Abstract: Energy and exergy analyses of the performance of the Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000-MWe Nuclear Plant (AP1000) was conducted with the primary objectives to identify and quantify the operational locations having the largest energy and exergy losses under normal operating conditions. The energy and exergy losses in the reactor units were determined from formulations of the energy and exergy rate balances based on the Gouy-Stodola theorem. The performance of the overall AP1000 plant was estimated by component wise modeling and detailed break-up of energy and exergy losses in the various plant sections. Operating at maximum core power of 3400 MW, the AP1000 reactor core experienced moderately small thermal loss of 125.1 MW and very substantial exergy consumption of 1814.8 MW achieving energy and exergy efficiencies of 96.3% and 46.6% respectively. For the entire AP1000 plant, energy losses occurred mainly in the condenser where 1849.8 MW was lost to the environment. Exergy analysis, however, revealed lost energy in the condenser was thermodynamically insignificant due to the low quality and that irreversible losses of 1868.4 MW in the reactor and steam generator assembly were the major source of irreversibilities in the plant. The study confirmed that the major heat transfer inefficiencies occurring in nuclear reactor plants resided in the reactor cores and efforts to increase the efficiency of the plant should concentrate on the design of the core components.Abstract: Energy and exergy analyses of the performance of the Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000-MWe Nuclear Plant (AP1000) was conducted with the primary objectives to identify and quantify the operational locations having the largest energy and exergy losses under normal operating conditions. The energy and exergy losses in the reactor units were determin...Show More
Abstract: The safety assessment procedure in the new BS 7910:2013+A1:2015 guide is based on the failure assessment diagram (FAD) method. This paper aims to validate the above procedure for complex geometries such as damaged multi-planar square hollow section (SHS) welded joints and to recommend optimal solutions if necessary. FAD curves are constructed for cracked multi-planar SHS TT-, YT- and KT-joints for the first time and are compared with the Option 1 curve of the BS guide. A robust novel automatic finite element (FE) mesh generator, which is validated using the full-scale experimental test results, is used in this study. The new FE mesh generator addresses the issue of non-convergence by using a key-hole for the modelling the crack tip in elastic-plastic analyses. The new FE mesh generator is capable to model cracks and geometries of arbitrary dimensions and is able to achieve convergence of solutions even at a high plastic deformation. It is shown to be aiding in speedy generation of cracked FE mesh models which is otherwise time consuming to generate using commercial software packages. The results show that the Option 1 curve does not always guarantee safe solutions for multi-planar SHS welded joints. Hence, a penalty factor of 1.1 is recommended to be used to calculate the plastic collapse load. The use of proposed penalty factor gives optimal solutions for cracked multi-planar SHS TT-, YT- and KT-joints.Abstract: The safety assessment procedure in the new BS 7910:2013+A1:2015 guide is based on the failure assessment diagram (FAD) method. This paper aims to validate the above procedure for complex geometries such as damaged multi-planar square hollow section (SHS) welded joints and to recommend optimal solutions if necessary. FAD curves are constructed for c...Show More
Abstract: In many parts of the world, production of sufficient green fodder and grain to feed the livestock population has become a big challenge. This is due to limited land allocation, fertilizer and manure requirements for cultivation, lack of irrigation facilities and natural calamity. To overcome this problem, hydroponics fodder production technology is an emerging as alternative to grow sufficient quality fodder and some parts of concentrate in livestock farms. Hydroponic fodder production is a method of fodder production, in which fodder seeds are germinated into a high quality, highly nutritious, disease free animal food in a hygienic environment. It is also more palatable and digestible and can be grown in low cost devices with locally home grown grains. Moreover, it is advantageous in terms of nutritional benefit and economic value, constant food supply year-round, marginal land use, reduced labour requirement and natural feed for animals. However, there is a big gap and no adequate compiled information that clearly indicates the importance of hydroponics fodder production for sustainable livestock production against climate change. Therefore, it is important to review the aspect thoroughly and bring minor details into focus to have better understanding of hydroponics fodder production for sustainable livestock production against climate change.Abstract: In many parts of the world, production of sufficient green fodder and grain to feed the livestock population has become a big challenge. This is due to limited land allocation, fertilizer and manure requirements for cultivation, lack of irrigation facilities and natural calamity. To overcome this problem, hydroponics fodder production technology is...Show More