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Mechanical Engineering Commons

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Theses/Dissertations

Chemical Engineering

Harry Reid Center

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

Design And Simulation Of An Induction Skull Melting System, Taide Tan May 2004

Design And Simulation Of An Induction Skull Melting System, Taide Tan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Incorporating volatile actinides, mainly americium into a metallic fuel pin (MFP) has been a serious problem due to americium’s high vapor pressure. An Induction Skull Melting (ISM) system was identified by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) as a potential furnace design to cast MFPs. Through the development of the ISM system, the nuclear waste feedstock can be melted and injected into the mold for fabricating MFPs in the advanced nuclear fuel cycles. The main phenomena in this system include: induction melting process, casting process and mass transfer process of americium. Issues related to ISM system design for casting MFPs are discussed …


Design And Analysis For Melt Casting Metallic Fuel Pins Incorporating Volatile Actinides, Xiaolong Wu Aug 2002

Design And Analysis For Melt Casting Metallic Fuel Pins Incorporating Volatile Actinides, Xiaolong Wu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Fundamental issues related to the selection of a metallic fuel casting furnace design are presented and discussed including heating mechanisms, casting issues, crucible design, and issues related to the mass transport of americium. The process of evaluating all of these different criteria is undertaken to select a concept that would have the greatest chance of success for casting americium in a metallic fuel rod. Based on this evaluation process, a concept for the casting of metallic fuel pins containing high vapor pressure materials is selected and discussed. The important physics of this concept include mass transport of americium from the …


Modeling And Simulation Of The Chemical Etching Process In Niobium Cavities, Qin Xue Aug 2002

Modeling And Simulation Of The Chemical Etching Process In Niobium Cavities, Qin Xue

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Niobium Cavities are important parts of the integrated NC/SC high-power linear accelerator (linac) that can accelerate over 100 mA of protons to several GeV. Surface finish of the niobium cavity plays an important role of achieving the best performance of niobium cavity. The chemical etching techniques have been widely used.

Chemical etching of the inner surface of the cavity is achieved by circulating acid through it. The acid interacts with the surface and eliminates imperfections. During the etching process, a pipe with baffles is inserted within the cavity to direct the flow along the surfaces.

A 2-D, axisymmetric, steady state, …