Search

BackgroundNatural circulation systems are widely used in the nuclear industry for decay heat removal, post-accident containment cooling, and the cooling of radioactive waste storage facilities. Because a large number of spent fuel assemblies are densely arranged in the spent fuel pool, the spent fuel assemblies in the central area of the spent fuel pool can be approximated as having adiabatic boundary conditions. In the event of a coolant loss accident, the heat generated by the spent fuel assemblies can be exported only by the natural circulation of air.PurposeThis study aims to develop analytical models for fuel assembly natural circulation characteristics independent of the results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to investigate the natural circulation characteristics of spent fuel pools following a coolant loss accident.MethodsBased on the experimental results of a fuel assembly pressure drop of a full-scale pressurized water reactor (PWR), the Darcy–Forchheimer model was firstly revised to predict the pressure drop of humid air flowing through the fuel assembly. Models for the fuel assembly natural circulation flow rate and peak cladding temperature were then established, and the effects of the relative humidity of air on the models were considered. Finally, these models were applied to investigating effects of total heating power, ambient temperature, and relative humidity on the natural circulation flow rate and peak cladding temperature of the fuel assembly.ResultsThe results show that the models accurately predict the natural circulation flow rate and peak cladding temperature of the fuel assembly under different heating powers, and the errors are less than 25% and 20%, respectively, as compared with the experimental measurement values.ConclusionsThe developed models in this study can be used to study the natural circulation characteristics of full-scale PWR fuel assemblies.

This study explores the innovation and entrepreneurship capabilities of college students who return to their hometowns, particularly within China’s rural revitalization strategy. By constructing a comprehensive framework, this paper examines four key dimensions that influence these abilities, employing logistic regression analysis to assess the impact of various factors. Notably, including policy support as a variable in Model 2 significantly enhances the Model’s explanatory power by 22.4%, a statistically significant finding (p < 0.001). This underscores the critical role of policy support in bolstering students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills. Further, through applying structural equation modeling, this research delves deeper into the nexus between policy, institutional environments, and the cultivation of core entrepreneurial competencies, offering insights into the external factors that facilitate competence development. The Model’s hypotheses are rigorously tested for fit, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed framework in understanding and supporting the entrepreneurial endeavors of returning college students.

BackgroundPassive residual heat-removal system (PRHRS) based on natural circulation has been widely used in small reactors connected on secondary side loop.PurposeThis study aims to develop and analyze a passive residual heat-removal system on the secondary side of a small reactor to improve reactor safety.MethodsBased on the completed heat-transfer experiment of the intermediate circuit of a small integrated nuclear power plant, Reactor Excursion and Leak Analysis Program (RELAP) was employed to determine and analyze the natural circulation characteristics of the intermediate loop were determined and analyzed.ResultsThe heat transfer rate results of the program are in good agreement with the experimental data, and the natural cycle characteristics of PRHRS can be characterized. The pressure of the system loop is determined by the average temperature of the primary side of the steam generator (SG), and the difference in the inlet temperature of the SG primary side, mass flow rate, and height of the cooling and heating sources significantly influence the heat-transfer performance of the SG system. The heat-transfer performance of the waste-heat-removal system is more sensitive to the resistance of the system loop when the temperature of the primary-side inlet of the SG is higher.ConclusionsThese results provide a valuable application for further investigations of passive systems in small reactors.

Traditional orchard production is facing problems of labor shortage due to the aging, difficulties in the management of agricultural equipment and production materials, and low production efficiency which can be expected to be solved by building a smart orchard that integrates technologies of Internet of Things(IoT), big data, equipment intelligence, et al. In this study, based on the objectives of full mechanization and intelligent management, a smart orchard was built in Pinggu district, an important peaches and pears fruit producing area of Beijing. The orchard covers an aera of more than 30 hm2 in Xiying village, Yukou town. In the orchard, more than 10 kinds of information acquisition sensors for pests, diseases, water, fertilizers and medicines are applied, 28 kinds of agricultural machineries with intelligent technical support are equipped. The key technologies used include: intelligent information acquisition system, integrated water and fertilizer management system and intelligent pest management system. The intelligent operation equipment system includes: unmanned lawn mower, intelligent anti-freeze machine, trenching and fertilizer machine, automatic driving crawler, intelligent profiling variable sprayer, six-rotor branch-to-target drone, multi-functional picking platform and finishing and pruning machine, etc. At the same time, an intelligent management platform has been built in the smart orchard. The comparison results showed that, smart orchard production can reduce labor costs by more than 50%, save pesticide dosage by 30% ~ 40%, fertilizer dosage by 25% ~ 35%, irrigation water consumption by 60% ~ 70%, and comprehensive economic benefits increased by 32.5%. The popularization and application of smart orchards will further promote China's fruit production level and facilitate the development of smart agriculture in China.

