the target and by collecting the plasma light. The design of FO-LIBS instrument for the measurement of actinides in the spent fuel and high temperature molten salt at ACPF had been developed in cooperation with Applied Photonics Ltd. FO-LIBS has some advantages as followings: the detectable plasma light wavelength range is not limited by the optical properties of the thick lead-glass shield window and the potential risk of laser damage to the lead-glass shield window is not considered. The remote LIBS instrument had been installed at ACPF and then the feasibility study for monitoring actinide elements such as uranium, plutonium, and curium in process materials has been carried out. (authors)

Pyrometallurgical partitioning of uranium and transuranic elements from rare earth elements by electrorefining and reductive extraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uozumi, Koichi; Kinoshita, Kensuke; Inoue, Tadashi; Storvick, T.S.; Krueger, C.L.; Nabelek, C.R.

2001-01-01

High-level liquid waste generated from PUREX reprocessing contains a small amount of transuranic elements, such as Np, Pu, Am, and Cm, with long-lived radioactivities. A pyrometallurgical partitioning process is being developed to recover transuranic elements from such waste. Small amounts of U contained in the high-level liquid waste are also recovered in the process. A key issue for developing the process is effective separation of U and the transuranic elements from the rare-earth elements, because the two elemental groups are chemically analogous. A series of process tests were carried out in the present study to demonstrate that a combination of electrorefining and reductive extraction is useful for separating U and transuranic elements from the rare-earth elements. The results indicate that 99% of U and each transuranic elements is recovered by the combination process as a product, and that the quantity of rare-earth elements contained in the product is smaller than the transuranic elements by weight. The overall mass balance of U and transuranic elements in the system ranged within the experimental errors assigned to sampling and analysis. (author)

Trace and major element pollution originating from coal ash suspension and transport processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Popovic, A; Djordjevic, D; Polic, P

2001-04-01

Coal ash obtained by coal combustion in the "Nikola Tesla A" power plant in Obrenovac, near Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is mixed with water of the Sava river and transported to the dump. In order to assess pollution caused by leaching of some minor and major elements during ash transport through the pipeline, two sets of samples (six samples each) were subjected to a modified sequential extraction. The first set consisted of coal ash samples taken immediately after combustion, while the second set was obtained by extraction with river water, imitating the processes that occur in the pipeline. Samples were extracted consecutively with distilled water and a 1 M solution of KCl, pH 7, and the differences in extractability were compared in order to predict potential pollution. Considering concentrations of seven trace elements as well as five major elements in extracts from a total of 12 samples, it can be concluded that lead and cadmium do not present an environmental threat during and immediately after ash transport to the dump. Portions of zinc, nickel and chromium are released during the ash transport, and arsenic and manganese are released continuously. Copper and iron do not present an environmental threat due to element leaching during and immediately after the coal ash suspension and transport. On the contrary, these elements, as well as chromium, become concentrated during coal ash transport. Adsorbed portions of calcium, magnesium and potassium are also leached during coal ash transport.

Costs of Quality: Exploratory Analysis of Hidden Elements and Prioritization using Analytic Hierarchy Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sailaja A

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Cost of Quality analysis is emerged as an effective tool for the industrial managers for pinpointing the deficiencies in the system as well as for identifying the improvement areas by highlighting the cost reduction opportunities. However , this analysis will be fully effective only if it is further extended to identify the cost incurred in ensuring quality in all areas of the supply chain including the hidden costs and costs of missed out opportunities. Most of the hidden elements of quality costs are difficult to track and not accounted by the traditional accounting tools. An exploratory analysis is made in this research to identify the hidden elements of quality costs in manufacturing industry. Further, the identified cost elements are classified into various groups for better analysis and, finally, prioritized to identify the vital few among them. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP technique which is one of the most popular Multi Criteria Decision Method (MCDM and Pareto analysis were used in this study for prioritizing the hidden quality cost elements based on their degree of impact on overall cost of quality. By this analysis, the key cost elements which are to be addressed to reduce the overall cost of quality are identified.

COST action TD1407: network on technology-critical elements (NOTICE)--from environmental processes to human health threats.

Science.gov (United States)

Cobelo-García, A; Filella, M; Croot, P; Frazzoli, C; Du Laing, G; Ospina-Alvarez, N; Rauch, S; Salaun, P; Schäfer, J; Zimmermann, S

2015-10-01

The current socio-economic, environmental and public health challenges that countries are facing clearly need common-defined strategies to inform and support our transition to a sustainable economy. Here, the technology-critical elements (which includes Ga, Ge, In, Te, Nb, Ta, Tl, the Platinum Group Elements and most of the rare-earth elements) are of great relevance in the development of emerging key technologies-including renewable energy, energy efficiency, electronics or the aerospace industry. In this context, the increasing use of technology-critical elements (TCEs) and associated environmental impacts (from mining to end-of-life waste products) is not restricted to a national level but covers most likely a global scale. Accordingly, the European COST Action TD1407: Network on Technology-Critical Elements (NOTICE)-from environmental processes to human health threats, has an overall objective for creating a network of scientists and practitioners interested in TCEs, from the evaluation of their environmental processes to understanding potential human health threats, with the aim of defining the current state of knowledge and gaps, proposing priority research lines/activities and acting as a platform for new collaborations and joint research projects. The Action is focused on three major scientific areas: (i) analytical chemistry, (ii) environmental biogeochemistry and (iii) human exposure and (eco)-toxicology.

Relationship of microbial processes to the fate and behavior of transuranic elements in soils, plants, and animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wildung, R.E.; Garland, T.R.

1980-01-01

Soil physicochemical and microbial processes influence the long-term solubility, form, and bioavailability of plutonium and other transuranic elements important in the nuclear fuel cycle. Consideration is given to the chemistry/microbiology of the transuranic elements in soil, emphasizing possible organic complexation reactions in soils and plants and the relationship of these phenomena to gastrointestinal absorption

Computing platforms for software-defined radio

CERN Document Server

Nurmi, Jari; Isoaho, Jouni; Garzia, Fabio

2017-01-01

This book addresses Software-Defined Radio (SDR) baseband processing from the computer architecture point of view, providing a detailed exploration of different computing platforms by classifying different approaches, highlighting the common features related to SDR requirements and by showing pros and cons of the proposed solutions. Coverage includes architectures exploiting parallelism by extending single-processor environment (such as VLIW, SIMD, TTA approaches), multi-core platforms distributing the computation to either a homogeneous array or a set of specialized heterogeneous processors, and architectures exploiting fine-grained, coarse-grained, or hybrid reconfigurability. Describes a computer engineering approach to SDR baseband processing hardware; Discusses implementation of numerous compute-intensive signal processing algorithms on single and multicore platforms; Enables deep understanding of optimization techniques related to power and energy consumption of multicore platforms using several basic a...

Rolling Process Modeling Report: Finite-Element Prediction of Roll Separating Force and Rolling Defects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soulami, Ayoub [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lavender, Curt A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Paxton, Dean M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Burkes, Douglas [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2014-04-23

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been investigating manufacturing processes for the uranium-10% molybdenum (U-10Mo) alloy plate-type fuel for the U.S. high-performance research reactors. This work supports the Convert Program of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) Global Threat Reduction Initiative. This report documents modeling results of PNNL’s efforts to perform finite-element simulations to predict roll separating forces and rolling defects. Simulations were performed using a finite-element model developed using the commercial code LS-Dyna. Simulations of the hot rolling of U-10Mo coupons encapsulated in low-carbon steel have been conducted following two different schedules. Model predictions of the roll-separation force and roll-pack thicknesses at different stages of the rolling process were compared with experimental measurements. This report discusses various attributes of the rolled coupons revealed by the model (e.g., dog-boning and thickness non-uniformity).

Parallel Programming using OpenCL on Modern Architectures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Allan Svejstrup; Engsig-Karup, Allan Peter; Dammann, Bernd

as they are at graphics. To conclude the presentation of OpenCL as a language for compute, a matrix-matrix multiplication example is devised and optimized for the VLIW4, Tesla and Fermi architectures. The performance is measured as a function of both matrix and work-group size and results are discussed. Where applicable...

Towards a culturally independent participatory design method: Fusing game elements into the design process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Mika Yasuoka; Nakatani, Momoko; Ohno, Takehiko

2013-01-01

Historically, Participatory Design (PD) was introduced and applied in the Scandinavian and American context as a practical design method for collective creativity and stakeholder involvement. In this paper, by fusing game elements into PD, we suggest a first step towards a culturally independent ...... imply that the introduction of game elements allows PD to be effectively utilized in culturally diverse settings.......Historically, Participatory Design (PD) was introduced and applied in the Scandinavian and American context as a practical design method for collective creativity and stakeholder involvement. In this paper, by fusing game elements into PD, we suggest a first step towards a culturally independent PD...... method called the ICT Service Design Game to ease the prevailing concern that PD has limited applicability in other cultural settings. We conduct four experiments on ICT Service Design Game in Scandinavia and Asia to evaluate its feasibility. The experiments identify some differences in the PD process...

Detection process of defects in a tube close to an adjacent element, especially in a heat exchanger

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holt, A.E.; Wehrmeister, A.E.; Whaley, H.L.

1978-01-01

On-site process for obtaining, by Foucault currents, the indication of a defect in a tube close to an adjacent element masking the indication of the defect. It is characterized by the course of a reference tube with an eddy current sensor near a similar adjacent element in order to obtain an indication of reference eddy currents of the adjacent element first mentioned, the completion of a joint crossover of the above first mentioned tube so as to obtain a composite indication of eddy currents of the defect and of the adjacent element, and the generation of the indication by eddy currents of the defect by comparing the composite indication with the reference indication [fr

Finite element analysis of the combined fine blanking and extrusion process

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Peng-Fei

The combined fine blanking and extrusion process is such a metal forming process that fine blanking and forward extrusion are carried out on sheet metal material at the same time. There are two typical characteristics in this process, one is the fine blanking whose deformation mechanism is different from conventional blanking; the other is the sheet metal extrusion, which is different from the conventional extrusion. Even though fine blanking has been used in industry for many years, only limited literature can be found which deals with the theoretical analysis of it. On the other hand, no publications on the theoretical analysis of the sheet metal extrusion have been found. Intensive work should be carried out to reveal the mechanism of both fine blanking process and sheet metal extrusion process, and further the combined fine blanking and extrusion process. The scope of this thesis is to study the mechanics of fine blanking, sheet metal extrusion, and combined fine blanking and extrusion process one by one with the rigid-plastic finite element method. All of above processes are typical unsteady ones, especially the fine blanking process in which extremely severe and localized deformation occurs. Therefore, commercial programs can not be used to solve these problems up till now. Owing to this reason, a rigid-plastic finite element program was developed for simulating these processes where remeshing and mesh tracing techniques as well as the golden section method were adopted according to the characteristics of these processes in this thesis. Moreover, a permissible kinematic velocity field was adopted as the initial velocity field for simulating extrusion process successfully. Results from the simulation included the distorted mesh, the field of material flow, the stress and the strain distributions at various moments of deformation. Results under different deformation conditions such as different blanking clearances, different diameters of the extrusion punch and

Potential for thermochemical conversion of biomass residues from the integrated sugar-ethanol process - Fate of ash and ash-forming elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Dirbeba, Meheretu Jaleta; Brink, Anders; DeMartini, Nikolai; Zevenhoven, Maria; Hupa, Mikko

2017-06-01

In this work, potential for thermochemical conversion of biomass residues from an integrated sugar-ethanol process and the fate of ash and ash-forming elements in the process are presented. Ash, ash-forming elements, and energy flows in the process were determined using mass balances and analyses of eight different biomass samples for ash contents, elemental compositions, and heating values. The results show that the ash content increases from the sugarcane to the final residue, vinasse. The cane straw, which is left in the field, contains one-third of the energy and 25% of the K and Cl while the vinasse contains 2% of the energy and 40% of the K and Cl in the cane. K and Cl in biomass fuels cause corrosion and fouling problems in boilers and gasifiers. Over 85% of these elements in the straw are water soluble indicating that water leaching would improve it for utilization in thermochemical conversion. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increasing the efficiency of designing hemming processes by using an element-based metamodel approach

Science.gov (United States)

Kaiser, C.; Roll, K.; Volk, W.

2017-09-01

In the automotive industry, the manufacturing of automotive outer panels requires hemming processes in which two sheet metal parts are joined together by bending the flange of the outer part over the inner part. Because of decreasing development times and the steadily growing number of vehicle derivatives, an efficient digital product and process validation is necessary. Commonly used simulations, which are based on the finite element method, demand significant modelling effort, which results in disadvantages especially in the early product development phase. To increase the efficiency of designing hemming processes this paper presents a hemming-specific metamodel approach. The approach includes a part analysis in which the outline of the automotive outer panels is initially split into individual segments. By doing a para-metrization of each of the segments and assigning basic geometric shapes, the outline of the part is approximated. Based on this, the hemming parameters such as flange length, roll-in, wrinkling and plastic strains are calculated for each of the geometric basic shapes by performing a meta-model-based segmental product validation. The metamodel is based on an element similar formulation that includes a reference dataset of various geometric basic shapes. A random automotive outer panel can now be analysed and optimized based on the hemming-specific database. By implementing this approach into a planning system, an efficient optimization of designing hemming processes will be enabled. Furthermore, valuable time and cost benefits can be realized in a vehicle’s development process.

Simulation of the cabling process for Rutherford cables: An advanced finite element model

Science.gov (United States)

Cabanes, J.; Garlasche, M.; Bordini, B.; Dallocchio, A.

2016-12-01

In all existing large particle accelerators (Tevatron, HERA, RHIC, LHC) the main superconducting magnets are based on Rutherford cables, which are characterized by having: strands fully transposed with respect to the magnetic field, a significant compaction that assures a large engineering critical current density and a geometry that allows efficient winding of the coils. The Nb3Sn magnets developed in the framework of the HL-LHC project for improving the luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are also based on Rutherford cables. Due to the characteristics of Nb3Sn wires, the cabling process has become a crucial step in the magnet manufacturing. During cabling the wires experience large plastic deformations that strongly modify the geometrical dimensions of the sub-elements constituting the superconducting strand. These deformations are particularly severe on the cable edges and can result in a significant reduction of the cable critical current as well as of the Residual Resistivity Ratio (RRR) of the stabilizing copper. In order to understand the main parameters that rule the cabling process and their impact on the cable performance, CERN has developed a 3D Finite Element (FE) model based on the LS-Dyna® software that simulates the whole cabling process. In the paper the model is presented together with a comparison between experimental and numerical results for a copper cable produced at CERN.

Demonstration of pyropartitioning process by using genuine high-level liquid waste. Reductive-extraction of actinide elements from chlorination product

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uozumi, Koichi; Iizuka, Masatoshi; Kurata, Masaki; Ougier, Michel; Malmbeck, Rikard; Winckel, Stefaan van

2009-01-01

The pyropartitioning process separates the minor actinide elements (MAs) together with uranium and plutonium from the high-level liquid waste generated at the Purex reprocessing of spent LWR fuel and introduces them to metallic fuel cycle. For the demonstration of this technology, a series experiment using 520g of genuine high-level liquid waste was started and the conversion of actinide elements to their chlorides was already demonstrated by denitration and chlorination. In the present study, a reductive extraction experiment in molten salt/liquid cadmium system to recover actinide elements from the chlorination product of the genuine high-level liquid waste was performed. The results of the experiment are as following; 1) By the addition of the cadmium-lithium alloy reductant, almost all of plutonium and MAs in the initial high-level liquid waste were recovered in the cadmium phase. It means no mass loss during denitration, chlorination, and reductive-extraction. 2) The separation factor values of plutonium, MAs, and rare-earth fission product elements versus uranium agreed with the literature values. Therefore, actinide elements will be separated from fission product elements in the actual system. Hence, the pyropartitioning process was successfully demonstrated. (author)

Structural assessment of aerospace components using image processing algorithms and Finite Element models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stamatelos, Dimtrios; Kappatos, Vassilios

2017-01-01

Purpose – This paper presents the development of an advanced structural assessment approach for aerospace components (metallic and composites). This work focuses on developing an automatic image processing methodology based on Non Destructive Testing (NDT) data and numerical models, for predicting...... the residual strength of these components. Design/methodology/approach – An image processing algorithm, based on the threshold method, has been developed to process and quantify the geometric characteristics of damages. Then, a parametric Finite Element (FE) model of the damaged component is developed based...... on the inputs acquired from the image processing algorithm. The analysis of the metallic structures is employing the Extended FE Method (XFEM), while for the composite structures the Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) technique with Progressive Damage Modelling (PDM) is used. Findings – The numerical analyses...

The influence of alloying elements on the hot-dip aluminizing process and on the subsequent high-temperature oxidation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glasbrenner, H.; Nold, E.; Voss, Z.

1997-01-01

For hot dip aluminizing HDA an Al melt was doped with one of the elements Mo, W or Nb with a nominal composition of about 1 wt%. In case of W, the nominal composition was achieved, not so for Mo and Nb. The influence of these elements on the coating formed and on the following oxidation process was investigated. Hot dip aluminizing was carried out at 800 C for 5 min under dry Ar atmosphere. The oxidation experiments were performed at 950 C for 24 h in air. Compared to the HDA processes with pure Al, the addition of the alloying elements lead to thinner intermetallic layers. A change in the oxidation behavior was observed as well concerning the suppression of internal oxidation and the formation of dense and close oxide scales. (orig.)

Cell-element simulations to optimize the performance of osmotic processes in porous membranes

KAUST Repository

Calo, Victor M.

2018-05-11

We present a new module of the software tool PoreChem for 3D simulations of osmotic processes at the cell-element scale. We consider the most general fully coupled model (see e.g., Sagiv and Semiat (2011)) in 3D to evaluate the impact on the membrane performance of both internal and external concentration polarization, which occurs in a cell-element for different operational conditions. The model consists of the Navier–Stokes–Brinkman system to describe the free fluid flow and the flow within the membrane with selective and support layers, a convection–diffusion equation to describe the solute transport, and nonlinear interface conditions to fully couple these equations. First, we briefly describe the mathematical model and discuss the discretization of the continuous model, the iterative solution, and the software implementation. Then, we present the analytical and numerical validation of the simulation tool. Next, we perform and discuss numerical simulations for a case study. The case study concerns the design of a cell element for the forward osmosis experiments. Using the developed software tool we qualitatively and quantitatively investigate the performance of a cell element that we designed for laboratory experiments of forward osmosis, and discuss the differences between the numerical solutions obtained with the full 3D and reduced 2D models. Finally, we demonstrate how the software enables investigating membrane heterogeneities.

Effect of RE elements on the microstructural evolution of as cast and SIMA processed Mg-4Al alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nayyeri, Mohammad Javad; Khomamizadeh, Farzad

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → In this article, we examined the effect of Rare Earth elements on the microstructural development of as cast and semisolid Mg-4Al alloy produced by SIMA process. → Our investigations contained metallographic observation, scanning electron microscope and quantitative metallographic methods. → Results showed that alloy's dendrites turn into larger fully dendritic shape with sharp and narrow arms from equiaxed rosette type as the amount of RE elements increased from 0 through 4 percent. → Also we studied the effect of RE elements on the quality and quantityof intragranular liquid droplets as well as kinetic of microstructural changes. → Moreover, the effect of REs on the other parameters such as fraction of liquid, shape factor and particle size was studied.In this article, we examined the effect of Rare Earth elements on the microstructural development of as cast and semisolid Mg-4Al alloy produced by SIMA process. Our investigations contained metallographic observation, scanning electron microscope and quantitative metallographic methods. Results showed that alloy's dendrites turn into larger fully dendritic shape with sharp and narrow arms from equiaxed rosette type as the amount of RE elements increased from 0 through 4 percent. Also we studied the effect of RE elements on the quality and quantityof intragranular liquid droplets as well as kinetic of microstructural changes. Moreover, the effect of REs on the other parameters such as fraction of liquid, shape factor and particle size was studied. - Abstract: In the present article, the effect of Rare Earth elements on the microstructural development of as cast and semisolid Mg-4Al alloy produced by SIMA process is studied. Investigation conducted by metallographic observation, scanning electron microscope and quantitative metallographic methods. Results showed that alloy's dendrites turn into larger fully dendritic shape with sharp and narrow arms from equiaxed rosette type as the

Numerical investigation of a shot peening process by a finite element approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Hongsheng; Zhang, Xiaodan; Hansen, Niels

2014-01-01

Shot peening is a surface impact treatment widely used to improve the performance of a metal or a component. The better performance of the shot peened part is controlled by compressive residual stresses resulting from the plastic deformation of the surface layers by impacts of shot. The compressive...... residual stress is generally measured by X-ray diffraction. However, considerable cost and time are needed for such measurements. For this reason, in this work a 3D finite element (FE) model is introduced for a shot peening process. Through the FE simulations, the effect of process parameters...... such as damping ratio of material, friction coefficient, shot velocity and shot angle on the magnitude and distribution of the compressive residual stress is examined....

Elemental balance of SRF production process: solid recovered fuel produced from municipal solid waste.

Science.gov (United States)

Nasrullah, Muhammad; Vainikka, Pasi; Hannula, Janne; Hurme, Markku; Oinas, Pekka

2016-01-01

In the production of solid recovered fuel (SRF), certain waste components have excessive influence on the quality of product. The proportion of rubber, plastic (hard) and certain textiles was found to be critical as to the elemental quality of SRF. The mass flow of rubber, plastic (hard) and textiles (to certain extent, especially synthetic textile) components from input waste stream into the output streams of SRF production was found to play the decisive role in defining the elemental quality of SRF. This paper presents the mass flow of polluting and potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in SRF production. The SRF was produced from municipal solid waste (MSW) through mechanical treatment (MT). The results showed that of the total input chlorine content to process, 55% was found in the SRF and 30% in reject material. Of the total input arsenic content, 30% was found in the SRF and 45% in fine fraction. In case of cadmium, lead and mercury, of their total input content to the process, 62%, 38% and 30%, respectively, was found in the SRF. Among the components of MSW, rubber material was identified as potential source of chlorine, containing 8.0 wt.% of chlorine. Plastic (hard) and textile components contained 1.6 and 1.1. wt.% of chlorine, respectively. Plastic (hard) contained higher lead and cadmium content compared with other waste components, i.e. 500 mg kg(-1) and 9.0 mg kg(-1), respectively. © The Author(s) 2015.

Likelihood-based inference for discretely observed birth-death-shift processes, with applications to evolution of mobile genetic elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jason; Guttorp, Peter; Kato-Maeda, Midori; Minin, Vladimir N

2015-12-01

Continuous-time birth-death-shift (BDS) processes are frequently used in stochastic modeling, with many applications in ecology and epidemiology. In particular, such processes can model evolutionary dynamics of transposable elements-important genetic markers in molecular epidemiology. Estimation of the effects of individual covariates on the birth, death, and shift rates of the process can be accomplished by analyzing patient data, but inferring these rates in a discretely and unevenly observed setting presents computational challenges. We propose a multi-type branching process approximation to BDS processes and develop a corresponding expectation maximization algorithm, where we use spectral techniques to reduce calculation of expected sufficient statistics to low-dimensional integration. These techniques yield an efficient and robust optimization routine for inferring the rates of the BDS process, and apply broadly to multi-type branching processes whose rates can depend on many covariates. After rigorously testing our methodology in simulation studies, we apply our method to study intrapatient time evolution of IS6110 transposable element, a genetic marker frequently used during estimation of epidemiological clusters of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections. © 2015, The International Biometric Society.

Elements for successful sensor-based process control {Integrated Metrology}

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butler, Stephanie Watts

1998-01-01

Current productivity needs have stimulated development of alternative metrology, control, and equipment maintenance methods. Specifically, sensor applications provide the opportunity to increase productivity, tighten control, reduce scrap, and improve maintenance schedules and procedures. Past experience indicates a complete integrated solution must be provided for sensor-based control to be used successfully in production. In this paper, Integrated Metrology is proposed as the term for an integrated solution that will result in a successful application of sensors for process control. This paper defines and explores the perceived four elements of successful sensor applications: business needs, integration, components, and form. Based upon analysis of existing successful commercially available controllers, the necessary business factors have been determined to be strong, measurable industry-wide business needs whose solution is profitable and feasible. This paper examines why the key aspect of integration is the decision making process. A detailed discussion is provided of the components of most importance to sensor based control: decision-making methods, the 3R's of sensors, and connectivity. A metric for one of the R's (resolution) is proposed to allow focus on this important aspect of measurement. A form for these integrated components which synergistically partitions various aspects of control at the equipment and MES levels to efficiently achieve desired benefits is recommended

Elements for successful sensor-based process control {Integrated Metrology}

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Stephanie Watts

1998-11-01

Current productivity needs have stimulated development of alternative metrology, control, and equipment maintenance methods. Specifically, sensor applications provide the opportunity to increase productivity, tighten control, reduce scrap, and improve maintenance schedules and procedures. Past experience indicates a complete integrated solution must be provided for sensor-based control to be used successfully in production. In this paper, Integrated Metrology is proposed as the term for an integrated solution that will result in a successful application of sensors for process control. This paper defines and explores the perceived four elements of successful sensor applications: business needs, integration, components, and form. Based upon analysis of existing successful commercially available controllers, the necessary business factors have been determined to be strong, measurable industry-wide business needs whose solution is profitable and feasible. This paper examines why the key aspect of integration is the decision making process. A detailed discussion is provided of the components of most importance to sensor based control: decision-making methods, the 3R's of sensors, and connectivity. A metric for one of the R's (resolution) is proposed to allow focus on this important aspect of measurement. A form for these integrated components which synergistically partitions various aspects of control at the equipment and MES levels to efficiently achieve desired benefits is recommended.

Finite element meshing approached as a global minimization process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

WITKOWSKI,WALTER R.; JUNG,JOSEPH; DOHRMANN,CLARK R.; LEUNG,VITUS J.

2000-03-01

The ability to generate a suitable finite element mesh in an automatic fashion is becoming the key to being able to automate the entire engineering analysis process. However, placing an all-hexahedron mesh in a general three-dimensional body continues to be an elusive goal. The approach investigated in this research is fundamentally different from any other that is known of by the authors. A physical analogy viewpoint is used to formulate the actual meshing problem which constructs a global mathematical description of the problem. The analogy used was that of minimizing the electrical potential of a system charged particles within a charged domain. The particles in the presented analogy represent duals to mesh elements (i.e., quads or hexes). Particle movement is governed by a mathematical functional which accounts for inter-particles repulsive, attractive and alignment forces. This functional is minimized to find the optimal location and orientation of each particle. After the particles are connected a mesh can be easily resolved. The mathematical description for this problem is as easy to formulate in three-dimensions as it is in two- or one-dimensions. The meshing algorithm was developed within CoMeT. It can solve the two-dimensional meshing problem for convex and concave geometries in a purely automated fashion. Investigation of the robustness of the technique has shown a success rate of approximately 99% for the two-dimensional geometries tested. Run times to mesh a 100 element complex geometry were typically in the 10 minute range. Efficiency of the technique is still an issue that needs to be addressed. Performance is an issue that is critical for most engineers generating meshes. It was not for this project. The primary focus of this work was to investigate and evaluate a meshing algorithm/philosophy with efficiency issues being secondary. The algorithm was also extended to mesh three-dimensional geometries. Unfortunately, only simple geometries were tested

Image Processing of Welding Procedure Specification and Pre-process program development for Finite Element Modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K. S.; Lee, H. J.

2009-11-01

PRE-WELD program, which generates automatically the input file for the finite element analysis on the 2D butt welding at the dissimilar metal weld part, was developed. This program is pre-process program of the FEM code for analyzing the residual stress at the welding parts. Even if the users have not the detail knowledge for the FEM modelling, the users can make the ABAQUS INPUT easily by inputting the shape data of welding part, the weld current and voltage of welding parameters. By using PRE-WELD program, we can save the time and the effort greatly for preparing the ABAQUS INPUT for the residual stress analysis at the welding parts, and make the exact input without the human error

Long gamma-ray burst as a production site of r-process elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamrua, Ko; Harikae, Seiji; Kajino, Toshitaka; Mathews, Grant J.

2012-01-01

We simulated the r-process nucleosynthesis in and around a high entropy jet from a long gamma-ray burst (GRB). Our simulation is based on the collapsar scenario for long GRBs and on relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations (Harikae et al. 2009, 2010) including ray-tracing neutrino transport, which describe the development of the black hole accretion disk and the heating of the funnel region to produce a relativistic jet. The time evolution of the jet was then extended to later phase via axi-symmetric special relativistic hydrodynamic simulation to follow the temperature, entropy, electron fraction, and density evolution for representative test particles. The evolution of nuclear abundances from nucleons to heavy nuclei for representative test particle trajectories was solved in a large nuclear reaction network including more than 5000 isotopes. We show that a robust r-process successfully occurs within the collapsar jet outflow and that sufficient mass is ejected within the flow to account for the observed r-process abundance distribution along with the large dispersion in r-process elements observed in metal-poor halo stars.

Composite elements with superconducting ceramic materials and preparation process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drifford, M.; Lambard, J.

1990-01-01

Supraconducting ceramic powder is introduced in a ductile metal with an open porosity, then the tube is sealed at both ends and necked to form a composite element which is sintered and the ceramic becomes superconductive by gaseous diffusion. Then the composite element can be placed into a gasproof cladding [fr

Brain trace elements and aging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hebbrecht, Geert; Maenhaut, Willy; Reuck, Jacques de

1999-01-01

Degenerative mechanisms involved in the aging process of the brain are to a certain extent counteracted by repair mechanisms. In both degenerative and recovery processes, trace elements are involved. The present study focused on the role of two minor (i.e., K and Ca) and six trace elements (i.e., Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Se and Rb) in the aging process. The elements were determined by PIXE in cerebral cortex and white matter, basal ganglia, brainstem and cerebellar cortex of 18 postmortem human brains, from persons without a history of neurologic or psychiatric disease who deceased between the age of 7 and 79. This age range allowed us to study the relationship between elemental concentrations and age. The most prominent findings were a concentration decrease for K and Rb and a concentration increase for the elements Ca, Fe, Zn and Se. The study supports recent findings that Ca and Fe are involved in brain degenerative processes initiated by oxygen free radicals, whereas Zn and Se are involved in immunological reactions counteracting the aging process

Changes of trace element concentrations in vegetables during the usual food processing in the household found out by means of activation analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schelenz, R.

1981-01-01

The influence of processing of various vegetables and potatoes (cleaning, cutting, washing, cooking, steam-cooking) on the concentration of ingestion-physiologically important mineral- and trace elements has been studied by means of instrumental activation analysis. The leaching effects play a less important role in steam-cooking. Than in normal cooking. The most important loss already occurs when preparing the vegetables for cooking. This applies especially also to the essential trace elements; but also toxic elements such as arsenic are greatly reduced during this process. (RB) [de

Assessing the elements mobility through the regolith and their potential as tracers for hydrological processes

Science.gov (United States)

Moragues-Quiroga, Cristina; Hissler, Christophe; Chabaux, François; Legout, Arnaud; Stille, Peter

2017-04-01

Regoliths encompass different materials from the fresh bedrock to the top of the organic horizons. The regolith is a major component of the critical zone where fluxes of water, energy, solutes and matter occur. Therefore, its bio-physico-chemical properties drastically impact the water that percolates and/or stores in its different parts (organic and mineral soil horizons, and weathered and fractured bedrock). In order to better understand the critical zone functioning, we propose to assess the interaction between chemical elements from the regolith matrix and water during drainage infiltration. For this, we focus firstly on the potential mobility of different groups of major and trace elements according to a leaching experiment made on 10 different layers of a 7.5 m depth slate regolith, which covers a large part of the Rhenish Massif. Secondly, we carried out Sr-Nd-Pb-U-Th isotope analyses for 5 of these samples in both the untreated and leached samples. Given the specific chemical and mineralogical composition of each sampled material, our approach enables to trace the origin of major and trace elements and eventually assess their mobility. The results deliver valuable information on exchange processes at the water-mineral interface in the different zones of the regolith, which could improve the selection of tracers for the study of hydrological processes.

Some studies on weld bead geometries for laser spot welding process using finite element analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siva Shanmugam, N.; Buvanashekaran, G.; Sankaranarayanasamy, K.

2012-01-01

Highlights: → In this study, a 2 kW Nd:YAG laser welding system is used to conduct laser spot welding trials. → The size and shape of the laser spot weld is predicted using finite element simulation. → The heat input is assumed to be a three-dimensional conical Gaussian heat source. → The result highlights the effect of beam incident angle on laser spot welds. → The achieved results of numerical simulation are almost identical with a real weldment. -- Abstract: Nd:YAG laser beam welding is a high power density welding process which has the capability to focus the beam to a very small spot diameter of about 0.4 mm. It has favorable characteristics namely, low heat input, narrow heat affected zone and lower distortions, as compared to conventional welding processes. In this study, finite element method (FEM) is applied for predicting the weld bead geometry i.e. bead length (BL), bead width (BW) and depth of penetration (DP) in laser spot welding of AISI 304 stainless steel sheet of thickness 2.5 mm. The input parameters of laser spot welding such as beam power, incident angle of the beam and beam exposure time are varied for conducting experimental trials and numerical simulations. Temperature-dependent thermal properties of AISI 304 stainless steel, the effect of latent heat of fusion, and the convective and radiative aspects of boundary conditions are considered while developing the finite element model. The heat input to the developed model is assumed to be a three-dimensional conical Gaussian heat source. Finite-element simulations of laser spot welding were carried out by using Ansys Parametric Design Language (APDL) available in finite-element code, ANSYS. The results of the numerical analysis provide the shape of the weld beads for different ranges of laser input parameters that are subsequently compared with the results obtained through experimentation and it is found that they are in good agreement.

Seismic qualification using digital signal processing/modal testing and finite element techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steedman, J.B.; Edelstein, A.

1983-01-01

A systematic procedure in which digital signal processing, modal testing and finite element techniques can be used to seismically qualify Class IE equipment for use in nuclear generating stations is presented. A new method was also developed in which measured transmissibility functions and Fourier transformation techniques were combined to compute instrument response spectra. As an illustrative example of the qualification method, the paper follows the qualification of a safety related Class IE Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Control Panel subjected to both seismic and hydrodynamic loading conditions

Trace and major element pollution originating from coal ash suspension and transport processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Popovic, A.; Djordjevic, D.; Polic, P. [University of Belgrade, Belgrade (Yugoslavia). Faculty of Science, Dept. of Chemistry

2001-07-01

Coal ash obtained from Nikola Tesla A power plant in Obrenovac, near Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is mixed with water of the Sava river and transported to the dump. In order to assess pollution caused by leaching of some minor and major elements during ash transport through the pipeline, two sets of samples (six samples each) were subjected to a modified sequential extraction. The first set consisted of coal ash samples taken immediately after combustion, while the second set was obtained by extraction with river water, imitating the processes that occur in the pipeline. Samples were extracted consecutively with distilled water and a 1 M solution of KCl, pH 7, and the differences in extractability were compared in order to predict potential pollution. It is concluded that lead and cadmium do not present an environmental threat during and immediately after ash transport to the dump. Portions of zinc, nickel and chromium are released during the ash transport, and arsenic and manganese are released continuously. Copper and iron do not present an environmental threat due to element leaching during and immediately after the coal ash suspension and transport. On the contrary, these elements, as well as chromium, become concentrated during coal ash transport. Adsorbed portions of calcium, magnesium and potassium are also leached during coal ash transport.

Discussion of ISV Scenario Scope with Operating Process Element

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Yun Goo; Oh, Eungse [Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. ltd. Central Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

NUREG-0711 identifies the sampling dimension of operational conditions which includes normal operation,I and C and HSI failures, transient, and accidents. Because of practical limitation of sampling, ISV scenarios do not include every expected operational condition. To develop a scenario for the ISV, it requires much time and efforts. It takes about 1 month with 3 operating crew team for 7 scenarios for the ISV. Therefore, operational conditions are screened out for integration to scenario. TSV can be used for the evaluation of monitoring, detection, and response implementation about the inventory of information and control. However, validity of operational walkthrough for other operating process element needs to be discussed. For the situation awareness, the general acceptance check list can be derived from the result of representative scenario set of ISV. The check list may contain the number of information, type of information, level of procedure and training program. For the response planning, procedure can be used for evaluation.

Guide to deliver the elements of the Clinical Caritas Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luana Tonin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objective: To introduce a guide to apply the elements of the Clinical Caritas Process. Methods: It is a study introducing a guide developed to identify the necessary caring actions, aiming to provide transpersonal care. It was designed from a bibliographic review and discussion with peers, who apply the theory underpinning the present study. Results: The instrument features a layout with ten lines and two columns, decoding each structural component in its enunciation with its respective care manifestations. Additionally, it showed to be a facilitator for the use of the Human Caring Theory. Conclusion: It is believed that the guide can be reproduced in order to direct the practice of transpersonal care in different settings of Brazilian nursing. Moreover, it can also be used to teach this theory.

Finite element simulation of the T-shaped ECAP processing of round samples

Science.gov (United States)

Shaban Ghazani, Mehdi; Fardi-Ilkhchy, Ali; Binesh, Behzad

2018-05-01

Grain refinement is the only mechanism that increases the yield strength and toughness of the materials simultaneously. Severe plastic deformation is one of the promising methods to refine the microstructure of materials. Among different severe plastic deformation processes, the T-shaped equal channel angular pressing (T-ECAP) is a relatively new technique. In the present study, finite element analysis was conducted to evaluate the deformation behavior of metals during T-ECAP process. The study was focused mainly on flow characteristics, plastic strain distribution and its homogeneity, damage development, and pressing force which are among the most important factors governing the sound and successful processing of nanostructured materials by severe plastic deformation techniques. The results showed that plastic strain is localized in the bottom side of sample and uniform deformation cannot be possible using T-ECAP processing. Friction coefficient between sample and die channel wall has a little effect on strain distributions in mirror plane and transverse plane of deformed sample. Also, damage analysis showed that superficial cracks may be initiated from bottom side of sample and their propagation will be limited due to the compressive state of stress. It was demonstrated that the V shaped deformation zone are existed in T-ECAP process and the pressing load needed for execution of deformation process is increased with friction.

Process for changing fuel elements of a water-cooled nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fleischmann, R.; Rau, P.

