Integration Of Facilities Research Articles

Benchmark experiment for bismuth by slab samples with D-T neutron source

A benchmark experiment is carried out with slab sample to validate nuclear data of bismuth by measurement of leakage neutron spectra from 0.8–16 MeV. The measured experiments are performed at China Institute of Atomic Energy with the integral benchmark facility established on the D–T neutron generator. The neutrons leaking from the sample are recorded at the measuring angle of 60° and 120° by time-of-flight technique. To make understanding of the impact of accuracy of data files in evaluated library on the neutron transport simulation, the calculation is carried out by MCNP-4C code with a series of latest available evaluated libraries. The calculated spectra are analyzed by comparing with experimental ones in neutron spectrum shape and C/E values. The result indicates that the theoretical simulation with different data libraries overestimated or underestimated the measured ones in some energy ranges, and the secondary neutron energy distribution and angular distribution in data files have been present to explain it.

Functional Zoning of Modern Educational Complexes

This study aims to investigate the current trends in educational facility design both in Russia and abroad. It highlights the existing government programs intended to standardize and regulate the architectural design of educational establishments. The authors identify the specifics of large educational buildings’ functional structure and discuss a tendency towards merging several levels of education into major functional units. Examples of schooling facilities in some foreign countries reaffirm the relevance of multifunctional educational complexes. Different building units are grouped into clusters using communicative public spaces. Conclusions have been drawn as to the importance of larger educational facilities integration into various urban environments. The study systematizes functional units that keep changing during the building’s life cycle and explains the framework behind the functional replacement model. It appears expedient to use this model when designing educational facilities of different capacities.

Integration of Remotely Sensed Digital Elevation Model Data and Geographic Information System Facilities to Estimate Net Solar Radiation Variances in Iraq (1987-2017)

The calculation of potential earth's surface solar radiation is imperative for analyzing the atmosphere-vegetation-soil interaction process. Therefore, many schemes were introduced with direct (using net radiometer) or indirect (using air temperature or air plus soil temperatures) formulas. Three combinations of factors are known to control the Rn value; the astronomical based factors which determine the general spatial distribution of Rn values, the climatological factors which determine the assigned spatial variation of those values, and the topographical factors that influence climatological factors rates ( i.e. have indirect effects on Rn values).
 For Iraq, the ecosystem influences of global warming were obvious in the 1980s and the Rn rates approached peak values .. Thereafter, the general behavior of Rn rates was geographically-based , i.e. increasing rates in the middle and southern regions and descending rates in the northern parts, since it was spatially correlated in a reverse manner with RH values. In the present study, this issue was clarified by utilizing the standard annual mean Rn rate known for Iraq’s weather, which was 9.8MJ.m-2.year-1. The results showed that, in 1987, the area with annual mean Rn equal or higher than this annual standard rate was 305088.098 km2. The area was reduced to 241984.77 km2 in 1997, followed by an expansion to 294491.136 km2 in 2007, and another reduction to 277272.542 km2 in 2017.

Total loss of flow benchmark in CIRCE-HERO integral test facility

In the framework of the HORIZON2020 SESAME European project, an experimental campaign has been carried out on the large Lead-Bismuth Eutectic pool integral effect CIRCE facility at ENEA Brasimone Research Center, implementing the HERO test section. This test section is aimed at supporting the development of the ALFRED design. Within the SESAME Project, three protected loss of flow accident tests have been designed and executed, identified as SE-Test1, SE-Test2, and SE-Test3. The third test (SE-Test3) has been selected by the project participants for a benchmark activity involving system thermal-hydraulic codes and coupled system thermalhydraulic/ CFD. This activity has been divided into two phases: a blind phase, and a post-test phase. The present paper illustrates the results achieved during the post-test phase of the CIRCE-HERO benchmark activity. Four participants simulated the experimental test. Three (ENEA, SCKCEN and UNIROMA1) used different versions of RELAP5 code, i.e. RELAP5-3D and RELAP5Mod3.3, and one (NRG) used a coupled approach based on an in-house system thermal-hydraulic code (SPECTRA) and the commercial code ANSYS CFX. The benchmark activity hereafter presented is a relevant exercise for evaluating and comparing the predictive capabilities of system thermal-hydraulic codes, CFD codes and coupled technics, in relation to phenomena occurring during the transition between forced and natural circulation (e.g. loss of flow) in a heavy liquid metals Generation IV system. The results of the numerical exercise showed an adequate capability of the codes to reproduce the relevant phenomena involved during the experiment. The SYS-TH codes have been more accurate than SYS-TH/CFD in predicting the trend of the main parameters during the transient, reproducing them with quite satisfactory accuracy. SYS-TH/CFD simulation, instead, provided a more satisfactory representation of the pool thermal stratification. The results highlighted that the planning and the execution of experiments fully devoted for the code V&V process is needed for the further development of such numerical tools, in particular for SYS-TH/CFD coupled approaches, whose use is more recent respect to SYS-TH codes.

Development of integration indexes to determine the extent of family planning and child immunization services integration in health facilities in urban areas of Nigeria

BackgroundIntegrating family planning into child immunization services may address unmet need for contraception by offering family planning information and services to postpartum women during routine child immunization visits. However, policies and programs promoting integration are often based on insubstantial or conflicting evidence about its effects on service delivery and health outcomes. While integration models vary, many studies measure integration as binary (a facility is integrated or not) rather than a multidimensional and varying continuum. It is thus challenging to ascertain the determinants and effects of integrated service delivery. This study creates Facility and Provider Integration Indexes, which measure capacity to support integrated family planning and child immunization services and applies them to analyze the extent of integration across 400 health facilities.MethodsThis study utilizes cross-sectional health facility (N = 400; 58% hospitals, 42% primary healthcare centers) and healthcare provider (N = 1479) survey data that were collected in six urban areas of Nigeria for the impact evaluation of the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative. Principal Component Analysis was used to develop Provider and Facility Integration Indexes that estimate the extent of integration in these health facilities. The Provider Integration Index measures provider skills and practices that support integrated service delivery while the Facility Integration Index measures facility norms that support integrated service delivery. Index scores range from zero (low) to ten (high).ResultsMean Provider Integration Index score is 5.42 (SD 3.10), and mean Facility Integration Index score is 6.22 (SD 2.72). Twenty-three percent of facilities were classified as having low Provider Integration scores, 32% as medium, and 45% as high. Fourteen percent of facilities were classified as having low Facility Integration scores, 38% as medium, and 48% as high.ConclusionMany facilities in our sample have achieved high levels of integration, while many others have not. Results suggest that using more nuanced measures of integration may (a) more accurately reflect true variation in integration within and across health facilities, (b) enable more precise measurement of the determinants or effects of integration, and (c) provide more tailored, actionable information about how best to improve integration. Overall, results reinforce the importance of utilizing more nuanced measures of facility-level integration.

Techno-economic evaluation of a solar PV integrated refrigeration system for a cold storage facility

This paper presents a conceptual study of a solar PV integrated refrigeration system for a cold storage facility based on the conventional vapor compression system for banana fruit. In the first stage, the conventional system has been thoroughly analyzed. Mathematical modelling has shown that the condenser is oversized, while the evaporator was undersized. Furthermore, the air-conditioning compressor was also found to be oversized by approximately 12 kW after an evaluation at no-load and full-load conditions. In the second stage, the optimized system with reduced consumption was integrated to a solar PV field. The solar field sizing, and performance optimization of the proposed PV hybrid refrigeration system was accomplished in PV*SOL tool. The simulations demonstrated that with a 170 m2 solar field, an optimized PV hybrid refrigeration system can achieve 58.1% solar fraction at a performance ratio of 59.2%, under given climatic conditions. With net metering, the hybrid system shows a high economic feasibility with the payback period of 5.2 years. The comprehensive methodology and all-inclusive results are valuable to generate explicit recommendations for repowering along with renewable integration of cold storage facilities operating in the region.

Integral effect test for steam line break with coupling reactor coolant system and containment using ATLAS-CUBE facility

To improve safety analysis technology for a nuclear reactor containment considering an interaction between a reactor coolant system (RCS) and containment, this study aims at an experimental investigation on the integrated simulation of the RCS and containment, with an integral effect test facility, ATLAS-CUBE. For a realistic simulation of a pressure and temperature (P/T) transient, the containment simulation vessel was designed to preserve a volumetric scale equivalently to the RCS volume scale of ATLAS. Three test cases for a steam line break (SLB) transient were conducted with variation of the initial condition of the passive heat sink or the steam flow direction. The test results indicated a stratified behavior of the steam-gas mixture in the containment following a high-temperature steam injection in prior to the spray injection. The test case with a reduced heat transfer on the passive heat sink showed a faster increase of the P/T inside the containment. The effect of the steam flow direction was also investigated with respect to a multi-dimensional distribution of the local heat transfer on the passive heat sink. The integral effect test data obtained in this study will contribute to validating the evaluation methodology for mass and energy (M/E) and P/T transient of the containment.

Plasmon-enhanced graphene photodetector with CMOS-compatible titanium nitride

Graphene has emerged as an ultrafast optoelectronic material for on-chip photodetector applications. The 2D nature of graphene enables its facile integration with complementary metal–oxide semiconductor (CMOS) microelectronics and silicon photonics, yet graphene absorbs only ∼ 2.3 % of light. Plasmonic metals can enhance the responsivity of graphene photodetectors, but may result in CMOS-incompatible devices, depending on the choice of metal. Here we propose a plasmon-enhanced photothermoelectric graphene detector using CMOS-compatible titanium nitride on the silicon-on-insulator platform. The device performance is quantified by its responsivity, operation speed, and noise equivalent power. Its bandwidth exceeds 100 GHz, and it exhibits a nearly flat photoresponse across the telecom C-band. The photodetector responsivity is as high as 1.4 A/W (1.1 A/W external) at an ultra-compact length of 3.5 µm, which is the most compact footprint reported for a graphene-based waveguide photodetector. Furthermore, it operates at zero-bias, consumes zero energy, and has an ultra-low intrinsic noise equivalent power ( N E P < 20 p W / H z ).

Remote Patient Monitoring during pandemic caused by COVID-19 using Semantic Web Technologies

Data integration facilities along with decrease in the quantified operational health information occurs due to stuck in hospital admission. Exchanging of information resources has an immense significance due to 3 critical capabilities. These can be enlisted as information swap over through electronic connectivity, interoperability, and compromising under prescribed medication, in which automated systems are involved to solve pathological discrepancies. Along with all these concern about patient safety is taken care of by this startegy. The substantial awareness can be resulted in computational methods and tools which are quite capable for rendering guidance to health care services more resourcefully, which further leads the advancement and execution of intellectual systems within the therapeutic domain. Exchanging of data in the Web can be complies with Resource Description Framework (RDF) and ontology’s. RDF has the capability of capturing information content instead of considering the syntax. Inferential support and transformational approach is feasible by deploying RDF. Facilitation of data by evolution and merging phenomenon can be utilised by the involvement of RDF though schemas variation exists. Semantic interoperability is achieved either by applying standardisation or by translation. Though standardisation is quite acceptable but due to time annihilation transformation in lieu of modernisation is acceptable more. Strategically, realistic approach of semantic interoperability comprises both standards and translations. Conceptual classes, their interrelations, instances and axioms exist in Ontology.

Functionalized Elastomers for Intrinsically Soft and Biointegrated Electronics.

Elastomers are suitable materials for constructing a conformal interface with soft and curvilinear biological tissue due to their intrinsically deformable mechanical properties. Intrinsically soft electronic devices whose mechanical properties are comparable to human tissue can be fabricated using suitably functionalized elastomers. This article reviews recent progress in functionalized elastomers and their application to intrinsically soft and biointegrated electronics. Elastomers can be functionalized by adding appropriate fillers, either nanoscale materials or polymers. Conducting or semiconducting elastomers synthesized and/or processed with these materials can be applied to the fabrication of soft biointegrated electronic devices. For facile integration of soft electronics with the human body, additional functionalization strategies can be employed to improve adhesive or autonomous healing properties. Recently, device components for intrinsically soft and biointegrated electronics, including sensors, stimulators, power supply devices, displays, and transistors, have been developed. Herein, representative examples of these fully elastomeric device components are discussed. Finally, the remaining challenges and future outlooks for the field are presented.

Scaling analysis and evaluation for the design of integral test facility of HPR1000 containment (PANGU)

This paper summarized the key aspects of the scaling analysis method adopted in the design of the integral test facility for the containment of HPR1000 -an advanced pressurized water reactor featuring both active and passive safety systems in reactor coolant (RCS) and containment. Based on the existing scaling analysis methods for complicated thermal-hydraulic systems, i.e. Hierarchical Two-Tiered Scaling (H2TS) method and Three-Level Scaling method, the present study developed a specific scaling analysis method which did not only provide theoretical derivation of scaling parameters and ratios, but also implemented the scaling criteria in the engineering design of the HPR1000 containment integral test facility (PANGU), with an evaluation of distortions in the final design. This approach allowed the theoretical scaling parameters can be reasonably adjusted to meet the boundary limits/conditions of the facility design. The scaling analysis and evaluation of so-designed test facility ensured the experimental results are applicable to verify the safety functions of the HPR1000 containment coping with representative accident scenarios.

PCR & Go: A Pre-installed Expression Chassis for Facile Integration of Multi-Gene Biosynthetic Pathways.

