Pool temperature stratification analysis in CIRCE-ICE facility with RELAP5-3D© model and comparison with experimental tests

In the frame of heavy liquid metal (HLM) technology development, CIRCE pool facility at ENEA/Brasimone Research Center was updated by installing ICE (Integral Circulation Experiments) test section which simulates the thermal behavior of a primary system in a HLM cooled pool reactor. The experimental campaign led to the characterization of mixed convection and thermal stratification in a HLM pool in safety relevant conditions and to the distribution of experimental data for the validation of CFD and system codes. For this purpose, several thermocouples were installed into the pool using 4 vertical supports in different circumferential position for a total of 119 thermocouples [1][2]. The aim of this work is to investigate the capability of the system code RELAP5-3D (c) to simulate mixed convection and thermal stratification phenomena in a HLM pool in steady state conditions by comparing code results with experimental data. The pool has been simulated by a 3D component divided into 1728 volumes, 119 of which are centered in the exact position of the thermocouples. Three dimensional model of the pool is completed with a mono-dimensional nodalization of the primary main flow path. The results obtained by code simulations are compared with a steady state condition carried out in the experimental campaign. Results of axial, radial and azimuthal temperature profile into the pool are in agreement with the available experimental data Furthermore the code is able to well simulate operating conditions into the main flow path of the test section

Pre-test analysis of protected loss of primary pump transients in CIRCE-HERO facility

In the frame of LEADER project (Lead-cooled European Advanced Demonstration Reactor), a new configuration of the steam generator for ALFRED (Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator) was proposed. The new concept is a super-heated steam generator, double wall bayonet tube type with leakage monitoring [1]. In order to support the new steam generator concept, in the framework of Horizon 2020 SESAME project (thermal hydraulics Simulations and Experiments for the Safety Assessment of MEtal cooled reactors), the ENEA CIRCE pool facility will be refurbished to host the HERO (Heavy liquid mEtal pRessurized water cOoled tubes) test section to investigate a bundle of seven full scale bayonet tubes in ALFRED-like thermal hydraulics conditions. The aim of this work is to verify thermofluid dynamic performance of HERO during the transition from nominal to natural circulation condition. The simulations have been performed with RELAP5-3D© by using the validated geometrical model of the previous CIRCE-ICE test section [2], in which the preceding heat exchanger has been replaced by the new bayonet bundle model. Several calculations have been carried out to identify thermal hydraulics performance in different steady state conditions. The previous calculations represent the starting points of transient tests aimed at investigating the operation in natural circulation. The transient tests consist of the protected loss of primary pump, obtained by reducing feed-water mass flow to simulate the activation of DHR (Decay Heat Removal) system, and of the loss of DHR function in hot conditions, where feed-water mass flow rate is absent. According to simulations, in nominal conditions, HERO bayonet bundle offers excellent thermal hydraulic behavior and, moreover, it allows the operation in natural circulation

Post-test simulation of a PLOFA transient test in the CIRCE-HERO facility

CIRCE is a lead–bismuth eutectic alloy (LBE) pool facility aimed to simulate the primary system of a heavy liquid metal (HLM) cooled pool-type fast reactor. The experimental facility was implemented with a new test section, called HERO (Heavy liquid mEtal pRessurized water cOoled tubes), which consists of a steam generator composed of seven double-wall bayonet tubes (DWBT) with an active length of six meters. The experimental campaign aims to investigate HERO behavior, which is representative of the tubes that will compose ALFRED SG. In the framework of the Horizon 2020 SESAME project, a transient test was selected for the realization of a validation benchmark. The test consists of a protected loss of flow accident (PLOFA) simulating the shutdown of primary pumps, the reactor scram and the activation of the DHR system. A RELAP5-3D© nodalization scheme was developed in the pre-test phase at DIAEE of “Sapienza” University of Rome, providing useful information to the experimentalists. The model consisted to a mono-dimensional scheme of the primary flow path and the SG secondary side, and a multi-dimensional component simulating the large LBE pool. The analysis of experimental data, provided by ENEA, has suggested to improve the thermal–hydraulic model with a more detailed nodalization scheme of the secondary loop, looking to reproduce the asymmetries observed on the DWBTs operation. The paper summarizes the post-test activity performed in the frame of the H2020 SESAME project as a contribution of the benchmark activity, highlighting a global agreement between simulations and experiment for all the primary circuit physical quantities monitored. Then, the attention is focused on the secondary system operation, where uncertainties related to the boundary conditions affect the computational results

KERNEL FEATURE CROSS-CORRELATION FOR UNSUPERVISED QUANTIFICATION OF DAMAGE FROM WINDTHROW IN FORESTS

In this study estimation of tree damage from a windthrow event using feature detection on RGB high resolution imagery is assessed. An accurate quantitative assessment of the damage in terms of volume is important and can be done by ground sampling, which is notably expensive and time-consuming, or by manual interpretation and analyses of aerial images. This latter manual method also requires an expert operator investing time to manually detect damaged trees and apply relation functions between measures and volume which are also error-prone. In the proposed method RGB images with 0.2 m ground sample distance are analysed using an adaptive template matching method. Ten images corresponding to ten separate study areas are tested. A 13 7 13 pixels kernel with a simplified lin ear-feature representation of a cylinder is applied at different rotation angles (from 0\ub0 to 170\ub0 at 10\ub0 steps). The higher values of the normalized cross-correlation (NCC) of all angles are recorded for each pixel for each image. Several features are tested: percentiles (75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 99, max) and sum and number of pixels with NCC above 0.55. Three regression methods are tested, multiple regression (mr), support vector machines (SVM) with linear kernel and random forests. The first two methods gave the best results. The ground-truth was acquired by ground sampling, and total volumes of damaged trees are estimated for each of the 10 areas. Damaged volumes in the ten areas range from 3c1.8 7 102 m3 to 3c1.2 7 104 m3. Regression results show that smv regression method over the sum gives an R-squared of 0.92, a mean of absolute errors (MAE) of 255 m3 and a relative absolute error (RAE) of 34% using leave-one-out cross validation from the 10 observations. These initial results are encouraging and support further investigations on more finely tuned kernel template metrics to define an unsupervised image analysis process to automatically assess forest damage from windthrow

