Preliminary evaluation of a nuclear scenario involving innovative gas cooled reactors

In order to guarantee a sustainable supply of future energy demand without compromising the environment, some actions for a substantial reduction of CO 2 emissions are nowadays deeply analysed. One of them is the improvement of the nuclear energy use. In this framework, innovative gas-cooled reactors (both thermal and fast) seem to be very attractive from the electricity production point of view and for the potential industrial use along the high temperature processes (e.g., H 2 production by steam reforming or I-S process). This work focuses on a preliminary (and conservative) evaluation of possible advantages that a symbiotic cycle (EPR-PBMR-GCFR) could entail, with special regard to the reduction of the HLW inventory and the optimization of the exploitation of the fuel resources. The comparison between the symbiotic cycle chosen and the reference one (once-through scenario, i.e., EPR-SNF directly disposed) shows a reduction of the time needed to reach a fixed reference level from ∼170000 years to ∼1550 years (comparable with typical human times and for this reason more acceptable by the public opinion). In addition, this cycle enables to have a more efficient use of resources involved: the total electric energy produced becomes equal to ∼630 TWh/year (instead of only ∼530 TWh/year using only EPR) without consuming additional raw materials. © 2009 Barbara Vezzoni et al.

Absolute and convective instability in gas turbine fuel injectors

Hydrodynamic instabilities in gas turbine fuel injectors help to mix the fuel and air but can sometimes lock into acoustic oscillations and contribute to thermoacoustic instability. This paper describes a linear stability analysis that predicts the frequencies and strengths of hydrodynamic instabilities and identifies the regions of the flow that cause them. It distinguishes between convective instabilities, which grow in time but are convected away by the flow, and absolute instabilities, which grow in time without being convected away. Convectively unstable flows amplify external perturbations, while absolutely unstable flows also oscillate at intrinsic frequencies. As an input, this analysis requires velocity and density fields, either from a steady but unstable solution to the Navier-Stokes equations, or from time-averaged numerical simulations. In the former case, the analysis is a predictive tool. In the latter case, it is a diagnostic tool. This technique is applied to three flows: a swirling wake at Re = 400, a single stream swirling fuel injector at Re - 106, and a lean premixed gas turbine injector with five swirling streams at Re - 106. Its application to the swirling wake demonstrates that this technique can correctly predict the frequency, growth rate and dominant wavemaker region of the flow. It also shows that the zone of absolute instability found from the spatio-temporal analysis is a good approximation to the wavemaker region, which is found by overlapping the direct and adjoint global modes. This approximation is used in the other two flows because it is difficult to calculate their adjoint global modes. Its application to the single stream fuel injector demonstrates that it can identify the regions of the flow that are responsible for generating the hydrodynamic oscillations seen in LES and experimental data. The frequencies predicted by this technique are within a few percent of the measured frequencies. The technique also explains why these oscillations become weaker when a central jet is injected along the centreline. This is because the absolutely unstable region that causes the oscillations becomes convectively unstable. Its application to the lean premixed gas turbine injector reveals that several regions of the flow are hydrodynamically unstable, each with a different frequency and a different strength. For example, it reveals that the central region of confined swirling flow is strongly absolutely unstable and sets up a precessing vortex core, which is likely to aid mixing throughout the injector. It also reveals that the region between the second and third streams is slightly absolutely unstable at a frequency that is likely to coincide with acoustic modes within the combustion chamber. This technique, coupled with knowledge of the acoustic modes in a combustion chamber, is likely to be a useful design tool for the passive control of mixing and combustion instability. Copyright © 2012 by ASME.

