Parsing from RSS feeds to MHP-Television systems

This diploma thesis describes the development of a software capable of parsing an RSS feed to be displayed in a MHP application for interactive TV

VLAB3D a l'aprenentatge per la pràctica simulació virtual i interactiva en 3D d'un laboratori de química

A partir de la idea inicial que teníem de millorar la simulació virtual el treball pràctic de laboratori de química dels alumnes, hem desenvolupat un programa informàtic en el que l´alumne se situa en un entorn virtual animat en tres dimensions que reprodueix un laboratori de química i en que pot interaccionar amb una sèrie d´elements per a dur a terme una pràctica de laboratori. En l´actualitat disposem d´una primera versió dúna eina informàtica d´aquestas característiques, desenvolupada per el nostre grup al Departament d.Enginyeria Química i es pot realitzar el treball de valoracions acid-base. En aquest moments en finalitzat una segona fase inclou un nou mòdul de practiques sobre precipitació de hidròxids metàl•lics

Ampliació i millora d’una planta productora de vi i cava

Premi al millor Projecte de Fi de Carrera presentat durant l'any 2013 en l'àmbit d'Organizació Industrial i Gestió que atorga ACCENTUREEl projecte Ampliació i millora d’una planta productora de vi i cava s’ha realitzat per les Caves Ventura i Soler S.L amb l’objectiu d’avaluar quin és l’estat de les instal·lacions i fer les millores pertinents. A més, en els últims anys l’empresa no pot produir tant com voldria, així que, es vol veure què ho impedeix i si es pot augmentar la producció a mitjà i llarg termini. En la primera part del treball, capítols 4 i 5, es detalla com és i com ha funcionat fins ara l’empresa: descripció, activitat, vendes, productes, processos, màquines i calendari de producció actual. A posteriori, en el capítol 6, també s’explica com són i com estan distribuïdes actualment les diferents naus de què disposa l’empresa, amb l’ajut de plànols. En la segona part del treball, capítol 7, es presenten les diferents problemàtiques que s’han observat en tres grans blocs: problemes en la productivitat i la càrrega de les instal·lacions; problemes en la distribució i optimització d’espai; i problemes en seguretat i salut. A partir d’aquí s’ha procurat trobar una sèrie de millores que resolguin els problemes. A l’hora d’aplicar les millores s’ha decidit fer-ho per fases (cinc en total), que a grans trets han quedat de la següent forma: en la fase 1 cal aplicar un nou pla de producció i resoldre problemes de seguretat i salut; per la fase 2 s’ha de construir una nova planta soterrada on poder posar la línia de producció de cava i el magatzem de maduració; en la fase 3 cal comprar màquines noves per la línia de producció de cava i aprofitar les antigues per completar la línia de producció de vi; per la fase 4 s’ha de construir una nova planta superior a la soterrada per posar-hi la línia de producció de cava; i per la fase 5 es planteja la necessitat de fer una segona planta soterrada nova per poder encabir totes les ampolles de cava que han de madurar. En el capítol 8 es presenten com serien les noves naus que caldria construir i quina seria la distribució interna en cada fase amb l’ajut dels plànols. D’altra banda, s’ha calculat que en cada fase es podria augmentar la producció anual tal com segueix: abans del projecte l’empresa produïa 150.000 ampolles de cava i 30.000 de vi; feta la fase 1 es podria arribar a 155.000 ampolles de cava i 45.000 de vi; la fase 2 permetria produir fins a 500.000 ampolles de cava i 90.000 de vi; aplicada la fase 3 es podrien produir 750.000 ampolles de cava i 200.000 de vi; feta la fase 4 s’arribaria a 1.250.000 ampolles de cava i 400.000 de vi; i la fase 5 permetria superar la producció de la fase anterior. Per acabar, el capítol 9 és una anàlisi de viabilitat del projecte. En termes econòmics s’ha vist que si el mercat és favorable o molt favorable es podria acabar el projecte en 10 anys obtenint beneficis, mentre que si les vendes són desfavorables només s’aplicaria fins la fase 2 i amb pèrdues que podrien portar a la fallida si no es troba finançament suficient. Per tant, el projecte s’ha tirar endavant fase a fase depenent de com vagin les vendes del moment.Award-winnin

Dissolution experiments of commercial PWR (52 MWd/kgU) and BWR (53 MWd/kgU) spent nuclear fuel cladded segments in bicarbonate water under oxidizing conditions. Experimental determination of matrix and instant release fraction

