Current waveform distortion of doubly‐fed generator for wind turbine application by spatial higher harmonics

This paper describes a method to analyze higher harmonic currents resulting from higher space harmonics, depending on the winding pattern of a doubly‐fed generator. A 1.5‐MW generator was used for the analysis, and the results are compared using finite element magnetic field analysis and measurements. The result revealed that the proposed analysis, which focuses on the winding pattern and takes into account higher space harmonics, allows us to calculate higher harmonic currents at high precision, understand the mechanism of changing higher harmonic currents due to the slip or the load of the generator and considerably reduce higher harmonic currents at the armature by restricting higher harmonic currents at the magnetic field. In addition, the sensitivity analysis of design parameters clarified the relationship between current distortion and basic characteristics on electric designs. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 167(2): 79–85, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20606     

Development of the residual sodium quantification method for a fuel pin bundle of SFRs before and after dry cleaning

ABSTRACT

In a fuel handling system of sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs), it is necessary to remove the sodium remaining on spent fuel assemblies (FAs) before storing them in a spent fuel water pool (SFP). A next-generation SFR in Japan has adopted an advanced dry-cleaning system that consists of argon gas blowing to remove the metallic residual sodium on the FA, which increases economic competitiveness and reduces waste products thanks to a waterless process. In this R&D work, the performance of the dry cleaning process has been investigated.

This paper describes experimental and analytical studies focusing on the amount of residual sodium remaining on a fuel pin bundle before and after the argon gas blowing process. The experiments were conducted using a sodium test loop and a short (approximately 1 m) specimen consisting of a 7-pin bundle. The effects of the blowing gas velocity and the blowing time were quantitatively analyzed in the experiments. The blowing gas velocity was varied from 3.9 to 31.3 m/s, and 113 data-points of the residual sodium were collected during the experiment. On the basis of these experimental results, the residual sodium quantification method for the fuel pin bundle was constructed.     

SUPERHEATED STEAM DRYING OF SINTERED SPHERES OF GLASS BEADS UNDER VACUUM

Drying of sintered spheres of coarse glass beads with a wide sintering range in superheated steam under vacuum was studied.

In samples with sintered angles of 7.5° –27°, the experimental normalized drying rates in superheated steam at pressures of 7.3-7.9mmHg were smaller than those for 56.0-767.6 mmHg in the vicinity of the critical moisture cotents for 56.0-767.6GmmHg. As reported in an earlier paper, there were     

Clinoptilolite-rich mineral as a novel carrier for the active constituents present in Ginkgo biloba leaf extract

The possible use of clinoptilolite-rich mineral as a novel carrier for the active constituents present in Ginkgo biloba leaf extract solutions was investigated. The flavonoid aglycone constituents were found to be selectively adsorbed on the clinoptilolite surface. The antioxidant activity determinations of the extract solutions were performed by the Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) assay. The antioxidant activity measurements performed for the Ginkgo leaf extract solutions showed decreasing antioxidant activities due to adsorption. The decrease in antioxidant activity was attributed to the adsorption of phenolic constituents on the clinoptilolite surface.     

Balancing and scheduling of flexible mixed model assembly lines with parallel stations

In this paper, we study flexible mixed model assembly lines with serially connected stages where stages may have one or more parallel stations. Station parallelism in flexible mixed model assembly lines improves system reliability and enables rapid adaptability to customer demand fluctuations. However, in order to effectively manage such lines under real-world conditions, there is a need to extend traditional assembly line management methods. This study extends the current research by simultaneously considering the problems of task assignment and model scheduling on parallel stations. Furthermore, scheduling of assigned tasks on each station is considered. We formulate the problem context first as a mixed integer programming model and then develop a decomposition scheme for large scale applications. Finally, we compare the performance of the proposed model and decomposition scheme using various size test instances.