Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 6, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

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A model of the generation and release of fission gas, as well as the total swelling over time, was created. It uses an ideal spherical fuel grain with a time-dependent radius. UO2 and quasi-homogeneous SBR MOX fuels were simulated with this model, and the results were compared to a fixed grain radius model of gaseous swelling. Gaseous swelling and fission gas release were calculated for temperatures from 1600 K to 2200 K. The grain growth of UO2 was found to decrease the time needed to saturate the intergranular boundaries as compared to simple diffusion without grain growth. Small temperatures increased the time required for saturation, as did small rates of grain growth. Gaseous swelling was within the range of values found by experimental data.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Duke University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2004. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references.

<b>Structure of the thesis</b><p><p>The present work has been organized in two main parts: in the first one, the focus will be on the scientific and theoretical aspects of the evaporation process in presence of an inert gas flow while in the second all the technical aspects and more practical tests related to the real implementation of the micro-gravity experiment CIMEX-1 will be detailed. In any cases, the discussion will always start from the phenomenology observed considering that ” Nature is far more reach of any speculations.”<p><p><b>Part I: Evaporation in presence of inert gas</b> <p><p>In chapter 1, a detailed presentation of the experimental setups for the on-ground tests is given together with the presentation of the qualitative and quantitative results obtained. Actually, the main parameters that regulate such kind of experiments are the mass flow rate of inert gas, the total pressure of the cell and the geometrical shape and dimensions of the evaporating regions.<p>Consequently, the experiments aimed at covering the maximal possible combination of these three parameters with special attention to the variation of the inert gas flow and of the thickness of the evaporating liquid layer. More precisely, the liquid layer thickness was in the range 1.2 to 3.8 mm while the inert gas flow was set in the range 50 to 2500 ml/min. The pressure has been partially neglected as control parameter because its control was discovered not to be very reliable.<p>The visualization system used in all the experiments consisted in a opportunely calibrated infrared camera. It allowed for having a quantitative analysis of the temperature distribution at the interface of the evaporating liquid.<p>The infrared images also helped to follow the thermal history of the interface. In many cases, it has been possible to clearly observe the evolution of instability patterns at the interface that represent an original contribution to the understanding of such a kind of phenomena.<p>The physical and mathematical modeling of the observed phenomenology will be the subject of the chapter 2. One of the peculiar issue of the problem under consideration is that the thermal gradient normal to the interface is not directly imposed like in the usual Marangoni-Bénard experience, but is a result of the cooling of the interface due to the evaporation.<p>Moreover,the interface is subject to the shear stress of the inert gas flow and to the one due to the thermo-capillarity. Finally, the gas phase is to be considered as a mixture; this oblige to solve a diffusion problem in the gas phase. A physical model that takes into account the different aspects mentioned above is presented together with the governing equations and the appropriate boundary conditions.<p>Numerical issues involved in solving the model are also analyzed. Numerical results obtained are finally discussed and compared when possible with experimental results.<p><p><b>Part II: Preparation of the CIMEX-1 experiment on-board the International Space Station.</b><p><p>In chapter 3, we will describe the main platforms used to perform low-gravity experiments. They will be classified according to the low-gravity level and to the low-gravity interval duration that could be ensured for experiments. According to these criteria, the list of the low-gravity platforms will be as follows: Drop Towers with ≈ 4 sec. of micro-gravity, Parabolic Flights that can assure not more than ≈ 25 sec. Sounding Rockets with a low-gravity time of the order of several minutes depending on the rockets, Foton Capsules that assure for many days of high quality - i.e. without perturbations - low-gravity level and ,last but not least, the International Space Station where the low-gravity duration could be even of several weeks which is a sufficient time duration for the most part of the experiments.