Investigation on RELAP5-3D© capability to predict thermal stratification in liquid metal pool-type system and comparison with experimental data

A numerical activity, aimed to evaluate the capability of RELAP5-3D© to reproduce the main thermal-hydraulic phenomena in an HLM pool-type facility, in different operative conditions, is presented. For this purpose, the experimental campaign performed in CIRCE-ICE test facility has been selected for the code assessment. Two experimental tests have been analyzed: TEST A consisting in a transition from no-power to a full power steady state conditions, and TEST I, consisting in a transition from gas-enhanced circulation to natural circulation, simulating a protected loss of heat sink plus a loss of flow accident. Three different pool modelling approaches are presented, consisting in a single vertical pipe, parallel pipes with cross junctions and multi-dimensional component. The comparison with experimental data has highlighted the need to divide the large pool in several sections to reproduce the natural convection, strictly correlated with the thermal stratification. The multi-dimensional component seems to be the best practice for the evaluation of this phenomenon even if the lack of specific correlation for heat transfer coefficient in quasi-stagnant conditions in large tanks is a limit for the accuracy of the results. In addition, the paper presents a detailed nodalization of the fuel pin bundle, highlighting quite good capabilities of RELAP5-3D as a subchannel analysis code

Fast deuterium fractionation in magnetized and turbulent filaments

Deuterium fractionation is considered as an important process to infer the chemical ages of prestellar cores in filaments. We present here the first magneto-hydrodynamical simulations including a chemical network to study deuterium fractionation in magnetized and turbulent filaments and their substructures. The filaments typically show widespread deuterium fractionation with average values $\gtrsim0.01$. For individual cores of similar age, we observe the deuteration fraction to increase with time, but also to be independent of their average properties such as density, virial or mass-to-magnetic flux ratio. We further find a correlation of the deuteration fraction with core mass, average H$_2$ density and virial parameter only at late evolutionary stages of the filament and attribute this to the lifetime of the individual cores. Specifically, chemically old cores reveal higher deuteration fractions. Within the radial profiles of selected cores, we notice differences in the structure of the deuteration fraction or surface density, which we can attribute to their different turbulent properties. High deuteration fractions of the order $0.01-0.1$ may be reached within approximately $200$~kyrs, corresponding to two free-fall times, as defined for cylindrical systems, of the filamentsComment: submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcom

Unveiling the inner morphology and gas kinematics of NGC 5135 with ALMA

The local Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC5135, thanks to its almost face-on appearance, a bulge overdensity of stars, the presence of a large-scale bar, an AGN and a Supernova Remnant, is an excellent target to investigate the dynamics of inflows, outflows, star formation and AGN feedback. Here we present a reconstruction of the gas morphology and kinematics in the inner regions of this galaxy, based on the analysis of Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) archival data. To our purpose, we combine the available $\sim$100 pc resolution ALMA 1.3 and 0.45 mm observations of dust continuum emission, the spectroscopic maps of two transitions of the CO molecule (tracer of molecular mass in star forming and nuclear regions), and of the CS molecule (tracer of the dense star forming regions) with the outcome of the SED decomposition. By applying the $^{\rm 3D}$BAROLO software (3D-Based Analysis of Rotating Object via Line Observations), we have been able to fit the galaxy rotation curves reconstructing a 3D tilted-ring model of the disk. Most of the observed emitting features are described by our kinematic model. We also attempt an interpretation for the emission in few regions that the axisymmetric model fails to reproduce. The most relevant of these is a region at the northern edge of the inner bar, where multiple velocity components overlap, as a possible consequence of the expansion of a super-bubble.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, resubmitted to MNRAS after moderate revision

Little Rosebud Lips So Fair : Ballad

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/3260/thumbnail.jp

Geotechnical and historical aspects on the collapse of the Tiber embankment walls in the centre of Roma (1870–1900)

This paper deals with the issues related to the construction of the Tiber’s embankment walls between years 1870–1926. The embankment walls (muraglioni) were designed by Raffaele Canevari to mitigate the effects of the river inundation in the city centre of Roma. After the flood of December 1900, several portions of the Anguillara and Alberteschi sections collapsed. The aim of this work is to investigate whether the causes of the collapse can be traced back to design approaches of the time, lacking from a point of view of the hydro-mechanical interaction of the soil in the evaluation of the total earth pressure. In particular, designed calculations are also revised accounting for more advance soil phenomena laws, based on Terzaghi effective stress and the effects of scouring and erosion. Some assumptions have been made on the mechanical characteristics of the backfill soils and on the relying on foundation materials

Influence of CLA supplementation on the lipid quality of rabbit meat

Lately, animal science researchers are getting more and more interested in natural nutraceuticals in feeds because of their beneficial effect both to the animal and to the consumer. Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) consists of a pool of geometrical and positional isomers, acknowledged as a potent anti-carcinogenic, anti-atherogenic, anti-obesity, anti-diabetes and immune stimulating factor (Parodi, 1999). Food products from ruminant animals,milk in particular, are naturally more or less rich in CLA, depending on feeding. CLA may be increased by dietary means. Aim of the present study was an attempt to upgrade the lipid quality of rabbit meat by supplementing the diet with CLA