• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.464-471
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• 1999

This paper describes a design of the helium-recondensing system utilizing cascade Roebuck refrigerators. Superconducting generator or motor has the superconducting field winding in its rotor that should be continuously cooled by cryogen. Since liquid helium transfer from the stationary system to the rotor is problematic, cumbersome, and inefficient, the novel concept of a rotating helium-recondensing system is contrived. The vaporized cold helium inside the rotor is isothermally compressed by centrifugal force and expanded sequentially in cascade refrigerators until the helium is recondensed at 4.2K. There is no helium coupling between the rotor and the stationary liquid helium storage. Thermodynamic analysis of the cascade refrigeration system is performed to determine the key design parameters. The loss mechanisms are also explained to identify entropy generation that degrades the performance of the system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2007

Current high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) are based on a closed Brayton cycle with helium gas as the working fluid. Thermodynamic performance of the axial-flow helium gas turbines is of critical concern as it considerably affects the overall cycle efficiency. Helium gas turbines pose some design challenges compared to steam or air turbomachinery because of the physical properties of helium and the uniqueness of the operating conditions at high pressure with low pressure ratio. This report present a review of the helium Brayton cycle experiences in Germany and in Japan. The design and availability of helium gas turbines for HTGR are also presented in this study. We have developed a new throughflow calculation code to calculate the design-point performance of helium gas turbines. Use of the method has been illustrated by applying it to the GTHTR300 reference.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.108-118
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• 2000

This paper describes a design of the helium-recondensing system utilizing cascade Roebuck refrigerators. Superconducting generator or motor has the superconducting field wind-ing in its rotor that should be continuously cooled by cryogen. Since liquid helium transfer from the stationary system to the rotor is problematic, cumbersome, and inefficient, the novel concept of a rotating helium-recondensing system is contrived. The vaporized cold helium inside the rotor is isothermally compressed by centrifugal force and expanded sequentially in cascade refrigerators until the helium is recondensed at 4.2 K. There is no helium coupling between the rotor and the stationary liquid helium storage. Thermodynamic analysis of the cascade refrigeration system is performed to determine the key design parameters. The loss mechanisms are explained to identify entropy generation that degrades the performance of the system.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.92-98
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• 2010

In a modern high speed drawing process of optical fibers, it is necessary to use helium as a cooling gas in a glass fiber cooling unit in order to sufficiently cool down the fast moving glass fiber freshly drawn from the heated silica preform in the furnace. Since the air is entrained unavoidably when the glass fiber passes through the cooling unit, the helium is needed to be injected constantly into the cooling unit. The present numerical study investigates and analyzes the air entrainment using an axisymmetric geometry of glass fiber cooling unit. The effects of helium injection rate and direction on the air entrainment rate are discussed in terms of helium purity of cooling gas inside the cooling unit. For a given rate of helium injection, it is found that there exists a certain drawing speed that results in sudden increase in the air entrainment rate, which leads to the decreasing helium purity and therefore the cooling performance of the glass fiber cooling unit. Also, the helium injection in aiding direction is found to be more advantageous than the injection in opposing direction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.1002-1012
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• 2024

To remove insoluble fission products, which could possibly cause reactor instability and significantly reduce heat transfer efficiency from primary system of molten salt reactor, a helium bubbling method is employed into a passive molten salt fast reactor. In this regard, two-phase flow behavior of molten salt and helium bubbles was investigated experimentally because the helium bubbles highly affect the circulation performance of working fluid owing to an additional drag force. As the helium flow rate is controlled, the change of key thermal-hydraulic parameters was analyzed through a two-phase experiment. Simultaneously, to assess the applicability of numerical model for the analysis of two-phase flow behavior, the numerical calculation was performed using the OpenFOAM 9.0 code. The accuracy of the numerical analysis code was evaluated by comparing it with the experimental data. Generally, numerical results showed a good agreement with the experiment. However, at the high helium injection rates, the prediction capability for void fraction of helium bubbles was relatively low. This study suggests that the multiphaseEulerFoam solver in OpenFOAM code is effective for predicting the helium bubbling but there exists a room for further improvement by incorporating the appropriate drag flux model and the population balance equation.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2007

