k_(eff)uncertainty quantification and analysis due to nuclear data during the full lifetime burnup calculation for a small-sized prismatic high temperature gas-cooled reactor

To benefit from recent advances in modeling and computational algorithms,as well as the availability of new covariance data,sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are needed to quantify the impact of uncertain sources on the design parameters of small prismatic high-temperature gascooled reactors(HTGRs).In particular,the contribution of nuclear data to the k_(eff)uncertainty is an important part of the uncertainty analysis of small-sized HTGR physical calculations.In this study,a small-sized HTGR designed by China Nuclear Power Engineering Co.,Ltd.was selected for k_(eff)uncertainty analysis during full lifetime burnup calculations.Models of the cold zero power(CZP)condition and full lifetime burnup process were constructed using the Reactor Monte Carlo Code RMC for neutron transport calculation,depletion calculation,and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis.For the sensitivity analysis,the Contribution-Linked eigenvalue sensitivity/Uncertainty estimation via Track length importance Characterization(CLUTCH)method was applied to obtain sensitive information,and the "sandwich" method was used to quantify the k_(eff)uncertainty.We also compared the k_(eff)uncertainties to other typical reactors.Our results show that ^(235)U is the largest contributor to k_(eff)uncertainty for both the CZP and depletion conditions,while the contribution of ^(239)Pu is not very significant because of the design of low discharge burnup.It is worth noting that the radioactive capture reaction of ^(28)Si significantly contributes to the k_(eff)uncertainty owing to its specific fuel design.However,the k_(eff)uncertainty during the full lifetime depletion process was relatively stable,only increasing by 1.12%owing to the low discharge burnup design of small-sized HTGRs.These numerical results are beneficial for neutronics design and core parameters optimization in further uncertainty propagation and quantification study for small-sized HTGR.

Study on Contra-Rotating Small-Sized Axial Flow Hydro Turbine

It is thought that small hydropower generation is alternative energy, and the energy potential of small hydropower is large. The efficiency of small hydro turbines is lower than that of large one, and these small hydro turbine’s common problems are out of operation by foreign materials. Then, there are demands for small hydro turbines to keep high per- formance and wide flow passage. Therefore, we adopted contra-rotating rotors which can be expected to achieve high performance and low-solidity rotors with wide flow passage in order to accomplish high performance and stable opera- tion. Final goal on this study is development of an electric appliance type small hydro turbine which has high portability and makes an effective use of the unused small hydro power energy source. In the present paper, the performance and the internal flow conditions in detail of contra-rotating small-sized axial flow hydro turbine are shown as a first step of the research with the numerical flow analysis. Then, a capability adopting contra-rotating rotors to an electric appliance type small hydro turbine was discussed. Furthermore, the high performance design for it was considered by the numeri- cal analysis results.

Effect of Organic and Chemical Fertilizer Application on Growth, Yield, and Quality of Small-Sized Tomatoes

Tomatoes in Japan are generally cultivated under management systems that use chemical fertilizers and synthetic chemical pesticides. However, the continuous use of these fertilizers and pesticides damages the soil environment and reduces the number of soil microorganisms. Organic farming has a relatively low environmental impact compared to conventional farming techniques, but typically has lower and more unstable yields. In this study, we investigated the effect of organic and chemical fertilizer application on growth, yield, and quality of small-sized (cherry) tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes were cultivated using organic and chemical organic fertilizers. Average weight and lateral diameter were significantly higher under organic fertilizer than under chemical fertilizer. In addition, shoot dry weight was significantly higher under organic fertilizer than chemical fertilizer. Lycopene content was significantly higher under organic fertilizer than chemical fertilizer. The total carbon (TC), total phosphorus (TP), total potassium (TK), available phosphoric (SP) and exchangeable potassium (SK) contents, C/N ratio, and pH were significantly higher under organic fertilizer than chemical fertilizer. Bacterial biomass, nitrite (NO? 2-N) oxidation activity, nitrification (N) circulation activity, and phosphoric (P) circulation were higher under organic fertilizer than chemical fertilizer. From these results, the study indicates that appropriate controls such as TC, total nitrogen (TN), and C/N ratio of organic fertilizer increased microbial biomass and enhanced nutrient circulation such as N circulation activity and P circulation activity. These results can be used to improve current organic farming practices and promote soil conservation.

