• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.24-35
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• 2004

In order to analyze the hydrogen distribution during a severe accident in the APR1400 containment, GASFLOW II was used. For the APR1400 NPP, a hydrogen mitigation system is considered from the design stage, but a fully time-dependent, three-dimensional analysis has not been performed yet. In this study GASFLOW code II is used for the three-dimensional analysis. The first step to analysis involving hydrogen behavior in a full containment with the GASLOW code is to generate a realistic geometry model, which includes nodalization and modeling of the internal structures such as walls, ceilings and equipment. Geometry modeling of the APR1400 is conducted using GUI program by overlapping the containment cut drawings in a graphical file format on the mesh view. The total number of mesh cells generated is 49,476. And the calculated free volume of the APR1400 containment by GASFLOW is almost the same as the value from the GOTHIC modeling. A hypothetical SB-LOCA scenario beyond design base accident was selected to analyze the hydrogen behavior with the hydrogen mitigation system. The source of hydrogen and steam for the GASFLOW II analysis is obtained from a MAAP calculation. Combustion pressure and temperature load possibilities within the compartments used in the GOTHIC analysis are studied based on the Sigma-Lambda criteria. Finally the effectiveness of HMS installed in the APR1400 containment is evaluated from the point of severe accident management

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.66-74
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• 2024

This study addresses the escalating issue of worldwide hydrogen gas accidents, which has seen a significant increase in occurrences. To comprehensively evaluate the risks associated with hydrogen, a two approach was employed in this study. Firstly, a qualitative risk assessment was conducted using the bow-tie method. Secondly, a quantitative consequence analysis was carried out utilizing the areal locations of hazardous atmospheres (ALOHA) model. The study applied this method to two incidents, the hydrogen explosion accident occurred at the Muskingum River power plant in Ohio, USA, 2007 and the hydrogen storage tank explosion accident occurred at the K Technopark water electrolysis system in Korea, 2019. The results of the risk assessments revealed critical issues such as deterioration of gas pipe, human errors in incident response and the omission of important gas cleaning facility. By analyzing the cause of accidents and assessing risks quantitatively, the effective accident response plans are proposed and the effectiveness is evaluated by comparing the effective distance obtained by ALOHA simulation. Notably, the implementation of these measures led to a significant 54.5% reduction in the risk degree of potential explosions compared to the existing risk levels.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.112-119
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• 2016

Many studies have been conducted on the performance of a passive autocatalytic recombiner (PAR), but not many have focused on the locations where the PAR is installed. During a severe accident in a nuclear reactor containment, a large amount of hydrogen gas can be produced and released into the containment, leading to hydrogen deflagration or a detonation. A PAR is a hydrogen mitigation method that is widely implemented in current and advanced light water reactors. Therefore, for this study, a PAR was installed at different locations in order to investigate the difference in hydrogen reduction rate. The results indicate that the hydrogen reduction rate of a PAR is proportional to the distance between the hydrogen induction location and the bottom wall.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.05b
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• pp.663-668
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• 1996

A two-dimensional continuum model for the prediction of the hydrogen mixing phenomena in the containment compartment under the severe accident conditions is developed. The model could predict well the distribution of time-dependent hydrogen concentration for selected HEDL Experiment. For a simulation of these experiments, the hydrogen is mixed uniform over the test compartment. To predict the extent of non-uniform distribution, the dominant factors such as the geometrical shape of obstacle and velocity of source injection in mixing phenomena are investigated. If the obstacle disturbing the flow of gas mixture exists in the compartment, the uniform distribution of hydrogen may be not guaranteed. The convective circulation of gas flow is separately formed up and down of the obstacle position, which makes a difference of hydrogen concentration between the upper and lower region of the compartment. The recirculation flow must have a considerable mass flow rate relative to velocity of the source injection to sustain the well-mixed conditions of hydrogen.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.156-168
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• 2023

This study investigates the high temperature oxidation behaviour of a Ni-20Cr-1.2Si (wt.%) alloy in steam from 1200 ℃ to 1350 ℃ by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The results demonstrate that exposed Ni-based alloy developed a thin oxide scale, consisted mainly of Cr₂O₃. The oxidation kinetics obtained from the experimental results was applied to evaluate the hydrogen generation considering a simplified reactor core model with different cladding alloys following an unmitigated Loss-Of-Coolant Accident (LOCA) scenario in a hypothetical Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Overall, experimental data and simulations results show that both Fe-based and Ni-based alloys may enhance cladding survivability, delaying its melting, as well as reducing hydrogen generation under accident conditions compared to Zr-based alloys. However, a substantial neutron absorption occurs when Ni-based alloys are used as cladding for current uranium-dioxide fuel systems, even when compared to Fe-based alloys.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.4382-4394
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• 2023

