High Efficiency Nuclear Power Plants Using Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor Technology

An overall system analysis approach is used to propose potential conceptual designs of advanced terrestrial nuclear power plants based on Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) experience and utilizing Closed Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) thermal-to-electric energy conversion technology. In particular conceptual designs for an advanced 1 GWe power plant with turbine reheat and compressor intercooling at a 950 K turbine inlet temperature (TIT), as well as near term 100 MWe demonstration plants with TITs of 950 and 1200 K are presented. Power plant performance data were obtained for TITs ranging from 650 to 1300 K by use of a Closed Brayton Cycle (CBC) systems code which considered the interaction between major sub-systems, including the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR), heat source and heat sink heat exchangers, turbo-generator machinery, and an electric power generation and transmission system. Optional off-shore submarine installation of the power plant is a major consideration

Bouncing Back From “Deflategate”

Halfway through the 2015 AFC Championship game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, game officials discovered that the Patriots were using underinflated footballs on their offensive snaps. A controversy ensued because the Patriots had actually supplied these balls to the game\u27s referee just hours before kickoff. Athletes and physicists have since agreed that using underinflated footballs gives several unfair advantages to the offensive team. Media outlets have focused their attention on two possible culprits behind the deflationary debacle: either the Patriots had intentionally underinflated their supply of footballs, or the climatic conditions, coupled with the various impacts to which the balls were subjected during the course of the game, had somehow altered the internal air pressure of the balls. This controversy soon became known as “Deflategate” (the moniker makes an obvious connection to the 1970s “Watergate” scandal). The purpose of this article is to bring Deflategate into the laboratory activities of high school and undergraduate introductory physics courses. First, we provide some background information on the actual 2015 AFC Championship game and subsequent media blitz surrounding the controversy. When used in an introductory mechanics class, this information can help students contextualize Deflategate as a real-word application of the material they are learning. Next, we recast the spotlight on Deflategate from its current focus, the ideal gas law, to a new one—namely, the physics of a bouncing ball. We then use this scenario as a motivation for a fun but informative set of experiments that can be carried out using equipment already in most high school or college laboratories. The subsequent data analysis relies on three basic principles: projectile motion, conservation of energy, and linear impulse/momentum. The analysis showcases the application of introductory physics to the world of sports, brings current events into the classroom, and demonstrates how multiple problem-solving strategies can be used to examine different aspects of a single event. Finally, some experimental results are presented and discussed

Case Studies in Forensic Physics

This book focuses on a forensics-style re-examination of several historical events. The purpose of these studies is to afford readers the opportunity to apply basic principles of physics to unsolved mysteries and controversial events in order to settle the historical debate. We identify nine advantages of using case studies as a pedagogical approach to understanding forensic physics. Each of these nine advantages is the focus of a chapter of this book. Within each chapter, we show how a cascade of unlikely events resulted in an unpredictable catastrophe and use introductory-level physics to analyze the outcome. Armed with the tools of a good forensic physicist, the reader will realize that the historical record is far from being a set of agreed upon immutable facts; instead, it is a living, changing thing that is open to re-visitation, re-examination, and re-interpretation

A Novel Application of an Extended State Observer for High Performance Control of NASA’s HSS Flywheel and Fault Detection

A novel application, employing the strategy of Active Disturbance Rejection Control and an Extended State Observer, is proposed to control the rotor shaft position of NASA\u27s High Speed Shaft (HSS) Flywheel using active magnetic bearings. The robustness of the control is demonstrated in a frequency domain analysis and in simulations to be a major improvement of controls recently studied at NASA. ©2008 AACC

Faculty Recitals

Guest and faculty chamber recital performed at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall