Power Plant Building Research Articles

Effects of the distribution density of a biomass combined heat and power plant network on heat utilisation efficiency in village–town systems

The building of biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plants is an effective means of developing biomass energy because they can satisfy demands for winter heating and electricity consumption. The purpose of this study was to analyse the effect of the distribution density of a biomass CHP plant network on heat utilisation efficiency in a village–town system. The distribution density is determined based on the heat transmission threshold, and the heat utilisation efficiency is determined based on the heat demand distribution, heat output efficiency, and heat transmission loss. The objective of this study was to ascertain the optimal value for the heat transmission threshold using a multi-scheme comparison based on an analysis of these factors. To this end, a model of a biomass CHP plant network was built using geographic information system tools to simulate and generate three planning schemes with different heat transmission thresholds (6, 8, and 10 km) according to the heat demand distribution. The heat utilisation efficiencies of these planning schemes were then compared by calculating the gross power, heat output efficiency, and heat transmission loss of the biomass CHP plant for each scenario. This multi-scheme comparison yielded the following results: when the heat transmission threshold was low, the distribution density of the biomass CHP plant network was high and the biomass CHP plants tended to be relatively small. In contrast, when the heat transmission threshold was high, the distribution density of the network was low and the biomass CHP plants tended to be relatively large. When the heat transmission threshold was 8 km, the distribution density of the biomass CHP plant network was optimised for efficient heat utilisation. To promote the development of renewable energy sources, a planning scheme for a biomass CHP plant network that maximises heat utilisation efficiency can be obtained using the optimal heat transmission threshold and the nonlinearity coefficient for local roads.

Um modelo de usina hidrelétrica como ferramenta no ensino de Física

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-7941.2017v34n1p248No atual contexto da sustentabilidade e do uso consciente de energia elétrica, preocupações com quedas no suprimento de energia e manifestações ambientais contra a construção de usinas cujo impacto ambiental é iminente, discussões sobre a produção de energia limpa e sustentável se tornam comuns nas escolas de ensino básico do país. Além disso, o conhecimento sobre a matriz energética no Brasil tem se intensificado sobretudo nas escolas de Ensino Básico, sem, contudo, propor uma discussão dos conceitos físicos importantes para a conservação de energia ocorrida nestes tipos de usinas. Muitos materiais impressos, como livros didáticos e apostilas, trazem discussões mais consistentes sobre os conceitos de eletromagnetismo, esquecendo-se de outros como de hidrodinâmica e energia mecânica. Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar uma proposta de construção de um modelo interativo de usina hidroelétrica com materiais recicláveis e de baixo custo, que pode ser utilizado para trabalhar vários conceitos de mecânica rotacional, mecânica dos fluidos e eletromagnetismo em uma classe de Ensino Fundamental e Médio, de forma qualitativa, evidenciando os conceitos físicos envolvidos, seus fundamentos e interpretações.

Performance evaluation and optimization of encapsulated cascade PCM thermal storage

One of the main components of any solar power plant is its thermal heat storage system. Heat storage reduces the cost of power generation by increasing the capacity factor of the system. This paper aims to model and optimize the operation of a consecutive multi-layer Phase Change Material (PCM) thermal heat storage system, named Cascade Latent Heat Storage (CLHS), using the method of characteristics and genetic algorithm. The model is validated through comparison with experimental data available in the literature. The model can predict fluid and PCM temperature, PCM phase and the energy absorbed by PCM. A sensitivity analysis is employed for both the PCM and the fluid parameters. The PCM types, placement, and quantity are optimized in two different cases. Optimization results in comparison with the best case of a Single-PCM storage show an improvement of the system performance. In the first case, the stored energy of a CLHS during a 4-h charge period is maximized by increasing 5.12%, while in the second case, the discharged energy maximized during an 8-h charge-discharge cycle by 5% increase. This achievement can outperform current storage systems capabilities in different applications such as building and solar power plants.

Optimum seismic design of a power plant building with pendulum tuned mass damper system by its heavy suspended buckets

This paper focuses on the seismic performance of a typical coal-fired power plant with suspended non-structural coal buckets inside the structure. In order to systematically evaluate and minimize the seismic responses of the power plant, this research developed a mechanism to optimally design the equivalent pendulum-type tuned mass damper (PTMD) system such that the inter-story drifts under earthquake excitations are minimized while the coal buckets are also protected. A full scale computational model of the tested specimen is developed and its modeling details are validated against the experimental results. Subsequently, the optimal ranges for PTMD variables have been derived according to the cases showing most structural response reductions. As a result, a conceptual “length-adaptive” PTMD design according to the optimized results is proposed for the mass-varying system. It is shown that the optimal implementation of PTMD can significantly reduce the inter-story drifts and it also outperforms the adopted PTMD design in the real structure. The study demonstrates a systematic way of achieving the optimal real-structure PTMD design with considerations of uncertainties in earthquake input, system nonlinearities, and other structural complexities.

Some Aspects of Structural Design of Massive Foundations for New Power Plant Buildings

Design of foundations for the large industrial buildings is complex and time-consuming, above all due to great number of the load combinations and the coexistent influences of numerous equipment and installations. Reliable foundation of the huge power plant buildings is significantly important, due to strategic role of this type of engineering objects in the national economy. Due to importance of the investment and its great costs, all power plant buildings are classified to the third geotechnical category regardless of the soil conditions.The greatest and the heaviest from buildings in the coal power plant is the boiler house which is very often considered as the main building. Adequate foundations of this building shall fulfill safety requirements for the structure as well as shall provide the proper cooperation between neighboring objects and the equipment. The important criterion which ensures adequate work of the equipment is to fulfill rigorous values of total, vertical displacements of the foundation, as well as to fulfill strict requirements towards differential settlements between various foundation points.In this paper, some aspects of structural design of the massive, reinforced concrete slab foundations are presented. All from these foundation slabs have been recently built in Poland. Their extraordinary plane dimensions equal from approx. 50×80 m to approx. 100×100 m (without any expansion joints). It was presented interaction between the slab foundation and soil in largely diversified geotechnical conditions and for different variants of the foundations.

International projects in space and nuclear energy: Russian-Indian partnership

The article analyzes the influence of international projects in the development of such knowledge-intensive industries as space and nuclear energy on the Indian economy and its position in international relations. India has intensive cooperation with Russia in space projects. The article studies the stages of development of Russian-Indian cooperation in space and the most important projects (the development of navigation technologies, the creation of a radio telescope, the study of solar activity). The author studies Russian-Indian cooperation in the nuclear energy development, distinguishing two interconnected aspects: from one side - Russia’s support of the Indian nuclear programs, from another side - Russian participation in the real projects of the building of nuclear power plants in India. It is mentioned that the partnership has the suitable legal base, long history, strategic character and is addressed to the development of the knowledge-intensive industries, contributing to economic growth. It is the reason why the perspectives of russian-indian projects can be appreciated as as favorable for both countries.

The Descent

The Descent Andre Dubus III (bio) Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment. -Rumi The photograph is black and white, and in it my mother is nineteen. Her face is turned up, and she’s smiling, her teeth white and fairly straight, though she’s not one of the Junior League girls. She’s the daughter of a housewife and a pipe fitter who never went beyond the third grade, and she has spent her girlhood living near job sites while her father built power plants throughout the south and Mexico. In the photograph, she’s a freshman at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. It’s 1957, and she’s the “Sweetheart of Delta Theta Chi,” which means she’s been voted one of the most beautiful girls on campus, and she is. Her hair is blonde and elegantly styled, the way movie stars wore their hair then, so that your eye is drawn to her long throat and bare clavicles and shoulders. Around her neck is a string of pearls I’m sure are either borrowed or imitation, and just before the photograph’s frame begins, you can see the top of her strapless gown. It appears to be ivory satin, though I could be wrong about that, for this [End Page 71] was so long ago, and I am thirty-six years older than this young woman in the photograph. I have been staring at it for over an hour, because I am drawing my nineteen-year-old mother’s face. It is ten days before Christmas, and outside my bedroom window snow is falling on my family’s gravel driveway and the hardwoods and pines of our two-acre lot forty miles north of Boston. Downstairs, my wife Fontaine, a dancer and choreographer and the mother of our three children, is playing on our stereo Harry Connick Jr. Christmas carols while she makes peanut butter from scratch for one of my sisters. Throughout the house, our daughter and two sons may be working on their presents too, which cannot be bought in a store but instead have to be homemade for that one person in our larger clan whose name they drew last summer, this tradition of ours going back from before they were born. We were a family of writers and carpenters and musicians and social workers, and there was never much money in any of our pockets, so this tradition became a way to lessen the financial and spiritual heartaches of that commercial frenzy our culture dives into every December. You only have to give one gift, and you have to make it. This year I had drawn my mother’s name. She’s in her late seventies and lives nine or ten miles west, and she teaches dozens of three-year-old children at a Montessori school five days a week. She’s also nearly sixty years older than she was in the photograph in this hardcover book open on my lap, and I’m tempted to stop doing what I’m doing and instead do what I do every Christmas, which is to build a wooden box for whoever’s name I’ve drawn. Unlike drawing, it’s something I know how to do, because throughout my twenties and thirties I made most of my living as a self-employed carpenter. I own all kinds of power tools and use our enclosed back porch for a shop. I’ve built jewelry boxes for my nieces, a toolbox for one of my nephews, a toy chest for another niece. For some I’ve used pine, for others a hardwood like birch or maple or even the spotted Brazilian wormwood, which I used just a few years ago to make yet another box for my mother. But enough of these boxes. Wasn’t there something else I could make? One year I cooked my sister Suzanne a platter of chicken-and-sour-cream [End Page 72] enchiladas. Another year I knitted my aunt Jeannie a wool scarf, though I was not a knitter and it showed. But a few years earlier, my wife—who also paints and studied art in college—brought drawing paper...

The vibrations' study to the burn gas exhaust fan from a thermoelectric power plant

The paper presents a diagnose analysis for an industrial fan having vertical axis rotation, which shows dangerous levels of vibration. The fan ejects the flue gases from a thermoelectric power plant. This is located and isolated on the roof of the power plant building by some elastic elements, in the form of some cassettes with coil springs. The cassettes are arranged symmetrically along the separation plane.The experimental research has been carried out in two steps. In the first step, we designed and we studied in laboratory a mathematical model to reproduce a real situation of the fan insulation. In the second step, we made experimental investigations on the spot. Comparing the measured vibration amplitudes to those obtained on mathematical model, we identified a hidden connection near one of cassettes with coil springs. The hidden connection has appeared during the cassettes mounting and so was created a mechanical asymmetry. Due to this, the dangerous levels of vibration have occurred and it was caused a temporary shutdown of the fan. The process for detecting and eliminating the mounting nonconformities it is presented in the paper.

Innovative Nuclear Power Plant Building Arrangement in Consideration of Decommissioning

Abstract A new concept termed the Innovative Nuclear Power Plant Building Arrangement (INBA) strategy is a new nuclear power plant building arrangement method which encompasses upfront consideration of more efficient decommissioning. Although existing decommissioning strategies such as immediate dismantling and differed dismantling has the advantage of either early site restoration or radioactive decommissioning waste reduction, the INBA strategy has the advantages of both strategies. In this research paper, the concept and the implementation method of the INBA strategy will be described. Two primary benefits will be further described: (1) early site restoration; and (2) radioactive waste reduction. Several other potential benefits will also be identified. For the estimation of economic benefit, the INBA strategy, with two primary benefits, will be compared with the immediate dismantling strategy. The effect of a short life cycle nuclear power plant in combination with the INBA strategy will be reviewed. Finally, some of the major impediments to the realization of this strategy will be discussed.

Statistical analysis of the variation of floor vibrations in nuclear power plants subject to seismic loads

Floor vibration of a reactor building subjected to seismic loads was investigated, with the aim of quantifying the variability of vibrations on each floor. A detailed 3D building model founded on the bedrock was excited simultaneously in three directions by artificial accelerograms compatible with Finnish ground response spectra. Dynamic simulation for 21s was carried out using explicit time integration. The extracted results of the simulation were acceleration in several floor locations, transformed to pseudo-acceleration (PSA) spectra in the next stage. At first, the monitored locations on the floors were estimated by engineering judgement in order to arrive at a feasible number of floor nodes for post processing of the data. It became apparent that engineering judgment was insufficient to depict the key locations with high floor vibrations, which resulted in un-conservative vibration estimates. For this reason, a more systematic approach was later considered, in which nodes of the floors were selected with a more refined grid of 2m. With this method, in addition to the highest PSA peaks in all directions, the full vibration distribution in each floor can be determined. A statistical evaluation of the floor responses was also carried out in order to define floor accelerations and PSAs with high confidence of non-exceedance. The conclusion was that in-floor variability can be as high as 50–60% and models with sufficiently dense node grids should be used in order to achieve a realistic estimate of floor vibration under seismic action. The effects of the shape of the input spectra, damping, and flexibility of the floors on floor vibration of nuclear power plant buildings were also investigated.

