Performance of a transmutation advanced device for sustainable energy application

Preliminary studies have been performed to design a device for nuclear waste transmutation and hydrogen generation based on a gas-cooled pebble bed accelerator driven system, TADSEA (Transmutation Advanced Device for Sustainable Energy Application). In previous studies we have addressed the viability of an ADS Transmutation device that uses as fuel wastes from the existing LWR power plants, encapsulated in graphite in the form of pebble beds, cooled by helium which enables high temperatures (in the order of 1200 K), to generate hydrogen from water either by high temperature electrolysis or by thermochemical cycles. For designing this device several configurations were studied, including several reflectors thickness, to achieve the desired parameters, the transmutation of nuclear waste and the production of 100 MW of thermal power. In this paper new studies performed on deep burn in-core fuel management strategy for LWR waste are presented. The fuel cycle on TADSEA device has been analyzed based on both: driven and transmutation fuel that had been proposed by the General Atomic design of a gas turbine-modular helium reactor. The transmutation results of the three fuel management strategies, using driven, transmutation and standard LWR spent fuel were compared, and several parameters describing the neutron performance of TADSEA nuclear core as the fuel and moderator temperature reactivity coefficients and transmutation chain, are also presente

Time-frequency features for impedance cardiography signals during anesthesia using different distribution kernels

Objective: This works investigates the time-frequency content of impedance cardiography signals during a propofol-remifentanil anesthesia. Materials and Methods: In the last years, impedance cardiography (ICG) is a technique which has gained much attention. However, ICG signals need further investigation. Time-Frequency Distributions (TFDs) with 5 different kernels are used in order to analyze impedance cardiography signals (ICG) before the start of the anesthesia and after the loss of consciousness. In total, ICG signals from one hundred and thirty-one consecutive patients undergoing major surgery under general anesthesia were analyzed. Several features were extracted from the calculated TFDs in order to characterize the time-frequency content of the ICG signals. Differences between those features before and after the loss of consciousness were studied. Results: The Extended Modified Beta Distribution (EMBD) was the kernel for which most features shows statistically significant changes between before and after the loss of consciousness. Among all analyzed features, those based on entropy showed a sensibility, specificity and area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic above 60%. Conclusion: The anesthetic state of the patient is reflected on linear and non-linear features extracted from the TFDs of the ICG signals. Especially, the EMBD is a suitable kernel for the analysis of ICG signals and offers a great range of features which change according to the patient’s anesthesia state in a statistically significant way.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Application of gas-cooled Accelerator Driven System (ADS) transmutation devices to sustainable nuclear energy development

The conceptual design of a pebble bed gas-cooled transmutation device is shown with the aim to evaluate its potential for its deployment in the context of the sustainable nuclear energy development, which considers high temperature reactors for their operation in cogeneration mode, producing electricity, heat and Hydrogen. As differential characteristics our device operates in subcritical mode, driven by a neutron source activated by an accelerator that adds clear safety advantages and fuel flexibility opening the possibility to reduce the nuclear stockpile producing energy from actual LWR irradiated fuel with an efficiency of 45?46%, either in the form of Hydrogen, electricity, or both

A Comparative Analysis of Conductance Probes and High-Speed Camera Measurements for Interfacial Behavior in Annular Air-Water Flow

[EN] Different techniques are used to analyze annular flow, but the more interesting ones are those techniques that do not perturb the flow and provide enough resolution to clearly distinguish the interfacial phenomena that take place at the interface, especially the disturbance waves (DW) and the ripple waves (DW). The understanding of these events is important because it influences the heat and mass transfer taking place through the thin film formed near the walls in this flow regime. The laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and the three-electrode conductance probe are two commonly used techniques to study experimentally annular flow phenomena. In this paper, a set of experiments at different temperatures of 20 degrees C, 30 degrees C and 40 degrees C and different liquid Reynolds numbers have been performed in the annular flow regime, the characteristic of the DW and RW as average height and frequency of these waves has been measured by both techniques LIF and conductance probes. In addition, we also measured the mean film thickness. It was found that the mean film thickness and the DW height are practically the same when measured by both techniques; however, the height of the RW is smaller when measured by the conductance probe and this difference diminishes when the temperature increases.This research was funded by the Plan Nacional de I+D, grant number ENE2016-79489-C2-1-P, Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad.Rivera, Y.; Bidon, M.; Muñoz-Cobo, JL.; Berna, C.; Escrivá, A. (2023). A Comparative Analysis of Conductance Probes and High-Speed Camera Measurements for Interfacial Behavior in Annular Air-Water Flow. Sensors. 23(20):1-33. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23208617133232

Experimental Measurements and CFD Results of Liquid Film Thickness in Vertical Downward Air-Water Annular Flow

