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Study of the second magnetization peak and the pinning behaviour in Ba(Fe 0.935 Co 0.065 ) 2 As 2 pnictide superconductor

Isothermal magnetic field dependence of magnetization and magnetic relaxation measurements were performed for the $H\parallel {\rm{c}}$ axis on a single crystal of Ba(Fe 0.935 Co 0.065 ) 2 As 2 pnictide superconductor having T c = 21.7 K. The second magnetization peak (SMP) for each isothermal M(H) was observed in a wide temperature range from T c to the lowest temperature of measurement (2 K). The magnetic field dependence of relaxation rate R(H), showed a peak (H spt) between H on (onset of SMP in M(H)) and H p (peak field of SMP in M(H)), which is likely to be related to a vortex-lattice structural phase transition, as suggested in the literature for a similar sample. In addition, the magnetic relaxation measured for magnetic fields near H spt showed some noise, which might be the signature of the structural phase transition of the vortex lattice. Analysis of the magnetic relaxation data using Maley's criterion and the collective pinning theory suggested that the SMP in the sample was due to the collective (elastic) to plastic creep crossover, which was also accompanied by a rhombic to square vortex lattice phase transition. The analysis of the pinning force density suggested a single dominating pinning mechanism in the sample, which did not showing the usual $\delta {l}$ and $\delta {T}_{{\rm{c}}}$ nature of pinning. Furthermore, the critical current density (J c ), estimated using the Bean critical state model, was found to be 5 × 10 5 A cm - 2 at 2 K in the zero magnetic field limit. Surprisingly, the maximum of the pinning force density was not responsible for the maximum value of the critical current density in the sample.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Variation in supercurrent connectivity and vortex pinning of state-of-the-art pulsed laser deposited RE Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7- x coated conductors

REBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-x (REBCO, RE: rare earth) coated conductors (CCs) suffer from great critical current I c differences between different manufacturers, I c variations within individual manufacturers, and often significant lengthwise fluctuations. The understanding of such variations is complicated by the lack of a direct correlation between I c and the critical current density J c . In fact, although J c is the fundamental property determined by the local vortex pinning landscape, I c is often limited by variable current blocking mechanisms. An important practical complexity is commercial practices of performing J c and I c evaluations based on I c at 77 K and self-field (sf), where connectivity variation dominates over vortex pinning variations. However, at higher fields and lower temperatures, vortex pinning becomes more complex and highly variable, making predictions of I c and J c at arbitrary temperature T, magnetic field H, and field orientation θ, quite uncertain. To address some aspects of this problem, we conducted detailed spool-to-spool performance characterization on recently manufactured REBCO CCs. Despite J c (77 K, sf) varies by only ∼11%, J c (77 K, 1 T) of its minimum and maximum (for H//ab-plane) show variations of ∼21% and ∼32%, respectively. This emphasizes the shortcoming in using J c (77 K, sf) as parameter for evaluating even the low field performance. An even more remarkable spool-to-spool J c variation of ∼68% was observed at 20 K and 15 T for H//ab-plane. To identify the origin of such lack of reproducibility we performed microstructural characterizations, which revealed, within the REBCO layer, large variation in the density of copper oxide (CuO x ) particles ranging from 0.1 to 2 μm in size. We believe that they play a decisive role in reducing the effective cross-section of the REBCO layer by not simply blocking current themselves, but also by nucleating off-axis REBCO grains, whose misoriented grain boundaries adversely impact REBCO grain-to-grain connectivity. The REBCO growth associated with high density CuO x particles also leads to the more disordered spatial arrangement of BaHfO 3 precipitate arrays, which, when self-aligning along the ab-planes, generate stronger pinning enhancing J c (H//ab) at all temperatures. In this way, we established that variations of both connectivity and vortex pinning are thus directly coupled. Our results also explain why the so-called ‘lift-factor’, typically defined by the ratio between I c (T, H) and I c (77 K, sf), frequently turns out to be unreliable.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Testing of the KRI-developed Silicon PIN Radioxenon Detector

