• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권2호
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• pp.479-489
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• 2019

Low-cycle fatigue (LCF) tests were performed for Alloy 690 and 316 SS in a simulated pressurized water reactor (PWR) environment. Alloy 690 showed about twice longer LCF life than 316 SS at the test condition of 0.4% amplitude at strain rate of 0.004%/s. Observation of the oxide layers formed on the fatigue crack surface showed that Cr and Ni rich oxide was formed for Alloy 690, while Fe and Cr rich oxide for 316 SS as an inner layer. Electrochemical analysis revealed that the oxide layers formed on the LCF crack surface of Alloy 690 had higher impedance and less defect density than those of 316 SS, which resulted in longer LCF life of Alloy 690 than 316 SS in a simulated PWR environment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권11호
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• pp.3517-3527
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• 2021

New 80-MW (electric) ultra-long-life sodium cooled fast reactor core having inherent safety characteristics is designed with heterogeneous fuel assemblies comprised of driver and blanket fuel rods. Several options using upper sodium plenum and SSFZ (Special Sodium Flowing Zone) for reducing sodium void reactivity are neutronically analyzed in this core concept in order to improve the inherent safety of the core. The SSFZ allowing the coolant flow from the peripheral fuel assemblies increases the neutron leakage under coolant expansion or voiding. The Monte Carlo calculations were used to design the cores and analyze their physics characteristics with heterogeneous models. The results of the design and analyses show that the final core design option has a small burnup reactivity swing of 618 pcm over ~54 EFPYs cycle length and a very small sodium void worth of ~35pcm at EOC (End of Cycle), which leads to the satisfaction of all the conditions for inherent safety with large margin based on the quasi-static reactivity balance analysis under ATWS (Anticipated Transient Without Scram).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권2호
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• pp.546-554
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• 2023

The cyclical behavior of Alloy 617 was examined at 25 ℃ and high temperatures of 800, 850, 900, and 950 ℃ in air to obtain its fatigue life curves. The specimens tested at 25, 800, and 850 ℃ cyclically hardened, whereas those tested above 900 ℃ cyclically softened from the first cycle, that is, their fatigue life was reduced at high temperatures owing to loss of strength. Parameters of the typical Coffin-Manson-Basquin relationship were determined for each test temperature. Interestingly, no significant difference in fatigue life was observed for the specimens tested in the range of 800-950 ℃. Owing to the similarity in fatigue life, we determined fatigue strength and fatigue ductility exponents that could be applied for this temperature range. The parameters obtained were close to the universal slopes, although the fatigue ductility exponent was slightly different. The proposed fatigue life curves were compared with those presented in ASME code.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권5호
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• pp.1616-1629
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• 2023

To quantify the conservatism of existing ASME strain-based evaluation methods for seismic loading, this paper presents very low cycle fatigue test data of elbows under various cyclic loading conditions and comparison of evaluation results with experimental failure cycles. For strain-based evaluation methods, the method presented in ASME BPVC CC N-900 and Sec. VIII are used. Predicted failure cycles are compared with experimental failure cycle to quantify the conservatism of evaluation methods. All methods give very conservative failure cycles. The CC N-900 method is the most conservative and prediction results are only ~0.5% of experimental data. For Sec. VIII method, the use of the option using code tensile properties gives ~3% of experimental data, and the use of the material-specific reduction of area can reduce conservatism but still gives ~15% of experimental data.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.1-19
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• 2022

The application of Photovoltaic (PV) power in the building sector, is expanding as part of the ongoing energy transition into renewables. The article addresses the question of sustainability of energy generated from PVs through an environmental assessment of a building-integrated PV system (BIPV) connected to the grid through net metering. Employing retrospective life cycle analysis (LCA), with the CCaLC2 software and ecoinvent data, the article shows that the carrying structure and other balance of system (BOS) components are responsible for a three times higher energy payback time than the literature average. However, total environmental impact can be lowered through reuse or reinstallation of PVs on the same building structure after the 30-year interval. Further ways to improve environmental efficiency include identifying the most polluting materials for each LCA parameter. The results of this study are of interest to researchers and producers of PVs and organizations investing and promoting decentralized power production through PVs.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• 제2권3호
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• pp.415-419
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• 2016