[EN] Annular gas¿liquid flows have been extensively studied over the years. However, the nonlinear behavior of the interface is still currently the subject of study by multiple researchers worldwide. The appearance of a liquid layer on the wall and its turbulent behavior support the heat exchange of multiple systems in the industrial field. Research in this area allows the optimization of these installations as well as the analysis of possible safety problems if the liquid film disappears. This study first shows some of the most important findings obtained in the GEPELON experimental facility (GEneración de PElícula ONdulatoria or Wavy Film Generator). The facility was built in order to analyze the behavior of the liquid film in annular downward air¿water flow. The experimental range of the inlet conditions is 800¿8000 for the ReL and 0¿110,000 for the Reg. Measurements for the mean film thickness show a fairly good agreement with the empirical correlations and the measurements of other authors. One of the most demanded applications of this type of measurements is the validation of computational dynamics or CFD codes. Therefore, the experiment has been modeled using Ansys CFX software, and the simulation results have been compared with the experimental ones. This article outlines some of the reasons why two-phase flow simulations are currently challenging and how the codes are able to overcome them. Simulation predictions are fairly close to the experimental measurements, and the mean film thickness evolution when changing the boundary conditions also shows a good agreement.The authors are indebted to the plan of I+D support of the EXMOTRANSIN project ENE2016-79489-C2-1-P.Rivera-Durán, Y.; J. L. Muñoz-Cobo; A. Escrivá; C. Berna; Y. Córdova (2022). Experimental Measurements and CFD Results of Liquid Film Thickness in Vertical Downward Air-Water Annular Flow. International Journal of Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements. 10(2):93-103. https://doi.org/10.2495/CMEM-V10-N2-93-1039310310

Experiments in free falling and downward cocurrent annular flows-Characterization of liquid films and interfacial waves

[EN] Falling liquid films and downward cocurrent flows in rounded shape pipes have been experimentally studied during the last decades, estimating the evolution of its major characteristics. The most important variables during the formation and growth of surface waves in falling downward flows have been measured using conductance probes. The main objective of the current research paper is to study the dependency of the characteristics of the thin liquid layer for downward cocurrent annular flows. The GEPELON experimental facility consists of a vertical pipe with 3.8 m of useful test length. Two pipe diameters have been analysed in this experimental study, 42 and 30 mm, in which the range covered by the liquid Reynolds number varies between 570 and 8500 and 800-7900 respectively, while the gas Reynolds numbers vary from 0 to 7.9.10(4) and from 0 to 1.1.10(5) respectively for the mentioned pipe diameters. Up to five conductance probes have been placed along the pipes test sections to capture the liquid film thickness fluctuations along time at different distances of the pipe entrance for both developing and fully developed regions. After the study and analysis of the experimental data, the central point of this paper has been the development of new correlations for the liquid film thicknesses and the two major properties of the interfacial waves. Their adjustment procedure has been carried out in terms of dimensionless numbers, aiming to provide more general relationships. In particular, the magnitudes that characterise the interface behavior have been measured, particularly film thicknesses, average disturbance wave amplitudes, and disturbance wave frequencies for each boundary condition. An additional part of the document contains an extensive comparison between the results obtained in this study and the data and expressions of other authors. It has been confirmed the significant dispersion existing among different researchers, especially when analysing variables related to the interfacial waves. This highlights the lack of knowledge in some aspects even today. The different correlations proposed have been calculated based on the best fit of the data from all the series of experiments carried out in this study. Comparisons of the behaviour of these correlations with data from other researchers have also been included.This research is supported by the EXMOTRANSIN project ENE2016-79489-C2-1-P included in the I + D Spanish plan. Funding for open access charge: CRUE-Universitat Politècnica de València.Rivera-Durán, Y.; Berna, C.; Muñoz-Cobo, JL.; Escrivá, A.; Córdova, Y. (2022). Experiments in free falling and downward cocurrent annular flows-Characterization of liquid films and interfacial waves. Nuclear Engineering and Design. 392:1-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2022.11176912339

Numerical simulation of air discharged in subcooled water pool

[EN] Turbulent jet discharges in subcooled water pools are essential for safety systems in nuclear power plants, specifically in the pressure suppression pool of boiling water reactors and In-containment Refueling Water Storage Tank of advanced pressurized water reactors. The gas and liquid flow in these systems is investigated using multiphase flow analysis. This field has been extensively examined using a combination of experiments, theoretical models, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. ANSYS CFX offers two approaches to model multiphase flow behavior. The non-homogeneous Eulerian-Eulerian Model has been used in this work; it computes global information and is more convenient to study interpenetrated fluids. This study utilized the Large Eddy Simulation Model as the turbulence model, as it is better suited for non-stationary and buoyant flows. The CFD results of this study were validated with experimental data and theoretical results previously obtained. The figures of merit dimensionless penetration length and the dimensionless buoyancy length show good agreement with the experimental measurements. Correlations for these variables were obtained as a function of dimensionless numbers to give generality using only initial boundary conditions. CFD numerical model developed in this research has the capability to simulate the behavior of non-condensable gases discharged in water.This work was supported by the project THAIS co-financed by the CSN (Nuclear Safety Council of Spain) and the UPV (Polytechnical University of Valencia). The authors also would like to express gratitude to the Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) for its support under the Santiago Grisolia Program/2018/140.Córdova, Y.; Blanco, D.; Rivera, Y.; Berna, C.; Muñoz-Cobo, JL.; Escrivá, A. (2023). Numerical simulation of air discharged in subcooled water pool. Nuclear Engineering and Technology. 55(10):3754-3767. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2023.06.04137543767551

