• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.355-361
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• 2014

Steam explosions can be caused by fuel-coolant interactions resulting from failure of the external vessel cooling system in a new nuclear power plant. This can threaten the integrity of structures, including the nuclear reactor and the containment building. In the present study, an improved technique for analyzing the steam explosion phenomenon was proposed on the basis of previous research and was verified by simulations involving alumina experiments. Also, the improved analysis technique was applied to determine the pressure history of the reactor cavity in accordance with postulated failure locations. The results of the analysis revealed that the effects of vessel side failure are more serious than those of vessel bottom failure, with approximately 70% higher maximum pressure.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.21-26
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• 2014

EU-APR1400, the Korean nuclear reactor design for European market adopts a so-called core catcher for ex-vessel molten corium retention and cooling as a severe-accident mitigation system. Sacrificial material, which controls melt properties and modifies melt conditions favorable for corium cooling and retention, is usually employed to protect core catcher body from molten corium. Since molten corium can be ejected through a breach of a reactor pressure vessel and impinged on the sacrificial material with enhanced heat transfer at a severe accident, it is very important to predict ablation rate of sacrificial material due to corium jet impingement accurately for core catcher design. In this paper, sacrificial-material ablation model based on boundary layer theory is suggested and compared with the experimental results by KAERI.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.314-321
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• 2000

A gap between a $Al_2O_3/Fe$ thermite and lower head vessel is formed in the lower-plenum arrested vessel attack(LAVA) experiment which is the 1st phase study of simulation of naturally arrested vessel attack in vessel(SONATA-IV). The gap measurement using a conventional ultrasonic method would be lack of a reliability due to the structure complexity and the metallurgical grain size change of the lower head HAZ occurred by a thermite $Al_2O_3/Fe$ melt or a $Al_2O_3$ melt at $2300^{\circ}C$. The grain echoes having false signals and lower S/N ratio signals are detected due to a multiple scattering, a mode conversion and an attenuation of a ultrasonic resulted from at the interface of increased grain size zone. In this test, the signals pattern was classified to understand the behavior of the ultrasonic in a multi-layer specimen of solid-liquid-solid of assuming that the thermite and the lower head vessel is immersed. The polarity threshold algorithm of frequency diversity gives us the enhancement about 6dB of the ratio S/N.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.782-787
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• 2001

This paper is concerned with the global rupture of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel(RPV) in a severe accident. During the severe reactor accident of molten core, the temperature and the pressure in the nuclear reactor rise to a certain level depending on the initial and subsequent condition of a severe accident. While the rise of the temperature cause the thermal softening of RPV material, the rise of the internal pressure could cause failure of the RPV lower head. The global rupture of an RPV is simulated by finite element limit analysis for the collapse pressure and mode and this analysis results have been compared with a variation of the internal pressure of RPV. The finite element limit method is a systematic tool to secure the safety criteria of a nuclear reactor and to evaluate the in-vessel corium retention.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.1157-1170
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• 2009

A variety of Generation III/III+ reactor designs featuring enhanced safety and improved economics are being proposed by nuclear power industries around the world to solve the future energy supply shortfall. Nanofluid coolants showing an improved thermal performance are being considered as a new key technology to secure nuclear safety and economics. However, it should be noted that there is a lack of comprehensible design works to apply nanofluids to Generation III+ reactor designs. In this work, the review of accident scenarios that consider expected nanofluid mechanisms is carried out to seek detailed application spots. The Axiomatic Design (AD) theory is then applied to systemize the design of nanofluid-engineered nuclear safety systems such as Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) and External Reactor Vessel Cooling System (ERVCS). The various couplings between Gen-III/III+ nuclear safety features and nanofluids are investigated and they try to be reduced from the perspective of the AD in terms of prevention/mitigation of severe accidents. This study contributes to the establishment of a standard communication protocol in the design of nanofluid-engineered nuclear safety systems.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1845-1850
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• 2022

In-vessel corium retention (IVR) during external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) is a key severe accident management strategy adopted in advanced nuclear power plants. The injection of nanofluids has been regarded as a means of enhancing CHF when using the IVR-ERVC strategy to safeguard high-power nuclear reactors. However, a critical practical concern is that various types of debris flowing from the contaminant sump during operation of an ERVC system might degrade CHF enhancement by nanofluids. Our objective here was to experimentally assess the viability of nanofluid use to enhance CHF in practical ERVC contexts (e.g., when fluids contain various types of debris). The types and characteristics of debris expected during IVR-ERVC were examined. We performed pool boiling CHF experiments using nanofluids containing these types of debris. Notably, we found that debris did not cause any degradation of the CHF enhancement characteristics of nanofluids. The nanoparticles are approximately 1000-fold smaller than the debris particles; the number of nanoparticles in the same volume fraction is 1 billion-fold greater. Nanofluids increase CHF via porous deposition of nanosized particles on the boiling surface; this is not hindered by extremely large debris particles.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.1005-1014
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• 2009

