• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.12
• /
• pp.2743-2759
• /
• 2020

A detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation analysis model was developed using ANSYS CFX 16.1 and analyzed to simulate the basic design and internal flow characteristics of a 180 MW small modular reactor (SMR) with a natural circulation flow system. To analyze the natural circulation phenomena without a pump for the initial flow generation inside the reactor, the flow characteristics were evaluated for each output assuming various initial powers relative to the critical condition. The eddy phenomenon and the flow imbalance phenomenon at each output were confirmed, and a flow leveling structure under the core was proposed for an optimization of the internal natural circulation flow. In the steady-state analysis, the temperature distribution and heat transfer speed at each position considering an increase in the output power of the core were calculated, and the conceptual design of the SMR had a sufficient thermal margin (31.4 K). A transient model with the output ranging from 0% to 100% was analyzed, and the obtained values were close to the T_hot and T_cold temperature difference value estimated in the conceptual design of the SMR. The K-factor was calculated from the flow analysis data of the CFX model and applied to an analysis model in RELAP5/MOD3.3, the optimal analysis system code for nuclear power plants. The CFX analysis results and RELAP analysis results were evaluated in terms of the internal flow characteristics per core output. The two codes, which model the same nuclear power plant, have different flow analysis schemes but can be used complementarily. In particular, it will be useful to carry out detailed studies of the timing of the steam generator intervention when an SMR is activated. The thermal and hydraulic characteristics of the models that applied porous media to the core & steam generators and the models that embodied the entire detail shape were compared and analyzed. Although there were differences in the ability to analyze detailed flow characteristics at some low powers, it was confirmed that there was no significant difference in the thermal hydraulic characteristics' analysis of the SMR system's conceptual design.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.249-259
• /
• 2014

Proxies for paleo-circulation are drawing much interest with the recognition that ocean circulation plays an important part in the redistribution of heat and climate change on orbital and millennial timescales. In this review, we will introduce how neodymium isotope ratios of the authigenic fraction of marine sediments can be used as a proxy for ocean circulation along with analytical methods and two case studies. The first case study shows how the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) has varied over the glacial-interglacial and stadial-interstadial periods. The second case study shows how the freshwater budget and water circulation within the Arctic Ocean can be reconstructed for the last glacial period.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.246-258
• /
• 2010

A convective circulation box was redesigned after analyzing reasons why adolescent elementary school students could not derive a convective circulation concept from the convection circulation box experiments. Even though students were in the formal operational period of Piaget, the adolescents felt difficult to understand a concept of the natural phenomena they have never seen before. Thus, we designed a method to help students increase their scientific understandings about the concept through developing a miniature convective circulation box. Findings indicated that an application of redesigned convective circulation box in the classroom experiment significantly increased the students' understanding about the convective circulations of land and sea breezes, and as well as their participation in the activities. In addition, the redesigned convective circulation box motivated students to develop their scientific thinking skills by allowing them to decide where to put visible incenses inside the box and to directly observe the smoke currents circulation formed accordingly. Redesigning and using a convective circulationbox as a miniature of natural phenomenon helps students avoid having misconceptions. The biggest merits of the box are that it is observable in all directions, it provides much clearer convective circulations comparing to the extant box, and it requires low production costs.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2007.05b
• /
• pp.2194-2199
• /
• 2007

An experimental study is performed to investigate the thermal and flow characteristics of subcooled liquid nitrogen in a natural circulation loop. Experimental apparatus is designed and constructed such that a closed loop is cooled at the top by a cryocooler and heated nearly at the bottom by cartridge heaters. Steady state is obtained by controlling the heating power to the cartridge heaters and a thin-film heater to reduce the cooling power of the cryocooler. Temperature is measured at several locations of the loop and the mass flow rate through the loop is estimated from the energy balance in terms of the measured temperatures. Experiment is repeated for various values of the vertical height between the cooling and heating parts. The results show that the heat transfer capability of the loop has a maximum at a certain value of height. The optimal height to maximize the heat transfer is in a good agreement with analytical prediction to take into account the buoyancy and viscous forces in the loop.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 1997.05a
• /
• pp.514-519
• /
• 1997