Passive auto-catalytic recombiners (PARs) are widely used to mitigate a hydrogen hazard. The first step to evaluate the hydrogen safety by PARs is to obtain qualified test data of the PARs for validation of their analytical model. SPARC PAR tests SP8 and SP9 were conducted to evaluate the hydrogen recombination characteristics of a honeycomb-shaped catalyst PAR. To obtain the hydrogen recombination rate from the PAR test data, two methods, Method-1 and Method-2, introduced by the THAI project, were applied. Since a large gradient of hydrogen concentration developed during hydrogen injection can cause a large error in the hydrogen mass obtained by integrating the measured hydrogen concentrations, a gate was installed at the PAR inlet to homogenize hydrogen in the test vessel before the PAR operation in the tests. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code with a PAR model was also applied to evaluate the characteristics of the PAR recombination according to the PAR inlet conditions, and the results were compared with those from Method-1 and Method-2. It was confirmed that the recombination rates from Method-1 require a correction factor to be compatible with results from Method-2 and the CFD simulation in the case of the SPARC-PAR tests.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.767-790
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• 2013

MAAP4 is a computer code that can simulate the response of a light water reactor power plant during severe accident sequences, including actions taken as part of accident management. The code quantitatively predicts the evolution of a severe accident starting from full power conditions given a set of system faults and initiating events through events such as core melt, reactor vessel failure, and containment failure. Furthermore, models are included in the code to represent the actions that could mitigate the accident by in-vessel cooling, external cooling of the reactor pressure vessel, or cooling the debris in containment. A key element tied to using a code like MAAP4 is an uncertainty analysis. The purpose of this paper is to present a MAAP4 based analysis to examine the sensitivity of a key parameter, in this case hydrogen production, to a set of model parameters that are related to a Level 2 PRA analysis. The Level 2 analysis examines those sequences that result in core melting and subsequent reactor pressure vessel failure and its impact on the containment. This paper identifies individual contributors and MAAP4 model parameters that statistically influence hydrogen production. Hydrogen generation was chosen because of its direct relationship to oxidation. With greater oxidation, more heat is added to the core region and relocation (core slump) should occur faster. This, in theory, would lead to shorter failure times and subsequent "hotter" debris pool on the containment floor.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.70-77
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• 2023

In response to climate change, each country is proposing a goal to reduce greenhouse gases in its energy supply and demand plan, and the use of hydrogen gas is a topic that is always prioritized as an energy resource for implementation. A popular way to use this hydrogen gas is the use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and expansion of hydrogen charging stations is essential for using these hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. However, there are several limitations to the expansion of hydrogen refueling stations, the most representative of which is resident acceptance. Most of the hydrogen charging stations currently built in Korea are located in the outskirts with low population density, so the inconvenience to hydrogen fuel cell vehicle users has not been resolved, and as a result, there has been no progress in the spread of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. In this paper, we analyzed the consequences of accident damage to determine the risks of constructing a hydrogen charging station on a railroad site frequently used by citizens. The target hydrogen charging station site was a railroad depot in Busan, and there are trains, national highways, and commercial facilities around this site. Assuming the worst-case scenario, we would like to consider the safety of the hydrogen refueling station site by analyzing the area affected by the accident and its consequence.

• Korean Journal of Hazardous Materials
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2014

Since the unprecedented hydrogen fluoride leak accident in 2012, there has been growing demand for customized technical information for rapid response and chemical accident management agencies including the Ministry of Environment, the National Emergency Management Agency, and the National Police Agency need more information on chemicals and accident management. In this regard, this study aims to provide reliable technical data and guidelines to initial response agencies, similar to accident management technical reports of the US and Canada. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey and interviews on initial response agencies like fire stations, police stations, and local governments to identify new information items for appropriate initial response and improvements of current guidelines. We also collected and reviewed the Canada's TIPS, US EPA's hydrogen fluoride documents, domestic and foreign literature on applicability tests of control chemicals, and interview data, and then produced items to be listed in the technical guidelines. In addition, to establish database of on-site technical information, we carried out applicability tests for accident control data including ① emergency shut down devide, safety guard, shut down valve, ground connection, dyke, transfer pipe, scrubber, and sensor; ② literature and field survey on distribution type and transportation/storage characteristics (container identification, valve, ground connection, etc.); ③ classification and identification of storage/transportation facilities and emergency management methodslike leak prevention, chemicals control, and cutoff or bypass of rain drainage; ④ domestic/foreign analysis methods and environmental standards including portable detection methods, test standards, and exposure limits; and ⑤ comparison/evaluation of neutralization efficiency of control chemicals on toxic substances.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.32-38
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• 2011

As the using rate of an explosive gas has been increased in the industrial site, the regional residents adjacent to the site as well as the site workers have frequently fallen into a dangerous situation. Damage caused by accident in the process using hydrogen gas is not confined only to the relevant process, but also is linked to a large scale of fire or explosion and it bring about heavy casualties. Therefore, personnel in charge should investigate the kinds and causes of the accident, forecast the scale of damage and also, shall establish and manage safety countermeasures. We, in Anti-Calamity Research Center, forecasted the scope of danger if break out a fire or/and explosion in hydrogen gas facilities of MLCC firing process. We selected piping leak accident, which is the most frequent accident case based on an actual analysis of accident data occurred. We select and apply piping leak accident which is the most frequent case based on an actual accident data as a model of damage forecasting scenario caused by accident. A jet fire breaks out if hydrogen gas leaks through pipe size of 10 mm ${\Phi}$ under pressure of 120 bar, and in case of $4kw/m^2$ of radiation level, the radiation heat can produce an effect on up to distance of maximum 12.45 meter. Herein, we are going to recommend safety security and countermeasures for improvement through forecasting of accident damages.