Fabrication of (Pu-U) oxide microspheres using an internal gelation method

This article describes the application of an internal gelation sol-gel method for the preparation of (U, Pu)O₂ microspheres. A mixture of PuO₂ sol, a concentrated denitrated uranyl nitrate solution, urea and hexamethylenetetramine are injected into a glass column containing paraffin oil and tetrachloroethylene in an upward flow. The reaction conditions for the different Pu/U ratios are given as well as the optimum washing conditions. The drying and thermal treatment of the spheres are discussed and densities and chemical compositions of the spheres are given. Some sphere cross sections are presented.     

偕胺肟功能化水热碳微球对铀的吸附性能

为在碳微球表面引入偕胺肟基团,采用丙烯腈接枝淀粉为原料,通过水热法成功制备偕胺肟功能化水热碳微球(HTC-AO),并研究了HTC-AO对水溶液中铀的吸附性能,HTC-AO对铀吸附的最佳pH=6.0,吸附量最大为455.6mg/g,吸附过程符合Langmuir等温方程和准二级动力学方程。热力学研究表明,吸附过程为自发吸热过程。选择性研究结果表明,在多种离子共存的情况下HTC-AO对铀具有很高的选择性。     

Pneumatic drop-on-demand generation for production of metal oxide microspheres by internal gelation

Drop-on-demand generation is an alternative approach to the traditional vibrating nozzle used for the production of nuclear fuel microspheres via the internal gelation method. We integrated a low-cost pneumatic setup and demonstrated that the drop-on-demand approach has some advantages, such as low inventory of feed solution (attractive for laboratory-scale research), improved drop diameter control, reproducibility, scale-up to desired throughput by simple multiplication of the number of dispensing units, and simple remote operation. However, limitations on reproducibility and drop diameter control still exist due to the intrinsic variation of physical properties, viscosity, and dispensing-tip wettability during the internal gelation process. These adverse effects can be mitigated, to a certain extent, by carefully controlling the temperature of the feed as uniformly as possible. We validated the drop-on-demand generation method by producing solid kernels of yttrium-stabilized zirconia and soft gel microspheres of iron hydroxide. In addition, we have measured the diameter change at each principal process stage. Based on the observed gas entrainment/absorption in the gel spheres, we conjectured that aging and washing are likely the critical stages determining the final precision to which microspheres can be made. Finally, we comment on potential improvements that add robustness to the method for handling other metal precursors in aqueous solutions.     

Fe_3O_4/聚丙烯酸/CdS复合粒子的光化学制备及光催化性能

采用光引发丙烯酸聚合的方法对Fe3O4纳米粒子进行表面改性,制备了羧基功能化的Fe3O4/聚丙烯酸复合纳米粒子(Fe3O4/PAA);以Fe3O4/PAA为磁核,以硫酸镉和硫代硫酸钠为原料,采用光化学方法制备Fe3O4/聚丙烯酸/CdS复合粒子(Fe3O4/PAA/CdS),并借助红外光谱、X射线粉末衍射、透射电子显微镜、荧光光谱和振动样品磁强计对其进行表征。结果表明,核-壳结构的Fe3O4/PAA/CdS为表面粗糙的球形粒子,平均粒径为155 nm,具有发光性能和准超顺磁性。Fe3O4/PAA/CdS在有机染料罗丹明B的降解实验中显示出良好的可见光催化活性,可以借助磁铁在2 min内从溶液中完全回收。     

Three-dimensional flow measurement of a sphere-packed pipe by a digital hologram and refractive index-matching method

Molten-salt used as a coolant in fusion reactors plays a significant role in the design of advanced reactors. Investigation of thermal behavior is necessary in an actual environment of a facility where heat transfer enhancement takes place under a high Pr number fluid flow such as in case of FLiBe. For the development of a facility, it is necessary to be able to monitor fluid motion of a basic heat transfer promoter such as a sphere-packed pipe (SPP). In the present study, to discern the complex flow structures in SPP, digital holographic PTV visualization is carried out by a refractive index-matching method using a sodium iodide (NaI) solution employed as a working fluid. Hologram fringe images of particles behind the spheres can be observed, and the particles’ positions can be reconstructed by a digital hologram. Consequently, 3-D velocity-fields around the spheres are obtained by the reconstructed particles’ positions. The velocity between pebbles is found to be faster than that in other regions.     

Extrapolation distance of spheres and of infinite slabs and cylinders for monoenergetic neutrons scattering anisotropically

In an earlier paper the critical size of spheres and infinite slabs was calculated with a method by Carlvik for monoenergetic neutrons scattering anisotropically. From the results and from the work by Sanchez on the critical size of infinite cylinders, accurate extrapolation lengths have been derived for various dimensions and for an average cosine of the scattering angle up to 0.3. For not too thin slabs there is good agreement with an approximation formula derived by Davison. However, the formula is not applicable to spheres or cylinders in the presence of anisotropic scattering.     

