• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.811-818
• /
• 2018

A fire and explosion accident caused by a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) welding and cutting torch gas leak occurred 10 m underground at the site of reinforcement work for bridge columns, killing four people and seriously injuring ten. We conducted a comprehensive investigation into the accident to identify the fundamental causes of the explosion by analyzing the structure of the construction site and the properties of propane, which was the main component of LPG welding and cutting work used at the site. The range between the lower and upper explosion limits of leaking LPG for welding and cutting work was examined using Le Chatelier's formula; the behavior of LPG concentration change, which included dispersion and concentration change, was analyzed using the fire dynamic simulator (FDS). We concluded that the primary cause of the accident was combustible LPG that leaked from a welding and cutting torch and formed a explosion range between the lower and upper limits. When the LPG contacted the flame of the welding and cutting torch, LPG explosion occurred. The LPG explosion power calculation was verified by the blast effect computation program developed by the Department of Defense Explosive Safety Board (DDESB). According to the fire simulation results, we concluded that the welding and cutting torch LPG leak caused the gas explosion. This study is useful for safety management to prevent accidents caused by LPG welding and cutting work at construction sites.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.36-41
• /
• 2017

Aero gas turbine engines must demonstrate their ability to be ignited on ground conditions or relighted in flight. The electric spark ignition is usually used in current aero gas turbine engines. Experiments on ignition characteristics relating to spark igniter penetration depth under atmospheric pressure and temperature conditions were conducted on the model combustor which is scaled in 1/18. Exciter was operated during 2 seconds, and successful ignition phenomena were confirmed by the pressure rising sharply in combustor. In addition, instantaneous ignition images were captured by a high-speed camera. It showed kernel propagation and successful ignition events in the sector model combustor. Ignition test results showed that ignition limit with increase in penetration depth of the igniter plug was wider. When the penetration depth of the igniter plug increased under the same fuel injection pressure condition, successful ignition events were obtained in higher differential pressure conditions between inlet and outlet of the combustor. The results demonstrate that the ratio of the combustible mixture, which is exposed to the high temperature environment around the igniter plug tip, increases. Thereby affect the combustor ignition performance.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.9 no.3 s.28
• /
• pp.21-26
• /
• 2005

The flash points and the fire points are one of the most important combustible properties used to determine the potential for the fire and explosion hazards of flammable substances. In this study, the flash points of aromatic hydrocarbons, were measured by using Pensky-Martens Closed Cup apparatus(ASTM-D93) and Tag Open-Cup apparatus(ASTM D 1310-86). Also the fire points of aromatic hydrocarbons, were measured by using Tag Open-Cup apparatus. The measured flash points were in good agreement with reference values. The measured fire points compared with the estimated values based on 1.23 times stoichiometric concentration. The values calculated by the proposed equation were in agreement with measured values.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.23-28
• /
• 2017

The life management technology becomes important as the failure risk of the aged power transformers increases. Asset management technology, therefore, has been developed to evaluate the remaining life and build replacement strategies of power transformers, which enables an optimal investment decisions based on reliability and economic feasibility. The remaining life assessment technology uses data related to such as installation, operation, maintenance, refurbishment, and disposed history of power transformers. The optimal investment decision additionally uses data related to failure and social costs. To develop the asset management technology in power transformers, it is important to find deterioration parameters directly indicating degradation of power transformers. In this study, 110,000 DGA data during the past 35 years have been analyzed in order to find the deterioration parameters related to the degradation of power transformers. The alarm rates of combustible gases ($H_2$, $C_2H_2$, $C_2H_4$, $CH_4$, $C_2H_6$), TCG CO, and $CO_2$ were analyzed as deterioration parameters. The origin of the gas was discussed in connection with discharge, overheating and insulation aging.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.7 no.6
• /
• pp.8-16
• /
• 1999

In this study, a new type of laser-induced ignition using a conical cavity has been developed to utilize all the available incident laser energy. In the method, it is possibile to ignite combustible methane/air mixtures by directing a laser beam of a constant small diameter into a small conical cavity, without focusing the laser beam. Shadow graphs for the early stage of combustion process show that a hot gas jet is ejected from the cavity, especially with lean mixture. After a very show time, the hot gas jet finishes issuing and the flame behavior is quite similar to flame propagation initiated by a conventional spark ignition. The combustion process using the new method exhibits more rapid pressure increase and a higher maximum pressure rise than that of the center ignition using laser-induced spark, with significant decrease in the combustion time. Also, the new ignition method is numerically modeled to simulate the flame kernel development and subsequent combustion process using the KIVA-IIcode. The calculated results show satisfactory agreement with experimental results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.48-56
• /
• 2010

