CFD studies on the separation performance of a new combined gas–solid separator used in TMSR-SF

In order to comply with discharge standards, a gas–solid separator is used to remove solid particles from the thorium molten salt reactor-solid fuel(TMSR-SF)system. As a key component, it directly determines system energy efficiency. However, current gas–solid separators,based on activated carbon adsorption technology, result in high pressure drops and increased maintenance costs. In the present study, a new combined gas–solid separator was developed for the TMSR-SF. Based on a simplified computational fluid dynamics(CFD) model, the gas–solid twophase flow and the motion trajectory of solid particles were simulated for this new separator using commercial ANSYS 16.0 software. The flow and separation mechanism for this structure were also been discussed in terms of their velocity effects and pressure field distributions, and then the structure was optimized based on the influence of key structural parameters on pressure and separation efficiency. The results showed that the standard k–e model could be achieved and accurately simulated the new combined separator. In this new combined gas–solid separator, coarse particles are separated in the first stage using rotating centrifugal motion, and then fine particles are filtered in the second stage, giving a separation efficiency of up to 96.11%. The optimum blade inclination angle and numbers were calculated to be 45° and four, respectively. It implicated that the combined separator could be of great significance in a wide variety of applications.     

Dynamics of Secondary Large-Scale Structures in ETG Turbulence Simulations

The dynamics of secondary large-scale structures in electron-temperature-gradient （ETG） turbulence is investigated based on gyrofluid simulations in sheared slab geometry. It is found that structural bifurcation to zonal flow dominated or streamer-like states depends on the spectral anisotropy of turbulent ETG fluctuation, which is governed by the magnetic shear. The turbulent electron transport is suppressed by enhanced zonal flows. However, it is still low even if the streamer is formed in ETG turbulence with strong shears. It is shown that the low transport may be related to the secondary excitation of poloidal long-wavelength mode due to the beat wave of the most unstable components or a modulation instability. This large-scale structure with a low frequency and a long wavelength may saturate, or at least contribute to the saturation of ETG fluctuations through a poloidal mode coupling. The result suggests a low fluctuation level in ETG turbulence.     

An investigation of flow characteristics and critical heat flux in vertical upward round tube

Prediction of critical heat flux （CHF） in annular flow is important for the safety of once - through steam generator and the reactor core under accident conditions. The dryout in annular flow occurs at the point where the film is depleted due to entrainment, deposition, and evaporation. The film thickness, film mass flow rate along axial distribution, and CHF are calculated in vertical upward round tube on the basis of a separated flow modcl of annular flow. The theoretical CHF values are higher than those derived from experimental data, with error being within 30%.     

Influence of Hysteretic Behaviour in Reactive Magnetron Sputtering on the Crystal Structure and Characteristics of Aluminium Oxide Films

The influence of the hysteretic behaviour in reactive sputtering with a pure aluminium target in the presence of argon and oxygen plasma on transmittance and surface free energy of aluminium oxide films was investigated by plasma optical emission spectroscopy technology. The evolutions of aluminium, and aluminium oxide emission lines as functions of oxygen flow rate at constant power and pressure were studied. A steep transition from the metallic sputtering to the compound sputtering was observed upon increasing the oxygen flow rate from 0.0 SCCM to above 2.0 SCCM. Then an optimal deposition zone was obtained through analyzing the hysteretic curves of aluminium and aluminium oxide emission lines. The evolution of crystal structures of samples was discerned by X-ray diffraction spectra data. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy data also demonstrate the relationship between the chemical compositions of aluminium oxide films and the hysteretic behaviour. The film deposited between 1.5 SCCM and 2.0 SCCM oxygen flow rate displays an optimal and stoichiometic atomic ratio of O to Al and mass ratio of O to Al. The changes in the transmittance of samples were discovered to depend on the oxygen flow rate by UV-VIS transmittance spectra, and the changes in surface free energy were studied by contact angle measurement.     

Numerical Study of Tokamak Equilibrium with Toroidal Flow on EAST

The effect of the toroidal flow on the equilibrium of tokamak plasmas is a sensitive point for high performance plasma and its precise control. In this paper the effect is studied numerically using the EFIT （Equilibrium Fitting） code on EAST （Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak）. Firstly, the numerical calculation exhibits a clear outward shift of pressure contour from the magnetic surfaces in the plasma core and the shift grows with the increase of the toroidal velocity. The peak shift of 8% is observed when the ratio between the plasma velocity and the Alfvdn speed equals to 0.15. Secondly, it is shown that the magnetic surfaces shift outwards from those without flow. With a certain plasma current the safety factor on the magnetic axis decreases as the plasma flow velocity increases. The magnetic shear increases about 10% on the plasma boundary compared with the case without flow.     

Experimental Study of the Unsteady Actuation Effect on Induced Flow Characteristics in DBD Plasma Actuators

The main aim of this paper is to investigate unsteady actuation effects on the operation of dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) plasma actuators and to study induced flow characteristics of steady and unsteady actuators in quiescent air.The parameters affecting the operation of unsteady plasma actuators were experimentally measured and compared with the ones for steady actuators.The effects of excitation frequency and duty cycle on the induced flow pattern properties were studied by means of hot-wire anemometers,and the smoke visualization method was also used.It was observed that the current and the mean induced velocity linearly increase with increasing duty cycle while they are not sensitive to excitation frequency.Furthermore,with increasing excitation frequency,the magnitude of vortices shedding from the actuator decreases while their frequency increases.Nevertheless,when the excitation frequency grows beyond a certain level,the induced flow downstream of the actuator behaves as a steady flow.However,the results for steady actuators show that by increasing the applied voltage and carrier frequency,the velocity of the induced flow first increases and then decreases with actuator saturation and the onset of the emission of streaky glow discharge.     

Arc Voltage Fluctuation in DC Laminar and Turbulent Plasma Jets Generation

Arc voltage fluctuations in a direct current （DC） non-transferred arc plasma generator are experimentally studied, in generating a jet in the laminar, transitional and turbulent regimes. The study is with a view toward elucidating the mechanism of the fluctuations and their relationship with the generating parameters, arc root movement and flow regimes. Results indicate that the existence of a 300 Hz alternating current （AC） component in the power supply ripples does not cause the transition of the laminar plasma jet into a turbulent state. There exists a high frequency fluctuation at 4 kHz in the turbulent jet regime. It may be related to the rapid movement of the anode attachment point of the arc.     

Studies on absorption coefficients of dual-energy γ-rays and measuring error correction for multiphase fraction determination

In tiffs article, principle and mathematical method of determining the phasc fractions of multiphase flows by using a dual-energy γ-ray system have been described. The dual-energy γ-ray device is composed of radioactive isotopes of ^241Am and ^137Cs with γ-ray energies of 59.5 and 662 keV, respectively. A rational method to calibrate the absorption coefficient was introduced in detail. The modified arithmetic is beneficial to removing the extra Compton scattering from the measured value. The result shows that the dual-energy γ-ray technique can be used in thrce-phase flow with average accuracy greater than 95%, which enables us to determine phase fractions almost independent of the flow regime. Improvement has been achicved on measurement accuracy of phase fractions.     

Liquid mean velocity and turbulence in a horizontal air-water bubbly flow

The liquid phase turbulent structure of an air-water bubbly horizontal flow in a circular pipe has been investigated experimentally. Three-dimensional measurements were implemented with two "X" type probes oriented in different planes, and local liquid-phase velocities and turbulent stresses were simultaneously obtained. Systematic measurements were conducted covering a range of local void fraction from 0 to 11.7%. The important experiment results and parametric trends are summarized and discussed.     

Optimization of plasma-processed air(PPA)inactivation of Escherichia coli in button mushrooms for extending the shelf life by response surface methodology

The effect of plasma-processed air(PPA) treatment with different conditions(time, power andflow rate) on the inactivation of Escherichia coli(E. coli) in button mushroom was evaluated.Response surface methodology(RSM) was applied to optimize PPA treatments on the E. coli of button mushrooms. According to the response surface analysis, the optimal treatment parameters were a treatment time of 12 min, treatment power of 90 W and flow rate of 1.2 l min~(-1). As with verifying tests from the optimization exercise, the number of E. coli reduced by 5.27 log CFU/g at the determined optimum conditions. The scanning electronic microscopy(SEM) micrography showed that the surface of the E. coli was significantly changed under the optimized PPA treatment. Quality parameters of button mushrooms treated at the determined optimum conditions were compared with untreated samples during the storage for 12 d at 4 °C?±?1 °C.The PPA treatment was found to be effective in inhibiting microbes and preserving postharvest quality in button mushrooms, and these results suggested PPA treatment may provide an alternative for the sterilization of foodborne and maintaining postharvest of fruits and vegetables.     

Hydraulic flow tests of APWR reactor internals for safety analysis

A concept of radial neutron reflector of APWR brings about safety problems relevant to the flow induced vibration and thermal deformation. The CFD code has been expected to solve them by calculating pressure fluctuations of turbulent flow in the downcomer and the flow distribution into the neutron reflector. A series of hydraulic flow tests was conducted by NUPEC from 1998 to 2002 to demonstrate the new design of the neutron reflector and to obtain test data for validating the CFD code. The measured pressure fluctuations in the downcomer and their statistics were utilized for validating the specific turbulent model to be able to calculate a spectrum of pressure fluctuation such as the LES model. The measured flow rates at inlet holes of the lower core plate were utilized for validating for the general turbulent model, for example, the k– turbulent model. The calculated results with the LES model agreed well with the measured pressure fluctuations and their spectrum, but did not agree with the correlation between adjacent pressure fluctuations. On the other hand, the calculation results with the k– turbulent model agreed well with the measured flow rates at inlet holes of the lower core plate.     

The microstructure evolution of type 17-4PH stainless steel during long-term aging at 350 °C

The microstructure evolution of 17-4 precipitation hardening (17-4PH) stainless steel during long-term aging at 350 °C was studied mainly by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the matrix is lath martensite and the precipitation of nano-metric particles of -Cu phase after the alloy has been subjected to solution and temper treatment. When the alloy is aged at 350 °C to 9 months, some reversed austenite is formed and the -Cu precipitates are coarsening according to ripening process. When the alloy aged from 9 to 12 months, some bulk secondary carbides, M₂₃C₆, are precipitated. With the age time extended to 15 months, an amount of reversed austenite is transformed and the G-phase, a kind of intermetallic compound, precipitation occurs nearby the -Cu precipitates in the matrix at this intermediate temperature.     

Primary study on holdup measurement of ^235U in pipe using γ-ray spectrometry and Monte Carlo simulation

The pipe holdup measurement is very important for decommissioning nuclear facilities and nuclear-material control and accounting. The absolute detection efficiencies （εsp） of full-energy γ rays peak under different source density distribution function have been simulated using the Monte Carlo （MC） software, and the counting rates （no） of the characteristic γ rays have been measured using the γ spectrometer followed by the calculation of the holdup. The holdup is affected by the energy of γ rays, distance at which they are detected, pipe material, thickness, and source distribution of pipe, especially source distribution at a short distance. The comparative test of ^235U reference materials on the inner wall of Fe and A1 pipes （the total mass of ^235U is 44.6 mg and 222.8 mg, respectively） have been accomplished using this method. The determined result of ^235U is 43.2mg （U0.95rel=5.4%） and 216.2mg （U0.95rel= 3.2%）, respectively, which are in accordance with the reference values.     

Two phase flow 1D turbulence model for poly-disperse upward flow in a vertical pipe

A 1D test-solver was developed in recent years for modeling of two phase bubbly flows in pipe geometry. The solver considers a number of bubble classes and calculates bubble-size resolved void fraction profiles in the radial direction. A successful implementation was achieved regarding bubble forces models (non-drag forces). Discrepancies appeared when coalescence and breakup rates were significant. These rates depend upon local turbulence quantities, which are possible reason for discrepancies. Originally the test-solver is equipped by Sato model (Sato, Y., Sadatomi, M., Sekoguchi, K., 1981. Momentum and heat transfer in two-phase bubble flow. I. International Journal Multiphase Flow 7, 167–177 .) which accounts for turbulence via shear- and bubble-induced viscosities calculated out of empirical correlations. One equation for the turbulent kinetic energy was solved, while the dissipation rate was calculated out of a correlation. In order to improve calculation of the local turbulence parameters, a two-phase k– turbulence model was adopted instead. The account for the bubble-induced turbulence was made via a source term taken out of literature. Comparisons between new and old turbulence modeling against experimental data showed better agreement for the new model. The experiments covered a wide range of water and air superficial velocities for upward bubbly flow in two pipe's diameters: 50 and 200 mm. The main feature of the new model is providing more reliable values of turbulence parameters for application in coalescence and breakup models. A comparison with CFX 5.7 calculations in a 50 mm pipe showed better calculation results when the source term was considered in the k– equations. An implementation into CFX is planned.     

CFD investigation of helical wire-wrapped 7-pin fuel bundle and the challenges in modeling full scale 217 pin bundle

Flow and temperature distributions of sodium in a heat generating fuel pin bundle with helically wound spacer wire have been predicted from basic principles by solving the three-dimensional conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy, for a wide range of Reynolds number. Turbulence has been modeled using the k– turbulence model. The geometry details of the bundle and heat flux from the fuel pin are similar to that of the Indian Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) that is currently under construction. The focus of the study is to assess the effect of transverse flow in promoting flow and temperature uniformity. It is seen that the ratio of maximum transverse velocity to the maximum axial velocity is nearly equal to the tangent of the rolling up angle of the spacer wire. Due to the wire wrap, the difference in bulk sodium temperature between the peripheral and central sub-channels is reduced to by a factor of 4 when compared to that without spacer wire. The film drop at the junction between wire and the pin is found to be only 70 °C. The predicted results are found to be in close agreement with that of the experimental results reported in literature. The present study considers a 7-pin bundle assembly of one helical pitch. The computational time and memory required for a 217 pin with 15 pitches assembly is ascertained to be 500 times that required for the current study. Hence, research activities have been directed towards developing a parallel CFD code and structural mesh generation software.     

Thermal hydraulic analysis compared with tests of full-scale concrete casks

To develop a thermal analysis method for the concrete cask, numerical calculation based on thermal hydraulic phenomena was performed. In the present calculation model, calculation area was divided into two parts. One is inside of the canister and the other is outside of the canister. These two parts were combined at the surface of the canister. In the model of the outside, k– turbulence model was adopted for air flow region. Comparing calculation results with test results, it was found that the analysis method was valid for normal and accident conditions of the storage.     

CFD simulations of light gas release and mixing in the Battelle Model-Containment with CFX

In this validation work two turbulence models (k– and SST model) and two grids (a finer hybrid grid and a tetrahedral coarser grid) are considered in order to model helium release and dispersion. Simulation results are compared against an experiment of jet release phenomena in the Battelle Model Containment facility (BMC), a multi-compartment facility with a total volume of about 560 m³. In the selected test, HYJET Jx7, helium was released into the containment at a speed of 42 m/s over a time of 200 s. Although the k– model is the most commonly used turbulence model in most Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) applications, it does not provide the most accurate predictions for this application. Alternatively the SST turbulence model has been employed giving more accurate results. This investigation provides a further confirmation that the validation of commercial CFD codes is always required in order to select the more suitable physical models and computational grids for each specific application.     

Investigations on the structural and optical properties of the swift heavy ion irradiated 6HSiC

Single crystal 6HSiC wafers have been irradiated with 150 MeV Ag¹²⁺ ions with fluences ranging from 1 × 10¹¹ to 1 × 10¹³ ions/cm² at 300 K. The defect accumulation as a function of fluence was studied to determine changes in structural and optical properties. The variation in the fundamental Raman modes of the crystalline 6HSiC due to irradiation has been correlated with the disorder accumulation. The creation of defect states due to irradiation in the bandgap affects the blue-green photoluminescence emission in the irradiated samples. The UV-Visible absorption studies support the existence of defect states in the bandgap which is observed by the shift in the absorption edge towards the lower energy side with increasing fluence. Time Correlated Single Photon Counting photoluminescence decay results suggest that the existing defect states are radiative, exhibiting three lifetimes when irradiated with a fluence 5 × 10¹¹ ions/cm². The total number of lifetime components was reduced for a fluence 1 × 10¹³ ions/cm² as the defect states produced increase the non-radiative defect centres. These results suggest that the accumulation of defects due to irradiation at fluences 5 × 10¹¹ and 1 × 10¹³ ions/cm² are degenerate configurations which exhibit multiple lifetimes in photoluminescence studies. It is inferred that the optically active defect states influence the transition rate of charge carriers in this device material.     

Hydraulics and heat transfer in the IFMIF liquid lithium target: CFD calculations

CFD (Computational fluid dynamics) calculation turns out to be a good approximation to the real behavior of the lithium (Li) flow of the target of the international fusion materials irradiation facility (IFMIF). A three-dimensional (3D) modelling of the IFMIF design Li target assembly, made with the CFD commercial code ANSYS-FLUENT has been carried out. The simulation by a structural mesh is focused on the thermal-hydraulic analysis inside the Li jet flow. For, this purpose, the two deuteron beams energy deposition profile is modelled as an energy source term inside the volume of liquid affected. Turbulence is estimated using the RNG k– model, and a surface-tracking technique applied to a fixed Eulerian mesh called volume of fluid (VOF) is used to determine the position of the free surface. Calculations varying the jet velocity from a range of 10–20 m/s, show that maximum calculated temperatures are still below the lithium's boiling point, due to the increase of the pressure induced by centrifugal force.     

Numerical study on flow field in inlet plenum of a pebble-bed modular reactor

Flow distribution and pressure drop analysis in the inlet plenum of a pebble-bed modular reactor (PBMR) have been performed numerically. Three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations have been solved in conjunction with the k– model as a turbulence closure. Non-uniformity in the flow distribution is assessed for the reference case, and parametric studies have been performed for rising channels diameter, Reynolds number, angle between the rising channels, angle between the inlet ports, and aspect ratio of the plenum cross-section. Also, two different shapes of the inlet plenum, namely, rectangular and oval shapes, have been analyzed. The relative flow mal-distribution parameter variation shows that the flow distribution in rising channels for the reference case is strongly non-uniform. As the rising channels diameter is decreased, the flow uniformity as well as the pressure drop is found to increase. The flow distribution in the rising channels is independent of Reynolds number. Increase in the angle between the inlet ports and aspect ratio is found to increase the uniformity in flow distribution.