Radioxenon detectors are used for the verification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in a network of detectors throughout the world called the International Monitoring System (IMS). The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) has tasked Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with testing a V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute (KRI) and Lares Ltd-developed Silicon PIN detector for radioxenon detection. PNNL measured radioxenon with the silicon PIN detector and determined its potential compared to current plastic scintillator beta cells. While the PNNL tested Si detector experienced noise issues, a second detector was tested in Russia at Lares Ltd, which did not exhibit the noise issues. Without the noise issues, the Si detector produces much better energy resolution and isomer peak separation than a conventional plastic scintillator cell used in the SAUNA systems in the IMS. Under the assumption of 1 cm 3 of Xe in laboratory-like conditions, 24-hr count time (12-hr count time for the SAUNA), with the respective shielding the minimum detectable concentrations for the Si detector tested by Lares Ltd (and a conventional SAUNA system) were calculated to be: 131m Xe – 0.12 mBq/m 3 (0.12 mBq/m 3 ); 133 Xe – 0.18 mBq/m 3 (0.21 mBq/m 3 ); 133m Xe – 0.07 mBq/m 3 (0.15 mBq/m 3 ); 135 Xe – 0.45 mBq/m 3 (0.67 mBq/m 3 ). Detection limits, which are one of the important factors in choosing the best detection technique for radioxenon in field conditions, are significantly better than for SAUNA-like detection systems for 131m Xe and 133m Xe, but similar for 133 Xe and 135 Xe. Another important factor is the amount of “memory effect” or carry over signal from one radioxenon measurement to the subsequent sample. The memory effect is reduced by a factor of 10 in the Si PIN detector compared to the current plastic scintillator cells. There is potential for further reduction with the removal of plastics within the cell, which will need to be explored in future work. A third important parameter in choosing the best detection technique for radioxenon is the resolution of the electron detection. While the resolution is important in determining the minimum detectable concentration, it plays a larger role in source identification when there is a visible signal. The Silicon PIN diodes generated improved resolution over a similar plastic scintillator cell. With the improved resolution, it becomes easier to distinguish the radioxenon isomers ( 133m Xe and 131m Xe) from the 133 Xe beta continuum background. With the beta background from 133 Xe ever present with the detection of the isomers, the improved resolution proves vital in calculating the ratios of the three isotopes. With an accurate measurement of the isotopic ratios, the anthropogenic sources of radioxenon (medical isotope production and nuclear reactors) can be more accurately distinguished. Based on the results shown within this report, a Si PIN beta cell shows the potential to aid in the operation and discriminating power of the IMS for the CTBTO. However, there are a number of issues that need attention before a detector of this design would be reliable enough for field operations in the IMS. Issues that need develop include, but are not limited to: studying the robustness of the design in field conditions, eliminating or minimizing the noise and variability of individual Si detector elements, understanding the long-term gain stability of the Si detectors, and reducing the non-Si materials within the cell (i.e. the plastic housing).

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Fuel pin zoning to improve the accuracy of the palisades spent fuel pool criticality analysis

Most PWR spent fuel pool criticality analyses assume that the burnup is uniformly distributed among the fuel pins in the assembly. This assumption is accurate for PWR cores that have the typical small inter-assembly gap. The Palisades reactor core, however, is different in that it uses cruciform control rods in between fuel assemblies. Every interior assembly has two sides having a wide water gap and two sides having a narrow water gap. After depleting under these conditions, the pins near the wide water gap will have a higher burnup than the pins in the center. If the burnup is distributed uniformly among the pins, the resulting k calculation will be conservative but excessively so. The excess conservatism was found to be on the order of 1% in k. For this analysis, SCALE 6.1 depletion with TRITON is used followed by the CSAS5 module for the Palisades pool analysis. Several burnup zoning arrangements (uniform enrichment) were investigated ranging from 3 zones to as many as 19 zones. The 19 zone analysis agreed well with a CASMO analysis where every pin was its own depletion zone. It was found that 8 fuel zones gave essentially the same result as 19 zones with less complexity. The depletion calculation using 8 fuel zones instead of a single zone is more complicated but the resulting k calculation no longer has the excessive conservatism seen in a one zone model. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Wire-Wrapped Fuel Pin Effect of Bundle Size on Temperature Distribution for Uniform Heat Flux