To realize the autonomous navigation and automatic target spraying of intelligent plant protect machinery in orchard, in this study, an autonomous navigation and automatic target spraying robot for orchards was developed. Firstly, a single 3D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) was used to collect fruit trees and other information around the robot. The region of interest (ROI) was determined using information on the fruit trees in the orchard (plant spacing, plant height, and row spacing), as well as the fundamental LiDAR parameters. Additionally, it must be ensured that LiDAR was used to detect the canopy information of a whole fruit tree in the ROI. Secondly, the point clouds within the ROI was two-dimension processing to obtain the fruit tree center of mass coordinates. The coordinate was the location of the fruit trees. Based on the location of the fruit trees, the row lines of fruit tree were obtained by random sample consensus (RANSAC) algorithm. The center line (navigation line) of the fruit tree row within ROI was obtained through the fruit tree row lines. The robot was controlled to drive along the center line by the angular velocity signal transmitted from the computer. Next, the ATRS's body speed and position were determined by encoders and the inertial measurement unit (IMU). And the collected fruit tree zoned canopy information was corrected by IMU. The presence or absence of fruit tree zoned canopy was judged by the logical algorithm designed. Finally, the nozzles were controlled to spray or not according to the presence or absence of corresponding zoned canopy. The conclusions were obtained. The maximum lateral deviation of the robot during autonomous navigation was 21.8 cm, and the maximum course deviation angle was 4.02°. Compared with traditional spraying, the automatic target spraying designed in this study reduced pesticide volume, air drift and ground loss by 20.06%, 38.68% and 51.40%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the automatic target spraying and the traditional spraying in terms of the percentage of air drift. In terms of the percentage of ground loss, automatic target spraying had 43% at the bottom of the test fruit trees and 29% and 28% at the middle of the test fruit trees and the left and right neighboring fruit trees. But in traditional spraying, the percentage of ground loss was, in that sequence, 25%, 38%, and 37%. The robot developted can realize autonomous navigation while ensuring the spraying effect, reducing the pesticides volume and loss.

Three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction technology is the key technology to establish and express the objective world by using computer, and it is widely used in real 3D, automatic driving, aerospace, navigation and industrial robot applications. According to different principles, it is mainly divided into methods based on traditional multi-view geometry and methods based on deep learning. This paper introduces the above methods from the perspective of three-dimensional space representation. The feature extraction and stereo matching theory of traditional 3D reconstruction methods are the theoretical basis of 3D reconstruction methods based on deep learning, so the paper focuses on them. With the development of traditional 3D reconstruction methods and the development of deep learning related theories, the explicit deep learning 3D reconstruction method represented by MVSNet and the implicit 3D reconstruction method represented by NeRF have been gradually developed. At the same time, the dataset and evaluation indicators for 3D reconstruction were introduced. Finally, a summary of image based 3D reconstruction was provided.

Aiming at the problem that the uneven deformation of the tunnel surrounding rock in the deep inclined rock strata caused local instability, an innovative balanced-yielding support technology was proposed with the engineering background of the Shangping tunnel in Huafeng Mine. Based on the mechanism analysis of this technology, the specific implementing steps were proposed. It mainly included in situ stress analysis, the stress distribution of the tunnel surrounding rock with different sections, the design of the parameter of bolt-cable and yielding structure, and supporting effect evaluation. The results showed that (1) the stress concentration appeared at the top corners of the lower side and the bottom corner of the upper side of the rectangular and semicircular arched tunnel. (2) Compared with rectangle and vertical-wall semicircular arch tunnels, the trapezoidal tunnel could relieve the shearing effect of the inclined rock strata. (3) The length, prestress, spacing-row distance of the bolt, and the parameter of the yielding structure were all optimally designed to form the balanced-yielding support system. (4) In engineering application, the maximum deformations of the roof, right side and left side, were less than 80 mm. Compared with the original support system, the shallow separation of the trapezoidal tunnel supported by the balanced-yielding support system had been reduced by 147%.

In order to promote the revolution of energy production and consumption, and build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, the research on rural comprehensive energy service operation based on the data drive of electric power Internet of Things was put forward. In this paper, the innovation of big data technology application concept drives the integrated energy service operation management mode, and improves the service quality and operation management efficiency. Focusing on the collaborative optimization of production and consumption, the construction and management of rural comprehensive energy services will make use of technological advantages to accurately locate customers’ needs, improve service efficiency, and benefit the concept of energy green ecological construction in rural comprehensive energy development planning to build a smart energy ecosystem.

BackgroundAs a nuclear power system with high energy density and strong adaptability, heat pipe cooled reactor can play an important role in space and deep sea exploration, and is attracting more and more attention from all over the world. Due to the solid-state core and high-temperature operation of the heat pipe cooled reactor, the thermal expansion and thermal stress are non-negligible. The nuclear-thermal-mechanical coupling effect should be considered for the heat pipe cooled reactor core.PurposeThis study aims to investigate the thermal-mechanical characteristics of the reactor core, and evaluate the safety performance of the reactor under typical conditions and transient accidents for a typical heat pipe cooled nuclear reactor, Nuclear Silence ThermoElectric Reactor (NUSTER).MethodsBased on FLUENT and MECHANICAL modules in finite element analysis software ANSYS, calculation of the nuclear-thermal-mechanical coupling was conducted for the reactor core of NUSTER under the steady-state and the reactor reactivity insertion accident respectively, hence the temperature and stress distribution were obtained. The core design safety was evaluated by comparing the temperature and stress peak values of each component with the melting point and yield strength of material.Results & ConclusionThe comparison results show that NUSTER core can operate safely within the safety limit in both steady state and accident conditions. Each component has a safety margin of 200 K for temperature and 150 MPa for stress under accident condition, so the core design safety has been verified.