Space-to-Ground Quantum Key Distribution Using a Small-Sized Payload on Tiangong-2 Space Lab

Quantum technology establishes a foundation for secure communication via quantum key distribution （QKD）. In the last two decades, the rapid development of QKD makes a global quantum communication network feasible. In order to construct this network, it is economical to consider small-sized and low-cost QKD payloads, which can be assembled on satellites with different sizes, such as space stations. Here we report an experimental demonstration of space-to-ground QKD using a small-sized payload, from Tiangong-2 space lab to Nanshan ground station. The 57.9-kg payload integrates a tracking system, a QKD transmitter along with modules for synchronization, and a laser communication transmitter. In the space lab, a 50MHz vacuum＋weak decoy-state optical source is sent through a reflective telescope with an aperture of 200mm. On the ground station, a telescope with an aperture of 1200mm collects the signal photons. A stable and high-transmittance communication channel is set up with a high-precision bidirectional tracking system, a polarization compensation module, and a synchronization system. When the quantum link is successfully established, we obtain a key rate over 100bps with a communication distance up to 719km. Together with our recent development of QKD in daylight, the present demonstration paves the way towards a practical satellite-constellation-based global quantum secure network with small-sized QKD payloads.

Internal Flow Condition between Front and Rear Rotor of Contra-Rotating Small-Sized Axial Fan at Low Flow Rate

Contra-rotating small-sized fans are used as cooling fans for electric equipment. The internal flow condition between the front and rear rotors of the contra-rotating small-sized fan is not known well especially at the low flow rate. Furthermore, the blade row distance between the front and rear rotors is an important parameter for the contra-rotating small-sized fan and its influence on the internal flow condition is not clarified at the low flow rate. Therefore, the internal flow condition of the contra-rotating small-sized fan at the low flow rate is investigated by the numerical analysis in this research. The numerical analysis results are validated by comparing the fan static pressure curves of the numerical results to the experimental results. The internal flow condition at the low flow rate is clarified using the numerical models of the different blade row distance L = 10 mm and 30 mm. In the present paper, pressure fluctuations phase locked each front and rear rotor’s rotation are shown and the influences of the wake and the potential interference are discussed by the unsteady numerical analysis results at the low flow rate.

Performance and Internal Flow of Contra-Rotating Small-Sized Cooling Fan

High pressure and large flow rate small-sized cooling fans are used for servers in data centers and there is a strong demand to increase its performance because of increase of quantity of heat from servers. Contra-rotating rotors have been adopted for some of high pressure and large flow rate cooling fans to meet the demand. The performance curve of the contra-rotating small-sized cooling fan with 40 mm square casing was investigated by an experimental apparatus and its internal flow condition was clarified by the numerical analysis. The fan static pressure of the front rotor was extremely low and it increased significantly at the rear rotor. The uniform flow was achieved at the inlet of the rear rotor because of the special shape of the casing between the front and rear rotors. On the other hand, the tip leakage flow was large enough to influence on the main flow of the test cooling fan by the design specification of high pressure with compact rotor diameter.

Peers Small-sized Group Work-A Beneficial Form of Classroom Interaction

Classroom interaction plays a critical role in language teaching and learning process.It involves both the teacher-students,and students-students.This article is intended to explore the vital significance of classroom interaction in language learning process with the emphasis placed on the students' involvement in the classroom activities,furthermore,to discover whether the peers small-sized group work is a beneficial and irreplaceable form of classroom interaction.

