• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.17 no.7
• /
• pp.54-62
• /
• 2016

The most efficient system for converting heat to electricity, AMTEC (Alkali Metal Thermal-to-Electric Convertor), is a device that directly converts heat energy to electricity using an alkali metal (sodium) as the working fluid. The AMTEC consists of a low pressure chamber, high pressure chamber, BASE (Beta-Alumina Solid Electrolyte), and artery wick. The main heat loss of the AMTEC system occurs in the low pressure chamber. A high power generation rate is thought to be obtainable by using a high temperature in the BASE. Therefore, to reduce the radiation heat loss, 6 types of radiation shields were examined to reduce the radiative heat loss in the low pressure chamber. The power generation rate of the AMTEC varied depending on the shape of the radiation shield. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analyses were carried out to optimize the shape of the radiation shield. As a result, the optimum radiation shield was found to consist of a curvature formed at the vertical point, in which case the dimensionless temperature (condenser temperature/BASE temperature) is approximately 0.665 and the maximum power generated is calculated to be 17.69W. Increasing the distance beween the BASE and condenser leads to an increase in the power generated, and the power generated with the longest distance was 17.58 W. The shields with multiple holes and multiple horizontal layers showed power reduction rates of 0.91 W and 2.06 W, respectively.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.37 no.8
• /
• pp.836-842
• /
• 2013

In this paper, the 20 kW Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion(OTEC) is newly proposed in order to select the refrigerant that makes the cycle performance be optimized and the performance of 20 kW OTEC applying 15 pure refrigerants and 16 mixed refrigerants is analyzed. The efficiency of system, the mass flow of working fluids and TPP, which is new concepts, are analyzed. In view of cycle efficiency, R32/R152a (87:13) is the highest efficiency among the refrigerants. At the mass flow of working fluid to make the 20 kW electricity, R717 is shown as the lowest value. And in view of TPP in this study, R32/R134a 70:30 is the most optimized refrigerant. The analysis can confirm that the refrigerant is different along with the part of the system, so it is necessary to select the optimized refrigerant for 20 kW OTEC.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.36-43
• /
• 2017

The results of a numerical study on the performance of a propeller operating near a free surface are presented in this paper. The simulations are verified through comparison with experimental data, which was performed in a circulating water channel. The propeller performance as a function of the submerged depth was investigated. The effect of the propeller advance ratio on the wave patterns, flow structures around propeller, and thrust and torque of the propeller was also studied. Air ventilation was not observed for low advance coefficients. However, the simulations showed that wave pattern was strongly related to the tip vortex strength and inflow velocity. When air ventilation does not occur, the deduction of propeller thrust and torque increase for high advance coefficients.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.320-327
• /
• 2006

Numerical analysis and experimental study are performed to investigate the effect of heat load and operating temperature on the thermal performance of several variable conductance heat pipe (VCHP) with screen meshed wick. The heat pipe is designed in 200 screen meshes, 500 mm length and 12.7 mm outer diameter tube of copper, water (4.8 g) is used as working fluid and nitrogen as non-condensible gas (NCG). Heat pipe used in this study has evaporator, condenser and adiabatic section, respectively. Analysis values and experimental data of wall temperature distribution along axial length are presented for heat transport capacity, condenser cooling water temperature change, degrees of an inclination angle and operating temperature. These analysis and experiment give the follow findings: For the same charging mass of working fluid, the operating temperature of heat pipe becomes to be high with the increasing of charging mass of NCG. When the heat flux at the evaporator section increases, the vapor pressure in the pipe rises and consequently compresses the NCG to the condenser end part and increases the active length of the condenser. From previous process, it is found out we can control the operating temperature effectively and also the analysis and experimental results are relatively coincided well.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.1311-1319
• /
• 1990

For the purpose of preventing the flow undulation in the cascade of steam turbine, the blades are made into a constant expansion rate in static pressure. And the flow in those cascades is transonic or supersonic in the range of 0.7-2.0 in Mach number. As a consequence, an oblique shock wave, known as inner or outer edge shock wave, arises in the flow of cascades. Especially when the steam in cascades is in a state of high wetness, nonequilibrium condensation and condensation shock wave occur, and they give rise to an interference with oblique shock wave. In the present study the case of expansion of moist air through a supersonic nozzle of constant expansion rate, which behaves similar to that of wet steam, was adopted. The effect of nonequilibrium condensation on the oblique shock wave generated by placing the wedge into the supersonic part of the nozzle was investigated. Furthermore, the relationship between nonequilibrium condensation zone and incident point of the oblique shock wave, oblique shock wave angle, the variations of angles of incident and reflected shock waves due to the variation of initial stagnation supersaturation and the relationship between the height of Mach stem and initial stagnation supersaturation are discussed.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.59-66
• /
• 2003

