INFLUENCE OF WETNESS ON EFFICIENCY OF THE FULL SCALE SIZE LOW PRESSURE TURBINES

ABSTRACT Efficiencies of 60Hz full size test turbines were measured in various wet steam conditions to reveal the wetness impact on the performance. We changed the wetness and stage load conditions independently under the condition of constant steam mass flow rate in the low pressure turbine. The test results told that the stage efficiency decreases with the increasing of wetness as many studies showed, furthermore, the stage efficiency decreases more in smaller load conditions than in the design point. In addition, blade length effects were examined by comparing two types of LP turbine to be found that the longer case got more deficits at the same wetness. Some theoretical evaluations were tried and a combination of some simple loss models explained the tendencies above, qualitatively. The evaluation showed that absolute value of mechanical wet loss such as braking loss remained unchanged regardless of load conditions, so in low load condition, ratio of mechanical loss to stage load increased, resulting decrease of stage efficiency. It also showed that increasing wet loss at the longer blade was mainly because higher circumferential velocity caused larger mechanical wet loss such as braking loss. INTRODUCTION The steam in low pressure steam turbines operating in thermal power plants is generally expanded to a vacuum, and the turbine exit operates in wet-steam conditions. In geothermal and nuclear power plants, almost all the turbine stages operate in wet steam because the inlet steam temperature is lower than that of thermal power plants. The wet steam includes variou

Abdominal wall and thigh abscess resulting from the penetration of ascending colon cancer.

An unusual case is described in which an abdominal wall and thigh abscess was an initial symptom of ascending colon cancer. A 76-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for investigation of fever and abdominal and thigh swelling. Computed tomography revealed a right abdominal wall, retroperitoneal, psoas and thigh abscess formation suspected to be caused by colon perforation. Due to the patient's poor general condition, local drainage of the abscess was performed on the following day of hospitalization. Histological examination of necrotic tissues removed form the retroperitoneal cavity demonstrated adenocarcinoma of the colon. The patient subsequently underwent right hemicolectomy with lymph nodal dissection after 19 days of the drainage procedure and was transferred to another hospital on the 49th day following the second surgery.</p

Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Molecular Anion of Alq3: An Estimation of Reorganization Energy for Electron Transport in the Bulk

A molecular anion of tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq3) was generated by a pulsed discharge to the solid sample under supersonic expansion and its photoelectron spectrum was recorded after mass selection. The vertical detachment energy of Alq3– and the adiabatic electron affinity of Alq3 were determined to be 1.24 ± 0.01 and 0.89 ± 0.04 eV, respectively. By using these energies determined for monomeric Alq3, the reorganization energy for the intermolecular electron transport in bulk Alq3 was estimated to be 0.70 ± 0.08 eV

Syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone induced by tacrolimus hydrate

A 24-year-old man with chronic myelocytic leukemia underwent a bone marrow transplant. Tacrolimus hydrate (FK506) was given for the prophylaxis of graft versus host disease (GVHD), but subsequently grade II skin and intestinal GVHD occurred. Increased administration of FK506 with simultaneous use of prednisolone relieved GVHD; however, hyponatremia occurred. Because renal function was normal and urinary osmolality was higher than serum osmolality, syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) was diagnosed. When FK506 was replaced by cyclosporine on day 43, the hyponatremia improved rapidly. FK506 is thought to be the agent that caused SIADH in the present case

p53-inducible Wip1 phosphatase mediates a negative feedback regulation of p38 MAPK-p53 signaling in response to UV radiation

The stress-responsive p38 MAPK, when activated by genotoxic stresses such as UV radiation, enhances p53 activity by phosphorylation and leads to cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. Here we report that a member of the protein phosphatase type 2C family, Wip1, has a role in down-regulating p38-p53 signaling during the recovery phase of the damaged cells. Wip1 was originally identified as a gene whose expression is induced following γ or UV radiation in a p53-dependent manner. We found that Wip1 is also inducible by other environmental stresses, such as anisomycin, H(2)O(2) and methyl methane sulfonate. UV-induction of Wip1 requires p38 activity in addition to the wild-type p53. Wip1 selectively inactivates p38 by specific dephosphorylation of its conserved threonine residue. Furthermore, Wip1 expression attenuates UV-induced p53 phosphorylation at Ser33 and Ser46, residues previously reported to be phosphorylated by p38. Wip1 expression also suppresses both p53-mediated transcription and apoptosis in response to UV radiation. These results suggest that p53-dependent expression of Wip1 mediates a negative feedback regulation of p38-p53 signaling and contributes to suppression of the UV-induced apoptosis