April 05, 2010
China's Nuclear Power Industry
China's economy grew an astounding 8.7 percent in 2009. How will they continue to power such growth? Nuclear energy is a very large part of the plan.
China is forging ahead with an ambitious plan to expand its nuclear energy capacity over the next decade. According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), they plan an increase in nuclear capacity to at least 60 Gigawatts or possibly more by 2020, and an even more substantial increase to 160 Gigawatts by 2030. This expansion will make China the world's second largest consumer of uranium following the United States.
Mainland China currently has 11 nuclear power reactors in commercial operation, 20 under construction, and more starting construction soon. Additional reactors are being planned, including some of the most advanced in the world.
China's operational reactors were constructed using a variety of designs from Canada, France and Russia, as well as its own designs. According to the WNA, China is rapidly becoming self-sufficient in reactor design and construction, as well as other aspects of the fuel cycle.
Times Online 1/21/2010; Reuters 12/10/09, D. Stanway; World Nuclear Assn. 2
AFT in Action
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AFT software is used by several leading Chinese nuclear engineering companies to design, analyze and optimize their pipe flow projects. Our success in this industry is due, in part, to recommendations made by American nuclear power companies to their peers in China about the advantages of using AFT software.
Since applying AFT software in our daily work, we have improved our efficiency... we have saved a large amount of cost in this project by optimizing the system using AFT software. We appreciate this partnership with them!" Tao Zhiwei, Thermal Engineer, CNPEC |
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Global Partners
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Richard's goal for AECsoft is to introduce the most advanced engineering software to China. He believes that providing high quality, prompt support and effective training is the key to long term success.
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AFT Seminars -
China As part of a series of pipe flow technology seminars in China, AFT President Trey Walters delivered a three day presentation to a group of thirty-nine engineers in November 2009. The seminar, hosted by AECsoft, was held in Beijing and the attendees traveled from many locations across China to participate. Interest was strong, with industries represented that included power (nuclear and fossil), oil and gas, liquid natural gas, and marine. Shown below are Trey Walters and Richard Wang (first row, near center) and the seminar participants.
Tip of the Month- Building Multiple Models
Fathom, Arrow, Mercury, Impulse, Titan
Did you know that you can have multiple, disconnected system models within the work space simultaneously? This tip has many uses, including facilitating parametric modeling. For example, you're modeling a system with a defined supply flow and want to evaluate the results for various supply flow rates. After building the model:
- Select the whole model (Edit/Select All)
- Duplicate it (Edit/Duplicate) as many times as desired
For each instance specify a different supply flow and, after running the model, you can compare results for the different supply flows within the same Output window. To make it easier to compare the elements in each of the models you create, try this:
- Select the whole model (Edit/Select All)
- Duplicate it using the special option (Edit/Duplicate Special)
- Choose: Increment All Pipes and Junction Numbers By: 100 (for example)
You can do this for as many variations as you like. Pipe 1 in the first model becomes Pipe 101 in the second model, Pipe 201 in the third, etc. Use a larger increment based on your numbering scheme.