Hydrogen-or-Fossil-Combustion Nuclear Combined-Cycle Systems for Base- and Peak-Load Electricity Production

A combined-cycle power plant is described that uses (1) heat from a high-temperature nuclear reactor to meet base-load electrical demands and (2) heat from the same high-temperature reactor and burning natural gas, jet fuel, or hydrogen to meet peak-load electrical demands. For base-load electricity production, fresh air is compressed; then flows through a heat exchanger, where it is heated to between 700 and 900 C by heat provided by a high-temperature nuclear reactor via an intermediate heat-transport loop; and finally exits through a high-temperature gas turbine to produce electricity. The hot exhaust from the Brayton-cycle gas turbine is then fed to a heat recovery steam generator that provides steam to a steam turbine for added electrical power production. To meet peak electricity demand, the air is first compressed and then heated with the heat from a high-temperature reactor. Natural gas, jet fuel, or hydrogen is then injected into the hot air in a combustion chamber, combusts, and heats the air to 1300 C-the operating conditions for a standard natural-gas-fired combined-cycle plant. The hot gas then flows through a gas turbine and a heat recovery steam generator before being sent to the exhaust stack. The higher temperatures increase the plant efficiency and power output. If hydrogen is used, it can be produced at night using energy from the nuclear reactor and stored until needed. With hydrogen serving as the auxiliary fuel for peak power production, the electricity output to the electric grid can vary from zero (i.e., when hydrogen is being produced) to the maximum peak power while the nuclear reactor operates at constant load. Because nuclear heat raises air temperatures above the auto-ignition temperatures of the various fuels and powers the air compressor, the power output can be varied rapidly (compared with the capabilities of fossil-fired turbines) to meet spinning reserve requirements and stabilize the electric grid. This combined cycle uses the unique characteristics of high-temperature reactors (T>700 C) to produce electricity for premium electric markets whose demands can not be met by other types of nuclear reactors. It may also make the use of nuclear reactors economically feasible in smaller electrical grids, such as those found in many developing countries. The ability to rapidly vary power output can be used to stabilize electric grid performance-a particularly important need in small electrical grids

Final Report: Use of Graphite Foam as a Thermal Performance Enhancement of Heavy Hybrid Propulsion Systems

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's graphite foam has the potential to be used as a heat exchanger for the Army's Future Combat System Manned Ground Vehicle and thus has the potential to improve its thermal performance. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program FLOW3D was used to develop a new CFD model for the graphite foam to be used in the development of a proper heat exchanger. The program was calibrated by first measuring the properties of the solid foams and determining the parameters to be used in the CFD model. Then the model was used to predict within 5% error the performance of finned foam heat sinks. In addition, the f factors and j factors commonly used to predict pressure drop and heat transfer were calculated for both the solid and finned structures. There was some evidence that corrugating the foams would yield higher j/f ratios than state of the art heat exchangers, confirming previously measured data. Because the results show that the CFD model was validated, it is recommended that the funding for Phases 2 through 5 be approved for the design of both the finned heat exchanger using tubes and round fin structures and the solid foam design using corrugated foams. It was found that the new CFD model using FLOW3D can predict both solid foam heat transfer and finned foam heat transfer with the validated model parameters. In addition, it was found that the finned foam structures exhibited j/f ratios that indicate that significant heat transfer is occurring within the fin structures due to aerodynamically induced flow, which is not present in solid aluminum fin structures. It is possible that the foam surfaces can act as turbulators that increase heat transfer without affecting pressure drop, like the vortex generators seen in state of the art heat exchangers. These numbers indicate that the foam can be engineered into an excellent heat exchanger. It was also found that corrugating the solid foams would increase the j/f ratio dramatically, allowing the solid foams to compete directly with standard heat exchangers. Although corrugated L1 foam samples have not been produced (attempts are under way), it is possible that their j/f ratio can be even higher than those of the finned structures

