• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.2516-2533
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• 2023

Several practical methods for accelerating the depletion calculation in a GPU-based Monte Carlo (MC) code PRAGMA are presented including the multilevel spectral collapse method and the vectorized Chebyshev rational approximation method (CRAM). Since the generation of microscopic reaction rates for each nuclide needed for the construction of the depletion matrix of the Bateman equation requires either enormous memory access or tremendous physical memory, both of which are quite burdensome on GPUs, a new method called multilevel spectral collapse is proposed which combines two types of spectra to generate microscopic reaction rates: an ultrafine spectrum for an entire fuel pin and coarser spectra for each depletion region. Errors in reaction rates introduced by this method are mitigated by a hybrid usage of direct online reaction rate tallies for several important fissile nuclides. The linear system to appear in the solution process adopting the CRAM is solved by the Gauss-Seidel method which can be easily vectorized on GPUs. With the accelerated depletion methods, only about 10% of MC calculation time is consumed for depletion, so an accurate full core cycle depletion calculation for a commercial power reactor (BEAVRS) can be done in 16 h with 24 consumer-grade GPUs.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.49-55
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• 2023

Currently, the demand for green technologies toward a sustainable future is rapidly increasing due to growing concern over environmental issues. Methanol is biodegradable and can provide clean combustion to reduce sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, and therefore it is a candidate fuel for marine engines. However, the effect of methanol on tribological characteristic degradation should be addressed for methanol-fueled engines. In this study, the methanol addition effects on tribological characteristic degradation is experimentally assessed using a pin-on-disk tribo-tester. Ni-based alloy is used as a target material due to its broad applicability as an engine component material. For a lubricant, engine oil with and without methanol are used. The tests are conducted for up to 10,000 cycles under boundary lubrication while the change in friction force is monitored. Additionally, the wear rate is determined based on laser scanning confocal microscope data. An additional test in which methanol is added at regular intervals is performed with an aim to directly observe its effect on friction. Overall, the friction coefficient increases slightly with increasing methanol concentration. Furthermore, the wear rate of the pin and disk increase significantly with methanol addition. The results also indicate that the friction increases instantaneously with methanol addition at the contacting interface. These findings may be useful for better understanding the methanol effect on the tribological characteristics of Ni-based alloys for methanol-fueled engines with improved performance.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.79-88
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• 2014

We have developed a smart decontamination device for small-size radioactive scrap metal (SSRSM) necessarily generated from nuclear facilities. This is a multi-modal device such as rotation of magnetic field focusing on the region containing the abrasion pins placed around target and ultrasonic cleaner. Additionally, in order to increase the decontamination efficiency we have modified some configuration of the device so that it could work on them evenly and totally. With the Optimal operating for operation of the new device, we tried to decontaminate some various metal selected as a sample during 15 minutes sequentially using each method, magnetic and ultrasonic device. As a result, the range of decontamination factor has been highly increased to 18~56. After decontamination, all samples were found its activity less than background level.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.1487-1503
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• 2019

The methods and performance of a pin-level nuclear reactor core thermal-hydraulics (T/H) code ESCOT employing the drift-flux model are presented. This code aims at providing an accurate yet fast core thermal-hydraulics solution capability to high-fidelity multiphysics core analysis systems targeting massively parallel computing platforms. The four equation drift-flux model is adopted for two-phase calculations, and numerical solutions are obtained by applying the Finite Volume Method (FVM) and the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equation (SIMPLE)-like algorithm in a staggered grid system. Constitutive models involving turbulent mixing, pressure drop, and vapor generation are employed to simulate key phenomena in subchannel-scale analyses. ESCOT is parallelized by a domain decomposition scheme that involves both radial and axial decomposition to enable highly parallelized execution. The ESCOT solutions are validated through the applications to various experiments which include CNEN $4{\times}4$, Weiss et al. two assemblies, PNNL $2{\times}6$, RPI $2{\times}2$ air-water, and PSBT covering single/two-phase and unheated/heated conditions. The parameters of interest for validation include various flow characteristics such as turbulent mixing, spacer grid pressure drop, cross-flow, reverse flow, buoyancy effect, void drift, and bubble generation. For all the validation tests, ESCOT shows good agreements with measured data in the extent comparable to those of other subchannel-scale codes: COBRA-TF, MATRA and/or CUPID. The execution performance is examined with a mini-sized whole core consisting of 89 fuel assemblies and for an OPR1000 core. It turns out that it is about 1.5 times faster than a subchannel code based on the two-fluid three field model and the axial domain decomposition scheme works as well as the radial one yielding a steady-state solution for the OPR1000 core within 30 s with 104 processors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.92-99
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• 2021