Small-sized tungsten nitride anchoring into a 3D CNT- rGO framework as a superior bifunctional catalyst for the methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions

The application of direct methanol fuel cells （DMFC） is hampered by high cost, low activity, and poor CO tolerance by the Pt catalyst. Herein, we designed a fancy 3D hybrid by anchoring tungsten nitride （WN） nanoparticles （NPs）, of about 3 nm in size, into a 3D carbon nanotube-reduced graphene oxide framework （CNT-rGO） using an assembly route. After depositing Pt, the contacted and strongly coupled Pt-WN NPs were formed, resulting in electron transfer from Pt to WN. The 3D Pt-WN/CNT-rGO hybrid can be used as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for both methanol oxidation reaction （MOR） and oxygen reduction reaction （ORR）. In MOR, the catalysts showed excellent CO tolerance and a high mass activity of 702.4 mA.mgpt-1, 2.44 and 3.81 times higher than those of Pt/CNT-rGO and Pt/C（JM） catalysts, respectively. The catalyst also exhibited a more positive onset potential （1.03 V）, higher mass activity （151.3 mA.mgpt-1）, and better cyclic stability and tolerance in MOR than ORR. The catalyst mainly exhibited a 4e-transfer mechanism with a low peroxide yield. The high activity was closely related to hybrid structure. That is, the 3D framework provided a favorable path for mass-transfer, the CNT-rGO support was favorable for charge transfer, and strongly coupled Pt-WN can enhance the catalytic activity and CO-tolerance of Pt. Pt-WN/CNT-rGO represents a new 3D catalytic platform that is promising as an electrocatalyst for DMFC because it can catalyze both ORR and MOR in an acidic medium with good stability and highly efficient Pt utilization.

Magnetic-porous microspheres with synergistic catalytic activity of small-sized gold nanoparticles and titania matrix

Fe3O4 nanoparticles immobilized on porous titania in micron-size range were decorated with smallsized gold nanoparticles and used as a plasmonic catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. Monodisperse-porous magnetic titania microspheres were synthesized with bimodal pore-size distribution by the sol-gel templating method. Small-sized gold nanoparticles obtained by the Martin method were attached onto the aminated form of the magnetic titania microspheres. A significant enhancement in the catalytic activity was observed using the gold nanoparticle-decorated magnetic titania microspheres compared to gold nanoparticle-decorated magnetic silica microspheres because of the synergistic effect between small-sized gold nanoparticles and titania. The synergistic effect for gold nanoparticle-attached magnetic titania microspheres could be explained by surface plasmon resonance-induced transfer of hot electrons from gold nanoparticles to the conduction band of titania. Using the proposed catalyst, 4-nitrophenol could be converted to 4-aminophenol in an aqueous solution within 0.5 min. The 4-nitrophenol reduction rates were 2.5-79.3 times higher than those obtained with similar plasmonic catalysts. The selection of micron-size, magnetic, and porous titania microspheres as a support material for the immobilization of small-sized gold nanoparticles provided a recoverable plasmonic catalyst with high reduction ability.

A top–down strategy to realize the synthesis of small-sized L10 - platinum-based intermetallic compounds for selective hydrogenation

The synthesis of Pt-based nanoparticles(NPs)with ultrasmall feature and tailored structure is of great importance for catalysis yet challenging.In this work,we demonstrate a facile top–down strategy for the fabrication of small-sized Pt-based intermetallic compounds(IMCs)with L10 structure through the evaporation of Cd under high temperature.Impressively,such thermal treatment can be used as a versatile strategy for creating binary,ternary,quaternary,quinary,and senary L10-Pt-based IMCs.Moreover,the small-sized Pt-based IMCs display high stability against high temperature of 700℃,which can serve as active and selective catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenylacetylene.This work may not only provide a versatile top–down strategy for fabricating highly stable small-sized Pt-based NPs with L10 structure,but also promote their extensive applications in catalysis and beyond.