<p>The chapter 4 will be entirely devoted to the ITEL experiment that is the precursor and the core of the CIMEX-1. After a brief overview of the experiment that has been performed twice on-board sounding rockets of the MASER class, the experimental setups used both on-ground and in micro-gravity will be detailed.<p>The focus will be on the experimental results obtained on-ground during the preparatory tests and during the two sounding rocket flights with special attention to the first one. The analysis will be supported by the presentation of many results obtained in numerical simulations.<p>The two parabolic flight campaigns performed to test one of the key sub-systems of the CIMEX-1 setup are the subject of the chapter 5. The separating-condensing unit is mandatory for performing the experiment on-board the International Space Station because the limitations on the crew intervention oblige to have a closed loop experiment.<p>The goal of the two parabolic flights will be detailed together with the setup and the experimental scenario. The main results will be also shown and some considerations on the efficiency of the system will be presented.<p>It is worthy to stress that the results obtained during these parabolic flights have been determinant at the European Space Agency level to fly the CIMEX-1 experiment on-board the International Space Station.<p>Finally, in the section conclusions and perspectives the main results obtained will be summarized together with the new scenarios opened by the present work and some guidelines for further development in the experimental, theoretical and technical analysis. / Doctorat en sciences appliquées / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

A collection of >3000 MOFs with experimentally confirmed structures were screened for performance in three binary separations: Ar/Kr, Kr/Xe, and Xe/Rn. 70 materials were selected for further analysis, and calculations were performed to account for inaccessible regions. Single component GCMC calculations were performed to parameterize IAST calculations on these 70 materials, and the curve fitting problem in IAST was discussed. IAST calculations were confirmed with extensive binary GCMC calculations. For each binary separation, materials were identified with predicted performance that surpasses the state of the art. "Reverse selective" materials, for which a smaller gas species is preferably adsorbed over a larger species, were explained on the basis of surface fractal geometry, computed via a corrected surface area calculation. The effect of temperature on separation performance was also examined.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Chemical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-225). / The five noble gases (helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon) are biologically and chemically inert, making them ideal oceanographic tracers. Additionally, the noble gases have a wide range of solubilities and molecular diffusivities, and thus respond differently to physical forcing. Tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, is useful in tandem with its daughter helium-3 as a tracer for water mass ages. In this thesis, a fourteen month time-series of the five noble gases, helium-3 and tritium was measured at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site. The time-series of five noble gases was used to develop a parameterization of air-sea gas exchange for oligotrophic waters and wind speeds between 0 and 13 m s-1 that explicitly includes bubble processes and that constrains diffusive gas exchange to ± 6% and complete and partial air injection processes to ± 15%. Additionally, the parameterization is based on weeks to seasonal time scales, matching the time scales of many relevant biogeochemical cycles. The time-series of helium isotopes, tritium, argon, and oxygen was used to constrain upper ocean biological production. Specifically, the helium flux gauge technique was used to estimate new production, apparent oxygen utilization rates were used to quantify export production, and euphotic zone seasonal cycles of oxygen and argon were used to determine net community production. The concurrent use of these three methods allows examination of the relationship between the types of production and begins to address a number of apparent inconsistencies in the elemental budgets of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. / by Rachel H.R. Stanley. / Ph.D.