The introduction of multi-gene metabolic pathways is generally the first step for the construction of microbial cell factories and plays an essential role in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. Here, we developed a “PCR & Go” system for facile integration and assembly of multi-gene pathways into the chromosome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The core component of the “PCR & Go” system was an expression chassis, where eight promoter/terminator pairs were pre-installed into the yeast chromosome and PCR amplified gene fragments could be inserted directly for functional expression. In combination with the CRISPR/Cas9 system and a gRNA plasmid library, the β-carotene (three genes), zeaxanthin (four genes), and astaxanthin (five genes) biosynthetic pathways were integrated and assembled into the yeast genome with an efficiency of ~93, ~85, and 69%, respectively, using PCR amplified gene fragments with ~40 bp homology arms in a single step. Therefore, the “PCR & Go” system can be used for fast construction of yeast cell factories harboring multi-gene pathways with high efficiency and flexibility.

CAP1400 passive core cooling integral testing and application in code validation

CAP1400 is an advanced passive nuclear power plant. In order to support its safety analysis required by the authority, a new integral test facility, ACME, is founded. A series of SBLOCA tests are performed to validate CAP1400 technology. In this paper, some test data are shown to explain several important phenomena (cold leg stratification, accumulator nitrogen injection, downcomer asymmetric temperature distribution, and break size effect) observed in the tests. Among these phenomena, the earlier occurrence of cold leg stratification is caused by coolant pumps’ specific structure. The nitrogen injected by ACCs is found to delay the recovery of CMT injection flow. The downcomer asymmetric temperature profile is resulted from DVI injection. Tests are also compared to discover the effect of break sizes and locations. Afterwards, a modified version of RELAP5/MOD3 is validated by the test data. The results show that the modified code can be used for CAP1400 SBLOCA analysis.

Performance Analysis of Wearable Pressure Sensor Based on Structural Properties of Zinc Oxide Nanostructures Grown on Fabric

The growth of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanostructures on the fabric substrate using simple hydrothermal technique and its application as textile pressure sensor is reported in this paper. Integrating the advantages of flexibility, breathability, low-cost and facile integration, textile pressure sensors finds prospective application in human-machine interaction and physiological monitoring of human movements. The proposed sensor works on the principle of piezoelectricity with ZnO being the active semiconducting piezoelectric material and conductive fabric as electrodes. The morphological and structural characterization of ZnO grown on the fabric has been carried out to evaluate the performance of the sensor. The growth of ZnO using seed layer and without seed layer on woven and non-woven fabric substrates were examined in detail. The comparative analysis is carried out under each condition considering the growth duration. Measurements on the fabricated pressure sensor were performed to validate the electromechanical properties of the developed ZnO nanostructures. The sensor that exhibits better sensitivity with wide pressure sensing range is chosen over the others to develop the pressure sensor for wearable applications.

Large-scale Battery Storage, Short-term Market Outcomes, and Arbitrage

The expansion of the share of renewable energy in the portfolio mix of the electricity generation sector has accelerated the development and integration of large-scale battery storage facilities. We document charging and discharging patterns in the California market and show how battery activity correlates with load and real-time prices. We further propose an instrumental variable strategy to estimate the short-term impact of prices on battery discharge. The empirical findings are consistent with the optimal solution of an arbitrage maximizer, indicating that battery owners respond to price incentives. In addition, we provide evidence that battery deployment in the years 2018 and 2019 lowered average wholesale equilibrium prices in California by about 0.8%, impacting private returns of battery investment.

Study on the Optimal Configuration of a Wind-Solar-Battery-Fuel Cell System Based on a Regional Power Supply

The integration of energy storage facilities into existing structures will result in increased costs. Therefore, it is of great significance to optimize the configuration of integrated power systems with multienergy flows to reduce the cost of the comprehensive utilization of energy. This study established a wind-solar-battery-fuel cell integrated power supply system to optimize the grid-connected regional power supply. First, the load is given with a known daily energy demand. The optimization goal is to minimize the average annual cost and the loss of power supply probability. The cost model includes the constraints of transportation costs and the benefits of selling hydrogen and oxygen. Then, an improved genetic algorithm is developed to optimize the structure of the wind-solar-battery-fuel cell integrated power supply system. The basic idea of the improved genetic algorithm is to change the coordination mode of the crossover operator and the mutation operator according to the size of the initial population fitness. Finally, according to the calculation results of the improved genetic algorithm, the optimal configuration of the capacity of devices in the system is obtained, verifying the effectiveness of the improved genetic algorithm. The cost calculation result of the genetic algorithm is 18.7% higher than that of the improved genetic algorithm, and it completely converges at approximately 70 steps. The cost calculation result of the particle swarm optimization is 17.1% higher than that of the improved genetic algorithm, and it completely converges at approximately 75 steps. The cost calculation result of the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm is 9.6% higher than that of the improved genetic algorithm, and it completely converges at approximately 58 steps. The system established in this research can fully meet the power demands for a given area and effectively reduce the local curtailment of wind energy and solar energy.