In-cryostat helium lines are under installation to transfer a cryogenic helium into cold components in KSTAR device. In KSTAR, three kinds of helium should be supplied into the cold components, which are supercritical helium Into superconduction(SC) magnet system, liquid helium into current lead system, and gas helium into thermal shields. Cryogenic helium lines consist of transfer lines outside the cryostat, in-cryostat helium lines, and electrical breaks. In-cryostat helium lines should be guaranteed of leak tightness for tong time operation at high internal helium pressure of 20 bar. We wrapped the helium line with multi-layer insulator(MLI) to reduce radiation heat and insulated the surface of the high potential part with prepreg tape. The electrical break was fabricated by brazing ceramic tube with stainless steel tube. To ensure the operation reliability at operation temperature, all the electrical break have been examined by the thermal cycle test at liquid nitrogen and by the hydraulic test at 30 bar. And additional surface insulation was prepared with prepreg tape to give structural safety. At present most of the in-cryostat helium lines have been installed and the final inspection test is progressing.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.927-931
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• 2021

In this work, an attempt is made to improve the electrochemical corrosion resistance of Zircaloy-4 by helium ions implantation. For this purpose, the Zircaloy-4 was implanted with 300 keV helium ions of fluences 1 × 10¹³, 1 × 10¹⁵, and 1 × 10¹⁶ ions-cm^-2 by using Pelletron Accelerator. Electrochemical tests of pristine and ion-implanted samples were performed in NaCl solution and their potentiodynamic polarization curves were obtained. The results showed enhancement of the corrosion resistance of Zircaloy-4 after helium ions implantation. The corrosion rate and current density of the material were significantly reduced by the helium implantation. The decrease in corrosion parameters was attributed to helium ions diffusion inside Zircaloy-4 that reduced the electrons flow from the samples.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.1154-1161
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• 2016

The heat transfer characteristics between liquid lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) and helium are of great significance for the two-loop cooling system based on an accelerator-driven system (ADS). This paper presents an experimental study on the resistance characteristics and heat transfer performance in a LBE-helium experimental loop of ADS. Pressure drops in the LBE loop, the main heat transfer, and the coupled heat transfer characteristics between LBE and helium are investigated experimentally. The temperature of LBE has a significant effect on the LBE thermo-physical properties, and is therefore considered in the prediction of pressure drops. The results show that the overall heat transfer coefficient increases with the increasing helium flow rate and the decreasing inlet temperature of helium. Increasing the LBE Reynolds number and LBE inlet temperature promotes the heat transfer performance of main heat transfer and thus the overall heat transfer coefficient. The experimental results give an insight into the flow and heat transfer properties in a LBE-helium heat exchanger and are helpful for the optimization of an ADS system design.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2023

2 K superfluid helium cryogenic system is the crucial component of many large accelerators. When the cryogenic system is operating at 2K@3129Pa, many room-temperature parts are connected to superfluid helium via tubes. Air Leakage in these connections may lead to air contamination of the cryogenic system. Air contamination may cause equipment failure in cryogenic systems and, in extreme cases, render the entire accelerator system inoperable. Helium guard is a technique that guards against air contamination of these sub-atmospheric pressure connections in 2 K superfluid helium cryogenic system. This paper introduces a typical 2 K cryogenic distribution design for large accelerators, and make risk analysis of air contamination. Finally, the analysis of specific leakage points and detailed engineering design are presented, which may be used as a reference when designing of a 2 K superfluid helium cryogenic distribution system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1490-1500
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• 2024

Helium-induced defect nucleation and accumulation in polycrystalline W and W0.5 wt%ZrC (W0.5ZrC) were studied in-situ using the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with 40 keV He⁺ irradiation at 800 and 1000℃ at the maximum damage level of 1 dpa. Radiation-induced dislocation loops were not observed in the current study. W0.5ZrC was found to be less susceptible to irradiation damage in terms of helium bubble formation and growth, especially at lower temperature (800 ℃) when vacancies were less mobile. The ZrC particles present in the W matrix pin the forming helium bubbles via interaction between C atom and neighbouring W atom at vacancies. This reduces the capability of helium to trap a vacancy which is required to form the bubble core and, as a consequence, delays, the bubble nucleation. At 1000 ℃, significant bubble growth occurred in both materials and all the present bubbles transitioned from spherical to faceted shape, whereas at 800 ℃, the faceted helium bubble population was dominated in W.