• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.43-53
• /
• 2017

Increasing the operation cycle length can be an important goal in the fuel reload design of a nuclear reactor core. In this research paper, a new optimization approach, electromagnetism mechanism (EM), is applied to the fuel arrangement design of the Bushehr WWER-1000 core. For this purpose, a neutronic solver has been developed for calculating the required parameters during the reload cycle of the reactor. In this package, two modules have been linked, including PARCS v2.7 and WIMS-5B codes, integrated in a solver for using in the fuel arrangement optimization operation. The first results of the prepared package, along with the cycle for the original pattern of Bushehr WWER-1000, are compared and verified according to the Final Safety Analysis Report and then the results of exploited EM linked with Purdue Advanced Reactor Core Simulator (PARCS) and Winfrith Improved Multigroup Scheme (WIMS) codes are reported for the loading pattern optimization. Totally, the numerical results of our loading pattern optimization indicate the power of the EM for this problem and also show the effective improvement of desired parameters for the gained semi-optimized core pattern in comparison to the designer scheme.

• Journal of Power Electronics
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.798-810
• /
• 2017

This paper presents a combined system of a small-capacity inverter and multigroup delta-connected thyristor switched capacitors (TSCs). The system is referred to as a hybrid static compensator (HSC) and has the functions of dynamic reactive power compensation and harmonic suppression. In the proposed topology, the load reactive power is mainly compensated by the TSCs. Meanwhile the inverter is meant to cooperate with TSCs to achieve continuous reactive power compensation, and to filter the harmonics generated by nonlinear loads and the TSCs. First, the structure and mathematical model of the HSC are discussed Then the control method of the HSC is presented. An improved reduced order generalized integrator (ROGI)-based selective current control method is adopted in the inverter to achieve high-performance reactive and harmonic current compensation. Meanwhile, a switch control strategy is proposed to implement precise and fast switching of the TSCs and to avoid changing the time delay needed by the conventional switch strategy. Experiments are implemented on a 20 KVA HSC prototype and the obtained results verify the validity of the proposed HSC system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.11
• /
• pp.3543-3562
• /
• 2021

The methods and performance of a 3D pin-by-pin neutronics code based on the 2D/1D decoupling method are presented. The code was newly developed as an effort to achieve enhanced accuracy and high calculation performance that are sufficient for the use in practical nuclear design analyses. From the 3D diffusion-based finite difference method (FDM) formulation, decoupled planar formulations are established by treating pre-determined axial leakage as a source term. The decoupled axial problems are formulated with the radial leakage source term. To accelerate the pin-by-pin calculation, the two-level coarse mesh finite difference (CMFD) formulation, which consists of the multigroup node-wise CMFD and the two-group assembly-wise CMFD is implemented. To enhance the accuracy, both the discontinuity factor method and the super-homogenization (SPH) factor method are examined for pin-wise cross-section homogenization. The parallelization is achieved with the OpenMP package. The accuracy and performance of the pin-by-pin calculations are assessed with the VERA and APR1400 benchmark problems. It is demonstrated that pin-by-pin 2D/1D alternating calculations within the two-level 3D CMFD framework yield accurate solutions in about 30 s for the typical commercial core problems, on a parallel platform employing 32 threads.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.714-726
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of retail therapy (RT) values and the role of body consciousness on therapeutic shopping motivations and outcomes. In order to accomplish our research aim, we investigated therapeutic shopping values (i.e., positive mood reinforcement and negative mood reduction) and the moderating effects of body surveillance, body shame, and weight preoccupation. A total of 247 female college students in the United States participated in an online Qualtrics survey, and structural equation modeling (SEM) and multigroup analysis were performed to analyze the data. The findings reveal that therapeutic shopping values (positive mood reinforcement and negative mood reduction) significantly influence therapeutic shopping motivation. Therapeutic shopping motivation, in turn, positively influences therapeutic shopping outcomes. Moreover, weight preoccupation moderates the relationship between negative mood reduction and therapeutic shopping motivation, suggesting that RT should especially be utilized for weight-conscious individuals. The results can be utilized for retailers to develop marketing strategies for consumers who are conscious about their appearance. Academic and managerial implications, along with future research, are suggested.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.5
• /
• pp.1209-1217
• /
• 2019

Due to the limitation of the computers, the conventional homogenization method is based on many assumptions and approximations, and some tough problems such as energy spectrum and boundary condition are faced. To deal with those problems, the Monte Carlo global homogenization is adopted. The Reactor Monte Carlo code RMC is used to study the global homogenization method, and the one-step global homogenization method is proposed. The superimposed mesh geometry is also used to divide the physical models, leading to better geometric flexibility. A set of multigroup homogenization cross sections is online generated for each mesh under the real neutron energy spectrum and boundary condition, the cross sections are adjusted by the superhomogenization method, and no leakage correction is required. During the process of superhomogenization, the author-developed reactor core program NLSP3 is used for global calculation, so the global flux distribution and equivalent homogenization cross sections could be solved simultaneously. Meanwhile, the calculated homogenization cross section could accurately reconstruct the non-homogenization flux distribution and could also be used for fine calculation. This one-step global homogenization method was tested by a PWR assembly and a small reactor model, and the results show the validity.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.1079-1087
• /
• 2021

