• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.231-239
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• 2006

An experimental investigation of a Reversible Loop Heat Pipe (RLHP) was conducted to determine the operating limits and performance characteristics as functions of the thermophysical parameters, the heat input, and the cooling intensity. Variations in both temperature and heat transport capacity were measured and analyzed in order to accurately evaluate the transient operating characteristics. In addition, the maximum heat transport as a function of the mean evaporator temperature, the ratio of heat transport to heater input power as a function of the mean evaporator temperature, and the overall thermal resistance as a function of the overall heat transport capacity were examined as well. Results indicated that the cooling intensity played an important role on the operating characteristics and performance limitation. The maximum heat transports corresponding to cooling intensity $72W/^{\circ}C$ and $290W/^{\circ}C$ were 446 W and 924 W, respectively. Also, observation of the startup characteristics indicated that the mean evaporator temperature should be maintained between $40^{\circ}C$ and $60^{\circ}C$, and overall thermal resistance were measured as $0.02^{\circ}C/W$.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.1052-1057
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• 2004

A small-scale loop heat pipe with polypropylene wick was fabricated and tested for its thermal performance. The container and tubing of the system was made of stainless steel and several working fluids were used to see the difference in performance including methanol, ethanol, acetone, R134a, and water. The heating area was 35 mm ${\times}$ 35 mm and there were nine axial grooves in the evaporator to provide a vapor passage. The pore size of the polypropylene wick inside the evaporator was varied from 0.5 m to 25 m. The size of condenser was 40 mm (W) ${\times}$ 50 mm (L) in which ten coolant paths were provided. The inner diameter of liquid and vapor transport lines were 2.0 mm and 4.0 mm, respectively and the length of which were 0.5 m. The PP wick LHP was operated with methanol, acetone, and ethanol normally. R134a was not compatible with PP wick and water was unsuitable within operating limit of $100^{\circ}C$. The minimum thermal load of 10 W (0.8 W/cm2) and maximum thermal load of 80 W (6.5 W/cm2) were achieved using methanol as working fluid with the condenser temperature of $20^{\circ}C$ with horizontal position.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.1847-1861
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• 2020

A design study was performed to improve the limit aseismic performance (LSP) of a primary heat transport system (PHTS) pump. This pump is part of the primary equipment of a prototype generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor (PGSFR). The LSP is the maximum allowable seismic load that still ensures structural integrity. To calculate the LSP of the PHTS pump, a structural analysis model of the pump was developed and its dynamic characteristics were obtained by modal analysis. The floor response spectrum (FRS) initiated from a safety shutdown earthquake (SSE), 0.3 g, was applied to the support points of the PHTS pump, and then the seismic induced stresses were calculated. The structural integrity was evaluated according to the ASME code, and the LSP of the PHTS pump was calculated from the evaluation results. Based on the results of the modal analysis and LSP of the PHTS pump, design parameters affecting the LSP were selected. Then, ways to improve the LSP were proposed from sensitivity analysis of the selected design variables.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.10
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• pp.3665-3676
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• 2023

The use of ion exchange resins to remove ionic impurities from solution is prevalent in industrial process systems, including in the primary heat transport system (PHTS) purification circuit of nuclear power plants. Despite its extensive use in the nuclear industry, our general understanding of ion exchange cannot fully explain the complex chemistry in ion exchange beds, particularly when operated at or near their saturation limit. This work investigates the behaviour of mixed-bed ion exchange resin, saturated with species representative of corrosion products in a CANDU (Canadian Deuterium Uranium) reactor PHTS, particularly with respect to iron chemistry in the resin bed and the removal of lithium ions from solution. Experiments were performed under deaerated conditions, analogous to normal PHTS operation. The results show interesting iron chemistry, suggesting the hydrolysis of cation resin bound ferrous species and the subsequent formation of either a solid hydrolysis product or the soluble, anionic Fe(OH)₃^-.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.28-33
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• 2009

The thermochemical parameters for safe handling, storage, transport, operation and process design of flammable substances are explosion limit, flash point, autoignition temperatures(AITs), minimum oxygen concentration(MOC), heat of combustion etc.. Also it is necessary to know explosion limit at high temperature and pressure. For the safe handling of benzene, lower explosion limit(LEL) at $25^{\circ}C$, the temperature dependence of the explosion limits and flash point were investigated. And the AITs for benzene were experimented. By using the literatures data, the lower and upper explosion limits of benzene recommended 1.3 vol% and 8.0 vol%, respectively. This study measured relationship between the AITs and the ignition delay times by using ASTM E659-78 apparatus for benzene, and the experimental AIT of benzene was $583^{\circ}C$. The new equations for predicting the temperature dependence of the explosion limits of benzene is proposed. The values calculated by the proposed equations were a good agreement with the literature data.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1052-1061
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• 2005

