Development of a 3-D simulation analysis system for PWR control rod drive mechanism

A 3-D virtual analysis system to analyze the motion of control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) was developed. The analysis system consists of a 3-D model established as per the actual dimensions and interfaces of CRDM parts and a routine to calculate the forces acting on the mechanism, and was verified by mock-up test using the same equipment as the actual product. The analysis system is useful for functional evaluation in maintenance or to factor out root causes in the case of malfunction of CRDM.     

Recording of bridge damage areas by 3D integration of multiple images and reduction of the variability in detected results

Machine learning models have been developed to perform damage detection using images to improve bridge inspection efficiency. However, in damage detection using images alone, the 3D coordinates of the damage cannot be recorded. Furthermore, the accuracy of the detection depends on the quality of the images. This paper proposes a method to integrate and record the damage detected from multiple images into a 3D model using deep learning to detect the damage from bridge images and structure from motion to identify the shooting position. The proposed method reduces the variability of the detection results between images and can assess the scale of damage or, conversely, where there is no damage and the extent of inspection omissions. The proposed method has been applied to a real bridge, and it has been shown that the actual damage locations can be recorded as a 3D model.     

Evaluation of temperature characteristics of high-efficiency InGaP/InGaAs/Ge triple-junction solar cells under concentration

Temperature characteristics of the open-circuit voltage (V_oc) were investigated in the temperature range from 30°C to 240°C for the InGaP/InGaAs/Ge triple-junction cells. Also, single-junction cells that had the similar structure to the subcells in the triple-junction cells were studied. In the high-temperature range (from 170°C to 240°C), the temperature coefficients of V_oc of the InGaP/InGaAs/Ge triple-junction solar cell (dV_oc/dT) were different from those in the low-temperature range (from 30°C to 100°C). This is because photo-voltage from the Ge subcell becomes almost 0 V in the high-temperature range. It was found that the open-circuit voltage of a Ge single-junction cell reduced to almost 0 V temperatures over 120°C under 1 sun condition.     

Radical-induced degradation mechanism of perfluorinated polymer electrolyte membrane

The degradation mechanism induced by radicals was investigated for Nafion^®-117 by solution analysis. Nafion^® was exposed independently to three kinds of radicals, OH, H and O₂⁻ which were produced separately by γ-irradiation. Based on the eluted elements, the scission site in the membrane was analyzed. The results showed that the scission site was classified into two and these locations were closely relating to oxidative and reductive reactions. The decreasing rate of proton conductivity was more significant under the influence of reductive radicals. The progression of the unzipping reaction of main chain was suggested to be initiated by the production of tertiary carbon radical by reductive radicals such as H and O₂⁻ with the aid of OH. The structural degradation such as collapse of cluster and the cluster decomposition as well as the performance degradation was found to be initiated by such reductive radicals.     

Nano-strip grating lines self-organized by a high speed scanning CW laser

After a laser annealing experiment on Si wafer, we found an asymmetric sheet resistance on the surface of the wafer. Periodic nano-strip grating lines (nano-SGLs) were self-organized along the trace of one-time scanning of the continuous wave (CW) laser. Depending on laser power, the nano-trench formed with a period ranging from 500 to 800 nm with a flat trough between trench structures. This simple method of combining the scanning laser with high scanning speed of 300 m min(-1) promises a large area of nanostructure fabrication with a high output. As a demonstration of the versatile method, concentric circles were drawn on silicon substrate rotated by a personal computer (PC) cooling fan. Even with such a simple system, the nano-SGL showed iridescence from the concentric circles.     

