• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.365-374
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• 2001

In order to examine the in-reactor performance of very-high-density dispersion fuels for high flux performance research reactors, U-l0wt.%Mo microplates containing centrifugally atomized powder were irradiated at low temperature. The U-l0wt.%Mo dispersion fuels show stable in- reactor irradiation behaviors even at high burn-up, similar to U$_3$Si$_2$ dispersion fuels. The atomized U-l0wt.%Mo fuel particles have a fine and a relatively uniform fission gas bubble size distribution. Moreover, only one of third of the area of the atomized fuel cross-sections at 70a1.% burn-up shows fission gas bubble-free zones, This appears to be the result of segregation into high Mo and low Mo.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.64-70
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• 2007

Preparation and characterization of carbon-slurry fuel with high dispersion have been carried out. Carbon-slurry fuel was obtained by mixing Jet A-1 liquid fuel with appropriate carbon powders and additives. Dispersion of carbon in Jet A-1 was affected by various factors such as mixing temperature, characteristics of carbon powders, and type and amount of additives. Among these factors, the stability of the slurry fuel was most dependent on the type of additive. A variety of additives such as anionic, cationic, and nonionic additives was tested for the dispersion of carbon in Jet A-1. It was found that anionic additives based on sodium salts showed the highest dispersion of carbon-slurry fuels. The degree of dispersion could be monitored by measuring the luminosity.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.839-846
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• 2013

This paper describes a finite element model of the microstructure of dispersion type nuclear fuels, which can be used to determine the effective thermal conductivity of the fuels during irradiation. The model simulates a representative region of the fuel as a prism shaped unit cell made of brick elements. The elements within the unit cell are assigned material properties of either the fuel or the matrix depending on position, in such a way as to represent randomly distributed fuel particles with a size distribution similar to that of the as manufactured fuel. By applying an appropriate heat flux across the unit cell it is possible to determine the effective thermal conductivity of the unit cell as a function of the volume fraction of the fuel particles. The presence of a fuel/matrix interaction layer is simulated by the addition of a third set of material properties that are assigned to the finite elements that surround each fuel particle. In this way the effective thermal conductivity of the material may also be determined as a function of the volume fraction of the interaction layer. Work is on going to add fission gas bubbles in the fuel as a fourth phase to the model.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.16-23
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• 2001

Spray dispersion in high pressure diesel engines have been simulated experimentally with a special emphasis on the effect of swirl by using a liquid injection technique. A constant volume chamber was designed to be rotatable in order to generate a continuous swirl and to have the flow field closely resembling a solid body rotation. Emulsified fuel was injected into the chamber and the developing process of fuel sprays was visualized. The effect of swirl on the spray dispersion was quantified by calculating non-dimensionalized dispersion area according to the spray tip penetration length. The results show that the effect of swirl on the spray dispersion is different between short and long spray penetrations. For short range of spray tip penetration, the effect of swirl on spray dispersion is quite small. However, as the spray tip is penetrated into longer distance in spray chamber, the effect of swirl on spray dispersion becomes larger. These results can be used as a basic data for designing combustion chamber and injection system of direct injection diesel engine.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.219-226
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• 2014

In HI decomposition, $Pt/Al_2O_3$ has been studied by several researchers. However, after HI decomposition, it could be seen that metal dispersion of $Pt/Al_2O_3$ was greatly decreased. This reason was expected of platinum loss and sintering, which platinum was aggregated. Also, this decrease of metal dispersion caused catalytic deactivation. This study was conducted to find the condition to minimize platinum sintering and loss. In particular, heat treatment atmosphere and temperature were examined to improve the activity of HI decomposition reaction. First of all, although $Pt/Al_2O_3$ treated in hydrogen atmosphere had low platinum dispersion between 13 and 18%, it was shown to suitable platinum form that played an important role in improving HI decomposition reaction. Oxygen in the air atmosphere made $Pt/Al_2O_3$ have high platinum dispersion even 61.52% at $500^{\circ}C$. Therefore, in order to get high platinum dispersion and suitable platinum form in HI decomposition reaction, air heat treatment at $500^{\circ}C$ was needed to add before hydrogen heat treatment. In case of 5A3H, it had 51.13% platinum dispersion and improved HI decomposition reaction activity. Also, after HI decomposition reaction it had considerable platinum dispersion of 23.89%.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.125-146
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• 2014