Tracking industry responsiveness to COVID-19 – what has happened and what lies ahead

This study will provide a longitudinal account of how the Australian offshore petroleum industry has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the response has evolved over time, and will provide a regulatory perspective on the future challenges arising from the changes that have occurred during the industry in response to the pandemic. Since March 2020, the National Offshore Safety and Environmental Management Authority has been actively collecting information about the approach taken by the offshore petroleum industry to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial response focused on infectious disease control measures, identifying strategies to prevent disease transmission on offshore facilities and to respond should an outbreak occur offshore. The next phase considered the potential consequences of the infection control measures on facility safety and integrity, including the impact of reduced personnel on board on safety critical maintenance activities and emergency response capability, assurance of competence profile requirements being sustained on facilities, the long-term consequences of delayed routine maintenance, supply chain disruptions and access to specialist workforce. It became apparent that a rapid recovery to pre-COVID-19 conditions was unlikely, and the impacts would likely continue for some time; and psychosocial and fatigue risk management strategies were explored. Data collection methods included: surveys of operators, workplace inspections, review of documents and records, interviews with members of the workforce and participation in industry working groups.

Major Outcomes through Recent ROSA/LSTF Experiments and Future Plans

Many experiments have been conducted on accidents and transients of pressurized water reactor (PWR) employing the rig of safety assessment/large-scale test facility (ROSA/LSTF). Recent research activities concerned with the OECD/NEA international joint projects included experimental investigation via the ROSA and ROSA-2 Projects, and counterpart testing with thermal-hydraulic integral test facilities under collaboration of the PKL-2, PKL-3, ATLAS, and ATLAS-2 Projects. Major results of the related integral effect tests (IETs) with the LSTF were reviewed to experimentally identify thermal-hydraulic phenomena involved, regarding the PWR accident sequences in accordance with the new regulatory requirements for the Japanese light-water nuclear power plants. Future separate effect test using the LSTF is planned to simulate loss of emergency core cooling system (ECCS) recirculation functions in a large-break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). Key results of the recent IETs utilizing the LSTF and future plans were presented relevant to multiple steam generator tube rupture accident with recovery operation, small-break LOCA with accident management measure on core exit temperature reliability, and small-break LOCA with thermal stratification under cold water injection from ECCS into cold legs. Also, main outcomes of the LSTF IETs were indicated for wide spectrum LOCA with core uncovery and anticipated transient without scram following small-break LOCA under totally failed high-pressure injection system.

Robust integration of nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds to optical fiber and its application in all-optical thermometry

In this Letter, we developed a robust method for integrating nanodiamonds (NDs) to optical fiber. The NDs, containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, were uniformly mixed with UV adhesive before coating the end surface of a multimode fiber as a hemispherical film. The excitation and collection efficiency of NV fluorescence can be enhanced by increasing the thickness of UV adhesive film and additional aluminum film deposition. The fiber-based quantum sensor was also experimentally demonstrated for all-optical thermometry application. The variation of the refractive index of UV adhesive under different temperatures will also affect the NV collection efficiency by changing the light confinement. The demonstrated facile integration approach paves the way for developing fiber-based quantum thermometry and magnetometry.

Translating daily COVID-19 screening into a simple glucose test: a proof of concept study.

Home testing is an attractive emerging strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent overloading of healthcare resources through at-home isolation, screening and monitoring of symptoms. However, current diagnostic technologies of SARS-CoV-2 still suffer from some drawbacks because of the tradeoffs between sensitivity, usability and costs, making the test unaffordable to most users at home. To address these limitations, taking advantage of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) and a portable glucose meter (PGM), we present a proof-of-concept demonstration of a target-responsive CRISPR-PGM system for translating SARS-CoV-2 detection into a glucose test. Using this system, a specific N gene, N protein, and pseudo-viruses of SARS-CoV-2 have been detected quantitatively with a PGM. Given the facile integration of various bioreceptors into the CRISPR-PGM system, the proposed method provides a starting point to provide patients with a single-device solution that can quantitatively monitor multiple COVID-19 biomarkers at home.