The denominated instant release fraction (IRF) is considered in performance assessment (PA) exercises to govern the dose that could arise from the repository. A conservative definition of IRF comprises the total inventory of radionuclides located in the gap, fractures, and the grain boundaries and, if present, in the high burn-up structure (HBS). The values calculated from this theoretical approach correspond to an upper limit that likely does not correspond to what it will be expected to be instantaneously released in the real system. Trying to ascertain this IRF from an experimental point of view, static leaching experiments have been carried out with two commercial UO2 spent nuclear fuels (SNF): one from a pressurized water reactor (PWR), labelled PWR, with an average burn-up (BU) of 52 MWd/kgU and fission gas release (FGR) of 23.1%, and one from a boiling water reactor (BWR), labelled BWR, with an average BU of and 53 MWd/kgU and FGR of 3.9%.; One sample of each SNF, consisting of fuel and cladding, has been leached in bicarbonate water during one year under oxidizing conditions at room temperature (25 +/- 5) degrees C. The behaviour of the concentration measured in solution can be divided in two according to the release rate. All radionuclides presented an initial release rate that after some days levels down to a slower second one, which remains constant until the end of the experiment. Cumulative fraction of inventory in aqueous phase (FIAPc) values has been calculated. Results show faster release in the case of the PWR SNF. In both cases Np, Pu, Am, Cm, Y, Tc, La and Nd dissolve congruently with U, while dissolution of Zr, Ru and Rh is slower. Rb, Sr, Cs and Mo, dissolve faster than U. The IRF of Cs at 10 and 200 days has been calculated, being (3.10 +/- 0.62) and (3.66 +/- 0.73) for PWR fuel, and (035 +/- 0.07) and (0.51 +/- 0.10) for BWR fuel. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Application of supervised machine-learning methods for attesting provenance in catalan traditional pottery industry

The traditional pottery industry was an important activity in Catalonia (NE Spain) up to the 20th century. However, nowadays only few workshops persist in small villages were the activity is promoted as a touristic attraction. The preservation and promotion of traditional pottery in Catalonia is part of an ongoing strategy of tourism diversification that is revitalizing the sector. The production of authenticable local pottery handicrafts aims at attracting cultivated and high-purchasing power tourists. The present paper inspects several approaches to set up a scientific protocol based on the chemical composition of both raw materials and pottery. These could be used to develop a seal of quality and provenance to regulate the sector. Six Catalan villages with a renowned tradition of local pottery production have been selected. The chemical composition of their clays and the corresponding fired products has been obtained by Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). Using the obtained geochemical dataset, a number of unsupervised and supervised machine learning methods have been applied to test their applicability to define geochemical fingerprints that could allow inter-site discrimination. The unsupervised approach fails to distinguish samples from different provenances. These methods are only roughly able to divide the different provenances in two large groups defined by their different SiO2 and CaCO3 concentrations. In contrast, almost all the tested supervised methods allow inter-site discrimination with accuracy levels above 80%, and accuracies above 85% were obtained using a meta-model combining all the predictive supervised methods. The obtained results can be taken as encouraging and demonstrative of the potential of the supervised approach as a way to define geochemical fingerprints to track or attest the provenance of samples

UO2 surface oxidation by mixtures of water vapor and hydrogen as a function of temperature

In the present work, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to study the effect of water vapor on the UO2 surface as a function of temperature. The experiments were performed in situ inside a high pressure chamber attached to the XPS instrument. UO2 samples were put in contact with either hydrogen or argon streams, saturated with water at room temperature, and the sample surface evolution was analyzed by XPS. In the case of the water vapor/argon experiments, one experiment at 350°C was performed and, in the case of the water vapor/hydrogen experiments, the temperatures used inside the reactor were 60, 120, 200 and 350°C. On one hand, in presence of argon, the results obtained showed that the water vapor in the argon stream oxidized 93% of the U(IV) in the sample surface. On the other hand, the degree of UO2 surface oxidation showed a different dependence on the temperature in the experiments performed in the presence of hydrogen: the maximum surface oxidation occurred at 120°C, where 65.4% of U(IV) in the sample surface was oxidized, while at higher temperatures, the surface oxidation decreased. This observation is attributed to the increase of hydrogen reducing effect when temperature increases which prevents part of the oxidation of the UO2 surface by the water vapor.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Influence of the interpellet space to the Instant Release Fraction determination of a commercial UO2 Boiling Water Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel

The contact of the coolant with the fuel pin during irradiation produces a gradient of temperature in the fuel pellet that segregates the radionuclides (RN) depending on its volatility and reactivity. This segregation determines the Instant Release Fraction (IRF), an important source of radiological risk in the performance assessment (PA) of a Deep Geologic Repository (DGR). RN segregation was studied radially in previous papers. In the present work, it was studied axially, taking into special consideration the cutting position of the solid sample to be studied. Iodine and caesium were the RN with the highest release, while the contribution of rubidium, strontium, molybdenum and technetium to the IRF depended on their chemical state. The interpellet presence (known also as dishing) effect was clearly observed for caesium, increasing its release by one order of magnitude. According to these results, one of the major contributions to the IRF comes from the RN trapped in the dishing and has to be considered in the sampling and data interpretation that will be performed for the PA of the DGR.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Retention of cesium and strontium by uranophane, Ca(UO2)2(SiO3OH)2·5H2O

This work determines the capacity of uranophane, one of the long-term uranyl secondary solid phases formed on the spent nuclear fuel (SNF), to retain radionuclides (cesium and strontium) released during the dissolution of the SNF. Sorption was fast in both cases, and uranophane had a high sorption capacity for both radionuclides (maximum sorption capacities of 1.53·10-5¿mol¿m-2 for cesium and 3.45·10-3¿mol¿m-2 for strontium). The high sorption capacity of uranophane highlights the importance of the formation of uranyl silicates as secondary phases during the SNF dissolution, especially in retaining the release of radionuclides not retarded by other mechanisms such as precipitation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version