High-throughput gene discovery in the rat

The rat is an important animal model for human diseases and is widely used in physiology. In this article we present a new strategy for gene discovery based on the production of ESTs from serially subtracted and normalized cDNA libraries, and we describe its application for the development of a comprehensive nonredundant collection of rat ESTs. Our new strategy appears to yield substantially more EST clusters per ESTs sequenced than do previous approaches that did not use serial subtraction. However, multiple rounds of library subtraction resulted in high frequencies of otherwise rare internally primed cDNAs, defining the limits of this powerful approach. To date, we have generated >200,000 3′ ESTs from >100 cDNA libraries representing a wide range of tissues and developmental stages of the laboratory rat. Most importantly, we have contributed to ∼50,000 rat UniGene clusters. We have identified, arrayed, and derived 5′ ESTs from >30,000 unique rat cDNA clones. Complete information, including radiation hybrid mapping data, is also maintained locally at http://genome.uiowa.edu/clcg.html. All of the sequences described in this article have been submitted to the dbEST division of the NCBI

Final Report: Use of Graphite Foam as a Thermal Performance Enhancement of Heavy Hybrid Propulsion Systems

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's graphite foam has the potential to be used as a heat exchanger for the Army's Future Combat System Manned Ground Vehicle and thus has the potential to improve its thermal performance. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program FLOW3D was used to develop a new CFD model for the graphite foam to be used in the development of a proper heat exchanger. The program was calibrated by first measuring the properties of the solid foams and determining the parameters to be used in the CFD model. Then the model was used to predict within 5% error the performance of finned foam heat sinks. In addition, the f factors and j factors commonly used to predict pressure drop and heat transfer were calculated for both the solid and finned structures. There was some evidence that corrugating the foams would yield higher j/f ratios than state of the art heat exchangers, confirming previously measured data. Because the results show that the CFD model was validated, it is recommended that the funding for Phases 2 through 5 be approved for the design of both the finned heat exchanger using tubes and round fin structures and the solid foam design using corrugated foams. It was found that the new CFD model using FLOW3D can predict both solid foam heat transfer and finned foam heat transfer with the validated model parameters. In addition, it was found that the finned foam structures exhibited j/f ratios that indicate that significant heat transfer is occurring within the fin structures due to aerodynamically induced flow, which is not present in solid aluminum fin structures. It is possible that the foam surfaces can act as turbulators that increase heat transfer without affecting pressure drop, like the vortex generators seen in state of the art heat exchangers. These numbers indicate that the foam can be engineered into an excellent heat exchanger. It was also found that corrugating the solid foams would increase the j/f ratio dramatically, allowing the solid foams to compete directly with standard heat exchangers. Although corrugated L1 foam samples have not been produced (attempts are under way), it is possible that their j/f ratio can be even higher than those of the finned structures

Ese mundo de las apariencias

Bello animal. Fanny Buitrago. Seix Barral, Biblioteca Breve, Bogotá, 2002, 311 pags

A Framework for Classifying and Describing Authoring Tools for Interactive Digital Narrative

Authoring tools are a crucial component in the practice and research of interactive digital narrative design, yet no recent meta-analysis or mapping of such tools exists that would make it possible to comparatively study their defining qualities and characteristics and their effects on the artefacts produced with them. As a first step towards this goal, we created an online resource in which we surveyed and classified over 300 tools. This paper lays out our proposed categorisation and description framework for IDN authoring tools. After exploring our definition of authoring tools and research methodology, we describe 9 categories and 38 descriptors for tool analysis and comparison. We conclude with a sample analysis of Twine

A cognitive prosthesis and communication support for people with dementia

Computers may have the potential to augment human cognitive processes in ways that could be beneficial for people with dementia. This possibility is being investigated by a multidisciplinary team. Previous work on improving the performance of augmentative communication systems for non-speaking people has shown the value of conversation modelling and prompting in this setting. The impairment of short-term memory with dementia causes serious difficulties in communication. A conversation support and prompting system is being developed based on an interactive multimedia reminiscence presentation. Reminiscence has been chosen as a basis for the conversations because long-term memories can remain relatively intact with dementia, even where short-term memory is ineffective. Initial trials of the system involving people with dementia and their carers have shown that such a system can maintain the interest and active participation of a person with dementia, and increase carers' enjoyment of the interaction. Further work will focus on directing the impact of multimedia towards increasing the quantity and quality of the communication taking place.PostprintPeer reviewe