1986-01-01

In order to change fuel elements, a water-filled duct can be installed between the rector pressure vessel and a space for accommodating the fuel elements. The fuel elements are transported there under water by a fuelling machine. The duct is installed as watertight connection closed on all sides between the reactor pressure vessel and a fuel element transport container brought close to it. The fuelling machine works in this duct. (orig./HP) [de

Visual processing of multiple elements in the dyslexic brain: evidence for a superior parietal dysfunction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muriel Anne Lobier

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The visual attention (VA span deficit hypothesis of developmental dyslexia posits that impaired multiple element processing can be responsible for poor reading outcomes. In VA span impaired dyslexic children, poor performance on letter report tasks is associated with reduced parietal activations for multiple letter processing. While this hints towards a non-specific, attention-based dysfunction, it is still unclear whether reduced parietal activity generalizes to other types of stimuli. Furthermore, putative links between reduced parietal activity and reduced ventral occipito-temporal (vOT in dyslexia have yet to be explored. Using fMRI, we measured brain activity in 12 VA span impaired dyslexic adults and 12 adult skilled readers while they carried out a categorization task on single or multiple alphanumeric or non-alphanumeric characters. While healthy readers activated parietal areas more strongly for multiple than single element processing (right-sided for alphanumeric and bilateral for non-alphanumeric, similar stronger multiple element right parietal activations were absent for dyslexic participants. Contrasts between skilled and dyslexic readers revealed significantly reduced right superior parietal lobule (SPL activity for dyslexic readers regardless of stimuli type. Using a priori anatomically defined ROI, we showed that neural activity was reduced for dyslexic participants in both SPL and vOT bilaterally. Finally, we used multiple regressions to test whether SPL activity could predict vOT activity in each group. In the left hemisphere, SPL activity modulated vOT activity for both normal and dyslexic readers. In contrast, in the right hemisphere, SPL activity modulated vOT activity only for dyslexic readers. These results bring critical support to the visual attention interpretation of the VA Span deficit. In addition, they offer a new insight on how deficits in automatic vOT based word recognition could arise in developmental dyslexia.

Process recognition in multi-element soil and stream-sediment geochemical data

Science.gov (United States)

Grunsky, E.C.; Drew, L.J.; Sutphin, D.M.

2009-01-01

Stream-sediment and soil geochemical data from the Upper and Lower Coastal Plains of South Carolina (USA) were studied to determine relationships between soils and stream sediments. From multi-element associations, characteristic compositions were determined for both media. Primary associations of elements reflect mineralogy, including heavy minerals, carbonates and clays, and the effects of groundwater. The effects of groundwater on element concentrations are more evident in soils than stream sediments. A "winnowing index" was created using ratios of Th to Al that revealed differing erosional and depositional environments. Both soils and stream sediments from the Upper and Lower Coastal Plains show derivation from similar materials and subsequent similar multi-element relationships, but have some distinct differences. In the Lower Coastal Plain, soils have high values of elements concentrated in heavy minerals (Ce, Y, Th) that grade into high values of elements concentrated into finer-grain-size, lower-density materials, primarily comprised of carbonates and feldspar minerals (Mg, Ca, Na, K, Al). These gradational trends in mineralogy and geochemistry are inferred to reflect reworking of materials during marine transgressions and regressions. Upper Coastal Plain stream-sediment geochemistry shows a higher winnowing index relative to soil geochemistry. A comparison of the 4 media (Upper Coastal Plain soils and stream sediments and Lower Coastal Plain soils and stream sediments) shows that Upper Coastal Plain stream sediments have a higher winnowing index and a higher concentration of elements contained within heavy minerals, whereas Lower Coastal Plain stream sediments show a strong correlation between elements typically contained within clays. It is not possible to calculate a functional relationship between stream sediment-soil compositions for all elements due to the complex history of weathering, deposition, reworking and re-deposition. However, depending on

Fuel Element Technical Manual

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burley, H.H. [ed.

1956-08-01

It is the purpose of the Fuel Element Technical Manual to Provide a single document describing the fabrication processes used in the manufacture of the fuel element as well as the technical bases for these processes. The manual will be instrumental in the indoctrination of personnel new to the field and will provide a single data reference for all personnel involved in the design or manufacture of the fuel element. The material contained in this manual was assembled by members of the Engineering Department and the Manufacturing Department at the Hanford Atomic Products Operation between the dates October, 1955 and June, 1956. Arrangement of the manual. The manual is divided into six parts: Part I--introduction; Part II--technical bases; Part III--process; Part IV--plant and equipment; Part V--process control and improvement; and VI--safety.

Modelling optimization involving different types of elements in finite element analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wai, C M; Rivai, Ahmad; Bapokutty, Omar

2013-01-01

Finite elements are used to express the mechanical behaviour of a structure in finite element analysis. Therefore, the selection of the elements determines the quality of the analysis. The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast 1D element, 2D element, and 3D element used in finite element analysis. A simple case study was carried out on a standard W460x74 I-beam. The I-beam was modelled and analyzed statically with 1D elements, 2D elements and 3D elements. The results for the three separate finite element models were compared in terms of stresses, deformation and displacement of the I-beam. All three finite element models yield satisfactory results with acceptable errors. The advantages and limitations of these elements are discussed. 1D elements offer simplicity although lacking in their ability to model complicated geometry. 2D elements and 3D elements provide more detail yet sophisticated results which require more time and computer memory in the modelling process. It is also found that the choice of element in finite element analysis is influence by a few factors such as the geometry of the structure, desired analysis results, and the capability of the computer

Study on the high-precision laser welding technology of nuclear fuel elements processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Soo Sung; Yang, M. S.; Kim, W. K.; Lee, D. Y

2001-01-01

The proper welding method for appendage of bearing pads and spacers of PHWR nuclear fuel elements is considered important in respect to the soundness of weldments and the improvement of the performance of nuclear fuels during the operation in reactor. The probability of welding defects of the appendage parts is mostly apt to occur and it is connected directly with the safty and life prediction of the nuclear reactor in operation. Recently there has been studied all over the world to develope welding technology by laser in nuclear fuel processing, and the appendage of bearing pads and spacers of PHWR nuclear fuel elements. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of the laser welded specimens and make some samples for the appendage of bearing pads of PHWR nuclear fuel elements. This study will be also provide the basic data for the fabrications of the appendage of bearing pads and spacers. Especially the laser welding is supposed to be used in the practical application such as precise materials manufacturing fields. In this respect this technology is not only a basic advanced technology with wide applications but also likely to be used for the development of directly applicable technologies for industries, with high potential benefits derived in the view point of economy and industry.

Study on the high-precision laser welding technology of nuclear fuel elements processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Soo Sung; Yang, M. S.; Kim, W. K.; Lee, D. Y.

2001-01-01

The proper welding method for appendage of bearing pads and spacers of PHWR nuclear fuel elements is considered important in respect to the soundness of weldments and the improvement of the performance of nuclear fuels during the operation in reactor. The probability of welding defects of the appendage parts is mostly apt to occur and it is connected directly with the safty and life prediction of the nuclear reactor in operation. Recently there has been studied all over the world to develope welding technology by laser in nuclear fuel processing, and the appendage of bearing pads and spacers of PHWR nuclear fuel elements. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of the laser welded specimens and make some samples for the appendage of bearing pads of PHWR nuclear fuel elements. This study will be also provide the basic data for the fabrications of the appendage of bearing pads and spacers. Especially the laser welding is supposed to be used in the practical application such as precise materials manufacturing fields. In this respect this technology is not only a basic advanced technology with wide applications but also likely to be used for the development of directly applicable technologies for industries, with high potential benefits derived in the view point of economy and industry

Composite lay-up process with application of elements of augmented reality

Science.gov (United States)

Novák-Marcinčin, Jozef; Barna, Jozef; Janák, Miroslav; Fečová, Veronika; Nováková-Marcinčinová, L'udmila

2012-03-01

This article deals with virtual tools based on principles of open source philosophy in implementation area of composite lay-up technology. It describes virtual software and hardware elements that are necessary for work in augmented reality environment. In the beginning it focuses on general problems of applications of virtual components and in composite lay-up process. It clarifies the fundamental philosophy of new created application and the process called visual scripting that was used for program development. Further it provides closer view on particular logical sections, where necessary data are harvested and compared with values from virtual arrays. Also the new device is described with adjustment of operating desk, what enables detailed control of any realized manufacturing process. This positioning table can determine and set the position of the working plane using the commands in computer interface or manual changes. Information about exact position of individual layers are obtained in real time thanks to the built-in sensors. One of them manages the data change of the desk position (X, Y, Z), other checks the rotation around main axis situated in the center of the table. New software consists of 4 main logical areas with data packets comming from internal computer components as well as from external devices. In the end the displaying section is able to realize the movement process of virtual item (composite layer) according to its trajectory. Article presents new attitude in realization of composite lay-up process. Finally it deals with possible future improvements and other application possibilities.

Application of three dimensional finite element modeling for the simulation of machining processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, C.E.; Wu, W.T.; Chigurupati, P.; Jinn, J.T.

2004-01-01

For many years, metal cutting simulations have been performed using two dimensional approximations of the actual process. Factors such as chip morphology, cutting force, temperature, and tool wear can all be predicted on the computer. However, two dimensional simulation is limited to processes which are orthogonal, or which can be closely approximated as orthogonal.Advances in finite element technology, coupled with continuing improvement in the availability of low cost, high performance computer hardware, have made the three dimensional simulation of a large variety of metal cutting processes practical. Specific improvements include efficient FEM solvers, and robust adaptive remeshing. As researchers continue to gain an improved understanding of wear, material representation, tool coatings, fracture, and other such phenomena, the machining simulation system also must adapt to incorporate these evolving models.To demonstrate the capabilities of the 3D simulation system, a variety of drilling, milling, and turning processes have been simulated and will be presented in this paper. Issues related to computation time and simulation accuracy will also be addressed

The impact of process variables and wear characteristics on the cutting tool performance using Finite Element Analysis

OpenAIRE

Jiang, Xiaoheng

2016-01-01

The frequent failure of cutting tool in the cutting process may cause a huge loss of money and time especially for hard to machine materials such as titanium alloys. Thus this study is mainly focused on the impact of wear characteristics and process variables on the cutting tool which is ignored by most of researchers. A thermo-mechanical finite element model of orthogonal metal cutting with segment chip formation is presented. This model can be used to predict the process performance in the ...

Transformation processes influencing physico-chemical forms of radionuclides and trace elements in natural water systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salbu, B.; Riise, G.; Oughton, D.H.

1995-01-01

In order to assess short and long term consequences of radionuclides and trace elements introduced to aquatic systems, knowledge on source terms, key factors and key processes influencing the speciation is essential. The mobility, bioavailability and subsequent transfer into food chains depend on the physico-chemical forms on radionuclides and trace metals. In addition, transformation processes and especially the interaction with natural organic matter (NOM) influences the distribution pattern. Furthermore, the prevailing climate conditions, e.g. episodic events and temperature are vital for fluxes and for the kinetics of the transformation processes. In the present work processes in catchments and processes associated with acidification, episodic events, climate conditions (temperature) and mixing zone phenomena influencing the speciation of radionuclides and trace metals are highlighted. These processes should be highly relevant for assessing far field consequences of radionuclides potentially released from disposal sites. (authors). 21 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab

Effect of Bottoming on Material Property during Sheet Forming Process through Finite Element Method

Science.gov (United States)

Akinlabi, Stephen A.; Fatoba, Olawale S.; Mashinini, Peter M.; Akinlabi, Esther T.

2018-03-01

Metal forming is one of the conventional manufacturing processes of immense relevance till date even though modern manufacturing processes have evolved over the years. It is a known fact that material tends to return or spring back to its original form during forming or bending. The phenomena have been well managed through its application in various manufacturing processes by compensating for the spring back through overbending and bottoming. Overbending is bending the material beyond the desired shape to allow the material to spring back to the expected shape. Bottoming, on the other hand, is a process of undergoing plastic deformation at the point of bending. This study reports on the finite element analysis of the effect of bottoming on the material property during the sheet forming process with the aim of optimising the process. The result of the analysis revealed that the generated plastic strains are in the order between 1.750e00-1 at the peak of the bending and 3.604e00-2, which was at the early stage of the bending.

Heavy-element nucleosynthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathews, G.J.

1990-01-01

New measurements and theoretical studies of nuclear properties, together with new astronomical data on the growth of heavy-element abundances during the early history of the Galaxy, now provide a clearer picture of where in nature the elements heavier than iron are produced by rapid (r-process) and show (s-process) neutron capture reactions. The nuclear data suggest that the r-process involves a high-neutron-density beta-flow equilibrium environment and that the s-process may have occurred at a temperature and neutron density consistent with a 13 C(α,n) 16 0 neutron source. The astronomical data, when compared with simple galactic chemical evolution modes, suggests that the r-process is associated with type II supernovae and that the neutron source must be manufactured by the star. Low-mass type II supernovae are proposed as the most important contributors to the r-process. A 13 C neutron source in intermediate-mass stars is proposed for the s-process. 64 refs., 7 figs

Origin of the chemical elements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tayler, R J

1984-05-01

The subject is discussed in relation to the composition of initially created matter and changes which have occurred during the life history of the universe, with particular reference to our galaxy and nearby galaxies. Headings are: observations of element abundances (stars, gas clouds in our own and nearby galaxies, hot gas in galaxy clusters, the solar system); the originally created matter (Big Bang theory and early nuclear reactions); processes changing observed composition (galactic evolution; nuclear fusion reactions in stellar interiors; chemical composition of a highly evolved massive star); supernovae (production of heavy elements); chemical evolution of the galaxy; production of very heavy elements (s process, r process).

Transuranic element behavior in soils and plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wildung, R.E.

1982-01-01

The principal objective of this study is to define soil, plant, and foliar interaction processes that influence the availability of transuranic elements to agricultural plants and animals as a basis for improved modeling and dose-assessment. Major areas of emphasis are: (1) soil and soil-microbial processes that influence the concentration and form of transuranic elements in soil solutions and availability to the plant root with time; (2) deposition and plant interception of airborne submicronic particles containing transuranic elements and their susceptibility to leaching; (3) plant processes that influence transport across plant root membrane and foliar surfaces, as well as the form and sites of deposition of transuranic elements in mature plants; and (4) the integrated effect of soil and plant processes on transuranic element availability to, and form in, animals that consume plants

Analysis of Tube Drawing Process – A Finite Element Approach ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this paper the effect of die semi angle on drawing load in cold tube drawing has been investigated numerically using the finite element method. The equation governing the stress distribution was derived and solved using Galerkin finite element method. An isoparametric formulation for the governing equation was utilized ...

Regularities of the chlorination process of phosphates and tungstates of some actinide and fission elements in chloride melts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kryukova, A.I.; Chernikov, A.A.; Skiba, O.V.; Kazantsev, G.N.

1988-01-01

Results of kinetic studies of chlorination process of crystal phosphates and tungstates of uranium, cerium, zirconium, plutonium by vapours of carbon tetrachloride in the melts of alkali element chlorides at of 973-1073 K have been analyzed. Mathematical models for the process description are suggested. Analysis of adequate models of regression type permitted to solve the problem of statistical evaluation of affecting factors and to predict within factor space studied the conditions for the optimal process course

Cognitive Processing Hardware Elements

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Widrow, Bernard; Eliashberg, Victor; Kamenetsky, Max

2005-01-01

The purpose of this research is to identify and develop cognitive information processing systems and algorithms that can be implemented with novel architectures and devices with the goal of achieving...

Flow Dynamics of green sand in the DISAMATIC moulding process using Discrete element method (DEM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hovad, E; Walther, J H; Thorborg, J; Hattel, J H; Larsen, P

2015-01-01

The DISAMATIC casting process production of sand moulds is simulated with DEM (discrete element method). The main purpose is to simulate the dynamics of the flow of green sand, during the production of the sand mould with DEM. The sand shot is simulated, which is the first stage of the DISAMATIC casting process. Depending on the actual casting geometry the mould can be geometrically quite complex involving e.g. shadowing effects and this is directly reflected in the sand flow during the moulding process. In the present work a mould chamber with “ribs” at the walls is chosen as a baseline geometry to emulate some of these important conditions found in the real moulding process. The sand flow is simulated with the DEM and compared with corresponding video footages from the interior of the chamber during the moulding process. The effect of the rolling resistance and the static friction coefficient is analysed and discussed in relation to the experimental findings. (paper)

Unified fuel elements development for research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vatulin, A.; Stetsky, Y.; Dobrikova, I.

1998-01-01

Square cross-section rod type fuel elements have been developed for russian pool-type research reactors. new fuel elements can replace the large nomenclature of tubular fuel elements with around, square and hexahedral cross-sections and to solve a problem of enrichment reduction. the fuel assembly designs with rod type fuel elements have been developed. The overall dimensions of existing the assemblies are preserved in this one. the experimental-industrial fabricating process of fuel elements, based on a joint extrusion method has been developed. The fabricating process has been tested in laboratory conditions, 150 experimental fuel element samples of the various sizes were produced. (author)

Process and equipment for locating defective fuel rods of a reactor fuel element

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jester, A.; Honig, H.

1977-01-01

By this equipment, well-known processes for determining defective fuel rods of a reactor fuel element are improved in such a fashion that defective fuel rods can be located individually, so that it is possible to replace them. The equipment consists of a cylindrical test vessel open above, which accommodates the element to be tested, so that an annular space is left between the latter's external circumference and the wall of the vessel, and so that the fuel rods project above the vessel. A bell in the shape of a frustrum of a cone is inverted over the test vessel, which has an infra-red measuring equipment at a certain distance above the tops of the fuel rods. The fuel element to be tested together with the test vessel and hood are immersed in a basin full of water, which displaces water by means of gas from the hood. The post-shutdown heat increases the temperature in the water space of the test vessel, which is stabilised at 100 0 C. In each defective fuel rod the water which has penetrated the defective fuel rod previously, or does so now, starts to boil. The steam rising in the fuel rod raises the temperature of the defective fuel rod compared to all the sound ones. The subsequent measurement easily determines this. Where one can expect interference with the measurement by appreciable amounts of gamma rays, the measuring equipment is removed from the path of radiation by mirror deflection in a suitably shaped measuring hood. (FW) [de

Parameter estimation and long-term process simulation of a biogas reactor operated under trace elements limitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lübken, Manfred; Koch, Konrad; Gehring, Tito; Horn, Harald; Wichern, Marc

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Estimation of ADM1 parameter uncertainty by nonlinear, correlated parameter analysis. • Unbounded confidence regions were obtained for single hydrolysis rate constants. • ADM1 carbohydrates were divided into a slowly and readily degradable part. • Bioavailability of trace metals explained discrepancies between modeled and measured data. - Abstract: The Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1) was modified to describe the long-term process stability of a two-stage agricultural biogas system operated for 494 days with a mono-substrate. The ADM1 model fraction for carbohydrates was divided into a slowly and readily degradable part. Significant different hydrolysis rate constants were found for proteins and single fractions of carbohydrates in batch experiments. Degradation of starch, xylan (hemicellulose), cellulose and zein (protein) were modeled with first order hydrolysis rate coefficients of 1.20 d −1 , 0.70 d −1 , 0.18 d −1 and 0.30 d −1 , respectively. While the hydrolysis rate coefficients found in batch experiments could be used for predicting continuous process data, the statistically calculated confidence regions (nonlinear parameter estimation) showed that the upper limits were unbounded. Single discrepancies between measured and modeled process data of the two-stage pilot system could be explained by the lack of bioavailability of trace elements. Addition of iron, as Fe(III)Cl 3 , allowed stable process conditions for an organic loading rate (OLR) up to 2.5 g VS L −1 d −1 . Additional supplement of trace elements was necessary for process operation at OLRs above 2.5 g VS L −1 d −1

Finite element simulation of HIP-process to produce 3d near net shape parts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zadeh, M.K.

1996-01-01

One of the major problems when producing powder metallurgy parts through hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is the non homogeneous shrinkage of HIP-capsule during the process. This leads to time and cost consuming machining of the HIP parts. In order to reduce the machining to a minimum, one can try to simulate the HIP-process by means of numerical methods. Hereby, the part distortion can be predicted, and hence a new HIP-capsule can be designed in such a way to prevent the distortion partly or even completely. In the following, a finite element method is used, on one hand, to simulate part shrinkage during HIP process; on the other hand a method is integrated in this simulation to optimize the HIP-capsule geometry. For the determination of material dependent parameters, a mixture of theoretical and experimental methods is used. Results of simulation are verified for a complex 3d HIP part out of TiAl6V4

The origin of the chemical elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tayler, R.J.

1984-01-01

The subject is discussed in relation to the composition of initially created matter and changes which have occurred during the life history of the universe, with particular reference to our galaxy and nearby galaxies. Headings are: observations of element abundances (stars, gas clouds in our own and nearby galaxies, hot gas in galaxy clusters, the solar system); the originally created matter (Big Bang theory and early nuclear reactions); processes changing observed composition (galactic evolution; nuclear fusion reactions in stellar interiors; chemical composition of a highly evolved massive star); supernovae (production of heavy elements); chemical evolution of the galaxy; production of very heavy elements (s process, r process). (U.K.)

Finite Element Simulation of Blanking Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afzal Ahmed

2012-10-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: The blanking process can be simulated by ABAQUS v 6.4 to select punch, die and press and ascertain punch wear and bur height. The experimental and the simulation results agree well with rising punch force up to the point of creation of crack. For a 2mm mild steel sheet, the simulation shows that for the punch force of 240 kN, the crack starts at 30% punch penetration depth and punch force suddenly drops to a value of 70 kN and remains steady till the blanking is complete. Comparing simulation and experimental results for a 3mm mild steel sheet, results agree well in the elastic range with the punch force rising up to point of crack creation. However, a discrepancy appears in punch force which increases with punch penetration. At 32% depth of penetration, the discrepancy is 12 % which increases to 60 % at punch penetration of 42%. Punch force for experimental and simulation results remains about 90kN beyond punch penetration of 62%. Also, increase of the thickness of sheet results in reduced crack height and improved quality of blank.ABSTRAK: Proses pengosongan boleh disimulasikan oleh ABAQUS versi 6.4 untuk memilih tebuk, alat dan tekan; dan menentukan haus tebuk dan ketinggian duri. Keputusan ujikaji dan simulasi adalah serupa dengan kenaikan daya tebuk hingga titik retakan diperolehi. Bagi kepingan keluli ringan 2mm simulasi menunjukkan bahawa untuk tenaga tebukan sebanyak 240 kN, retak bermula pada 30% kedalaman penembusan 30% tebukan dan daya tebuk tiba-tiba jatuh kepada 70 kN dan jumplah ini kekal sehingga proses pengosongan selesai.  Apabila hasil simulasi dan eksperimen dibandingkan, keputusan experimen untuk keluli lembut 3mm, bersetuju dengan baik dalam julat anjal dan daya tebukan meningkat sehingga titik penciptaan retak diperolehi. Walau bagaimanapun percanggahan muncul apabila daya tebukan meningkat dengan daya penembusan. Pada kedalaman penembusan 32% percanggahan adalah 12% dan nilai ini meningkat kepada 60% apabila

Finite Element Simulation of the Presta Joining Process for Assembled Camshafts: Application to Aluminum Shafts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Scherzer

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This work shows a sequence of numerical models for the simulation of the Presta joining process: a well-established industrial process for manufacturing assembled camshafts. The operation is divided into two sub-steps: the rolling of the shaft to widen the cam seat and the joining of the cam onto the shaft. When manufactured, the connection is tested randomly by loading it with a static torque. Subsequently, there are three numerical models using the finite element method. Additionally, a material model of finite strain viscoplasticity with nonlinear kinematic hardening is used throughout the whole simulation process, which allows a realistic representation of the material behavior even for large deformations. In addition, it enables a transfer of the deformation history and of the internal stresses between different submodels. This work also shows the required parameter identification and the associated material tests. After comparing the numerical results with experimental studies of the manufacturing process for steel-steel connections, the models are used to extend the joining process to the utilization of aluminum shafts.

Effects of industrial processing on essential elements and regulated and emerging contaminant levels in seafood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Rie Romme; Bøge Søndergaard, Annette; Bøknæs, Niels

2017-01-01

Mitigation of contaminants in industrial processing was studied for prawns (cooked and peeled), Greenland halibut (cold smoked) and Atlantic salmon (cold smoked and trimmed). Raw prawns had significantly higher cadmium, chromium, iron, selenium and zinc content in autumn than in spring, while...... summer levels typically were intermediate. Peeling raw prawns increased mercury concentration but reduced the concentration of all other elements including inorganic arsenic, total arsenic, chromium, zinc, selenium but especially cadmium, copper and iron (p

Behaviour of major, minor and trace elements (including REEs during kaolinization processes at Zonouz deposit, northeast of Marand, East Azarbaidjan province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vahideh Alipour

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The Zonouz kaolin deposit is located ~15 km northeast of Marand, East-Azarbaidjan province. Based on physical features in field investigations, such as color, five distinct kaolin types including (1 white, (2 lemon, (3 gray, (4 brown, and (5 yellow are distinguished in the deposit. Field evidence and petrographic studies indicate that the deposit is genetically close to trachy-andesite rocks. According to mineralogical data, the deposit contains quartz, kaolinite, montmorillonite, calcite, pyrophyllite, chlorite, muscovite-illite, dolomite, hematite, and anatase minerals. Geochemical data indicate that function of alteration processes on trachy-andesite rocks during development of Zonouz ore deposit was accompanied by leaching of elements such as Al, Na, K, Rb, Ba, V, Hf, Cu, Zr, Tm, Yb, and Lu, enrichment of elements such as U, Nb, and Ta, and leaching-fixation of elements such as Si, Fe, Ca, Mg, Ti, Mn, P, Cs, Sr, Th, Co, Cr, Ni, Y, Ga, LREE, Tb, Dy, Ho, and Er. Incorporation of obtained results from mineralogical and geochemical studies show that physico-chemical conditions of alteration environment, the relative stability of primary minerals, surface adsorption, preferential sorption by metallic oxides, existing of organic matters, scavenging and concentration processes, and fixation in neomorphic mineralogical phases played important role in distribution of elements in the deposit. Geochemical studies show that development of the deposit is relative to two types of processes, (1 hypogene and (2 supergene. The distribution pattern of REEs indicates that differentiation degree of LREEs from HREEs in supergene kaolins is more than hypogene kaolins. Geochemical studies indicate that minerals such as Mn-oxides, zircon, anatase, hematite, cerianite, and secondary phosphates (monazite, rhabdophane, churchite, and zenotime are the potential hosts for rare earth elements in this deposit.

Magnetically assisted chemical separation (MACS) process: Preparation and optimization of particles for removal of transuranic elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nunez, L.; Kaminski, M.; Bradley, C.; Buchholz, B.A.; Aase, S.B.; Tuazon, H.E.; Vandegrift, G.F.; Landsberger, S.

1995-05-01

The Magnetically Assisted Chemical Separation (MACS) process combines the selectivity afforded by solvent extractants with magnetic separation by using specially coated magnetic particles to provide a more efficient chemical separation of transuranic (TRU) elements, other radionuclides, and heavy metals from waste streams. Development of the MACS process uses chemical and physical techniques to elucidate the properties of particle coatings and the extent of radiolytic and chemical damage to the particles, and to optimize the stages of loading, extraction, and particle regeneration. This report describes the development of a separation process for TRU elements from various high-level waste streams. Polymer-coated ferromagnetic particles with an adsorbed layer of octyl(phenyl)-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (CMPO) diluted with tributyl phosphate (TBP) were evaluated for use in the separation and recovery of americium and plutonium from nuclear waste solutions. Due to their chemical nature, these extractants selectively complex americium and plutonium contaminants onto the particles, which can then be recovered from the solution by using a magnet. The partition coefficients were larger than those expected based on liquid[liquid extractions, and the extraction proceeded with rapid kinetics. Extractants were stripped from the particles with alcohols and 400-fold volume reductions were achieved. Particles were more sensitive to acid hydrolysis than to radiolysis. Overall, the optimization of a suitable NMCS particle for TRU separation was achieved under simulant conditions, and a MACS unit is currently being designed for an in-lab demonstration

Target costing as an element of the hard coal extraction cost planning process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Segeth-Boniecka

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Target costing as an element of the hard coal extraction cost planning process Striving for the efficiency of activities is of great significance in the management of hard coal extractive enterprises, which are constantly subjected to the process of restructuring. Effective cost management is an important condition of the increase in the efficiency of the researched business entities’ activity. One of the tools whose basic objective is conscious influencing cost levels is target costing. The aim of this article is to analyse the conditions of implementing target costing in the planning of hard coal extraction costs in hard coal mines in Poland. The subject area raises a topical and important problem of the scope of solutions concerning cost analysis in hard coal mines in Poland, which has not been thoroughly researched yet. To achieve the abovementioned aim, the theoretical works of the subject area have been referenced. The mine management process is difficult and requires the application of best suited and most modern tools, including those used in the planning process of hard coal extraction costs in order to support the economic efficiency of mining operations. The use of the target costing concept in the planning of hard coal mine operations aims to support the decision-making process, so as to achieve a specified level of economic efficiency of the operations carried out in a territorially designated site of hard coal extraction.

Constraint driven operation assignment for retargetable VLIW compilers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bekooij, M.J.G.

2004-01-01

In veel consumenten elektronica producten worden processoren toegepast voor het bewerken van gedigitaliseerde signalen. Deze processoren zijn gewoonlijk ingebed in een systeem en moeten wat rekenkracht, vermogensverbruik en fabricage kosten aan stringente eisen voldoen. Door het optimaliseren van

Biorefine: Recovery of nutrients and metallic trace elements from different wastes by chemical and biochemical processes

OpenAIRE

Tarayre, Cédric; Fischer, Christophe; De Clercq, Lies; Michels, Evi; Meers, Erik; Buysse, Jeroen; Delvigne, Frank; Thonart, Philippe

2014-01-01

At present, most waste processing operations are not oriented towards the valorization of valuable reusable components such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and even Metallic Trace Elements (MTEs). Currently, sewage sludge, for example is usually used as a fertilizer in agriculture, in energy production or in the field of construction. Ashes originating from sludge incineration contain heavy metals and minerals in large quantities. Manure is mainly used in agriculture, although considerable...

Critically Important Object Security System Element Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. V. Khomyackov

2012-03-01

Full Text Available A stochastic model of critically important object security system element has been developed. The model includes mathematical description of the security system element properties and external influences. The state evolution of the security system element is described by the semi-Markov process with finite states number, the semi-Markov matrix and the initial semi-Markov process states probabilities distribution. External influences are set with the intensity of the Poisson thread.

Decomposing a Chunk into Its Elements and Reorganizing Them As a New Chunk: The Two Different Sub-processes Underlying Insightful Chunk Decomposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaofei Wu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Familiar chunks can be processed highly efficiently, and this automatic process can prohibit the problem solver from developing novel and original ways to creatively solve difficult problems. For this reason, the role of the reverse process, chunk decomposition (CD, the process by which familiar patterns are broken down into their component elements in order to be regrouped in another meaningful manner, has been generally recognized as part of the creative process. However, previous studies on this issue have mainly focused on the decomposition process of CD (the D-process, while the reorganization process of CD has been greatly neglected or has not been distinctively identified in previous work. In this paper, we argue that the R-process could be equally as important as the D-process for CD. Even if a problem solver manages to decompose a familiar chunk into its elements, he or she still may not solve the problem if these elements are not successfully organized in a new and meaningful manner. To investigate whether the cognitive mechanism of the R-process is different from that of the D-process, we designed an experiment for detecting the effects of chunk tightness, which is regarded as the key factor in CD and which can be experimentally manipulated by the radical-level (loose and stroke-level (tight Chinese character CD tasks in the D-process, the R-process, and the more purified organization task (the O-process task that does not involve the decomposition process. Our results showed that the stroke-level (tight task was more difficult than the radical-level (loose task for the D-process. However, for the R-process, the stroke- and radical-level tasks showed no differences in performance. Moreover, for the more purified reorganization task, the O-process task, the radical-level organization and reorganization could be even more difficult than the stroke-level organization and reorganization. This result demonstrated that the cognitive

The evolution of the elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, P.M.

1978-01-01

It is believed that only the lightest elements, hydrogen and helium, were created during the 'Big Bang' origin of the Universe and that all heavier elements were synthesized by nuclear reactions in stars, the interstellar medium and possibly in 'little bangs' in the nuclei of galaxies. The composition of the interstellar medium has evolved through enrichment by processed material shed by evolving stars and the composition of the Solar System reflects that of the interstellar medium at the time of its formation. Differentiation processes during the evolution of the Solar System and individual planets account for the different compositions of the Sun and the planets. The measurement of the abundance distribution of the elements has become a very powerful tool in the elucidation of the evolution of the Solar System, stars and the Galaxy. This review attempts to trace the formation of the elements in stars and their subsequent evolution. (author)

RARE EARTH ELEMENTS: A REVIEW OF PRODUCTION, PROCESSING, RECYCLING, AND ASSOCIATED ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Science.gov (United States)

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 15 chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the lanthanides. Two other elements, scandium and yttrium, have a similar physiochemistry to the lanthanides, are commonly found in the same mineral assemblages, and are often refe...

Effects of industrial processing on essential elements and regulated and emerging contaminant levels in seafood.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Rie Romme; Søndergaard, Annette Bøge; Bøknæs, Niels; Cederberg, Tommy Licht; Sloth, Jens Jørgen; Granby, Kit

2017-06-01

Mitigation of contaminants in industrial processing was studied for prawns (cooked and peeled), Greenland halibut (cold smoked) and Atlantic salmon (cold smoked and trimmed). Raw prawns had significantly higher cadmium, chromium, iron, selenium and zinc content in autumn than in spring, while summer levels typically were intermediate. Peeling raw prawns increased mercury concentration but reduced the concentration of all other elements including inorganic arsenic, total arsenic, chromium, zinc, selenium but especially cadmium, copper and iron (p processing was observed. Non-toxic organic arsenic in raw Greenland halibut (N = 10) and salmon (N = 4) did not transform to carcinogenic inorganic arsenic during industrial cold smoking. Hence inorganic arsenic was low (Processing salmon did not significantly change any levels (calculated both per wet weight, dry weight or lipid content). Cold smoking decreased total arsenic (17%) and increased PCB congeners (10-22%) in Greenland halibut (wet weight). However PFOS, PCB and PBDE congeners were not different in processed Greenland halibut when corrected for water loss or lipid content. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Diverse Origins of Neutron-capture Elements in the Metal-poor Star HD 94028: Possible Detection of Products of I-Process Nucleosynthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Roederer, Ian U.; Karakas, Amanda I.; Pignatari, Marco; Herwig, Falk

2016-04-01

We present a detailed analysis of the composition and nucleosynthetic origins of the heavy elements in the metal-poor ([Fe/H] = -1.62 ± 0.09) star HD 94028. Previous studies revealed that this star is mildly enhanced in elements produced by the slow neutron-capture process (s process; e.g., [Pb/Fe] = +0.79 ± 0.32) and rapid neutron-capture process (r process; e.g., [Eu/Fe] = +0.22 ± 0.12), including unusually large molybdenum ([Mo/Fe] = +0.97 ± 0.16) and ruthenium ([Ru/Fe] = +0.69 ± 0.17) enhancements. However, this star is not enhanced in carbon ([C/Fe] = -0.06 ± 0.19). We analyze an archival near-ultraviolet spectrum of HD 94028, collected using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope, and other archival optical spectra collected from ground-based telescopes. We report abundances or upper limits derived from 64 species of 56 elements. We compare these observations with s-process yields from low-metallicity AGB evolution and nucleosynthesis models. No combination of s- and r-process patterns can adequately reproduce the observed abundances, including the super-solar [As/Ge] ratio (+0.99 ± 0.23) and the enhanced [Mo/Fe] and [Ru/Fe] ratios. We can fit these features when including an additional contribution from the intermediate neutron-capture process (I process), which perhaps operated through the ingestion of H in He-burning convective regions in massive stars, super-AGB stars, or low-mass AGB stars. Currently, only the I process appears capable of consistently producing the super-solar [As/Ge] ratios and ratios among neighboring heavy elements found in HD 94028. Other metal-poor stars also show enhanced [As/Ge] ratios, hinting that operation of the I process may have been common in the early Galaxy. These data are associated with Program 072.B-0585(A), PI. Silva. Some data presented in this paper were obtained from the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). The Space Telescope Science Institute is

From elements to perception: local and global processing in visual neurons.

Science.gov (United States)

Spillmann, L

1999-01-01

Gestalt psychologists in the early part of the century challenged psychophysical notions that perceptual phenomena can be understood from a punctate (atomistic) analysis of the elements present in the stimulus. Their ideas slowed later attempts to explain vision in terms of single-cell recordings from individual neurons. A rapprochement between Gestalt phenomenology and neurophysiology seemed unlikely when the first ECVP was held in Marburg, Germany, in 1978. Since that time, response properties of neurons have been discovered that invite an interpretation of visual phenomena (including illusions) in terms of neuronal processing by long-range interactions, as first proposed by Mach and Hering in the last century. This article traces a personal journey into the early days of neurophysiological vision research to illustrate the progress that has taken place from the first attempts to correlate single-cell responses with visual perceptions. Whereas initially the receptive-field properties of individual classes of cells--e.g., contrast, wavelength, orientation, motion, disparity, and spatial-frequency detectors--were used to account for relatively simple visual phenomena, nowadays complex perceptions are interpreted in terms of long-range interactions, involving many neurons. This change in paradigm from local to global processing was made possible by recent findings, in the cortex, on horizontal interactions and backward propagation (feedback loops) in addition to classical feedforward processing. These mechanisms are exemplified by studies of the tilt effect and tilt aftereffect, direction-specific motion adaptation, illusory contours, filling-in and fading, figure--ground segregation by orientation and motion contrast, and pop-out in dynamic visual-noise patterns. Major questions for future research and a discussion of their epistemological implications conclude the article.

Research results on productivity stabilization by ultrasonic camera (plant with membrane ceramic elements during vine processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. T. Antufyev

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article describes solutions to the problems of declining productivity of ceramic membrane elements for wine processing on the final manufacturing phase. A relative stabilization of filtration velocity, venting efficiency and wine lightening were experimentally confirmed during contacts with oscillation waves of ultrasonic transmitter on the ceramic filter. Which significantly reduced the cost of various preservatives to increase periods storage. To study the processes of wine processing by the proposed method it was made an experimental installation on the basis of pilot machine MRp-1/2 for bottling of quiet liquids and an ultrasonic device "Volna– M" UZTA-1/22-OM with a firmly, waveguide which transmits sound, fixed filter frame on the ultrasound emitter. To stabilize the performance of ultrasonic units with ceramic membrane elements without quality deterioration of wines it was empirically determined rational parameters of power of ultrasound input and pressure in the system. The given derived dependencies and graphs allow to define the time of relatively stable operating filter regime. It was revealed a significant cost reduction on filtration, as it allows escape from the contamination of the product by various preservatives, and increasing of storage duration in a sealed container during aseptic filling without a thermal sterilization. Ultrasonic emitter contact by superposition wave vibrations on the ceramic filter increases not only the efficiency of gas removal, but also improves the organoleptic characteristics, stabilizes the filters, improves their productivity. Gas removal creates unfavorable conditions for development of the yeast, which in turn increases the shelf life of semisweet wine.