U.S. CO2 emissions from natural gas to top coal’s

U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from burning natural gas to generate electricity will exceed CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants this year, according to projections from the Energy Information Administration. When burned, natural gas creates about half the CO2 emissions of coal per unit of energy delivered, EIA notes, but this greenhouse gas advantage is being offset by natural gas’s greater use. The recent bonanza of natural gas has resulted in falling prices and a shift by U.S. utilities from coal to natural gas. Until about 2005, natural gas and coal consumption were similar, EIA says, but beginning about 2007 natural gas consumption slowly exceeded coal. That trend grew and will continue, EIA says, as utilities continue to build power plants that use cheaper natural gas and shut down coal units. By the end of 2016, CO2 emissions from natural gas use will be 10% higher than those from coal, EIA

Seismic soil–structure interaction analysis of a nuclear power plant building founded on soil and in degraded concrete stiffness condition

This study describes three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) modeling and seismic Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) analysis of a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Diesel Generator Building (DGB) that is founded on soil in degraded concrete stiffness condition. A new technique is presented that uses two horizontal and vertical FE models to consider the concrete stiffness reduction of NPP buildings subjected to orthogonal ground motion excitations, in which appropriate stiffness reduction factors, based on the input motion orientation, are applied. Seismic SSI analysis is performed for each model separately, and dynamic responses are calculated in the three global directions. The results of the analysis for the two FE models are then combined, using the square-root-of-the-sum-of-squares (SRSS) combination rule. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to investigate the subsurface profile effect on the In-Structure (acceleration) Response Spectra (ISRS) of the building when subjected to site-specific Foundation Input Response Spectra (FIRS) that exhibit high spectral amplifications in the high-frequency range. The sensitivity analysis considers three strain-compatible subsurface profiles that represent Lower-Bound (LB), Best-Estimate (BE), and Upper-Bound (UB) conditions at the DGB site. The sensitivity analysis results indicate that the seismic response of the DGB founded on soil highly depends on the subsurface profile; i.e., each of the LB, BE, and UB subsurface profiles can maximize building seismic response when subjected to FIRS that exhibit high spectral amplifications in the high-frequency range. Therefore, it is important to consider SSI parameter variability in the seismic design or evaluation of NPP buildings that bear on soil.

Approach Channel Modelling with Advanced Hydroinformatic Tool, Case Study: Small Hydro Power Plant Huta Certeze, Romania

The promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources (eRES) is an imperative of the current period for: environmental reasons, increasing energy independence to the diversification of energy imports and for reasons of economic and social cohesion. Romania was among the first candidate witch transposed in their legislation the Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable sources (by GD 443/2003) and set an indicative target for 2020, representing 33% eRES share of gross domestic electricity consumption. The European Commission presented its view on an integrated policy framework for climate and energy polices until 2030 in January 2014 suggesting, among others, the reduction of EU domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below the 1990 level by 2030 as well as a moderate increase of the share of renewable energy to at least 27% of the EU's energy consumption by 2030. EREC, among others on behalf of ESHA, called on the Commission and heads of governments for more ambitious goals for all forms of renewable energy. Intention to invest in small hydropower is considered by many private companies, and for this option an old small hydropower plant can be. The main expenses for placement of small hydro are those related to the intake, penstock and the power plant building. There are conditions for such an investment expenses that depend on environmental compliance. Opportunity to purchase the SHP should be viewed in terms of return on investment compared to other business opportunity.

