• 대한기계학회논문집B
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.85-92
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• 2009

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are a promising technology for short-term power generation required in residential and automobile applications. Proper management of water has been found to be essential for improving the performance and durability of PEM fuel cells. This study investigated the liquid water exhaust capabilities of various flow channels having different geometries and surface properties. Three-pass serpentine flow fields were prepared by patterning channels of 1 mm or 2 mm width onto hydrophilic Acrylic plates or hydrophobic Teflon plates, and the behaviors of liquid water in those flow channels were experimentally visualized. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were also conducted to quantitatively assess the liquid water exhaust capabilities of flow channels for PEM fuel cells. Numerical results showed that hydrophobic flow channels have better liquid water exhaust capabilities than hydrophilic flow channels. Flow channels with curved corners showed less droplet stagnation than the channels with sharp corners. It was also found that a smaller width is desirable for hydrophobic flow channels while a larger width is desirable for hydrophilic ones. The above results were explained as being due to the different droplet morphologies in hydrophobic and hydrophilic channels.

• 한국공작기계학회논문집
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.89-94
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• 2008

Differential pressure flow meters which have a shape of triangular separate bar(TSB) were tested for investigating the flow rate characteristics of the flow meters with varying the temperature of the gas flow. Three kinds of the triangular separate bar flow meters whose aerodynamic angles are different one another are used. The mass flow rate of the flow meters are evaluated using a non-dimensional parameter which includes the gas temperature, exhaust gas pressure and differential pressure at the flow meters, and atmospheric pressure. A burner system which is similar to gas turbine was used for raising the gas flow temperature. The burner system was operated with varying the air/fuel ratio by controlling both the fuel injection rate from the fuel nozzle and air flow rate from a blower. An empirical correlation between the mass flow rate at the TSB flow meter and the non-dimensional parameter was obtained. The empirical correlation showed linear relationship between the mass flow rate and the non-dimensional parameter H. Also, the mass flow rate characteristics at the TSB flow meter was affected by the gas temperature.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 제어로봇시스템학회 1990년도 한국자동제어학술회의논문집(국제학술편); KOEX, Seoul; 26-27 Oct. 1990
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• pp.1037-1042
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• 1990

The air-fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine must be controlled with accuracy for the improvements of exhaust emission and fuel consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to measure the exact instantaneous amounts of fuel and suction air, so we carried out the experiments for measuring the air flow velocity in a suction pipe of an internal combustion engine using three types of instantaneous air flowmeter. The results obtained can be summarized as follows: (1) The laminar-flow type flowmeter is able to measure both the average and the instantaneous flow rate, but it is necessary to rectify the pulsating air flow in the suction pipe. (2) The a spark-discharge type flow velocity meter is able to measure the instantaneous air velocity, but it is necessary to choose the suitable electrode form and the spark character. (3) The tandem-type hot-wire flow velocity meter indicates the instantaneous flow velocity and its flow direction.

• 한국자동차공학회논문집
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• 제7권7호
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• pp.24-31
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• 1999

The MPI engine becomes increasingly popular because it meets two requirements of stringent pollutant emission and the lower fuel consumption. Even though supplies the same amount of fuel to each cylinder , it is hard to precisely control the air-duel ration due to the different amount of air flowing into each cylinder. The uniformity of air-fuel ration in each cylinder is considerably affected by the plenum chamber configuration . This study is focused on experimentally analyzing the flow characteristics within the plenum chamber In the present experiment , steady and valve dynamic state flow tests are performed and the flow field inside the plenum chamber is visualized and measured by utilizing a laser sheet visualization technique and a PTV method. These measured results indicate that the flow structure in the plenum chamber is highly influenced by the plenum chamber configurations, suction flow rates, crank speeds and so on.

• 신재생에너지
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• 제3권4호
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• pp.8-15
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• 2007

Liquid water in flow channel is an important factor that limits the steady and transient performance of PEM fuel cells. A computational fluid dynamics study based on the volume-of-fluid [VOF] multi-phase model was conducted to understand the two-phase flow behavior of liquid water in cathode gas channels. The liquid water transport in $180^{\circ}{\Delta}$ bends was investigated, where the effects of surface characteristics (hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces], channel geometries (rectangular and chamfered corners], and air velocity in channel were discussed. The two-phase flow behavior of liquid water with hydrophilic channel surface and that with hydrophobic surface was found very different; liquid water preferentially flows along the corners of flow channel in hydrophilic channels while it flows in rather spherical shape in hydrophobic channels. The results showed that liquid water transport was generally enhanced when hydrophobic channel with rounded corners was used. However, the surface characteristics and channel geometries became less important when air velocity was increased over 10m/s. This study is believed to provide a useful guideline for design optimization of flow patterns or channel configurations of PEM fuel cells.