A common fuel arrangement for Sodium Fast Reactors (SFR) designs are hexagonal arrays of wire wrapped fuel pins. The helically wound wires redirect coolant to neighboring subchannels and increases mixing. The increased mixing of the coolant is beneficial to heat transfer from the fuel and prevents temperature peaking in hot channels that may occur. The purpose of this study is to observe the effect of bundle size on the temperature distribution of a coolant when a constant heat flux is implemented. Bundles of 19, 37, 61, and 91 pins were modeled. The wire-wrapping on fuel pins encourages interchannel mixing. With a constant heat flux the enhanced interchannel mixing has little observable effect. The temperature distributions of the subchannels has negligible dependence on radial or angular position. The temperature distribution additionally shows negligible dependence on the bundle size. The subchannel average temperatures further illustrate the homogeneity of the temperature across the bundles. Similarly oriented subchannels differ by less than two Kelvin. The temperature distribution within a single subchannel is fairly uniform, differing by about 15 K between the wall and the bulk flow, with the exception of two hot spots. The two hot spots, however, occur in two non-geometrically accurate locations, so little analysis can be performed. To better illustrate the effect of the enhanced mixing of the wire-wrapped fuel pins, a hot pin analysis should be performed to observe how the additional, non-uniform heat is dispersed. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Phase and Grain Size Dependence of the Pinning Strength of Nanocomposite Magnets

The pinning of grain interfaces plays an important role in determining the coercivity of nanocomposite magnets. Here, based on pinning effect, a simple model was proposed to correlate the pinning strength with microstructural parameters. A structural factor K has been used to describe the contribution of the phase composition and grain size of hard and soft phases to pinning strength. The model can be used to estimate the pinning strength of nanocomposite magnets, which is important for the design and fabrication of nanocomposite magnets with high coercivity.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Improving Joint Formation and Tensile Properties of Dissimilar Friction Stir Welding of Aluminum and Magnesium Alloys by Solving the Pin Adhesion Problem

Friction stir welding (FSW), as a solid-state welding technology invented by TWI in 1991, has potential to join dissimilar Al/Mg alloys. In this study, the pin adhesion phenomenon affecting joint quality during FSW of 6061-T6 aluminum and AZ31B magnesium alloys was investigated. The adhesion phenomenon induced by higher heat input easily transformed the tapered-and-screwed pin into a tapered pin, which greatly reduced the tool’s ability to drive the plasticized materials and further deteriorated joint formation. Under the condition without the pin adhesion, the complex intercalated interlayer at the bottom of stir zone was beneficial to mechanical interlocking of Al/Mg alloys, improving tensile properties. However, the formation of intermetallic compounds was still the main reason of the joint fracture, significantly deteriorating tensile properties. Under the welding speed of 60 mm/min without the pin adhesion phenomenon, the maximum tensile strength of 107 MPa and elongation of 1.2% were achieved.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Z-Pinning approach for 3D printing mechanically isotropic materials

Conventional 3D printing approaches are restricted to building up material in a layer-by-layer format, which is more appropriately considered “2.5-D” printing. The layered structure inherently results in significant mechanical anisotropy in printed parts, causing the tensile strength in the build direction (z-axis) to be only a fraction of the in-plane strength – a decrease of 50–75% is common. In this study, a novel “z-pinning” approach is described that allows continuous material to be deposited across multiple layers within the volume of the part. Here, the z-pinning process is demonstrated using a Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) printer for polylactic acid (PLA) and carbon fiber reinforced PLA. For both materials, z-pinning increased the tensile strength and toughness in the z-direction by more than a factor of 3.5. Direct comparisons to tensile strength in the x-axis showed a significant decrease in mechanical anisotropy as the volume of the pin was increased relative to the void in the rectilinear grid structure. In fact, the PLA sample with the largest pin volume demonstrated mechanically isotropic properties within the statistical uncertainty of the tests. Tensile test results were also analyzed relative to the functional area resisting deformation for each sample.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Strong pinning and slow flux creep relaxation in Co-doped CaFe 2 As 2 single crystals

In this paper we report on measurements of critical current densities J c and flux creep rates S of freestanding Ca(Fe 1–x Co x ) 2 As 2 (x ≈ 0.033) single crystals with T c ≈ 15.7 K by performing magnetization measurements. The magnetic field dependences of J c at low temperature display features related to strong pinning. In addition, we find that the system displays small flux creep rates. The characteristic glassy exponent, μ, and the pinning energy, U 0 , display exceptional high values for pristine crystals. We find that for magnetic fields between 0.3 T and 1 T, μ decreases from ≈ 2.8 to ≈ 2 and U 0 remains ≈ 300 K. Analysis of the pinning force indicates that the mechanism is similar to the observed in polycrystalline systems in which grain boundaries and random disorder produce the vortex pinning. Considering the large U 0 observed in the single crystal, we attempt to improve the pinning by adding random point disorder by 3 MeV proton irradiation with a fluence of 2 × 10 16 proton/cm 2 . The results show that, unlike other iron-based superconductors, the superconducting fraction is sharply reduced by irradiation. This fact indicates that the superconductivity in the system is extremely fragile to an increment in the disorder. The superconducting volume fraction in the irradiated crystal systematically recovers after removal disorder by thermal annealing, which evidences as to the observation of critical state in curves of magnetization versus magnetic field. No features related to a reentrant antiferromagnetic transition are observed for the irradiated sample.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Pinning impulsive control algorithms for complex network