Bioaugmented membrane bioreactor (MBR) with a GAC-packed zone for high rate textile wastewater treatment

The long-term performance of a bioaugmented membrane bioreactor (MBR) containing a GAC-packed anaerobic zone for treatment of textile wastewater containing structurally different azo dyes was observed. A unique feeding strategy, consistent with the mode of evolution of separate waste streams in textile plants, was adopted to make the best use of the GAC-zone for dye removal. Dye was introduced through the GAC-zone while the rest of the colorless media was simultaneously fed through the aerobic zone. Preliminary experiments confirmed the importance of coupling the GAC-amended anaerobic zone to the aerobic MBR and also evidenced the efficacy of the adopted feeding strategy. Following this, the robustness of the process under gradually increasing dye-loading was tested. The respective average dye concentrations (mg/L) in the sample from GAC-zone and the membrane-permeate under dye-loadings of 0.1 and 1 g/L.d were as follows: GAC-zone (3, 105), permeate (0, 5). TOC concentration in membrane-permeate for the aforementioned loadings were 3 and 54 mg/L, respectively. Stable decoloration along with significant TOC removal during a period of over 7 months under extremely high dye-loadings demonstrated the superiority of the proposed hybrid process.     

Redistribution of wastewater alkalinity with a microbial fuel cell to support nitrification of reject water

In wastewater treatment plants, the reject water from the sludge treatment processes typically contains high ammonium concentrations, which constitute a significant internal nitrogen load in the plant. Often, a separate nitrification reactor is used to treat the reject water before it is fed back into the plant. The nitrification reaction consumes alkalinity, which has to be replenished by dosing e.g. NaOH or Ca(OH)₂. In this study, we investigated the use of a two-compartment microbial fuel cell (MFC) to redistribute alkalinity from influent wastewater to support nitrification of reject water. In an MFC, alkalinity is consumed in the anode compartment and produced in the cathode compartment. We use this phenomenon and the fact that the influent wastewater flow is many times larger than the reject water flow to transfer alkalinity from the influent wastewater to the reject water. In a laboratory-scale system, ammonium oxidation of synthetic reject water passed through the cathode chamber of an MFC, increased from 73.8 ± 8.9 mgN/L under open-circuit conditions to 160.1 ± 4.8 mgN/L when a current of 1.96 ± 0.37 mA (15.1 mA/L total MFC liquid volume) was flowing through the MFC. These results demonstrated the positive effect of an MFC on ammonium oxidation of alkalinity-limited reject water.     

苏州多层住宅建筑生命周期评价

依据美国开发的BEES软件,选择张家港当地某一栋具体的多层住宅建筑(6层,每层大约750 m2)进行了生命周期评价.把建筑的全生命周期范围确定为建材准备阶段(包括原材科开采、运输、原材料加工等)、建造阶段、运行阶段(运行70年)、拆毁阶段和建筑垃圾处理阶段.依据确定的范围进行了清单分析.根据建筑的结构形式,计算得到各种建材的需求量和建造、运行、拆毁、建筑垃圾处理时的各种输入输出,以统一的功能单位(一栋建筑)合并各种输入输出数据,得到总的数据清单.采用BEES分类表征方法进行影响评价.根据我国的具体情况确定环境影响因子和类别(酸雨、全球变暖、资源枯竭等),将不同的环境影响因子分配到一个或多个环境影响类别中,再根据具体情况确定各指标的权重系数进行加权,得到综合的评价结果.找出了建筑物全生命周期阶段中产生环境影响最大的阶段,即运行阶段.     

Respiration-deficient mutants of Zymomonas mobilis show improved growth and ethanol fermentation under aerobic and high temperature conditions

Respiration-deficient mutant (RDM) strains of Zymomonas mobilis were isolated from antibiotic-resistant mutants. These RDM strains showed various degrees of respiratory deficiency. All RDM strains exhibited much higher ethanol fermentation capacity than the wild-type strain under aerobic conditions. The strains also gained thermotolerance and exhibited greater ethanol production at high temperature (39°C), under both non-aerobic and aerobic conditions, compared with the wild-type strain. Microarray and subsequent quantitative PCR analyses suggest that enhanced gene expression involved in the metabolism of glucose to ethanol resulted in the high ethanol production of RDM strains under aerobic growth conditions. Reduction of intracellular oxidative stress may also result in improved ethanol fermentation by RDM strains at high temperatures.     

AN-1071应用指南——D类功放基础（一）

如果我们在选择器件时很谨慎，并且考虑到精细的设计布线，因为杂散参数有很大的影响，那么目前高效D类功放可以提供和传统的AB类功放类似的性能。半导体技术不断创新使得效率提高，功率密度增加和较好的音响效果，增加了D类功放的运用。