Performances of power generation engine were investigated with syngas from RPF. A stoker type, multi-staged pyrolysis-gasification system, was employed for syngas generation and the syngas was refined with the sequential cleaning processes composed of a gas cooler, a bag filter and a wet scrubber. 20 kWe commercial syngas power generation engine was adopted to burn the cleaned syngas which is mainly composed of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and methane. The performance of the engine was tested with various syngas compositions and the results were compared to LNG case. Electric power output, exhaust gas temperature, and emission characteristics were measured, and the efficiency of engine generation was investigated as a function of load of power generation.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 1997.11a
• /
• pp.357-360
• /
• 1997

Currently, there is a need for the development of an advanced new technology for Low-and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste (LILW) treatment from nuclear power plants. The vitrification and melting technology by the use of the electrical equipments such as induction heater and plasma torch based furnace, along with off-gas treatment are considered as the most promising one of the LILW treatment technology since they can produce a very stable waste forms as well as considerably large volume reduction, which is a world-wide trend to apply for radioactive waste treatment. Korea Electric Power Research Institute(KEPRI) has already completed a feasibility study on LILW treatment and conceptual system design of a demonstration plant to be constructed. For this research, KEPRI selected a cold crucible melter(CCM) for the vitrification of combustible waste, and plasma torch based furnace(PT) for the melting of noncombustible waste, along with off-gas treatment for the volatile radioisotopes such as cesium.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.35-40
• /
• 2014

For the safe handling of cyclopentanol, this study was investigated the explosion limits of cyclopentanol in the reference data. The flash points and AITs(auto-ignition temperatures) by ignition delay time were experimented. The lower flash point of cyclopentanol by using closed-cup cyclopentanol was experimented at $49^{\circ}C$. The lower flash points of cyclopentanol by using open cup tester was experimented at $59^{\circ}C$. This study measured relationship between the AITs and the ignition delay times by using ASTM E659 tester for cyclopentanol. The experimental AIT of cyclopentanol was at $363 ^{\circ}C$.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2011.11a
• /
• pp.92.1-92.1
• /
• 2011

Anode off-gas of high temperature fuel cells such as MCFC contains a significant amount of combustible components like hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane according to fuel utilization ratio of the fuel cell stack. Thus, it is important to fully burn anode off-gas and utilize the generated heat in order to increase system efficiency and reduce emissions as well. In the present study, 25 kW catalytic combustor has been developed for the application to a load-following 300kW MCFC system. Mixing and combustion characteristics have been experimentally investigated with the catalytic combustor. Since the performance of catalytic combustor directly depends on the combustion catalyst, this study has been focused on the experimental investigation on the combustion characteristics of multiple catalysts having different structures and compositions. Results show that the exhaust emissions are highly dependent on the catalyst loading and the ratio of catalytic components. Test results at load-following conditions are also shown in the present study.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.8
• /
• pp.1939-1950
• /
• 2019

The MELCOR code useful for a plant-specific hydrogen risk analysis has inevitable limitations in prediction of a turbulent flow of a hydrogen mixture. To investigate the accuracy of the hydrogen risk analysis by the MELCOR code, results for the turbulent gas behavior at pipe rupture accident were compared with CFX results which were verified by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) model. The postulated accident scenario was selected to be surge line failure induced by station blackout of an Optimized Power Reactor 1000 MWe (OPR1000). When the surge line failure occurred, the flow out of the surgeline was strongly turbulent, from which the MELCOR code predicted that a substantial amount of hydrogen could be released. Nevertheless, the results indicated nonflammable mixtures owing to the high steam concentration released before the failure. On the other hand, the CFX code solving the three-dimensional fluid dynamics by incorporating the turbulence closure model predicted that the flammable area continuously existed at the jet interface even in the rising hydrogen mixtures. In conclusion, this study confirmed that the MELCOR code, which has limitations in turbulence analysis, could underestimate the existence of local combustible gas at pipe rupture accident. This clear comparison between two codes can contribute to establishing a guideline for computational hydrogen risk analysis.