In this paper, we further investigate the synchronization of complex dynamical network via pinning control in which a selection of nodes are controlled at discrete times. Different from most existing work, the pinning control algorithms utilize only the impulsive signals at discrete time instants, which may greatly improve the communication channel efficiency and reduce control cost. Two classes of algorithms are designed, one for strongly connected complex network and another for non-strongly connected complex network. It is suggested that in the strongly connected network with suitable coupling strength, a single controller at any one of the network's nodes can always pin the network to its homogeneous solution. In the non-strongly connected case, the location and minimum number of nodes needed to pin the network are determined by the Frobenius normal form of the coupling matrix. In addition, the coupling matrix is not necessarily symmetric or irreducible. Illustrative examples are then given to validate the proposed pinning impulsive control algorithms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Strongly enhanced vortex pinning from 4 to 77 K in magnetic fields up to 31 T in 15 mol.% Zr-added (Gd, Y)-Ba-Cu-O superconducting tapes

Applications of REBCO coated conductors are now being developed for a very wide range of temperatures and magnetic fields and it is not yet clear whether vortex pinning strategies aimed for high temperature, low field operation are equally valid at lower temperatures and higher fields. A detailed characterization of the superconducting properties of a 15 mol.% Zr-added REBCO thin film made by metal organic chemical vapor deposition, from 4.2 to 77 K under magnetic fields up to 31 T is presented in this article. Even at a such high level of Zr addition, T-c depression has been avoided (T-c = 91 K), while at the same time an exceptionally high irreversibility field H-irr approximate to 14.8 T at 77 K and a remarkably high vortex pinning force density F-p approximate to 1.7 TN/m(3) at 4.2 K have been achieved. We ascribe the excellent pinning performance at high temperatures to the high density (equivalent vortex matching field similar to 7 T) of self-assembled BZO nanorods, while the low temperature pinning force is enhanced by large additional pinning which we ascribe to strain-induced point defects induced in the REBCO matrix by the BZO nanorods. Our results suggest even more room for further performance enhancement of commercial REBCO coated conductors and point the way to REBCO coil applications at liquid nitrogen temperatures since the critical current density J(c)(H//c) characteristic at 77 K are now almost identical to those of fully optimized Nb-Ti at 4 K. (C) 2014 Author(s).

Xu, A↗

Giant increase of critical current density and vortex pinning in Mn doped K{sub x}Fe{sub 2−y}Se{sub 2} single crystals

We report a comparative study of the critical current density (J{sub c}) and vortex pinning among pure and Mn doped K{sub x}Fe{sub 2−y}Se{sub 2} single crystals. It is found that the J{sub c} values can be greatly improved by Mn doping and post-quenching treatment when comparing to pristine pure sample. In contrast to pure samples, an anomalous second magnetization peak (SMP) effect is observed in both 1% and 2% Mn doped samples at T = 3 K for H∥ab but not for H∥c. Referring to Dew-Hughes and Kramer's model, we performed scaling analyses of the vortex pinning force density vs magnetic field in 1% Mn doped and quenched pristine crystals. The results show that the normal point defects are the dominant pinning sources, which probably originate from the variations of intercalated K atoms. We propose that the large nonsuperconducting K-Mn-Se inclusions may contribute to the partial normal surface pinning and give rise to the anomalous SMP effect for H∥ab in Mn doped crystals. These results may facilitate further understanding of the superconductivity and vortex pinning in intercalated iron-selenides superconductors.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Variation of effective filament diameter, irreversibility field, anisotropy, and pinning efficiency in Bi-2212 round wires

