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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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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U.S. nuclear capacity factors: Ideal for data centers?
Baseload nuclear generation doesn’t get the respect it deserves, if you ask nuclear operators. But the hyperscale data centers that process our digital lives—like the one right next to the Susquehanna plant in northeastern Pennsylvania—are pushing electricity demand up. Clean, reliable capacity now looks a lot more valuable.
N. Meynet, A. Bentaib
Nuclear Technology | Volume 178 | Number 1 | April 2012 | Pages 17-28
Technical Paper | Safety and Technology of Nuclear Hydrogen Production, Control, and Management / Hydrogen Safety and Recombiners | doi.org/10.13182/NT12-A13544
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A detailed model is proposed for numerical simulation of hydrogen ignition inside box-type passive autocatalytic recombiners (PARs). The model is focused on the reactive channel flow between two catalytic sheets of a recombiner. It includes complex chemistry and multicomponent transport for homogeneous hydrogen combustion and complex surface chemistry for heterogeneous hydrogen recombination. First calculations are dedicated to H2/air mixtures without steam at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The analysis of the total homogeneous and heterogeneous heat release rates according to the inlet hydrogen molar fraction reveals three possible operation regimes for the recombiners from pure catalytic conversion to pure gaseous combustion. A physical criterion is then proposed for the ignition of H2/air mixtures inside the recombiners. The numerical ignition threshold at 5.4% of hydrogen without steam is in good agreement with experimental data. The criterion is then applied to the ternary diagram including all representative H2/air/H2O mixtures for severe accident conditions in pressurized water reactors. It shows a sharper transition from the catalytic regime to the gaseous one for high hydrogen concentrations. A specific strategy finally allows defining an extended PAR hydrogen ignition limit in the entire ternary diagram, which is well corroborated by the available experimental database.