Evaluation of a new welding process used to joint grids thimbles properly in 16 x 16 fuel assemblies, using the finite element method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schettino, Carlos Frederico Mattos, E-mail: DPNcarlosschettino@inb.gov.b [Industrias Nucleares do Brasil S.A. (DPN/INB), Resende, RJ (Brazil). Diretoria de Producao Nuclear; Silva, Marcio Adriano Coelho da, E-mail: marcio.adriano@inb.gov.b [Industrias Nucleares do Brasil S.A. (GEACON/INB), Resende, RJ (Brazil). Gerencia de Analise Tecnica do Combustivel

2011-07-01

The present work aims to evaluate structurally the new welding process used to join the grids to the guide thimbles properly in 16 x 16 fuel assemblies. This new process is an increase of the number of welding points, 4 to 8, between grids and guide thimbles, giving more stiffness to the whole structure. A finite element model of the fuel assembly design was generated in the program ANSYS 12.1. To build this model were used elements BEAM-4 and several spring type elements. The analysis covered specific loads and displacements, simulating the boundaries conditions found during small deflection acting on the entire structure. The method used to development this analysis was the simulation of a finite element model performing a fuel assembly with four weld points on each grid cell containing the guide thimbles, and then the results of it was compare with another model, with eight weld points on each grid cell containing the guide thimbles. The behavior of the structure under the acting displacement and the related results of the analysis, mainly the stiffness, were satisfied. The results of this analysis were used to prove that the new grid to guide thimble welding process improve the dimensional stability when submitted to loads and displacements required on the fuel assembly design. The performed analysis provided INB to get more information of extreme importance, for the continuity of the development of new process of manufacturing and to improve the design of the current fuel assemblies used in reactors. (author)

Evaluation of a new welding process used to joint grids thimbles properly in 16 x 16 fuel assemblies, using the finite element method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schettino, Carlos Frederico Mattos; Silva, Marcio Adriano Coelho da

2011-01-01

The present work aims to evaluate structurally the new welding process used to join the grids to the guide thimbles properly in 16 x 16 fuel assemblies. This new process is an increase of the number of welding points, 4 to 8, between grids and guide thimbles, giving more stiffness to the whole structure. A finite element model of the fuel assembly design was generated in the program ANSYS 12.1. To build this model were used elements BEAM-4 and several spring type elements. The analysis covered specific loads and displacements, simulating the boundaries conditions found during small deflection acting on the entire structure. The method used to development this analysis was the simulation of a finite element model performing a fuel assembly with four weld points on each grid cell containing the guide thimbles, and then the results of it was compare with another model, with eight weld points on each grid cell containing the guide thimbles. The behavior of the structure under the acting displacement and the related results of the analysis, mainly the stiffness, were satisfied. The results of this analysis were used to prove that the new grid to guide thimble welding process improve the dimensional stability when submitted to loads and displacements required on the fuel assembly design. The performed analysis provided INB to get more information of extreme importance, for the continuity of the development of new process of manufacturing and to improve the design of the current fuel assemblies used in reactors. (author)

Environmental mineralogy - Understanding element behavior in ecosystems; Mineralogie environnementale: comprendre le comportement des elements dans les ecosystemes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown Jr, G.E. [Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2115 (United States); Department of Photon Science and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Calas, G. [Institut de mineralogie et de physique des milieux condenses (IMPMC), universite Paris-6 - universite Paris-7, IPGP, CNRS, case 115, 75252 Paris (France)

2011-02-15

Environmental Mineralogy has developed over the past decade in response to the recognition that minerals are linked in many important ways with the global ecosystem. Minerals are the main repositories of the chemical elements in Earth's crust and thus are the main sources of elements needed for the development of civilization, contaminant and pollutant elements that impact global and local ecosystems, and elements that are essential plant nutrients. These elements are released from minerals through natural processes, such as chemical weathering, and anthropogenic activities, such as mining and energy production, agriculture and industrial activities, and careless waste disposal. Minerals also play key roles in the biogeochemical cycling of the elements, sequestering elements and releasing them as the primary minerals in crustal rocks undergo various structural and compositional transformations in response to physical, chemical, and biological processes that produce secondary minerals and soils. These processes have resulted in the release of toxic elements such as arsenic in groundwater aquifers, which is having a major impact on the health of millions of people in South and Southeast Asia. The interfaces between mineral surfaces and aqueous solutions are the locations of most chemical reactions that control the composition of the natural environment, including the composition of natural waters. The nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining to the disposition of high-level nuclear waste, is also intimately related to minerals. A fundamental understanding of these processes requires molecular-scale information about minerals, their bulk structures and properties such as solubility, their surfaces, and their interactions with aqueous solutions, atmospheric and soil gases, natural organic matter, and biological organisms. Gaining this understanding is further complicated by the presence of natural, incidental, and manufactured nano-particles in the environment

Power estimation on functional level for programmable processors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Schneider

2004-01-01

Full Text Available In diesem Beitrag werden verschiedene Ansätze zur Verlustleistungsschätzung von programmierbaren Prozessoren vorgestellt und bezüglich ihrer Übertragbarkeit auf moderne Prozessor-Architekturen wie beispielsweise Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW-Architekturen bewertet. Besonderes Augenmerk liegt hierbei auf dem Konzept der sogenannten Functional-Level Power Analysis (FLPA. Dieser Ansatz basiert auf der Einteilung der Prozessor-Architektur in funktionale Blöcke wie beispielsweise Processing-Unit, Clock-Netzwerk, interner Speicher und andere. Die Verlustleistungsaufnahme dieser Bl¨ocke wird parameterabhängig durch arithmetische Modellfunktionen beschrieben. Durch automatisierte Analyse von Assemblercodes des zu schätzenden Systems mittels eines Parsers können die Eingangsparameter wie beispielsweise der erzielte Parallelitätsgrad oder die Art des Speicherzugriffs gewonnen werden. Dieser Ansatz wird am Beispiel zweier moderner digitaler Signalprozessoren durch eine Vielzahl von Basis-Algorithmen der digitalen Signalverarbeitung evaluiert. Die ermittelten Schätzwerte für die einzelnen Algorithmen werden dabei mit physikalisch gemessenen Werten verglichen. Es ergibt sich ein sehr kleiner maximaler Schätzfehler von 3%. In this contribution different approaches for power estimation for programmable processors are presented and evaluated concerning their capability to be applied to modern digital signal processor architectures like e.g. Very Long InstructionWord (VLIW -architectures. Special emphasis will be laid on the concept of so-called Functional-Level Power Analysis (FLPA. This approach is based on the separation of the processor architecture into functional blocks like e.g. processing unit, clock network, internal memory and others. The power consumption of these blocks is described by parameter dependent arithmetic model functions. By application of a parser based automized analysis of assembler codes of the systems to be estimated

Power estimation on functional level for programmable processors

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, M.; Blume, H.; Noll, T. G.

2004-05-01

In diesem Beitrag werden verschiedene Ansätze zur Verlustleistungsschätzung von programmierbaren Prozessoren vorgestellt und bezüglich ihrer Übertragbarkeit auf moderne Prozessor-Architekturen wie beispielsweise Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW)-Architekturen bewertet. Besonderes Augenmerk liegt hierbei auf dem Konzept der sogenannten Functional-Level Power Analysis (FLPA). Dieser Ansatz basiert auf der Einteilung der Prozessor-Architektur in funktionale Blöcke wie beispielsweise Processing-Unit, Clock-Netzwerk, interner Speicher und andere. Die Verlustleistungsaufnahme dieser Bl¨ocke wird parameterabhängig durch arithmetische Modellfunktionen beschrieben. Durch automatisierte Analyse von Assemblercodes des zu schätzenden Systems mittels eines Parsers können die Eingangsparameter wie beispielsweise der erzielte Parallelitätsgrad oder die Art des Speicherzugriffs gewonnen werden. Dieser Ansatz wird am Beispiel zweier moderner digitaler Signalprozessoren durch eine Vielzahl von Basis-Algorithmen der digitalen Signalverarbeitung evaluiert. Die ermittelten Schätzwerte für die einzelnen Algorithmen werden dabei mit physikalisch gemessenen Werten verglichen. Es ergibt sich ein sehr kleiner maximaler Schätzfehler von 3%. In this contribution different approaches for power estimation for programmable processors are presented and evaluated concerning their capability to be applied to modern digital signal processor architectures like e.g. Very Long InstructionWord (VLIW) -architectures. Special emphasis will be laid on the concept of so-called Functional-Level Power Analysis (FLPA). This approach is based on the separation of the processor architecture into functional blocks like e.g. processing unit, clock network, internal memory and others. The power consumption of these blocks is described by parameter dependent arithmetic model functions. By application of a parser based automized analysis of assembler codes of the systems to be estimated the input

Cost-effective large-scale fabrication of diffractive optical elements by using conventional semiconducting processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Seunghwan; Song, Ho Young; Lee, Junghoon; Jang, Cheol-Yong; Jeong, Hakgeun

2012-11-20

In this article, we introduce a simple fabrication method for SiO(2)-based thin diffractive optical elements (DOEs) that uses the conventional processes widely used in the semiconductor industry. Photolithography and an inductively coupled plasma etching technique are easy and cost-effective methods for fabricating subnanometer-scale and thin DOEs with a refractive index of 1.45, based on SiO(2). After fabricating DOEs, we confirmed the shape of the output light emitted from the laser diode light source and applied to a light-emitting diode (LED) module. The results represent a new approach to mass-produce DOEs and realize a high-brightness LED module.

Banknote authentication using chaotic elements technology

Science.gov (United States)

Ambadiyil, Sajan; P. S., Krishnendu; Mahadevan Pillai, V. P.; Prabhu, Radhakrishna

2017-10-01

The counterfeit banknote is a growing threat to the society since the advancements in the field of computers, scanners and photocopiers, as they have made the duplication process for banknote much simpler. The fake note detection systems developed so far have many drawbacks such as high cost, poor accuracy, unavailability, lack of user-friendliness and lower effectiveness. One possible solution to this problem could be the use of a system uniquely linked to the banknote itself. In this paper, we present a unique identification and authentication process for the banknote using chaotic elements embedded in it. A chaotic element means that the physical elements are formed from a random process independent from human intervention. The chaotic elements used in this paper are the random distribution patterns of such security fibres set into the paper pulp. A unique ID is generated from the fibre pattern obtained from UV image of the note, which can be verified by any person who receives the banknote to decide whether the banknote is authentic or not. Performance analysis of the system is also studied in this paper.

A high-sensitive and quantitative in-line monitoring method for transplutonium elements separation processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Rongbao; Wang Shiju; Xu Yingpu; Zhang Zengrui

1986-04-01

A high-sensitive monitoring device and a quantitative analys technigue for transplutonium elements separation processes are described. X-ray and low energy γ-ray are measured by means of a scintillation monitor with two NaI(Tl) thin crystals. The α spectra of the fluents of ion-exchange column is measured by means of Si(Au) surface barrier in-line monitor. The construction of the monitors, auxiliary electronics, investigation result for the α spectra character of thick source and the calibration method were described. The determination results for extracting process of 243 Am and 244 Cm by ion-exchange chromatography were given. The sensitivity of total adding amount for 243 Am using the 4π scintillation monitor is better than 0.1 μCi. The precision of 243 Am and 244 Cm concentration determination using Si(Au) monitor is +- 5%. The precision of the two metals contents in containers is about +- 10%

Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) process, elements and techniques guidance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-12-01

This manual provides detailed guidance on Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Studies (RI/FSs) conducted pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) at Department of Energy (DOE) facilities. The purpose of the RI/FS, to assess the risk posed by a hazardous waste site and to determine the best way to reduce that risk, and its structure (site characterization, risk assessment, screening and detailed analysis of alternatives, etc.) is defined in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) and further explained in the Environmental Protection Agency`s (EPA`s) Guidance for Conducting Remedial Investigations and Feasibility Studies Under CERCLA (Interim Final) 540/G-89/004, OSWER Directive 9355.3-01, October 1988. Though issued in 1988, the EPA guidance remains an excellent source of information on the conduct and structure of an RI/FS. This document makes use of supplemental RI/FS-related guidance that EPA has developed since its initial document was issued in 1988, incorporates practical lessons learned in more than 12 years of experience in CERCLA hazardous site remediation, and drawing on those lessons, introduces the Streamlined Approach For Environmental Restoration (SAFER), developed by DOE as a way to proceed quickly and efficiently through the RI/FS process at DOE facilities. Thus as its title implies, this guidance is intended to describe in detail the process and component elements of an RI/FS, as well as techniques to manage the RI/FS effectively.

Discovery of element 112

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hofmann, S. [GSI, Darmstadt (Germany)

1996-12-31

The new elements 110, 111, and 112 were synthesized and unambiguously identified in experiments at SHIP. Due to strong shell effects the dominant decay mode is not fission, but emission of alpha particles. Theoretical investigations predict that maximum shell effects should exist in nuclei near proton number 114 and neutron number 184. Measurements give hope that isotopes of element 114 close to the island of spherical Superheavy Elements could be produced by fusion reactions using {sup 118}Pb as target. systematic studies of the reaction cross-sections indicate that transfer of nucleons is the important process to initiate the fusion.

The Elements of Business Process Change

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

organization and employees' empowerment recommended in the BPC literature. ... failure, selecting policy directions, and designing effective and efficient program. ... performance management, and business process change that is considered .... the new processes result in dramatic improvements including reduced work.

The Elements of Business Process Change

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

magnitude of the BPC effort, and its interruption to operations. Based on ... innovation, business process redesign and business process management ..... Table 5. Organization performance ( Organizational outcome and Impact). Mean SD. 1. Increased operational efficiency(decreased cycle time, inventory). 2.3 .97. 2.

Recent advances in organic one-dimensional composite materials: design, construction, and photonic elements for information processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Yongli; Zhang, Chuang; Yao, Jiannian; Zhao, Yong Sheng

2013-07-19

Many recent activities in the use of one-dimensional nanostructures as photonic elements for optical information processing are explained by huge advantages that photonic circuits possess over traditional silicon-based electronic ones in bandwidth, heat dissipation, and resistance to electromagnetic wave interference. Organic materials are a promising candidate to support these optical-related applications, as they combine the properties of plastics with broad spectral tunability, high optical cross-section, easy fabrication, as well as low cost. Their outstanding compatibility allows organic composite structures which are made of two or more kinds of materials combined together, showing great superiority to single-component materials due to the introduced interactions among multiple constituents, such as energy transfer, electron transfer, exciton coupling, etc. The easy processability of organic 1D crystalline heterostructures enables a fine topological control of both composition and geometry, which offsets the intrinsic deficiencies of individual material. At the same time, the strong exciton-photon coupling and exciton-exciton interaction impart the excellent confinement of photons in organic microstructures, thus light can be manipulated according to our intention to realize specific functions. These collective properties indicate a potential utility of organic heterogeneous material for miniaturized photonic circuitry. Herein, focus is given on recent advances of 1D organic crystalline heterostructures, with special emphasis on the novel design, controllable construction, diverse performance, as well as wide applications in isolated photonic elements for integration. It is proposed that the highly coupled, hybrid optical networks would be an important material basis towards the creation of on-chip optical information processing. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Brazing process in nuclear fuel element fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katam, K.; Sudarsono

1982-01-01

The purpose of the brazing process is to join the spacers and pads of fuel pins, so that the process is meant as a soldering technique and not only as a hardening or reinforcing process such as in common brazing purposes. There are some preliminary processes before executing the brazing process such as: materials preparation, sand blasting, brazing metal coating tack welding the spacers and pads on the fuel cladding. The metal brazing used is beryllium in strip form which will be evaporated in vacuum condition to coat the spacers and pads. The beryllium vapor and dust is very hazardous to the workers, so all the line process of brazing needs specials safety protection and equipment to protect the workers and the processing area. Coating process temperature is 2470 deg C with a vacuum pressure of 10 -5 mmHg. Brazing process temperature process is 1060 deg C with a vacuum pressure of 10 -6 mmHg. The brazing process with beryllium coating probably will give metallurgical structural change in the fuel cladding metal at the locations of spacers and pads. The quality of brazing is highly influenced by and is depending on the chemical composition of the metal and the brazing metal, materials preparations, temperature, vacuum pressure, time of coating and brazing process. The quality control of brazing could be performed with methods of visuality geometry, radiography and metallography. (author)

Behaviour of actinide elements in the lithium reduction process. 1. Feasibility of the Li reduction process to UO2 and PuO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Usami, Tuyoshi; Kurata, Masateru; Yuda, Ryoichi; Kato, Tetsuya; Inoue, Tadashi; Sims, Howard; Jenkins, Jon

2000-01-01

Lithium reduction process has been developed to apply pyrochemical recycle process for oxide fuels. This process uses lithium metal as a reductant to convert oxides of actinide elements to metal. Lithium oxide generated in the reduction is to be dissolved in a molten lithium chloride bath to enhance reduction. The authors have measured the solubility of lithium oxide in lithium chloride, and then reduced uranium dioxide and plutonium dioxide. The solubility measured at 923 K was 8.8 wt.%. The uranium dioxide was completely reduced with no intermediate products and formed porous metal. Plutonium dioxide including 3% of americium dioxide was also reduced completely and formed molten metal. Even lithium oxide was just under saturation , plutonium could be reduced to metal. Shown from this result was easier reduction than predicted from thermodynamic data. Americium dioxide was also reduced at 1.8 wt% lithium oxide, but was not reduced at 8.8 wt.%. (author)

Modelling of tunnelling processes and rock cutting tool wear with the particle finite element method

Science.gov (United States)

Carbonell, Josep Maria; Oñate, Eugenio; Suárez, Benjamín

2013-09-01

Underground construction involves all sort of challenges in analysis, design, project and execution phases. The dimension of tunnels and their structural requirements are growing, and so safety and security demands do. New engineering tools are needed to perform a safer planning and design. This work presents the advances in the particle finite element method (PFEM) for the modelling and the analysis of tunneling processes including the wear of the cutting tools. The PFEM has its foundation on the Lagrangian description of the motion of a continuum built from a set of particles with known physical properties. The method uses a remeshing process combined with the alpha-shape technique to detect the contacting surfaces and a finite element method for the mechanical computations. A contact procedure has been developed for the PFEM which is combined with a constitutive model for predicting the excavation front and the wear of cutting tools. The material parameters govern the coupling of frictional contact and wear between the interacting domains at the excavation front. The PFEM allows predicting several parameters which are relevant for estimating the performance of a tunnelling boring machine such as wear in the cutting tools, the pressure distribution on the face of the boring machine and the vibrations produced in the machinery and the adjacent soil/rock. The final aim is to help in the design of the excavating tools and in the planning of the tunnelling operations. The applications presented show that the PFEM is a promising technique for the analysis of tunnelling problems.

Detailed Modeling and Irreversible Transfer Process Analysis of a Multi-Element Thermoelectric Generator System

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Heng; Gou, Xiaolong; Yang, Suwen

2011-05-01

Thermoelectric (TE) power generation technology, due to its several advantages, is becoming a noteworthy research direction. Many researchers conduct their performance analysis and optimization of TE devices and related applications based on the generalized thermoelectric energy balance equations. These generalized TE equations involve the internal irreversibility of Joule heating inside the thermoelectric device and heat leakage through the thermoelectric couple leg. However, it is assumed that the thermoelectric generator (TEG) is thermally isolated from the surroundings except for the heat flows at the cold and hot junctions. Since the thermoelectric generator is a multi-element device in practice, being composed of many fundamental TE couple legs, the effect of heat transfer between the TE couple leg and the ambient environment is not negligible. In this paper, based on basic theories of thermoelectric power generation and thermal science, detailed modeling of a thermoelectric generator taking account of the phenomenon of energy loss from the TE couple leg is reported. The revised generalized thermoelectric energy balance equations considering the effect of heat transfer between the TE couple leg and the ambient environment have been derived. Furthermore, characteristics of a multi-element thermoelectric generator with irreversibility have been investigated on the basis of the new derived TE equations. In the present investigation, second-law-based thermodynamic analysis (exergy analysis) has been applied to the irreversible heat transfer process in particular. It is found that the existence of the irreversible heat convection process causes a large loss of heat exergy in the TEG system, and using thermoelectric generators for low-grade waste heat recovery has promising potential. The results of irreversibility analysis, especially irreversible effects on generator system performance, based on the system model established in detail have guiding significance for

A finite element solution method for quadrics parallel computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zucchini, A.

1996-08-01

A distributed preconditioned conjugate gradient method for finite element analysis has been developed and implemented on a parallel SIMD Quadrics computer. The main characteristic of the method is that it does not require any actual assembling of all element equations in a global system. The physical domain of the problem is partitioned in cells of n p finite elements and each cell element is assigned to a different node of an n p -processors machine. Element stiffness matrices are stored in the data memory of the assigned processing node and the solution process is completely executed in parallel at element level. Inter-element and therefore inter-processor communications are required once per iteration to perform local sums of vector quantities between neighbouring elements. A prototype implementation has been tested on an 8-nodes Quadrics machine in a simple 2D benchmark problem

Application of an ecosystem model to evaluate the importance of different processes and food web structure for transfer of 13 elements in a shallow lake.

Science.gov (United States)

Konovalenko, L; Bradshaw, C; Andersson, E; Kautsky, U

2017-04-01

In environmental risk assessments of nuclear waste, there is need to estimate the potential risks of a large number of radionuclides over a long time period during which the environment is likely to change. Usually concentration ratios (CRs) are used to calculate the activity concentrations in organisms. However, CRs are not available for all radionuclides and they are not easily scalable to the varying environment. Here, an ecosystem transport model of elements, which estimates concentrations in organisms using carbon flows and food transfer instead of CR is presented. It is a stochastic compartment model developed for Lake Eckarfjärden at Forsmark in Sweden. The model was based on available data on carbon circulation, physical and biological processes from the site and identifies 11 functional groups of organisms. The ecosystem model was used to estimate the environmental transfer of 13 elements (Al, Ca, Cd, Cl, Cs, I, Ni, Nb, Pb, Se, Sr, Th, U) to various aquatic organisms, using element-specific distribution coefficients for suspended particles (K d PM ) and upper sediment (K d sed ), and subsequent transfer in the foodweb. The modelled CRs for different organism groups were compared with measured CRs from the lake and literature data, and showed good agreement for many elements and organisms, particularly for lower trophic levels. The model is, therefore, proposed as an alternative to measured CR, though it is suggested to further explore active uptake, assimilation and elimination processes to get better correspondence for some of the elements. The benthic organisms (i.e. bacteria, microphytobenthos and macroalgae) were identified as more important than pelagic organisms for transfer of elements to top predators. The element transfer model revealed that most of the radionuclides were channelled through the microbial loop, despite the fact that macroalgae dominated the carbon fluxes in this lake. Thus, element-specific adsorption of elements to the surface of

2. Transuranic elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1975-01-01

Methods of sample collection, sample storage, sample procedures and radioanalytical procedures for transuranic elements in marine environment are reviewed and recommended. Alpha spectrometry and scintillation techniques are used for measurement of isotopic content. Separation processes for samples are described

Behaviour of elements in soils developed from nephelinites at Mount Etinde (Cameroon): Impact of hydrothermal versus weathering processes

Science.gov (United States)

Etame, J.; Gerard, M.; Bilong, P.; Suh, C. E.

2009-05-01

The progressive weathering of 0.65 Ma nephelinites from Mount Etinde (South Western Cameroon) in a humid tropical setting has resulted in the formation of a 150 cm thick weathering crust. The soil profiles consist of three horizons: Ah/Bw/C. A major differentiation of the chemical and mineralogical parameters is related to the complexity of the saprolites, some of which were hydrothermally altered. Bulk geochemical and microgeochemical analyses were performed on selected minerals from the different horizons of two reference profiles, of which one (E 4) was developed from unaltered nephelinite (nephelinite U) while the other (BO 1) formed from hydrothermally altered nephelinite (nephelinite H). The results show that the primary minerals (clinopyroxene, nepheline, leucite, haüyne, titanomagnetite, perovskite, apatite and sphene) experienced differential weathering rates with primary minerals rich in rare earth elements (titanomagnetite, perovskite, apatite and sphene) surviving in the saprolite and the Bw horizons. The weathering of the primary minerals is reflected in the leaching of alkaline and alkaline-earth elements, except for Ba and Rb in the hydrothermalised nephelinite soil. The order of mobility is influenced by hydrothermal processes: Na > K > Rb > Ca > Cs > Sr in nephelinite U soil , Na > K > Sr > Ca > Mg in nephelinite H soil; Rb/Sr and Sr/Mg can be used as indicators of the kinetic of the weathering on nephelinite U and on nephelinite H. Barium enrichment is related to variable concentrations in the nephelinites, to the formation of crandallites and the leaching of surface horizons. The content of metallic elements is higher in nephelinite H soil than in the nephelinite U soil. Results show that hydrothermal alteration leads to an enrichment of light (La, Ce, Nd) and intermediate (Sm, Eu, Dy) rare earth elements. The enrichment in Cr and Pb in the surface horizons is discussed in relation to organic matter activity, the dissolution of magnetites, and

Discretisation of the non-linear heat transfer equation for food freezing processes using orthogonal collocation on finite elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. D. Resende

2007-09-01

Full Text Available The freezing process is considered as a propagation problem and mathematically classified as an "initial value problem." The mathematical formulation involves a complex situation of heat transfer with simultaneous changes of phase and abrupt variation in thermal properties. The objective of the present work is to solve the non-linear heat transfer equation for food freezing processes using orthogonal collocation on finite elements. This technique has not yet been applied to freezing processes and represents an alternative numerical approach in this area. The results obtained confirmed the good capability of the numerical method, which allows the simulation of the freezing process in approximately one minute of computer time, qualifying its application in a mathematical optimising procedure. The influence of the latent heat released during the crystallisation phenomena was identified by the significant increase in heat load in the early stages of the freezing process.

Status of transuranium element production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, L.J.

1985-01-01

The Transuranium Processing Plant at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been the production, storage, and distribution center for the heavy-element research program of the US Department of Energy since 1966. During the past four years, annual production rates of transcurium elements have been relatively stable, averaging 34 mg of 249 Bk, 369 mg of 252 Cf, 1.4 mg of 253 Es, and 0.7 pg of 257 Fm. The extensive provisions for changing and modifying equipment have allowed continual updating of the plant to include new concepts in chemical processes and equipment design. 21 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs

Solvent Refined Coal (SRC) process: trace elements. Research and development report No. 53, interim report No. 31, August 1976-July 1977. Volume III. Pilot plant development work. Part 6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-03-01

Results are presented on a study of the distribution and fate of 34 trace elements in the Solvent Refined Coal Process at the pilot plant located at Fort Lewis, Washington, and operated by The Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Co. under contract with the US Department of Energy. Neutron activation analysis was used to determine Ti, V, Ca, Mg, Al, Cl, Mn, As, Sb, Se, Hg, Br, Co, Ni, Cr, Fe, Na, Rb, Cs, K, Sc, Tb, Eu, Sm, Ce, La, Sr, Ba, Th, Hf, Ta, Ga, Zr, and Cu in feed coals, process solvent, Solvent Refined Coal (SRC), mineral residues, wet filter cake, by-product solvents, process and effluent waters and by-product sulfur. The sample points were chosen such that the major process streams were adequately described and that the major input and output materials were included. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to measure the toxic elements Pb, Cd, Be in plant-derived solvents, effluent water and Hamer Marsh water. Specific methods were developed for analysis of a wide range of material compositions. The neutron activation analysis procedures were divided into short and long irradiation procedures for elements with short half lives (less than 3 hours) and intermediate to long half lives ( 8 hours to 5.2 years). Data are presented for a third equilibrium set of samples from the SRC-I process and compared to two similar sets analyzed previously. A material balance (or budget) was calculated for each element from the concentration data and the yields of each process fraction. Data are also presented on a study of carbon monoxide addition to the hydrogen stream and its effect on trace elements, and trace element data on a study of thirty-six plant effluent water samples taken during an SRC-I production run

Environmental mineralogy - Understanding element behavior in ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown Jr, G.E.; Calas, G.

2011-01-01

Environmental Mineralogy has developed over the past decade in response to the recognition that minerals are linked in many important ways with the global ecosystem. Minerals are the main repositories of the chemical elements in Earth's crust and thus are the main sources of elements needed for the development of civilization, contaminant and pollutant elements that impact global and local ecosystems, and elements that are essential plant nutrients. These elements are released from minerals through natural processes, such as chemical weathering, and anthropogenic activities, such as mining and energy production, agriculture and industrial activities, and careless waste disposal. Minerals also play key roles in the biogeochemical cycling of the elements, sequestering elements and releasing them as the primary minerals in crustal rocks undergo various structural and compositional transformations in response to physical, chemical, and biological processes that produce secondary minerals and soils. These processes have resulted in the release of toxic elements such as arsenic in groundwater aquifers, which is having a major impact on the health of millions of people in South and Southeast Asia. The interfaces between mineral surfaces and aqueous solutions are the locations of most chemical reactions that control the composition of the natural environment, including the composition of natural waters. The nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining to the disposition of high-level nuclear waste, is also intimately related to minerals. A fundamental understanding of these processes requires molecular-scale information about minerals, their bulk structures and properties such as solubility, their surfaces, and their interactions with aqueous solutions, atmospheric and soil gases, natural organic matter, and biological organisms. Gaining this understanding is further complicated by the presence of natural, incidental, and manufactured nano-particles in the environment, which

Enhancing biogas production from vinasse in sugarcane biorefineries: Effects of urea and trace elements supplementation on process performance and stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Janke, Leandro; Leite, Athaydes F; Batista, Karla; Silva, Witan; Nikolausz, Marcell; Nelles, Michael; Stinner, Walter

2016-10-01

In this study, the effects of nitrogen, phosphate and trace elements supplementation were investigated in a semi-continuously operated upflow anaerobic sludge blanket system to enhance process stability and biogas production from sugarcane vinasse. Phosphate in form of KH2PO4 induced volatile fatty acids accumulation possibly due to potassium inhibition of the methanogenesis. Although nitrogen in form of urea increased the reactor's alkalinity, the process was overloaded with an organic loading rate of 6.1gCODL(-1)d(-1) and a hydraulic retention time of 3.6days. However, by supplementing urea and trace elements a stable operation even at an organic loading rate of 9.6gCODL(-1)d(-1) and a hydraulic retention time of 2.5days was possible, resulting in 79% higher methane production rate with a stable specific methane production of 239mLgCOD(-1). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Finite element modelling of shot peening process: Prediction of the compressive residual stresses, the plastic deformations and the surface integrity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frija, M.; Hassine, T.; Fathallah, R.; Bouraoui, C.; Dogui, A.

2006-01-01

This paper presents a numerical simulation of the shot peening process using finite element method. The majority of the controlling parameters of the process have been taken into account. The shot peening loading has been characterised by using energy equivalence between the dynamic impact and a static indentation of a peening shot in the treated surface. The behaviour of the subjected material is supposed to be elastic plastic with damage. An integrated law of the damage proposed by Lemaitre and Chaboche has been used. The proposed model leads to obtain the residual stress, the plastic deformation profiles and the surface damage. An application on a shot peened Ni-based super alloy Waspaloy has been carried out. The comparison of the residual stresses, obtained by X-ray diffraction method and by finite element calculation, shows a good correlation. The in-depth profile of the plastic deformations and the superficial damage values are in good agreement with the experimental observations

Chemical analysis of rare earth elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsukahara, Ryoichi; Sakoh, Takefumi; Nagai, Iwao

1994-01-01

Recently attention has been paid to ICP-AES or ICP-MS, and the reports on the analysis of rare earth elements by utilizing these methods continue to increase. These reports have become to take about 30% of the reports on rare earth analysis, and this is because these methods are highly sensitive to rare earth elements, and also these methods have spread widely. In ICP-AES and ICP-MS, mostly solution samples are measured, therefore, solids must be made into solution. At the time of quantitatively determining the rare earth elements of low concentration, separation and concentration are necessary. Referring to the literatures reported partially in 1990 and from 1991 to 1993, the progress of ICP-AES and ICP-MS is reported. Rare earth oxides and the alloys containing rare earth elements are easily decomposed with acids, but the decomposition of rocks is difficult, and its method is discussed. The separation of the rare earth elements from others in geochemical samples, cation exchange process is frequently utilized. Also solvent extraction process has been studied. For the separation of rare earth elements mutually, chromatography is used. The spectral interference in spectral analysis was studied. The comparison of these methods with other methods is reported. (K.I)

Investigating Planetesimal Evolution by Experiments with Fe-Ni Metallic Melts: Light Element Composition Effects on Trace Element Partitioning Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Chabot, N. L.

2017-12-01

As planetesimals were heated up in the early Solar System, the formation of Fe-Ni metallic melts was a common occurrence. During planetesimal differentiation, the denser Fe-Ni metallic melts separated from the less dense silicate components, though some meteorites suggest that their parent bodies only experienced partial differentiation. If the Fe-Ni metallic melts did form a central metallic core, the core eventually crystallized to a solid, some of which we sample as iron meteorites. In all of these planetesimal evolution processes, the composition of the Fe-Ni metallic melt influenced the process and the resulting trace element chemical signatures. In particular, the metallic melt's "light element" composition, those elements present in the metallic melt in a significant concentration but with lower atomic masses than Fe, can strongly affect trace element partitioning. Experimental studies have provided critical data to determine the effects of light elements in Fe-Ni metallic melts on trace element partitioning behavior. Here I focus on combining numerous experimental results to identify trace elements that provide unique insight into constraining the light element composition of early Solar System Fe-Ni metallic melts. Experimental studies have been conducted at 1 atm in a variety of Fe-Ni systems to investigate the effects of light elements on trace element partitioning behavior. A frequent experimental examination of the effects of light elements in metallic systems involves producing run products with coexisting solid metal and liquid metal phases. Such solid-metal-liquid-metal experiments have been conducted in the Fe-Ni binary system as well as Fe-Ni systems with S, P, and C. Experiments with O-bearing or Si-bearing Fe-Ni metallic melts do not lend themselves to experiments with coexisting solid metal and liquid metal phases, due to the phase diagrams of these elements, but experiments with two immiscible Fe-Ni metallic melts have provided insight into

Process correlation analysis model for process improvement identification.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Su-jin; Kim, Dae-Kyoo; Park, Sooyong

2014-01-01

Software process improvement aims at improving the development process of software systems. It is initiated by process assessment identifying strengths and weaknesses and based on the findings, improvement plans are developed. In general, a process reference model (e.g., CMMI) is used throughout the process of software process improvement as the base. CMMI defines a set of process areas involved in software development and what to be carried out in process areas in terms of goals and practices. Process areas and their elements (goals and practices) are often correlated due to the iterative nature of software development process. However, in the current practice, correlations of process elements are often overlooked in the development of an improvement plan, which diminishes the efficiency of the plan. This is mainly attributed to significant efforts and the lack of required expertise. In this paper, we present a process correlation analysis model that helps identify correlations of process elements from the results of process assessment. This model is defined based on CMMI and empirical data of improvement practices. We evaluate the model using industrial data.

Cell-element simulations to optimize the performance of osmotic processes in porous membranes

KAUST Repository

Calo, Victor M.; Iliev, Oleg; Nunes, Suzana Pereira; Printsypar, Galina; Shi, Meixia

2018-01-01

concerns the design of a cell element for the forward osmosis experiments. Using the developed software tool we qualitatively and quantitatively investigate the performance of a cell element that we designed for laboratory experiments of forward osmosis

Finite element modelling of solidification phenomena

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

Abstract. The process of solidification process is complex in nature and the simulation of such process is required in industry before it is actually undertaken. Finite element method is used to simulate the heat transfer process accompanying the solidification process. The metal and the mould along with the air gap formation ...

Toxic Elements in Food: Occurrence, Binding, and Reduction Approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hajeb, P.; Sloth, Jens Jørgen; Shakibazadeh, Sh

2014-01-01

Toxic elements such as mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and lead, sometimes called heavy metals, can diminish mental and central nervous system function; elicit damage to blood composition as well as the kidneys, lungs, and liver; and reduce energy levels. Food is considered one of the main routes...... of their entry into the human body. Numerous studies have been performed to examine the effects of common food processing procedures on the levels of toxic elements in food. While some studies have reported negative effects of processing, several have shown that processing practices may have a positive effect...... on the reduction of toxic elements in foodstuffs. A number of studies have also introduced protocols and suggested chemical agents that reduce the amount of toxic elements in the final food products. In this review, the reported methods employed for the reduction of toxic elements are discussed with particular...

Three-dimensional photoacoustic tomography based on graphics-processing-unit-accelerated finite element method.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Kuan; He, Ling; Zhu, Ziqiang; Tang, Jingtian; Xiao, Jiaying

2013-12-01

Compared with commonly used analytical reconstruction methods, the frequency-domain finite element method (FEM) based approach has proven to be an accurate and flexible algorithm for photoacoustic tomography. However, the FEM-based algorithm is computationally demanding, especially for three-dimensional cases. To enhance the algorithm's efficiency, in this work a parallel computational strategy is implemented in the framework of the FEM-based reconstruction algorithm using a graphic-processing-unit parallel frame named the "compute unified device architecture." A series of simulation experiments is carried out to test the accuracy and accelerating effect of the improved method. The results obtained indicate that the parallel calculation does not change the accuracy of the reconstruction algorithm, while its computational cost is significantly reduced by a factor of 38.9 with a GTX 580 graphics card using the improved method.

Ethnomathematics elements in Batik Bali using backpropagation method

Science.gov (United States)

Lestari, Mei; Irawan, Ari; Rahayu, Wanti; Wayan Parwati, Ni

2018-05-01

Batik is one of traditional arts that has been established by the UNESCO as Indonesia’s cultural heritage. Batik has varieties and motifs, and each motifs has its own uniqueness but seems similar, that makes it difficult to identify. This study aims to develop an application that can identify typical batik Bali with etnomatematics elements on it. Etnomatematics is a study that shows relation between culture and mathematics concepts. Etnomatematics in Batik Bali is more to geometrical concept in line of strong Balinese culture element. The identification process is use backpropagation method. Steps of backpropagation methods are image processing (including scalling and tresholding image process). Next step is insert the processed image to an artificial neural network. This study resulted an accuracy of identification of batik Bali that has Etnomatematics elements on it.

Finite element modelling of process-integrated powder coating by radial axial rolling of rings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frischkorn, J.; Kebriaei, R.; Reese, S.; Moll, H.; Theisen, W.; Husmann, T.; Meier, H.

2011-01-01

The process-integrated powder coating by radial axial rolling of rings represents a new hybrid production technique applied in the manufacturing of large ring-shaped work pieces with functional layers. It is thought to break some limitations that come along with the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) which is used nowadays to apply the powdery layer material onto the rolled substrate ring. Within the new process the compaction of the layer material is integrated into the ring rolling and HIP becomes dispensable. Following this approach the rolling of such compound rings brings up some new challenges. The volume of a solid ring stays nearly constant during the rolling. This behaviour can be exploited to determine the infeed of the rollers needed to reach the desired ring shape. Since volume consistency cannot be guaranteed for the rolling of a compound ring the choice of appropriate infeed of the rollers is still an open question. This paper deals with the finite element (FE) simulation of this new process. First, the material model that is used to describe the compaction of the layer material is shortly reviewed. The main focus of the paper is then put on a parameterized FE ring rolling model that incorporates a control system in order to stabilize the process. Also the differences in the behaviour during the rolling stage between a compound and a solid ring will be discussed by means of simulation results.

Technique for mass-spectrometric determination of moisture content in fuel elements and fuel element claddings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurillovich, A.N.; Pimonov, Yu.I.; Biryukov, A.S.

