RESUMEN
In the context of lifetime extension of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), electric cable ageing has to be checked to evaluate their performance during normal operation. These electric cables are complex materials, with a conductor and insulating shield in the metal and insulating layer and sheath in the polymer; the most sensitive layer is commonly considered to be the insulating layer. The ageing mechanism upon irradiation under oxidative conditions has been evaluated using gas mass spectrometry and the first conclusions have been drawn. Nonetheless, the data obtained are very numerous and complex; thus, the objective of this new article regards these experimental results using mathematical tools. It allowed confirmation of all the results obtained on these materials, but using chemometrics, i.e., statistical/mathematical analyses, of the results. Using these powerful mathematical tools gives strength to the analyses realised and to the conclusions obtained.
RESUMEN
Cables, especially their insulation and jacket materials made of polymers, are vulnerable to ageing degradation during normal operation. However, they must remain functional for the entire life of a nuclear power plant, or even in the event of an accident for cables with a safety requirement. This study focuses on models of crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE)-based insulation of cables and deals with the structure modification and the behavior of XLPE for nuclear applications due to the effect of additives. Various additives are added to the polymer formulation to evaluate their impact on ageing. The samples are irradiated at room temperature by several gamma doses, up to 374 kGy, with two dose rates (40 Gy/h and 300 Gy/h) and compared with a non-irradiated sample used as reference. To understand the impact of gamma irradiation on the materials, the principal component analysis (PCA) method is applied on spectra recorded through attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The results highlight the effects of ageing depending on the dose rate and on the formulation of the materials, with the identification of different degradation products. A curve resolution study compares the effects of different additives on polymer oxidation and shows that the low dose rate leads to a higher degradation than the high dose rate.
RESUMEN
The effects of radiation on polymeric materials are a topic of concern in a wide range of industries including the sterilization, and the nuclear power industry. While much work has concentrated on systems like polyolefins that are radiation sterilized, some work has been done on epoxy systems. The epoxy system studied is an epoxy/amine paint which is representative of the paint that covers the inner surfaces of the French nuclear reactor containment buildings. In case of a severe accident on a Nuclear Power Plant, fission products can be released from the nuclear fuel to the reactor containment building. Among them, volatile iodine (I2) can be produced and can interact with the epoxy-paint. This paint is also subjected to gamma radiation damages (due to the high dose in the containment coming from radionuclides released from the fuel). So the epoxy-paint studied was exposed to gamma radiation under air atmosphere after being loaded with I2 or not. The aim of this study is to characterize by FTIR spectroscopy the iodine-paint interactions, then to identify the radiation damages on the epoxy-paint, and to check their effects on these iodine-paint interactions. This work shows the potential of multi-block analysis method (ANOVA-PCA and COMDIM = AComDim) for such a study as it allows to identify the nature of iodine/epoxy-paint interactions and to characterize the gamma radiation damages on the epoxy-paint. AComDim method conduces to the extraction of Common Components to different tables and highlights factors of influence and their interactions.
RESUMEN
The characterization of heavy fuel oils (HFOs), used as fuel for boats, requires the analysis of various properties that are essential for engine optimization and pollution control. For some time, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometric treatment of the spectra was used for on-line analysis. This preliminary study included 61 heavy fuels from Europe, America, and Asia with different specifications according to their geographical origin; their refining process; and their physicochemical properties, including density, flash point, viscosity, and sulfur content. We have developed a new method for sampling heavy fuels on a fiberglass cell support. This support offers the advantages of speed, easy implementation, repeatable results, and freedom from problems associated with tank cleaning. Two sample presentations, an integrating sphere and an optical fiber, were used to collect the NIR spectra. A theoretical study of the choice of the value of resolution, scan number, and spectral region was conducted. The best conditions were chosen as a function of the quality of quantitative analysis results on viscosity, sulfur content, flash point, and density. The two collecting methods were compared on the same criteria.
RESUMEN
Lubricant oils are complex mixtures of base oils and additives. The evolution of their performance over time strongly depends on its resistance to thermal oxidation. Sulfur compounds revealed interesting antioxidant properties. This study presents a method to evaluate the lubricant oil oxidation. Two samples, a synthetic and a paraffinic base oils, were tested pure and supplemented with seven different sulfur compounds. An aging cell adapted to a Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR) spectrometer allows the continuous and direct analysis of the oxidative aging of base oils. Two approaches were applied to study the oxidation/anti-oxidation phenomena. The first one leads to define a new oxidative spectroscopic index based on a reduced spectral range where the modifications have been noticed (from 3050 to 2750 cm(-1)). The second method is based on chemometric treatments of whole spectra (from 4000 to 400 cm(-1)) to extract underlying information. A SIMPLe-to-use Interactive Self Modeling Analysis (SIMPLISMA) method has been used to identify more precisely the chemical species produced or degraded during the thermal treatment and to follow their evolution. Pure spectra of different species present in oil were obtained without prior information of their existence. The interest of this tool is to supply relative quantitative information reflecting evolution of the relative abundance of the different products over thermal aging. Results obtained by these two ways have been compared to estimate their concordance.