• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.102-106
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• 2015

The performance of Li-B alloy as anode for molten salt electrolysis was firstly investigated. The crystalline phase of the prepared Li-B alloy was identified as $Li_7B_6$. The potential profile of Li-B alloy anode was monitored during the electrodeposition of $Nd^{3+}$ onto an LCC (liquid cadmium cathode) in molten LiCl-KCl salt at $500^{\circ}C$. The potential of Li-B alloy was increased from -2.0 V to -1.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl by increasing the applied current from 10 to $50mA{\cdot}cm^{-2}$. It was found that not only the anodic dissolution of Li to $Li^+$ but also the dissolution of the atomic lithium ($Li^0$) into the LiCl-KCl eutectic salt was observed, following the concomitant reduction of $Nd^{3+}$ by the $Li^0$ in Li-B alloy. It was expected that the direct reduction could be restrained by maintaining the anode potential higher that the deposition potential of neodymium.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.205-210
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• 2013

Cycle-to-cycle variation has long been recognized as limiting the range of operating conditions of spark ignition engines, in particular, under lean and highly diluted operation conditions. At a part load, some of the cycles tend to knock, while others may have incomplete combustion by the time the exhaust valve opens. An experimental study has been performed in order to evaluate the relative contribution of several relevant parameters on the cyclic variability in spark ignition engines. In general, the stability of engine operation is improved with fuel injector according to the optimal injection timing, but the stability of engine operation at idle is not improved compared with a practical gasoline engine. In this study, we investigated the relationship of the effect of operating conditions for the stability at low speed and load.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.451-458
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to compare the economics between a diesel propulsion vessel and a LNG fuel propulsion vessel through the analysis of the present value using the LCC(Life Cycle Cost) method. This study is also to judge the economics for long-term operation of a LNG fuel propulsion vessel as a result of analysis about the equivalent uniform annual cost. In particular, LCC method was strengthened by sensitivity analysis based on combined interest rate which is considering discount rate and inflation rate simultaneously.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2004.02a
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• pp.150-164
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• 2004

According to the Korean long-term plan for nuclear technology development, KAERI is conducting a few R&D projects related to the proliferation-resistant back-end fuel cycle. The R&D activities for the back-end fuel cycle are reviewed in this work, especially focusing on the study of the partitioning and transmutation(P&T) of long-lived radionuclides. The P&T study is currently being carried out in order to develop key technologies in the areas of partitioning and transmutation. The partitioning study is based on the development of pyroprocessing such as electrorefining and electrowinning because they can be adopted as proliferation-resistant technologies in the fuel cycle. In this study, various behaviors of the electrodeposition of uranium and rare earth elements in the LiCl-KCl electrorefining system have been examined through fundamental experimental work. As for the transmutation system, KAERI is studying the HYPER (HYbrid Power Extraction Reactor), a kind of subcritical reactor which will be connected with a proton accelerator. Up to now, a conceptual study has been carried out for the major elemental systems of the subcritical reactor such as core, transuranic fuel, long-lived fission product target, and the Pb-Bi cooling system, etc. In order to enhance the transmutation efficiency of the transuranic elements as well as to strengthen the reactor safety, the reactor core was optimized by determining its most suitable subcriticality, the ratio of height/diameter, and by introducing the concepts of optimum core configuration with a transuranic enrichment as well as a scattered reloading of the fuel assemblies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.73-73
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• 2009

There are many factors to evaluate nuclear fuel cycle such as safety, public acceptance, economics, etc.. Transparency, proliferation, environment issues, public acceptance and safety are essential to expansion of nuclear industry and proliferation resistance is one of key constraints in the deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems. Proliferation resistance is being considered as one of the most important factors in assessing advanced and innovative nuclear systems. IAEA defmes proliferation resistance as characteristics of nuclear energy system that impedes the diversion or undeclared production of nuclear material [1]. Barriers to proliferation is consist of intrinsic and extrinsic barriers(institutional measures). Intrinsic barriers are characterized in material barriers and technical barriers in general. Material barriers is intrinsic, or inherent, qualities of materials that reduce the inherent desirability or attractiveness of the material as an explosive. Isotopic, chemical, radiological, mass and bulk, detectability barriers are considered as material barriers attributes [2]. Proliferation resistance is examined for several nuclear fuel cycles based on previous study which is focused on the intrinsic barriers [3-4]. Pyroprocessing and DUPIC are considered as reprocessing technologies in Korea and the PWR direct disposal is considered. Comparative assessments of the proliferation attributes and merits of different fuel cycle systems will be performed and the optimal back-end fuel cycle and strategy will be proposed.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.72-78
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• 2018

