• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.12
• /
• pp.2760-2770
• /
• 2020

A model for calculation of fuel temperature profile using binary gas mixture of Helium and Xenon for gap gas conductance is proposed here. In this model, the temperature profile of a fuel pencil from fuel centreline to fuel surface has been calculated by taking into account the dilution of Helium gas filled during fuel manufacturing due to accumulation of fission gas Xenon. In this model an explicit calculation of gap gas conductance of binary gas mixture of Helium and Xenon has been carried out. A computer code Fuel Characteristics Calculator (FCCAL) is developed for the model. The phenomena modelled by FCCAL takes into account heat conduction through the fuel pellet, heat transfer from pellet surface to the cladding through the gap gas and heat transfer from cladding to coolant. The binary noble gas mixture model used in FCCAL is an improvement over the parametric model of Lassmann and Pazdera. The results obtained from the code FCCAL is used for fuel temperature calculation in 3-D neutron diffusion solver for the coolant outlet temperature of the core at steady operation at full power. It is found that there is an improvement in calculation time without compromising accuracy with FCCAL.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.330-338
• /
• 2023

In this study, impacts of an enhanced-moderation Fuel Assembly (FA) named Truly Optimized PWR (TOP) lattice, which is modified based on the standard 17 × 17 PWR FA, are investigated in a natural circulation Soluble-Boron-Free (SBF) Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Two different TOP lattice designs are considered for the analysis; one is with 1.26 cm pin pitch and 0.38 cm fuel pellet radius, and the other is with 1.40 cm pin pitch and 0.41 cm fuel pellet radius. The NuScale core design is utilized as the base model and assumed to be successfully converted to an SBF core. The analysis is performed following the primary coolant circulation loop, and the reactor is modelled as a single channel for thermal-hydraulic analyses. It is assumed that the ratio of the core pressure drop to the total system pressure drop is around 0.3. The results showed that the reactor power could be increased by 2.5% and 9.8% utilizing 1.26/0.38 cm and 1.40/0.41 cm TOP designs, respectively, under the identical coolant inlet and outlet temperatures as the constraints.

• Journal of Institute of Convergence Technology
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.61-65
• /
• 2014

Pressure distribution around rotating impeller blades in centrifugal pump has been main issue for design of efficient and high performance automotive water pump. In addition, pressure losses of inlet water pipes should be considered to reduce additional pressure drop and design high performance engine cooling system. In this paper, pressure distribution inside water pump and pressure drop between inlet and outlet of water pump are investigated numerically to design plastic water pump for clean diesel engine application. And the inlet geometry of water pump was considered to analysis the effect of inlet water pipe geometry on pressure distribution around impeller blades and outlet pressure. The prediction results are compared with experimental data to validate and determine optimal operation condition without water pump cavitation. Major design parameters such as blade angle, volute geometry, system pressure, and coolant flow rate are considered to confirm applying possibility of plastic blades to the clean diesel engine.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.124-132
• /
• 2007

The main objective of this work is to investigate the characteristics of a heat pump system for fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). The present heat pump system adopts an electrically driven compressor running with R134a and uses the heat from the fuel cell stack as the heat source for the exterior heat exchanger. The experimental work has been done with various operating conditions such as different compressor speeds, fuel cell stack coolant temperatures and flow rates. The heating capacity was measured to be from 4 to 10 kW at $-20^{\circ}C$ ambient temperature, and the outlet temperature of interior heat exchanger was up to $70^{\circ}C$. After 30 seconds from start-up, the system reached a steady state and the heating capacity of 6.8 kW was acquired, and after 90 seconds, the air outlet temperature of interior heat exchanger became $35^{\circ}C$.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.34 no.8
• /
• pp.1059-1065
• /
• 2010

An analysis was conducted to predict the hydraulic performance of a reactor coolant pump (RCP) of SMART at the off-design as well as design points. In order to reduce the analysis time efficiently, a single passage containing an impeller and a diffuser was considered as the computational domain. A stage scheme was used to perform a circumferential averaging of the flux on the impeller-diffuser interface. The pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the pump was determined and was used to compute the head, efficiency, and break horse power (BHP) of a scaled-down model under conditions of steady-state incompressible flow. The predicted curves of the hydraulic performance of an RCP were similar to the typical characteristic curves of a conventional mixed-flow pump. The complex internal fluid flow of a pump, including the internal recirculation loss due to reverse flow, was observed at a low flow rate.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.941-951
• /
• 2016