1988-01-01

A technique for mass-spectroimetric determination of moisture content in fuel elements and fuek claddings in the 2x10 -4 -1.5x10 -2 g range is developed. The relative standard deviation is 0.13. A character of moisture extraction from oxide uranium fuels in the 20-700 deg C temperature range is studied. Approximately 80% of moisture is extracted from the fuels at 300 deg C. The moisture content in fuel elements with granular uranium oxide fuels is measured. Dependence of fuel element moisture content on conditions of hot vacuum drying is shown. The technique permits to optimize the fuel element fabrication process to decrease the moisture content in them. 4 refs.; 3 figs.; 2 tabs

Numerical analysis of partially molten splat during thermal spray process using the finite element method

Science.gov (United States)

Zirari, M.; Abdellah El-Hadj, A.; Bacha, N.

2010-03-01

A finite element method is used to simulate the deposition of the thermal spray coating process. A set of governing equations is solving by a volume of fluid method. For the solidification phenomenon, we use the specific heat method (SHM). We begin by comparing the present model with experimental and numerical model available in the literature. In this study, completely molten or semi-molten aluminum particle impacts a H13 tool steel substrate is considered. Next we investigate the effect of inclination of impact of a partially molten particle on flat substrate. It was found that the melting state of the particle has great effects on the morphologies of the splat.

Experimental research of fuel element reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cech, B.; Novak, J.; Chamrad, B.

1980-01-01

The rate and extent of the damage of the can integrity for fission products is the basic criterion of reliability. The extent of damage is measurable by the fission product leakage into the reactor coolant circuit. An analysis is made of the causes of the fuel element can damage and a model is proposed for testing fuel element reliability. Special experiments should be carried out to assess partial processes, such as heat transfer and fuel element surface temperature, fission gas liberation and pressure changes inside the element, corrosion weakening of the can wall, can deformation as a result of mechanical interactions. The irradiation probe for reliability testing of fuel elements is described. (M.S.)

Three-dimensional ultrasonic imaging of concrete elements using different SAFT data acquisition and processing schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schickert, Martin

2015-01-01

Ultrasonic testing systems using transducer arrays and the SAFT (Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique) reconstruction allow for imaging the internal structure of concrete elements. At one-sided access, three-dimensional representations of the concrete volume can be reconstructed in relatively great detail, permitting to detect and localize objects such as construction elements, built-in components, and flaws. Different SAFT data acquisition and processing schemes can be utilized which differ in terms of the measuring and computational effort and the reconstruction result. In this contribution, two methods are compared with respect to their principle of operation and their imaging characteristics. The first method is the conventional single-channel SAFT algorithm which is implemented using a virtual transducer that is moved within a transducer array by electronic switching. The second method is the Combinational SAFT algorithm (C-SAFT), also named Sampling Phased Array (SPA) or Full Matrix Capture/Total Focusing Method (TFM/FMC), which is realized using a combination of virtual transducers within a transducer array. Five variants of these two methods are compared by means of measurements obtained at test specimens containing objects typical of concrete elements. The automated SAFT imaging system FLEXUS is used for the measurements which includes a three-axis scanner with a 1.0 m × 0.8 m scan range and an electronically switched ultrasonic array consisting of 48 transducers in 16 groups. On the basis of two-dimensional and three-dimensional reconstructed images, qualitative and some quantitative results of the parameters image resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, measurement time, and computational effort are discussed in view of application characteristics of the SAFT variants

Finite element formulation for a digital image correlation method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Yaofeng; Pang, John H. L.; Wong, Chee Khuen; Su Fei

2005-01-01

A finite element formulation for a digital image correlation method is presented that will determine directly the complete, two-dimensional displacement field during the image correlation process on digital images. The entire interested image area is discretized into finite elements that are involved in the common image correlation process by use of our algorithms. This image correlation method with finite element formulation has an advantage over subset-based image correlation methods because it satisfies the requirements of displacement continuity and derivative continuity among elements on images. Numerical studies and a real experiment are used to verify the proposed formulation. Results have shown that the image correlation with the finite element formulation is computationally efficient, accurate, and robust

Process for surface treatment of zirconium-containing cladding materials for fuel element or other components for nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Videm, K.G.; Lunde, L.R.; Kooyman, H.H.

1975-01-01

A process for the surface treatment of zirconium-base cladding materials for fuel elements or other components for nuclear reactors is described. The treatment includes pickling the cladding material in a fluoride-containing bath, and then applying a protective coating through oxidation to the pickled cladding material. The fluoride-containing contaminants which remain on the surface of the cladding material during pickling are removed or rendered harmless by anodic oxidation

A Dual Super-Element Domain Decomposition Approach for Parallel Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Jokhio, G. A.; Izzuddin, B. A.

2015-05-01

This article presents a new domain decomposition method for nonlinear finite element analysis introducing the concept of dual partition super-elements. The method extends ideas from the displacement frame method and is ideally suited for parallel nonlinear static/dynamic analysis of structural systems. In the new method, domain decomposition is realized by replacing one or more subdomains in a "parent system," each with a placeholder super-element, where the subdomains are processed separately as "child partitions," each wrapped by a dual super-element along the partition boundary. The analysis of the overall system, including the satisfaction of equilibrium and compatibility at all partition boundaries, is realized through direct communication between all pairs of placeholder and dual super-elements. The proposed method has particular advantages for matrix solution methods based on the frontal scheme, and can be readily implemented for existing finite element analysis programs to achieve parallelization on distributed memory systems with minimal intervention, thus overcoming memory bottlenecks typically faced in the analysis of large-scale problems. Several examples are presented in this article which demonstrate the computational benefits of the proposed parallel domain decomposition approach and its applicability to the nonlinear structural analysis of realistic structural systems.

Improved combination of photosensitivity elements for use in radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doorselaer, M.K.

1975-01-01

It is stated that manufacturers of photosensitive elements incorporating silver halide emulsions for use in radiography are often faced with performance requirements that place conflicting demands on the composition of the photosensitive elements. Amongst such performance requirements are a minimum photographic speed, a short processing time, and a minimum standard of image density and resolution. With a view to achieving some degree of reconciliation between maximum optical image density requirements and economy in processing time, and in particular fixing time, it is advantageous to have the total silver halide content distributed in emulsion layers on opposite sides of the emulsion layer support. Such 'double sided' elements are usually exposed between two intensifying screens, that may be separate elements of integral parts of a single element that also incorporates the silver halide emulsion layers. During exposure of these 'double sided' elements light from one intensifying screen irradiates the adjacent emulsion layer and also that on the opposite side of the support; this is referred to as 'cross over'. Due to refraction and other light deflection processes within the photosensitive element this, however, impairs image definition. In commercial systems a relatively high concentration of siver halide is usually employed in order to obtain good contrast and maximum image density, but this adversely affects processing time. Instead of such high silver halide concentrations emulsions of small silver halide grain size may be used, but this lowers the photographic speed. Elements having properties that mitigate these difficulties are described, and examples of their application are given. (U.K.)

Computers as Components Principles of Embedded Computing System Design

CERN Document Server

Wolf, Wayne

2008-01-01

This book was the first to bring essential knowledge on embedded systems technology and techniques under a single cover. This second edition has been updated to the state-of-the-art by reworking and expanding performance analysis with more examples and exercises, and coverage of electronic systems now focuses on the latest applications. Researchers, students, and savvy professionals schooled in hardware or software design, will value Wayne Wolf's integrated engineering design approach.The second edition gives a more comprehensive view of multiprocessors including VLIW and superscalar archite

3D Finite Element Modelling of Drilling Process of Al2024-T3 Alloy with solid tooling and Experimental Validation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davoudinejad, Ali; Tosello, Guido

2017-01-01

Drilling is an indispensable process for many manufacturing industries due to the importance of the process for assembling components. This study presents a 3D finite element modeling (3D FEM) approach for drilling process of aluminum 2024-T3. The 3D model of tool for two facet HSSCo and four facet...... area were determined numerically. The results confirm the ability and advantage of 3D FE model of the drilling process....... HSS were generated base on the details geometry. The simulations were carried out for both drills in different cutting conditions. The numerically obtained thrust forces were compared against experimental results. The tool stress distribution, chip formation and temperature distribution in the chip...

Just-in-time elements and benefits

CERN Document Server

García-Alcaraz, Jorge Luis

2016-01-01

This book reports the elements required for implementing Just in Time (JIT) technique in companies. The main reasons for low implementation processes and the main benefits from the successful implementation of them are highlighted in this book. Structural equation models are presented to help identify the essential elements in JIT.

Rare earth elements behavior in Peruibe black mud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torrecilha, Jefferson K.; Carvalho, Leandro P.; Gouvea, Paulo F.M.; Silva, Paulo S.C. da

2015-01-01

Rare earth elements in sediments have been used as powerful tools for environmental studies because of their behavior during geochemical processes and are also widely accepted as reliable provenance tracers because they are largely water-immobile and thus behave conservatively during sedimentary processes. The Peruibe Black Mud (PBM) is a sedimentary deposit originated from the interactions of marine sediments and organic matter in an estuarine environment that originates a peloid currently used for medicinal purposes. The objective of this study was to examine rare earth elements pattern distribution in the Peruibe black mud sedimentary deposit as a proxy for its geochemical development. Elemental ratios such as LaN/YbN, Th/U and La/Th were determined and a normalization of the mean rare earth elements concentrations in the samples related to NASC indicates that the light (La to Eu) rare earth elements present values close to the unity while the heavy (Tb to Lu) rare earth elements are depleted related to NASC. It can be observed that the light rare earth elements present enrichment values slightly enriched over the unity while the heavy rare earth elements present values generally below the unity reflecting the enrichment of the light rare earth elements over the heavy rare earth. Rare earth elements concentrations determined in Peruibe black mud samples showed a distribution similar to that found in the NASC for the light rare earth elements and depleted for the heavy rare earth elements. (author)

Rare earth elements behavior in Peruibe black mud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Torrecilha, Jefferson K.; Carvalho, Leandro P.; Gouvea, Paulo F.M.; Silva, Paulo S.C. da, E-mail: jeffkoy@usp.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2015-07-01

Rare earth elements in sediments have been used as powerful tools for environmental studies because of their behavior during geochemical processes and are also widely accepted as reliable provenance tracers because they are largely water-immobile and thus behave conservatively during sedimentary processes. The Peruibe Black Mud (PBM) is a sedimentary deposit originated from the interactions of marine sediments and organic matter in an estuarine environment that originates a peloid currently used for medicinal purposes. The objective of this study was to examine rare earth elements pattern distribution in the Peruibe black mud sedimentary deposit as a proxy for its geochemical development. Elemental ratios such as LaN/YbN, Th/U and La/Th were determined and a normalization of the mean rare earth elements concentrations in the samples related to NASC indicates that the light (La to Eu) rare earth elements present values close to the unity while the heavy (Tb to Lu) rare earth elements are depleted related to NASC. It can be observed that the light rare earth elements present enrichment values slightly enriched over the unity while the heavy rare earth elements present values generally below the unity reflecting the enrichment of the light rare earth elements over the heavy rare earth. Rare earth elements concentrations determined in Peruibe black mud samples showed a distribution similar to that found in the NASC for the light rare earth elements and depleted for the heavy rare earth elements. (author)

Spheronization process particle kinematics determined by discrete element simulations and particle image velocimentry measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Koester, Martin; García, R Edwin; Thommes, Markus

2014-12-30

Spheronization is an important pharmaceutical manufacturing technique to produce spherical agglomerates of 0.5-2mm diameter. These pellets have a narrow size distribution and a spherical shape. During the spheronization process, the extruded cylindrical strands break in short cylinders and evolve from a cylindrical to a spherical state by deformation and attrition/agglomeration mechanisms. Using the discrete element method, an integrated modeling-experimental framework is presented, that captures the particle motion during the spheronization process. Simulations were directly compared and validated against particle image velocimetry (PIV) experiments with monodisperse spherical and dry γ-Al2O3 particles. demonstrate a characteristic torus like flow pattern, with particle velocities about three times slower than the rotation speed of the friction plate. Five characteristic zones controlling the spheronization process are identified: Zone I, where particles undergo shear forces that favors attrition and contributes material to the agglomeration process; Zone II, where the static wall contributes to the mass exchange between particles; Zone III, where gravitational forces combined with particle motion induce particles to collide with the moving plate and re-enter Zone I; Zone IV, where a subpopulation of particles are ejected into the air when in contact with the friction plate structure; and Zone V where the low poloidal velocity favors a stagnant particle population and is entirely controlled by the batch size. These new insights in to the particle motion are leading to deeper process understanding, e.g., the effect of load and rotation speed to the pellet formation kinetics. This could be beneficial for the optimization of a manufacturing process as well as for the development of new formulations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Elemental abundances of intermediate-age open cluster NGC 3680

Science.gov (United States)

Mitschang, A. W.; De Silva, G. M.; Zucker, D. B.

2012-06-01

We present a new abundance analysis of the intermediate-age Galactic open cluster NGC 3680, based on high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio VLT/UVES spectroscopic data. Several element abundances are presented for this cluster for the first time, but most notably we derive abundances for the light and heavy s-process elements Y, Ba, La and Nd. The serendipitous measurement of the rare-earth r-process element Gd is also reported. This cluster exhibits a significant enhancement of Na in giants as compared to dwarfs, which may be a proxy for an O to Na anticorrelation as observed in Galactic globular clusters but not open clusters. We also observe a step-like enhancement of heavy s-process elements towards higher atomic number, contrary to expectations from asymptotic giant branch nucleosynthesis models, suggesting that the r process played a significant role in the generation of both La and Nd in this cluster.

Interatomic interaction of additive elements and their influence on the processes in the double metal solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Марина Анатоліівна Рябікіна

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Modern industry uses a lot of elements as additives to improve the service characteristics of metal products that are to be used for various purposes. These elements can be divided into two groups: the first group includes the elements interacting with iron and improving its characteristics (alloying elements, and the second group includes the elements, that modify the characteristics of the structure and properties in an undesirable direction. These are trace elements: S, P, O, As, and others in steel. The negative impact of these elements shows itself as banding, the formation of non-metallic inclusions, flakes, grain boundary segregations et al. The influence of the elements of the both groups on the properties of steel depends on the nature and level of interatomic interaction in the alloy. Computational and analytical study of the major impurity elements in steel impact on the interatomic bond strength and the probability of forming complexes, clusters, and chemical compounds with the basic alloying elements in the steel has been carried out in the work. The theoretical parameter which defines the strength of the ion-covalent bond of two atoms: non-metallic – metallic is the electronegativity of elements. The electronegativity difference of the metal and non-metallic elements increasing, the ionic bonding and thermodynamic stability of these compounds  increase. On the other hand, concentration of valent electrons is a universal characteristic of an atomic element which determines many of its properties, and especially the energy of interatomic interaction. Energy calculations of pairwise interatomic impurity elements: H, C, N, S, P, As interaction with Fe and major alloying elements in steel: Mn, Cr, Si, V, Al, Ti, W, Cu, Mo, Nb were made. It has been stated that all the impurity elements except phosphorus, hydrogen and arsenic have sufficient high adhesion with the majority of the metal elements in the modern steels. Phosphorus does

Preparation of spherical fuel elements for HTR-PM in INET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiangwen, Zhou; Zhenming, Lu; Jie, Zhang; Bing, Liu; Yanwen, Zou; Chunhe, Tang; Yaping, Tang

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Modifications and optimizations in the manufacture of spherical fuel elements (SFE) for HTR-PM are presented. • A newly developed overcoater exhibits good stability and high efficiency in the preparation of overcoated particles. • The optimized carbonization process reduces the process time from 70 h in the period of HTR-10 to 20 h. • Properties of the prepared SFE and matrix graphite balls meet the design specifications for HTR-PM. • In particular the mean free uranium fraction of 5 consecutive batches is only 8.7 × 10 −6 . -- Abstract: The spherical fuel elements were successfully manufactured in the period of HTR-10. In order to satisfy the mass production of fuel elements for HTR-PM, several measures have been taken in modifying and optimizing the manufacture process of fuel elements. The newly developed overcoater system and its corresponding parameters exhibited good stability and high efficiency in the preparation of overcoated particles. The optimized carbonization process could reduce the carbonization time from more than 70 h to 20 h and improve the manufacturing efficiency. Properties of the manufactured spherical fuel elements and matrix graphite balls met the design specifications for HTR-PM. The mean free uranium fraction of 5 consecutive batches was 8.7 × 10 −6 . The optimized fuel elements manufacturing process could meet the requirements of design specifications of spherical fuel elements for HTR-PM

Separation process of heavy rare earth elements from xenotime ore

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sri Sukmajaya; Tri Handini; Wahyu Rachmi Pusparini; Dwi Biyantoro

2016-01-01

Separation process of heavy rare earth elements from xenotime ore had been done. A 100 mesh of xenotime ore was upgrade using water, sodium silicate and oleic acid in pH 9. Mixed of slurry by air blown in room temperature along 30 minutes. The middle of slurry xenotime was be separated, then dried and so added soda caustic, potassium carbonate and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate. The mix was be homogenized then leached in furnace to 700°C temperature along 4 hours. The frits of leaching product would be leached using 1200 mL volume of water that made oxidation by HCl onto pH 4 by agitated heated in 70°C temperature. The mix was filtered, then solid settled was be dried and then to processed again in water HCl acidified leaching alike before until pH 4 with minimized HCl added least 2 mL. The solid settled filled into 1000 mL of beker glass, added HCl viscous in 300 mL volume, hydrogen peroxide and BaCl_2/Na_2SO_4/Na_2S then heated to 100°C temperature. Let in room temperature then was filtrated. The solid settled as ThSO_4/ThS, RaSO_4/RaS. The filtrate to be settled using 15g (NH_4)_2CO_3 in 100 mL volume of water while mixed until the solution reached pH 2. The solid settled was be dried, then into the filtrate added 10 mL volume of formic acid. The solid settled of filtration was be dried. The solution of filtrate to be settled using (NH_4)_2CO_3 until pH 4. The solid settled was be filtered and dried. The filtrate was be settled using oxalic acid. The analysis of standard of oxide rare earth had been done using XRF Am"2"4"1 source. Result of these process got 100 mesh xenotime upgrade those leached in 700°C along 4 hours used (NH_4)H_2PO_4 so HRE total lifted up from 4.31 to 8.16%. Resulted of HRE oxide yield was 17.76% in pH 2. HRE oxide yield in pH 4 was 38.45%, and HRE oxide yield was 6.38% as oxalic compound, so the total HRE oxide yield was 62.59%. (author)

3D Viscoelastic Finite Element Modelling of Polymer Flow in the Fiber Drawing Process for Microstructured Polymer Optical Fiber Fabrication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fasano, Andrea; Rasmussen, Henrik K.; Marín, J. M. R.

2015-01-01

The process of drawing an optical fiber from a polymer preform is still not completely understood,although it represents one of the most critical steps in the process chain for the fabrication of microstructuredpolymer optical fibers (mPOFs). Here we present a new approach for the numerical...... modelling of the fiber drawingprocess using a fully three-dimensional and time-dependent finite element method, giving significant insightinto this widely spread mPOF production technique. Our computational predictions are physically based on theviscoelastic fluid dynamics of polymers. Until now...

CHARACTERIZING THE HEAVY ELEMENTS IN GLOBULAR CLUSTER M22 AND AN EMPIRICAL s-PROCESS ABUNDANCE DISTRIBUTION DERIVED FROM THE TWO STELLAR GROUPS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roederer, I. U.; Marino, A. F.; Sneden, C.

2011-01-01

We present an empirical s-process abundance distribution derived with explicit knowledge of the r-process component in the low-metallicity globular cluster M22. We have obtained high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra for six red giants in M22 using the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle spectrograph on the Magellan-Clay Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. In each star we derive abundances for 44 species of 40 elements, including 24 elements heavier than zinc (Z = 30) produced by neutron-capture reactions. Previous studies determined that three of these stars (the 'r+s group') have an enhancement of s-process material relative to the other three stars (the 'r-only group'). We confirm that the r+s group is moderately enriched in Pb relative to the r-only group. Both groups of stars were born with the same amount of r-process material, but s-process material was also present in the gas from which the r+s group formed. The s-process abundances are inconsistent with predictions for asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars with M ≤ 3 M ☉ and suggest an origin in more massive AGB stars capable of activating the 22 Ne(α,n) 25 Mg reaction. We calculate the s-process 'residual' by subtracting the r-process pattern in the r-only group from the abundances in the r+s group. In contrast to previous r- and s-process decompositions, this approach makes no assumptions about the r- and s-process distributions in the solar system and provides a unique opportunity to explore s-process yields in a metal-poor environment.

Rare earth elements materials production from apatite ores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anufrieva, A V; Buynovskiy, A S; Makaseev, Y N; Mazov, I N; Nefedov, R A; Sachkov, V I; Valkov, A V; Andrienko, O S; Stepanova, O B

2016-01-01

The paper deals with the study of processing apatite ores with nitric acid and extraction of the rare earth elements. The rare earth elements can be successfully separated and recovered by extraction from the nitrate- phosphate solution, being an tributyl phosphate as extraction agent. The developed scheme of the processing apatite concentrate provides obtaining rare earth concentrates with high qualitative characteristics. (paper)

Online study of cracks during laser cladding process based on acoustic emission technique and finite element analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Fujun; Mao Huaidong; Zhang Dawei; Zhao Xingyu; Shen Yu

2008-01-01

This paper presents a novel method by using acoustic emission technique to online study of the crack generation and expansion during laser cladding process. The cracks during laser cladding processes with five different laser cladding powder materials were online tested, respectively, with this method. Through finite element analysis (FEA), the temperature ranges of crack generation and expansion were figured out. The main forms and extended forms of the cracks were investigated by using optical microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The experiment and analysis results show that the amount of cracks increases with the area and thickness of coating and the cooling rate increasing. A majority of cracks occur in the bonding zone and extend cross the whole cladding coating along the perpendicular direction of laser scanning during laser cladding, and few cracks generate in the cooling process. There are mainly four kinds of crack forms, and the forms of crack expansion are related to the stress states of coating and substrate. The method and conclusions in this paper provide important information for reducing the cracks during large area laser cladding process.

Investigation of different cage designs and mechano-regulation algorithms in the lumbar interbody fusion process - a finite element analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Postigo, Sergio; Schmidt, Hendrik; Rohlmann, Antonius; Putzier, Michael; Simón, Antonio; Duda, Georg; Checa, Sara

2014-04-11

Lumbar interbody fusion cages are commonly used to treat painful spinal degeneration and instability by achieving bony fusion. Many different cage designs exist, however the effect of cage morphology and material properties on the fusion process remains largely unknown. This finite element model study aims to investigate the influence of different cage designs on bone fusion using two mechano-regulation algorithms of tissue formation. It could be observed that different cages play a distinct key role in the mechanical conditions within the fusion region and therefore regulate the time course of the fusion process. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heavy elements abundances in metal-poor stars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magain, P.; Jehin, E.; Neuforge, C.; Noels, A.

1998-01-01

A sample of 21 metal-poor stars have been analysed on the basis of high resolution and high signal-to-noise spectra. Correlations between relative abundances of 16 elements have been studied, with a special emphasis on the neutron-capture ones. This analysis reveals the existence of two sub-populations of field halo stars, namely Pop IIa and Pop IIb. They differ by the behaviour of the s-process elements versus the α and r-process elements. We suggest a scenario of formation of these stars, which closely relates the field halo stars to the evolution of globular clusters. The two sub-populations would have evaporated the clusters during two different stages of their chemical evolution

Lithium zirconate elements fabricated by industrial scale processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roux, N.

1991-01-01

Lithium metazirconate Li 2 ZrO 3 is one of the leading tritium breeding ceramics contemplated in solid blanket concepts for fusion reactors. Among its merits are fair physical properties, satisfactory compatibility with structural materials and beryllium, satisfactory mechanical strength, excellent irradiation behaviour as shown by a comparative irradiation of ceramics in the EBR II reactor, and very good tritium release performance as evidenced in the MOZART and EXOTIC neutron irradiations. Pechiney and the CEA are jointly involved in developing industrial fabrication of Li 2 ZrO 3 elements to the microstructural and geometrical specifications required for their use in the solid blankets as conceived in the European Program

Elemental balance in soy sauce

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haruyama, Yoichi; Saito, Manabu; Yoshida, Koji.

1996-01-01

We have measured the elemental concentrations of soy sauce and its actual raw materials which are used in a certain soy sauce factory. In the present measurement, we measured de-fatted soybean, wheat and salt as raw materials and soy sauce and soy sauce waste as final products. Five kinds of elements, such as Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and Br, were detected. We obtained elemental concentrations of them except for Mn in each materials. The measured elemental concentration in soy sauce agreed well each other with the calculated one within the experimental errors using the measured concentration in the raw materials and their weight in actual producing process. Contrary to our expectation, it was found that wheat contributes to soy sauce bromine concentration dominantly in the present case. (author)

HTGR fuel element structural design consideration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alloway, R.; Gorholt, W.; Ho, F.; Vollman, R.; Yu, H.

1987-01-01

The structural design of the large HTGR prismatic core fuel elements involve the interaction of four engineering disciplines: nuclear physics, thermo-hydraulics, structural and material science. Fuel element stress analysis techniques and the development of structural criteria are discussed in the context of an overview of the entire design process. The core of the proposed 2240 MW(t) HTGR is described as an example where the design process was used. Probabilistic stress analysis techniques coupled with probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) to develop structural criteria to account for uncertainty are described. The PRA provides a means for ensuring that the proposed structural criteria are consistant with plant investment and safety risk goals. The evaluation of cracked fuel elements removed from the Fort St. Vrain reactor in the U.S.A. is discussed in the context of stress analysis uncertainty and structural criteria development. (author)

HTGR fuel element structural design considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alloway, R.; Gorholt, W.; Ho, F.; Vollman, R.; Yu, H.

1986-09-01

The structural design of the large HTGR prismatic core fuel elements involve the interaction of four engineering disciplines: nuclear physics, thermo-hydraulics, structural and material science. Fuel element stress analysis techniques and the development of structural criteria are discussed in the context of an overview of the entire design process. The core of the proposed 2240 MW(t) HTGR is described as an example where the design process was used. Probabalistic stress analysis techniques coupled with probabalistic risk analysis (PRA) to develop structural criteria to account for uncertainty are described. The PRA provides a means for ensuring that the proposed structural criteria are consistent with plant investment and safety risk goals. The evaluation of cracked fuel elements removed from the Fort St. Vrain reactor in the USA is discussed in the context of stress analysis uncertainty and structural criteria development

On The Cusp of the New Spatial Challenges - The Thermal Waste Processing Plant as an Element of Urban Space

Science.gov (United States)

Wójtowicz-Wróbel, Agnieszka

2017-10-01

The goal of this paper is to answer the question about the current importance of structures associated with the thermal processing of waste within the space of Polish cities and what status can they have in the functional and spatial structure of Polish cities in the future. The construction of thermal waste processing plants in Poland is currently a new and important problem, with numerous structures of this type being built due to increasing care for the natural environment, with the introduction of legal regulations, as well as due to the possibility of obtaining large external funding for the purposes of undertaking pro-environmental spatial initiatives, etc. For this reason, the paper contains research on the increase in the number of thermal waste processing plants in Poland in recent years. The abovementioned data was compared with similar information from other European Union member states. In the group containing Polish thermal waste processing plants, research was performed regarding the stage of the construction of a plant (operating plant, plant under construction, design in a construction phase, etc.). The paper also contains a listing of the functions other than the basic form of use, which is the incineration of waste - similarly to numerous foreign examples - that the environmentally friendly waste incineration plants fulfil in Poland, dividing the additional forms of use into "hard" elements (at the design level, requiring the expansion of a building featuring new elements that are not directly associated with the basic purpose of waste processing) and soft (social, educational, promotional actions, as well as other endeavours that require human involvement, but that do not entail significant design work on the buildings itself, expanding its form of use, etc.) as well as mixed activity, which required design work, but on a relatively small scale. Research was also conducted regarding the placement of thermal waste processing plants within the

Finite Element Models for Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication Process, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II proposal offers to develop a comprehensive computer simulation methodology based on the finite element method for...

Determination Of Rare Earth And Other Elements In YEN-PHU Rare Earth Ore And Other Intermediate Products From The Floatation And Hydrometallurgical Process On Portable XRF Si-PIN Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doan Thanh Son; Phung Vu Phong; Nguyen Hanh Phuc

2014-01-01

The concentration of rare earths elements such as La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Gd and other elements as Ca, Fe, U, Th in Yen Phu rare earth ore and other intermediate products from the flotation and hydrometallurgical process was determined by using Si-PIN detector fluorescence spectrometry. The precision and accuracy of quantitative analysis was tested by standard reference materials and comparative analysis with different analytical methods. The analytical procedures were set-up and applied for the determination of rare earth and other elements in Yen Phu rare earth ore and other intermediate products from the flotation and hydrometallurgical process with high precision and accuracy. (author)

Pyrochemical recovery of actinide elements from spent light water reactor fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, G.K.; Pierce, R.D.; Poa, D.S.; McPheeters, C.C.

1994-01-01

Argonne National Laboratory is investigating salt transport and lithium pyrochemical processes for recovery of transuranic (TRU) elements from spent light water reactor fuel. The two processes are designed to recover the TRU elements in a form compatible with the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle. The IFR is uniquely effective in consuming these long-lived TRU elements. The salt transport process uses calcium dissolved in Cu-35 wt % Mg in the presence of a CaCl 2 salt to reduce the oxide fuel. The reduced TRU elements are separated from uranium and most of the fission products by using a MgCl 2 transport salt. The lithium process, which does not employ a solvent metal, uses lithium in the presence of a LiCl salt as the reductant. After separation from the salt, the reduced metal is introduced into an electrorefiner, which separates the TRU elements from the uranium and fission products. In both processes, reductant and reduction salt are recovered by electrochemical decomposition of the oxide reaction product

Characterizing the Heavy Elements in Globular Cluster M22 and an Empirical s-process Abundance Distribution Derived from the Two Stellar Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Roederer, I. U.; Marino, A. F.; Sneden, C.

2011-11-01

We present an empirical s-process abundance distribution derived with explicit knowledge of the r-process component in the low-metallicity globular cluster M22. We have obtained high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra for six red giants in M22 using the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle spectrograph on the Magellan-Clay Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. In each star we derive abundances for 44 species of 40 elements, including 24 elements heavier than zinc (Z = 30) produced by neutron-capture reactions. Previous studies determined that three of these stars (the "r+s group") have an enhancement of s-process material relative to the other three stars (the "r-only group"). We confirm that the r+s group is moderately enriched in Pb relative to the r-only group. Both groups of stars were born with the same amount of r-process material, but s-process material was also present in the gas from which the r+s group formed. The s-process abundances are inconsistent with predictions for asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars with M <= 3 M ⊙ and suggest an origin in more massive AGB stars capable of activating the 22Ne(α,n)25Mg reaction. We calculate the s-process "residual" by subtracting the r-process pattern in the r-only group from the abundances in the r+s group. In contrast to previous r- and s-process decompositions, this approach makes no assumptions about the r- and s-process distributions in the solar system and provides a unique opportunity to explore s-process yields in a metal-poor environment. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

The evolution of ultraconserved elements with different phylogenetic origins

KAUST Repository

Ryu, Tae Woo

2012-12-05

Background: Ultraconserved elements of DNA have been identified in vertebrate and invertebrate genomes. These elements have been found to have diverse functions, including enhancer activities in developmental processes. The evolutionary origins and functional roles of these elements in cellular systems, however, have not yet been determined. Results: Here, we identified a wide range of ultraconserved elements common to distant species, from primitive aquatic organisms to terrestrial species with complicated body systems, including some novel elements conserved in fruit fly and human. In addition to a well-known association with developmental genes, these DNA elements have a strong association with genes implicated in essential cell functions, such as epigenetic regulation, apoptosis, detoxification, innate immunity, and sensory reception. Interestingly, we observed that ultraconserved elements clustered by sequence similarity. Furthermore, species composition and flanking genes of clusters showed lineage-specific patterns. Ultraconserved elements are highly enriched with binding sites to developmental transcription factors regardless of how they cluster. Conclusion: We identified large numbers of ultraconserved elements across distant species. Specific classes of these conserved elements seem to have been generated before the divergence of taxa and fixed during the process of evolution. Our findings indicate that these ultraconserved elements are not the exclusive property of higher modern eukaryotes, but rather transmitted from their metazoan ancestors. 2012 Ryu et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Chilean fuel elements fabrication progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baeza, J.; Contreras, H.; Chavez, J.; Klein, J.; Mansilla, R.; Marin, J.; Medina, R.

1993-01-01

Due to HEU-LEU core conversion necessity for the Chilean MTR reactors, the Fuel Elements Plant is being implemented to LEU nuclear fuel elements fabrication. A glove box line for powder-compact processing designed at CCHEN, which supposed to operate under an automatic control system, is at present under initial tests. Results of first natural uranium fuel plates manufacturing runs are shown

Review of Tomographic Imaging using Finite Element Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Fua’ad RAHMAT

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Many types of techniques for process tomography were proposed and developed during the past 20 years. This paper review the techniques and the current state of knowledge and experience on the subject, aimed at highlighting the problems associated with the non finite element methods, such as the ill posed, ill conditioned which relates to the accuracy and sensitivity of measurements. In this paper, considerations for choice of sensors and its applications were outlined and descriptions of non finite element tomography systems were presented. The finite element method tomography system as obtained from recent works, suitable for process control and measurement were also presented.

Geochemical processes assessed by Rare Earth Elements fractionation at “Laguna Verde” acidic-sulphate crater lake (Azufral volcano, Colombia)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inguaggiato, Claudio; Burbano, Viviana; Rouwet, Dmitri; Garzón, Gustavo

2017-01-01

The geochemical behaviour of major elements, Fe, Al, Mn, and Rare Earth Elements (REE) was investigated in the “Laguna Verde” acidic crater lake of Azufral volcano (Colombia). The cold lake water (T close to 10 °C) is sulphate-dominated, due to absorption and oxidation of H_2S (pH 2.1–2.7, Eh 196–260 mV), and Na-enriched (Total Dissolved Solids 0.79 g L"−"1). The total amount of REE dissolved in the lake ranges from 3.3 to 9.1 ppb. The REE patterns normalized to the local rocks show a Light Rare Earth Elements (LREE) depletion quite constant in the 15 samples. Similar patterns were already found in the acidic sulphate springs of Nevado del Ruiz volcano-hydrothermal system, caused by the precipitation of alunite and jarosite, absorbing LREE and hence removing them from solution. Alunite and jarosite minerals are not oversaturated at chemical-physical conditions within the lake itself, but alunite becomes oversaturated for temperatures above ≈100 °C, reigning in the underlying hydrothermal system. Water temperatures close to 75 °C were found in the northern part of the lake. Coupling the distribution of REE in lake water (LREE depleted) and the saturation indexes, we suggest that the distribution of REE in the lake water is the result of the alunite precipitation in the northern part of the lake and/or in the deeper hydrothermal system. The acidic hydrothermal fluids mobilize the REE with contents up to ≈5 orders of magnitude higher than seawater; acidic-hydrothermal systems, such as acidic crater lakes, can hence be considered potential REE “reservoirs”. - Highlights: • Acidic crater lakes can be considered potential Rare Earth Elements reservoirs. • Alunite precipitation removes Light Rare Earth Elements. • Rare Earth Elements identify geochemical processes in volcano-hydrothermal systems.

Platinum-group element mineralization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gruenewaldt, G.

1985-01-01

The purpose of this investigation is to determine the geological processes responsible for the abnormal enrichment of the platinum-group elements (PGE) in the mineralized layers of the Bushveld Complex. Questions asked are: what processes caused enrichment of the Bushveld magma in the PGE ; by what processes were these PGE concentrated in the mineralized layers ; was contamination of the Bushveld magma from external sources important in the formation of the PGE enriched layers ; what are the effects of fractional crystallization on the PGE ratios

Modelling drawbeads with finite elements and verification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carleer, B.D.; Carleer, B.D.; Vreede, P.T.; Vreede, P.T.; Louwes, M.F.M.; Louwes, M.F.M.; Huetink, Han

1994-01-01

Drawbeads are commonly used in deep drawing processes to control the flow of the blank during the forming operation. In finite element simulations of deep drawing the drawbead geometries are seldom included because of the small radii; because of these small radii a very large number of elements is

Application of Finite Element Method to Analyze the Influences of Process Parameters on the Cut Surface in Fine Blanking Processes by Using Clearance-Dependent Critical Fracture Criteria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phyo Wai Myint

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The correct choice of process parameters is important in predicting the cut surface and obtaining a fully-fine sheared surface in the fine blanking process. The researchers used the value of the critical fracture criterion obtained by long duration experiments to predict the conditions of cut surfaces in the fine blanking process. In this study, the clearance-dependent critical ductile fracture criteria obtained by the Cockcroft-Latham and Oyane criteria were used to reduce the time and cost of experiments to obtain the value of the critical fracture criterion. The Finite Element Method (FEM was applied to fine blanking processes to study the influences of process parameters such as the initial compression, the punch and die corner radii and the shape and size of the V-ring indenter on the length of the sheared surface. The effects of stress triaxiality and punch diameters on the cut surface produced by the fine blanking process are also discussed. The verified process parameters and tool geometry for obtaining a fully-fine sheared SPCC surface are described. The results showed that the accurate and stable prediction of ductile fracture initiation can be achieved using the Oyane criterion.

Method of separating plutonium from the process streams of a reprocessing plant for HTR fuel elements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herz, D.; Kankura, R.; Wenzel, U.

1975-07-15

The process streams of a reprocessing plant for Th-U fuel elements can be purified of Pu, using a chromatographic method. The process is based on the principles of extraction chromatography with the application of the method of breakthrough chromatography. The inert carrier consists of polytrifluoromonochloroethylene, TOA forming the steady-state phase and 2 M HNO/sub 3/ the mobile phase. After adjustment of the feed solution to the extraction conditions, Pu is extracted in the separating column to the steady-state phase. The height of the separating stages is expressed by the equation HTS (cm) = 0.2 + 0.65 u/sub 0/ (cm min/sup -1/). Due to the delayed Pu/Th exchange in TOA, it depends heavily on the linear flow velocity. Details are given of the design of a separating unit for a flowrate of 2 kg of heavy metal per day (the flowrate of the Jupiter plant). (12 fig, 4 tables)

Pre-irradiation testing of experimental fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basova, B.G.; Davydov, E.F.; Dvoretskij, V.G.; Ivanov, V.B.; Syuzev, V.N.; Timofeev, G.A.; Tsykanov, V.A.