This review aims to provide a synthesis of the knowledge generated and the lessons learned in roughly 15 years of UMo dispersion fuel R&D in Europe through a series of irradiation experiments. A lot of irradiations were also performed outside of Europe, particularly in the USA, Russia, Canada, Korea and Argentina. In addition, a large number of out-of-pile investigations were done throughout the world, providing support to the understanding of the phenomena governing the UMo behaviour in pile. However, the focus of this article will be on the irradiations and Post-Irradiation Examination (PIE) results obtained in European experiments. The introduction of the article provides a historic overview of the evolution and progress in the high density UMo dispersion fuel development. The ensuing sections then provide further details on the various phases of the development, from the UMo dispersion in a pure Al matrix through the addition of Si to the matrix to address the interaction layer formation and finally to the more advanced solutions to the excessive swelling encountered in various experiments. This review was based only on published results or results that are currently in the process of being published.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 1998

A numerical study on combustion in a fluidized bed is based on three dimensional mixing and dispersion phenomena in the bed owing to the bubble growth in the vertical direction. As fluidizing velocities increase, bubble diameters increase, which activates the fuel dispersion in the bed. The combustion rates, however, reduce due to the decrease of gas exchange rates between bubble and emulsion phases. Fuel distributions in the bed are dependent on fluidizing velocities, equivalence ratios, fuel particle diameters, fuel feeding points, and the number of fuel feeders.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.459-462
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• 2008

In manufacture of slurry fuel, the effects of process parameters on the carbon dispersion stability have been investigated. The particle size and contents of the carbon slurry taken from 3 (top, medium, bottom) positions in fuel reservoir were analyzed to estimate the dispersion of the carbon in Jet A-1. Through the application of various additives, it was found that NB463S84 additive showed the best dispersion and stability of carbon at accelerated gravity condition. The mixer performance was compared by the observation of height change of carbon-containing layer and measurement of particle sizes at the same conditions. Application of the mixing conditions obtained from the lab-scale to bench scale manufacture confirmed the practical feasibility of our research.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.3723-3740
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• 2021

The harsh conditions in the reactor affect the thermal and mechanical performance of the fuel plate heavily. Some in-pile behaviors, like fission-induced swelling, can cause a large deformation of fuel plate at very high burnup, which may even disturb the flow of coolant. In this research, the emphasis is put on the thermal expansion, fission-induced swelling, interaction layer (IL) growth, creep of the fuel meat, and plasticity of the cladding for the U₃Si₂/Al dispersion fuel plate. A detailed model of the fuel meat swelling is developed. Taking these in-pile behaviors into consideration, the three-dimensional large deformation incremental constitutive relations and stress update algorithms have been developed to study its thermal-mechanical performance under normal conditions using Abaqus. Results have shown that IL can effectively decrease the thermal conductivity of fuel meat. The high Mises stress region mainly locates at the interface between fuel meat and cladding, especially around the side edge of the interface. With irradiation time increasing, the stress in the fuel plate gets larger resulting from the growth of fuel meat swelling but then decreases under the effect of creep deformation. For the cladding, plasticity deformation does not occur within the irradiation time.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.1044-1062
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• 2017

The construction project of the Kijang research reactor (KJRR), which is the second research reactor in Korea, has been launched. The KJRR was designed to use, for the first time, U-Mo fuel. Plate-type U-7 wt.% Mo/Al-5 wt.% Si, referred to as U-7Mo/Ale5Si, dispersion fuel with a uranium loading of $8.0gU/cm^3$, was selected to achieve higher fuel efficiency and performance than are possible when using $U_3Si_2/Al$ dispersion fuel. To qualify the U-Mo fuel in terms of plate geometry, the first miniplates [HANARO Miniplate (HAMP-1)], containing U-7Mo/Al-5Si dispersion fuel ($8gU/cm^3$), were fabricated at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and recently irradiated at HANARO. The PIE (Post-irradiation Examination) results of the HAMP-1 irradiation test were analyzed in depth in order to verify the safe in-pile performance of the U-7Mo/Al-5Si dispersion fuel under the KJRR irradiation conditions. Nondestructive analyses included visual inspection, gamma spectrometric mapping, and two-dimensional measurements of the plate thickness and oxide thickness. Destructive PIE work was also carried out, focusing on characterization of the microstructural behavior using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Electron probe microanalysis was also used to measure the elemental concentrations in the interaction layer formed between the U-Mo kernels and the matrix. A blistering threshold test and a bending test were performed on the irradiated HAMP-1 miniplates that were saved from the destructive tests. Swelling evaluation of the U-Mo fuel was also conducted using two methods: plate thickness measurement and meat thickness measurement.