Development of a fouling monitor for safety-related heat exchangers

Periodic safety reviews (PSRs) are performed to verify and/or improve the safety of operating nuclear power plants. When the PSR of Gori Units 3/4 in South Korea was performed, a few safety-related heat exchangers were pointed out as components in need of an ageing management program. This study shares the motivation with the necessity of the ageing management program. We developed a condition monitoring methodology for identifying one of the ageing mechanisms in the safety-related heat exchangers and named it the fouling monitor. The fouling monitor is composed of (1) the model for determining the test fouling resistance and the projected design fouling resistance at a test condition, and (2) the monitoring and detection of their deviation. The mathematical model for determining the projected design fouling resistance at a test condition needs to be considered carefully because the heat exchanger, and particularly in this study, the letdown heat exchanger, is normally tested under operating conditions that differ considerably from the design conditions. This need was met by developing independent physical and empirical correction methods of which consistency is cross-checked. Either or both correction method(s) convert the design fouling resistance into a projected fouling resistance, which is finally comparable with the test fouling resistance. The monitoring and detection method tracks the deviation of the test fouling resistance and the projected fouling resistance. Considering the stochastic characteristics of fouling phenomena, we adopted the sequential probability ratio test to determine appropriate scheduling for cost- and safety-optimized maintenance of the heat exchanger.     

Comparison of physical, chemical and cellular responses to nano- and micro-sized calcium silicate/poly(epsilon-caprolactone) bioactive composites.

In this study, we fabricated nano-sized calcium silicate/poly(epsilon-caprolactone) composite (n-CPC) and micro-sized calcium silicate/poly(epsilon-caprolactone) composite (m-CPC). The composition, mechanical properties, hydrophilicity and degradability of both n-CPC and m-CPC were determined, and in vitro bioactivity was evaluated by investigating apatite forming on their surfaces in simulated body fluid (SBF). In addition, cell responses to the two kinds of composites were comparably investigated. The results indicated that n-CPC has superior hydrophilicity, compressive strength and elastic modulus properties compared with m-CPC. Both n-CPC and m-CPC exhibited good in vitro bioactivity, with different morphologies of apatite formation on their surfaces. The apatite layer on n-CPC was more homogeneous and compact than on m-CPC, due to the elevated levels of calcium and silicon concentrations in SBF from n-CPC throughout the 14-day soaking period. Significantly higher levels of attachment and proliferation of MG63 cells were observed on n-CPC than on m-CPC, and significantly higher levels of alkaline phosphatase activity were observed in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) on n-CPC than on m-CPC after 7 days. Scanning electron microscopy observations revealed that hMSCs were in intimate contact with both n-CPC and m-CPC surfaces, and significantly cell adhesion, spread and growth were observed on n-CPC and m-CPC. These results indicated that both n-CPC and m-CPC have the ability to support cell attachment, growth, proliferation and differentiation, and also yield good bioactivity and biocompatibility.     

Analysis of resonator phase shift for two series LC quadrature VCOs

Based on the investigation of resonator phase shift, an analytical framework to compare the phase noise between two series LC quadrature voltage-controlled oscillators (QVCOs) is presented. The bottom- series QVCO is analytically demonstrated to have lower phase noise than the top-series QVCO. Simulation data show good agreement with the presented analysis.     

CdS Quantum Dots in Glass: “Modification of Photoluminescence by Silver Doping”

Silicate glasses containing CdS and Ag₂O were made by the melt-quenching method. CdS quantum dots (QDs) were precipitated inside the glass matrix by heat treatment at 570–590 °C for 10 h, and the influence of Ag on photoluminescence (PL) of CdS QDs was investigated. The emission located at 478–493 nm in wavelength originated from the direct recombination of electron/hole pairs was quenched due to charger transfer between Ag and CdS QDs. Modification of PL from CdS QDs by Ag provides potentials toward developing the color changing materials for light-emitting diodes (LEDs).     

Antioxidant activities of phlorotannins purified from Ecklonia cava on free radical scavenging using ESR and H2O2-mediated DNA damage

The potential antioxidant activities of three phlorotannins (phloroglucinol, eckol and dieckol) purified from Ecklonia cava collected in Jeju Island were investigated to evaluate their potential value as the natural products for foods or cosmetic application. In this study, antioxidant activities were measured by electron spin resonance spectrometry (ESR) technique for scavenging effects of free radicals such as 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), alkyl, hydroxyl (HO^•) and superoxide anion radical (O₂ ^•−) and by comet assay for protecting effects against H₂O₂-mediated DNA damage. The results show that all the phlorotannins have the potential DPPH, alkyl, hydroxyl and superoxide radical scavenging activities. Especially, eckol samples scavenged around 93% of DPPH at 0.25, 0.5, 1 mg/mL of concentrations and were higher than the other phlorotannins, such as phloroglucinol and dieckol samples. Also, protecting effects of the phlorotannins against H₂O₂-mediated DNA damage increased with increased concentrations of the samples in the L5178 mouse T-cell lymphoma cell lines (L5178Y-R). In conclusion, these results suggest that the three phlorotannins purified from E. cava have the potential inhibitory effect on H₂O₂-mediated DNA damage and harmful free radicals and can be used as antioxidants in cosmetic, foods and drug industry.     