1979-01-01

The problems of testing of experimental fuel elements of nuclear reactors on the basis of complex accountancy of the factors defining operating capacity of the fuel elements are considered. The classification of the parameters under control and the methods of initial technological testing, including testing of the fuel product, cladding and fished fuel element, is given. The requirements to the apparatus used for complex testing are formulated. One of the possible variants of representation of the information obtained in the form of the input certificate of a single fuel element under study is proposed. The processing flowsheet of the gathered information using the computer is given. The approach under consideration is a methodological basis of investigation of fuel element operating life at the testing stage of the experimental fuel elements

Trace elements levels in centenarian ‘dodgers’

OpenAIRE

Alis, Rafael; Santos-Lozano, Alejandro; Sanchís-Gomar, Fabián; Pareja Galeano, Helios; Fiuza Luces, María del Carmen; Garatachea, Nuria; Lucía Mulas, Alejandro; Emanuele, Enzo

2016-01-01

Trace element bioavailability can play a role in several metabolic and physiological pathways known to be altered during the aging process. We aimed to explore the association of trace elements with increased lifespan by analyzing the circulating levels of seven trace elements (Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Se and Zn) in a cohort of healthy centenarians or ‘dodgers’ (≥100 years, free of major age-related diseases) in comparison with sex-matched younger elderly controls. Centenarians showed significant ...

Finite element modeling of piezoelectric elements with complex electrode configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paradies, R; Schläpfer, B

2009-01-01

It is well known that the material properties of piezoelectric materials strongly depend on the state of polarization of the individual element. While an unpolarized material exhibits mechanically isotropic material properties in the absence of global piezoelectric capabilities, the piezoelectric material properties become transversally isotropic with respect to the polarization direction after polarization. Therefore, for evaluating piezoelectric elements the material properties, including the coupling between the mechanical and the electromechanical behavior, should be addressed correctly. This is of special importance for the micromechanical description of piezoelectric elements with interdigitated electrodes (IDEs). The best known representatives of this group are active fiber composites (AFCs), macro fiber composites (MFCs) and the radial field diaphragm (RFD), respectively. While the material properties are available for a piezoelectric wafer with a homogeneous polarization perpendicular to its plane as postulated in the so-called uniform field model (UFM), the same information is missing for piezoelectric elements with more complex electrode configurations like the above-mentioned ones with IDEs. This is due to the inhomogeneous field distribution which does not automatically allow for the correct assignment of the material, i.e. orientation and property. A variation of the material orientation as well as the material properties can be accomplished by including the polarization process of the piezoelectric transducer in the finite element (FE) simulation prior to the actual load case to be investigated. A corresponding procedure is presented which automatically assigns the piezoelectric material properties, e.g. elasticity matrix, permittivity, and charge vector, for finite element models (FEMs) describing piezoelectric transducers according to the electric field distribution (field orientation and strength) in the structure. A corresponding code has been

Pyrochemical properties of actinides elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akabori, Mitsuo; Hayashi, Hirokazu; Minato, Kazuo

2005-01-01

The present status of research works on pyrochemical processing is introduced in view of: 1) the process concept; 2) R and D progress; 3) new experimental facilities in NUCEF. Basic laboratory studies with rare-earth elements have almost been completed and hot tests with americium have been started at the TRU-HITEC facility in NUCEF. (author)

Processes controlling trace element geochemistry of Arabian Sea sediments during the last 25,000 years

Science.gov (United States)

Sirocko, Frank; Garbe-Schönberg, Dieter; Devey, Colin

2000-11-01

Thirty seven deep-sea sediment cores from the Arabian Sea were studied geochemically (49 major and trace elements) for four time slices during the Holocene and the last glacial, and in one high sedimentation rate core (century scale resolution) to detect tracers of past variations in the intensity of the atmospheric monsoon circulation and its hydrographic expression in the ocean surface. This geochemical multi-tracer approach, coupled with additional information on the grain size composition of the clastic fraction, the bulk carbonate and biogenic opal contents makes it possible to characterize the sedimentological regime in detail. Sediments characterized by a specific elemental composition (enrichment) originated from the following sources: river suspensions from the Tapti and Narbada, draining the Indian Deccan traps (Ti, Sr); Indus sediments and dust from Rajasthan and Pakistan (Rb, Cs); dust from Iran and the Persian Gulf (Al, Cr); dust from central Arabia (Mg); dust from East Africa and the Red Sea (Zr/Hf, Ti/Al). C org, Cd, Zn, Ba, Pb, U, and the HREE are associated with the intensity of upwelling in the western Arabian Sea, but only those patterns that are consistently reproduced by all of these elements can be directly linked with the intensity of the southwest monsoon. Relying on information from a single element can be misleading, as each element is affected by various other processes than upwelling intensity and nutrient content of surface water alone. The application of the geochemical multi-tracer approach indicates that the intensity of the southwest monsoon was low during the LGM, declined to a minimum from 15,000-13,000 14C year BP, intensified slightly at the end of this interval, was almost stable during the Bölling, Alleröd and the Younger Dryas, but then intensified in two abrupt successions at the end of the Younger Dryas (9900 14C year BP) and especially in a second event during the early Holocene (8800 14C year BP). Dust discharge by

Oceanic distribution and geochemistry of several trace elements at GEOSECS stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robertson, D.E.

1975-01-01

The biogeochemical and physical processes operating in the oceans create substantial geographical and vertical variations in the oceanic distribution of many trace elements. These variations are brought about by diverse mechanisms and involve trace elements of a wide spectrum of physicochemical and biological behavior. Thus, a knowledge of these trace element distributions can help characterize some of the ocean processes in which they participate. (auth)

Fuel elements for pressurised-gas reactors; Elements combustibles des piles a gaz sous pression

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stohr, J A; Englander, M; Gauthron, M [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1958-07-01

The design and fabrication of fuel elements for the first CO{sub 2} pressurized reactors have induced to investigate: various cladding materials, natural uranium base fuels, canning processes. The main analogical tests used in connection with the fuel element study are described. These various tests have enabled, among others, the fabrication of the fuel element for the EL2 reactor. Lastly, future solutions for electrical power producing reactors are foreseen. (author)Fren. [French] L'etude et la realisation d'elements combustibles pour les premieres piles a CO{sub 2} sous pression ont conduit a examiner: les divers materiaux de gaine, les combustibles a base d'uranium naturel, les modes de gainage. Les principaux essais analogiques ayant servi au cours de l'etude de la cartouche sont decrits. Ces divers essais ont notamment permis la realisation de la cartouche de la pile EL2. Enfin sont envisagees les solutions futures pour les piles productrices d'energie electrique. (auteur)

A discrete element based simulation framework to investigate particulate spray deposition processes

KAUST Repository

Mukherjee, Debanjan

2015-06-01

© 2015 Elsevier Inc. This work presents a computer simulation framework based on discrete element method to analyze manufacturing processes that comprise a loosely flowing stream of particles in a carrier fluid being deposited on a target surface. The individual particulate dynamics under the combined action of particle collisions, fluid-particle interactions, particle-surface contact and adhesive interactions is simulated, and aggregated to obtain global system behavior. A model for deposition which incorporates the effect of surface energy, impact velocity and particle size, is developed. The fluid-particle interaction is modeled using appropriate spray nozzle gas velocity distributions and a one-way coupling between the phases. It is found that the particle response times and the release velocity distribution of particles have a combined effect on inter-particle collisions during the flow along the spray. It is also found that resolution of the particulate collisions close to the target surface plays an important role in characterizing the trends in the deposit pattern. Analysis of the deposit pattern using metrics defined from the particle distribution on the target surface is provided to characterize the deposition efficiency, deposit size, and scatter due to collisions.

Do superheavy elements imply the existence of black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pringle, J.E.; Dearborn, D.S.P.; Fabian, A.C.

1976-01-01

Some comments are offered on the question of where superheavy elements, such as elements 116, 124 and 126, are likely to have been formed. Most of these elements are thought to have been produced under conditions of explosive nucleosynthesis by what is known as the 'r-process', and particularly in conventional supernova explosions, but it is stated that the ability of the r-process to produce superheavy elements is very uncertain, and the conditions necessary for synthesis of these elements are difficult to realise in astrophysical situations. It is thought that superheavy elements exist in the outer layers of neutron stars, and ideal conditions for the production of superheavy nuclei, such as high neutron flux and rapid β decays, occur in the disruption of a neutron star. Such disruption is possible in two ways, both of which involve a black hole. It is likely that a neutron star is disrupted when it accretes sufficient material for its mass to exceed the maximum mass for stability, and it then has no alternative but to collapse to form a black hole and it seems possible that some of the outer layers are thrown off during the process. It is thus argued that the most likely site for the production of superheavy elements is in the surface layers of a neutron star, and the most plausible means by which these layers can be returned to the interstellar medium involves the intervention or formation of a black hole. (U.K.)

The Elements of Business Process Change

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

and are actually derived; and the impact of BPC endeavors on business processes and on ..... it also helps improve relationships with customers and suppliers, empower employees, and improve ..... Reduced budget consumption. 2.79. 1.1. 8.

Simulating subduction zone earthquakes using discrete element method: a window into elusive source processes

Science.gov (United States)

Blank, D. G.; Morgan, J.

2017-12-01

Large earthquakes that occur on convergent plate margin interfaces have the potential to cause widespread damage and loss of life. Recent observations reveal that a wide range of different slip behaviors take place along these megathrust faults, which demonstrate both their complexity, and our limited understanding of fault processes and their controls. Numerical modeling provides us with a useful tool that we can use to simulate earthquakes and related slip events, and to make direct observations and correlations among properties and parameters that might control them. Further analysis of these phenomena can lead to a more complete understanding of the underlying mechanisms that accompany the nucleation of large earthquakes, and what might trigger them. In this study, we use the discrete element method (DEM) to create numerical analogs to subduction megathrusts with heterogeneous fault friction. Displacement boundary conditions are applied in order to simulate tectonic loading, which in turn, induces slip along the fault. A wide range of slip behaviors are observed, ranging from creep to stick slip. We are able to characterize slip events by duration, stress drop, rupture area, and slip magnitude, and to correlate the relationships among these quantities. These characterizations allow us to develop a catalog of rupture events both spatially and temporally, for comparison with slip processes on natural faults.

The evolution of ultraconserved elements with different phylogenetic origins

KAUST Repository

Ryu, Tae Woo; Seridi, Loqmane; Ravasi, Timothy

2012-01-01

Background: Ultraconserved elements of DNA have been identified in vertebrate and invertebrate genomes. These elements have been found to have diverse functions, including enhancer activities in developmental processes. The evolutionary origins

Adaptive Smoothed Finite Elements (ASFEM) for history dependent material models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quak, W.; Boogaard, A. H. van den

2011-01-01

A successful simulation of a bulk forming process with finite elements can be difficult due to distortion of the finite elements. Nodal smoothed Finite Elements (NSFEM) are an interesting option for such a process since they show good distortion insensitivity and moreover have locking-free behavior and good computational efficiency. In this paper a method is proposed which takes advantage of the nodally smoothed field. This method, named adaptive smoothed finite elements (ASFEM), revises the mesh for every step of a simulation without mapping the history dependent material parameters. In this paper an updated-Lagrangian implementation is presented. Several examples are given to illustrate the method and to show its properties.

Process for the production of fuel combined articles for addition in block shaped high temperature fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hrovat, M.; Rachor, L.

1976-01-01

There is provided a process for the production of fuel compacts consisting of an isotropic, radiation-resistant graphite matrix of good heat conductivity having embedded therein coated fuel and/or fertile particles for insertion into high temperature fuel elements by providing the coated fuel and/or fertile particles with an overcoat of molding mixture consisting of graphite powder and a thermoplastic resin binder. The particles after the overcoating are provided with hardener and lubricant only on the surface and subsequently are compressed in a die heated to a constant temperature of about 150 0 C, hardened and discharged therefrom as finished compacts

Verification of Orthogrid Finite Element Modeling Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Steeve, B. E.

1996-01-01

The stress analysis of orthogrid structures, specifically with I-beam sections, is regularly performed using finite elements. Various modeling techniques are often used to simplify the modeling process but still adequately capture the actual hardware behavior. The accuracy of such 'Oshort cutso' is sometimes in question. This report compares three modeling techniques to actual test results from a loaded orthogrid panel. The finite element models include a beam, shell, and mixed beam and shell element model. Results show that the shell element model performs the best, but that the simpler beam and beam and shell element models provide reasonable to conservative results for a stress analysis. When deflection and stiffness is critical, it is important to capture the effect of the orthogrid nodes in the model.

Trace elements in oil shale. Progress report, 1976--1979

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chappell, W.R.

1979-01-01

The overall objective of the program is to evaluate the environmental and health consequences of the release of toxic trace elements (As, B, F, Mo, Se) by shale oil production and use. Some of the particularly significant results are: The baseline geochemical survey shows that stable trace elements maps can be constructed for numerous elements and that the trends observed are related to geologic and climatic factors. Shale retorted by above-ground processes tends to be very homogeneous (both in space and in time) in trace element content. This implies that the number of analytical determinations required of processed shales is not large. Leachate studies show that significant amounts of B, F, And Mo are released from retorted shales and while B and Mo are rapidly flushed out, F is not. On the other hand, As, Se, and most other trace elements ae not present in significant quantities. Significant amounts of F and B are also found in leachates of raw shales. Very large concentrations of reduced sulfur species are found in leachates of processed shale. Upon oxidation a drastic lowering in pH is observed. Preliminary data indicates that this oxidation is catalyzed by bacteria. Very high levels of B and Mo are taken up in some plants growing on processed shale with and without soil cover. These amounts depend upon the process and various site specific characteristics. In general, the amounts taken up decrease with increasing soil cover. On the other hand, we have not observed significant uptake of As, Se, and F into plants. There is a tendency for some trace elements to associate with specific organic fractions, indicating that organic chelation or complexation may play an important role. In particular, most of the Cd, Se, and Cr in shale oil is associated with the organic fraction containing most of the nitrogen-containing compounds.

Steps in creating a methodology for interpreting a geodiversity element -integrating a geodiversity element in the popular knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Toma, Cristina; Andrasanu, Alexandru

2017-04-01

Conserving geodiversity and especially geological heritage is not very well integrated in the general knowledge as biodiversity is, for example. Keeping that in mind we are trying, through this research, to find a better way of transmitting a geological process to the general public. The means to integrate a geodiversity element in the popular knowledge is through interpretation. Interpretation "translates" the scientific information into a common language with very well known facts by the general public. The purpose of this paper is creating a framework for a methodology necessary in interpreting a geodiversity element - salt - in Buzau Land Geopark. We will approach the salt subject through a scheme in order to have a general view of the process and to better understand and explain it to the general public. We will look into the subject from three scientific points of view: GEODIVERSITY, ANTHROPOLOGY, and the SOCIO-ECONOMICAL aspect. Each of these points of view or domains will be divided into themes. For GEODIVERSITY we will have the following themes: Formation, Accumulation, Diapirism process, Chemical formula, Landscape (here we will include also the specific biodiversity with the halophile plants), Landforms, Hazard. For ANTHROPOLOGY will contain themes of tangible and intangible heritage like: Salt symbolistic, Stories and ritual usage, Recipes, How the knowledge is transmitted. The SOCIO-ECONOMIC aspect will be reflected through themes like: Extractive methods, Usage, Interdictions, Taxes, Commercial exchanges. Each theme will have a set of keywords that will be described and each one will be at the base of the elements that together will form the interpretation of the geodiversity element - the salt. The next step will be to clearly set the scope of the interpretation, to which field of expertise is our interpretation process addressed: Education (Undergraduate or post-graduate Students), Science, Geotourism, Entrepreneurship. After putting together the

Finite element method for computational fluid dynamics with any type of elements; Finite Element Methode zur numerischen Stroemungsberechnung mit beliebigen Elementen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steibler, P.

2000-07-01

The unsteady, turbulent flow is to be calculated in a complex geometry. For this purpose a stabilized finite element formulation in which the same functions for velocity and pressure are used is developed. Thus the process remains independent of the type of elements. This simplifies the application. Above all, it is easier to deal with the boundary conditions. The independency from the elements is also achieved by the extended uzawa-algorithm which uses quadratic functions for velocity and an element-constant pressure. This method is also programmed. In order to produce the unstructured grids, an algorithm is implemented which produces meshes consisting of triangular and tetrahedral elements with flow-dependent adaptation. With standard geometries both calculation methods are compared with results. Finally the flow in a draft tube of a Kaplan turbine is calculated and compared with results from model tests. (orig.) [German] Die instationaere, turbulente Stroemung in einer komplexen Geometrie soll berechnet werden. Dazu wird eine Stabilisierte Finite Element Formulierung entwickelt, bei der die gleichen Ansatzfunktionen fuer Geschwindigkeiten und Druck verwendet werden. Das Verfahren wird damit unabhaengig von der Form der Elemente. Dies vereinfacht die Anwendung. Vor allem wird der Umgang mit den Randbedingungen erleichert. Die Elementunabhaengigkeit erreicht man auch mit dem erweiterten Uzawa-Algorithmus, welcher quadratische Ansatzfunktionen fuer die Geschwindigkeiten und elementweisen konstanten Druck verwendet. Dieses Verfahren wird ebenso implementiert. Zur Erstellung der unstrukturierten Gitter wird ein Algorithmus erzeugt, der Netze aus Dreiecks- und Tetraederelementen erstellt, welche stroemungsabhaengige Groessen besitzen koennen. Anhand einiger Standardgeometrien werden die beiden Berechnungsmethoden mit Ergebnissen aus der Literatur verglichen. Als praxisrelevantes Beispiel wird abschliessend die Stroemung in einem Saugrohr einer Kaplanturbine berechnet

Automation of finite element methods

CERN Document Server

Korelc, Jože

2016-01-01

New finite elements are needed as well in research as in industry environments for the development of virtual prediction techniques. The design and implementation of novel finite elements for specific purposes is a tedious and time consuming task, especially for nonlinear formulations. The automation of this process can help to speed up this process considerably since the generation of the final computer code can be accelerated by order of several magnitudes. This book provides the reader with the required knowledge needed to employ modern automatic tools like AceGen within solid mechanics in a successful way. It covers the range from the theoretical background, algorithmic treatments to many different applications. The book is written for advanced students in the engineering field and for researchers in educational and industrial environments.

Vapor phase elemental sulfur amendment for sequestering mercury in contaminated soil

Science.gov (United States)

Looney, Brian B.; Denham, Miles E.; Jackson, Dennis G.

2014-07-08

The process of treating elemental mercury within the soil is provided by introducing into the soil a heated vapor phase of elemental sulfur. As the vapor phase of elemental sulfur cools, sulfur is precipitated within the soil and then reacts with any elemental mercury thereby producing a reaction product that is less hazardous than elemental mercury.

Glove box operations for transplutonium element production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knauer, J.B.; Alexander, C.W.; Wiggins, J.T.

1986-01-01

Glove boxes are used in the Transuranium Processing Plant (TRU) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for (1) completing the final chemical processing steps to isolate and purify the transplutonium elements, (2) packaging transplutonium elements for shipment, (3) preirradiation and postirradiation processing of samples used to produce special transplutonium isotopes in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), and (4) conducting special projects, which include providing highly purified transplutonium products in special chemical forms and/or in experimental devices as requested by researchers. During 20 years of operation, the quantities of transplutonium elements produced, and thus the amount of radioactivity handled, have continually increased. At the same time, substantial effort has been expended to reduce personnel radiation exposures. Equipment and techniques have been developed to maintain the desired operational capabilities in the glove boxes while keeping radiation exposures to operating personnel as low as reasonably achievable. Developments have included the design and fabrication of product handling and collection devices, product storage containers, and laminated exterior shields of lead glass, lead acrylic, acrylic sheets, polyethylene, and lead

Laser assisted decontamination of nuclear fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padma Nilaya, J.; Biswas, Dhruba J.; Kumar, Aniruddha

2010-04-01

Laser assisted removal of loosely bound fuel particulates from the clad surface following the process of pellet loading has decided advantages over conventional methods. It is a dry and noncontact process that generates very little secondary waste and can occur inside a glove box without any manual interference minimizing the possibility of exposure to personnel. The rapid rise of the substrate/ particulate temperature owing to the absorption of energy from the incident laser pulse results in a variety of processes that may lead to the expulsion of the particulates. As a precursor to the cleaning of the fuel elements, initial experiments were carried out on contamination simulated on commonly used clad surfaces to gain a first hand experience on the various laser parameters for which as efficient cleaning can be obtained without altering the properties of the clad surface. The cleaning of a dummy fuel element was subsequently achieved in the laboratory by integrating the laser with a work station that imparted simultaneous rotational and linear motion to the fuel element. (author)

Understanding rhizosphere processes to enhance phytoextraction of germanium and rare earth elements

Science.gov (United States)

Wiche, Oliver

2017-04-01

Germanium (Ge) and rare earth elements (REEs) are economically valuable raw materials that are not actually rare in terms of concentrations in soils but they are hardly available for plant uptake due to interactions with organic matter (SOM), secondary soil constituents such as Fe/Mn oxides and P bearing soil fractions. Processes in the rhizosphere might influence availability of Ge and REEs in the soil-plant system, since lowering of the pH and presence of carboxylates and siderophores (small molecules that strongly chelate Fe and other elements) strongly influences the chemical speciation of Ge and REEs in soil and consequently this comprehensive knowledge helps us to improve phytomining. In a series of field and greenhouse experiments 16 plant species from the functional groups of grasses, herbs and legumes were tested with regard to their accumulation efficiency of Ge and REEs in shoots. Subsequently, we conducted mixed culture experiments in which inefficient species (e.g. cereals like Avena sativa, Hordeum vulgare, Panicum miliaceum) were cultivated in mixed cultures with efficient species (Lupinus albus, Lupinus angustifolius). Based on the plant concentrations a principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to identify significant factors that explain the accumulation behavior of different plant species with regard to Ge, REEs, Si, Fe and Mn. In this analysis Mn was used to identify plant species with efficient mechanisms to access sparingly available P-resources in soils. Particularly in nonmycorrhizal species concentrations of Mn in leaves often indicate a carboxylate based P-mobilising strategy. Herbaceous plant species accumulated significantly higher amounts of REEs while grasses accumulated significantly higher amounts of Ge. Concentrations of Ge in shoots of grasses correlated significantly positive with Si, but negatively with concentrations of Mn. Indeed, the results of the PCA clearly show that plants with high Mn concentrations tend to have

A positive and multi-element conserving time stepping scheme for biogeochemical processes in marine ecosystem models

Science.gov (United States)

Radtke, H.; Burchard, H.

2015-01-01

In this paper, an unconditionally positive and multi-element conserving time stepping scheme for systems of non-linearly coupled ODE's is presented. These systems of ODE's are used to describe biogeochemical transformation processes in marine ecosystem models. The numerical scheme is a positive-definite modification of the Runge-Kutta method, it can have arbitrarily high order of accuracy and does not require time step adaption. If the scheme is combined with a modified Patankar-Runge-Kutta method from Burchard et al. (2003), it also gets the ability to solve a certain class of stiff numerical problems, but the accuracy is restricted to second-order then. The performance of the new scheme on two test case problems is shown.

Fission product release from defected nuclear reactor fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, B.J.

1983-01-01

The release of gaseous (krypton and xenon) and iodine radioactive fission products from defective fuel elements is described with a semi-empirical model. The model assumes precursor-corrected 'Booth diffusional release' in the UO 2 and subsequent holdup in the fuel-to-sheath gap. Transport in the gap is separately modelled with a phenomenological rate constant (assuming release from the gap is a first order rate process), and a diffusivity constant (assuming transport in the gap is dominated by a diffusional process). Measured release data from possessing various states of defection are use in this analysis. One element (irradiated in an earlier experiment by MacDonald) was defected with a small drilled hole. A second element was machined with 23 slits while a third element (fabricated with a porous end plug) displayed through-wall sheath hydriding. Comparison of measured release data with calculated values from the model yields estimates of empirical diffusion coefficients for the radioactive species in the UO 2 (1.56 x 10 -10 to 7.30 x 10 -9 s -1 ), as well as escape rate constants (7.85 x 10 -7 to 3.44 x 10 -5 s -1 ) and diffusion coefficients (3.39 x 10 -5 to 4.88 x 10 -2 cm 2 /s) for these in the fuel-to-sheath gap. Analyses also enable identification of the various rate-controlling processes operative in each element. For the noble gas and iodine species, the rate-determining process in the multi-slit element is 'Booth diffusion'; however, for the hydrided element an additional delay results from diffusional transport in the fuel-to-heath gap. Furthermore, the iodine species exhibit an additional holdup in the drilled element because of significant trapping on the fuel and/or sheath surfaces. Using experimental release data and applying the theoretical results of this work, a systematic procedure is proposed to characterize fuel failures in commercial power reactors (i.e., the number of fuel failures and average leak size)

Modern alchemy: Fred Hoyle and element building by neutron capture

Science.gov (United States)

Burbidge, E. Margaret

Fred Hoyle's fundamental work on building the chemical elements by nuclear processes in stars at various stages in their lives began with the building of elements around iron in the very dense hot interiors of stars. Later, in the paper by Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler and Hoyle, we four showed that Hoyle's "equilibrium process" is one of eight processes required to make all of the isotopes of all the elements detected in the Sun and stars. Neutron capture reactions, which Fred had not considered in his epochal 1946 paper, but for which experimental data were just becoming available in 1957, are very important, in addition to the energy-generating reactions involving hydrogen, helium, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, for building all of the elements. They are now providing clues to the late stages of stellar evolution and the earliest history of our Galaxy. I describe here our earliest observational work on neutron capture processes in evolved stars, some new work on stars showing the results of the neutron capture reactions, and data relating to processes ending in the production of lead, and I discuss where this fits into the history of stars in our own Galaxy.

Trace Elements in Human Tooth Enamel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nixon, G. S. [Turner Dental School, University Of Manchester, Manchester (United Kingdom); Smith, H.; Livingston, H. D. [Department of Forensic Medicine, University Of Glasgow, Glasgow (United Kingdom)

1967-10-15

The trace elements are considered to play a role in the resistance of teeth to dental caries. The exact mechanism by which they act has not yet been fully established. Estimations of trace elements have been undertaken in sound human teeth. By means of activation analysis it has been possible to determine trace element concentrations in different layers of enamel in the same tooth. The concentrations of the following elements have been determined: arsenic, antimony, copper, zinc, manganese, mercury, molybdenum and vanadium. The distribution of trace elements in enamel varies from those with a narrow range, such as manganese, to those with a broad range, such as antimony. The elements present in the broad range are considered to be non-essential and their presence is thought to result from a chance incorporation into the enamel. Those in the narrow range appear to be essential trace elements and are present in amounts which do not vary unduly from other body tissues. Only manganese and zinc were found in higher concentrations in the surface layer of enamel compared with the inner layers. The importance of the concentration of trace elements on this surface layer of enamel is emphasized as this layer is the site of the first attack by the carious process. (author)

Flux and concentration processes of radioactive elements in the forest industry; dosimetry, biofueled heating plants, the alkaline and the acidic pulp mill processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ravila, A.; Holm, E.

1992-01-01

A fraction of the radionuclides released to the forest ecosystem will be incorporated into different parts of the trees and the wood. A common factor for both biofueled power plants and pulp mills is that they concentrate the radionuclides initially present in the in the biofuel or wood in ashes or other products. The enrichment of radioactive elements is due to the combustion process or in a pulp mill, the combustion of bark and liquors, and also the processes in the pulp mill recycling system. The radiological impacts to man from forest industry arises form radiation emitted from the radionuclides present in ash and pulp mill liquors and liquor sludge. The quantification and calculation of past, present and future activity concentrations in biofuels, ash and pulp mill waste products are all important when assessments of the radiation dose is done. In order to assess the resulting dose to staff working close to radionuclide containing recycling systems and waste dumps, it is necessary to know the dynamics (inflow rate and residence time) of the radionuclides in that system

Validation of High Displacement Piezoelectric Actuator Finite Element Models

Science.gov (United States)

Taleghani, B. K.

2000-01-01

The paper presents the results obtained by using NASTRAN(Registered Trademark) and ANSYS(Regitered Trademark) finite element codes to predict doming of the THUNDER piezoelectric actuators during the manufacturing process and subsequent straining due to an applied input voltage. To effectively use such devices in engineering applications, modeling and characterization are essential. Length, width, dome height, and thickness are important parameters for users of such devices. Therefore, finite element models were used to assess the effects of these parameters. NASTRAN(Registered Trademark) and ANSYS(Registered Trademark) used different methods for modeling piezoelectric effects. In NASTRAN(Registered Trademark), a thermal analogy was used to represent voltage at nodes as equivalent temperatures, while ANSYS(Registered Trademark) processed the voltage directly using piezoelectric finite elements. The results of finite element models were validated by using the experimental results.

Transuranium element recovering method for spent nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todokoro, Akio; Kihara, Yoshiyuki; Okada, Hisashi

1998-01-01

Spent fuels are dissolved in nitric acid, the obtained dissolution liquid is oxidized by electrolysis, and nitric acid of transuranium elements are precipitated together with nitric acid of uranium elements from the dissolution solution and recovered. Namely, the transuranium elements are oxidized to an atomic value level at which nitric acid can be precipitated by an oxidizing catalyst, and cooled to precipitate nitric acid of transuranium elements together with nitric acid of transuranium elements, accordingly, it is not necessary to use a solvent which has been used so far upon recovering transuranium elements. Since no solvent waste is generated, a recovery method taking the circumstance into consideration can be provided. Further, nitric acid of uranium elements and nitric acid of transuranium elements precipitated and recovered together are dissolved in nitric acid again, cooled and only uranium elements are precipitated selectively, and recovered by filtration. The amount of wastes can be reduced to thereby enabling to mitigate control for processing. (N.H.)

Quasifission in heavy and superheavy element formation reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hinde, D.J.; Dasgupta, M.; Jeung, D.Y.; Mohanto, G.; Prasad, E.; Simenel, C.; Walshe, J.; Wahkle, A.; Williams, E.; Carter, I.P.; Cook, K.J.; Kalkal, Sunil; Rafferty, D.C.; Rietz, R. du; Simpson, E.C.; David, H.M.; Düllmann, Ch.E.; Khuyagbaatar, J.

2016-01-01

Superheavy elements are created in the laboratory by the fusion of two heavy nuclei. The large Coulomb repulsion that makes superheavy elements decay also makes the fusion process that forms them very unlikely. Instead, after sticking together for a short time, the two nuclei usually come apart, in a process called quasifission. Mass-angle distributions give the most direct information on the characteristics and time scales of quasifission. A systematic study of carefully chosen mass-angle distributions has provided information on the global trends of quasifission. Large deviations from these systematics reveal the major role played by the nuclear structure of the two colliding nuclei in determining the reaction outcome, and thus implicitly in hindering or favouring superheavy element production.

Three types of element fluxes from metabasite into peridotite in analogue experiments: Insights into subduction-zone processes

Science.gov (United States)

Perchuk, A. L.; Yapaskurt, V. O.; Griffin, W. L.; Shur, M. Yu.; Gain, S. E. M.

2018-03-01

fractionation during porous melt flow. During metabasite-lherzolite interaction, the metabasite layer becomes mildly enriched in LREE; the lherzolite layer, in contrast, is generally depleted in LREE relative to the initial composition. This also indicates element transfer against the direction of fluid flow. Trace-element profiling reveals the development of Eu anomalies in the peridotite layers and the diffusion of many trace elements out of both layers toward the contact zone. The documented processes may be applicable to both Phanerozoic and Precambrian subduction zones.

MRT fuel element inspection at Dounreay

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gibson, J.

1997-08-01

To ensure that their production and inspection processes are performed in an acceptable manner, ie. auditable and traceable, the MTR Fuel Element Fabrication Plant at Dounreay operates to a documented quality system. This quality system, together with the fuel element manufacturing and inspection operations, has been independently certified to ISO9002-1987, EN29002-1987 and BS5750:Pt2:1987 by Lloyd`s Register Quality Assurance Limited (LRQA). This certification also provides dual accreditation to the relevant German, Dutch and Australian certification bodies. This paper briefly describes the quality system, together with the various inspection stages involved in the manufacture of MTR fuel elements at Dounreay.

Automatic welding of fuel elements; Soudure automatique des elements combustibles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Briola, J [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1958-07-01

The welding process depends on the type of fuel element, the can material and the number of cartridges to be welded: - inert-gas welding (used for G2 and the 1. set of EL3), - inert atmosphere arc welding (used for welding uranium and zirconium), - electronic welding (used for the 2. set of EL3 and the tank of Proserpine). (author) [French] Suivant le type d'element combustible, le materiau de gaine et l'importance de la serie a fabriquer, le soudeur dispose des differents procedes examines dans cette communication: - soudure classique a l'arc sous gaz inerte (utilisee pour G2 et le premier jeu EL3), - soudure en atmosphere complete d'argon (utilisee pour la soudure d'uranium et de zirconium), - soudure electronique (utilisee pourdeuxieme jeu EL3 et la cuve de Proserpine). (auteur)

n-capture elements in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Skúladóttir, Ása

2018-06-01

Sculptor is a well studied dwarf galaxy in the Local Group, which is dominated by an old stellar population (>10 Gyr) and is therefore an ideal system to study early chemical evolution. With high-resolution VLT/FLAMES spectra, R~20,000, we are able to get accurate abundances of several n-capture elements in ~100 stars, from both the lighter n-capture elements (Y) as well as the heavier ones, both tracers of the s-process (e.g. Ba) and the r-process (e.g. Eu). I will discuss the similarities and differences in the n-capture elements in Sculptor and the Milky Way, as well as other dwarf galaxies.

Representation Elements of Spatial Thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Fiantika, F. R.

2017-04-01

This paper aims to add a reference in revealing spatial thinking. There several definitions of spatial thinking but it is not easy to defining it. We can start to discuss the concept, its basic a forming representation. Initially, the five sense catch the natural phenomenon and forward it to memory for processing. Abstraction plays a role in processing information into a concept. There are two types of representation, namely internal representation and external representation. The internal representation is also known as mental representation; this representation is in the human mind. The external representation may include images, auditory and kinesthetic which can be used to describe, explain and communicate the structure, operation, the function of the object as well as relationships. There are two main elements, representations properties and object relationships. These elements play a role in forming a representation.

Rare earth elements leaching from Tin slag using Acid Chloride after Alkaline fusion process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurnia Trinopiawan; Budi Yuli Ani; June Mellawati; Mohammad Zaki Mubarok

2016-01-01

Tin slag, a waste product from tin smelting process, has a potency to be utilized further by extracting the valuable metals inside, such as rare earth elements(REE). The objective of this study is to determine the optimum leaching condition of REE from tin slag after alkali fusion. Silica structure in slag is causing the direct leaching uneffectively. Therefore, pre-treatment step using alkali fusion is required to break the structure of silica and to increase the porosity of slag. Fusion is conducted in 2 hours at 700°C, with ratio of natrium hydroxide (NaOH) : slag = 2 : 1. Later, frit which is leached by water then leached by chloride acid to dissolve REE. As much as 87,5% of REE is dissolved at 2 M on chloride acid (HCl) concentration, in 40°C temperature, -325 mesh particle size, 15 g/100 ml of S/L, 150 rpm of agitation speed, and 5 minutes of leaching time. (author)

Fates of Chemical Elements in Biomass during Its Pyrolysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wu-Jun; Li, Wen-Wei; Jiang, Hong; Yu, Han-Qing

2017-05-10

Biomass is increasingly perceived as a renewable resource rather than as an organic solid waste today, as it can be converted to various chemicals, biofuels, and solid biochar using modern processes. In the past few years, pyrolysis has attracted growing interest as a promising versatile platform to convert biomass into valuable resources. However, an efficient and selective conversion process is still difficult to be realized due to the complex nature of biomass, which usually makes the products complicated. Furthermore, various contaminants and inorganic elements (e.g., heavy metals, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and chlorine) embodied in biomass may be transferred into pyrolysis products or released into the environment, arousing environmental pollution concerns. Understanding their behaviors in biomass pyrolysis is essential to optimizing the pyrolysis process for efficient resource recovery and less environmental pollution. However, there is no comprehensive review so far about the fates of chemical elements in biomass during its pyrolysis. Here, we provide a critical review about the fates of main chemical elements (C, H, O, N, P, Cl, S, and metals) in biomass during its pyrolysis. We overview the research advances about the emission, transformation, and distribution of elements in biomass pyrolysis, discuss the present challenges for resource-oriented conversion and pollution abatement, highlight the importance and significance of understanding the fate of elements during pyrolysis, and outlook the future development directions for process control. The review provides useful information for developing sustainable biomass pyrolysis processes with an improved efficiency and selectivity as well as minimized environmental impacts, and encourages more research efforts from the scientific communities of chemistry, the environment, and energy.

The Four-Element Framework: An Integrated Test and Evaluation Strategy

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Wilcox, Christopher M

2007-01-01

...) planning and execution. Process is comprised of four elements: 1) Operational View (OV) - mission tasks, activities, operational elements and information required to accomplish warfighting mission. 2) System View (SV...

Integrated Process Design, Control and Analysis of Intensified Chemical Processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mansouri, Seyed Soheil

chemical processes; for example, intensified processes such as reactive distillation. Most importantly, it identifies and eliminates potentially promising design alternatives that may have controllability problems later. To date, a number of methodologies have been proposed and applied on various problems......, that the same principles that apply to a binary non-reactive compound system are valid also for a binary-element or a multi-element system. Therefore, it is advantageous to employ the element based method for multicomponent reaction-separation systems. It is shown that the same design-control principles...

Cod and rainbow trout as freeze-chilled meal elements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Louise Helene Søgaard; Nielsen, Jette; Jørgensen, Bo

2010-01-01

Meal elements' are elements of a meal, e.g. portions of pre-fried meat, sauces, frozen fish or pre-processed vegetables typically prepared industrially. The meal elements are distributed to professional satellite kitchens, where the staff can combine them into complete meals. Freeze......-chilling is a process consisting of freezing and frozen storage followed by thawing and chilled storage. Combining the two would enable the manufacturer to produce large quantities of frozen meal elements to be released into the chill chain according to demand. We have studied the influence of freeze...... days of chilled storage, and the corresponding time for rainbow trout was 10 days. After this period the sensory quality decreased and chemical indicators of spoilage were seen to increase. CONCLUSION: The consistent quality during storage and the high-quality shelf life are practically applicable...

Electronic Transmutation (ET): Chemically Turning One Element into Another.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xinxing; Lundell, Katie A; Olson, Jared K; Bowen, Kit H; Boldyrev, Alexander I

2018-03-08

The concept of electronic transmutation (ET) depicts the processes that by acquiring an extra electron, an element with the atomic number Z begins to have properties that were known to only belong to its neighboring element with the atomic number Z+1. Based on ET, signature compounds and chemical bonds that are composed of certain elements can now be designed and formed by other electronically transmutated elements. This Minireview summarizes the recent developments and applications of ET on both the theoretical and experimental fronts. Examples on the ET of Group 13 elements into Group 14 elements, Group 14 elements into Group 15 elements, and Group 15 elements into Group 16 elements are discussed. Compounds and chemical bonding composed of carbon, silicon, germanium, phosphorous, oxygen and sulfur now have analogues using transmutated boron, aluminum, gallium, silicon, nitrogen, and phosphorous. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Rare earth element abundances in presolar SiC

Science.gov (United States)

Ireland, T. R.; Ávila, J. N.; Lugaro, M.; Cristallo, S.; Holden, P.; Lanc, P.; Nittler, L.; Alexander, C. M. O'D.; Gyngard, F.; Amari, S.