A small-scale loop heat pipe (LHP) with polypropylene wick was fabricated and tested for investigation of its thermal performance. The container and tubing of the system were made of stainless steel and several working fluids were tested including methanol, ethanol, and acetone. The heating area was $35\;mm\;{\times}\;35\;mm$ and nine axial grooves were provided in the evaporator to provide vapor passages. The pore size of the polypropylene wick inside the evaporator was varied from $0.5\; {\mu}m\;to\;25\;{\mu}m.$ The inner diameter of liquid and vapor transport lines were 2.0 mm and 4.0 mm, respectively and the length of which were 0.5 m. The size of condenser was $40\;mm\;(W)\;{\times}\;50\;mm\;(L)$ in which ten coolant paths were provided. Start-up characteristics as well as steady-state performance was analyzed and discussed. The minimum thermal load of $10\;W\;(0.8\;W\;/cm^{2})$ and maximum thermal load of $80\;W\;(6.5\;W\;/cm^{2})$ were achieved using methanol as working fluid with the condenser temperature of $20^{\circ}C$ with horizontal position.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.217-242
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• 2011

A variety of Generation III/III+ water-cooled reactor designs featuring enhanced safety and improved economics are being proposed by nuclear power industries around the world in efforts to solve the future energy supply shortfall. Thermal-hydraulics is recognized as a key scientific subject in the development of innovative reactor systems. Phase change by boiling and condensation in the reverse process is a highly efficient heat transport mechanism that accommodates large heat fluxes with relatively small driving temperature differences. This mode of heat transfer is encountered in a wide spectrum of nuclear systems,and thus it is necessary to determine the thermal limit of water-cooled nuclear energy conversion in terms of economic and safety. Such applications are being advanced with the introduction of new technologies such as nanotechnology. Here, we investigated newly-introduced nanotechnologies relevant to boiling and condensation in general engineering applications. We also evaluated the potential linkage between such new advancements and nuclear applications in terms of advanced nuclear thermal-hydraulics.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.1533-1540
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• 2001

A high-temperature sodium stainless steel heat pipe was fabricated and its performance has been investigated. The working fluid was sodium and it was sealed inside a straight tube container made of stainless steel. The amount of sodium occupied approximately 20% of the total volume of the heat pipe and its weight was 65.7gram. The length of a stainless steel container is 1002mm and its outside diameter is 25.4mm. Performance tests were carried out in a room air condition under a free convective environment and the measured temperatures are presented. The start-up behavior of the heat pipe from a frozen state was investigated for various heat input values between 600W and 1205W. In steady state, axial temperature distributions of a heat pipe were measured and its heat transfer rates were estimated in the range of vapor temperature from 50$0^{\circ}C$ to 63$0^{\circ}C$. It is found that there are small temperature differences in the vapor core along the axial direction of a sodium heat pipe for the high operating temperatures. But for the range of low operating temperatures there are large temperature drops along the vapor core region of a sodium heat pipe, because a small vapor pressure drop makes a large temperature drop. The transition temperature was reached more rapidly in the cases of high heat input rate for the sodium heat pipe.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.78-84
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• 2008

Heat pipes are considered to be promising candidates to enhance the heat transport capability of evacuated solar collectors in a wide temperature range. The working fluid must be selected properly considering various operating conditions of heat pipes for medium-high temperature range to avoid dry-out, local overheating, and frozen failure. The advantage of using binary mixture as heat pipe working fluid is that it can extend operating temperature range of the system as it can overcome operating temperature limit of a single fluid. Various operating temperature ranges were imposed in the experiments to simulate the actual operation of solar collectors using water-ethanol binary mixture. Tests were conducted for the coolant temperature range of -10$^{\circ}C$ to 120$^{\circ}C$, and mixing ratio range was from 0 to 1 based on mass fraction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.687-700
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• 1995

The thermal-hydraulic transient analysis of the proposed CANDU-9 plant was peformed. Several major transients ore analyzed if they meet the heat transport system design requirements. The proposed heat transport system configuration and the preliminary sizes of system equipment are justified by analysis in terms of the fuel integrity and the high system pressure limit during transients. The compliance with AECB R-77 requirements for CANDU-9 reactor was estimated. The analysis results showed that for each postulated accident the peak pressure values in the reactor headers are within the acceptance criteria given in ASME code requirements and the fuel overheating is prevented. One pump start-up during the reactor start-up operation was analyzed to investigate the How reversal through the fuel channel, which is specific in the proposed CANDU-9 plant.