• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.2245-2252
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• 2005

Thermal stratification in the branch piping of power plants can be generated by turbulent penetration or by valve leakage. In this study, a numerical analysis was performed to estimate the thermal stratification phenomenon by in-leakage in the SIS branch piping of nuclear power plant. Leakage rate, leakage area and leakage location were selected as evaluation factors to investigate the thermal stratification effect. As a result of the thermal stratification effect according to leakage rate, the maximum temperature difference between top and bottom of the horizontal piping was evaluated to be about 185K when the valve leakage rate was about 10 times as much as the allowed leakage rate. For leakage rate more than 10 times the allowed leakage rate, the temperature difference was rapidly decreased due to the increased mixing effect. In the result according to leakage area, the magnitude of temperature difference was shown in order of $3\%,\;1\%\;and\;5\%$ leakage area of the total disk area. In the thermal stratification effect, according to the leakage location, temperature difference when leakage occurred in the lower disk was considerably higher than that of when leakage occurred in the upper disk.

• Transactions of The Korea Fluid Power Systems Society
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2006

In this study, a measurement method of leakage flow-rate for pneumatic driving apparatus is proposed. The existing measurement methods of leakage flow-rate of air need disassemble the test component. Therefore, there is no effective method to measure the leakage flow-rate while operating pneumatic driving apparatus. In this study, the leakage flow-rate is measure from the pressure change in an isothermal chamber that can realize isothermal conditions by stuffing steel wool into it. Therefore, wide range of flow-rate could be measured only from the pressure response and the leakage flow-rate can be measured during operating pneumatic driving apparatus. The effectiveness of the proposed method is proved by experimental results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.11
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• pp.4755-4769
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• 2024

Evaluation of the leakage rate is necessary for infrastructure where hermetic performance holds critical importance. This study conducted a test to evaluate the air leakage rate of cracked reinforced concrete panels. Hollow beam specimens with an air chamber in the web were prepared to provide a relatively simple setup for airtight pressure testing under 200 kPa pressure. While testing, the lower flange of the beam specimen was subjected to tension cracking under transverse loading, and air pressure was applied to the air chamber of the beam to measure the air leakage rate through the flange plate as the magnitude of loading increased. The test variables were the differential air pressure, flange plate thickness, and reinforcement ratio. The test results showed that the leakage rate increased in proportion to the differential pressure. When the reinforcement ratio increased from 0.7 to 1.3 %, the leakage rate decreased by 90 %. When the plate thickness increased from 75 to 100 mm, the leakage rate decreased by 91 %. The analysis of the test results showed that the leakage rate was proportional to the cube of the crack width (R² = 0.91-0.95), which agreed with existing prediction models. When the crack width at rebar location was used, the existing models showed the best predictions for test results. This result indicates that to accurately predict the air leakage rate of reinforced concrete members, the critical crack width at the location of reinforcement (i.e. the smallest crack width in the member thickness) is more important than the crack width at the member surface.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.98-102
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• 2007

In this study, a measurement method of leakage flow-rate for pneumatic driving apparatus is proposed. The existing measurement methods of leakage flow-rate of air need disassemble the test component. Therefore, there is no effective method to measure the leakage flow-rate while operating pneumatic driving apparatus. In this study, the leakage flow-rate is measured from the pressure change in an isothermal chamber that can realize isothermal conditions by stuffing the steel wool into it. Therefore, a wide range of flow-rate could be measured only from the pressure response and the leakage flow-rate can be measured during operating pneumatic driving apparatus. The effectiveness of the proposed method is proved by experimental results.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.59-66
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• 2009

High temperature and pressure valves in power plant have been used for fluid flowing and leakage occurred owing to valve internal damage such as disc wear, crack and inserting of foreign objects etc. in these valves. Recently, multi-measuring technique applied both ultrasonic and acoustic method have been used for evaluation of valve internal leakage in order to raise measurement reliability. Therefore, we have performed various leakage tests using ultrasonic and acoustic measuring system and acquired leakage data for the various leakage conditions. In this study, we developed the estimation method of regression model through leakage data, and expectation method for valve opening ratio, which is directly proportion to leakage rate, using the established estimation model from the measured data, valve size and fluid pressure so as to enhance data reliability. As a result of this study, it was founded that expectation method of leakage rate by statistical analysis method is appropriate to valve leakage evaluation.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1197-1203
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• 2004

