Antonio Pedrero González

Validation of TRACE in the Field of Liquid Metal Heat Transfer

The validation of system codes like TRACE is an ongoing task especially in areas with limited or almost no application like liquid metal flow. Therefore, extensive validation efforts are necessary to increase the confidence in the code predictions. TRACE has been successfully validated and applied to lead-alloy cooled systems. The results gained with lead-alloy coolants could be extrapolated to other liquid metals with the necessary care. Nevertheless, dedicated investigations with the different liquid metals are mandatory to confirm the extrapolations. In the present case, the validation work focuses on liquid metal heat transfer in pipes and rod bundles under forced convection. To take advantage of a greater data base, several liquid metals have been implemented into the code. In addition, new coolants allow supporting analysis of liquid metals loops which are in the design or construction stage. Concerning the validation, several experiments have been found, conducted by other investigators, which are modeled with the modified TRACE version. The results indicate that the chosen heat transfer models for pipe and bundle flow are applicable. In case of deviations, physical sound reasons can be provided to explain them.Copyright

Arterial Blood Pressure Regulation by Means of Simultaneous Infusion of Glycerine Trinitrate and Sodium Nitroprusside: Closed Loop Controller Description

Abstract This paper describes an infusion controller [1] that applies a rule-based algorithm incorporating fuzzy-logic elements. The closed-loop system simultaneously controls the infusion rate of two pumps, one containing Glycerine Trinitrate and the other Sodium Nitroprusside. The equipment is indicated for Arterial Blood Pressure regulation in the case of patients that face a potential hazard of hypertension in the ICU, and must be surveilled during long control periods. The equipment is an upgraded version of a previous controller of SNP alone [2,3]. The system models the decision-making ability of the expert, instead of trying to model the patient’s physiologic dynamics. Control steps relate last historical registered MAP values as well as the evolution of the infusion rates of each drug with time. The automatic optimization of the infusion rates of each drug is achieved by an integrated hardware-software closed-loop controller implemented as a small, bedside device. The equipment has been developed under a collaboration agreement between ‘La Paz’ Hospital of Madrid and the Industrial Engineering School of Madrid.