Purification of 233U from Thorium and Iron in the Reprocessing of Irradiated Thorium Oxide Rods

A two step precipitation using ammonium carbonate and oxalic acid as the precipitants for thorium and iron is developed for the purification of ²³³U. Ammonium carbonate is added to the feed to increase the pH of the solution. The effect of pH on the solubility of U, Th and Fe in an excess of ammonium carbonate is studied. This indicates that the solubility of Th and Fe is minimum at pH 7 and the recovery of uranium is maximum. The effect of the concentration of thorium and iron on the recovery of uranium at pH 7 is studied. This indicates that the ammonium carbonate precipitation tolerates 2 g/l of thorium and 10 g/l of iron keeping losses of uranium to a minimum. If the feed solution contains more than a tolerable concentration of thorium the precipitation is followed in two steps: (1) Bulk of the thorium is removed by oxalate precipitation, (2) the remaining thorium and iron in the supernatant are removed by ammonium carbonate precipitation. A flow sheet is proposed for the purification of ²³³U from thorium and iron present in a strip product concentrate obtained during the reprocessing of irradiated thorium rods.     

AN UNCONDITIONALLY STABLE HYBRID FE-FD SCHEME FOR SOLVING A 3-D HEAT TRANSPORT EQUATION IN A CYLINDRICAL THIN FILM WITH SUB-MICROSCALE THICKNESS

Heat transport at the microscale is of vital importance in microtechnology applications.The heat transport equation is different from the traditional heat transport equation since a second order derivative of temperature with respect to time and a third-order mixed derivative of temperature with respect to space and time are introduced. In this study,we develop a hybrid finite element-finite difference (FE-FD) scheme with two levels in time for the three dimensional heat transport equation in a cylindrical thin film with submicroscale thickness. It is shown that the scheme is unconditionally stable. The scheme is then employed to obtain the temperature rise in a sub-microscale cylindrical gold film. The method can be applied to obtain the temperature rise in any thin films with sub-microscale thickness, where the geometry in the planar direction is arbitrary.     

All-optical polarization-mode dispersion monitor for return-to-zero optical signals at 40 Gbits/s and beyond

The operation of a polarization-mode dispersion monitor insensitive to chromatic dispersion is demonstrated at 40 Gbits/s. The high-speed processing device is based on the Kerr effect and provides an optical power output as a reading of differential group delay. The monitor is compatible with return-to-zero modulation formats at data rates in excess of 40 Gbits/s and does not require the use of high-data-rate electronics.     

Germaindacenodithiophene based low band gap polymers for organic solar cells

We report the first synthesis of a fused germaindacenodithiophene monomer and its polymerisation with 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole by Suzuki polycondensation. The resulting polymer, PGeTPTBT, is semicrystalline, despite the presence of four bulky 2-ethylhexyl groups. Blends with P(70)CBM afford solar cells with efficiencies of 5.02%.     

Stratified flow boiling heat transfer study of a HFC/HC refrigerant mixture in smooth horizontal tubes

The flow boiling heat transfer coefficients of R-134a/R-290/R-600a (91%:4.068%:4.932% by mass) refrigerant mixture are experimentally arrived in two tubes of diameter 9.52 and 12.7 mm. The tests are conducted to target the varied heat flux condition and stratified flow pattern found in evaporators of refrigerators and deep freezers. The varied heat flux condition is imposed on the refrigerant using a coaxial counter-current heat exchanger test section. The experiments are performed for mass flow rates of the refrigerant mixture between 3 and 5 g s⁻¹ and entry temperature between −8.59 and 5.33°C which are bubble temperatures corresponding to a pressure of 3.2 and 5 bar. The influences of heat flux, mass flow rate, pressure, flow pattern, tube diameter on the heat transfer coefficient are discussed. The profound effects of nucleate boiling prevailing even at higher vapor qualities in evaporators are highlighted. The heat transfer coefficient of the refrigerant mixture is also compared with that of R-134a.     