The aim of this work is to simulate the thermohydraulic consequences of a main steam line break and to compare the obtained results with Rossendorf Coolant Mixing Model (ROCOM) 1.1 experimental results. The objective is to utilize data from steady-state mixing experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations to determine the flow distribution and the effect of thermal mixing phenomena in the primary loops for the improvement of normal operation conditions and structural integrity assessment of pressurized water reactors. The numerical model of ROCOM was developed using the FLUENT code. The positions of the inlet and outlet boundary conditions and the distribution of detailed velocity/turbulence parameters were determined by preliminary calculations. The temperature fields of transient calculation were averaged in time and compared with time-averaged experimental data. The perforated barrel under the core inlet homogenizes the flow, and therefore, a uniform temperature distribution is formed in the pressure vessel bottom. The calculated and measured values of lowest temperature were equal. The inlet temperature is an essential parameter for safety assessment. The calculation predicts precisely the experimental results at the core inlet central region. CFD results showed a good agreement (both qualitatively and quantitatively) with experimental results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.44 no.7
• /
• pp.727-734
• /
• 2012

A new advanced safety feature of DVI+ (Direct Vessel Injection Plus) for the APR+ (Advanced Power Reactor Plus), to mitigate the ECC (Emergency Core Cooling) bypass fraction and to prevent switching an ECC outlet to a break flow inlet during a DVI line break, is presented for an advanced DVI system. In the current DVI system, the ECC water injected into the downcomer is easily shifted to the broken cold leg by a high steam cross flow which comes from the intact cold legs during the late reflood phase of a LBLOCA (Large Break Loss Of Coolant Accident)For the new DVI+ system, an ECBD (Emergency Core Barrel Duct) is installed on the outside of a core barrel cylinder. The ECBD has a gap (From the core barrel wall to the ECBD inner wall to the radial direction) of 3/25~7/25 of the downcomer annulus gap. The DVI nozzle and the ECBD are only connected by the ECC water jet, which is called a hydrodynamic water bridge, during the ECC injection period. Otherwise these two components are disconnected from each other without any pipes inside the downcomer. The ECBD is an ECC downward isolation flow sub-channel which protects the ECC water from the high speed steam crossflow in the downcomer annulus during a LOCA event. The injected ECC water flows downward into the lower downcomer through the ECBD without a strong entrainment to a steam cross flow. The outer downcomer annulus of the ECBD is the major steam flow zone coming from the intact cold leg during a LBLOCA. During a DVI line break, the separated DVI nozzle and ECBD have the effect of preventing the level of the cooling water from being lowered in the downcomer due to an inlet-outlet reverse phenomenon at the lowest position of the outlet of the ECBD.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.156-162
• /
• 2008

The condensation pressure drop for R-22 and R-410A flowing in a small diameter tube was investigated. The test section is a counterflow heat exchanger with refrigerant flowing in the inner tube and coolant flowing in the annulus. The test section consists of 1220 mm length with horizontal copper tube of 3.38 mm outer diameter and 1.77 mm inner diameter. The refrigerant mass fluxes ranged from 450 to $1050\;kg/m^2{\cdot}s$ and the average inlet and outlet qualities were 0.05 and 0.95, respectively. The main experimental results were summarized as follows : In the case of two-phase flow, the pressure drop increases with increasing mass flux and decreasing quality. The pressure drop of R-22 is slightly higher than that of R-410A for the same mass flux. Most of correlations proposed in the large diameter tube showed enormous deviations with experimental data.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.25-33
• /
• 2007

The investigation has been made into the prediction of heat exchange performance of a counter flow type double-tube condenser for natural refrigerant mixtures composed of Propane/n-Butane or Propane/i-Butane in a smooth tube and micro-fin tube. Under various heat transfer conditions, mass flux, pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient of the mixed refrigerants were calculated using a prediction method, when the length of condensing tube, total heat transfer rate, mass flux and outlet temperature of coolant were maintained constant. Also, the predicted results were compared with those of HCFC22. The results showed that the mixed refrigerants of Propane/n-Butane or Propane/i-Butane could be substituted for HCFC22, while the pressure drop and overall heat transfer coefficient of the refrigerants were evaluated together.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
• /
• v.10 no.1 s.40
• /
• pp.49-55
• /
• 2007

An 'Y' strainer type automatic flow rate regulating valve, which functions are to remove impurities from hot water inside the pipe and to maintain a constant flow rate regardless of variations of the differential pressure between valve inlet and outlet at the same time, is developed for distributing hot water equally to several pipes with district heating or central heating system. Numerical analysis of the three dimensional turbulent flow field in a valve shape is carried out to confirm the flow field whether the designed regulator shape is acceptable or not. The final developed valve improves installation time and cost and maintenance ability comparing with set-up 'Y' strainer and regulator separately. Tolerance for the nominal flow rate is also satisfied within ${\pm}5%$.