The Dual Unit Optimizer 2000 MWe (DUO2000) is put forward as a new design concept for large power nuclear plants to cope with economic and safety challenges facing the $21^{st}$ century green and sustainable energy industry. DUO2000 is home to two nuclear steam supply systems (NSSSs) of the Optimized Power Reactor 1000 MWe (OPR1000)-like pressurized water reactor (PWR) in single containment so as to double the capacity of the plant. The idea behind DUO may as well be extended to combining any number of NSSSs of PWRs or pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs), or even boiling water reactors (BWRs). Once proven in water reactors, the technology may even be expanded to gas cooled, liquid metal cooled, and molten salt cooled reactors. With its in-vessel retention external reactor vessel cooling (IVR-ERVC) as severe accident management strategy, DUO can not only put the single most querulous PWR safety issue to an end, but also pave the way to very promising large power capacity while dispensing with the huge redesigning cost for Generation III+ nuclear systems. Five prototypes are presented for the DUO2000, and their respective advantages and drawbacks are considered. The strengths include, but are not necessarily limited to, reducing the cost of construction by decreasing the number of containment buildings from two to one, minimizing the cost of NSSS and control systems by sharing between the dual units, and lessening the maintenance cost by uniting the NSSS, just to name the few. The latent threats are discussed as well.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.05a
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• pp.592-599
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• 1997

중대사고관리 전략의 하나로서 피동형-설계에 적용되고 있는 용기내부보존(IVR)기념 - 이 논문에서는 실제적으로 원자로 압력용기벽 외부냉각(ERVC)방법을 사용한다 -이 규제측면에서는 용융물의 냉각가능성 쟁점의 해결이라는 문맥에서 조감되었다; 기술측면에서는 IVR개념의 신빙성 및 유융성이 언급되었다. 덧붙여서, 이 ERVC방법들이 개량형-설계에 적용되기 위하여 요구되는 점들이 규제측면과 기술측면에서 각각 검토되었다. 이 검토결과의 바탕위에서 용융물 냉각가능성/급냉가능성의 쟁점과 관련하여 전력연구원(KEPRI) 신형원전개발센타(CARD)에서 개발중인 한국차세대원전(KNGR)-설계에서 선택될 수 있는 대안적 전략들이 제안되었다: (1) 전략1A: 젖은공동방법의 신빙성에 기반을 두는 것; (2) 전략1B: 젖은공동방법/격납건물건전성에 기반을 두는 것; (3) 전략2A : ERVC방법의 신빙성에 기만을 두는 것, (4)전략2B: ERVC방법/격납 건물건전성의 균형된 접근법에 기반을 두는 것. 마지막으로, 신형-설계적용의 관점에서 각각 규제측면과 기술측면에서 본 현황파악 및 대책마련의 권고사항이 제시되었다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2024

In-vessel retention through external reactor vessel cooling (IVR-ERVC) is a severe accident management (SAM) strategy that has been adopted and used in many nuclear reactors such as AP1000, APR1400, and light water reactor etc. Some reactor accidents have raised concerns about nuclear reactors among residents, leading to a decrease in residents' acceptability and many studies on SAM are being conducted. Experiments on IVR-ERVC are almost impossible due to its specificity, so fluid characteristics are analyzed through BALI experiments with similar condition. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) via Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and large eddy simulation (LES) for BALI experiments were performed. Steady-state CFD analysis was performed on three turbulence models, and SST k-ω model was in good agreement with the experimental measurement temperature within the maximum error range of 1.9%. LES CFD analysis was performed based on the RANS analysis results and it was confirmed that the temperature and wall heat flux for depth was consistent within an error range of 1.0% with BALI experiment. The LES CFD analysis results were compared with those of the Lagrangian-based solver. LES matched the temperature distribution better than SOPHIA, but SOPHIA calculated the position of boundary between stratified layer and convective layer more accurately. On the other hand, Lagrangian-based solver predicted several small eddy behaviors of the convective layer and LES predicted large vortex behavior. The vibration characteristics near the cooling part of the BALI experimental device were confirmed through Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) investigation. It was found that the power spectral density for pressure at least 10 times higher near the side cooling than near the top cooling.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 2003

$TAO^{TM}$ System is an auto-heated thermophilic aerated digestion process using a proprietary microbe called as a Phototropic Bacteria (PTB). High metabolic activity results in heat generation, which enables to produce a pathogen-free and digested liquid fertilizer at short retention times. TAO$^{TM}$ system has been developed to reduce a manure volume and convert into the liquid fertilizer using swine manure since 1992. About 100 units have been installed and operated in Korean swine farms so far. TAO$^{TM}$ system consists of a reactor vessel and ejector-type aeration pumps and foam removers. The swine slurry manure enters into vessel with PTB and is mixed and aerated. The process is operated at detention times from 2 to 4 days and temperature of 55 to $65^{\circ}C$. Foams are occurred and broken down by foam removers to evaporate water contents. Generally, at least 30% of water content is evaporated, 99% of volatile fatty acids caused an odor are removed and pathogen destruction is excellent with fecal coliform, rotavirus and salmonella below detection limits. The effluent from TAO$^{TM}$ system, called as the "TAO EFFLUX", is screened and has superb properties as a fertilizer. Normally N-P-K contents of screened TAO Efflux are 4.7 g/L, 0.375 g/L and 2.8 g/L respectively. The fertilizer effect of TAO EFFLUX compared to chemical fertilizer has been demonstrated and studied with various crops such as rice, potato, cabbage, pumpkin, green pepper, parsley, cucumber and apple. Generally it has better fertilizer effects and excellent soil fertility improvement effects. Moreover, the TAO EFFLUX is concentrated through membrane technology without fouling problems for a cost saving of long distance transportation and a commercialization (crop nutrient commodity) to a gardening market, for example.