• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.130-137
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• 2022

In the geological repository of radioactive nuclear waste, anaerobic corrosion can generate hydrogen, and may conservatively lead to the production of hydrogen-air layer. The accumulated hydrogen may cause a hazardous flame propagation resulting from any potential ignition sources. This study numerically investigates the processes of ignition and flame propagation in the layered mixture. Simple geometry was chosen to represent the geological repository, and reactive flow simulations were performed with different ignition power, energy, and locations. The simulation results revealed the effects of power and energy of ignition source, which were also analyzed theoretically. The mechanism of layered flame propagation was suggested, which includes three stages: propagation into the hydrogen area, downward propagation due to the product gas, and horizontal propagation along the top wall. To investigate the effect of the ignition source location, simulations with eight different positions were performed, and the boundary of hazardous ignition area was identified. The simulation results were also explained through scaling analysis. This study evaluates the potential risk of the accumulated hydrogen in geological repository, and illustrates the layered flame propagation in related ignition scenarios.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.7
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• pp.1749-1757
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• 2019

Predicting lower flammability limits (LFL) of hydrogen has become an ever-important task for safety of nuclear industry. While numerous experimental studies have been conducted, LFL results applicable for the harsh environment are still lack of information. Our aim is to develop a calculated non-adiabatic flame temperature (CNAFT) model to better predict LFL of hydrogen mixtures in nuclear power plant. The developed model is unique for incorporating radiative heat loss during flame propagation using the CNAFT coefficient derived through previous studies of flame propagation. Our new model is more consistent with the experimental results for various mixtures compared to the previous model, which relied on calculated adiabatic flame temperature (CAFT) to predict the LFL without any consideration of heat loss. Limitation of the previous model could be explained clearly based on the CNAFT coefficient magnitude. The prediction accuracy for hydrogen mixtures at elevated initial temperatures and high helium content was improved substantially. The model reliability was confirmed for $H_2-air$ mixtures up to $300^{\circ}C$ and $H_2-air-He$ mixtures up to 50 vol % helium concentration. Therefore, the CNAFT model developed based on radiation heat loss is expected as the practical method for predicting LFL in hydrogen risk analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.265-272
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• 2005

Severe accidents in nuclear power plants can cause hydrogen-generating chemical reactions, which create the danger of hydrogen combustion and thus threaten containment integrity. For containment analyses, a three-dimensional mechanistic code, GOTHIC-3D has been applied near source compartments to predict whether or not highly reactive gas mixtures can form during an accident with the hydrogen mitigation system working. To assess the code applicability to hydrogen combustion analysis, this paper presents the numerical calculation results of GOTHIC-3D for various hydrogen combustion experiments, including FLAME, LSVCTF, and SNU-2D. In this study, a technical base for the modeling oflarge- and small-scale facilities was introduced through sensitivity studies on cell size and bum modeling parameters. Use of a turbulent bum option of the eddy dissipation concept enabled scale-free applications. Lowering the bum parameter values for the flame thickness and the bum temperature limit resulted in a larger flame velocity. When applied to hydrogen combustion analysis, this study revealed that the GOTHIC-3D code is generally able to predict the combustion phenomena with its default bum modeling parameters for large-scale facilities. However, the code needs further modifications of its bum modeling parameters to be applied to either small-scale facilities or extremely fast transients.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.13-33
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• 2013

The present work is an attempt to provide an overview, about the status of R&D and current trends in Hydrogen Production using High Temperature Reactors. Bibliographic references from the INIS database, the Science Direct database and the NTIS database were downloaded and analyzed. Ten year data on the subject, published between 2001 and 2010, was selected for the study. Appropriate qued ry formulations on these databases, resulted in the retrieval of 621 unique bibliographic records. Using the content analysis method, all the records were analyzed. Part One of the analysis details Scientometric R&D indicators, Part Two is a subject-based analysis, grouped under: A. International Initiatives and Programmes for Hydrogen Production; B. European R&D initiatives for Hydrogen production; C. National Initiatives and Programmes for Nuclear Hydrogen Production; D. Reactor Technologies for Nuclear Hydrogen production; E. Fuel Developments; F. Hydrogen Production Processes using HTRs and G. Materials Consideration for Nuclear Hydrogen Production. The results of this analysis are summarized in the study.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.424-433
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• 2015