2018-01-01

Individual isotope abundances of Ba, lanthanides of the rare earth element (REE) group, and Hf have been determined in bulk samples of fine-grained silicon carbide (SiC) from the Murchison CM2 chondrite. The analytical protocol involved secondary ion mass spectrometry with combined high mass resolution and energy filtering to exclude REE oxide isobars and Si-C-O clusters from the peaks of interest. Relative sensitivity factors were determined through analysis of NIST SRM reference glasses (610 and 612) as well as a trace-element enriched SiC ceramic. When normalised to chondrite abundances, the presolar SiC REE pattern shows significant deficits at Eu and Yb, which are the most volatile of the REE. The pattern is very similar to that observed for Group III refractory inclusions. The SiC abundances were also normalised to s-process model predictions for the envelope compositions of low-mass (1.5-3 M⊙) AGB stars with close-to-solar metallicities (Z = 0.014 and 0.02). The overall trace element abundances (excluding Eu and Yb) appear consistent with the predicted s-process patterns. The depletions of Eu and Yb suggest that these elements remained in the gas phase during the condensation of SiC. The lack of depletion in some other moderately refractory elements (like Ba), and the presence of volatile elements (e.g. Xe) indicates that these elements were incorporated into SiC by other mechanisms, most likely ion implantation.

Improvement of range spatial resolution of medical ultrasound imaging by element-domain signal processing

Science.gov (United States)

Hasegawa, Hideyuki

2017-07-01

The range spatial resolution is an important factor determining the image quality in ultrasonic imaging. The range spatial resolution in ultrasonic imaging depends on the ultrasonic pulse length, which is determined by the mechanical response of the piezoelectric element in an ultrasonic probe. To improve the range spatial resolution without replacing the transducer element, in the present study, methods based on maximum likelihood (ML) estimation and multiple signal classification (MUSIC) were proposed. The proposed methods were applied to echo signals received by individual transducer elements in an ultrasonic probe. The basic experimental results showed that the axial half maximum of the echo from a string phantom was improved from 0.21 mm (conventional method) to 0.086 mm (ML) and 0.094 mm (MUSIC).

The effect of innovation competence on the choice of information elements in a simulated NPD process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Helle Alsted; Juhl, Hans Jørn

to prompt different managerial behaviour. This study uses a role-play approach to investigating the relationship between innovation competence (exploitation or exploration competences) and the acquisition of information elements in a simulated new product development (NPD) process. Results show that two......This paper presents a study of the relationship between innovation competence and managerial behaviour. Within the resource-based view of the firm the development of new products is often related to the attainment of dynamic capabilities. Different levels of dynamic capabilities are expected...... distinct clusters can be identified among respondents, one cluster with both exploitation and exploration competence experience and a second cluster only with exploitation competence experience. Contrary to expectations analysis of variance and Chi-square tests for independence show that there are no clear...

Plants' essential chemical elements

Science.gov (United States)

Kevin T. Smith

2007-01-01

Every garden center and hardware store sells fertilizer guaranteed to "feed" plants. In a strict sense, we can't feed plants. Food contains an energy source. Green plants capture solar energy and make their own food through photosynthesis! Photosynthesis and other metabolic processes require chemical elements in appropriate doses for plants to survive...

Removal of actinide elements from high level radioactive waste by trialkylphosphine oxide (TRPO)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Chongli; Yang Dazhu; He Longhai; Xu Jingming; Zhu Yongjun

1992-03-01

The modified TRPO process for removing actinide elements from synthetic solution, which was taken from reprocessing of power reactor nuclear fuel, was verified by cascade experiment. Neptunium valence was adjusted in the process for improving neptunium removing efficiency. At 1 mol/L concentration of HNO 3 of feed solution and after a few stages of extraction with 30% t=TRPO kerosene, over 99.9% of Am, Pu, Np and U could be removed from HAW (high level radioactive waste) solution. The stripping of actinides loaded in TRPO are accomplished by high concentration nitric acid, oxalic acid and sodium carbonate instead of amino carboxylic complexing agents used in previous process. The actinides stripped were divided into three groups, which are Am + RE, Np + Pu, and U, and the cross contamination between them is small. Behaviours of F.P. elements are divided into three types which are not extracted, little extracted and extracted elements. The extracted elements are rare earth and Pd, Zr and Mo which are co-extracted with actinides. The separation factor between actinides and other two types of F.P.elements will increase if more scrubbing sections are added in the process. The relative concentration profile of actinide elements and Tc in various stages as well as the distribution of actinides and F.P. elements in the process stream solutions are also presented

SPLAI: Computational Finite Element Model for Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruzana Ishak

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Wireless sensor network refers to a group of sensors, linked by a wireless medium to perform distributed sensing task. The primary interest is their capability in monitoring the physical environment through the deployment of numerous tiny, intelligent, wireless networked sensor nodes. Our interest consists of a sensor network, which includes a few specialized nodes called processing elements that can perform some limited computational capabilities. In this paper, we propose a model called SPLAI that allows the network to compute a finite element problem where the processing elements are modeled as the nodes in the linear triangular approximation problem. Our model also considers the case of some failures of the sensors. A simulation model to visualize this network has been developed using C++ on the Windows environment.

The Innovative Bike Conceptual Design by Using Modified Functional Element Design Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nien-Te Liu

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study is to propose a new design process by modifying functional element design approach which can commence a large amount of innovative concepts within a short period of time. Firstly, the original creative functional elements design method is analyzed and the drawbacks are discussed. Then, the modified is proposed and is divided into 6 steps. The creative functional element representations, generalization, specialization, and particularization are used in this method. Every step is described clearly, and users could design by following the process easily. In this paper, a clear and accurate design process is proposed based on the creative functional element design method. By following this method, a lot of innovative bicycles will be created quickly.

Finite element analysis of inelastic structural behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Argyris, J.H.; Szimmat, J.; Willam, K.J.

1977-01-01

The paper describes recent achievements in the finite element analysis of inelastic material behavior. The main purpose is to examine the interaction of three disciplines; (i) the finite element formulation of large deformation problems in the light of a systematic linearization, (ii) the constitutive modelling of inelastic processes in the rate-dependent and rate-independent response regime and (iii) the numerical solution of nonlinear rate problems via incremental iteration techniques. In the first part, alternative finite element models are developed for the idealization of large deformation problems. A systematic approach is presented to linearize the field equations locally by an incremental procedure. The finite element formulation is then examined for the description of inelastic material processes. In the second part, nonlinear and inelastic material phenomena are classified and illustrated with representative examples of concrete and metal components. In particular, rate-dependent and rate-independent material behavior is examined and representative constitutive models are assessed for their mathematical characterization. Hypoelastic, elastoplastic and endochronic models are compared for the description rate-independent material phenomena. In the third part, the numerial solution of inelastic structural behavior is discussed. In this context, several incremental techniques are developed and compared for tracing the evolution of the inelastic process. The numerical procedures are examined with regard to stability and accuracy to assess the overall efficiency. The 'optimal' incremental technique is then contrasted with the computer storage requirements to retain the data for the 'memory-characteristics' of the constitutive model

Fuel elements (uranium clad with zirconium) produced by co-extrusion; Les elements combustibles uranium gaine de zirconium obtenus par coextrusion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Montagne, R.; Winogradzki, A.; Sauve, C.; Buffet, J. [Commissariat a l' energie atomique et aux energies alternatives - CEA, Departement de Metallurgie et de Chimie Appliquee (France)

1959-07-01

In this paper a description is given of a process for making fuel elements for atomic reactors. Contact of the most intimate possible kind is achieved between the fuel and the sheath by the simultaneous extrusion of the two elements. Genuine welding between the two metals is thus effected. This can be subsequently improved by a heat-treatment which causes diffusion. Tests made on these co-extruded elements are described in the paper. Reprint of a paper published in Revue de Metallurgie, LV, no. 11, 1958.

CRISP : a scalable VLIW processor for low power multimedia systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barat Quesada, F.

2005-01-01

Over the last couple of years, the demand for portable multimedia devices has been growing at an impressive rate. The ideal multimedia device will present high quality multimedia content, and will be networked, portable, inexpensive and easy to use. In order to cope with the dynamism of current and

Numerical Simulation of Two-Fluid Mingling Using the Particle Finite Element Method with Applications to Magmatic and Volcanic Processes

Science.gov (United States)

de Mier, M.; Costa, F.; Idelsohn, S.

2008-12-01

Many magmatic and volcanic processes (e.g., magma differentiation, mingling, transport in the volcanic conduit) are controlled by the physical properties and flow styles of high-temperature silicate melts. Such processes can be experimentally investigated using analog systems and scaling methods, but it is difficult to find the suitable material and it is generally not possible to quantitatively extrapolate the results to the natural system. An alternative means of studying fluid dynamics in volcanic systems is with numerical models. We have chosen the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM), which is based on a Delaunay mesh that moves with the fluid velocity, the Navier-Stokes equations in Lagrangian formulation, and linear elements for velocity, pressure, and temperature. Remeshing is performed when the grid becomes too distorted [E. Oñate et al., 2004. The Particle Finite Element Method: An Overview. Int. J. Comput. Meth. 1, 267-307]. The method is ideal for tracking material interfaces between different fluids or media. Methods based on Eulerian reference frames need special techniques, such as level-set or volume-of-fluid, to capture the interface position, and these techniques add a significant numerical diffusion at the interface. We have performed a series of two-dimensional simulations of a classical problem of fluid dynamics in magmatic and volcanic systems: intrusion of a basaltic melt in a silica-rich magma reservoir. We have used realistic physical properties and equations of state for the silicate melts (e.g., temperature, viscosity, and density) and tracked the changes in the system for geologically relevant time scales (up to 100 years). The problem is modeled by the low-Mach-number equations derived from an asymptotic analysis of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations that removes shock waves from the flow but allows however large variations of density due to temperature variations. Non-constant viscosity and volume changes are taken into account

Finite element analysis of multilayer coextrusion.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hopkins, Matthew Morgan; Schunk, Peter Randall; Baer, Thomas A. (Proctor & Gamble Company, West Chester, OH); Mrozek, Randy A. (Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD); Lenhart, Joseph Ludlow (Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD); Rao, Rekha Ranjana; Collins, Robert (Oak Ridge National Laboratory); Mondy, Lisa Ann

2011-09-01

Multilayer coextrusion has become a popular commercial process for producing complex polymeric products from soda bottles to reflective coatings. A numerical model of a multilayer coextrusion process is developed based on a finite element discretization and two different free-surface methods, an arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) moving mesh implementation and an Eulerian level set method, to understand the moving boundary problem associated with the polymer-polymer interface. The goal of this work is to have a numerical capability suitable for optimizing and troubleshooting the coextrusion process, circumventing flow instabilities such as ribbing and barring, and reducing variability in layer thickness. Though these instabilities can be both viscous and elastic in nature, for this work a generalized Newtonian description of the fluid is used. Models of varying degrees of complexity are investigated including stability analysis and direct three-dimensional finite element free surface approaches. The results of this work show how critical modeling can be to reduce build test cycles, improve material choices, and guide mold design.

A Study of Coal Miners’ Safety Psychological Elements Based on Questionnaire Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Zeng-bo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available During the production process, the instability of safety psychological elements of coal miners contributes to unsafe behaviors that may result in fatal accident. To search the dominant psychological elements, three types of unsafe psychology, comprising 18 unsafe psychological elements, are obtained by theoretical analysis and site survey. Then, an assessment model is established, and a matched questionnaire is applied to two large modern coal mines in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Based on questionnaire survey results and analytic hierarchy process (AHP, assessment judgment matrixes are constructed, effect weight is calculated, and consistency check is conducted. The analysis results show that safety psychology elements of defective type are the dominant elements that trigger unsafe behaviors of coal miners.

A novel processing system of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c regulated by polyunsaturated fatty acid.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakakuki, Masanori; Kawano, Hiroyuki; Notsu, Tatsuto; Imada, Kazunori; Mizuguchi, Kiyoshi; Shimano, Hitoshi

2014-05-01

The proteolytic cascade is the key step in transactivation of sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs), a transcriptional factor of lipid synthesis. Proteolysis of SREBP-2 is strictly regulated by sterols, but that of SREBP-1c was not strongly sterol-regulated, but inhibited by polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). In this study, the proteolytic processing of SREBP-1 and -2 was examined by transfection studies of cDNA-encoding mutants in which all the known cleavage sites were disrupted. In cultured cells, sterol-regulated SREBP-2 processing was completely eliminated by mutation of cleavage sites. In contrast, the corresponding SREBP-1c mutants as well as wild type exhibited large amounts of cleaved products in the nuclear extracts from culture cells and murine liver in vivo. The nuclear form of the mutant SREBP-1c was induced by delipidated condition and suppressed by eicosapentaenoic acid, an n-3 PUFA, but not by sterols. This novel processing mechanism was affected by neither SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP) nor insulin-induced gene (Insig)-1, unlike SREBP-2, but abolished by a serine protease inhibitor. Through analysis of deletion mutant, a site-2 protease recognition sequence (DRSR) was identified to be involved in this novel processing. These findings suggest that SREBP-1c cleavage could be subjected to a novel PUFA-regulated cleavage system in addition to the sterol-regulatory SCAP/Insig system.

Anaerobic digestion of thermal pre-treated emulsified slaughterhouse wastes (TESW): Effect of trace element limitation on process efficiency and sludge metabolic properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Eftaxias, Alexandros; Diamantis, Vasileios; Aivasidis, Alexandros

2018-06-01

Slaughterhouse solid wastes, characterized by a high lipid content, are considered a valuable resource for energy production by means of anaerobic digestion technologies. Aim of this study was to examine the effect of trace element limitation on the mesophilic anaerobic digestion of thermally pre-treated emulsified slaughterhouse wastes (TESW). Under two distinct experimental periods (Period I - low and Period II - high trace element dosage respectively) a CSTR with sludge recirculation was operated at increasing organic loading rate (OLR) from 1.5 to 10 g L -1  d -1 . Under optimum conditions, COD removal was higher than 96%, biogas yield equal to 0.53 L g -1  COD feed and the biogas methane content 77%. Trace element limitation however, resulted in a dramatic decline in process efficiency, with VFA accumulation and events of extreme sludge flotation, despite that the soluble concentration of Ni, Co and Mo were between 12 and 28 μg L -1 . This is indicative of mass transfer limitations caused by lipids adsorption onto the anaerobic biomass. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Innovative Application of Mechanical Activation for Rare Earth Elements Recovering: Process Optimization and Mechanism Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Quanyin; Deng, Chao; Li, Jinhui

2016-01-01

With the rapidly expanding use of fluorescent lamps (FLs) and increasing interest in conservation and sustainable utilization of critical metals such as rare earth elements (REEs), the recovering of REEs from phosphors in waste FLs is becoming a critical environmental and economic issue. To effectively recycle REEs with metallurgical methods, mechanical activation by ball milling was introduced to pretreat the waste phosphors. This current study put the emphasis on the mechanical activation and leaching processes for REEs, and explored the feasibility of the method from both theoretical and practical standpoints. Results showed physicochemical changes of structural destruction and particle size reduction after mechanical activation, leading to the easy dissolution of REEs in the activated samples. Under optimal conditions, dissolution yields of 89.4%, 93.1% and 94.6% for Tb, Eu and Y, respectively, were achieved from activated waste phosphors using hydrochloric acid as the dissolution agent. The shrinking core model proved to be the most applicable for the leaching procedure, with an apparent activation energy of 10.96 ± 2.79 kJ/mol. This novel process indicates that mechanical activation is an efficient method for recovering REEs from waste phosphors, and it has promising potential for REE recovery with low cost and high efficiency.

Prioritising Project Scope Definition Elements in Public Building Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed K Fageha

2014-09-01

Full Text Available A complete definition of the scope of a project upfront during early stages ensures smooth and successful implementation during the project execution. This research identifies and prioritises project scope definition elements for public buildings in Saudi Arabia. Elements that could significantly contribute to complete project scope definition package at pre-project planning stage are identified and their interrelationship determined and prioritised. Using the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI as a basis, the study uses analytical network process (ANP technique based on data obtained from project managers who have been involved in public sector projects in Saudi Arabia. Data collection and analysis was conducted in three steps. The first step involved identification of scope definition elements while the second involved an investigation into interrelationships among the elements. In the third step, ANP was used to determine the weight of the elements’ importance in terms of contribution to project scope definition completeness. Finally, Pareto analysis was used to prioritise and assess the distribution pattern of the elements. The outcome from this research is the prioritisation of project scope definition elements for public building projects in Saudi Arabia. The prioritised list developed indicates the importance of project scope definition elements. It should help project management teams identify elements to consider when evaluating project scope definition for completeness at the pre-project planning stage. Keywords: Project scope definition, pre-project planning, prioritising, public building projects, Saudi Arabia, Analytical Network Process (ANP

Quality assurance of fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoerber, J.

1980-01-01

The quality assurance activities for reactor fuel elements are based on a quality assurance system which implies the requirements resulting from the specifications, regulations of the authorities, national standards and international rules and regulations. The quality assurance related to production of reactor fuel will be shown for PWR fuel elements in all typical fabrication steps as conversion into UO 2 -powder, pelletizing, rodmanufacture and assembling. A wide range of destructive and nondestructive techniques is applied. Quality assurance is not only verified by testing techniques but also by process monitoring by means of parameter control in production and testing procedures. (RW)

An embedded crack in a constant strain triangle utilizing extended finite element concepts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, J.F.; Poulsen, P.N.

2013-01-01

This paper revisits the formulation of the CST element with an embedded discrete crack taking advantage of the direct formulations developed within the framework of the extended finite element method, XFEM. The result is a simple element for modeling cohesive fracture processes in quasi-brittle m......This paper revisits the formulation of the CST element with an embedded discrete crack taking advantage of the direct formulations developed within the framework of the extended finite element method, XFEM. The result is a simple element for modeling cohesive fracture processes in quasi......-element discontinuity of displacements. The formulation is based on a variational principle of virtual work involving only the interpolation of displacements. The good performance of the element is demonstrated through the comparison with three benchmark tests in which a single crack is propagated: The center cracked...

Information Environment is an Integral Element of Informational Space in the Process of Professional Development of Future Teacher of Physical Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuri V. Dragnev

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The article examines information environment as an integral element of information space in the process of professional development of future teacher of physical culture, notes that the strategic objective of the system of higher education is training of competent future teacher of physical culture in the field of information technologies, when information competence and information culture are major components of professionalism in modern information-oriented society

External Economies Evaluation of Wind Power Engineering Project Based on Analytic Hierarchy Process and Matter-Element Extension Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong-ze Li

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The external economies of wind power engineering project may affect the operational efficiency of wind power enterprises and sustainable development of wind power industry. In order to ensure that the wind power engineering project is constructed and developed in a scientific manner, a reasonable external economies evaluation needs to be performed. Considering the interaction relationship of the evaluation indices and the ambiguity and uncertainty inherent, a hybrid model of external economies evaluation designed to be applied to wind power engineering project was put forward based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP and matter-element extension model in this paper. The AHP was used to determine the weights of indices, and the matter-element extension model was used to deduce final ranking. Taking a wind power engineering project in Inner Mongolia city as an example, the external economies evaluation is performed by employing this hybrid model. The result shows that the external economies of this wind power engineering project are belonged to the “strongest” level, and “the degree of increasing region GDP,” “the degree of reducing pollution gas emissions,” and “the degree of energy conservation” are the sensitive indices.

Game meat authentication through rare earth elements fingerprinting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Danezis, G.P.; Pappas, A.C.; Zoidis, E.; Papadomichelakis, G.; Hadjigeorgiou, I.; Zhang, P.; Brusic, V.; Georgiou, C.A.

2017-01-01

Accurate labelling of meat (e.g. wild versus farmed, geographical and genetic origin, organic versus conventional, processing treatment) is important to inform the consumers about the products they buy. Meat and meat products declared as game have higher commercial value making them target to fraudulent labelling practices and replacement with non-game meat. We have developed and validated a new method for authentication of wild rabbit meat using elemental metabolomics approach. Elemental analysis was performed using rapid ultra-trace multi-element measurement by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Elemental signatures showed excellent ability to discriminate the wild rabbit from non-wild rabbit meat. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of metabolic markers -rare earth signatures, as well as other trace element signatures for game meat authentication. - Highlights: • Elemental metabolomics is a powerful new methodology for authentication of game rabbit meat. • New method for meat authentication utilizing rare earths elemental signatures. • Samples are compared to group signatures using angular and Euclidean distances. • Meat reference materials (>70 elements) can be used for cross-comparison between studies.

Appraisals of Salient Visual Elements in Web Page Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johanna M. Silvennoinen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Visual elements in user interfaces elicit emotions in users and are, therefore, essential to users interacting with different software. Although there is research on the relationship between emotional experience and visual user interface design, the focus has been on the overall visual impression and not on visual elements. Additionally, often in a software development process, programming and general usability guidelines are considered as the most important parts of the process. Therefore, knowledge of programmers’ appraisals of visual elements can be utilized to understand the web page designs we interact with. In this study, appraisal theory of emotion is utilized to elaborate the relationship of emotional experience and visual elements from programmers’ perspective. Participants (N=50 used 3E-templates to express their visual and emotional experiences of web page designs. Content analysis of textual data illustrates how emotional experiences are elicited by salient visual elements. Eight hierarchical visual element categories were found and connected to various emotions, such as frustration, boredom, and calmness, via relational emotion themes. The emotional emphasis was on centered, symmetrical, and balanced composition, which was experienced as pleasant and calming. The results benefit user-centered visual interface design and researchers of visual aesthetics in human-computer interaction.

Focusing light through random photonic layers by four-element division algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Longjie; Zhang, Xicheng; Zuo, Haoyi; Pang, Lin

2018-02-01

The propagation of waves in turbid media is a fundamental problem of optics with vast applications. Optical phase optimization approaches for focusing light through turbid media using phase control algorithm have been widely studied in recent years due to the rapid development of spatial light modulator. The existing approaches include element-based algorithms - stepwise sequential algorithm, continuous sequential algorithm and whole element optimization approaches - partitioning algorithm, transmission matrix approach and genetic algorithm. The advantage of element-based approaches is that the phase contribution of each element is very clear; however, because the intensity contribution of each element to the focal point is small especially for the case of large number of elements, the determination of the optimal phase for a single element would be difficult. In other words, the signal to noise ratio of the measurement is weak, leading to possibly local maximal during the optimization. As for whole element optimization approaches, all elements are employed for the optimization. Of course, signal to noise ratio during the optimization is improved. However, because more random processings are introduced into the processing, optimizations take more time to converge than the single element based approaches. Based on the advantages of both single element based approaches and whole element optimization approaches, we propose FEDA approach. Comparisons with the existing approaches show that FEDA only takes one third of measurement time to reach the optimization, which means that FEDA is promising in practical application such as for deep tissue imaging.

Technical Report on the Behavior of Trace Elements, Stable Isotopes, and Radiogenic Isotopes During the Processing of Uranium Ore to Uranium Ore Concentrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marks, N. E. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Borg, L. E. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Eppich, G. R. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Gaffney, A. M. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Genneti, V. G. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Hutcheon, I. D. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Kristo, M. J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Lindvall, R. E. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Ramon, C. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Robel, M. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Roberts, S. K. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Schorzman, K. C. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Sharp, M. A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Singleton, M. J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Williams, R. W. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2015-07-09

The goals of this SP-1 effort were to understand how isotopic and elemental signatures behave during mining, milling, and concentration and to identify analytes that might preserve geologic signatures of the protolith ores. The impurities that are preserved through the concentration process could provide useful forensic signatures and perhaps prove diagnostic of sample origin.

Drying results of K-Basin fuel element 0309M (Run 3)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliver, B.M.; Klinger, G.S.; Abrefah, J.; Marschman, S.C.; MacFarlan, P.J.; Ritter, G.A.

1998-07-01

An N-Reactor outer fuel element that had been stored underwater in the Hanford 100 Area K-West Basin was subjected to a combination of low- and high-temperature vacuum drying treatments. These studies are part of a series of tests being conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on the drying behavior of spent nuclear fuel elements removed from both the K-West and K-East Basins. The drying test series was designed to test fuel elements that ranged from intact to severely damaged. The fuel element discussed in this report was removed from K-West canister 0309M during the second fuel selection campaign, conducted in 1996, and has remained in wet storage in the Postirradiation Testing Laboratory (PTL, 327 Building) since that time. The fuel element was broken in two pieces, with a relatively clean fracture, and the larger piece was tested. A gray/white coating was observed. This was the first test of a damaged fuel element in the furnace. K-West canisters can hold up to seven complete fuel assemblies, but, for purposes of this report, the element tested here is designated as Element 0309M. Element 0309M was subjected to drying processes based on those proposed under the Integrated Process Strategy, which included a hot drying step

Regulatable elements in the high-level waste management program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oakley, D.

1979-01-01

Regulatable elements of a deep geological nuclear waste isolation system are those characteristics of a candidate system which need to be specified to achieve control of its performance. This report identifies the regulatable elements with respect to waste form, repository design, site suitability, and the modeling and decision analysis processes. Regulatable elements in each section are listed and described briefly as they affect the short-term and long-term performance of a deep geological repository

Studies on the finite element simulation in sheet metal stamping processes

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ying

The sheet metal stamping process plays an important role in modern industry. With the ever-increasing demand for shape complexity, product quality and new materials, the traditional trial and error method for setting up a sheet metal stamping process is no longer efficient. As a result, the Finite Element Modeling (FEM) method has now been widely used. From a physical point of view, the formability and the quality of a product are influenced by several factors. The design of the product in the initial stage and the motion of the press during the production stage are two of these crucial factors. This thesis focuses on the numerical simulation for these two factors using FEM. Currently, there are a number of commercial FEM software systems available in the market. These software systems are based on an incremental FEM process that models the sheet metal stamping process in small incremental steps. Even though the incremental FEM is accurate, it is not suitable for the initial conceptual design for its needing of detailed design parameters and enormous calculation times. As a result, another type of FEM, called the inverse FEM method or one-step FEM method, has been proposed. While it is less accurate than that of the incremental method, this method requires much less computation and hence, has a great potential. However, it also faces a number of unsolved problems, which limits its application. This motivates the presented research. After the review of the basic theory of the inverse method, a new modified arc-length search method is proposed to find better initial solution. The methods to deal with the vertical walls are also discussed and presented. Then, a generalized multi-step inverse FEM method is proposed. It solves two key obstacles: the first one is to determine the initial solution of the intermediate three-dimensional configurations and the other is to control the movement of nodes so they could only slide on constraint surfaces during the search by

Spectral response of multi-element silicon detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ludewigt, B.A.; Rossington, C.S.; Chapman, K. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

1997-04-01

Multi-element silicon strip detectors, in conjunction with integrated circuit pulse-processing electronics, offer an attractive alternative to conventional lithium-drifted silicon Si(Li) and high purity germanium detectors (HPGe) for high count rate, low noise synchrotron x-ray fluorescence applications. One of the major differences between the segmented Si detectors and the commercially available single-element Si(Li) or HPGe detectors is that hundreds of elements can be fabricated on a single Si substrate using standard silicon processing technologies. The segmentation of the detector substrate into many small elements results in very low noise performance at or near, room temperature, and the count rate of the detector is increased many-fold due to the multiplication in the total number of detectors. Traditionally, a single channel of detector with electronics can handle {approximately}100 kHz count rates while maintaining good energy resolution; the segmented detectors can operate at greater than MHz count rates merely due to the multiplication in the number of channels. One of the most critical aspects in the development of the segmented detectors is characterizing the charge sharing and charge loss that occur between the individual detector strips, and determining how these affect the spectral response of the detectors.

On-line gas chromatographic studies of rutherfordium (Element 104), hahnium (Element 105), and homologs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kadkhodayan, B.

1993-05-01

Gas-phase isothermal chromatogaphy is a method by which volatile compounds of different chemical elements can be separated according to their volatilities. The technique, coupled with theoretical modeling of the processes occurring in the chromatogaphy column, provides accurate determination of thermodynamic properties (e.g., adsorption enthalpies) for compounds of elements, such as the transactinides, which can only be produced on an atom-at-a-time basis. In addition, the chemical selectivity of the isothermal chromatogaphy technique provides the decontamination from interfering activities necessary for the determination of the nuclear decay properties of isotopes of the transactinide elements. Volatility measurements were performed on chloride species of Rf and its group 4 homologs, Zr and Hf, as well as Ha and its group 5 homologs, Nb and Ta. Adsorption enthalpies were calculated for all species using a Monte Carlo code simulation based on a microscopic model for gas thermochromatography in open columns with laminar flow of the carrier gas. Preliminary results are presented for Zr- and Nb-bromides

Development and evaluation of separation elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guimaraes, R.R.R.; Rocha, Z.

1990-01-01

For industrial testing of the uranium enrichment technology by the jet nozzle process, it is being erected in Resende the 'First Cascade' (FC) and it was built the Separation Element Plant (FES). For the development, optimization and quality control of the separation elements produced by FES, it was set up in CDTN a laboratorial infrastructure. As part of it, it was designed, built and assembled the Separation Slit Testing Equipment (ITRS), with several components developed and constructed in CDTN. The tests are being carried out in ITRS with the objective of adjusting the machine tools of FES used in the line production of the separation elements. From the satisfactory results obtained with these tests, FES will start the production of separation tubes to be installed in FC. The objective of this paper is to describe the operation and evaluation tests in ITRS, as well as to present their contribution to the development and quality control of the separation elements produced in FES. (author) [pt

Prediction of springback in V-die air bending process by using finite element method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trzepiecinski Tomasz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Springback phenomenon affects the dimensional and geometrical accuracy of the bent parts. The prediction of springback is a key problem in sheet metal forming. The aim of this paper is the numerical analysis of the possibility to predict the springback of anisotropic steel sheets. The experiments are conducted on 40 x 100 mm steel sheets. The mechanical properties of the sheet metals have been determined through uniaxial tensile tests of samples cut along three directions with respect to the rolling direction. The numerical model of air V-bending is built in finite element method (FEM based ABAQUS/Standard 2016.HF2 (Dassault Systemes Simulia Corp., USA program. The FEM results were verified by experimental investigations. The simulation model has taken into consideration material anisotropy and strain hardening phenomenon. The results of FEM simulations confirmed the ability of numerical prediction of springback amount. It was also found that the directional microstructure of the sheet metal resulted from rolling process affects the elastic-plastic deformation of the sheets through the sample width.

New functionalities in abundant element oxides: ubiquitous element strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosono, Hideo; Hayashi, Katsuro; Kamiya, Toshio; Atou, Toshiyuki; Susaki, Tomofumi

2011-01-01

While most ceramics are composed of ubiquitous elements (the ten most abundant elements within the Earth's crust), many advanced materials are based on rare elements. A 'rare-element crisis' is approaching owing to the imbalance between the limited supply of rare elements and the increasing demand. Therefore, we propose a 'ubiquitous element strategy' for materials research, which aims to apply abundant elements in a variety of innovative applications. Creation of innovative oxide materials and devices based on conventional ceramics is one specific challenge. This review describes the concept of ubiquitous element strategy and gives some highlights of our recent research on the synthesis of electronic, thermionic and structural materials using ubiquitous elements. (topical review)

Performance Characteristics of PTC Elements for an Electric Vehicle Heating System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoon Hyuk Shin

2016-10-01

Full Text Available A high-voltage positive temperature coefficient (PTC heater has a simple structure and a swift response. Therefore, for cabin heating in electric vehicles (EVs, such heaters are used either on their own or with a heat pump system. In this study, the sintering process in the manufacturing of PTC elements for an EV heating system was improved to enhance surface uniformity. The electrode production process entailing thin-film sputtering deposition was applied to ensure the high heating performance of PTC elements and reduce the electrode thickness. The allowable voltage and surface heat temperature of the high-voltage PTC elements with thin-film electrodes were 800 V and 172 °C, respectively. The electrode layer thickness was uniform at approximately 3.8 μm or less, approximately 69% less electrode materials were required compared to that before process improvement. Furthermore, a heater for the EV heating system was manufactured using the developed high-voltage PTC elements to verify performance and reliability.

Removal of trace element by isolates of Aspergillus brasiliensis ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Coffee beans processing generates a large volume of wastewater composed of trace elements which can be detrimental to human health. The present study aimed at evaluating the capacity of strains of Aspergillus brasiliensis and Penicillium citrinum in tolerating and removing trace elements namely: Cu, Mn and Zn from ...

[Structural elements of critical thinking of nurses in emergency care].

Science.gov (United States)

Crossetti, Maria da Graça Oliveira; Bittencourt, Greicy Kelly Gouveia Dias; Lima, Ana Amélia Antunes; de Góes, Marta Georgina Oliveira; Saurin, Gislaine

2014-09-01

The objective of this study was to analyze the structural elements of critical thinking (CT) of nurses in the clinical decision-making process. This exploratory, qualitative study was conducted with 20 emergency care nurses in three hospitals in southern Brazil. Data were collected from April to June 2009, and a validated clinical case was applied from which nurses listed health problems, prescribed care and listed the structural elements of CT. Content analysis resulted in categories used to determine priority structural elements of CT, namely theoretical foundations and practical relationship to clinical decision making; technical and scientific knowledge and clinical experience, thought processes and clinical decision making: clinical reasoning and basis for clinical judgments of nurses: patient assessment and ethics. It was concluded that thinking critically is a skill that enables implementation of a secure and effective nursing care process.

Structural elements of critical thinking of nurses in emergency care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria da Graça Oliveira Crossetti

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to analyze the structural elements of critical thinking (CT of nurses in the clinical decision-making process. This exploratory, qualitative study was conducted with 20 emergency care nurses in three hospitals in southern Brazil. Data were collected from April to June 2009, and a validated clinical case was applied from which nurses listed health problems, prescribed care and listed the structural elements of CT. Content analysis resulted in categories used to determine priority structural elements of CT, namely theoretical foundations and practical relationship to clinical decision making; technical and scientific knowledge and clinical experience, thought processes and clinical decision making: clinical reasoning and basis for clinical judgments of nurses: patient assessment and ethics. It was concluded that thinking critically is a skill that enables implementation of a secure and effective nursing care process.

New elements - approaching Z=114

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofmann, S.

1998-03-01

The search for new elements is part of the broader field of investigations of nuclei at the limits of stability. In two series of experiments at SHIP, six new elements (Z=107-112) were synthesized via fusion reactions using 1n-deexcitation channels and lead or bismuth targets. The isotopes were unambiguously identified by means of α-α correlations. Not fission, but alpha decay is the dominant decay mode. The collected decay data establish a means of comparison with theoretical data. This aids in the selection of appropriate models that describe the properties of known nuclei. Predictions based on these models are useful in the preparation of the next generation of experiments. Cross-sections decrease by two orders of magnitude from bohrium (Z=107) to element 112, for which a cross-section of 1 pb was measured. The development of intense beam currents and sensitive detection methods is essential for the production and identification of still heavier elements and new isotopes of already known elements, as well as the measurement of small α-, β- and fission-branching ratios. An equally sensitive set-up is needed for the measurement of excitation functions at low cross-sections. Based on our results, it is likely that the production of isotopes of element 114 close to the island of spherical super heavy elements (SHE) could be achieved by fusion reactions using 208 Pb targets. Systematic studies of the reaction cross-sections indicate that the transfer of nucleons is an important process for the initiation of fusion. The data allow for the fixing of a narrow energy window for the production of SHE using 1n-emission channels. (orig.)

Neutron activation analysis of trace metallic elements eluted from molecular sieves in the dehydration process of safflower oil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takasago, Masahisa; Kobayashi, Koichi; Taru, Yasunori; Takaoka, Kyo

1992-01-01

Dissolved water in safflower oil affects the autoxidation of this oil significantly. Molecular sieves were used to remove the dissolved water from the oil. This method is much simpler than that of distillation, and dissolved water can be removed to the same extent as that by distillation. But, due to the elution of many kinds of trace metallic elements in the oil dehydrated with molecular sieves, these elements were analyzed by neutron activation analysis. For a data comparison trace amounts of metallic elements in the oil dehydrated by distillation were also analyzed. Since the intensity of the γ ray-photoelectric peak of nuclide 28 Al was largest among the detected elements, this element was analyzed quantitatively and the other elements qualitatively. In safflower oil dehydrated with molecular sieves, 14 kinds of the elements (I, Br, Al, Mg, Si, V, Cl, Nd, Ta, Cr, Sb, Cs, Co, Na) were detected. Also, I, Br, Cl, Cr, Ta, Sb, and Al elements were detected in the oil dehydrated by distillation. The intensity of the photoelectric peak of nuclide except 28 Al was essentially the same as that in the oil dehydrated by distillation, but the intensity of 28 Al in the oil with molecular sieves was about 28 times stronger than that in distillation oil. In the molecular sieves, 19 impure elements in addition to the original constituents (Na, K, Al, si, O) were detected. It was Al, Na, Si, Nd, Cs, and Co along with impure elements may possibly have been eluted in the oil. Al element in safflower oil dehydrated with molecular sieves was analyzed quantitatively. 0.91 ppm of Al was detected in safflower oil. The eluted amount of Al in safflower oil dehydrated by distillation was 0.032 ppm. A larger amount of Al element was thus eluted into the oil dehydrated with molecular sieves than by distillation. (author)

Using finite element modelling to examine the flow process and temperature evolution in HPT under different constraining conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pereira, P H R; Langdon, T G; Figueiredo, R B; Cetlin, P R

2014-01-01

High-pressure torsion (HPT) is a metal-working technique used to impose severe plastic deformation into disc-shaped samples under high hydrostatic pressures. Different HPT facilities have been developed and they may be divided into three distinct categories depending upon the configuration of the anvils and the restriction imposed on the lateral flow of the samples. In the present paper, finite element simulations were performed to compare the flow process, temperature, strain and hydrostatic stress distributions under unconstrained, quasi-constrained and constrained conditions. It is shown there are distinct strain distributions in the samples depending on the facility configurations and a similar trend in the temperature rise of the HPT workpieces

Elemental composition of cosmic ray

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanagida, Shohei

1987-01-01

The report first summarizes some data that have been obtained so far from observation of isotopes and elements in cosmic rays in the low energy region. Then, objectives of studies planned to be carried out with Astromag are outlined and the number of incident particles expected to be measured by baloon observation is estimated. Heavy elements with atomic numbers of greater than 30 are considered to be formed through neutron absorption reactions by the s- or r-process. Observations show that products of the r-process is abundant in cosmic ray sources. The escape length depends on energy. In relation to this, it has been reported that the ratios Ar-Fe and Ca-Fe increase above 200 GeV-n while such a tendency is not observed for K, Sc, Ti or V. Thus, no satisfactory models are available at present which can fully explain the changes in the escape length. The ratio 3 He- 4 He in the range of 5 - 10 GeV-n is inconsistent with the general theory that interprets the escape length of heavy elements. Some models, including the supermetallicity model and Wolf Rayet theory, have been proposed to explain unusual ratios of isotopes in cosmic rays, but more measurements are required to verify them. It is expected that Astromag can serve to make observations that can clarify these points. (Nogami, K.)