• 한국자동차공학회논문집
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2005

The spray prepared for direct fuel injection into cylinder is of great importance in a DISI(Direct Injection Spark Ignition) engine. The interaction between air flow and fuel spray was investigated in a steady flow system embodied in a wind tunnel to simulate the variety of in-cylinder flow conditions in the DISI engine. The Mie-scattering images presented the macroscopic view of the liquid spray fields interacting with cross-flow Particle sizes of fuel droplets were measured with phase Doppler anemometer(PDA) system. A faster cross-flow field made SMD larger and $D_10$ smaller. The atomization and evaporation processes with a DISI injector were observed and consequently utilized to construct the database on the spray and fuel-air mixing mechanism as a function of the flow characteristics.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권3호
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• pp.665-675
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• 2019

The wire-wrapped fuel bundle is an assembly design in a sodium-cooled fast reactor. A wire spacer is used to maintain a constant gap between rods and to enhance the mixing of coolants. The wire makes the flow complicated by creating a sweeping flow and vortex flow. The vortex affects the flow field and heat transfer inside the subchannels. However, studies on vortices in this geometry are limited. The purpose of this research is to investigate the vortex flow created in the wire-wrapped fuel bundle. For analysis, a RANS-based numerical analysis was conducted for a 37-pin geometry. The sensitivity study shows that simulation with the shear stress transport model is appropriate. For the case of Re of 37,100, the mechanisms of onset, periodicity, and rotational direction were analyzed. The vortex structures were reconstructed in a three-dimensional space. Vortices were periodically created in the interior subchannel three times for one wire rotation. In the edge subchannel, the largest vortex occurred. This large vortex structure blocked the swirl flow in the peripheral region. The small vortex formed in the corner subchannel was negligible. The results can help in understanding the flow field inside subchannels with sweeping flow and vortex structures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권6호
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• pp.1532-1539
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• 2019

This paper analyzes a new method for reducing boiling water reactor fuel temperature during a Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA). The method uses a device called Reverse Flow Restriction Device (RFRD) at the inlet of fuel bundles in the core to prevent coolant loss from the bundle inlet due to the reverse flow after a large break in the recirculation loop. The device allows for flow in the forward direction which occurs during normal operation, while after the break, the RFRD device changes its status to prevent reverse flow. In this paper, a detailed simulation of LOCA has been carried out using the U.S. NRC's TRACE code to investigate the effect of RFRD on the flow rate as well as peak clad temperature of BWR fuel bundles during three different LOCA scenarios: small break LOCA (25% LOCA), large break LOCA (100% LOCA), and double-ended guillotine break (200% LOCA). The results demonstrated that the device could substantially block flow reversal in fuel bundles during LOCA, allowing for coolant to remain in the core during the coolant blowdown phase. The device can retain additional cooling water after activating the emergency systems, which maintains the peak clad temperature at lower levels. Moreover, the RFRD achieved the reflood phase (when the saturation temperature of the clad is restored) earlier than without the RFRD.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권8호
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• pp.3154-3165
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• 2022

During a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in the pressurized water reactor (PWR), there is a possibility that high temperature and internal pressure of the fuel rods lead to ballooning of the cladding, which causes a partial blockage of flow area in a subchannel. Such flow blockage would influence the core coolant flow, thus affecting the core heat transfer during a reflooding phase and subsequent severe accident. However, most of the system analysis codes simulate the accident process based on the assumed channel blockage ratio, resulting in the fact that the simulation results are not consistent with the actual situation. This paper integrates the developed core Fuel Rod Thermal-Mechanical Behavior analysis (FRTMB) module into the self-developed severe accident analysis code ISAA. At the same time, the existing flow blockage model is improved to make it possible to simulate the change of flow distribution due to fuel rod deformation. Finally, the ISAA-FRTMB is used to simulate the QUENCH-LOCA-0 experiment to verify the correctness and effectiveness of the improved flow blockage model, and then the effect of clad ballooning on core heat transfer and subsequent parts of core degradation is analyzed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.73-82
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• 2001

Pressurized water reactor(PWR) fuel rods. which are continuously supported by a spring system called a spacer grid(SG), are exposed to reactor coolant at a flow velocity of up to 6-8 m/s. It is known that the vibration of 3 fuel rod is generated by the coolant flow, a so-called flow-induced-vibration(FIV), and the relative motion induced by the FIV between the fuel rod and the SG can wear away the surface of the fuel rod, which occasionally leads to its fretting failure. It is, therefore, important to understand the vibration characteristics of the fuel rod and reflect that in its design. In this paper, vibration analyses of the fuel rod with two different SGs were performed using both analytical and experimental methods. Updating of the finite element(FE) model using the measured data was performed in order to enhance confidence in the FE model of fuel rods supported by an SG. It was found that the modal parameters are very sensitive to the spring constant of the SG.