The invention relates in particular to a solid metallic component. This component (1) is particularly notable in that it comprises a core (5) and an external shell (3) which surrounds said core (5) in all directions, this core (5) and this shell (3) being made of different grades of steel, the steel of said core (5) having martensite and bainite critical cooling rates lower than those of the steel or steels of said shell (3).

A power conversion system for converting thermal energy from a heat source to electricity is provided. The system includes a chamber including an inner shroud having an inlet and an outlet and defining an internal passageway between the inlet and the outlet through which a working fluid passes. The chamber also includes an outer shroud substantially surrounding the inner shroud. The chamber includes a source heat exchanger disposed in the internal passageway, the source heat exchanger being configured to receive a heat transmitting element associated with the heat source external to the chamber, and to transfer heat energy from the heat transmitting element to the working fluid. The system also includes a compressor disposed adjacent the inlet of the inner shroud and configured to transfer energy from the compressor to the working fluid, and an expander disposed adjacent the outlet of the inner shroud.

A steam generator that reduces the thermal and hydraulic unevenness in the steam generator, improves the filling capacity of the steam generator with heat exchange tubes, organizes an economizer portion of the heat exchange surface in the steam generator, and reduces the concentration of corrosive impurities in the weld zone of the primary circuit to the horizontal shell. To solve the task in such steam generator containing the horizontal shell and other component, the heat exchange tubes are located in vertical planes, and the inlet and outlet manifolds of the primary circuit are arranged horizontally. The steam generator can also be equipped with at least two output manifolds of the primary circuit furthers, the feed water dispenser can be located below the heat exchange tubes of the steam generator.

A power conversion system for converting thermal energy from a heat source to electricity. The system includes a chamber including a shroud having an inlet and an outlet and defining an internal passageway through which an environmental working fluid passes. The chamber includes a source heat exchanger disposed in the internal passageway. The source heat exchanger is configured to receive a heat transmitting element associated with the heat source which is external to the chamber, and to transfer heat energy from the heat transmitting element to the working fluid. The system also includes a compressor adjacent the inlet, an expander adjacent the outlet, and a generator. The compressor can suction the working fluid into the system from an external environment. The expander can convert thermal energy of the heated working fluid into rotative energy. The generator can convert the rotative energy into electricity.

A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for inspecting a core shroud having an outer surface may include: a body configured to be operatively connected to a tether; and/or a sensor, configured to be operatively connected to the body, and configured to provide inspection information of the shroud. The tether may be configured to provide vertical position information for the ROV relative to the outer surface. A system for inspecting a core shroud may include: a trolley; an arm; the tether; and/or the ROV. The arm may be configured to be operatively connected to the trolley. The ROV may be configured to be operatively connected to the arm via the tether. A method for inspecting a core shroud may include: installing a system for inspecting the shroud on the shroud; driving the system horizontally around the shroud; and/or using a sensor of the system to inspect the shroud.

Disclosed herein is a method including: performing eddy current testing on a steam generator tube material by using a motorized rotating pancake coil (MRPC) probe, evaluating a test signal measured using the eddy current testing, and predicting the corrosion rate of the steam generator tube material from a noise value in the MRPC inspection signal of the steam generator tube obtained from the evaluating. When the prediction method of a corrosion rate of a steam generator tube according to the present invention is used, the steam generator tube material which has low corrosion rate can be selected at the material selecting step because the corrosion rate can be predicted and the criterions on the corrosion rate of the steam generator tube can be established as the requirements through an eddy current MRPC noise inspection of the steam generator tube material.

A welding method for making cladding or buttering on an inner surface of a base material, an inner surface of an opening portion formed in the base material, and the cut surface formed in such a manner that the cut surface is continuous from the inner surface of the base material to the inner surface of the opening portion, wherein the welding method includes a step of forming a protruding portion on the base material in advance, the protruding portion including a temporary welding surface extending toward the center of the opening portion in such a manner that the temporary welding surface is uniformly continuous to the inner surface of the base material and including the cut surface buried therein.

A steam generator includes a shroud and an annular stepwise helical baffle extending along at least part of a length of the shroud. There is a riser located in a central region of the steam generator. The helical baffle is made up of at least one annuler sector of flat plates. The edges of the flat plates may be straight or corrugated.

A manipulator configured to navigate a heat exchanger including a plurality of tubes extending through a tubesheet is disclosed herein, the manipulator including a first end effector, a second end effector, and an articulation assembly. The first end effector is configured to accommodate an instrument configured to service the heat exchanger and includes a first actuator configured to extend a first gripper into a tube of the plurality of tubes. The second end effector includes a second actuator configured to extend a second gripper into a tube of the plurality of tubes. The first and second gripper are configured to secure the manipulator to the tubesheet, and, when the second gripper is securing the manipulator to the tubesheet, the articulation assembly is configured to enable the first end effector to move relative to the second end effector in a plane that is parallel to the tubesheet.

The group of inventions refers to heat exchange machinery. The device includes a tank with an outlet fitting and a steam source, a deaerator column with a cover and water inlet and vapor blowdown fittings located on the same, containing lower and upper deaeration sections. Each section includes pressure and distribution trays forming a jet chamber in the space between them, and random element packing. Deaeration sections are separated by a hydraulic seal formed by the edge of the upper section pressure tray and the projection connected to the deaerator column cover. The water inlet and vapor blowdown fittings are located inside the hydraulic seal projection with openings in it. The lower edges of the openings are located higher than the upper edge of the hydraulic seal by a value exceeding the sum of overflow height of the coolant over the edge and hydraulic resistance of the hydraulic seal channel. The total cross section of the openings is determined by equality of steam pressure in the blowdown fitting and in the space inside the hydraulic seal projection. This increases the operation reliability.