Abstract In recent years Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O x (Bi-2212) received increasing attention due to its round wire multifilamentary architecture, a unique feature in high- T c superconductor. In fact, round wires are preferable for magnet designs, including solenoids for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or research purpose and accelerator magnets. However, due to the narrow over-pressure heat treatment conditions necessary to obtain high J c and to the peculiar microstructure of Bi-2212 wires, a full understanding of the correlations between the different properties has not yet been developed. In this paper we investigate the effect of a vital part of Bi-2212 optimization, the maximum heat-treatment temperature T max in the range of 885 °C–896 °C, on the variations of J c , effective filament diameter d eff , anisotropy γ , INTER- and intra-grain irreversibility fields and pinning energies U 0 , all critical parameters in unravelling the complex mix of vortex pinning and connectivity that ultimately determines the critical current density. We found that d eff of the higher J c wires heat-treated at lower temperature is much smaller than for the lower J c wires. Moreover, a systematic increase of the irreversibility field and a decrease of the intrinsic Bi-2212 anisotropy underpins the higher J c . The analysis of the pinning energies reveals that there is little sample-to-sample variation in the INTER-grain pinning, whereas in all samples the intra-grain pinning has an enhancement below ∼40–45 K becoming more and more evident with increasing J c . These results suggest that the overall J c performance are not only related to the wire microstructure and connectivity, which obviously affect the INTER-grain properties, but they are also intimately related to the intrinsic and intra-grain properties such as γ and U 0 .

Physics↗

Creep-enhanced vortex pinning revealed through nonmonotonic relaxation of the Campbell length

Here, we study the effects of flux creep on the linear AC response of the vortex lattice in single crystals Ca 3 ⁢Ir 4 ⁢Sn 13 by measuring the Campbell penetration depth, 𝜆 C ⁡(𝑇,𝐻,𝑡) . Thermal fluctuations release vortices from shallow pinning sites, only for them to become re-trapped by deeper potential wells, causing an initial increase of the effective Labusch parameter, which is proportional to the pinning well curvature. This effect cannot be detected in conventional magnetic relaxation measurements but is revealed by our observation of a nonmonotonic time evolution of 𝜆 C ⁡(𝑇,𝐻,𝑡) , which directly probes the average curvature of the occupied pinning centers. The time evolution of 𝜆 C ⁡(𝑇,𝐻,𝑡) was measured at different temperatures in samples with different densities of pinning centers produced by electron irradiation. The curves can be collapsed together when plotted on a logarithmic time scale 𝑡 → 𝑇 ⁢ln ⁡(𝑡/𝑡 0 ) confirming that the time evolution is driven by flux creep. The 𝜆 C ⁡(𝑇,𝐻,𝑡) is hysteretic with a noticeable nonmonotonic relaxation in the presence of a vortex density gradient (after zero-field cooling), but is monotonic after field cooling, where the vortex density is uniform. This result quantitatively corroborates the novel picture of vortex creep based on the strong pinning theory.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Manipulation of individual superconducting vortices and stick-slip motion in periodic pinning arrays

We numerically examine the manipulation of superconducting vortices interacting with a moving trap representing a magnetic force tip translating across a superconducting sample containing a periodic array of pinning sites. As a function of the tip velocity and coupling strength, we find five distinct dynamic phases, including a decoupled regime where the vortices are dragged a short distance within a pinning site, an intermediate coupling regime where vortices in neighboring pinning sites exchange places, an intermediate trapping regime where individual vortices are dragged longer distances and exchange modes of vortices occur in the surrounding pins, an intermittent multiple trapping regime where the trap switches between capturing one or two vortices, and a strong coupling regime in which the trap permanently captures and drags two vortices. In some regimes we observe the counterintuitive behavior that slow moving traps couple less strongly to vortices than faster moving traps; however, the fastest moving traps are generally decoupled. The different phases can be characterized by the distances the vortices are displaced and the force fluctuations exerted on the trap. We find different types of stick-slip motion depending on whether vortices are moving into and out of pinning sites, undergoing exchange, or performing correlated motion induced by vortices outside of the trap. Finally, our results are general to the manipulation of other types of particle-based systems interacting with periodic trap arrays, such as colloidal particles or certain types of frictional systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Optical Flow Diagnostics of Counter Fluidization of Gravity-Driven Moving Packed Bed for a CSP Receiver Section Featuring Staggered Array of Cylindrical Pins