Fast Determination of Ethylendiamine in Aminophylline Tablets by Small-sized Capillary Electrophoresis with Amperometric Detection

A novel method for fast determination of ethylendiamine （EDA） in Aminophylline Tablets has been developed by small-sized capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection （small-CE-AD） coupled with field-amplified sample injection （FASI）. Under the optimum conditions, EDA and four aliphatic diamine homologs （1,3-diaminopropane, 1,4-diaminobutane, 1,5-diaminopentane and 1,6-diaminohexane） could be well separated within 6 min at a separation voltage of 2.0 kV in an acetate buffer solution of pH 3.8 with low limit of detection （LOD） of 1.3 × 10^-11 g/mL for EDA （S/N=3）. The proposed method has been successfully applied to direct deter- mination of EDA content in different batches of Aminophylline Tablets. The method does not require off-line preconcentration and derivatization steps, which should find wide application fields including pharmaceuticals as an alternative to conventional and microchip CE approaches.

Influence of Small-Size Contaminations on Thin Film Structural Properties

An approach for studying the influence of nano-particles on the structural properties of deposited thin films is proposed. It is based on the molecular dynamic modeling of the deposition process in the presence of contaminating nano-particles. The nano-particle is assumed to be immobile and its interaction with film atoms is described by a spherically symmetric potential. The approach is applied to the investigation of properties of silicon dioxide films. Visualization tools are used to investigate the porosity associated with nano-particles. The structure of the film near the nano-particle is studied using the radial distribution function. It is found that fluctuations of film density near the nano-particles are essentially different in the cases of low-energy and high-energy deposition processes.

Commercial Building Containing Generation Sources: A Technical and Economic Assessment and Its Potential to Participate in Demand Response Programs

The interest on studying the impact of demand response is growing, especially on residential and commercial buildings which are responsible for a considerable consumption of energy worldwide. Also, it is virtually unquestionable that in most of these buildings there is a waste of energy, mainly electrical and thermal energy. In this context, the establishment of intelligent networks in these buildings, as well as the use of small or even medium-sized renewable sources of power can significantly contribute to the reduction and preservation of power. In this article, the results of the simulations carried out in a specific simulation program to evaluate the benefits brought by the installation of some local sources of power on a commercial building are presented. It is evaluated the impact on some of the economic variables linked to that system as well as compared its greenhouse gas emissions for the conditions with and without the presence of the local generation. It will also evaluate the building’s response towards the utility requirements, mainly the possibility to reduce or partially compensate the energy consumed, commonly referred to as Demand Response.

Characteristics and EOR mechanisms of nanofluids permeation flooding for tight oil

Tight oil reservoir development is faced with the key technical problem that"water cannot be injected and oil cannot be produced"yet.With the diphenyl ethers water-soluble(gemini)surfactants as water phase shell and C10–C14 straight-chain hydrocarbon compounds as oil phase kernel,a nanofluids permeation flooding system was prepared by microemulsion technology,and its characteristics and EOR mechanisms were evaluated through experiments.The system has the following five characteristics:(1)"Small-size liquid":the average particle size of the system is less than 30 nm,which can greatly reduce the starting pressure gradient of water injection,and effectively enter and expand the sweep volume of micro-nano matrix;(2)"Small-size oil":the system can break the crude oil into"small-size oil"under the flow condition,which can greatly improve the percolation ability and displacement efficiency of the crude oil in the micro-nano matrix;(3)Dual-phase wetting:the system has contact angles with the water-wet and oil-wet interfaces of(46±1)°and(68±1)°respectively,and makes it possible for capillarity to work fully under complex wetting conditions of the reservoir;(4)High surface activity:the interfacial tension between the system and crude oil from a tight oil reservoir in Xinjiang is 10-3–10-2 mN/m,indicating the system can effectively improve the displacement efficiency of oil in fine pore throats;(5)Demulsification and viscosity reduction:the system has a demulsification and viscosity reduction rate of more than 80%to inversely emulsified crude oil from a tight oil reservoir in Xinjiang,so it can improve the mobility of crude oil in the reservoir and wellbore.The system can be used to increase oil production by fracturing in tight reservoirs,replenish formation energy by reducing injection pressure and increasing injection rate,and enhance oil recovery by displacement and cyclic injection,providing key technical support for effective production and efficient development and recovery enhancement of tight reservoirs.

