Search results for "Thermal"

Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds

2014

© 2014 The Authors. Nests are structures built to support and protect eggs and/or offspring from predators, parasites, and adverse weather conditions. Nests are mainly constructed prior to egg laying, meaning that parent birds must make decisions about nest site choice and nest building behavior before the start of egg-laying. Parent birds should be selected to choose nest sites and to build optimally sized nests, yet our current understanding of clutch size-nest size relationships is limited to small-scale studies performed over short time periods. Here, we quantified the relationship between clutch size and nest size, using an exhaustive database of 116 slope estimates based on 17,472 nes…

THERMAL-HYDRAULIC STUDY IN SUPPORT OF THE DESIGN OF THE DEMO BALANCE OF PLANT

2020

The European Research Roadmap to the Realisation of Fusion Energy, foresees that the Demonstration Fusion Power Reactor (DEMO) is going to be the successor of ITER reactor in the pathway towards the exploitation of nuclear fusion to produce electric energy on an industrial scale. It will, hence, have to deliver hundreds MW of electric power ensuring an adequate availability and reliability of operation over a reasonable time span. EU-DEMO pre-conceptual design is being conducted by research institutions and universities from 26 countries of European Union, Switzerland and Ukraine, with the main aim to provide electric energy to the grid from nuclear fusion reactions by 2050. However, where …

Pre-conceptual design of EU-DEMO Divertor primary heat transfer systems

2021

Abstract In the frame of the activities promoted and encouraged by the EUROfusion Power Plant Physics and Technology (PPPT) department aimed at developing the EU-DEMO fusion reactor, strong emphasis has been recently addressed to the whole Balance of Plant (BoP) which represents the set of systems devoted to convert the plasma generated thermal power into electricity and to deliver it to the grid. Among these systems, the Divertor Primary Heat Transfer Systems (PHTSs) are intended to feed coolant to the two main components of the Divertor assembly, namely the Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) and the Cassette Body (CB). Since the DEMO Divertor must withstand high heat flux loads together with…

Progress in the design development of EU DEMO helium-cooled pebble bed primary heat transfer system

2019

Abstract In the frame of the activities promoted and encouraged by the EURO-fusion Power Plant Physics and Technology (PPPT) department aimed at developing the EU-DEMO fusion reactor, strong emphasis has been recently posed to the whole Balance of Plant (BoP) which represents the set of systems devoted to convert the plasma generated thermal power into electricity and to deliver it to the grid. Among these systems, a very important role is played by the Breeding Blanket (BB) Primary Heat Transfer System (PHTS) as it is responsible to extract more than 80% of the fusion plasma power. In this framework, University of Palermo, Ansaldo Nucleare and CREATE have focused their work to improve ther…

Effect of temperature and traffic on mix-design of bituminous asphalt for railway sub-ballast layer

2017

A wide integrated research has been carried out to assess the suitability of bituminous mixtures as the sub-ballast layer in railways. The influence of temperature on the mechanical characteristics and thermal susceptibility of the bituminous conglomerate—which forms sub-ballast layer of railway lines—has provided the motivation for carrying out a measurement of the thermal cycles in this layer. The evaluation of the average seasonal temperatures has proven to be well interpolated by sinusoidal functions, of which characteristic parameters are determined. To expand the validity of the study in different weather situations apart from Sicily, where the experiment was held, we proceeded to app…

Crenobalneotherapy (spa therapy) in patients with knee and generalized osteoarthritis: a post-hoc subgroup analysis of a large multicentre randomized…

2014

Abstract Objective To determine whether the addition of spa therapy to home exercises provides any benefit over exercises and the usual treatment alone in the management of generalised osteoarthritis associated with knee osteoarthritis. Methods This study was a post-hoc subgroup analysis of our randomised multicentre trial ( www.clinicaltrial.gov : NCT00348777 ). Participants who met the inclusion criteria of generalized osteoarthritis (Kellgren, American College of Rheumatology, or Dougados criteria) were extracted from the original randomised controlled trial. They had been randomised using Zelen randomisation. The treatment group received 18 days of spa treatment in addition to a home ex…

Solid-State Synthesis of “Bamboo-Like” and Straight Carbon Nanotubes by Thermolysis of Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene–Cobalt Complexes

2006

Thermal stability, structural properties and catalytic activity of Pd catalysts supported on Al2O3–CeO2–BaO mixed oxides prepared by sol–gel method

2003

Abstract Al2O3–CeO2–BaO oxides with constant Al/Ba mass ratio and increasing cerium content were prepared, using the sol–gel procedure, and calcined at 1000 °C for 5 h. The influence of barium oxide on the thermal stability and on the morphological and structural properties of the corresponding supports, in terms of increasing surface area of alumina and ceria dispersion, was studied. The corresponding Pd (1 wt.%) catalysts were prepared by a stepwise impregnation method with a solution of palladium acetylacetonate in benzene. Palladium was introduced in two sequential steps by impregnation 0.5 wt.% of Pd each time. The structural and textural properties of the materials were studied by X-r…

Hydrothermal macroscopic Fe-sepiolite from Oujda Mounts (Middle Atlas, Eastern Morocco)

2008

The Triassic-Jurassic series in the Oujda Mounts (Middle Atlas, NE Morocco) includes two basaltic units. The whole sequence is crosscut by veins filled with Fe-sepiolite + chalcedony + calcite + smectite and mixed layer talc-saponite. Fe-sepiolite occurs as macroscopic fibres and is one of the latest mineral phases in the filling sequence of the veins. The compositional relationships and crystallographic parameters obtained on carefully selected samples of sepiolite are compared with previous data, and support the actual development of Mg-Fe substitution in this clay mineral, given the adequate hydrothermal conditions. Genesis of this uncommon variety of sepiolite in veins is interpreted as…

Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy as a tool in astrobiology

2006

The element Fe and Fe-bearing minerals occur ubiquitously throughout the field of astrobiology. Cycling between the various oxidation states of Fe provides a source of energy available for life. Banded iron formations may record the rise of oxygenic photosynthesis. The distribution of Fe between Fe-bearing minerals and its oxidation states can help to characterize and understand ancient environments with respect to the suitability for life by constraining the primary rock type and the redox conditions under which it crystallized, the extent of alteration and weathering, the type of alteration and weathering products, and the processes and environmental conditions for alteration and weatheri…