Neutron activation analysis of trace elements in foodstuffs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schelenz, R.; Fischer, E.

1976-05-01

A neutron activation method for multielement determination in biological material was developed. The individual steps of the method include radiochemical processing as well as nondestructive techniques. In order to develop a high resolution gamma spectrometric method the indispensable assumptions were the application of Ge(Li)-semiconductor detectors, multi-channel pulse height analyzers and the use of electronic data evaluation with mini-computers for the automatic evaluation of complex gamma spectra. After radiochemical separation (RNAA) 33 elements can be determined in biological materials and by application of nondestructive, purely instrumental techniques (INAA) 25 elements. The time required for the analysis of 33 elements can be determined in biological materials and by application of nondestructive, purely instrumental techniques (INAA) 25 elements. The time required for the analysis of 33 elements is 4 days. The neutron activation method is used routinely for the determination of trace elements in foodstuffs and in the field of nutrition research. (orig.) [de

Fabrication of Elemental Copper by Intense Pulsed Light Processing of a Copper Nitrate Hydroxide Ink.

Science.gov (United States)

Draper, Gabriel L; Dharmadasa, Ruvini; Staats, Meghan E; Lavery, Brandon W; Druffel, Thad

2015-08-05

Printed electronics and renewable energy technologies have shown a growing demand for scalable copper and copper precursor inks. An alternative copper precursor ink of copper nitrate hydroxide, Cu2(OH)3NO3, was aqueously synthesized under ambient conditions with copper nitrate and potassium hydroxide reagents. Films were deposited by screen-printing and subsequently processed with intense pulsed light. The Cu2(OH)3NO3 quickly transformed in less than 100 s using 40 (2 ms, 12.8 J cm(-2)) pulses into CuO. At higher energy densities, the sintering improved the bulk film quality. The direct formation of Cu from the Cu2(OH)3NO3 requires a reducing agent; therefore, fructose and glucose were added to the inks. Rather than oxidizing, the thermal decomposition of the sugars led to a reducing environment and direct conversion of the films into elemental copper. The chemical and physical transformations were studied with XRD, SEM, FTIR and UV-vis.

The General Laws of Chemical Elements Composition Dynamics in the Biosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Korzh, Vyacheslav D.

2013-04-01

The key point of investigation of the specificity of the biosphere elemental composition formation is determination of patterns of redistribution of elemental average concentrations among various phases, like solid - liquid ( the lithosphere - the hydrosphere), which occurs as a result of a global continuous processing of inert matter by living substances. Our task here is to investigate this process in the system "lithosphere - hydrosphere" in view of the integrated involvement of living material in it. This process is most active in biogeochemical barriers, i.e. in places of "the life condensation" and runs under a nonlinear regularity that has been unknown before. It is established that this process results in a general relative increase in concentrations of chemical elements in the solid phase in proportion as their prevalence in the environment is reduced. This process running in various natural systems has practically the same parameter of nonlinearity (v) approximately equal to 0.7. For proto-lithosphere -"living material" - soil v = 0.75. For river - "living material" - ocean v = 0.67. For the contemporary factual awareness level these estimations of nonlinearity indices are practically negligible. Hence, it is for the first time that the existence of a universal constant of nonlinearity of elemental composition evolution in the biosphere has been proved and its quantitative evaluation has been made. REFERENCES 1. Korzh V.D. 1974. Some general laws governing the turnover of substance within the ocean-atmosphere-continent-ocean cycle. // Journal de Recherches Atmospheriques. Vol. 8. P. 653-660. 2. Korzh V.D. 2008. The general laws in the formation of the elemental composition of the Hydrosphere and Biosphere.// J. Ecologica, Vol. XV, P. 13-21. 3. Korzh V.D. 2012. Determination of general laws of elemental composition in Hydrosphere // Water: chemistry & ecology, Journal of water science and its practical application. # 1, P.56-62.

Key elements of successful care process of patients with heart symptoms in an emergency care - could an ERP system help?

Science.gov (United States)

Kontio, Elina; Korvenranta, Heikki; Lundgren-Laine, Heljä; Salanterä, Sanna

2009-01-01

The aim of the study was to identify key elements of successful care process of patients with heart symptoms from the nursing management viewpoint in an emergency care. Through these descriptions, we aimed at identifying possibilities for using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to support decision making in emergency care. Hospitals are increasingly moving to process-based workings and at the same time new information system in healthcare are developed and therefore it is essential to understand the strengths and weaknesses of current processes better. A qualitative descriptive design using critical incident technique was employed. Critical Incidents were collected with an open-ended questionnaire. The sample (n=50), 13 head nurses and 37 registered nurses, was purposeful selected from three acute hospitals in southern Finland. The process of patients with heart symptoms in emergency care was described. We identified three competence categories where special focus should be placed to achieve successful process of patients with heart symptoms: process-oriented competencies, personal/management competencies and logistics oriented competencies. Improvement of decision making requires that the care processes are defined and modeled. The research showed that there are several happenings in emergency care where an ERP system could help and support decision making. These happenings can be categorized in two groups: 1) administrative related happenings and 2) patient processes related happenings.

Aspects of Finite Element Simulation of Axi-Symmetric Hydromechanical Deep Drawing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Morten Rikard; Olovsson, Lars; Danckert, Joachim

1999-01-01

A new approach for the Finite Element modelling of the hydromechanical deep drawing process is evaluated. In the model a Finite Difference approximation of Reynold’s equation is solved for the fluid flow between the blank and the draw die in the flange region. The approach is implemented...... as a contact algorithm in an explicit Finite Element code, Exhale2D. The developed model is verified against experiments and good agreement is obtained. It is concluded that the developed model is a promising approach for simulating the hydromechanical deep drawing process using the Finite Element Method....

Game meat authentication through rare earth elements fingerprinting.

Science.gov (United States)

Danezis, G P; Pappas, A C; Zoidis, E; Papadomichelakis, G; Hadjigeorgiou, I; Zhang, P; Brusic, V; Georgiou, C A

2017-10-23

Accurate labelling of meat (e.g. wild versus farmed, geographical and genetic origin, organic versus conventional, processing treatment) is important to inform the consumers about the products they buy. Meat and meat products declared as game have higher commercial value making them target to fraudulent labelling practices and replacement with non-game meat. We have developed and validated a new method for authentication of wild rabbit meat using elemental metabolomics approach. Elemental analysis was performed using rapid ultra-trace multi-element measurement by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Elemental signatures showed excellent ability to discriminate the wild rabbit from non-wild rabbit meat. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of metabolic markers -rare earth signatures, as well as other trace element signatures for game meat authentication. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Organization of cis-acting regulatory elements in osmotic- and cold-stress-responsive promoters.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, Kazuko; Shinozaki, Kazuo

2005-02-01

cis-Acting regulatory elements are important molecular switches involved in the transcriptional regulation of a dynamic network of gene activities controlling various biological processes, including abiotic stress responses, hormone responses and developmental processes. In particular, understanding regulatory gene networks in stress response cascades depends on successful functional analyses of cis-acting elements. The ever-improving accuracy of transcriptome expression profiling has led to the identification of various combinations of cis-acting elements in the promoter regions of stress-inducible genes involved in stress and hormone responses. Here we discuss major cis-acting elements, such as the ABA-responsive element (ABRE) and the dehydration-responsive element/C-repeat (DRE/CRT), that are a vital part of ABA-dependent and ABA-independent gene expression in osmotic and cold stress responses.

Understanding r-process nucleosynthesis with dwarf galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Alexander P.

2018-06-01

The Milky Way's faintest dwarf galaxy satellites each sample short, independent bursts of star formation from the first 1-2 Gyr of the universe. Their simple formation history makes them ideal systems to understand how rare events like neutron star mergers contribute to early enrichment of r-process elements. I will focus on the ultra-faint galaxy Reticulum II, which experienced a single prolific r-process event that left ~80% of its stars extremely enriched in r-process elements. I will present abundances of ~40 elements derived from the highest signal-to-noise high-resolution spectrum ever taken for an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy star. Precise measurements of elements from all three r-process peaks reaffirm the universal nature of the r-process abundance pattern from Ba to Ir. The first r-process peak is significantly lower than solar but matches other r-process enhanced stars. This constrains the neutron-richness of r-process ejecta in neutron star mergers. The radioactive element thorium is detected with a somewhat low abundance. Naive application of currently predicted initial production ratios could imply an age >20 Gyr, but more likely indicates that the initial production ratios require revision. The abundance of lighter elements up to Zn are consistent with extremely metal-poor Milky Way halo stars. These elements may eventually provide a way to test for other hypothesized r-process sites, but only after a more detailed understanding of the chemical evolution in this galaxy. Reticulum II provides a clean view of early r-process enrichment that can be used to understand the increasing number of r-process measurements in other dwarf galaxies.

Process and device for cooling of nuclear reactor fuel elements enclosed in a transport container

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stiefel, M.

1986-01-01

In order to remove the post-decay heat of the fuel elements contained in them, transport containers for burnt-up fuel elements can be connected to a water cooling circuit. In order to avoid thermal shocks, a tenside forming foam and air are introduced into the cooling circuit before its entry into the transport container in the direction of flow. The tenside and air continue to be supplied until the temperature inside the transport container has fallen below the temperature at which the foam is destroyed. By adding tenside and air, a two phase mixture is produced, which foams greatly when it enters the transport container and which cools the fuel elements so as to protect them.(orig./HP) [de

Neutron activation analysis of trace metallic elements eluted from molecular sieves in the dehydration process of safflower oil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takasago, Masahisa; Kobayashi, Koichi; Taru, Yasunori; Takaoka, Kyo (Musashi Inst. of Tech., Tokyo (Japan))

1992-11-01

Dissolved water in safflower oil affects the autoxidation of this oil significantly. Molecular sieves were used to remove the dissolved water from the oil. This method is much simpler than that of distillation, and dissolved water can be removed to the same extent as that by distillation. But, due to the elution of many kinds of trace metallic elements in the oil dehydrated with molecular sieves, these elements were analyzed by neutron activation analysis. For a data comparison trace amounts of metallic elements in the oil dehydrated by distillation were also analyzed. Since the intensity of the [gamma] ray-photoelectric peak of nuclide [sup 28]Al was largest among the detected elements, this element was analyzed quantitatively and the other elements qualitatively. In safflower oil dehydrated with molecular sieves, 14 kinds of the elements (I, Br, Al, Mg, Si, V, Cl, Nd, Ta, Cr, Sb, Cs, Co, Na) were detected. Also, I, Br, Cl, Cr, Ta, Sb, and Al elements were detected in the oil dehydrated by distillation. The intensity of the photoelectric peak of nuclide except [sup 28]Al was essentially the same as that in the oil dehydrated by distillation, but the intensity of [sup 28]Al in the oil with molecular sieves was about 28 times stronger than that in distillation oil. In the molecular sieves, 19 impure elements in addition to the original constituents (Na, K, Al, si, O) were detected. It was Al, Na, Si, Nd, Cs, and Co along with impure elements may possibly have been eluted in the oil. Al element in safflower oil dehydrated with molecular sieves was analyzed quantitatively. 0.91 ppm of Al was detected in safflower oil. The eluted amount of Al in safflower oil dehydrated by distillation was 0.032 ppm. A larger amount of Al element was thus eluted into the oil dehydrated with molecular sieves than by distillation. (author).

Fabrication of Porous Silicon Based Humidity Sensing Elements on Paper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tero Jalkanen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A roll-to-roll compatible fabrication process of porous silicon (pSi based sensing elements for a real-time humidity monitoring is described. The sensing elements, consisting of printed interdigitated silver electrodes and a spray-coated pSi layer, were fabricated on a coated paper substrate by a two-step process. Capacitive and resistive responses of the sensing elements were examined under different concentrations of humidity. More than a three orders of magnitude reproducible decrease in resistance was measured when the relative humidity (RH was increased from 0% to 90%. A relatively fast recovery without the need of any refreshing methods was observed with a change in RH. Humidity background signal and hysteresis arising from the paper substrate were dependent on the thickness of sensing pSi layer. Hysteresis in most optimal sensing element setup (a thick pSi layer was still noticeable but not detrimental for the sensing. In addition to electrical characterization of sensing elements, thermal degradation and moisture adsorption properties of the paper substrate were examined in connection to the fabrication process of the silver electrodes and the moisture sensitivity of the paper. The results pave the way towards the development of low-cost humidity sensors which could be utilized, for example, in smart packaging applications or in smart cities to monitor the environment.

Applications of X-ray emission to elemental analysis of foods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flocchini, R.G.; Lagunas-Solar, M.C.; Perley, B.P.

1996-01-01

Trace element analysis via X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Proton-Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) techniques were applied to several samples of fresh and processed foods. Thin samples of fresh fruits and vegetables, processed dry foods, and spices were included in these analyses. The results indicate that XRF and/or PIXE analysis is applicable to these types of samples but require special and simple modifications in sample preparation techniques, and the inclusion of new matrix type corrections for data analysis. However, the non-destructive nature, reproducibility, efficiency and high sensitivity that characterize these multi-element analytical procedures can provide new potential methods for detecting trace elements in foods and in many agricultural commodities. Toxic metals such as Hg, Pb, and As were detected in some foods. In addition, other essential or neutral trace elements such as Na, K, Mg, Ca, Cu, Cr, V, Zn, Mo, Fe, Mn, Ni, Se, Cl, S, and P were also detected. These and other elements can be analyzed rapidly and with high sensitivity for applications in process control and for certification of food quality. Developing these techniques and procedures specifically for food and for various agricultural products may provide new analytical options and help mitigate the expected impact of forthcoming regulations intended to establish limits and tolerance levels for micro toxicants and other essential nutrients in foods and agricultural products. (author)

Efficient Analysis of Structures with Rotatable Elements Using Model Order Reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Fotyga

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel full-wave technique which allows for a fast 3D finite element analysis of waveguide structures containing rotatable tuning elements of arbitrary shapes. Rotation of these elements changes the resonant frequencies of the structure, which can be used in the tuning process to obtain the S-characteristics desired for the device. For fast commutations of the response as the tuning elements are rotated, the 3D finite element method is supported by multilevel model-order reduction, orthogonal projection at the boundaries of macromodels and the operation called macromodels cloning. All the time-consuming steps are performed only once in the preparatory stage. In the tuning stage, only small parts of the domain are updated, by means of a special meshing technique. In effect, the tuning process is performed extremely rapidly. The results of the numerical experiments confirm the efficiency and validity of the proposed method.

Finite element simulation of dynamic wetting flows as an interface formation process

KAUST Repository

Sprittles, J.E.

2013-01-01

A mathematically challenging model of dynamic wetting as a process of interface formation has been, for the first time, fully incorporated into a numerical code based on the finite element method and applied, as a test case, to the problem of capillary rise. The motivation for this work comes from the fact that, as discovered experimentally more than a decade ago, the key variable in dynamic wetting flows - the dynamic contact angle - depends not just on the velocity of the three-phase contact line but on the entire flow field/geometry. Hence, to describe this effect, it becomes necessary to use the mathematical model that has this dependence as its integral part. A new physical effect, termed the \\'hydrodynamic resist to dynamic wetting\\', is discovered where the influence of the capillary\\'s radius on the dynamic contact angle, and hence on the global flow, is computed. The capabilities of the numerical framework are then demonstrated by comparing the results to experiments on the unsteady capillary rise, where excellent agreement is obtained. Practical recommendations on the spatial resolution required by the numerical scheme for a given set of non-dimensional similarity parameters are provided, and a comparison to asymptotic results available in limiting cases confirms that the code is converging to the correct solution. The appendix gives a user-friendly step-by-step guide specifying the entire implementation and allowing the reader to easily reproduce all presented results, including the benchmark calculations. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Focus On Photoshop Elements Focus on the Fundamentals

CERN Document Server

Asch, David

2011-01-01

Are you bewildered by the advanced editing options available in Photoshop Elements? Do you want to get the most out of your image without going bleary-eyed in front of a computer screen? This handy guide will explain the ins and outs of using Photoshop Elements, without having to spend hours staring at the screen. Using a fabulous combination of easy-to-follow advice and step-by-step instructions, Focus On Photoshop Elements gives great advice on setting up, storing and sharing your image library and teaches you the basics of RAW image processing and color correction, plus shows you how to edi

A study on the shielding element using Monte Carlo simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Ki Jeong [Dept. of Radiology, Konkuk University Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Shim, Jae Goo [Dept. of Radiologic Technology, Daegu Health College, Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

2017-06-15

In this research, we simulated the elementary star shielding ability using Monte Carlo simulation to apply medical radiation shielding sheet which can replace existing lead. In the selection of elements, mainly elements and metal elements having a large atomic number, which are known to have high shielding performance, recently, various composite materials have improved shielding performance, so that weight reduction, processability, In consideration of activity etc., 21 elements were selected. The simulation tools were utilized Monte Carlo method. As a result of simulating the shielding performance by each element, it was estimated that the shielding ratio is the highest at 98.82% and 98.44% for tungsten and gold.

Liver CT image processing: a short introduction of the technical elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Masutani, Y; Uozumi, K; Akahane, Masaaki; Ohtomo, Kuni

2006-05-01

In this paper, we describe the technical aspects of image analysis for liver diagnosis and treatment, including the state-of-the-art of liver image analysis and its applications. After discussion on modalities for liver image analysis, various technical elements for liver image analysis such as registration, segmentation, modeling, and computer-assisted detection are covered with examples performed with clinical data sets. Perspective in the imaging technologies is also reviewed and discussed.

Liver CT image processing: A short introduction of the technical elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masutani, Y.; Uozumi, K.; Akahane, Masaaki; Ohtomo, Kuni

2006-01-01

In this paper, we describe the technical aspects of image analysis for liver diagnosis and treatment, including the state-of-the-art of liver image analysis and its applications. After discussion on modalities for liver image analysis, various technical elements for liver image analysis such as registration, segmentation, modeling, and computer-assisted detection are covered with examples performed with clinical data sets. Perspective in the imaging technologies is also reviewed and discussed

Inorganic elements in sugar samples consumed in several countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salles, P.M.B.; Campos, T.P.R.; Menezes, M.A. de B.C.; Jacimovic, Radojko

2016-01-01

Sugar is considered safe food ingredient, however, it can present inorganic elements as impurities uptake during cultivation and production process. Therefore, this study aimed at identifies the presence of these elements in granulated and brown sugar samples available for consumption in public places in several countries. The neutron activation technique applying the methodology to analyse larger samples, 5 g-sample, established at CDTN/CNEN based on k 0 -method was used to determine the elemental concentrations. Several essential and nonessential elements were determined in a large range of concentrations. The results are discussed comparing to maximum values foreseen in the international and Brazilian legislations. (author)

Thermal stir welding process

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, R. Jeffrey (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A welding method is provided for forming a weld joint between first and second elements of a workpiece. The method includes heating the first and second elements to form an interface of material in a plasticized or melted state interface between the elements. The interface material is then allowed to cool to a plasticized state if previously in a melted state. The interface material, while in the plasticized state, is then mixed, for example, using a grinding/extruding process, to remove any dendritic-type weld microstructures introduced into the interface material during the heating process.

Sulfur polymer cement stabilization of elemental mercury mixed waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melamed, D.; Fuhrmann, M.; Kalb, P.; Patel, B.

1998-04-01

Elemental mercury, contaminated with radionuclides, is a problem throughout the Department of Energy (DOE) complex. This report describes the development and testing of a process to immobilize elemental mercury, contaminated with radionuclides, in a form that is non-dispersible, will meet EPA leaching criteria, and has low mercury vapor pressure. In this stabilization and solidification process (patent pending) elemental mercury is mixed with an excess of powdered sulfur polymer cement (SPC) and additives in a vessel and heated to ∼35 C, for several hours, until all of the mercury is converted into mercuric sulfide (HgS). Additional SPC is then added and the mixture raised to 135 C, resulting in a homogeneous molten liquid which is poured into a suitable mold where is cools and solidifies. The final stabilized and solidified waste forms were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, as well as tested for leaching behavior and mercury vapor pressure. During this study the authors have processed the entire inventory of mixed mercury waste stored at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)

Concentration distribution of trace elements: from normal distribution to Levy flights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubala-Kukus, A.; Banas, D.; Braziewicz, J.; Majewska, U.; Pajek, M.

2003-01-01

The paper discusses a nature of concentration distributions of trace elements in biomedical samples, which were measured by using the X-ray fluorescence techniques (XRF, TXRF). Our earlier observation, that the lognormal distribution well describes the measured concentration distribution is explained here on a more general ground. Particularly, the role of random multiplicative process, which models the concentration distributions of trace elements in biomedical samples, is discussed in detail. It is demonstrated that the lognormal distribution, appearing when the multiplicative process is driven by normal distribution, can be generalized to the so-called log-stable distribution. Such distribution describes the random multiplicative process, which is driven, instead of normal distribution, by more general stable distribution, being known as the Levy flights. The presented ideas are exemplified by the results of the study of trace element concentration distributions in selected biomedical samples, obtained by using the conventional (XRF) and (TXRF) X-ray fluorescence methods. Particularly, the first observation of log-stable concentration distribution of trace elements is reported and discussed here in detail

Fabrication of amplitude-phase type diffractive optical elements in aluminium films

Science.gov (United States)

Fomchenkov, S. A.; Butt, M. A.

2017-11-01

In the course of studies have been conducted a method of forming the phase diffractive optical elements (DOEs) by direct laser writing in thin films of aluminum. The quality of the aluminum films were investigated depending on the parameters of magnetron sputtering process. Moreover, the parameters of the laser writing process in thin films of aluminum were optimized. The structure of phase diffractive optical elements was obtained by the proposed method.

ANSYS mechanical APDL for finite element analysis

CERN Document Server

Thompson, Mary Kathryn

2017-01-01

ANSYS Mechanical APDL for Finite Element Analysis provides a hands-on introduction to engineering analysis using one of the most powerful commercial general purposes finite element programs on the market. Students will find a practical and integrated approach that combines finite element theory with best practices for developing, verifying, validating and interpreting the results of finite element models, while engineering professionals will appreciate the deep insight presented on the program's structure and behavior. Additional topics covered include an introduction to commands, input files, batch processing, and other advanced features in ANSYS. The book is written in a lecture/lab style, and each topic is supported by examples, exercises and suggestions for additional readings in the program documentation. Exercises gradually increase in difficulty and complexity, helping readers quickly gain confidence to independently use the program. This provides a solid foundation on which to build, preparing readers...

PROBABILISTIC ESTIMATION OF VIBRATION INFLUENCE ON SENSITIVE SYSTEM ELEMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Lobaty

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers a problem pertaining to an estimation of vibration influence on sensitive system elements. Dependences of intensity and probability of a process exit characterizing a condition of a system element for the preset range that allow to estimate serviceability and no-failure operation of the system have been obtained analytically in the paper

Crack Propagation by Finite Element Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luiz Carlos H. Ricardo

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Crack propagation simulation began with the development of the finite element method; the analyses were conducted to obtain a basic understanding of the crack growth. Today structural and materials engineers develop structures and materials properties using this technique. The aim of this paper is to verify the effect of different crack propagation rates in determination of crack opening and closing stress of an ASTM specimen under a standard suspension spectrum loading from FDandE SAE Keyhole Specimen Test Load Histories by finite element analysis. To understand the crack propagation processes under variable amplitude loading, retardation effects are observed

AERYN: A simple standalone application for visualizing and enhancing elemental maps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mouchi, Vincent; Crowley, Quentin G.; Ubide, Teresa

2016-01-01

Interpretation of high spatial resolution elemental mineral maps can be hindered by high frequency fluctuations, as well as by strong naturally-occurring or analytically-induced variations. We have developed a new standalone program named AERYN (Aspect Enhancement by Removing Yielded Noise) to produce more reliable element distribution maps from previously reduced geochemical data. The program is Matlab-based, designed with a graphic user interface and is capable of rapidly generating elemental maps from data acquired by a range of analytical techniques. A visual interface aids selection of appropriate outlier rejection and drift-correction parameters, thereby facilitating recognition of subtle elemental fluctuations which may otherwise be obscured. Examples of use are provided for quantitative trace element maps acquired using both laser ablation (LA-) ICP-MS and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa. We demonstrate how AERYN allows recognition of high frequency elemental fluctuations, including those which occur perpendicular to the maximum concentration gradient. Such data treatment compliments commonly used processing methods to provide greater flexibility and control in producing elemental maps from micro-analytical techniques. - Highlights: • Matlab-based application to improve visualization of elemental maps. • Capable of detrending when data set shows drift. • Compatible with processed data text files from LA-ICP-MS, EDS and EPMA. • Option to filter geochemical trends to observe high-frequency fluctuations.

Trace elements in agroecosystems and impacts on the environment.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Zhenli L; Yang, Xiaoe E; Stoffella, Peter J

2005-01-01

Trace elements mean elements present at low concentrations (mg kg-1 or less) in agroecosystems. Some trace elements, including copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), molybdenum (Mo), and boron (B) are essential to plant growth and are called micronutrients. Except for B, these elements are also heavy metals, and are toxic to plants at high concentrations. Some trace elements, such as cobalt (Co) and selenium (Se), are not essential to plant growth but are required by animals and human beings. Other trace elements such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), mercury (Hg), and arsenic (As) have toxic effects on living organisms and are often considered as contaminants. Trace elements in an agroecosystem are either inherited from soil parent materials or inputs through human activities. Soil contamination with heavy metals and toxic elements due to parent materials or point sources often occurs in a limited area and is easy to identify. Repeated use of metal-enriched chemicals, fertilizers, and organic amendments such as sewage sludge as well as wastewater may cause contamination at a large scale. A good example is the increased concentration of Cu and Zn in soils under long-term production of citrus and other fruit crops. Many chemical processes are involved in the transformation of trace elements in soils, but precipitation-dissolution, adsorption-desorption, and complexation are the most important processes controlling bioavailability and mobility of trace elements in soils. Both deficiency and toxicity of trace elements occur in agroecosystems. Application of trace elements in fertilizers is effective in correcting micronutrient deficiencies for crop production, whereas remediation of soils contaminated with metals is still costly and difficult although phytoremediation appears promising as a cost-effective approach. Soil microorganisms are the first living organisms subjected to the impacts of metal contamination. Being responsive and

The light element formation: a signature of high energy nuclear astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Audouze, J.; Meneguzzi, M.; Reeves, H.

1976-01-01

Light elements D, 6 Li, 9 Be, 10 B and 11 B (and possibly also 7 Li) are not produced by the general nucleosynthetic processes occurring in stars. They appear to be synthesized by high energy processes occuring either during the interaction of galactic cosmic rays with the interstellar medium or in supernovae envelopes. These formation processes are discussed. It is emphasized that the most coherent scenario regarding the formation of the light elements is obtained by taking also into account the nuclear processes which may have occurred during hot phases of the early Universe (Big Bang). Implications on chemical evolution of galaxies and on cosmology are briefly recalled. (Auth.)

Scavenging of particulate elemental carbon into stratus cloud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaneyasu, Naoki; Maeda, Takahisa [National Inst. for Resources and Environment, Tsukuba (Japan)

1995-12-31

The role of atmospheric aerosols on the alternation of cloud radiative properties has widely been recognized since 1977 when Tomey and his coworkers have numerically demonstrated the effect of increased cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). At the same time, cloud processes are one of the most important factor in controlling the residence time of atmospheric aerosols through the wet removal process. The redistribution of the size and the composition of pre-cloud aerosols is also the important role of cloud process on the nature of atmospheric aerosols. In order to study these cloud-aerosol interaction phenomena, the incorporation of aerosols into cloud droplets is the first mechanism to be investigated. Among the several mechanisms for the incorporation of aerosols into cloud droplets, nucleation scavenging, is the potentially important process in the view of cloud-aerosol interactions. This critical supersaturation for a given radius of a particle can be theoretically calculated only for pure species, e.g., NaCl. However, a significant portion of the atmospheric aerosols is in the form of internal mixture of multiple components, such as SO{sub 4}{sup 2-}, NO{sub 3}{sup -}, NH{sub 4}{sup +} and particulate elemental carbon. The knowledge acquired by field measurements is therefore essential on this subject. The present study focuses on the scavenging of major components of urban atmospheric aerosols, in particular the incorporation of particulate elemental carbon into stratus cloud. Particulate elemental carbon is the strongest light absorbing species in visible region, and has potential to change the optical property of cloud. On the basis of the measurements conducted at a mountain located in the suburb of Tokyo Metropolitan area, Japan, some insights on the scavenging of particulate elemental carbon into cloud droplet will be presented

Scavenging of particulate elemental carbon into stratus cloud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaneyasu, Naoki; Maeda, Takahisa [National Inst. for Resources and Environment, Tsukuba (Japan)

1996-12-31

The role of atmospheric aerosols on the alternation of cloud radiative properties has widely been recognized since 1977 when Tomey and his coworkers have numerically demonstrated the effect of increased cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). At the same time, cloud processes are one of the most important factor in controlling the residence time of atmospheric aerosols through the wet removal process. The redistribution of the size and the composition of pre-cloud aerosols is also the important role of cloud process on the nature of atmospheric aerosols. In order to study these cloud-aerosol interaction phenomena, the incorporation of aerosols into cloud droplets is the first mechanism to be investigated. Among the several mechanisms for the incorporation of aerosols into cloud droplets, nucleation scavenging, is the potentially important process in the view of cloud-aerosol interactions. This critical supersaturation for a given radius of a particle can be theoretically calculated only for pure species, e.g., NaCl. However, a significant portion of the atmospheric aerosols is in the form of internal mixture of multiple components, such as SO{sub 4}{sup 2-}, NO{sub 3}{sup -}, NH{sub 4}{sup +} and particulate elemental carbon. The knowledge acquired by field measurements is therefore essential on this subject. The present study focuses on the scavenging of major components of urban atmospheric aerosols, in particular the incorporation of particulate elemental carbon into stratus cloud. Particulate elemental carbon is the strongest light absorbing species in visible region, and has potential to change the optical property of cloud. On the basis of the measurements conducted at a mountain located in the suburb of Tokyo Metropolitan area, Japan, some insights on the scavenging of particulate elemental carbon into cloud droplet will be presented

A statistical model for prediction of fuel element failure using the Markov process and entropy minimax principles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, K.Y.; Yoon, Y.K.; Chang, S.H.

1991-01-01

This paper reports on a new statistical fuel failure model developed to take into account the effects of damaging environmental conditions and the overall operating history of the fuel elements. The degradation of material properties and damage resistance of the fuel cladding is mainly caused by the combined effects of accumulated dynamic stresses, neutron irradiation, and chemical and stress corrosion at operating temperature. Since the degradation of material properties due to these effects can be considered as a stochastic process, a dynamic reliability function is derived based on the Markov process. Four damage parameters, namely, dynamic stresses, magnitude of power increase from the preceding power level and with ramp rate, and fatigue cycles, are used to build this model. The dynamic reliability function and damage parameters are used to obtain effective damage parameters. The entropy maximization principle is used to generate a probability density function of the effective damage parameters. The entropy minimization principle is applied to determine weighting factors for amalgamation of the failure probabilities due to the respective failure modes. In this way, the effects of operating history, damaging environmental conditions, and damage sequence are taken into account

Technospheric Mining of Rare Earth Elements from Bauxite Residue (Red Mud): Process Optimization, Kinetic Investigation, and Microwave Pretreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Sable; Tam, Jason; Yang, Mingfan; Azimi, Gisele

2017-11-10

Some rare earth elements (REEs) are classified under critical materials, i.e., essential in use and subject to supply risk, due to their increasing demand, monopolistic supply, and environmentally unsustainable and expensive mining practices. To tackle the REE supply challenge, new initiatives have been started focusing on their extraction from alternative secondary resources. This study puts the emphasis on technospheric mining of REEs from bauxite residue (red mud) produced by the aluminum industry. Characterization results showed the bauxite residue sample contains about 0.03 wt% REEs. Systematic leaching experiments showed that concentrated HNO 3 is the most effective lixiviant. However, because of the process complexities, H 2 SO 4 was selected as the lixiviant. To further enhance the leaching efficiency, a novel process based on microwave pretreatment was employed. Results indicated that microwave pretreatment creates cracks and pores in the particles, enabling the lixiviant to diffuse further into the particles, bringing more REEs into solution, yielding of 64.2% and 78.7% for Sc and Nd, respectively, which are higher than the maximum obtained when HNO 3 was used. This novel process of "H 2 SO 4 leaching-coupled with-microwave pretreatment" proves to be a promising technique that can help realize the technological potential of REE recovery from secondary resources, particularly bauxite residue.

Element-topology-independent preconditioners for parallel finite element computations

Science.gov (United States)

Park, K. C.; Alexander, Scott

1992-01-01

A family of preconditioners for the solution of finite element equations are presented, which are element-topology independent and thus can be applicable to element order-free parallel computations. A key feature of the present preconditioners is the repeated use of element connectivity matrices and their left and right inverses. The properties and performance of the present preconditioners are demonstrated via beam and two-dimensional finite element matrices for implicit time integration computations.

Process to produce pellet-shaped neutron activation detector elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambardanischvili, T.S.; Dundua, V.J.; Kiknadse, G.I.; Kolomijzev, M.A.; Zezchladse, T.V.; Gromov, V.A.; Bagdavadse, N.V.

1979-01-01

The neutron activator detector elements to measure integral neutron flux contain cobalt, zinc, phosphorous, iron, gold, indium, nickel or aluminium as detector material. Its non-aqueous nitric or acetic acid salts are solvated in an alcohol solution and mixed with an alcohol solution of phenol formaldehyde resol resin. The alcohol is destilled off under vacuum at a temperature of 60 to 90 0 C whereby the detector material in the resin matrix is homogenized. This mass is their ground, pressed to pellets and is heated to convert the resin into its unsoluble state. In order to improve the radioresistance, one can add powdered carbon to the alcohol mixture, where the carbon itself can be prepared by pyrolysis and carbonization of phenol formaldehyde resin. To improve the temperature change resistance, the pellets may be additionally heated giving rise to puyrolysis of the polycondensation resin. (DG) [de

3D Printer-Manufacturing of Complex Geometry Elements

Science.gov (United States)

Ciubară, A.; Burlea, Ș L.; Axinte, M.; Cimpoeșu, R.; Chicet, D. L.; Manole, V.; Burlea, G.; Cimpoeșu, N.

2018-06-01

In the last 5-10 years the process of 3D printing has an incredible advanced in all the fields with a tremendous number of applications. Plastic materials exhibit highly beneficial mechanical properties while delivering complex designs impossible to achieve using conventional manufacturing. In this article the printing process (filling degree, time, complications and details finesse) of few plastic elements with complicated geometry and fine details was analyzed and comment. 3D printing offers many of the thermoplastics and industrial materials found in conventional manufacturing. The advantages and disadvantages of 3D printing for plastic parts are discussed. Time of production for an element with complex geometry, from the design to final cut, was evaluated.

MaRGEE: Move and Rotate Google Earth Elements

Science.gov (United States)

Dordevic, Mladen M.; Whitmeyer, Steven J.

2015-12-01

Google Earth is recognized as a highly effective visualization tool for geospatial information. However, there remain serious limitations that have hindered its acceptance as a tool for research and education in the geosciences. One significant limitation is the inability to translate or rotate geometrical elements on the Google Earth virtual globe. Here we present a new JavaScript web application to "Move and Rotate Google Earth Elements" (MaRGEE). MaRGEE includes tools to simplify, translate, and rotate elements, add intermediate steps to a transposition, and batch process multiple transpositions. The transposition algorithm uses spherical geometry calculations, such as the haversine formula, to accurately reposition groups of points, paths, and polygons on the Google Earth globe without distortion. Due to the imminent deprecation of the Google Earth API and browser plugin, MaRGEE uses a Google Maps interface to facilitate and illustrate the transpositions. However, the inherent spatial distortions that result from the Google Maps Web Mercator projection are not apparent once the transposed elements are saved as a KML file and opened in Google Earth. Potential applications of the MaRGEE toolkit include tectonic reconstructions, the movements of glaciers or thrust sheets, and time-based animations of other large- and small-scale geologic processes.

Basic Elements of Knowledge Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcin W. Staniewski

2007-10-01

Full Text Available The article is a review of basic knowledge management terminology. It presents such a description as: knowledge resources levels (data, information, knowledge, and wisdom, knowledge sources (internal, external, and knowledge typology (implicit, tacit or individual, social. Moreover the article characterizes knowledge management process, knowledge management system and main knowledge management strategies (codification, personalization. At the end of the article there is mentioned the knowledge creating process (the concept of knowledge creation spiral and the role of Intelligence Technology (IT and organizational culture as main elements supporting knowledge management implementation in organizations.

A parallel finite element procedure for contact-impact problems using edge-based smooth triangular element and GPU

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yong; Cui, Xiangyang; Li, Guangyao; Liu, Wenyang

2018-04-01

The edge-smooth finite element method (ES-FEM) can improve the computational accuracy of triangular shell elements and the mesh partition efficiency of complex models. In this paper, an approach is developed to perform explicit finite element simulations of contact-impact problems with a graphical processing unit (GPU) using a special edge-smooth triangular shell element based on ES-FEM. Of critical importance for this problem is achieving finer-grained parallelism to enable efficient data loading and to minimize communication between the device and host. Four kinds of parallel strategies are then developed to efficiently solve these ES-FEM based shell element formulas, and various optimization methods are adopted to ensure aligned memory access. Special focus is dedicated to developing an approach for the parallel construction of edge systems. A parallel hierarchy-territory contact-searching algorithm (HITA) and a parallel penalty function calculation method are embedded in this parallel explicit algorithm. Finally, the program flow is well designed, and a GPU-based simulation system is developed, using Nvidia's CUDA. Several numerical examples are presented to illustrate the high quality of the results obtained with the proposed methods. In addition, the GPU-based parallel computation is shown to significantly reduce the computing time.

Elements of calculation of reactivity by numerical processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hedde, J.

1968-01-01

In order to explore the new opportunities provided by numerical techniques, the author describes the theoretical optimal conditions of a calculation in real time of reactivity from counting samples produced by a nuclear reactor. These optimal conditions can be the better approached if a more complex processing is adopted. A compromise is to be searched between the desired precision and simplicity of the numerical processing hardware. An example is reported to assess result accuracy on a wide power evolution range with a structure of reduced complexity [fr

Optimization of the Hot Forging Processing Parameters for Powder Metallurgy Fe-Cu-C Connecting Rods Based on Finite Element Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Fengxian; Yi, Jianhong; Eckert, Jürgen

2017-12-01

Powder forged connecting rods have the problem of non-uniform density distributions because of their complex geometric shape. The densification behaviors of powder metallurgy (PM) connecting rod preforms during hot forging processes play a significant role in optimizing the connecting rod quality. The deformation behaviors of a connecting rod preform, a Fe-3Cu-0.5C (wt pct) alloy compacted and sintered by the powder metallurgy route (PM Fe-Cu-C), were investigated using the finite element method, while damage and friction behaviors of the material were considered in the complicated forging process. The calculated results agree well with the experimental results. The relationship between the processing parameters of hot forging and the relative density of the connecting rod was revealed. The results showed that the relative density of the hot forged connecting rod at the central shank changed significantly compared with the relative density at the big end and at the small end. Moreover, the relative density of the connecting rod was sensitive to the processing parameters such as the forging velocity and the initial density of the preform. The optimum forging processing parameters were determined and presented by using an orthogonal design method. This work suggests that the processing parameters can be optimized to prepare a connecting rod with uniform density distribution and can help to better meet the requirements of the connecting rod industry.

