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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
PPPL study points to better fusion plasma control
The combination of two previously known methods for managing plasma conditions can result in enhanced control of plasma in a fusion reactor, according to a simulation performed by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
Eymon Lan, Shanbin Shi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 12 | December 2023 | Pages 2016-2029
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2157661
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
For National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s space mission planning, tons of cryogenic propellants need to be stored under microgravity conditions. Because of heat leaks into cryogenic propellant tanks, thermal stratification develops from lack of natural convection leading to boil-off of precious propellants. A thermodynamic vent system operates with a jet mixer to reduce thermal gradients within the fluid and control pressure inside the tank. In this work, a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes–based computational fluid dynamics model was developed to study the fluid dynamics of jet-induced mixing and jet impingement on the large ullage bubble in the Tank Pressure Control Experiment (TPCE) under microgravity conditions. First, the computational model was benchmarked against existing experimental flow visualization data on the jet impingement. The jet mixing was then compared quantitatively with correlations for the jet radius to analyze the volumetric flow rate of the jet due to entrainment in the near field of the nozzle. The findings show that the confinement of the jet due to the ullage and the walls contributes positively to the jet entrainment rate, thus increasing the jet volumetric flow rate. In addition, the turbulence parameters are plotted to study the flow development for the TPCE case where the jet does not penetrate the ullage. Last, the model was used to determine the jet Weber number for penetration on the ullage bubble by varying jet inlet velocities. Numerical results show that the jet can penetrate the ullage when the jet Weber number is greater than 1.3.