Particle fluidized beds have the potential to improve the efficiency of heat transfer in concentrated solar receiver furnace for use in next generation concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. This study presents an experimental investigation on the flow characterization of vertically downward moving packed bed with counter fluidization through an array of jets. To control the bubble size and its distribution in the bubbling fluidized bed, an array of cylindrical pin fins was arranged uniformly across the test article. The flow visualization was performed on the surface of transparent glass coated with electrically conductive materials for electrostatic dissipation purposes. The image acquisition was carried out via high-speed camera at a frequency of ~ 1kHz. The acquired images were analyzed in pairs with the help of a modern optical flow algorithm capable of calculating the movement of dense particle flow in the fluidized bed by tracking the light intensity of each predefined window of the frames. A comparison of fluidized beds with plane and pin-finned channels revealed distinct bubble behavior. Pin-finned channels were found to produce a larger number of small-sized bubbles, while plane channels generated fewer but larger bubbles at any given instant. The presence of pin fins was observed to reduce bubble size by preventing bubble merging and splitting larger bubbles when they encountered a pin.

concentrating solar power↗

Investigation of the decolorization efficiency of two pin-to-plate corona discharge plasma system for industrial wastewater treatment

In this article, a dual pin-to-plate high-voltage corona discharge system is introduced to study experimentally the gap distance, the contact time, the effect of pin and plate materials, the thickness of ground plate and the conductivity on the amount of Acid Blue 25 dye color removal efficiency from polluted water. A study for the optimum air gap distance between dual pin and surface of Acid Blue 25 dye solution is carried out using 3D-EM simulator to find maximum electric field intensity at the tip of both pins. The outcomes display that the best gap for corona discharge is approximately 5 mm for 15-kV source. This separation is constant during the study of other factors. In addition, an investigation of the essential reactive species responsible for oxidation of the dye organic compounds (O{sub 3} in air discharge, O{sub 3} in water, and H{sub 2}O{sub 2}) during the experimental time is conducted. Three various materials such as: stainless steel, copper and aluminum are used for pins and plate. The maximum color removal efficiencies of Acid Blue 25 dyes are 99.03, 82.04, and 90.78% after treatment time 15 min for stainless steel, copper, and aluminum, respectively. Measurement results for the impact of thickness of an aluminum ground plate on color removal competence show color removal efficiencies of 86.3, 90.78, and 98.06% after treatment time 15 min for thicknesses of 2, 0.5, and 0.1 mm, respectively. The increasing of the solution conductivity leads to the reduction of decolorization efficiency. A kinetic model is used to define the performance of corona discharge system. The models of pseudo-zero-order, pseudo-first-order, and pseudo-second-order reaction kinetics are utilized to investigate the decolorization of Acid Blue 25 dye. The rate of degradation of Acid Blue 25 dye follows the pseudo-first-order kinetics in the dye concentration.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Critical and Subcritical Californium Source Driven Noise Analysis Experiments with Fresh PWR Fuels Pins

These experiments were performed in 1983 between August 1 and September 16 and used 35 operational days of critical facility time at the Babcock & Wilcox critical facility in Lynchburg, Va. These measurements were to assess the capability of the Cf source driven noise analysis method to measure the subcriticality of light water reactor fresh fuel configurations. This report documents the experiments of 1983 that were not reported at that time. These measurement with 2.459 wt. % 235 U enriched uranium oxide fresh fuel pins started at the delayed critical configuration of the fully assembled pressurized water reactor (PWR) core configuration with 1511 parts per million (ppm) natural boron (19.8 wt. % 10 B) in the water. This was a cylindrical configuration of 4961 fuel pins. After the initial measurements at delayed criticality, subcritical measurements by the Cf source driven noise analysis method were performed in which the number of detectors and Cf source locations were varied. Additional boron was added to the water moderator and reflector to reduce the neutron multiplication factor, with resulting boron concentrations of 1561, 1613, 1765, 1880, 2104, 2384, 2975, 3606, and 4303 ppm. After the completion of these measurements the increased, the boron concentration was returned to that at delayed critical (1511 ppm) and the reactivity was decreased by reducing the number of fuel pins in steps to 3713, 2553, 1281, 749, and 333 fuel pins and then to that (289) of a s ingle square 17 x 17 pin array, corresponding to a single PW fuel element. For all measurement that started at delayed criticality and then reduced the neutron multiplication factor to various subcritical states, inverse kinetics rod drop measurements at the higher reactivities were also performed but not reported here. At all subcritical states the break frequency noise analysis data was fitted to obtain the prompt neutron decay constant. Some data presented in this report are from notes not in the logbook. The purpose of this report is to document the experimental information for the measurements performed so that a later date someone could perform the required uncertainty and calculational analyses and documentation to use these data for an International Nuclear Criticality Safety Benchmark Program (INCSBEP) or Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) benchmark. The data from these measurements is available from the Laboratory Records Department of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the logbook is available from INCSBEP at Idaho National Laboratory.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