Pesquisas relacionadas ao radônio são necessárias devido ao potencial carcinogênico dessde gás, e os limites de referência são objeto de recomendações. Neste estudo, foram medidas concentrações de radônio no interior e no exterior de duas casas pré-fabricadas, contruídas em um ambiente experimental, na UTFPR/Ecoville. Uma das casas foi construída com materiais da República Tcheca (1) e a outra (2) com materiais do Brasil. Para tal, detectores CR-39 foram usados. A concentração média para a casa (1) foi de 10,1±1,3 Bq/m³, para a casa (2) foi de 7,8±1,1 Bq/m³ e para o exterior foi de 11,5±2,9 Bq/m³. Os valores ficaram abaixo de 300 Bq/m³, então, nenhuma medida mitigadora se fez necessária. Além disso, foram feitas medidas do número de traços de partículas alfa advindas de corpos de prova de pasta de cimento comum e com adição de areia com alta atividade de radônio, com o intuito de identificar o valor da camada emissora. Para os corpos de prova de pasta de cimento comum, de espessuras de 1,5, 2,6, 3,8 e 4,6 cm, o número de traços foi de 762±25, 799±51, 814±31, 791±45 e 798±27, respectivamente. A análise mostrou que não há diferença estatística entre os dados, o que indica que a espessura de 1,5 cm já se configura como um limite para a exalação de radônio. Já para os corpos de prova de areia ativa, de espessuras 1,4, 2,3, 2,9, 3,5 e 4,2 cm, o número de traços doi de 380±18, 322±15, 298±5, 548±25 e 446±83, respectivamente. Em uma análise geral, concluiu-se que não há aumento expressivo da exalação com o aumento da espessura, de maneira que a espessura de 1,4 cm já se configura como um limite para a exalação de radônio. Com o objetivo de se determinar a concentração de radônio exalada pelos corpos de prova feitos de pasta de cimento comum e de areia ativa, foram analisados corpos de prova em frascos nos quais o equilíbrio secular já havia ocorrido. Os resultados mostraram que, para os corpos de prova de pasta de cimento comum, os valores não configuram um crescimento expressivo. Já para os corpos de prova com alta atividade de radônio, verificou-se um aumento na exalação com aumento da espessura. Para determinar qual a contribuição das concentrações indoor, foi realizada a medição do fluxo de exalação de radônio. Os resultados extrapolados para um cômodo padrão variaram de 15 a 60 Bq/m³. Essa contribuição pode ser considerada expressiva, mas não preocupante, de forma que os resultados foram considerados próximos da normalidade. / Radon-related research is required because of the carcinogenic potential of this gas, and the reference limits are subject of recommendations. For this research, radon concentrations were measured inside and outside of two prefabricated houses, built in an experimental environment, in UTFPR/Ecoville. One of these houses was built with building materials from the Czech Republic (1) and the other (2) with materials from Brazil. Whith this proposal, 40 CR-39 detectors were used. The average concentration for house (1) was 10,1±1,3 Bq/m³, for house (2) was 7,8±1,1 Bq/m³ and for the exterior was 11,5±2,9 Bq/m³. The values obtained were below 300 Bq/m³, thus, no mitigating measures were necessary. Besides, measurements were made of the number of thacks of alpha particles coming from common cement paste samples and from sand with high radon activity samples in order to identify the value of the emitting layer. For common cement paste samples of 1.5, 2.6, 3.8 and 4.6 cm of thickness, the number os tracks was 762±25, 799±51, 814±31, 791±45 e 798±27, respectively. The analysis showed that there ir no statistical difference between the data, which indicates that the thickness of 1.5 cm is already configured as a limit for a randon exhalation. For the active sand samples of 1.4, 2.3, 2.9, 3.5 and 4.2 cm, the number of tracks was 380±18, 322±15, 298±5, 548±25 e 446±83, respectively. In a general analysis, it was concluded that there is no expressive increase of the exhalation with the increase of the thickness, só that the thickness of 1.4 cm is already configured as a limit for the exhalation of radon. In order to determine the concentration of radon exhaled by the samples made of common cement past and active sand, were analyzed samples in flasks where the secular equilibrium had already occured. The results showed that, for common cement past samples, the values do not represent and expressive growth. However, for the test samples with high radon activity and increase in the concentration with increasing the thickness was observed. To determine the contribution of the concentrations in an indoor environment, radon exhalation flux measurement was performed. These results were extrapolated to the standard room and varies from 15 to 60 Bq/m³. This contribution can be considered expressive, but not of concern, só the results were considered close to normality.