Thermal stresses in rectangular plates

Summary A method of determining the thermal stresses in a flat rectangular isotropic plate of constant thickness with arbitrary temperature distribution in the plane of the plate and with no variation in temperature through the thickness is presented. The thermal stress have been obtained in terms of Fourier series and integrals that satisfy the differential equation and the boundary conditions. Several examples have been presented to show the application of the method.Nomenclature x, y rectangular coordinates - _x, _y direct stresses - _xy shear stress - ø Airy's stress function - E Young's modulus of elasticity - coefficient of thermal expansion - T temperature - ² Laplace operator: - ⁴ biharmonic operator - 2a length of the plate - 2b width of the plate - a/b aspect ratio - a _mr, b_ms, c_nr, d_ns Fourier coefficients defined in equation (6) - _m=m/a m=1, 2, 3, ... _n=n/2a n=1, 3, 5, ... - _r=r/b r=1, 2, 3, ... _s=s/2b s=1, 3, 5, ... - A _m, B_m, C_n, D_n, E_r, F_r, G_s, H_s Fourier coefficients - K _rand L _s Fourier coefficients defined in equation (20) - direct stress at infinity - T ₁(x, y) temperature distribution symmetrical in x and y - T ₂(x, y) temperature distribution symmetrical in x and antisymmetrical in y - T ₃(x, y) temperature distribution antisymmetrical in x and symmetrical in y - T ₄(x, y) temperature distribution antisymmetrical in x and y     

A tandem multi-component synthesis of 5,7-diaryl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[3,4-b][1,4]thiazin-2(3H)-ones

The five-component reaction of ethyl 2-[(2-oxopropyl)sulfanyl]acetate, aromatic aldehydes, and ammonium acetate affords two diastereomers of 5,7-diaryl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[3,4-b][1,4]thiazin-2(3H)-ones via a novel tandem Mannich-enamine-substitution sequence. Presumably, they are generated from ethyl 2-[(4-oxo-2,6-diaryl-3-piperidinyl)sulfanyl]acetates. During the formation of the trans-5,7-diaryl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[3,4-b][1,4]-thiazin-2(3H)-ones from ethyl 2-[(4-oxo-2,6-diaryl-3-piperidinyl)sulfanyl]acetates, the configuration at the carbon bearing an aryl group adjacent to the enamide CC double bond is inverted via ring opening and closure. When o-substituted benzaldehydes were employed in this reaction, 5,7-diaryl-5,6-dihydro-1H-pyrido[3,4-b][1,4]thiazin-2(3H)-ones were obtained via air oxidation, along with trans-5,7-diaryl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[3,4-b][1,4]-thiazin-2(3H)-ones.     

Radon–Nikodým indexes and measures of weak noncompactness

The aim of this paper is to present a quantitative version of the Radon–Nikodým property and some other results related to it. This approach gives an extra insight to the classical results. We introduce two indexes: an index of representability of measures and an index of dentability. We review classic results in order to obtain relationships between these and other indexes.     

Composition, structure and magnetic properties of sputter deposited Ni-Mn-Ga ferromagnetic shape memory thin films

Polycrystalline Ni-Mn-Ga thin films were deposited by the d.c. magnetron sputtering on well-cleaned substrates of Si(1 0 0) and glass at a constant sputtering power of 36 W. We report the influence of sputtering pressure on the composition, structure and magnetic properties of the sputtered thin films. These films display ferromagnetic behaviour only after annealing at an elevated temperature and a maximum saturation magnetization of 335 emu/cc was obtained for the films investigated. Evolution of martensitic microstructure was observed in the annealed thin films with the increase of sputtering pressure. The thermo-magnetic curves exhibited only magnetic transition in the temperature range of 339-374 K. The thin film deposited at high sputtering pressure of 0.025 mbar was found to be ordered L2₁ austenitic phase.