A novel application of nano-technology in the field of engineering, called colloidal damper, is investigated. This device is complementary to the hydraulic damper, having a cylinder-piston construction. Particularly for colloidal damper, the hydraulic oil is replacedby a colloidal suspension, which is consisted from a nano-porous matrix with controlled architecture and a lyophobic fluid. In this experimental work, the porous matrix is composed from silica gel, with labyrinth architecture, coated by organo-silicones substances in order to achieve a hydrophobic surface. Water is considered as associated lyophobic fluid. The colloidal damper test rig and the measuring technique of the hysteresis are described. the influence of the hydrophobicity level upon the colloidal damper hysteresis is investigated, for silica gels with similar pores distribution. A certain desired shape of the hysteresis can be achieved by employing mixture of silica gels with different level of hydrophobicity and/or architecture. With these results, it is believed that the proposed damper can be designed and be applied to the desired structure.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2010.11a
• /
• pp.170-170
• /
• 2010

The energy conversion from the temperature difference between hot and cold source like ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), requires a long and large-diameter pipe (about 1000 to 10,000 meters long) to reach the deep water. The pipe diameter ranges from 2.8 meter for proposed early test systems, to 5 meter for large, commercial power generation systems. The pipe must be designed to resist collapsing pressures produced by water temperature and density differences, and the reduced pressure required to induce flow up the pipe. Other design considerations include the external-drag effect on the pipe due to ocean currents, and the wave-induced motions of the platform to which the pipe is attached. Various approaches to the pipe construction have been proposed, including aluminum, steel, concrete, and fiberglass. More recently, a flexible pipe construction involving the use of fiberglass reinforced plastic has been proposed. This report presents the results of a scaled fixed cold water pipe (CWP) model test program performed by EES(Engineering Equation Solver) to demonstrate the feasibility of this pipe approach.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.230-239
• /
• 2010

Mechanical face seal installed in boiler feedwater pump prevents leakage of working fluid using thin fluid film between stator and rotor. If the leakage of working fluid exceeds the allowable volume, serious malfunction of boiler feedwater pump will be happen. The thinner fluid film exists between stator and rotor, the less working fluid leaks out. However, if the thickness of fluid film is not enough, the wear of seal face will be increased. And it causes the decrease in life of mechanical face seal. Therefore appropriate design is necessary to maximize the performance and life of mechanical face seal. In this study, numerical analysis using finite volume method was conducted to investigate the static characteristics of wavy mechanical face seals which have 4 different wavy surface profiles on rotor. As a result, opening force, leakage volume of working fluid and friction torque were obtained. For the same minimum film thickness, the static characteristics of mechanical face seal were affected by the wavy surface profile which can change the thickness of working fluid film and pressure distribution.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
• /
• 2008.11a
• /
• pp.281-285
• /
• 2008

Effective use of available energy sources is of general concern along with the issues of global warming and unstable oil price. As one of the effort to recover waste heat from industrial facilities effectively, researchers have interest in a technology called organic Rankine cycle(ORC), in which the working fluid is some organic liquid instead of water. Known to have poor efficiency already, this old technology is considered to give an innovative solution to utilizing low grade energy sources, by improving the efficiency. Nano fluidics, coatings and the use of additives are the examples of these efforts. In the present study, we present simulated performance of a horizontal tube type condenser geometry. N-hexanr and isopentane are compared to water vapor case under 1 atm and the inet cooling water temperature of $20^{\circ}C$. EES(Engineering Equations Solver) is used for the present work.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Mechanical Technology
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.81-88
• /
• 2011

The triple eccentric butterfly valve has metal sheet and this study about butterfly valve ceiling is an innovative approach. But it is affected by the static pressure as well as cross-current. The damage at the valve on the pipe resulted from the reflux is due to valve leakage. This study is investigated on the triple eccentric disk and it is applied with angle and the static pressure in all cases to develop cross-current triple eccentric butterfly valves. The disc with the diameter of 300A is valve against flow velocity. The entrance pressure by flow characteristics is performed with numerical analysis. As the result, valve torque production is reduced more than the conventional triple eccentric valve and entrance pressure is decreased on the increase of valve open angle. And flow coefficient can be known to be increased.