• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.129-135
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• 2016

There have been many types of development and commercialization efforts for superconducting power applications with the continuous development of High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) conductors. In particular, HTS power cables are going to be commercialized in real power grids. A cryogenic refrigeration system should be used to keep it below 77 K, and its required cooling capacity continuously increases as the unit length of the HTS power cable increases. Among the many kinds of cryogenic refrigerator, a reverse Brayton refrigerator that uses turbo expanders is a promising refrigerator due to its efficiency and reliability. Among the various components in refrigerators, the cryogenic turbo-expander is the most important part for increasing efficiency and assuring reliability. The design of a 300 W class turbo-expander is described in this paper prior to the development of a 10 kW class turbo expander, which is the required capability for the commercialization of a HTS power cable. The impeller shape and rotation speed are determined based on the cycle analysis. The Eigen frequency and harmonic analysis are conducted with gas bearings at cryogenic temperatures to determine the operational stability.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.422-424
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• 2002

The accuracy of DXA(Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) highly depends on the detection and separation capability of dual energy X-ray X-ray photons. In addition both of scan time and patient exposure are affected by detection efficiency. A CZT detector with a good energy resolution and high detection efficiency was evaluated for the application of bone densitometry. Its performance was compared to a photomultiplier tube with a NaI(T1) scintillator in terms of energy resolution, detection efficiency and the accuracy of bone mineral density measurement. The comparison study was performed with CZT detector and PM tube using DXA equipments(OSTEO Plus, OSTEO Prima, ISOL Technology). The energy spectrum was acquired using MCA(Multi-Channel Analyzer). The used X-ray energy ranged from 20keV to 86keV. The MCA result of the CZT detector showed a slightly sharper energy spectrum than that of NaI(T1). Detection efficiency of the CZT detector at 59.5keV was 1.4 times better. Remarkably the final results of bone mineral density measurements demonstrate only less than 1% difference. The CZT detector appears to have many benefits for the application of bone densitometry. Its excellent energy resolution can enhance the counting accuracy of dual energy X-ray spectrum. Furthermore its compactness in physical dimension and no cooling requirement will be additional benefits for a more compact and accurate bone densitometer.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.307-314
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• 1998

A novel high power factor Dual Half Bridge Series Resonant Inverter (DHB-SRI) for an induction heating appliance with multiple loads is proposed to remove the interferential acoustic noise caused by the difference between operating frequencies of adjacent loads. The circuit enables independent full power range control of two induction heating elements by one inverter circuit and has minimum switching losses due to the zero voltage switching characteristic. According to the mode analysis, I will explain the operation of the proposed circuit. To evaluate the required cooling capacity, loss analysis is performed through deriving some loss equations. In order to obtain the power factor correction capability and to lessen the system size, suitable design guides are given. Using the designed values, the proto-type circuit with 2.8kW power consumption for each induction heating element is built and tested to verify the operation of the proposed circuit.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.73-80
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• 2014

This study introduces and analyzes the geothermal energy availability in Non-active volcanic region. Jeju island in Korea is situated in non-active volcanic region. The island is composed of rock with high pore and clinker, scoria geological layer formed by volcanic activity about two million ago. Volcanic geological layers with porous characteristics have air, vapor, water and a underground structure through which air or water can move easily. For this reason, it is probable that the mechanism of energy acquisition is by convective heat transfer. For this presumption, the availability of underground air as energy source has been studied here through theoretical analysis and experimental data. The energy output of our system ranged from 2,485,076 kJ/day to 4,060,978 kJ/day monitored using variable velocity air flow controller. Our system has capability to be a reliable energy source irrespective of environmental changes. Consequently, underground air can be utilized for energy source and provide the optimal design of heating/cooling system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.881-892
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• 2016

Following the Fukushima accident and its extended station blackout, attention was brought to the importance of the spent fuel pools' (SFPs) behavior in case of a prolonged loss of the cooling system. Since then, many analytical works have been performed to estimate the timing of hypothetical fuel uncovery for various SFP types. Experimentally, however, little was done to investigate issues related to the formation of a flammable gas mixture, distribution, and stratification in the SFP building itself and to some extent assess the capability for the code to correctly predict it. This paper presents the main outcomes of the Experiments on Spent Fuel Pool (ESFP) project carried out under the auspices of Swissnuclear (Framework 2012-2013) in the PANDA facility at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland. It consists of an experimental investigation focused on hydrogen concentration build-up into a SFP building during a predefined scaled scenario for different venting positions. Tests follow a two-phase scenario. Initially steam is released to mimic the boiling of the pool followed by a helium/steam mixture release to simulate the deterioration of the oxidizing spent fuel. Results shows that while the SFP building would mainly be inerted by the presence of a high concentration of steam, the volume located below the level of the pool in adjacent rooms would maintain a high air content. The interface of the two-gas mixture presents the highest risk of flammability. Additionally, it was observed that the gas mixture could become stagnant leading locally to high hydrogen concentration while steam condenses. Overall, the experiments provide relevant information for the potentially hazardous gas distribution formed in the SFP building and hints on accident management and on eventual retrofitting measures to be implemented in the SFP building.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.120-130
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• 2013