Experimental Characterization of the Dimensionless Momentum Length for Submerged Jet Discharges of Air-Steam Mixtures into Stagnant Water

[EN] A very efficient method of condensing the steam in various industrial applications is the steam direct discharge into pools with subcooled water. This kind of condensation is known as Direct Contact Condensation (DCC), by providing high heat transfer and mass exchange capacity, the steam condenses quickly. In the past few decades, many experiments have been carried out on the submerged jets of non-condensable gases and pure steam in pools, supplying much information of interest, but efforts are still being made to obtain more information. In particular, the research of steam and non-condensable gas mixtures is of great interest to the chemical, energy, and nuclear industry. Consequently, this study investigates the discharge behavior of air-steam mixtures in a pool with subcooled water by direct visualization techniques using a high-speed camera. To know the behavior of the dimensionless momentum length, tests were carried out considering several initial discharge conditions such as nozzle diameter, percentage of mixture, and flow rates. After image acquisition, a series of complex processing, filtering, and post-processing procedures are applied using a subroutine in MATLAB. The momentum length of the jet was measured and found to be heavily influenced by the nozzle diameter, the jet velocity, and the mixture percentage. A correlation is obtained for the dimensionless momentum length of the horizontal jet that depends on the Froude and Mach numbers.The authors would like to acknowledge the support provided through the Spanish project EXMOTRANSIN ENE2016-79489-C2-1-P and the Santiago Grisolía Program for the training of research personnel.Y. Córdova; D. Blanco; C. Berna; J. L. Muñoz-Cobo; A. Escrivá; Rivera-Durán, Y. (2022). Experimental Characterization of the Dimensionless Momentum Length for Submerged Jet Discharges of Air-Steam Mixtures into Stagnant Water. International Journal of Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements. 10(3):195-210. https://doi.org/10.2495/CMEM-V10-N3-195-21019521010

Development of Conductivity Sensors for Multi-Phase Flow Local Measurements at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and University Jaume I of Castellon (UJI)

[EN] This paper describes all the procedures and methods currently used at UPV (Universitat Politécnica de Valencia) and UJI (University Jaume I) for the development and use of sensors for multi-phase flow analysis in vertical pipes. This paper also describes the methods that we use to obtain the values of the two-phase flow magnitudes from the sensor signals and the validation and cross-verification methods developed to check the consistency of the results obtained for these magnitudes with the sensors. First, we provide information about the procedures used to build the multi-sensor conductivity probes and some of the tests performed with different materials to avoid sensor degradation issues. In addition, we provide information about the characteristics of the electric circuits that feed the sensors. Then the data acquisition of the conductivity probe, the signal conditioning and the data processing including the device that have been designed to automatize all the measurement process of moving the sensors inside the channels by means of stepper electric motors controlled by computer are shown in operation. Then, we explain the methods used for bubble identification and categorization. Finally, we describe the methodology used to obtain the two-phase flow information from the sensor signals. This includes the following items: void fraction, gas velocity, Sauter mean diameter and interfacial area concentration. The last part of this paper is devoted to the conductance probes developed for the annular flow analysis, which includes the analysis of the interfacial waves produced in annular flow and that requires a different type of sensorThe authors are indebted to the support received from MINECO for the project MODEXFLAT ENE2013-48565-C2-1-P and ENE2013-48565-C2-2-P.Muñoz-Cobo, JL.; Chiva, S.; Mendez, S.; Monrós, G.; Escrivá, A.; Cuadros-Orón, JL. (2017). Development of Conductivity Sensors for Multi-Phase Flow Local Measurements at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and University Jaume I of Castellon (UJI). Sensors. 17(5):1-35. https://doi.org/10.3390/s17051077S13517

Analysing Food-Porn Images for Users’ Engagement in the Food Business

Ponència presentada a 24th International Conference of the Catalan Association for Artificial Intelligence, celebrada a Barcelona en 2022.This paper presents an approach for analysing food-porn images and their related comments published by the cooking school Getcookingcanada Instagram account. Our approach processes the published images to extract colour parameters, counts the number of likes, and also analyses the comments related to each publication. A dataset containing all these was built, and methods were applied to study correlations among the data: a regression analysis, an ANOVA and a sentiment analysis of the comments on the dataset to explain the relation between the quantity of likes and the sentiment obtained from the food images. Our results show a correlation between the number of likes and the sentiment analysis of the comments. Images that evoke a positive sentiment have a higher number of likes and comments. Users’ experience on creating posts is also analysed and confirms a positive correlation between the number of likes and the publisher’s experience