The Nuclear Power Plant Concept with Ball in Bowl Design

<p>The increasing of national energy consumption urged the government to settle into renewable energy immediately (EBT) in order to fulfill national energy consumption, especially electrical energy. One of the options to fulfill the national electrical energy needed is by building a nuclear power plant (NPP). But, as one of the countries that located in Seismic Zone region of Southeast Asia, Indonesia has the most seismic activity in the world. Reviewing of Indonesia's geographical conditions that are vulnerable to earthquake and tsunami, it is necessary to make special design for nuclear power plant building. Ball in Bowl is the concept of nuclear power plant builing, with the wind flow modification system, it is useful to minimize the spread of radioactive substances released when a nuclear leak and also serves as the reactor protection system to the impacts caused by the earthquake and tsunami. </p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: ball in bowl; earthquake; nuclear power plant; tsunami</p>

US power plant sites at risk of future sea-level rise

Unmitigated greenhouse gas emissions may increase global mean sea-level by about 1 meter during this century. Such elevation of the mean sea-level enhances the risk of flooding of coastal areas. We compute the power capacity that is currently out-of-reach of a 100-year coastal flooding but will be exposed to such a flood by the end of the century for different US states, if no adaptation measures are taken. The additional exposed capacity varies strongly among states. For Delaware it is 80% of the mean generated power load. For New York this number is 63% and for Florida 43%. The capacity that needs additional protection compared to today increases by more than 250% for Texas, 90% for Florida and 70% for New York. Current development in power plant building points towards a reduced future exposure to sea-level rise: proposed and planned power plants are less exposed than those which are currently operating. However, power plants that have been retired or canceled were less exposed than those operating at present. If sea-level rise is properly accounted for in future planning, an adaptation to sea-level rise may be costly but possible.

Bond slip detection of steel plate and concrete beams using smart aggregates

The newly emerged steel plate concrete (SC), benefited from a composite effect of steel and concrete materials, has been applied to shield building and internal structures of AP1000 nuclear power plants. The detection of bond-slip between steel plate and concrete is of great importance to provide early warnings of steel plate and concrete debonding and to ensure the safety of SC structures. In this paper, an active sensing approach using smart aggregates (SAs) is developed to detect the initiation and to monitor the development of bond-slip. A SA, designed by sandwiching a fragile piezoceramic patch between protection materials, can be utilized as both actuator and sensor by taking advantage of the piezoelectricity of piezoceramic material. Two SC beams with distinct shear reinforcement ratios were experimentally investigated. Based on the wavelet packet decomposition of the received signals from SAs, the initiation of bond-slip is detected, and the development of bond-slip is quantitatively monitored to better understand the structural performance of SC beams, including the stiffness and capacity. The bond-slip severities of the two SC beams are compared to study the improvement of bond-slip condition rendered by providing more shear reinforcement.

Efficiency of Anti-Seepage Systems in the Foundation of the Svetlinskaya Hydroelectric Power Plant Building

The state of the underground contour of the Svetlinskaya HPP building, which has been built in semirock base in the far North, is examined. The efficiency of pressure head reduction by anti-seepage systems, such as a fore apron, and cement (grout) and drainage curtains is evaluated.

"Peaceful uses": New Zealand atomic architecture

Prior to the 1968 National power plan, which identified the need for nuclear power in New Zealand, the New Zealand government entertained serious proposals for nuclear power generation. Peaceful uses of atomic energy were seen as the answer to post-war power shortages. This paper will examine the context and the architecture which promoted the building of atomic and nuclear power plants in New Zealand during the 1950s, including the international models considered, and the "proposed atomic power plant for Auckland."

Features of Russian cooperation with Southeast Asian countries

The article discusses a new model of foreign economic cooperation between Russia and Asia- Pacific countries, in particular the Asia-Pacific integration organization. The analysis is relatively new forms of cooperation, such as the creation of new joint projects to build power plants, industrial plants, development of transport infrastructure. To enhance cooperation with ASEAN partners are encouraged to use the experience of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Safety assessment of a nuclear power plant building subjected to an aircraft crash

This paper presents a safety assessment of a nuclear building subjected to an aircraft crash using numerical analysis. For impact simulation, the reinforced concrete (RC) Primary Auxiliary Building (PAB) of the Korea Standard Nuclear Power Plant (KSNP) is fully modeled and an aircraft model of a Boeing 767-400 is used. The Riera function is used to verify the analysis result of impact force–time history. The IRIS test is used to verify the structural behavior of the RC wall under impact loading. The safety assessment of the building is performed with regard to different impact scenarios. The safety of the nuclear building under aircraft crash, including (1) global structural safety, (2) local structural safety, and (3) vibration safety are evaluated and discussed. The results show that the global and local structural safety of the PAB is ensured in all impact scenarios. However, the vibration safety of the building is not ensured. In accordance, the regulatory guide of United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC), shutdown of the nuclear power plant is required.