Core characteristics of fast reactor cycle with simple dry pyrochemical processing

Fast reactor core concept and core nuclear characteristics are studied for the application of the simple dry pyrochemical processing for fast reactor mixed oxide spent fuels, that is, the Compound Process Fuel Cycle, large FR core with half of loaded fuels are recycled by the simple dry pyrochemical processing. Results of the core nuclear analyses show that it is possible to recycle FR spent fuel once and to have 1.01 of breeding ratio without radial blanket region. The comparison is made among three kinds of recycle fuels, LWR UO₂ spent fuel, LWR MOX spent fuel, and FR spent fuel. The recycle fuels reach an equilibrium state after recycles regardless of their starting heavy metal compositions, and the recycled FR fuel has the lowest radio-activity and the same level of heat generation among the recycle fuels. Therefore, the compound process fuel cycle has flexibility to recycle both LWR spent fuel and FR spent fuel. The concept has a possibility of enhancement of nuclear non-proliferation and process simplification of fuel cycle.     

The effect of moisture on the dielectric relaxations in wood

The dielectric constant ?′ and the loss factor ?″ of moistened wood were measured over a wide range of moisture content (MC), 0–40 wt% in the temperature range ?196 to 0°C, and in the frequency range 30 Hz to 1 M Hz. Three relaxations were observed depending on the MC and frequency. The first ?″ peak at ?103°C (30 Hz) in oven-dried wood is known to be due to the methylol rotation in the amorphous regions. A new ?″ peak (second peak), which appeared for MC >0.6 wt% at ?110 to ?40°C (30Hz) depending on the MC, is assigned to the local mode motions of the complexes between moisture and polar groups in the wood system; it is enhanced as the overall loosening of the initial hydrogen bond network is promoted by the extended hydration due to further sorption of moisture. The peak temperatures and the activation energies for these relaxations changed complexly depending on the MC. At MC > 10 wt%, a novel ?″ peak (third peak) was disclosed around ?40°C (30 Hz) as a shoulder of the ionic conduction. This novel peak may be attributed to the water frozen in wood on the basis of the peak temperature, relaxation strength vs. MC, the activation energy, and the fact that the peak is not observed for the sorption of various polar organic solvents. This suggests that some of the moisture sorbed by wood may probably exist in a frozen state at low temperatures, even at a MC well below the commonly accepted fiber saturation point.     

Kinetic studies on Victorian brown coal hydroliquefaction

Reaction kinetics of the liquefaction of Victorian brown coal in a process development unit (PDU) having three reactors in series have been studied at temperatures of 430–470°C, and pressures of 15–25 MPa. It is shown that the rate of hydrogen consumption can be expressed as a function of the concentrations of coal and catalyst, hydrogen partial pressure, reaction temperature and residence time, and is controlled by the rates of hydrogenation of polynuclear aromatic components, and the rates of formation and stabilization of radicals. The relative contribution of these reactions, at any temperature, determine the influence of the hydrogen partial pressure on the rate of the hydrogen consumption. The kinetics of the decomposition reactions of brown coal to preasphaltene, asphaltene and to oil also have been studied. The apparent activation energies determined are 25 kJ mol^?1 for the brown coal to preasphaltene, 50 kJ mol^?1 for preasphaltene to asphaltene, 76 kJ mol^?1 for asphaltene to oil, and 184 kJ mole^?1 for oil to gases.     

Influence of the structure of polysulphide additives on the shiftability of manual transmissions

The shiftability of manual transmissions is known to be strongly affected by the nature of the transmission oil. When conventional sulphur—phosphorus (SP) additives are used in the oil, gear clashing, sticking, and other problems occur. As reported previously, these problems are caused mainly by the polysulphide used in the SP additives. This paper reports on a study of the effect of the structure of the polysulphide's hydrocarbon chain on the synchromesh characteristics. It is found that polysulphides with long hydrocarbon chains have high kinematic friction coefficients and low static friction coefficients. It is also shown that this phenomenon occurs because of the adsorption of the polysulphide on to the copper alloy of which the gear synchroniser ring is made. By using a polysulphide with a long hydrocarbon chain it is possible to develop transmission oils that have superior load‐carrying capacity and better shiftability even when compared with the latest transmission oils that contain metallic detergents.