• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.375-384
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• 1999

The credibility of CHECWORKS FAC model analysis was evaluated for plant application in a model plant chosen for demonstration. The operation condition at each pipe component was defined before the wear rate analysis by plant data base, water chemistry analysis, and network flow analysis. The predicted wear was compared with the measured wear for 57 sample components selected from 43 susceptible line groups analysed. The inspected 57 locations represent components of highest predicted wear in each line group. Both absolute value and relative ranking comparisons indicated reasonable correlations between the predicted and the measured values. Four components showed much higher measured wear rates than the predicted ones in the feed water train from main feed water pump discharge to steam generator, probably due to high hydrazine concentration operation the effect of which had not been incorporated into the CHECWORKS model. The measured wear was higher than the predicted one consistently for components with least susceptibility to FAC. It is believed that the conservatism maintained during UT data analysis dominated the measurement accuracy. A great deal of enhancement is anticipated over the current plant pipe management program when a comprehensive plant pipe management program is implemented based on the model analysis.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.142-148
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• 2013

Safety is a major concern in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). Piping systems in NPPs are very complex and composed of many components such as tees, elbows, expanders and straight pipes. The high pressure and high temperature water flows inside piping components. As high speed water flows inside piping, the pipe wall thinning occurs in various reasons such as FAC (Flow Accelerated Corrosion), LDIE (Liquid Droplet Impingement Erosion) and Flashing. To inspect the wall thinning phenomenon and protect the piping from damages, piping components are checked by UT measurement in every overhaul. During every overhaul, approximately 200~300 components (40,000~60,000 UT data) are examined in NPPs. There are some methods from EPRI for evaluating wear rate of components. However, only few studies have been conducted to find out the raw data reliability for the wear rate evaluation. Securing the reliable raw data is the key factor for a reasonable evaluation. This paper suggests the reliability analysis method for the repeatedly measured data for wear rate evaluation.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2015

Local wall thinning and integrity degradation caused by several mechanisms, such as flow accelerated corrosion (FAC), cavitation, flashing and/or liquid drop impingements, are a main concern in carbon steel piping systems of nuclear power plant in terms of safety and operability. Thinned pipe management program (TPMP) had been developed and optimized to reduce the possibility of unplanned shutdown and/or power reduction due to pipe failure caused by wall thinning in the secondary side piping system. This program also consists of several technical elements such as prediction of wear rate for each component, prioritization of components for inspection, thickness measurement, calculation of actual wear and wear rate for each component. Decision making is associated with replacement or continuous service for thinned pipe components. Establishment of long-term strategy based on diagnosis of plant condition regarding overall wall thinning is also essential part of the program. Prediction models of wall thinning caused by FAC had been established for 24 operating nuclear plants. Long term strategies to manage the thinned pipe component were prepared and applied to each unit, which was reflecting plant specific design, operation, and inspection history, so that the structural integrity of piping system can be maintained. An alternative integrity assessment criterion and a computer program for thinned piping items were developed for the first time in the world, which was directly applicable to the secondary piping system of nuclear power plant. The thinned pipe management program is applied to all domestic nuclear power plants as a standard procedure form so that it contributes to preventing an accident caused by FAC.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.325-330
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• 2015

Pipe wall-thinning by flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) is a significant and costly damage of secondary system piping in nuclear power plants (NPPs). All NPPs have their management programs to ensure pipe integrity from wall-thinning. This study analyzed the pipe wall-thinning caused by changing the amine, which is used for adjusting the water chemistry in the secondary system of NPPs. The pH change was analyzed according to the addition of amine. Then, the wear rate calculated in two different amines was compared at the steam cycle in NPPs. As a result, increasing the pH at operating temperature (Hot pH) can reduce the rate of FAC damage significantly. Wall-thinning is affected by amine characteristics depending on temperature and quality of water.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2013

In general, pipelines at nuclear power plants are affected by various types of degradation mechanisms and may be ruptured after gradually thinning. FAC (Flow-Accelerated Corrosion) is typical aging mechanism affecting the secondary side piping system. In Korea nuclear power plants, CHECWORKS program have been used for management of wall thinning damages. However, sometimes, CHECWORKS program shows wrong results at the stage of NFA (Network Flow Analysis) in case of complex pipelines. This paper describes the calculation results of pressure drop in a complex pipeline and single line by using the CHECWORKS program and the analysis results are compared with those of engineering calculation results including errors between them.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.62-69
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• 2014

A huge number of carbon steel piping components installed in the secondary system of nuclear power plants are exposed to aging mechanisms such as FAC (Flow-Accelerated Corrosion), Cavitation, Flashing, and LDIE (Liquid Droplet Impingement Erosion). Those aging mechanisms can lead to thinning of the piping components. To manage the wall thinning degradation, most of utilities in the world predict the wall thinning rate based on the computational program such as CHECWORKS, COMSY, and BRT-CICERO, evaluate the UT (Ultrasonic Test) data, and determine next inspection timing, repair or replacement, if needed. There are several evaluation methods, such as band, blanket, and strip methods, commonly used for determining the wear of piping components from single UT inspection data. It has been identified that those single UT evaluation methods not only do not consider the manufacturing features of pipes, but also may exclude the data of the most thinned point when determining the representative wear rate of piping components. This paper describes a newly developed single UT evaluation method, E-Cross method, for solving above problems and introduces application examples for several pipes and elbows. It was identified that the E-Cross method using the length and width of UT data excluded the most thinned points appropriate as the single UT evaluation method for thinned piping components.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.377-385
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• 2013

In this study, the performance of an impeller according to blade length and pitch angle was studied experimentally by building a variable pitch impeller while changing blade length to review the effect of blade length and pitch angle on a fan's performance. The pitch angle was changed in six steps from $20^{\circ}{\sim}45^{\circ}$ at intervals of $5^{\circ}$ while the blade lengths were changed to 90 mm, 100 mm, 110 mm and 120 mm with an identical airfoil shape while carrying out the experiment. The results are summarized as follows : The air flow per static pressure of axial fans increased linearly with increase of pitch angle, but the high static pressure showed a decrease at a pitch angle of $35^{\circ}$. The shaft power increased proportionally to the pitch angle at all blade lengths; the larger the pitch angle, the larger the measured increase of shaft power. This is because the drag at the fan's front increases with the pitch angle. In the axial fans considered in this research, the flow and incre.