In situ atomic-scale observation of size-dependent (de) potassiation and reversible phase transformation in tetragonal FeSe anodes

Potassium-ion batteries(PIBs)are considered promising alternatives to lithium-ion batteries owing to cost-effective potassium resources and a suitable redox potential of-2.93 V(vs.-3.04 V for Li+/Li).However,the exploration of appro-priate electrode materials with the correct size for reversibly accommodating large K+ions presents a significant challenge.In addition,the reaction mecha-nisms and origins of enhanced performance remain elusive.Here,tetragonal FeSe nanoflakes of different sizes are designed to serve as an anode for PIBs,and their live and atomic-scale potassiation/depotassiation mechanisms are revealed for the first time through in situ high-resolution transmission electron micros-copy.We found that FeSe undergoes two distinct structural evolutions,sequen-tially characterized by intercalation and conversion reactions,and the initial intercalation behavior is size-dependent.Apparent expansion induced by the intercalation of K+ions is observed in small-sized FeSe nanoflakes,whereas unexpected cracks are formed along the direction of ionic diffusion in large-sized nanoflakes.The significant stress generation and crack extension originating from the combined effect of mechanical and electrochemical interactions are elucidated by geometric phase analysis and finite-element analysis.Despite the different intercalation behaviors,the formed products of Fe and K_(2)Se after full potassiation can be converted back into the original FeSe phase upon depotassiation.In particular,small-sized nanoflakes exhibit better cycling perfor-mance with well-maintained structural integrity.This article presents the first successful demonstration of atomic-scale visualization that can reveal size-dependent potassiation dynamics.Moreover,it provides valuable guidelines for optimizing the dimensions of electrode materials for advanced PIBs.

Design and experimental validation of sliding knife notch-type disc opener for a no-till combine harvester cum seed drill

One major constraint in developing a combine harvester cum seed drill(CHCSD)is the limited space available for the attachment of no-till furrow openers.Investigating the straw stubble cutting and furrow opening performance of small-sized disc furrow openers is critically important for the development and the optimization of the no-till seeding assemblies.A set of down-scaled sliding knife notch-type disc opener(SKO),modified notch-type disc opener(MNO)and smooth-type disc opener(SDO),with upper size limit of 160 mm,were designed and fabricated for field testing.Experimental results show that for small-sized disc furrow openers of the same type,a larger disc diameter yields a greater furrow depth and width.For small-sized disc furrow openers with an identical diameter,SKOs yield a greater furrow depth and width than MNOs,with SDOs yielding the lowest values.The measured furrow depth and width for an SKO with diameter of 160 mm are 3.52 cm and 3.56 cm,respectively,meeting the no-tillage furrowing requirements for a CHCSD.The highest stubble cover rate of 62.5%is obtained for the SKO with diameter of 160 mm.Therefore,this opener has greater ability to remove stubble from the furrow and seeding band than the other designs.Finally,experimental results of the stubble cutting rates confirm that,for irregularly placed straw and residue,the stubble cutting rate of the SKO with diameter of 160 mm is the highest at 61.7%.

Indium bump array fabrication on small CMOS circuit for flip-chip bonding

We demonstrate a novel method for indium bump fabrication on a small CMOS circuit chip that is to be flip-chip bonded with a GaAs/A1GaAs multiple quantum well spatial light modulator. A chip holder with a via hole is used to coat the photoresist for indium bump lift-off. The 1000 μm-wide photoresist edge bead around the circuit chip can be reduced to less than 500 μm, which ensures the integrity of the indium bump array. 64 - 64 indium arrays with 20 μm-high, 30 μm-diameter bumps are successfully formed on a 5 - 6.5 mm^2 CMOS chip.