A study was conducted for the performance characteristics of methane taking recently the limelight in the world as a next-generation propellant, with the survey for state of the art in the development of methane/oxygen rocket engine being accompanied. Liquid methane as a rocket fuel has the favorable characteristics such as non-toxic, low cost, regenerative cooling capability, and potential for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The combination of liquid methane and liquid oxygen also provides the excellent performance including high specific impulse and low system mass. For these reasons, many researches have been actively carried out on the methane/oxygen engine, nevertheless, its technology readiness level is not that high enough just yet. Therefore, it is judged that it is the time to mitigate the technical gap with the space technology of advanced countries through a swift onset of the development of methane rocket engine.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 1989

Numerous losses of decay heat removal capability have occurred at U during stutodwn while its significance to safety is needless to say. A study is carried out as an attempt to assess what could be done to lower the frequency of these events and to mitigate their consequences in the unlikely event that one occurs. The shutdown risk model is developed and analyzed using Event/Fault Tree for the typical pressurized water reactor. The human cognitive reliability (HCR) model, two-stage bayesian approach and staircase function model are used to estimate human reliability, initiating event frequency and offsite power non-recovery probability given loss of offsite power, respectively. The results of this study indicate that the risk of a Pm at shutdown is not much lower than the risk when the plant is operating. By examining the dominant accident sequences obtained, several design deficiencies are identified and it is found that some proposed changes lead to significant reduction in core damage frequency due to loss of cooling events.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.306-313
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• 2019

Owing to the present problems of air pollution and fossil fuel exhaustion, ongoing research has been actively focused on developing an electric actuator system that can utilize diverse energy sources without producing any exhaust gas. Since the motors of such electric vehicles generally rotate at a high speed, the initial acceleration capability required for an automobile is insufficient. In this study, the motor output was decelerated by the transmission; the initial acceleration of the vehicle was increased, and the motor size and weight were reduced. The driving motor and transmission, which each form isolated structures, were integrated to simplify the connector for input and output. By reducing the cooling system's capacity, a vehicle was designed and manufactured that represents a structural change in effective technology.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.12
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• pp.2789-2802
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• 2020

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are attracting wide attention due to their outstanding performance, extensive studies have been carried out for lead-based fast reactors (LFRs) that cooled with Lead or Lead-bismuth (LBE), and small modular natural circulation LFR is one of the promising candidates for SMRs and LFRs development. One of the challenges for the design small modular natural circulation LFR is to master the natural circulation thermal-hydraulic performance in the reactor primary circuit, while the natural circulation characteristics is a coupled thermal-hydraulic problem of the core thermal power, the primary loop layout and the operating state of secondary cooling system etc. Thus, accurate predicting the natural circulation LFRs thermal-hydraulic features are highly required for conducting reactor operating condition evaluate and Thermal hydraulic design optimization. In this study, a thermal-hydraulic analysis code is developed for small modular natural circulation LFRs, which is based on several mathematical models for natural circulation originally. A small modular natural circulation LBE cooled fast reactor named URANUS developed by Korea is chosen to assess the code's capability. Comparisons are performed to demonstrate the accuracy of the code by the calculation results of MARS, and the key thermal-hydraulic parameters agree fairly well with the MARS ones. As a typical application case, steady-state analyses were conducted to have an assessment of thermal-hydraulic behavior under nominal condition, and several parameters affecting natural circulation were evaluated. What's more, two characteristics parameters that used to analyze natural circulation LFRs natural circulation capacity were established. The analyses show that the core thermal power, thermal center difference and flow resistance is the main factors affecting the reactor natural circulation. Improving the core thermal power, increasing the thermal center difference and decreasing the flow resistance can significantly increase the reactor mass flow rate. Characteristics parameters can be used to quickly evaluate the natural circulation capacity of natural circulation LFR under normal operating conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.3879-3891
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• 2021

A heat pipe residual heat removal system is proposed to be incorporated into the reactor driven subcritical (RDS) facility, which has been proposed by MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory for testing and demonstrating the Fluoride-salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHR). It aims to reduce the risk of the system operation after the shutdown of the facility. One of the main components of the system is an air-cooled heat pipe heat exchanger. The alkali-metal high-temperature heat pipe was designed to meet the operation temperature and residual heat removal requirement of the facility. The heat pipe model developed in the previous work was adopted to simulate the designed heat pipe and assess the heat transport capability. 3D numerical simulation of the subcritical facility active zone was performed by the commercial CFD software STAR CCM + to investigate the operation characteristics of this proposed system. The thermal resistance network of the heat pipe was built and incorporated into the CFD model. The nominal condition, partial loss of air flow accident and partial heat pipe failure accident were simulated and analyzed. The results show that the residual heat removal system can provide sufficient cooling of the subcritical facility with a remarkable safety margin. The heat pipe can work under the recommended operation temperature range and the heat flux is below all thermal limits. The facility peak temperature is also lower than the safety limits.