Modification of PROMETHEUS Reactor as a Fusion Breeder and Fission Product Transmuter

This study presents the analyses of the fissile breeding and long-lived fission product (LLFP) transmutation potentials of PROMETHEUS reactor. For this purpose, a fissile breeding zone (FBZ) fueled with the ceramic uranium mono-carbide (UC) and a LLFP transmutation zone (TZ) containing the ⁹⁹TC and ¹²⁹I and ¹³⁵Cs isotopes are separately placed into the breeder zone of PROMETHEUS-H design. The neutronic calculations are performed by using two different computer codes, the XSDRNPM/SCALE4.4a neutron transport code and the MCNP4B Monte Carlo code. A range of analyses are examined to determine the effects of the FF, the fraction of ⁶Li in lithium (Li) and the theoretical density (TD) of Li₂O in the tritium breeder zone (TBZ) on the neutronic parameters. It is observed that the numerical results obtained from both codes are consistent with each other. It is carried out that the profiles of fission power density (FPD) are flattened individually for each FF (from 3 to 10%). Only, in the cases of FF ≥ 8%, the system is self sufficient from the point of view of tritium generation. The results bring out that the modified PROMETHEUS fusion reactor has capabilities of effective fissile breeding and LLFP transmutation, as well as the energy generation.     

Coupling effects in bending, buckling and free vibration of generally laminated composite beams

A closed form expression to determine the effective flexural modulus of a laminated composite beam is developed and presented in this contribution. This effective flexural modulus is applied to the bending, buckling and free vibration response of generally laminated composite beams with various boundary supports. The expression was developed using the combination of the Euler–Bernoulli beam and classical lamination theory. In addition the results of an extensive finite element analysis are used to validate the analytical model. The comparison of the analytical results, the finite element results and the experimental results showed good correlation. It is also observed that coupling response is an important variable that must be included in the computation of the effective flexural stiffness of generally laminated beam.     

Simple synthesis of ZnS nanoparticles in alkaline medium

ZnS nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by reflux under an alkaline medium. The nanoparticles were characterized by using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The optical properties of ZnS nanoparticles were examined by photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. The result shows that the as-synthesized ZnS nanoparticles had a cubic phase. SEM image shows that ZnS nanoparticles are basically in spherical shape and are homogeneous. The particle size was found to be in the range of 18 nm.     

Metabolic consequences of phosphotransferase (PTS) mutation in a phenylalanine-producing recombinant Escherichia coli

E. coli strain PPA305, which has a wild-type PTS system, and PPA316, which utilizes a proton-galactose symport system for glucose uptake, were used as host strains to harbor a phenylalanine overproduction plasmid pSY130-14 and to study the effects of using different glucose uptake systems on phenylalanine production. The non-PTS strain (PPA316/pSY130-14) produced much less phenylalanine, ranging from 0 to 67% of that produced by the PTS strain (PPA305/pSY130-14) depending on cultivation conditions used. The non-PTS strain PPA316/pSY130-14 had an intracellular PEP concentration only one-sixth that of the PTS strain, PPA305/pSY130-14. Additionally, PPA316/pSY130-14 had a substantially lower energy state in terms of the size of the pool of high-energy phosphate compounds and the magnitude of the pH difference across the cytoplasmic membrane. The non-PTS strain consumed oxygen at a higher rate, attained lower biomass concentration, and produced no acetate and phenylalanine during fermentation, suggesting more carbon was oxidized to CO2, most likely through the TCA cycle. Analysis of intracellular fluxes through the central carbon pathways was performed for each strain utilizing exponential phase data on extracellular components and assuming quasi-steady state for intermediate metabolites. The non-PTS strain had a higher flux through pyruvate kinase (PYK) and TCA cycle which, in agreement with the observed higher oxygen uptake rate, suggests that more carbon was oxidized to CO2 through the TCA cycle. Further analysis using rate expression data for PYK and NMR data for the intracellular metabolites identified the regulatory properties of PYK as the probable cause for lower intracellular PEP levels in PPA316/pSY130-14.     

Sinterability of Forsterite Prepared via Solid‐State Reaction

In this work, the sinterability of forsterite powder synthesized via solid‐state reaction was investigated. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analyses indicate that the synthesized powder possessed peaks that correspond to stoichiometric forsterite. Scanning electron micrographs revealed that the powders were formed agglomerates, which were made up of loosely packed fine particles. Subsequently, the forsterite powders were cold isostatically pressed into a disk shape under 200 MPa and sintered in air at temperature ranging from 1200°C to 1500°C (interval of 50°C) with ramp rate of 10°C/min and dwelling time of 2 h. The sinterability of each sintered samples was examined in terms of phase stability, relative density, Vickers hardness, fracture toughness, and microstructural examination. XRD examination on all the sintered samples exhibited pure forsterite, in which the generated peaks were found to be in a good agreement with JCPDS card no. 34‐0189. The densification of forsterite progressed to reach a maximum relative density of ~91% at 1500°C. This study also revealed that high‐strength forsterite ceramic can be synthesized via solid‐state reaction as forsterite attained favorable mechanical properties, having fracture toughness of 4.88 MPam^1/2 and hardness of 7.11 GPa at 1400°C.     

Effect of organic salt doping on the performance of single layer bulk heterojunction organic solar cell

The effect of organic salt, tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF₆) doping on the performance of single layer bulk heterojunction organic solar cell with ITO/MEHPPV:PCBM/Al structure was investigated where indium tin oxide (ITO) was used as anode, poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEHPPV) as donor, (6,6)-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as acceptor and aluminium (Al) as cathode. In contrast to the undoped device, the electric field-treated device doped with TBAPF₆ exhibited better solar cell performance under illumination with a halogen projector lamp at 100 mW/cm². The short circuit current density and the open circuit voltage of the doped device increased from 0.54 μA/cm² to 6.41 μA/cm² and from 0.24 V to 0.50 V, respectively as compared to those of the undoped device. The significant improvement was attributed to the increase of built-in electric field caused by accumulation of ionic species at the active layer/electrode interfaces.     

A Universal Performance Chart for CPU Cooling Devices

This article deals with performance evaluation of the discrete ordinates method in terms of its capacity to provide accurate results in solving radiation mode problems with different complexities. The problem formulation is done keeping in view the heat transfer process in an evaporator used in a coal-based thermal power station. The hot gas mass in the evaporator is assumed to be a heat source with two different shapes, spherical and conical. The evaporator walls that are covered with a water cooling jacket are modeled with a convective boundary condition. The gas is assumed to be gray and absorbing–emitting. The solution of the radiative transport equation is carried out using the discrete ordinates method. Parametric studies are performed for a wide range of aspect ratio, extinction coefficient, and convective heat transfer coefficient. The code is validated by comparing the result of discrete ordinates method with the exact and the discrete transfer method for nonradiative as well as radiative equilibrium conditions.     

FIB与PEM联用在半导体器件失效分析中的应用

在半导体器件的失效分析中,缺陷定位是必不可少的重要环节.光发射显微镜(PEM)是IC失效定位中最有效的工具之一.PEM利用了IC器件缺陷在一定条件下的发光现象,迅速定位缺陷.而聚焦等离子束(FIB)的定点切割和沉积技术在亚微米级半导体工艺失效分析中扮演着越来越重要的作用.介绍了一种联合使用FIB和PEM进行亚微米级缺陷定位的新方法,使得一些单独使用PEM无法完成缺陷定位的案例得以成功解决.