An automatic transmission, which consists of several decks of planetary gear sets, provides multiple speed and torque ratios by actuating brakes and clutches (mechanical friction components) for connecting central members of the planetary gear sets. The gear set consists of the sun gear, the ring gear, and the carrier supporting multiple planet gears with pin shafts. In designing a new automatic transmission, there are many steps to design and analyze: gears, brakes and clutches, shafts, and other mechanical components. Among them, selecting thrust bearings that not only allow the relative rotation of the central members and other mechanical components but also support axial forces coming from them is important; doing so yields superior driving performance and better fuel efficiency. In selecting thrust bearings, the magnitude of axial forces on them is a critical factor that affects their bearing size and performance; its results are systematically related to the direction of the helical angle of each planetary gear set (a geometric design profile). This research presents the effects of the helical angle direction on the axial forces acting on thrust bearings in an automatic transmission consisting of planetary gear sets. A model transmission was built by analyzing kinematics and power flows and by designing planetary gear sets. The results of the axial forces on thrust bearings were analyzed for all combinations of helix angle directions of the planetary gear sets.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.1834-1845
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• 2021

Liquid lead-bismuth cooled fast reactor is one of the most promising reactor types among the fourth-generation nuclear energy systems. The flow and heat transfer characteristics of lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) are completely different from ordinary fluids due to its special thermal properties, causing that the traditional Reynolds analogy is no longer recommended and appropriate. More accurate turbulence flow and heat transfer model for the liquid metal lead-bismuth should be developed and applied in CFD simulation. In this paper, a specific CFD solver for simulating the flow and heat transfer of liquid lead-bismuth based on the k - 𝜀 - k_𝜃 - 𝜀_𝜃 model was developed based on the open source platform OpenFOAM. Then the advantage of proposed model was demonstrated and validated against a set of experimental data. Finally, the simulation of LBE turbulent flow and heat transfer in a 7-pin wire-wrapped rod bundle with the k - 𝜀 - k_𝜃 - 𝜀_𝜃 model was carried out. The influence of wire on the flow and heat transfer characteristics and the three-dimensional distribution of key thermal hydraulic parameters such as temperature, cross-flow velocity and Nusselt number were studied and presented. Compared with the traditional SED model with a constant Pr_t = 1.5 or 2.0, the k - 𝜀 - k_𝜃 - 𝜀_𝜃 model is more accurate on predicting the turbulence flow and heat transfer of liquid lead-bismuth. The average relative error of the k - 𝜀 - k_𝜃 - 𝜀_𝜃 model is reduced by 11.1% at most under the simulation conditions in this paper. This work is meaningful for the thermal hydraulic analysis and structure design of fuel assembly in the liquid lead-bismuth cooled fast reactor.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.844-861
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• 2008