A novel system for reducing turbo-lag by injection of compressed gas into the exhaust manifold

A key challenge in achieving good transient performance of highly boosted engines is the difficulty of accelerating the turbocharger from low air flow conditions (turbo lag). Multi-stage turbocharging, electric turbocharger assistance, electric compressors and hybrid powertrains are helpful in the mitigation of this deficit, but these technologies add significant cost and integration effort. Air-assist systems have the potential to be more cost-effective. Injecting compressed air into the intake manifold has received considerable attention, but the performance improvement offered by this concept is severely constrained by the compressor surge limit. The literature describes many schemes for generating the compressed gas, often involving significant mechanical complexity and/or cost. In this paper we demonstrate a novel exhaust assist system in which a reservoir is charged during braking. Experiments have been conducted using a 2.0 litre light-duty Diesel engine equipped with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and variable geometry turbine (VGT) coupled to an AC transient dynamometer, which was controlled to mimic engine load during in-gear braking and acceleration. The experimental results confirm that the proposed system reduces the time to torque during the 3rd gear tip-in by around 60%. Such a significant improvement was possible due to the increased acceleration of turbocharger immediately after the tip-in. Injecting the compressed gas into the exhaust manifold circumvents the problem of compressor surge and is the key enabler of the superior performance of the proposed concept. Copyright © 2013 SAE International.

A high temperature and low power SOI CMOS MEMS based thermal conductivity gas sensor

The design, 3D FEM modelling and measurement results of a novel high temperature, low power SOI CMOS MEMS thermal conductivity gas sensor are presented here. The sensor consists of a circular membrane with an embedded tungsten micro-heater. The high sensing capability is based on the temperature sensitivity of the resistive heating element. The sensor was fabricated at a commercial foundry using a 1 μm process and measures only 1×1 mm 2. The circular membrane has a 600 μm diameter while the heating element has a 320 μm diameter. Measurement results show that for a constant power consumption of 75 mW the heater temperature was 562.4°C in air, 565.9°C in N2, 592.5°C for 1 % H2 in Ar and 599.5°C in Ar. © 2013 IEEE.

Low-cost PCB-integrated polymer waveguide sensor for gas detection

An optical waveguide sensor formed directly on low-cost PCB substrates is presented for the first time. The device integrates polymer waveguides functionalized with chemical dyes, photonic and electronic components and allows multiple-gas detection. © OSA/CLEO 2011.

A dual mode SOI CMOS MEMS based thermal conductivity and IR absorption gas sensor

Design, FEM modelling and characterization of a novel dual mode thermal conductivity and infrared absorption sensor using SOI CMOS technology is reported. The dual mode sensing capability is based on the temperature sensitivity and wideband infrared radiation emission of the resistive heating element. The sensor was fabricated at a commercial foundry using a 1 μm process and measures only 1×1 mm2. Infrared detectors usually use thermopiles in addition to a separate IR source. A single highly responsive dual mode source and sensing element targeting not only low molecular mass gases but also greenhouse gases, while consuming 40 mW power at 700°C in synthetic air, thus makes this sensor particularly viable for battery powered handheld devices. © 2013 IEEE.

Carbon source/sink function of a subtropical, eutrophic lake determined from an overall mass balance and a gas exchange and carbon burial balance

Although studies on carbon burial in lake sediments have shown that lakes are disproportionately important carbon sinks, many studies on gaseous carbon exchange across the water-air interface have demonstrated that lakes are supersaturated with CO2 and CH4 causing a net release of CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere. In order to more accurately estimate the net carbon source/sink function of lake ecosystems, a more comprehensive carbon budget is needed, especially for gaseous carbon exchange across the water-air interface. Using two methods, overall mass balance and gas exchange and carbon burial balance, we assessed the carbon source/sink function of Lake Donghu, a subtropical, eutrophic take, from April 2003 to March 2004. With the overall mass balance calculations, total carbon input was 14 905 t, total carbon output was 4950 1, and net carbon budget was +9955 t, suggesting that Lake Donghu was a great carbon sink. For the gas exchange and carbon burial balance, gaseous carbon (CO2 and CH4) emission across the water-air interface totaled 752 t while carbon burial in the lake sediment was 9477 t. The ratio of carbon emission into the atmosphere to carbon burial into the sediment was only 0.08. This low ratio indicates that Lake Donghu is a great carbon sink. Results showed good agreement between the two methods with both showing Lake Donghu to be a great carbon sink. This results from the high primary production of Lake Donghu, substantive allochthonous carbon inputs and intensive anthropogenic activity. Gaseous carbon emission accounted for about 15% of the total carbon output, indicating that the total output would be underestimated without including gaseous carbon exchange. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.