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Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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Argonne creates new methodology for digital twins
Hu
Argonne National Laboratory has added a new twist to digital twin technology for research into nuclear energy. According to Rui Hu, a principal nuclear engineer at Argonne, “Our digital twin technology introduces a significant step toward understanding and managing advanced nuclear reactors, enabling us to predict and respond to changes with the required speed and accuracy.”
The research of Hu and his colleagues, “Development of Whole System Digital Twins for Advanced Reactors: Leveraging Graph Neural Networks and SAM Simulations,” was published in the American Nuclear Society journal Nuclear Technology.
Virtual representation: A digital twin technology is an accurate virtual representation of a complex system. It is updated with real-time data from sensors applied to the physical system, such as a nuclear reactor.
Han S. Uhm, W. M. Lee
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 1 | January 1992 | Pages 75-81
Technical Note on Cold Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A29707
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Based on theoretical calculations, new schemes to increase the deuterium density in palladium over its initial value are presented. A high deuterium concentration in palladium is needed for application to solid-state fusion. The first deuterium enrichment scheme makes use of plasma ion implantation, which consists of a cylindrical palladium rod (target) preloaded with deuterium atoms, coated with diffusion barrier material, and immersed in a deuterium plasma. The palladium rod is connected to a high-power modulator, which provides a series of negative voltage pulses. During these negative pulses, deuterium ions fall on the target, penetrate the diffusion barrier, and are implanted inside the palladium. For reasonable system parameters allowed by current technology, theoretical calculations indicate that the saturation deuterium density after prolonged ion implantation can be several times the palladium atomic number density. The second deuterium enrichment scheme makes use of temperature gradient effects on the deuterium solubility in palladium. A heat source at temperature T2 and a heat sink at temperature T1 (where T2 > T1) are in contact with two different parts of a palladium sample, which has been presoaked with deuterium atoms and has been coated with diffusion barrier material or has been securely locked in a metal case. The temperature gradient created in the sample from such an arrangement forces the deuterium atoms in the hot region to migrate into the cold region, resulting in higher deuterium density in the cold region.