Research and development of liquid hydrogen (LH2) temperature monitoring system for marine applications

Monitoring the temperature in liquid hydrogen (LH₂) storage tanks on ships is important for the safety of maritime navigation. In addition, accurate temperature measurement is also required for commercial transactions. Temperature and pressure define the density of liquid hydrogen, which is directly linked to trading interests. In this study, we developed and tested a liquid hydrogen temperature monitoring system that uses platinum resistance sensors with a nominal electrical resistance of approximately 1000 Ω at room temperature, PT-1000, for marine applications. The temperature measurements were carried out using a newly developed temperature monitoring system under different pressure conditions. The measured values are compared with a calibrated reference PT-1000 resistance thermometer. We confirm a measurement accuracy of ±50 mK in a pressure range of 0.1 MPa–0.5 MPa.     

Three-dimensional analysis of a Cherenkov laser via particlesimulation

For a three-dimensional (3-D) Cherenkov laser composed of a dielectric-loaded rectangular waveguide and a finite-width planar relativistic electron beam, the nonlinear characteristics and efficiency enhancement are investigated with the aid of particle simulation, allowing for the nonlinear properties of the electron beam. The numerical results obtained in the paper are compared with those obtained in the two-dimensional (2-D) analysis. The efficiency enhancement scheme, which was previously proposed for the 2-D case, is found to be effective also for the 3-D case     

Control of polymerization processes of 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid LB films

Studies have been carried out on KrF excimer laser light (EX), X-ray or electron beam (EB) induced polymerization of 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PDA) Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films in relation to molecular density or molecular arrangement of the films using X-ray diffraction analysis, infrared (IR) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The molecular arrangement or density of the PDA LB films was controlled by subphase conditions when the films were built up, such as pH, temperature of a subphase or salt concentration in the subphase. Polymerization sensitivity of the PDA LB film was affected by the arrangement or molecular density. On low density (A type) films the polymerization occurred by irradiation with EX, X-ray or EB, but on high density (B type) films the polymerization occurred only when the irradiation was carried out by high energy beams such as X-ray or EB. Decomposition of polymerized films was observed further by excessive irradiation of EX or X-ray, but not on the B type films. It was revealed by X-ray diffraction analysis that in the A type film, the PDA molecules bent to a larger extent than those in the B type film and the polymerization proceeded topochemically, that is, the thickness decreased little after EB irradiation in a helium atmosphere. On the other hand, in the B type film, the thickness decreased by about 10% as a result of EB irradiation. By IR reflection-absorption (RA) and Raman measurements, it was confirmed that conjugated diacetylenic bonds disappeared and conjugated double and new conjugated triple bonds appeared after high energy beam irradiations. These results support the supposition that 1,4-polymerization, i.e. polydiacetylene type polymerization, occurs easily in the A type film and 1,2- or 3,4-polymerization, i.e. polyacetylene type polymerization, occurs in the B type film, and that the polymerized A type film was decomposed at the polydiacetylenic bond when the irradiation continued further. It was also shown that the polyacetylene type polymer was obtained only when the B type film was irradiated with the high energy beam.     

Dehydrogenative Cracking of n-Butane over Modified HZSM-5 Catalysts

Dehydrogenative cracking reaction of n-butane was studied using HZSM-5 catalyst modified with various metal oxides. Alkaline earth (magnesium), transition metal (cobalt) and rare earth (lanthanum) elements are used for the modification. The selectivity of the products was studied at low conversion (20%). Methane, ethane, ethylene, propylene, butenes and butadiene were the main products. With the use of the cobalt- or magnesium-containing HZSM-5, dehydrogenative cracking was observed and the selectivity of ethylene was much larger than that of ethane. On the other hand, the selectivity of ethylene and ethane were almost the same in the reaction using the lanthanum-containing HZSM-5. It is considered that the cobalt- and magnesium-loaded sites on HZSM-5 played an important role in the dehydrogenative cracking.     

Note: detection of micro-cracks in the interlayer dielectric film by the stress based light scattering method

A phenomenon was discovered wherein light scattering strength from cracks increases when tensile stress is applied to micro-cracks produced in the interlayer dielectric film by chemical mechanical polishing treatment. It is likely that the change in light scattering intensity occurs because a region of high stress concentration (region with high variation in index of refraction) is produced near the crack tip due to stress, thus forming a type of scatterer. With this method, it is possible to detect only scatterers which respond to stress, and thus, it is possible to classify and separately detect cracks and particles.     

Solving a Nonlinear Problem in Magneto-Rheological Fluids Using the Immersed Interface Method

Many applications lead to a nonlinear elliptic interface problem in which the discontinuous coefficient depends on the solution and the material properties. A finite difference method based on Cartesian grids and the maximum principle preserving immersed interface method is proposed for the nonlinear elliptic interface problems discussed in this paper. Numerical experiments against the exact solutions reveal that our method is nearly second order accurate in the infinity norm. The method is applied to study the magneto-rheological field-responsive fluids that contain iron particles. Numerical experiments are performed against the results from the literature.     

Safety design

JAERI established the safety design philosophy of the HTTR based on that of current reactors such as LWR in Japan, considering inherent safety features of the HTTR. The strategy of defense in depth was implemented so that the safety engineering functions such as control of reactivity, removal of residual heat and confinement of fission products shall be well performed to ensure safety. However, unlike the LWR, the inherent design features of the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) enables the HTTR meet stringent regulatory criteria without much dependence on active safety systems. On the other hand, the safety in an accident typical to the HTGR such as the depressurization accident initiated by a primary pipe rupture shall be ensured. The safety design philosophy of the HTTR considers these unique features appropriately and is expected to be the basis for future Japanese HTGRs.This paper describes the safety design philosophy and safety evaluation procedure of the HTTR especially focusing on unique considerations to the HTTR. Also, experiences obtained from an HTTR safety review and R&D needs for establishing the safety philosophy for the future HTGRs are reported.