1,720,982 research outputs found

    Extension of the FAST code system for the modelling and simulation of MSR dynamics

    No full text
    In this work, the PSI FAST code system is extended for the modeling and simulation of Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) dynamics. The thermal-hydraulic code TRACE has been provided with a module for 1-D Delayed Neutron Precursor (DNP) balance and decay heat modeling in fluid fuel, and with built-in MSR materials. The reactor power is determined by means of a Point-Kinetics approach that makes use of power-weighted values of temperature and DNP distributions in the core. To validate the module, models for the comparison with experiments performed in the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) have been developed. The MSRE was a graphite moderated reactor built and operated in the sixties at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The neutronic characteristics of the reactor have been determined by means of the Monte Carlo code SERPENT. Two models of the MSRE plant with different detailing have been set up in order to determine the importance of the plant components. In particular, different descriptions of the external cooling loop have been tested and compared. Some significant transients have been considered for the module assessment, by comparison with available experimental data from ORNL, both in time and frequency domain

    A Geometric Multiscale modelling approach to the analysis of MSR plant dynamics

    Full text link
    In the framework of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF-IV), six innovative concepts of nuclear reactors have been proposed as suitable to guarantee a safe, sustainable and proliferation resistant source of nuclear energy. Among these reactors, a peculiar role is played by the Molten Salt Reactor (MSR), which is the only one with a liquid and circulating fuel. This feature leads to a complex and highly coupled behaviour, which requires careful investigations, as a consequence of some unusual features like the drift of Delayed Neutron Precursors (DNP) along the primary circuit and heat transfer with a heat-generating fluid. The inherently coupled dynamics of the MSRs asks for innovative approaches to perform reliable transient analyses. The node-wise implicitly-coupled solution of the Partial Differential Equations (PDE) that govern the different phenomena in a reactor would offer in this sense an ideal solution. However, such an approach (hereinafter referred to as Multi-Physics - MP) requires a huge amount of computational power. In this work, we propose and assess a Geometric Multiscale approach on MSR, addressing the core modelling with a 3-D MP approach and the remaining part of the system - e.g., the cooling loop - with simplified 0-D models based on Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE). The aim is to conjugate the accuracy of the MP modelling approach with acceptable computation loads. Reference is made to the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE), due to the availability of a detailed design and experimental data that are used for assessment and preliminary validation of the developed simulation tool

    An Innovative Approach to Dynamics Modeling and Simulation of the Molten Salt Rector Experiment

    No full text
    The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) was a circulating fuel thermal reactor built and operated in the sixties. As the only Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) testing facility for which extensive experimental data are available, it can be considered as a reference for the development of modeling approaches for the studies related to the Gen-IV MSR. In this work, a geometric multi-scale approach has been adopted for the simulation of the MSRE plant. The data and the experimental results relative to the U-233 fuelled reactor are considered. The neutronic parameters have been determined using the Monte Carlo code Serpent. The reactor core is divided into three radial regions, each one described by a 3D channel in which Navier-Stokes and energy conservation equations plus delayed neutron precursors (DNP) balance equations are solved. Determination of the generated power is obtained employing a point kinetics like equation, fed with importance weighted values of temperatures and DNP concentrations. The remaining part of the plant, that includes the primary and secondary cooling circuits, is modeled by means of zero-dimensional components. The results attained with such modeling approach are compared with experimental data both in time and frequency domain, showing good agreement. The adopted approach, thanks to the punctual, coupled solution of the governing equations in the core, gives better insights into the thermal behavior of the graphite and its effects on MSR dynamics than commonly used correlation-based solvers

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

    Full text link
    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

    Full text link
    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

    Full text link
    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

    Full text link
    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods

    Author Index

    No full text
    Nao informado

    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

    No full text
    We have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
    corecore