With growing concerns over air pollutions attributed to shipping activities, the international maritime organization has enacted a series of stringent regulations. In particular, MARPOL Annex IV Reg. 16 requires sulfur contents from exhaust gases of marine engines to be progressively reduced. To comply with this regulation, three feasible options have been introduced: using LNG as a marine fuel, using heavy fuel oil with the scrubber system, and using the marine gas oil (a type of low sulfur fuel oil). For the objectives of this paper, the holistic environmental impacts pertinent to these options were investigated and compared in ways that the flows of energy and emission were tracked and quantified through the life cycle of the ship. Research findings obtained from a case study with a large bulk carrier showed that the use of the scrubber system to purify heavy fuel oil would produce relatively fewer amounts of emissions attributing to global warming than other two options. On the other than, the use of LNG would be the way to operate the ship in a cleaner way in terms of reducing the acidification, eutrophication, and photochemical effects. Throughout the analysis, the excellence of life cycle assessment was proven to shift the environmental impact of marine systems from the short-term view to the long-term one.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.351-359
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• 2016

The Korean Prototype Gen-IV sodium-cooled fast reactor (PGSFR) is supposed to be loaded with a relatively-costly low-enriched U fuel, while its envisaged transuranic fuels are not available for transmutation. In this work, the U-enrichment reduction by improving the neutron economy is pursued to save the fuel cost. To improve the neutron economy of the core, a new reflector material, PbO, has been introduced to replace the conventional HT9 reflector in the current PGSFR core. Two types of PbO reflectors are considered: one is the conventional pin-type and the other one is an inverted configuration. The inverted PbO reflector design is intended to maximize the PbO volume fraction in the reflector assembly. In addition, the core radial configuration is also modified to maximize the performance of the PbO reflector. For the baseline PGSFR core with several reflector options, the U enrichment requirement has been analyzed and the fuel depletion analysis is performed to derive the equilibrium cycle parameters. The linear reactivity model is used to determine the equilibrium cycle performances of the core. Impacts of the new PbO reflectors are characterized in terms of the cycle length, neutron leakage, radial power distribution, and operational fuel cost.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.82-89
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• 2006

The redox behaviors of anode-supported flat tube for solid oxide fuel cell has been studied. The mass change of the extruded NiO/YSZ anode flat tube during redox cycling was examined by thermogravimetric analysis(TGA). The result of TGA was shown a rapidly mass change in the range of $455\;-\;670^{\circ}C$ and the reoxidation of the NiO/YSZ anode was almost completed at $750^{\circ}C$. The starting temperature of reoxidation and the maximum temperature of oxidation rate decreased with increasing the reoxidation cycle, which is attributed to the increased porosity caused by volume change. Bending strengths of the NiO/YSZ anode after redox cycling were 96 - 80 MPa and the bending strength decreased slightly with increasing the redox cycle. On the other hand, the bending strength of the NiO/YSZ anode with electrolyte showed 130 MPa after first redox cycling but decreased rapidly with increasing the redox cycle. From the results of the bending test and the microstructure observation, we conclude that the crack initiation of the electrolyte-coated NiO/YSZ anode was induced easily at interface of electrolyte/anode tube and propagated cross the electrolyte.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2013

Applicability of organic Rankine cycle for a passenger car with 3.5 L gasoline engine to convert low grade waste heat to useful shaft power has been numerically studied. Working fluid is R134a, and the Rankine cycle is composed of boiler for recovering engine cooling water heat, super heater for recovering exhaust gas heat, scroll expander for converting waste heat to shaft power, condenser for heat emission, internal heat exchanger, and feed pump. Assuming efficiencies of 90% for the heat exchangers, 75% for the scroll expander, and 80% for the feed pump, the Rankine cycle efficiency of 5.53% was calculated at the vehicle speed of 120 km/hr. Net expander shaft output after subtracting the power required to run the pump was 3.22 kW, which was equivalent to 12.1% improvement in fuel consumption. About the same level of improvement in the fuel consumption was obtained over the vehicle speed range of 60 km/hr~120 km/hr.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.43-53
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• 2017

Increasing the operation cycle length can be an important goal in the fuel reload design of a nuclear reactor core. In this research paper, a new optimization approach, electromagnetism mechanism (EM), is applied to the fuel arrangement design of the Bushehr WWER-1000 core. For this purpose, a neutronic solver has been developed for calculating the required parameters during the reload cycle of the reactor. In this package, two modules have been linked, including PARCS v2.7 and WIMS-5B codes, integrated in a solver for using in the fuel arrangement optimization operation. The first results of the prepared package, along with the cycle for the original pattern of Bushehr WWER-1000, are compared and verified according to the Final Safety Analysis Report and then the results of exploited EM linked with Purdue Advanced Reactor Core Simulator (PARCS) and Winfrith Improved Multigroup Scheme (WIMS) codes are reported for the loading pattern optimization. Totally, the numerical results of our loading pattern optimization indicate the power of the EM for this problem and also show the effective improvement of desired parameters for the gained semi-optimized core pattern in comparison to the designer scheme.