Essential and toxic trace elements in the chinese medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, C.F.; Jenq Yann Yang; Ming-Jenq Duo; Chang, E.E.

1996-01-01

The concentration of certain toxic and essential elements in various raw materials of Chinese herbs and 'scientific Chinese medicine' were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Correlation of these elements as they exist in the raw materials and in the prescription of medicine were investigated and the approximate intake of elements by patients were estimated. Values of elements determined both by AAS and INAA presented excellent agreement. The ranges of elemental concentrations were found to vary from 10 4 to 10 -1 mg/kg in different kinds of herbs. All herbs exhibit extraordinary enrichment capabilities from the environment for elements such as Mn, Zn, Ca, K, Mg, Cd, Cu, Pb and As. Higher contents of Cd, Pb and As in herbs may be attributed to the uptake of these elements from polluted soil due to industrial and anthropogenic activities. It was found that commercial scientific Chinese medicine, SCDBT, contains more elemental concentrations than that of herbs used in the prescription, which may indicate that possible contamination could be caused by unknown ingredients added in the process. A much higher toxic elemental content, such as Pb, Cd and As, has been found in CFH and the daily intake of these elements by the patient will exceed the PTDI values. (author)

Further developments of PWR and BWR fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sofer, G.A.; Busselman, G.J.; Federico, L.J.

1988-01-01

The performance, safety, and economy of nuclear power plants in inluenced very decisively by the quality of their fuel elements. This is why quality assurance in fuel fabrication has been a factor of great importance from the outset. Operating experince and more stringent performance requirements have resulted in a continuous process of further development of fuel elements, which has been reflected also in lower and lower failure rates and increasingly higher burn-ups. Next to further development also innovation has been an important factor contributing to the present high quality level of fuel elements, which also has allowed fuel cycle costs to be decreased quite considerably. (orig.) [de

Method of mounting filter elements and mounting therefor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karelin, J.; Neumann, G.M.

1981-01-01

A process for the insertion and exchange of the filter elements for suspended matter is performed from the clean-air-side. During the insertion of a filter element, a plastic tube (Which encircles the circumference of the filter element and which exceeds in its length the layer thickness of the filter element several times) is tightly connected in its middle section with the side walls, which side walls form a border around the filter element; and then the open end of the plastic tube, which faces the frame, is connected by way of a tight fit with a ring, which is actually known and which surrounds the orifice of the frame into which the filter element is inserted. The filter element is connected with the frame by means of tightening devices, and the outer free end of the tube is turned inside out and around the filter element for the purpose of unhindered air passage through the filter layer, that during the exchange of the contaminated filter element, the outer open end of the tube is heat sealed. The filter element is disconnected and removed from the frame by flipping down of the tightening devices, and the tube is heat sealed in the section between the filter element and the frame, and, that during the insertion of a new filter element, a new tube is attached by way of tight fitting to the ring of the frame , which tube is at its middle section tightly connected with the filter element, and which tube is attached to the ring of the frame in an actually known by overlapping of the heat-sealed tube rest. The tube rest is pulled onto the new tube and pulled off the ring, and the filter element is tightly connected with the frame by means of the tightening devices

Trace elements distribution in bottom sediments from Amazon River estuary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lara, L.B.L.S.; Nadai Fernandes, E. de; Oliveira, H. de; Bacchi, M.A.

1994-01-01

The Amazon River discharges into a dynamic marine environment where there have been many interactive processes affecting dissolved and particulate solids, either those settling on the shelf or reaching the ocean. Trace elemental concentration, especially of the rare earth elements, have been determined by neutron activation analysis in sixty bottom sediment samples of the Amazon River estuary, providing information for the spatial and temporal variation study of those elements. (author). 16 refs, 6 figs, 3 tabs

Effects of Heat Input and Bead Generation Methods on Finite Element Analysis of Multi-Pass Welding Process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Won Dong; Kim, Ji Hoon; Bahn, Chi Bum [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Welding residual stresses are determined by various factors such as heat input, initial temperature of molten bead, heating time, cooling time, cooling conditions, and boundary conditions. In this study, a sensitivity analysis was performed to find the major factors and reasonable assumptions for simulation. Two-dimensional axisymmetric simulation was conducted by using commercial finite element analysis program ABAQUS, for multi-pass Alloy 82 welds in a 304 Stainless Steel and SA-105 Carbon Steel. The major object is to evaluate effects of the heat input methods and weld bead generation methods on the welding residual stress distribution. Totally four kinds of methods were compared. From the previous results, we could make the following conclusions. 1. Although there are non-negligible differences in HAZ depending on heat input method, welding residual stress distributions have roughly similar trends. However, it is needed to perform the more exact analysis to apply heat energy more carefully into the individual bead. 2. Residual stress distribution were similar for the two weld bead generation technique. However, overlapping was happened when element birth technique was applied. Effects of overlapping could not ignore as deformation increases. However, overlapping problem was avoided when quiet element technique was used. 3. Since existence of inactive bead elements, inaccurate weld residual stresses could be occurred in boundaries of previous and next weld elements in case of quiet element technique.

Orthodontic treatment: Introducing finite element analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Driel, W.D. van; Leeuwen, E.J. van

1998-01-01

The aim of orthodontic treatment is the displacement of teeth by means ofspecial appliances, like braces and brackets. Through these appliances the orthodontist can apply a set of forces to the teeth which wilt result in its displacement through the jawbone. Finite Element analysis of this process

Actinide targets for the synthesis of super-heavy elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberto, J.B.; Alexander, C.W.; Boll, R.A.; Burns, J.D.; Ezold, J.G.; Felker, L.K.; Hogle, S.L.; Rykaczewski, K.P.

2015-01-01

Since 2000, six new super-heavy elements with atomic numbers 113 through 118 have been synthesized in hot fusion reactions of "4"8Ca beams on actinide targets. These target materials, including "2"4"2Pu, "2"4"4Pu, "2"4"3Am, "2"4"5Cm, "2"4"8Cm, "2"4"9Cf, and "2"4"9Bk, are available in very limited quantities and require specialized production and processing facilities resident in only a few research centers worldwide. This report describes the production and chemical processing of heavy actinide materials for super-heavy element research, current availabilities of these materials, and related target fabrication techniques. The impact of actinide materials in super-heavy element discovery is reviewed, and strategies for enhancing the production of rare actinides including "2"4"9Bk, "2"5"1Cf, and "2"5"4Es are described.

Application of INAA in monitoring vertical migration of elements in weathering zone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frana, J.; Mastalka, A.; Henes, J.

1983-01-01

The vertical migration of elements is studied in two types of Czechoslovak soils formed on loess. The INAA method is used to determine the total value of ca 40 elements in soils. Processed are relative errors of determination and the concentrations of elements to depths of 150 cm. Tables show the distribution of elements of rare earths according to genetic horizons, graphically presented is the vertical distribution of elements with concentrations exceeding 0.1 weight %. Soil enrichment or depletion with trace elements as compared with bedrock is shown on the examples of Co, Mn and Zn. (author)

Effect of rare earth elements on uranium electrodeposition in LiCl-KCI eutectic salt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sung Bin; Kang, Young Ho; Hwang, Sung Chan; Lee, Han Soo; Peak, Seung Woo; Ahn, Do Hee

2015-01-01

It is necessary to investigate the electrodeposition behavior of uranium and other elements on the cathode in the electrorefining process to recover the uranium selectively from the reduced metals of the electrolytic reduction process since transuranic elements and rare earth elements is dissolved in the LiCl-KCl eutectic salt. Study on separation factors of U, Ce, Y and Nd based on U and Ce was performed to investigate the deposition behavior of the cathode with respect to the concentration of rare earth elements in LiCl-KCl eutectic salt. After electrorefining with constant current mode by using Ce metal as a sacrifice anode, the contents of U, Ce, Y and Nd in the salt phase and the deposit phase of the cathode were analyzed, and separation factors of the elements were obtained from the analyses. Securing conditions of pure uranium recovery in the electrorefining process was investigated by considering the separation factors with respect to UCl 3 and CeCl 3 /UCl 3 ratio

Automatic classification of singular elements for the electrostatic analysis of microelectromechanical systems

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Y.; Ong, E. T.; Lee, K. H.

2002-05-01

The past decade has seen an accelerated growth of technology in the field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The development of MEMS products has generated the need for efficient analytical and simulation methods for minimizing the requirement for actual prototyping. The boundary element method is widely used in the electrostatic analysis for MEMS devices. However, singular elements are needed to accurately capture the behavior at singular regions, such as sharp corners and edges, where standard elements fail to give an accurate result. The manual classification of boundary elements based on their singularity conditions is an immensely laborious task, especially when the boundary element model is large. This process can be automated by querying the geometric model of the MEMS device for convex edges based on geometric information of the model. The associated nodes of the boundary elements on these edges can then be retrieved. The whole process is implemented in the MSC/PATRAN platform using the Patran Command Language (the source code is available as supplementary data in the electronic version of this journal issue).

Mapping of MPEG-4 decoding on a flexible architecture platform

Science.gov (United States)

van der Tol, Erik B.; Jaspers, Egbert G.

2001-12-01

In the field of consumer electronics, the advent of new features such as Internet, games, video conferencing, and mobile communication has triggered the convergence of television and computers technologies. This requires a generic media-processing platform that enables simultaneous execution of very diverse tasks such as high-throughput stream-oriented data processing and highly data-dependent irregular processing with complex control flows. As a representative application, this paper presents the mapping of a Main Visual profile MPEG-4 for High-Definition (HD) video onto a flexible architecture platform. A stepwise approach is taken, going from the decoder application toward an implementation proposal. First, the application is decomposed into separate tasks with self-contained functionality, clear interfaces, and distinct characteristics. Next, a hardware-software partitioning is derived by analyzing the characteristics of each task such as the amount of inherent parallelism, the throughput requirements, the complexity of control processing, and the reuse potential over different applications and different systems. Finally, a feasible implementation is proposed that includes amongst others a very-long-instruction-word (VLIW) media processor, one or more RISC processors, and some dedicated processors. The mapping study of the MPEG-4 decoder proves the flexibility and extensibility of the media-processing platform. This platform enables an effective HW/SW co-design yielding a high performance density.

Trace elements levels in centenarian 'dodgers'.

Science.gov (United States)

Alis, Rafael; Santos-Lozano, Alejandro; Sanchis-Gomar, Fabian; Pareja-Galeano, Helios; Fiuza-Luces, Carmen; Garatachea, Nuria; Lucia, Alejandro; Emanuele, Enzo

2016-05-01

Trace element bioavailability can play a role in several metabolic and physiological pathways known to be altered during the aging process. We aimed to explore the association of trace elements with increased lifespan by analyzing the circulating levels of seven trace elements (Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Se and Zn) in a cohort of healthy centenarians or 'dodgers' (≥100 years, free of major age-related diseases) in comparison with sex-matched younger elderly controls. Centenarians showed significant lower Cu (783.7 (76.7, 1608.9) vs 962.5 (676.3, 2064.4)μg/mL, Pdodgers', and, therefore, at least partly, be involved in the healthy aging phenotype shown by these subjects. These results should be confirmed in larger cohorts of other geographic/ethnic origin and the potential cause-effect association tested in mechanistic experimental settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

System design description for the whole element furnace testing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ritter, G.A.; Marschman, S.C.; MacFarlan, P.J.; King, D.A.

1998-05-01

This document provides a detailed description of the Hanford Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Whole Element Furnace Testing System located in the Postirradiation Testing Laboratory G-Cell (327 Building). Equipment specifications, system schematics, general operating modes, maintenance and calibration requirements, and other supporting information are provided in this document. This system was developed for performing cold vacuum drying and hot vacuum drying testing of whole N-Reactor fuel elements, which were sampled from the 105-K East and K West Basins. The proposed drying processes are intended to allow dry storage of the SNF for long periods of time. The furnace testing system is used to evaluate these processes by simulating drying sequences with a single fuel element and measuring key system parameters such as internal pressures, temperatures, moisture levels, and off-gas composition

Inorganic elements in sugar samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salles, Paulo M.B. de; Campos, Tarcisio P.R. de

2013-01-01

Sugar is considered a safe food ingredient; however, it can be contaminated by organic elements since its planting until its production process. Thus, this study aims at checking the presence of inorganic elements in samples of crystal, refined and brown sugar available for consumption in Brazil. The applied technique was neutron activation analysis, the k 0 method, using the TRIGA MARK - IPR-R1 reactor located at CDTN/CNEN, in Belo Horizonte. It was identified the presence of elements such as, Au, Br, Co, Cr, Hf, K, Na, Sb, Sc and Zn in the samples of crystal/refined sugar and the presence of As, Au, Br, Ca, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, Hf, K, Na, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Th and Zn in the brown sugar samples. The applied technique was appropriate to this study because it was not necessary to put the samples in solution, essential condition in order to apply other techniques, avoiding contaminations and sample losses, besides allowing a multi elementary detection in different sugar samples. (author)

Inorganic elements in sugar samples

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salles, Paulo M.B. de; Campos, Tarcisio P.R. de, E-mail: pauladesalles@yahoo.com.br, E-mail: tprcampos@pq.cnpq.br [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (DEN/UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear; Menezes, Maria Angela de B.C., E-mail: menezes@cdtn.br [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)

2013-07-01

Sugar is considered a safe food ingredient; however, it can be contaminated by organic elements since its planting until its production process. Thus, this study aims at checking the presence of inorganic elements in samples of crystal, refined and brown sugar available for consumption in Brazil. The applied technique was neutron activation analysis, the k{sub 0} method, using the TRIGA MARK - IPR-R1 reactor located at CDTN/CNEN, in Belo Horizonte. It was identified the presence of elements such as, Au, Br, Co, Cr, Hf, K, Na, Sb, Sc and Zn in the samples of crystal/refined sugar and the presence of As, Au, Br, Ca, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, Hf, K, Na, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Th and Zn in the brown sugar samples. The applied technique was appropriate to this study because it was not necessary to put the samples in solution, essential condition in order to apply other techniques, avoiding contaminations and sample losses, besides allowing a multi elementary detection in different sugar samples. (author)

Mixed Element Formulation for the Finite Element-Boundary Integral Method

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Meese, J; Kempel, L. C; Schneider, S. W

2006-01-01

A mixed element approach using right hexahedral elements and right prism elements for the finite element-boundary integral method is presented and discussed for the study of planar cavity-backed antennas...

Discrete Element Modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morris, J; Johnson, S

2007-12-03

The Distinct Element Method (also frequently referred to as the Discrete Element Method) (DEM) is a Lagrangian numerical technique where the computational domain consists of discrete solid elements which interact via compliant contacts. This can be contrasted with Finite Element Methods where the computational domain is assumed to represent a continuum (although many modern implementations of the FEM can accommodate some Distinct Element capabilities). Often the terms Discrete Element Method and Distinct Element Method are used interchangeably in the literature, although Cundall and Hart (1992) suggested that Discrete Element Methods should be a more inclusive term covering Distinct Element Methods, Displacement Discontinuity Analysis and Modal Methods. In this work, DEM specifically refers to the Distinct Element Method, where the discrete elements interact via compliant contacts, in contrast with Displacement Discontinuity Analysis where the contacts are rigid and all compliance is taken up by the adjacent intact material.

Social research design: framework for integrating philosophical and practical elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Kathryn Burns

2014-09-01

To provide and elucidate a comprehensible framework for the design of social research. An abundance of information exists concerning the process of designing social research. The overall message that can be gleaned is that numerable elements - both philosophical (ontological and epistemological assumptions and theoretical perspective) and practical (issue to be addressed, purpose, aims and research questions) - are influential in the process of selecting a research methodology and methods, and that these elements and their inter-relationships must be considered and explicated to ensure a coherent research design that enables well-founded and meaningful conclusions. There is a lack of guidance concerning the integration of practical and philosophical elements, hindering their consideration and explication. The author's PhD research into loneliness and cancer. This is a methodology paper. A guiding framework that incorporates all of the philosophical and practical elements influential in social research design is presented. The chronological and informative relationships between the elements are discussed. The framework presented can be used by social researchers to consider and explicate the practical and philosophical elements influential in the selection of a methodology and methods. It is hoped that the framework presented will aid social researchers with the design and the explication of the design of their research, thereby enhancing the credibility of their projects and enabling their research to establish well-founded and meaningful conclusions.

Trace elemental analysis of human breast cancerous blood by advanced PC-WDXRF technique

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Ranjit; Kainth, Harpreet Singh; Prasher, Puneet; Singh, Tejbir

2018-03-01

The objective of this work is to quantify the trace elements of healthy and non-healthy blood samples by using advanced polychromatic source based wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (PC-WDXRF) technique. The imbalances in trace elements present in the human blood directly or indirectly lead to the carcinogenic process. The trace elements 11Na, 12Mg, 15P, 16S, 17Cl, 19K, 20Ca, 26Fe, 29Cu and 30Zn are identified and their concentrations are estimated. The experimental results clearly discuss the variation and role of various trace elements present in the non-healthy blood samples relative to the healthy blood samples. These results establish future guidelines to probe the possible roles of essential trace elements in the breast carcinogenic processes. The instrumental sensitivity and detection limits for measuring the elements in the atomic range 11 ≤ Z ≤ 30 have also been discussed in the present work.

Testing the ecological consequences of evolutionary change using elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeyasingh, Punidan D; Cothran, Rickey D; Tobler, Michael

2014-02-01

Understanding the ecological consequences of evolutionary change is a central challenge in contemporary biology. We propose a framework based on the ˜25 elements represented in biology, which can serve as a conduit for a general exploration of poorly understood evolution-to-ecology links. In this framework, known as ecological stoichiometry, the quantity of elements in the inorganic realm is a fundamental environment, while the flow of elements from the abiotic to the biotic realm is due to the action of genomes, with the unused elements excreted back into the inorganic realm affecting ecological processes at higher levels of organization. Ecological stoichiometry purposefully assumes distinct elemental composition of species, enabling powerful predictions about the ecological functions of species. However, this assumption results in a simplified view of the evolutionary mechanisms underlying diversification in the elemental composition of species. Recent research indicates substantial intraspecific variation in elemental composition and associated ecological functions such as nutrient excretion. We posit that attention to intraspecific variation in elemental composition will facilitate a synthesis of stoichiometric information in light of population genetics theory for a rigorous exploration of the ecological consequences of evolutionary change.

Natural fracking and the genesis of five-element veins

Science.gov (United States)

Markl, Gregor; Burisch, Mathias; Neumann, Udo

2016-08-01

Hydrothermal Ag-Co-Ni-Bi-As (five-element vein type) ore deposits show very conspicuous textures of the native elements silver, bismuth, and arsenic indicating formation from a rapid, far-from-equilibrium process. Such textures include up to dm-large tree- and wire-like aggregates overgrown by Co-Ni-Fe arsenides and mostly carbonates. Despite the historical and contemporary importance of five-element vein type deposits as sources of silver, bismuth, and cobalt, and despite of spectacular museum specimens, their process of formation is not yet understood and has been a matter of debate since centuries. We propose, based on observations from a number of classical European five-element vein deposits and carbon isotope analyses, that "natural fracking," i.e., liberation of hydrocarbons or hydrocarbon-bearing fluids during break up of rocks in the vicinity of an active hydrothermal system and mixing between these hydrocarbons (e.g., methane and/or methane-bearing fluids) and a metal-rich hydrothermal fluid is responsible for ore precipitation and the formation of the unusual ore textures and assemblages. Thermodynamic and isotope mixing calculations show that the textural, chemical, and isotopic features of the investigated deposits can entirely be explained by this mechanism.

Nucleosynthesis of heavy elements by the photonuclear reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayakawa, Takehito

2002-01-01

Nucleosynthesis of heavy elements is important for understanding of the site mechanism in the stellar and cosmochronology. The nuclei heavier than iron have been synthesized mainly by the s-process and the β-decay after the r-process. The light isotope p-nuclei produced by the photonuclear reaction in Type II supernovae explosions. In order to understand the role of each process, the ratios of the processes are calculated. I propose the experimental plan using the photon sources. (author)

Stability and `volatility ` of element 104 oxychloride

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eichler, B.; Gaeggeler, H.W. [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)

1997-09-01

The formation enthalpies {Delta}H{sup *} of solid and gaseous oxychlorides of element 104 from free atoms were estimated by extrapolation. Stability and volatility of these compounds are compared to those of the homologous and neighbouring elements in the periodic system. It can be supposed that in a gas adsorption chromatographic process with oxygen containing chlorinating carrier gas the transport with the carrier gas flow occurs in the chemical state 104Cl{sub 4}. Only in the absorbed state the compound 104OCl{sub 2} is formed. (author) 1 fig., 3 refs.

Universality and the astrophysical sites for the r-process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otsuki, Kaori; Mathews, Grant J.; Wilson, James; Kajino, Toshitaka; Aoki, Wako; Honda, Satoshi

2003-01-01

Several observations of r-process elements in metal-deficient halo stars have been reported which show a Z>56 formed abundance distribution pattern similar to the Solar-system r-process distribution. It was believed that r-process elements for Z>56 in the same ratio and their astrophysical origin is unique because of this. However, quite recently, several controversial observational results have been reported. We calculated nucleosynthesis in various environments using a dynamical code. We find it is possible to reproduce the observed universal abundance distribution for stable Z>56 elements in various environments. Our results do not support a unique astrophysical site for Z>56 elements. These results significantly affect nuclear chronology using actinide elements. We also introduce a recent r-process nucleosynthesis calculation based on a supernovae simulation. Our tentative results indicate over-production of lighter elements and a shortage of actinide elements. (author)

Automatic welding of fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briola, J.

1958-01-01

The welding process depends on the type of fuel element, the can material and the number of cartridges to be welded: - inert-gas welding (used for G2 and the 1. set of EL3), - inert atmosphere arc welding (used for welding uranium and zirconium), - electronic welding (used for the 2. set of EL3 and the tank of Proserpine). (author) [fr

Drying results of K-Basin fuel element 5744U (Run 4)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klinger, G.S.; Oliver, B.M.; Abrefah, J.; Marschman, S.C.; MacFarlan, P.J.; Ritter, G.A.

1998-07-01

The water-filled K-Basins in the Hanford 100 Area have been used to store N-Reactor spent nuclear fuel (SNF) since the 1970s. Because some leaks in the basins have been detected and some of the fuel is breached due to handling damage and corrosion, efforts are underway to remove the fuel elements from wet storage. An Integrated Process Strategy (IPS) has been developed to package, dry, transport, and store these metallic uranium fuel elements in an interim storage facility on the Hanford Site. Information required to support the development of the drying processes, and the required safety analyses, is being obtained from characterization tests conducted on fuel elements removed from the K-Basins. A series of whole element drying tests (reported in separate documents, see Section 8.0) have been conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on several intact and damaged fuel elements recovered from both the K-East and K-West Basins. This report documents the results of the fourth of those tests, which was conducted on an N-Reactor outer fuel element removed from K-West canister 5744U. This element (referred to as Element 5744U) was stored underwater in the K-West Basin from 1983 until 1996. Element 5744U was subjected to a combination of low- and high-temperature vacuum drying treatments that were intended to mimic, wherever possible, the fuel treatment strategies of the IPS. The system used for the drying test was the Whole Element Furnace Testing System, described in Section 2.0, located in the Postirradiation Testing Laboratory (PTL, 327 Building). The test conditions and methodologies are given in Section 3.0. Inspections of the fuel element before and after the test are provided in Section 4.0. The experimental results are provided in Section 5.0, and discussed in Section 6.0

Drying Results of K-Basin Fuel Element 2660M (Run 7)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliver, B.M.; Klinger, G.S.; Abrefah, J.; Marschman, S.C.; MacFarlan, P.J.; Ritter, G.A.

1999-01-01

The water-filled K-Basins in the Hanford 100 Area have been used to store N-Reactor spent nuclear fuel (SNF) since the 1970s. Because some leaks in the basin have been detected and some of the fuel is breached due to handling damage and corrosion, efforts are underway to remove the fuel elements from wet storage. An Integrated Process Strategy (IPS) has been developed to package, dry, transport, and store these metallic uranium fuel elements in an interim storage facility on the Hanford Site (WHC 1995). Information required to support the development of the drying processes, and the required safety analyses, is being obtained from characterization tests conducted on fuel elements removed from the K-Basins. A series of whole element drying tests (reported in separate documents, see Section 8.0) have been conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on several intact and damaged fuel elements recovered from both the K-East and K-West Basins. This report documents the results of the seventh of those tests, which was conducted on an N-Reactor outer fuel element removed from K-West canister 2660M. This element (referred to as Element 2660M) was stored underwater in the K-West Basin from 1983 until 1996. Element 2660M was subjected to a combination of low- and high-temperature vacuum drying treatments that were intended to mimic, wherever possible, the fuel treatment strategies of the IPS. The system used for the drying test was the Whole Element Furnace Testing System, described in Section 2.0, located in the Postirradiation Testing Laboratory (PTL, 327 Building). The test conditions and methodologies are given in Section 3.0. Inspections of the fuel element before and after the test are provided in Section 4.0. The experimental results are provided in Section 5.0, and discussed in Section 6.0

Drying Results of K-Basin Fuel Element 6513U (Run 8)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliver, B.M.; Klinger, G.S.; Abrefah, J.; Marschman, S.C.; MacFarlan, P.J.; Ritter, G.A.

1999-01-01

The water-filled K-Basins in the Hanford 100 Area have been used to store N-Reactor spent nuclear fuel (SNF) since the 1970s. Because some leaks in the basin have been detected and some of the fuel is breached due to handling damage and corrosion, efforts are underway to remove the fuel elements from wet storage. An Integrated Process Strategy (IPS) has been developed to package, dry, transport, and store these metallic uranium fuel elements in an interim storage facility on the Hanford Site (WHC 1995). Information required to support the development of the drying processes, and the required safety analyses, is being obtained from characterization tests conducted on fuel elements removed from the K-Basins. A series of whole element drying tests (reported in separate documents, see Section 8.0) have been conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)on several intact and damaged fuel elements recovered from both the K-East and K-West Basins. This report documents the results of the eighth of those tests, which was conducted on an N-Reactor outer fuel element removed from K-West canister 6513U. This element (referred to as Element 6513U) was stored underwater in the K-West Basin from 1983 until 1996. Element 6513U was subjected to a combination of low- and high-temperature vacuum drying treatments that were intended to mimic, wherever possible, the fuel treatment strategies of the IPS. The system used for the drying test was the Whole Element Furnace Testing System, described in Section 2.0, located in the Postirradiation Testing Laboratory (PTL, 327 Building). The test conditions and methodologies are given in Section 3.0. Inspections of the fuel element before and after the test are provided in Section 4.0. The experimental results are provided in Section 5.0 and discussed in Section 6.0

Drying results of K-Basin fuel element 1164M (run 6)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliver, B.M.; Klinger, G.S.; Abrefah, J.; Marschman, S.C.; MacFarlan, P.J.; Ritter, G.A.

1998-08-01

The water-filled K-Basins in the Hanford 100 Area have been used to store N-Reactor spent nuclear fuel (SNF) since the 1970s. Because some leaks in the basin have been detected and some of the fuel is breached due to handling damage and corrosion, efforts are underway to remove the fuel elements from wet storage. An Integrated Process Strategy (IPS) has been developed to package, dry, transport, and store these metallic uranium fuel elements in an interim storage facility on the Hanford site (WHC 1995). Information required to support the development of the drying processes, and the required safety analyses, is being obtained from characterization tests conducted on fuel elements removed from the K-Basins. A series of whole element drying tests (reported in separate documents, see Section 8.0) have been conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on several intact and damaged fuel elements recovered from both the K-East and K-West Basins. This report documents the results of the sixth of those tests, which was conducted on an N-Reactor outer fuel element removed from K-West canister 1164 M. This element (referred to as Element 1164M) was stored underwater in the K-West Basin from 1983 until 1996. Element 1164M was subjected to a combination of low- and high-temperature vacuum drying treatments that were intended to mimic, wherever possible, the fuel treatment strategies of the IPS. The system used for the drying test was the Whole Element Furnace Testing System, described in Section 2.0, located in the Postirradiation Testing laboratory (PTL, 327 Building). The test conditions and methodologies are given in Section 3.0. Inspections of the fuel element before and after the test are provided in Section 4.0. The experimental results are provided in Section 5.0, and discussed in Section 6.0

Reading Motivation: 10 Elements for Success. Motivational Strategies That Work!

Science.gov (United States)

Gerbig, Kori M.

2009-01-01

Motivational processes are the foundation for coordinating cognitive goals and strategies in reading. Becoming an excellent, active reader involves attunement of motivational processes with cognitive and language processes in reading. This article presents K-12 strategies for motivating reading success. It describes 10 instructional elements that…

Trace-element speciation and partitioning in environmental geochemistry and health

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farmer, J.G.; Gibson, M.J.; Lovell, M.A.

1983-09-01

Establishment of the chemical form and associations of trace elements is important in the scientifc and medical fields related to environmental geochemistry and health. Fundamental understanding of trace-element behavior, the realistic formulation of historical perspectives of trace-element contamination, an assessment of environmental transformation processes and a thorough appraisal of environment-related ill health and disease all depend on knowledge of the chemical speciation and partitioning of trace elements. These topics and the development of analytical speciation techniques and procedures are discussed with reference to trace-element studies in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Science, University of Glasgow, on lacustrine sediments and water, the atmosphere, soil and street dirt of an urban environment, and human biological fluids. 206 references, 4 figures.

Finite Element Modeling of Thermo Creep Processes Using Runge-Kutta Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. I. Dimitrienko

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Thermo creep deformations for most heat-resistant alloys, as a rule, nonlinearly depend on stresses and are practically non- reversible. Therefore, to calculate the properties of these materials the theory of plastic flow is most widely used. Finite-element computations of a stress-strain state of structures with account of thermo creep deformations up to now are performed using main commercial software, including ANSYS package. However, in most cases to solve nonlinear creep equations, one should apply explicit or implicit methods based on the Euler method of approximation of time-derivatives. The Euler method is sufficiently efficient in terms of random access memory in computations, however this method is cumbersome in computation time and does not always provide a required accuracy for creep deformation computations.The paper offers a finite-element algorithm to solve a three-dimensional problem of thermo creep based on the Runge-Kutta finite-difference schemes of different orders with respect to time. It shows a numerical test example to solve the problem on the thermo creep of a beam under tensile loading. The computed results demonstrate that using the Runge-Kutta method with increasing accuracy order allows us to obtain a more accurate solution (with increasing accuracy order by 1 a relative error decreases, approximately, by an order too. The developed algorithm proves to be efficient enough and can be recommended for solving the more complicated problems of thermo creep of structures.

Simultaneous heat and moisture transfer in porous elements: transfer function method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, H.A. de.

1985-01-01

The presence of moisture in a porous element may strongly affect the transfer of heat through this element due to the processes which occur associated with the phase changes at the boundary surfaces and internally in the wall body. In addition, the structural properties of the element may also be meaningfully affected. The formulation of mathematical models for the simultaneous heat and mass transfer in porous elements results in a pair of nonlinear coupled equations for the temperature and moisture content distributions, in the material. It is supposed, in this work, that the actual variation of the properties of the porous medium is small in the range of variables which describe the specific problem to be analyzed. This enables us to work with linearized equations, making possible the use of linear solution methods. In this context, the present work deals with a linear procedure for the solution of simultaneous heat and moisture transfer problems in porous elements, sujected to arbitrary boundary conditions. This results in a linear relation between the heat and mass flux densities through the boundary surfaces of the elements and their associated potentials. It is shown that the model is consistent in asymptotical limiting cases; the model is then used for analyzing the drying process of a porous element, subjected to ambient actual conditions. (Author) [pt

Elements of quantum information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schleich, W.P.

2007-01-01

Elements of Quantum Information introduces the reader to the fascinating field of quantum information processing, which lives on the interface between computer science, physics, mathematics, and engineering. This interdisciplinary branch of science thrives on the use of quantum mechanics as a resource for high potential modern applications. With its wide coverage of experiments, applications, and specialized topics - all written by renowned experts - Elements of Quantum Information provides and indispensable, up-to-date account of the state of the art of this rapidly advancing field and takes the reader straight up to the frontiers of current research. The articles have first appeared as a special issue of the journal 'Fortschritte der Physik / Progress of Physics'. Since then, they have been carefully updated. The book will be an inspiring source of information and insight for anyone researching and specializing in experiments and theory of quantum information. Topics addressed in Elements of Quantum Information include - Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics - Segmented Paul Traps - Cold Atoms and Bose-Einstein Condensates in Microtraps, Optical Lattices, and on Atom Chips - Rydberg Gases - Factorization of Numbers with Physical Systems - Entanglement of Continuous Variables - NMR and Solid State Quantum Computation - Quantum Algorithms and Quantum Machines - Complexity Theory - Quantum Crytography. (orig.)

Asymmetric designed sintered metal filter elements in the HTF process of LILW vitrification plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roehlig, Rainer

2005-01-01

Sintered metal filter elements have been used for years and have been successfully in operation in different application. The technical and economical advantages of only recently developed asymmetric Metallic Membranes elements, which operate as a surface filter, will be shown in comparison with standard sintered metal filter cartridges. The permeability, particle retention and back flushing performance have been improved. In order to achieve this, an asymmetric structure was designed in which an active filtration layer is applied onto a coarse porous metal support material made out of the same alloy. The economical benefits for customers are low maintenance and reduced investment cost as well as defined particle retention as is required by the users

Improving the Document Development Process: Integrating Relational Data and Statistical Process Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, John

1994-01-01

Presents an approach to document numbering, document titling, and process measurement which, when used with fundamental techniques of statistical process control, reveals meaningful process-element variation as well as nominal productivity models. (SR)

Partitioning of TRU elements from Chinese HLLW

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Chongli; Zhu Yongjun

1994-04-01

The partitioning of TRU elements from the Chinese HLLW is feasible. The required D.F. values for producing a waste suitable for land disposal are given. The TRPO process developed in China could be used for this purpose. The research and development of the TRPO process is summarized and the general flowsheet is given. The Chinese HLLW has very high salt concentration. It causes the formation of third phase when contacted with TRPO extractant. The third phase would disappear by diluting the Chinese HLLW to 2∼3 times before extraction. The preliminary experiment shows very attractive results. The separation of Sr and Cs from the Chinese HLLW is also possible. The process is being studied. The partitioning of TRU elements and long lived ratio-nuclides from the Chinese HLLW provides an alternative method for its disposal. The partitioning of the Chinese HLLW could greatly reduce the waste volume, that is needed to be vitrified and to be disposed in to the deep repository, and then would drastically save the overall waste disposal cost

Pump radiation distribution in multi-element first cladding laser fibres

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mel'kumov, Mikhail A; Bufetov, Igor' A; Bubnov, M M; Shubin, Aleksei V; Semenov, S L; Dianov, Evgenii M

2005-01-01

Pump radiation transfer is studied experimentally in multi-element first cladding laser fibres. A model of this process is proposed, which is in good agreement with experimental results. An all-fibre single-mode cw ytterbium laser based on a three-element first cladding fibre with an output power of 100W is fabricated. (lasers)

Boiling process in oil coolers on porous elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Genbach Alexander A.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Holography and high-speed filming were used to reveal movements and deformations of the capillary and porous material, allowing to calculate thermo-hydraulic characteristics of boiling liquid in the porous structures. These porous structures work at the joint action of capillary and mass forces, which are generalised in the form of dependences used in the calculation for oil coolers in thermal power plants (TPP. Furthermore, the mechanism of the boiling process in porous structures in the field of mass forces is explained. The development process of water steam formation in the mesh porous structures working at joint action of gravitational and capillary forces is investigated. Certain regularities pertained to the internal characteristics of boiling in cells of porous structure are revealed, by means of a holographic interferometry and high-speed filming. Formulas for calculation of specific thermal streams through thermo-hydraulic characteristics of water steam formation in mesh structures are obtained, in relation to heat engineering of thermal power plants. This is the first calculation of heat flow through the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the boiling process in a reticulated porous structure obtained by a photo film and holographic observations.

Mineral elements and essential trace elements in blood of seals of the North Sea measured by total-reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griesel, S.; Mundry, R.; Kakuschke, A.; Fonfara, S.; Siebert, U.; Prange, A.

2006-01-01

Mineral and essential trace elements are involved in numerous physiological processes in mammals. Often, diseases are associated with an imbalance of the electrolyte homeostasis. In this study, the concentrations of mineral elements (P, S, K, Ca) and essential trace elements (Fe, Cu, Zn, Se, Rb, Sr) in whole blood of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) were determined using total-reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (TXRF). Samples from 81 free-ranging harbor seals from the North Sea and two captive seals were collected during 2003-2005. Reference ranges and element correlations for health status determination were derived for P, S, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, and Zn level in whole blood. Grouping the seals by age, gender and sample location the concentration levels of the elements were compared. The blood from two captive seals with signs of diseases and four free-ranging seals showed reduced element levels of P, S, and Ca and differences in element correlation of electrolytes were ascertained. Thus, simultaneous measurements of several elements in only 500 μL volumes of whole blood provide the possibility to obtain information on both, the electrolyte balance and the hydration status of the seals. The method could therefore serve as an additional biomonitoring tool for the health assessment

Elements of knowledge management in the improvement of business processes

OpenAIRE

Brajer-Marczak Renata

2016-01-01

The key role in process management is played by the systematic analysis, measurement and improvement of processes. The imperative of continuous introduction of changes in processes is the answer to the changing conditions of competition and the great dynamics in the expectations and preferences of customers. Information related to business process should be collected and formalized in order to improve the execution of processes. In connection with the above, it may be stated that the improvem...

Investigation of elemental changes in brain tissues following excitotoxic injury

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siegele, Rainer; Howell, Nicholas R.; Callaghan, Paul D.; Pastuovic, Zeljko

2013-01-01

Recently the ANSTO heavy ion microprobe has been used for elemental mapping of thin brain tissue sections. The fact that a very small portion of the proton energy is used for X-ray excitation combined with small variations of the major element concentrations makes μ-PIXE imaging and GeoPIXE analysis a challenging task. Excitotoxic brain injury underlies the pathology of stroke and various neurodegenerative disorders. Large fluxes in Ca +2 cytosolic concentrations are a key feature of the initiation of this pathophysiological process. In order to understand if these modifications are associated with changes in the elemental composition, several brain sections have been mapped with μ-PIXE. Increases in Ca +2 cytosolic concentrations were indicative of the pathophysiological process continuing 1 week after an initiating neural insult. We were able to measure significant variations in K and Ca concentration distribution across investigated brain tissue. These variations correlate very well with physiological changes visible in the brain tissue. Moreover, the obtained μ-PIXE results clearly demonstrate that the elemental composition changes significantly correlate with brain drauma