This study investigates the air leakage and heat transfer characteristics of a rotary-type air-to-air heat exchanger with a fiber polyester matrix. The leakage airflow rate is measured using a tracer gas method for various ventilation rates and rotational speeds of the matrix wheel. A correlation equation for air leakage is obtained by combining the pressure leakage and the carryover leakage. The pressure leakage is observed to be a function of ventilation airflow rate only, and the carryover leakage is found to be a linear function of rotational speed. The real efficiency of the heat exchanger can be obtained from its apparent efficiencies by taking into account the air leakage ratio. As the ventilation rate increases, the heat recovery efficiency decreases. As the rotational speed of the matrix increases, the efficiency increases initially but reaches a constant value for the rotational speeds over 10 rpm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 1999.06a
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• pp.141-146
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• 1999

An experimental investigation on the leakage characteristics of a labyrinth seal, high-low seal, is studied. Pressure distribution and leakage flow rate are measured along with the shaft speed and the pressure difference between the entrance and the exit. Pressure distribution vanes almost linearly along the seal and the leakage flow rate increases as the increase of the pressure difference. Furthermore, it is found that both the shaft speed and the shaft vibration have no influence on the leakage of the labyrinth seal.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.11
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• pp.4601-4610
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• 2024

The leakage rate of aerosol particles is one of the most important parameters for source term evaluation of containment in severe accidents. In this study, gas leakage characteristics experiments were conducted on capillaries with different inner diameters and tube lengths under different pressure differential conditions. The effects of upstream and downstream pressure differential, capillary tube diameter, tube length, aerosol particle size, whether condensation or not, and release time on aerosol leakage rate were studied. The results show that when the pressure difference between the two ends of the capillary is greater than 0.2 MPa, the leakage rate of the capillary shows a pattern of first increasing and then decreasing with the increase of the pipe diameter; The influence of aerosol particle size on leakage rate mainly affects the inertial deposition effect, which increases with the increase of particle size, leading to a decrease in leakage rate; The condensation effect of steam in capillaries can lead to enhanced effects such as condensate capture, thermophoresis, and diffusion electrophoresis, which have a positive strengthening effect on the retention of aerosol particles.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.8
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• pp.3030-3042
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• 2024

Steel containment vessels for nuclear power plants can experience gas leakage due to minute defects such as cracks, corrosion, and aging, leading to gas leakage. A gas leakage model for microchannels is established to elucidate the mechanism underlying gas leakage within microchannels caused by these defects, specifically addressing the issue of unidirectional gas flow. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the UK R6 method are employed to calculate the gas leakage rate within microchannels. Furthermore, the characteristics of gas flow within microchannels are explored, including the factors affecting the gas leakage rate. Validation of the calculation results is verified experimentally. The results indicate that the gas mass flow rate exhibits a linear decrease with decreasing internal pressure and a non-linear decline as temperature increases. Additionally, the gas mass flow rate demonstrates a negative correlation with the microchannel length but a positive association to its hydraulic diameter. The primary influencing factors on gas leakage rates are hierarchically ranked as follows: pressure difference, microchannel cross-sectional area, temperature, microchannel length, and microchannel hydraulic diameter.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2021

This study describes the effects of a thrust labyrinth seal applied to the backside of a centrifugal impeller on the axial thrust force for high speed turbomachinery. The bulk flow model using Neumann's equation calculates the seal cavity pressures and leakage flow rate of the thrust labyrinth seal based on three configurations: teeth-on-rotor (TOR), teeth-on-stator (TOS), and interlocking labyrinth seal (ILS). Prediction results show that the ILS is superior to the TOR and TOS in terms of leakage flow rate. A mathematical model of a centrifugal impeller with a thrust labyrinth seal on its backside calculates the force components corresponding to the impeller inlet, shroud, impeller backside outer, backside seal, and backside inner pressures. A summation of the force components renders the total axial thrust force acting on the centrifugal impeller. The Newton-Raphson numerical scheme iteratively calculates the pressures and leakage flow rate through the impeller wall gap. The prediction results reveal that the leakage flow rate and total axial thrust force increase with rotor speed, and the ILS significantly decreases the leakage flow rate, whereas it slightly increases the axial thrust force when compared to TOR and TOS. Increasing the seal clearance causes an increase in the leakage flow rate and a slight decrease in the axial thrust force with the ILS.