As the need for clean coal technology has grown, so has the global research and development efforts into integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants. An IGCC plant couples a gas turbine to a gasification block. Various technical and economic problems exist in designing such a system. One such problem is the difficulty in realizing economies of scale because the single-train flow capacity of commercial IGCC synthetic gas turbine plants is limited; the capacity does not exceed a net power rating of 300 MW. To address this problem, this study modeled and simulated a synthetic gas turbine with the goal of evaluating the feasibility of a 500 MW or larger IGCC plant. First, a gas turbine with the best output and efficiency was chosen for use with natural gas. The turbine was modeled using GateCycle (a simulation tool), and the integrity of the model validated by comparing the result to the design value. Next, off-design modeling was carried out for a gas turbine with synthetic gas based on its on-design model, and the result was compared with the study result of the gas turbine manufacturer. The simulation confirmed that it is possible to create a large capacity IGCC plant by undertaking the remodeling of a gas turbine designed to use natural gas into one suitable for synthetic gas.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2008년도 춘계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.169-173
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• 2008

Stirling engine is a promising heat engine with a high efficiency, muti-fuel capability, low emission, quiet operation, very low maintenance and long life. As one of the promising applications, solar power system based on the Stirling dish, providing net solar-to-electric conversion efficiencies reaching 30%, can operate as stand-alone units in remote locations or can be linked together in groups to provide utility-scale power. This paper introduced a new Scroll-type Stirling engine, being developed for solar power, superior to conventional Stirling engines. The Scroll-type Stirling engine is characterized as traits of continuous and wholly separated compression and expansion; one-way flow system; direct cooling and heating the fluid in the working spaces through the extensive inner surfaces of scroll wraps. All theses traits contribute to achieving thermodynamic cycle closer to the ideal Stirling cycle (exactly speaking, Ericsson cycle).

• 한국환경과학회지
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• 제5권4호
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• pp.429-440
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• 1996

A global carbon cycle model (GCCM), that incorporates interaction among the terrestrial biosphere, ocean, and atmosphere, was developed to study the carbon cycling aid global carbon budget, especially due to anthropogenic $CO_2$ emission. The model that is based on C, 13C and 14C mass balance, was calibrated with the observed $CO_2$ concentration, $\delta$13C and $\Delta$14C in the atmosphere, Δ14C in the soil, and $\Delta$14C in the ocean. Also, GCCM was constrained by the literature values of oceanic carbon uptake and CO, emissions from deforestation. Inputs (forcing functions in the model) were the C, 13C and 14C as $CO_2$ emissions from fossil fuel use, and 14C injection into the stratosphere by bomb-tests. The simulated annual carbon budget of 1980s due to anthropoRenic $CO_2$ shows that the global sources were 5.43 Gt-C/yr from fossil fuel use and 0.91 Gt-C/yr from deforestation, and the sinks were 3.29 Gt-C/yr in the atmosphere, 0.90 Gt-C/yr in the terrestrial biosphere and 2.15 Gt-C/yr in the ocean. The terrestrial biosphere is currently at zero net exchange with the atmosphere, but carbon is lost cia organic carbon runoff to the ocean. The model could be utilized for a variety of studies in $CO_2$ policy and management, climate modeling, $CO_2$ impacts, and crop models.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.223-231
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• 2011

The thermal efficiency of energy-to-power conversion becomes uneconomically low when the temperature of heat source drops below $370^{\circ}C$. ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) has attracted much attention in last few years due to its potential in reducing consumption of fossil fuels and relaxing environmental problems, and its favorable characteristics to exploit low-temperature heat sources. In this work thermodynamic performance of ORC using nine working fluids is comparatively assessed. Special attention is paid to the effect of system parameters such as turbine inlet temperature and pressure on the characteristics of the system such as volumetric flow rate and quality at turbine exit, latent heat, net work as well as thermal efficiency. Results show that in selection of working fluid it is required to consider various criteria of performance characteristics as well as the thermal efficiency. Results also show that the system efficiencies become same irrespective of kind of working fluid when the temperature of heat source decreases to low range.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.200-208
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• 2014

This paper presents thermodynamic performance analysis of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) using low temperature heat source in the form of sensible energy and using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as heat sink to recover the cryogenic energy of LNG. LNG is able to condense the working fluid at a very low condensing temperature in a heat exchanger, which leads to an increased power output. Based on the mathematical model, a parametric analysis is conducted to examine the effects of eight different working fluids, the turbine inlet pressure and the condensation temperature on the system performance. The results indicate that the thermodynamic performance of ORC such as net work production or thermal efficiency can be significantly improved by the LNG cold energy.