The papers published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering during the year of 2007 have been reviewed. Focus has been put on current status of research in the aspect of heating, cooling, ventilation, sanitation and building environments. The conclusions are as follows. (1) The research trends of fluid engineering have been surveyed as groups of general fluid flow, fluid machinery and piping, etc. New research topics include micro nano fluid, micropump and fuel cell. Traditional CFD was still popular and widely used in research and development. Studies about fans and pumps were performed in the field of fluid machinery. Characteristics of flow and fin shape optimization are studied in the field of piping system. (2) The research works on heat transfer have been reviewed in the field of heat transfer characteristics, heat exchangers, and desiccant cooling systems. The research on heat transfer characteristics includes thermal transport in pulse tubes, high temperature superconductors, ground heat exchangers, fuel cell stacks and ice slurry systems. For the heat 'exchangers, the research on pin-tube heat exchanger, plate heat exchanger, condensers and gas coolers has been cordially implemented. The research works on heat transfer augmenting tubes have been also reported. For the desiccant cooling systems, the studies on the design and operating conditions for desiccant rotors as well as performance index are noticeable. (3) In the field of refrigeration, many papers were presented on the air conditioning system using CO2 as a refrigerant. The issues on the two-stage compression, the oil selection, and the appropriate oil charge were treated. The subjects of alternative refrigerants were also studied steadily. Hydrocarbons, DME and their mixtures were considered and various heat transfer correlations were proposed. (4) Research papers have been reviewed in the field of building facilities by grouping into the researches on heat and cold sources, air conditioning and air cleaning, ventilation and fire research including tunnel ventilation, flow control of piping system, and sound research with drain system. Main focuses have been addressed to the promotion of efficient or effective use of energy, which helps to save energy and results in reduced environmental pollution and operating cost. (5) Studies were mostly focused on analyzing the indoor environment in various spaces like cars, old tombs, machine rooms, and etc. in an architectural environmental field. Moreover, subjects of various fields such as the evaluation of noise, thermal environment, indoor air quality and development of energy analysis program were researched by various methods of survey, simulation, and field experiment.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.521-537
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• 2012

This article reviews the papers published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering during 2011. It is intended to understand the status of current research in the areas of heating, cooling, ventilation, sanitation, and indoor environments of buildings and plant facilities. Conclusions are as follows. (1) Research trends of thermal and fluid engineering have been surveyed as groups of fluid machinery and fluid flow, thermodynamic cycle, and new and renewable energy. Various topics were presented in the field of fluid machinery and fluid flow. Research issues mainly focused on the rankine cycle in the field of thermodynamic cycle. In the new and renewable energy area, researches were presented on geothermal energy, fuel cell, biogas, reformer, solar water heating system, and metane hydration. (2) Research works on heat transfer area have been reviewed in the categories of heat transfer characteristics, pool boiling and condensing heat transfer, nanofluids and industrial heat exchangers. Researches on heat transfer characteristics included heat transfer above liquid helium surface in a cryostat, methane hydrate formation, heat and mass transfer in a liquid desiccant dehumidifier, thermoelectric air-cooling system, heat transfer in multiple slot impinging jet, and heat transfer enhancement by protrusion-in-dimples. In the area of pool boiling and condensing heat transfer, researches on pool boiling of water in low-fin and turbo-B surfaces, pool boiling of R245a, convective boiling two-phase flow in trapezoidal microchannels, condensing of FC-72 on pin-finned surfaces, and natural circulation vertical evaporator were actively performed. In the area of nanofluids, thermal characteristics of heat pipes using water-based MWCNT nanofluids and the thermal conductivity and viscosity were measured. In the area of industrial heat exchangers, researches on fin-tube heat exchangers for waste gas heat recovery and Chevron type plate heat exchanger were implemented. (3) Refrigeration systems with alternative refrigerants such as $CO_2$, hydrocarbons, and mixed refrigerants were studied. Heating performance improvement of heat pump systems were tried applying supplementary components such as a refrigerant heater or a solar collector. The effects of frost growth were studied on the operation characteristic of refrigeration systems and the energy performance of various defrost methods were evaluated. The current situation of the domestic cold storage facilities was analyzed and the future demand was predicted. (4) In building mechanical system fields, a variety of studies were conducted to achieve effective consumption of heat and maximize efficiency of heat in buildings. Various researches were performed to maximize performance of mechanical devices and optimize the operation of HVAC systems. (5) In the fields of architectural environment and energy, diverse purposes of studies were conducted such as indoor environment, building energy, and renewable energy. In particular, renewable energy and building energy-related researches have mainly been studied as reflecting the global interests. In addition, various researches have been performed for reducing cooling load in a building using spot exhaust air, natural ventilation and energy efficiency systems.