The operating characteristics of hydrogen iodide (HI) decomposition for hydrogen production were investigated using the commercial computational fluid dynamics code, and various factors, such as hydrogen production, heat of reaction, and temperature distribution, were studied to compare device performance with that expected for device development. Hydrogen production increased with an increase of the surface-to-volume (STV) ratio. With an increase of hydrogen production, the reaction heat increased. The internal pressure and velocity of the HI decomposer were estimated through pressure drop and reducing velocity from the preheating zone. The mass of $H_2O$ was independent of the STV ratio, whereas that of HI decreased with increasing STV ratio.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.195-200
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• 2006

In order to confirm the integrity of IRWST following a severe accident, the hydrogen behavior inside and around the IRWST has been investigated for an SBO accident. A detailed containment model, including 18 control volumes for IRWST, has been developed. Analysis results show that the peak hydrogen concentration is about 57% during the core melting period. The combustion regime shows that flame acceleration and DDT are possible in the IRWST. The flame acceleration criterion is met when the peak hydrogen concentration occurs; the 7 -DDT criterion is also met during some periods. These results show certain measures may be required to assure IRWST integrity against an SBO accident.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.490-497
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• 1999

A hydrogen determinator was modified and installed in the glove box to analyse total hydrogen content in irradiated zircaloy tube. The analysis method of hydrogen is Inert Gas Fusion(IGF)-Thermal Conductivity Detection(TCD). The hydrogen recoveries of no tin method using Ti and Zr matrix standards, respectively, were available within $3{\mu}g$ of hydrogen. Also the smaller size of sample showed the better hydrogen recovery. It was found that the hydrogen standard of Ti matrix is avaliable to hydrogen analysis in zircaloy sample. The mean radioactivity of irradiated zircaloy sample was 10 mR/hr and hydrogen concentration was 130 ppm.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.12 no.S1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2003

SiC-C films were deposited with r. f. magnetron sputtering on substrates followed by argon ion bombardment. These films were then permeated by hydrogen gas under the pressure of $3.23\times10^{7}$ Pa for 3 hours at temperature of 500K or bombarded with hydrogen ion beam at 5 keV and a dose of $1\times10^{18}$ ions/$\textrm{cm}^2$. SIMS, AES and XPS were used to analyze hydrogen related species, chemical bonding states of C, Si as well as contamination oxygen due to hydrogen participation in the SiC-C films in order to study the different behaviors of hydrogen in carbon-carbide films due to different hydrogen introduction. Related mechanism about the effects of hydrogen on the element of the SiC-C films was discussed in this paper.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.267-273
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• 2023

As the impacts of global climate change become increasingly apparent, the reduction of carbon emissions has emerged as a critical subject of discussion. Nuclear power has garnered attention as a potential carbon-free energy source; however, the rapidity of load following in nuclear power generation poses challenges in comparison to fossil-fueled methods. Consequently, power-to-gas systems, which integrate nuclear power and hydrogen, have attracted growing interest. This study presents a preliminary design of a very high temperature reactor (VHTR) integrated blue hydrogen production process utilizing DWSIM, an open-source process simulator. The blue hydrogen production process is estimated to supply the necessary calorific value for carbon capture through tail gas combustion heat. Moreover, a thermodynamic assessment of the main recuperator is performed as a function of the helium flow rate from the VHTR system to the blue hydrogen production system.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.56-61
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• 2014

The purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of dissolved hydrogen concentration on crud deposition onto the fuel cladding surface in the simulated primary environments of a pressurized water reactor. Crud deposition tests were conducted in the dissolved hydrogen concentration range of 5~70 cc/kg at $325^{\circ}C$ for 14 days. Needle-shaped NiO deposits were formed in the hydrogen range of 5~25 cc/kg, while polygonal nickel ferrite deposits were observed at a hydrogen concentration above 35 cc/kg. However, the dissolved hydrogen content seems to have little effect on the amount of crud deposits.