NTP-ERSN is a package developed for solving the multigroup form of the discrete ordinates, characteristics and collision probability of the Boltzmann transport equation in one-dimensional cartesian geometry, by combining pin cells. In this work, C5G7 MOX benchmark is used to verify the accuracy and efficiency of NTP-ERSN package, by treating reactor core problems without spatial homogenization. This benchmark requires solutions in the form of normalized pin powers as well as the vectors and the eigenvalue. All NTP-ERSN simulations are carried out with appropriate spatial and angular approximations. A good agreement between NTP-ERSN results with those obtained with OpenMC calculation code for seven energy groups. In addition, our studies about angular and mesh refinements are carried out to produce better quality solution. Moreover, NTP-ERSN GUI has also been updated and adapted to python 3 programming language.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.192-200
• /
• 2021

Background: A number of accidents have occurred in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Efforts in reducing accidents have been undertaken through the implementation of safety behaviors. Unfortunately, few studies have examined motives behind unsafe behaviors, such as safety silence motives. This study aimed to observe the motives underlying safety behaviors, namely safety silence motive (SSM) (SSM-relation, SSM-climate, SSM-issue, and SSM-job) and to evaluate the effect of SSM and safety communication on safety participation in different industrial sectors and scales. Materials and Methods: Eighty workers from two industrial sectors and scales of SMEs were involved. They were instructed to fill out a set of questionnaires. A five-Likert scale was used to respond. An independent t test was applied to find any significant differences. The partial least square-structural equation modeling for multigroup was used to develop a model on relations among the variables. Results: The results showed that SSM scores were high in SMEs, and the scores were different across industrial sectors and scales. SSM had a negative influence on safety communication, and safety communication positively influenced safety participation. Conclusion: The study of SSM, safety communication, and safety participation in different sectors and scales should be separated in SMEs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.7
• /
• pp.2670-2689
• /
• 2022

STREAM - a lattice transport calculation code with method of characteristics for the purpose of light water reactor analysis - has been developed by the Computational Reactor Physics and Experiment laboratory (CORE) of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST). Recently, efforts have been taken to develop a photon module in STREAM to assess photon heating and the influence of gamma photon transport on power distributions, as only neutron transport was considered in previous STREAM versions. A multi-group photon library is produced for STREAM based on the ENDF/B-VII.1 library with the use of the library-processing code NJOY. The developed photon solver for the computation of 2D and 3D distributions of photon flux and energy deposition is based on the method of characteristics like the neutron solver. The photon library and photon module produced and implemented for STREAM are verified on VERA pin and assembly problems by comparison with the Monte Carlo code MCS - also developed at UNIST. A short analysis of the impact of photon transport during depletion and thermal hydraulics feedback is presented for a 2D core also from the VERA benchmark.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.12
• /
• pp.4731-4742
• /
• 2022

RBMK fuel assemblies differ from other LWR FA due to a specific arrangement of the fuel rods, the low enrichment, and the used burnable absorber - erbium. Therefore, there is a challenge to adapt modeling tools, developed for other LWR types, to solve RBMK problems. A set of 10 different depletion simulation schemes were tested to estimate the impact on reactivity and spent fuel composition of possible SCALE code options for the neutron transport modelling and the use of different nuclear data libraries. The simulations were performed using cross-section libraries based on both, VII.0 and VII.1, versions of ENDF/B nuclear data, and assuming continuous energy and multigroup simulation modes, standard and user-defined Dancoff factor values, and employing deterministic and Monte Carlo methods. The criticality analysis with burn-up credit was performed for the SFP loaded with RBMK-1500 FA. Spent fuel compositions were taken from each of 10 performed depletion simulations. The criticality of SFP is found to be overestimated by up to 0.08% in simulation cases using user-defined Dancoff factors comparing the results obtained using the continuous energy library (VII.1 version of ENDF/B nuclear data). It was shown that such discrepancy is determined by the higher U-235 and Pu-239 isotopes concentrations calculated.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.67-76
• /
• 2022

Purpose: The purpose is to verify the impact of the store environment on interpersonal service quality (ISQ), shopping value and patronage intention, as well as the moderating role of the store format: supermarkets vs hypermarkets. This is significant as previous studies on retailing neglected the effect of interpersonal service quality on the experiential shopping value. The comparison of the model between two retailing formats (hypermarkets and supermarkets) provides a significant contribution and responds to a need to provide insights regarding the moderation of the store types on the contribution of interpersonal service quality and experiential value to customer's retention. Research design, data, and methodology: The hypotheses have been tested after analyzing the data of a survey among 405 consumers exiting stores representing various retailing stores in Tunisia. A Structural model have been finally verified by a path analysis after applying a confirmatory factorial analysis. Multigroup analyses on AMOS allowed to verify the moderation of store types. Results: Results mainly show that patronage intention is affected by the experiential perceived value dimensions. The latter is a direct consequence of ISQ and an indirect outcome of perceived shopping environment. The impact of value, environment and ISQ is moderated by the store type.