A 3-dimensional (3D) fuel performance analysis program, able to simulate normal operating conditions and accident for PWR behaviors, was developed based on the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) finite-element framework. By taking fission products swelling, densification expansion of pellet, thermal irradiation creep, gap heat transfer, gas release, cladding crack propa...

Recently, the U.S. nuclear industry has proposed replacing current volumetric and/or surface examinations of certain components in commercial nuclear power plants, as required by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section XI, “Inservice Inspection of Nuclear Power Plant Components,” with a simpler visual testing (VT) method. The advantages of VT are tha...

For the validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes experimental data on fluid flow parameters with high resolution in time and space are needed. ROCOM (Rossendorf Coolant Mixing Model) is a test facility for the investigation of coolant mixing in the primary circuit of pressurized water reactors. This facility describes the primary circuit of a German KONVOI type reactor. All import...

Biomass steam pretreatment is a key process in converting agricultural wastes to bioethanol. The pretreatment occurs in a large pressurized tank called a thermal reactor. Two key parameters influence the successfulness of the process: the reactor temperature, and the retention time. A particle pump pressurizes untreated biomass from atmospheric to reactor pressure with recycled steam from the r...

A newly designed inverted batch reactor equipped with a pressure-driven feeding system was built for investigating the kinetics of syngas during the steam hydrogasification (SHR) of biomass. The system could instantly load the feedstock into the reactor at high temperature and pressure, which simulated the way to transport the feedstock into a hot and pressurized gasifier. Experiments were cond...

UNLABELLED An integrated elastomeric microfluidic device, with a footprint the size of a postage stamp, has been designed and optimized for multistep radiosynthesis of PET tracers. METHODS The unique architecture of the device is centered around a 5-microL coin-shaped reactor, which yields reaction efficiency and speed from a combination of high reagent concentration, pressurized reactions, a...

Pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) has become a popular green extraction method for different classes of compounds present in numerous kinds of matrices such as environmental, food and botanical samples. PHWE is also used in sample preparation to extract organic contaminants from foodstuff for food safety analysis and soils/sediments for environmental monitoring purposes. The main paramete...