Chord length distributions between hard disks and spheres in regular,semi-regular,and quasi-random structures

In binary stochastic media in two- and three-dimensions consisting of randomly placed impenetrable disks or spheres, the chord lengths in the background material between disks and spheres closely follow exponential distributions if the disks and spheres occupy less than 10% of the medium. This work demonstrates that for regular spatial structures of disks and spheres, the tails of the chord length distributions (CLDs) follow power laws rather than exponentials. In dilute media, when the disks and spheres are widely spaced, the slope of the power law seems to be independent of the details of the structure. When approaching a close-packed arrangement, the exact placement of the spheres can make a significant difference. When regular structures are perturbed by small random displacements, the CLDs become power laws with steeper slopes. An example CLD from a quasi-random distribution of spheres in clusters shows a modified exponential distribution.     

Method of estimating the critical parameters of a body of arbitrary shape made from fissionable material

In this paper we consider an approximation method for determining the critical parameters of a body of arbitrary shape (or a group of bodies) made from fissionable material. In contrast with the variational method, the method described here is extremely simple and gives an error which is favorable from the point of view of safety as applied to fissionable materials; hence it is useful for engineering calculations.The method has been applied to fast neutron systems where the single-velocity approximation gives good accuracy.We wish to express our gratitude to B. D. Stsiborskii and M. L Kuvshinov for calling our attention to the experiment with the two interacting spheres; we also wish to thank V. A. Davidenko, Yu. N. Babaev and N. A. Dmitriev for discussion of the present work and a number of valuable comments.     

CuS亚微米空心结构γ辐照制备及表征

在常温常压下,利用γ射线辐照CuCl2、Na2S2O3和SDS水溶液,制备出CuS亚微米空心球结构。利用XRD、FESEM、TEM对其进行了表征。分析结果表明,CuS空心球结构外径约为600nm,内径约为400nm,壁厚约100nm。初步研究了辐照吸收剂量率及表面活性剂对产物形貌的影响,并探讨了CuS空心球结构可能的形成机制。     

Disorder effects in reflectance spectra of colloidal photonic crystals

Although fabrication of photonic crystals improved over the last few years, intrinsic defects of the crystal lattice affect the experimentally measured spectral features. In order to compare experimental spectra with simulated photonic band structure, disorder effects are simulated by introduction of material absorption. By using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method we were able in the past to obtain a good agreement between experimental and simulated transmission curves by taking in account the glass substrate. In this work we extend our analysis for reflectance curves of one, two and three-layered close-packed polystyrene spheres. We show that a key ingredient in simulating disorder effects is the introduction of fictional absorption for polystyrene.     

Fabrication of zirconia-based targets for transmutation

The fabrication of homogeneous (Am,Y,Zr)O_2−x pellets and heterogeneous pellets, containing (Am,Y,Zr)O_2−x spheres dispersed in an inert matrix, by dust-free processes has been investigated. Due to the high activity of americium, the preparatory fabrication tests and process development are being carried out using cerium analogue element. The sol gel route is used to produce highly porous Y_0.15Zr_0.85O_2−x spheres, which are then infiltrated with a cerium nitrate solution to give (Ce,Y,Zr)O_2−x. The goal (28 wt% Ce) can be achieved. Homogeneous targets with densities up to 94 %TD have been obtained.     

气力输送中断后吸收球堆积及重启动试验研究

在以常温常压空气为气源的正压气力输送试验系统中,用玻璃球代替吸收球,研究气力输送中断后吸收球颗粒在输送管侧的堆积及重新启动特性。结果表明:处于稳定输送阶段的气力输送中断后,所用实验装置输送管侧的颗粒平均堆积高度为1172 mm,约占输送管总高度的11%;风机流量减小过程中供料器继续对输送管的供给对颗粒堆积量具有重要影响,稳态气力输送时的输送管内所含颗粒量约占堆积量的10%;重启动过程中气-固两相流段最高压差及稳态输送压差大小与初次启动时相比无变化。     

辐射乳液聚合制备聚苯乙烯/四氧化三钴中空复合材料

本工作使用的四氧化三钴纳米颗粒经由水热法合成,使用油酸对颗粒表面进行修饰.采用苯乙烯(St)、十二烷基硫酸钠(SDS)和十六醇(CA)配成的乳液体系,添加四氧化三钴纳米颗粒(OA-NP),利用γ射线辐照引发单体聚合,制备出具有中空结构的聚合物-纳米颗粒复合物.复合物产物的电镜照片显示改变SDS、OA-NP的用量可控制样...     

