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Dai, Zhiwen;Wang, Chenglong;Zhang, Dalin;Tian, Wenxi;Qiu, Suizheng;Su, G.H.
- Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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- v.53 no.7
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- pp.2184-2194
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- 2021
The Free-Piston Stirling engine (FPSE) is of interest for many research in aerospace due to its advantages of long operating life, higher efficiency, and zero maintenance. In this study, a 1-kW FPSE was proposed by analyzing the requirements of Space Reactor Power Systems (SRPS), of which performance was evaluated by developing a code through the Simple Analysis Method. The results of SAM showed that the critical parameters of FPSE could satisfy the designed requirements. The heater of the FPSE was designed with the copper rectangular fins to enhance heat transfer, and the parametric study of the heater was performed with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software STAR-CCM⁺. The Performance Evaluation Criteria (PEC) was used to evaluate the heat transfer enhancement of the fins in the heater. The numerical results of the CFD program showed that pressure drop and Nusselt number ratio had a linear growth with the height of fins, and PEC number decreased as the height of fins increased, and the optimum height of the fin was set as 4 mm according to the minimum heat exchange surface area. This paper can provide theoretical supports for the design and numerical analysis of an FPSE for SRPSs.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2021.01.022 인용 PDF KSCI

Dai, Zhiwen;Wang, Chenglong;Zhang, Dalin;Tian, Wenxi;Qiu, Suizheng;Su, G.H.
- Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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- v.53 no.12
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- pp.3910-3917
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- 2021
Reactor fuel's power distribution plays a vital role in designing the new generation thermionic Space Reactor Power Systems (SRPS). In this paper, the 1/12th SPACE-R's full reactor core was numerically analyzed with two kinds of different axial power distribution, to identify their impacts on thermal-hydraulic and thermoelectric characteristics. In the benchmark study, the maximum error between numerical results and existing data or design values ranged from 0.2 to 2.2%. Four main conclusions were obtained in the numerical analysis: a) The axial power distribution has less impact on coolant temperature. b) Axial power distribution influenced the emitter temperature distribution a lot, when the core power was cosine distributed, the maximum temperature of the emitter was 194 K higher than that of the uniform power distribution. c) Comparing to the cosine axial power distribution, the uniform axial power distribution would make the maximum temperature in each component of the reactor core much lower, reducing the requirements for core fuel material. d) Voltage and current distribution were similar to the axial electrode temperature distribution, and the axial power distribution has little effect on the output power.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2021.06.035 인용 PDF KSCI

Lee, Je-Whan;Jeong, Yong-Hoon;Chang, Yoon-Il;Chang, Soon-Heung
- Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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- v.43 no.4
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- pp.383-390
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- 2011
Nuclear power has become an essential part of electricity generation to meet the continuous growth of electricity demand. A Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) was developed to extend uranium resource utilization under a growing nuclear energy scenario while concomitantly providing a nuclear waste management solution. Key questions in this scenario are when to introduce SFRs and how many reactors should be introduced. In this study, a methodology using Linear Programming is employed in order to quantify an optimized growth pattern of a nuclear energy system comprising light water reactors and SFRs. The optimization involves tradeoffs between SFR capital cost premiums and the total system U3O8 price premiums. Optimum nuclear growth patterns for several scenarios are presented, as well as sensitivity analyses of important input parameters.
https://doi.org/10.5516/NET.2011.43.4.383 인용 PDF KSCI