The MRX is an integral type ship reactor with 100 MWt power, which is designed by Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. It is characterized by integral type PWR, in-vessel type control roe drive mechanism, water-filled containment vessel and passive decay heat removal system. Marine reactor should have high passive safety. Therefore, in this study, we simulated the loss of flow accident to verify the passive decay heat removal by natural circulation using RETRAN-03 code. auxiliary feed water systems are used for decay heat removal mechanism and results are compared with the loss of flow accident analysis using emergency decay heat removal system by JAERI. Results are very similar to case of EDRS 1 loop operation in JAERI analysis and decay heat is successfully removed by natural circulation.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.9
• /
• pp.595-603
• /
• 2011

In this study, an effort has been made to analyze the subcooled boiling heat transfer in a natural circulation vertical evaporator. To verify the analysis, a small-scale model was made and tested. The friction correlation by Ueda, void fraction and quality correlation by Saha and Zuber along with the superposition heat transfer model by Rohsenow yielded a satisfactory agreement with the model test data. The analysis was extended to simulate a 1 ton/day concentration system. Comparison with the test results of 1 ton/day prototype revealed that the data were overpredicted by 13%. The capacity of the prototype was 1.2 ton/day with COP of 5.77.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.221-227
• /
• 2012

The CANDU 9 shield cooling system was designed and layout with the objective of promoting natural circulation on loss of forced flow. In the present study, the shield cooling natural circulation was analyzed using verified the thermal-hydraulic code when the coolant pump or the heat exchanger was lost. This study showed that thermosyphoning cooled the end shields and prevented the end shields and the reserve water tank from boiling for at least 8 hours on loss of the shield cooling pumps but the heat exchangers still operational. With the loss of both pumps and heat exchangers, the end shields remain subcooled for up to 4 hours. To enhance thermosyphoning, the bypass connection to the line from the reserve water tank should be relocated to a point as low as possible.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.424-434
• /
• 1998

RELAP5/Mod3.1 code was assessed with the semiscale experiment S-NC-3, and S-NC-4, which simulated the two-phase natural circulation and reflux condensation for the SBLOCA of PWR, respectively . Test S-NC-3 and S-NC-4 calculation results showed that RELAP5/Mod3.1 quite well describes the influence of steam generator secondary side heat transfer degradation on both two-phase natural circulation and reflux condensation. A comparison between the calculated and measured two-phase mass flow rate in test S-NC-3 shows good agreement for primary mass inventory more than 92%. And RELAP5/Mod3.1 have a good mass flow rate prediction capability for the transient such as S-NC-4 except some flow oscillations. The reflux flow rate for S-NC-4 test is under predicted, and the overall results verify that the correct prediction of the reduced liquid level appears to be required for the correct calculation of the overall phenomena.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.11
• /
• pp.3597-3611
• /
• 2021

The present paper studies the thermal-hydraulic behaviour of the rectangular supercritical natural circulation loop (SCNCL) using numerical model of one dimensional. Then the results of this model is confirmed with experimental and benchmark results. Variations with several geometric parameters like loop diameter, riser length, and heater length and operating conditions like heater inlet enthalpy, pressure, friction factor, and inlet and exit loss coefficient on steady-state performance are investigated for various orientations like HHHC, HHVC, VHVC and VHHC of the heater and cooler. The chances of existing static instability (Ledinegg excursion) has been investigated, which reveals that it can arise only in a low inlet enthalpy condition, far from the suggested various orientations of heater and cooler.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.36-43
• /
• 2023

Lots of researches have been conducted on in-vessel retention (IVR) to prevent or mitigate severe accident in nuclear power plants. Various methodologies were proposed and the external reactor vessel cooling was selected as a part of promising IVR strategy. In this study, the strategy is strengthened by enhancing the natural circulation performance through the adoption of insulation in the reactor cavity. A thermal analysis was carried out based on an assumed accident scenario and its results were used as boundary conditions for subsequent seven flow analysis cases. By comparing the natural circulation performance, effects of annular gaps and insulation shapes on the mass flow rate and flow velocity were quantified. The improvement in cooling performance can be reflected in actual design via detailed assessment.