Research on the passive nuclear level gauge

ABSTRACT

Using the ‘quadruple combination detection’ automatic calibration method to solve the traditional passive nuclear ash hopper material level meter calibration problem. The method adopts the ‘contour multistage measurement’ mode, fitted the ratio of absorbed dose rate detected by adjacent cascade probe with corresponding actual material level after measurement, then use the fitting parameters to calibrate automatically which do not need ash hopper stop working, And this can effectively save the calibration time and cost. The method can effectively eliminate the material level measuring error brought by the changes of radioactive activity in the coal ash, which improve the measuring precision and material level positioning accuracy. There are many factors affecting the radioactive activity of coal ash which vary in Different feeding period, or after refueling. And this may cause measurement error and misinformation. Using quadruple combination detection and contour multistage measurement mode, when the radioactive activity in the coal ash changes, the passive nuclear meter level gauge can be revised according to the calibration curve or calibrated automatically. Which eliminated the effects brought by the changing of coal ash radioactive activity, saved onerous repeatedly calibration procedure, also improve the accuracy of the calibration, avoid misjudgment, and can improve the accuracy of measurement.     

High peak power Nd:YAG laser pumped by 600-W diode laser stack

The Q-switched laser with triangle slab made of Nd:YAG crystal side pumped by 600-W quasi-cw diode laser stack has been designed. The multimode (M²≈2.6) output energy of about 42 mJ was demonstrated in free running mode for110-mJ pump energy. In Q-switch experiments, the KDDP Pockels cell was placed between the slab and rear mirror in plane-plane cavity with output coupler of 84% transmission. The energy of 8 mJ in 2.1-ns pulse duration was obtained for near TEM₀₀ output beam. For passive Q-switching by means of Cr:YAG crystal of 12.6% unsaturated transmission, the energy of 5.1 mJ in 2.5-ns pulse duration was obtained for output beam close to TEM₀₀ mode.     

Photo-electrochemical analysis of passive film formed on X80 pipeline steel in bicarbonate/carbonate buffer solution

Photo-electrochemical measurement was used to explore the formation potential, formation time, chloride ions concentration, applied potential and pH value of the solution on the electronic property of passive film formed on X80 pipeline steel in 1 M NaHCO₃/0.5 M Na₂CO₃ buffer solution. The results showed that the photocurrent is positive, indicating an n-type semiconductor character of the passive film, the photocurrent increased with increasing the formation potential, prolonging the formation time, decreasing chloride ions concentration, rising applied potential and decreasing the pH value of the solution. Capacitance measurement exhibited a positive slope of Mott-Schottky plot, and the slopes of Mott-Schottky plots increased with the increasing formation potential, showing a decrement of the donor density of the passive film.     

Failure Impact,Availability and Cost Analysis of PONs Based on a Network Geometric Model

Passive Optical Networks(PONs)are considered as the preferred solution for broadband fibre-based access networks.This is because PONs present low cost deployment,low energy consumption and also meet high bandwidth demands from end users.In addition,end users expect a high availability for access networks,while operators are more concerned about reducing the failure impact(number of clients affected by failures).Moreover,operators are also interested in reducing the cost of the access network.This paper provides a deep insight into the consequences that the physical topology and design decisions cause on the availability,the failure impact and the cost of a PON.In order to do that,the physical layout of the PON deployment area is approximated by a network geometric model.A PON deployed according to the geometric model is then assessed in terms of failure impact,availability and cost.This way,the effects of different design decisions and the physical layout on these three parameters are evaluated.In addition,the tradeoffs between availability,failure impact and cost caused by planning decisions and the physical topology are identified and pinpointed.     

Monitoring of NO2 in the ambient air with passive samplers before and after a road reconstruction event

Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentrations were used to evaluate the air quality before and after the infrastructural change of an important traffic artery in Mortsel, Antwerp (Belgium). During the reconstruction works two pairs of traffic lanes were reduced to one in each direction. Two sampling campaigns were conducted: the first one before the works in 2003 and the second one in 2005, after the road works were finished. Sampling was performed on a weekly base with the use of passive diffusion tubes on the streets, and also indoors in nearby houses. The samples were analyzed by ion chromatography, from which data the NO₂ concentrations in air could be calculated. These results were compared with NO₂ values from the air monitoring station 42R801 of the Flemish Environment Agency in Borgerhout, Antwerp. On the base of different NO₂ concentrations, correlated well with the traffic density, sampling locations were classified into three groups as follows: 1) ‘heavily polluted’ (heavy traffic); 2) ‘moderately polluted’ (medium traffic); or 3) ‘less polluted’ (low traffic density). Sampling sites located further from the road works, enclosed to the group ‘less polluted’, showed the lowest NO₂ concentrations. The highest NO₂ level was found for the locations close to reconstruction works, which belonged to the group ‘heavily polluted’. The contribution of NO₂ was at the same level before and after the road works. During the first campaign it ranged from 30 ± 7 µg/m³ to 71 ± 11 µg/m³ and during the second sampling it was between 36 ± 17 µg/m³ and 73 ± 17 µg/m³. These modernization works had no impact on preventing the traffic-related pollutant as NO₂ and as a consequence no significant effect on the air quality in the studied region. It has been proven that the impact of traffic on the air quality is unmistakably high and simply reduction of the number of the traffic lanes, intended to discourage the traffic flow, had apparently no environmentally advantageous effect.     

Combination of sorption properties of polydimethylsiloxane and solid‐phase extraction sorbents in a single composite material for the passive sampling of polar and apolar pesticides in water

Passive sampling techniques have been developed as an alternative method for in situ integrative monitoring of trace levels of neutral pesticides in environmental waters. The objective of this work was to develop a new receiving phase for pesticides with a wide range of polarities in a single step. We describe the development of three new composite silicone rubbers, combining polydimethylsiloxane mechanical and sorption properties with solid‐phase extraction sorbents, prepared as a receiving phase for passive sampling. A composite silicone rubber composed of polydimethylsiloxane/poly(divinylbenzene‐co‐N‐vinylpyrrolidone) was selected by batch experiments for its high sorption properties for pesticides with octanol‐water partition coefficients ranging from 2.3 to 5.5. We named this composite material “Polar/Apolar Composite Silicone Rubber”. A structural study by scanning electron microscopy confirmed the homogeneous dispersion of the sorbent particles and the encapsulation of particles within the polydimethylsiloxane matrix. We also demonstrate that this composite material is resistant to common solvents used for the back‐extraction of analytes and has a maximal resistance temperature of 350°C. Therefore, the characteristics of the “Polar/Apolar Composite Silicone Rubber” meet most of the criteria for use as a receiving phase for the passive sampling of pesticides.     

Mathematical modeling of TE CO2 laser with SF6 as a saturable absorber

A mathematical model describing the dynamic emission of a single mode TE CO₂ laser with saturable absorber has been adapted. A six-temperature model has been used to describe the amplifying medium, while a four-coupled energy level is used to describe the selective absorbing medium. The suggested mathematical model allows the investigation of the effects of the intracavity absorber on the mode characteristics of the TE CO₂ laser and, moreover, the study of the effect of the laser input parameters on the output laser pulse. The model simulates the passive Q-switch in both low- and high-pressure cases in the absorbing medium.

In addition, numerical solutions of a non-linear rate equation system of the suggested model are quantitatively discussed. The solutions describe the photon number density, the population inversion and the energy transfer processes of amplifying and absorbing media.     

全光纤波长可调谐调Q激光器

实现了全光纤波长可调谐主动调Ｑ和自调Ｑ激光脉冲输出。波长可调谐范围为５．７ｎｍ。主动调Ｑ激光脉冲的最高峰值功率可达２．６Ｗ,平均功率１ｍＷ。观察到了自调Ｑ现象,且对自调Ｑ现象给予了初步的解释。     

电光腔倒空与调Q射频波导CO2激光器

报道电光腔倒空与调Q射频波导CO2激光器,获得了电光腔倒空与调Q脉肿激光输出,并用调节电光晶体电压的方法控制腔倒空与调Q脉冲激光峰值功率;调节晶体电压脉冲宽度,可控制腔倒空与调Q激光的脉冲间隔,达到编程输出的目的。理论上分析了电光腔倒空过程。     

Efficient scheme for passive decoy-state reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution

Reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution (RFI-QKD) has been demonstrated to be reliable and useful both in theories and experiments, which is intrinsically robust against slowly varying reference frames. In this paper, we propose an efficient scheme of passive decoy-state RFI-QKD based on the parametric down-conversion source, where a beam splitter splits the idler pulses into four local detection events to improve the performance of RFI-QKD systems. In addition, we demonstrate the worst relative rotation of reference frames in our scheme. Simulation results show that our scheme can achieve good performance even at the worst-case scenario.