Reduction of lipid peroxidation and H2O2‐mediated DNA damage by a red alga (Grateloupia filicina) methanolic extract

The antioxidant activity of an extract of Grateloupia filicina was evaluated using linoleic acid and fish oil as substrates in an induct period at 65 °C. Furthermore, the algal extract was subjected to comet assay to evaluate its protecting ability for H₂O₂‐induced DNA damage in rat lymphocytes. Progression of oxidation was examined using weight gain, peroxide value (PV), 2‐thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and conjugated diene data. Effectiveness of the extract at 0.03 and 0.05% levels was superior to that of α‐tocopherol at 0.01% and the activity of 0.05% extract was higher than that of butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene at 0.01%. Also, the algal extract significantly inhibited H₂O₂ induced DNA damage in comet assay. The maximum DNA damage inhibition (68.9%) was recorded from the 50 µg ml⁻¹ alga extract when the rat lymphocyte cells were treated with 50 µM H₂O₂. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Power Allocation and Transmission Period Selection for Device-to-Device Communication as an Underlay to Cellular Networks

Efficient design of device-to-device (D2D) communication calls for D2D users to propose adaptive power allocation strategy and to establish reliable communication links while protecting the QoS of cellular communications. In this paper, we consider the D2D communication as an underlay to relay-assisted cellular networks. To maximize the ergodic capacity, we derive an optimal transmission power under an average power constraint. With the derived optimal transmission power, a transmission period selection strategy for D2D communication is firstly introduced to improve reliability. We derive the outage probability in closed forms and evaluate the ergodic capacity to show performances of the proposed system. Numerical results show that the D2D system can achieve high capacity gains by flexibly allocating transmission power based on channel state information and significantly enhance reliability by selecting a transmission period, while satisfying various QoS conditions for cellular communication.     

The effect of top and bottom lids on natural convection inside a vertical cylinder

Natural convection experiments inside a vertical cylindrical cavity were performed for Rayleigh numbers of 1.08 × 10¹⁰–2.11 × 10¹³ and for four different geometrical arrangements: both-open (pipe-shape), bottom-closed (cup-shape), top-closed (cap), and both-closed (cavity) cylinders. A copper electroplating system was employed for the measurements of heat transfer rates using analogy concept. The lids used to close top or bottom were adiabatic; i.e. inactive surfaces in the electrodeposition experiments. The bottom-closed cavity showed the highest heat transfer rates and then followed both-closed, both-open, top-closed ones in both laminar and turbulent flows. The results were in satisfactory agreements with the existing correlations developed for similar geometrical configurations and the empirical correlations were derived. The numerical simulations were carried out using the FLUENT 6.2 to explain the measured results. The analysis of the streamline and the local Nusselt number gave explanations for the observation.     

Redox-induced performance degradation of anode-supported tubular solid oxide fuel cells

Redox behavior of a Ni-Y₂O₃-stabilized ZrO₂ (YSZ) composite anode support and the performance degradation of an anode-supported tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) were studied under complete oxidation and reduction conditions (degrees of oxidation and reduction = 100%). Materials characterization studies showed that the exposure time in oxidizing and reducing atmospheres played a critical role in the degradation of the porous structures and the physical properties of the anode support. In particular, the redox cycling with an 8 h exposure time resulted in the cracking of YSZ network, leading to significant decay of the mechanical strength. The polarization experiments on the redox-cycled anode-supported tubular cell showed serious performance degradation as a result of the decreases of open-circuit potential and power density. The ac-impedance measurements combined with microstructural observations indicated that the performance degradation resulted mainly from (i) the degradation of anode support, (ii) microcracks across the whole cell, and (iii) interface delamination.     

Power management system for a 2.5 W remote sensor powered by a sediment microbial fuel cell

One of the challenges in using wireless sensors that require high power to monitor the environment is finding a renewable power source that can produce enough power. Sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) are considered an alternative renewable power source for remote monitoring, but current research on SMFCs has demonstrated that they can only produce several to tens of mW of continuous power. This limits the use of SMFCs as an alternative renewable remote power source to mW-level power. Such low power is only enough to operate a low-power sensors. However, there are many remote sensors that require higher power, on the order of watts. Current technology using a SMFC to power a remote sensor requiring watts-level intermittent power is limited because of limitations of power management technology. Our goal was to develop a power management system (PMS) that enables a SMFC to operate a remote sensor consuming 2.5 W of power. We designed a custom PMS to store microbial energy in capacitors and use the stored energy in short bursts. Our results demonstrate that SMFCs can be a viable alternative renewable power source for remote sensors requiring high power.