Solution of diffusion equation in deformable spheroids

The time-dependent diffusion of neutrons in a spheroid as a function of the focal distance has been studied. The solution is based on an orthogonal basis and an extrapolation distanced related boundary condition for the spheroidal geometry. It has been shown that spheres and disks are two limiting cases for the spheroids, for which there is a smooth transition for the systems properties between these two limits. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that a slight deformation from a sphere does not affect the fundamental mode properties, to the first order. The calculations for both multiplying and non-multiplying media have been undertaken, showing good agreement with direct Monte Carlo simulations.     

HTR-10第二停堆系统的试验与调试

吸收球停堆装置是10MW高温气冷实验堆的第二停堆系统，控制棒失效时，碳化中子吸收球落入堆芯反层的吸收球孔道内，实现紧急停堆；反应堆再次临界前，利用气体输送装置将吸收球送回位于堆顶的贮球罐内，在实验室和高 温堆上先后进行了7套吸收球装置的热态试验和输送功能试验，试验数据表明，吸收球系统7套装置的落球和回球动作正常，所用的时间在要求的范围内；球位状态指示正常；气体回路流动正常，风机的流量，压升正常，12个阀门的开，闭功能正常。     

Dispersion relations for plasmon excitations in nanostructures of different shapes and symmetries

We give a short overview of the dispersion relation for plasmon excitations in nanosystems of spherical (spheres, cavities and concentric spherical shells) and cylindrical (capillaries, wires and tubes) symmetries. We describe the interaction of external charged particles with the nanomaterials by using the dielectric response function. We apply the calculation to the case of electrons impacting nanosurfaces of Aluminum. We show how different is the response of the surface depending of its shape and configuration.     

Hot sphere detection limits for a dual head coincidence imagingsystem

Phantom studies were performed to investigate detectability limits for a dual head coincidence imaging system. Spheres of 2.8, 2.2, 1.6, 1.2, 1.0, 0.8 cm inner diameter were placed at a radius of 5.75 cm in a 22 cm diameter cylindrical phantom. The contrast to noise ratio (CNR) of the spheres to background was used as the authors' metric of detectability. CNR values were determined for three different sphere to background ratios (10:1, 5:1, and 3:1); for three different background count densities (high, medium, and low); and for three different energy window requirements (photopeak only, photopeak and photopeak-Compton, and all combinations). Based upon the authors' visual observation, the smallest detectable spheres were 0.8 cm, 1.2 cm and 1.6 cm for a 2.5 million event photopeak-Compton image set with sphere to background ratios of 10:1, 5:1 and 3:1, respectively. The CNR values for these spheres were 5.1, 7.8, and 4.8. Over all observations, spheres with a CNR greater than 4 were detectable     

外胶凝法制备高温气冷堆UO2核芯的湿法工艺

为制备高温气冷堆用燃料致密UO2核芯,对传统的溶胶-凝胶法进行优化和改进。主要对改进后的外胶凝工艺的湿法部分进行介绍,包括U3O8粉的溶解即欠酸硝酸铀酰(ADUN)溶液的制备、胶液的制备、胶液的分散和胶凝及凝胶球的陈化、洗涤和干燥等,并对湿法过程的机理进行了探讨。采用这一工艺,所得重铀酸铵微球的球形度好、尺寸分布均匀且具有良好空隙结构,经过后续的干法工艺如焙烧、还原和烧结,可制备出合格的高温气冷堆用燃料致密UO2核芯。     

气流研磨法制备碳化物陶瓷微球

用气流研磨法制备出了球形度达到0．95以上的致密B4C微球,从理论上得出了颗粒形状与气流速度的关系。     

The interim fuel storage facility of the PBMR

The PBMR’s spent fuel and partially burnt fuel are stored in the sphere storage system (SSS), which acts as the interim fuel storage facility of the plant. It is unique in the world since the fuel is stored in bulk containers (called storage tanks), each capable of holding more than 500,000 spheres for a period of about 80 years. The SSS has the ability to transfer the contents of one tank to another tank, and to return partially burnt fuel back to the reactor core for re-fuelling.The storage tanks are individually sealed carbon steel pressure vessels. They form the final barrier of any fission products that have diffused from the fuel spheres. Sub-criticality is achieved through the geometric cross-section of the tank, and by taking credit for fuel burn-up. Protection from the corrosive environment where the PBMR Demonstration plant will be built is achieved by actively cooling the tank with clean dry air. In the event of an active cooling failure, louvres open automatically and cooling is done passively via natural convection making use of the chimney-effect. Sufficient radiation protection is provided around each tank to facilitate maintenance and inspection operations where needed.The design of the SSS is nearing the end of its basic design phase, and for some components, detail design work has already commenced. The design complies with all spent fuel storage requirements and is seen as a cost-effective solution for the interim storage of PBMR spent fuel.