Les recherches que nous présentons dans ce manuscrit s’inscrivent dans le cadre de l’analyse des phénomènes de transport fondamentaux impliqués lors du processus d’évaporation d’un film liquide mince. Outre les mécanismes macroscopiques (résistance thermique du solide, capillarité, thermocapillarité, …) qui influencent le comportement de tels films, des développements fondamentaux et expérimentaux ont mis en évidence le rôle significatif d’effets microscopiques, comme les forces de van der Waals [11,96,117]. L’objectif de cette thèse est double. Il s’agit tout d’abord de caractériser les phénomènes locaux qui influencent le processus d’évaporation et ensuite, d’étendre notre étude à une échelle globale “macroscopique”. Ce manuscrit est divisé en deux parties qui correspondent à ces deux objectifs. <p><p>L’étude décrite dans la première partie propose une contribution originale à la modélisation de l’évaporation des films minces, y compris au voisinage des lignes de contact. De manière générale, nous cherchons à mettre en évidence l’influence de phénomènes qui se déroulent aux petites échelles sur le transfert thermique d’un film mince déposé sur une paroi plane et chauffée. Dans le cadre de l’hypothèse de lubrification, deux modèles sont dès lors développés. Le premier modèle décrit l’évaporation d’un film liquide mince dans sa vapeur pure tandis que le second modèle porte sur l’évaporation d’un film liquide mince dans un gaz inerte. Les diverses recherches menées sont principalement orientées vers la quantification, d’une part, des angles de contact apparents générés par l’évaporation, malgré le caractère parfaitement mouillant du couple liquide-solide utilisé et, d’autre part, des flux de chaleur et de matière interfaciaux. Une particularité du premier modèle est qu’il généralise divers modèles existants [15,25,86,117] en regroupant un ensemble de phénomènes spécifiques et complexes tels que le saut de température à l’interface liquide-vapeur, la résistance thermique de la vapeur et celle du solide ou la variation locale de la température de saturation à l’interface liquide-vapeur suite à la courbure interfaciale et aux forces de van der Waals. En plus de ces effets, d’autres mécanismes plus classiques sont inclus dans le modèle :la tension superficielle, la thermocapillarité, la pression de disjonction, l’évaporation et le recul de vapeur. Des analyses de stabilité linéaires et des études paramétriques ont été réalisées afin de quantifier l’influence de ces phénomènes sur la stabilité d’un film liquide mince, sur son évaporation et sur le transfert de chaleur associé. Au travers des chapitres 3 et 4, nous mettons notamment en évidence <p>• comment les forces de van der Waals compensent l’évaporation du film liquide mince de façon à créer un film stationnaire stable,<p>• pourquoi le recul de la vapeur et la thermocapillarité sont deux phénomènes qui peuvent être négligés dans les conditions étudiées dans ce travail,<p>• des lois analytiques qui décrivent certaines variables du problème, plus particulièrement l’angle de contact et le maximum du flux de chaleur, en fonction de la surchauffe de la paroi solide.<p><p>Faisant suite aux travaux proposés par Haut et Colinet [59], nous avons ensuite développé un second modèle afin de caractériser l’évaporation dans une faible quantité de gaz inerte d’un film liquide mince déposé sur une paroi plate et chauffée. Tout comme dans le cadre de l’étude précédente, notre analyse s’articule autour d’une étude de stabilité linéaire ainsi que d’études paramétriques réalisées sur des nombres caractéristiques du problème. Alors que les conclusions sur la stabilité du film sont indépendantes de la quantité de gaz inerte contenue dans la phase vapeur, il n’en est pas de même pour les transferts de matière et de chaleur interfaciaux comme montré au chapitre 5.<p><p>Dans la seconde partie du travail, nous utilisons les conclusions auxquelles nous sommes arrivés dans la première partie dans le cadre d’une application industrielle. En collaboration avec le Centre d’Excellence en Recherche Aéronautique (CENAERO) et la société Euro Heat Pipes (EHP), une stratégie a été élaborée afin de simuler les transferts thermiques radiaux dans une rainure d’un caloduc au niveau de l’évaporateur. Les résultats numériques, obtenus sur base d’un modèle multi-échelle développé à l’ULB et implémenté numériquement lors d’un stage chez CENAERO, montrent que ces transferts sont influencés par la valeur de l’angle de contact. Celui-ci dépendant des phénomènes microscopiques, il s’avère par conséquent nécessaire de les inclure dans le modèle thermique. En effet, si nous ne considérons que les aspects macroscopiques du problème, qui se résument à la conduction dans le solide et dans le liquide, le coefficient d’échange global au niveau de la rainure est surestimé.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished