• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.86-100
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• 2022

In this paper, the concept and characteristics of the nuclear propulsion system were introduced and the state of the art for the nuclear-powered space propulsion in abroad were summarized. Since uranium used in nuclear propulsion has a very high energy density per unit mass, it has exceptional specific impulse performance compared to the existing chemical propulsion method and can reduce the amount of fuel loaded, thereby having advantage for long-distance exploration. For this reason, advanced countries in space development are recently spurring to the research of nuclear propulsion technology, and it is judged that the development of a propulsion engine using nuclear power is absolutely necessary in order to gain an competitive edge on the space development.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.678-699
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• 2015

Although the harsh space environment imposes many severe challenges to space pioneers, space exploration is a realistic and profitable goal for long-term humanity survival. One of the viable and promising options to overcome the harsh environment of space is nuclear propulsion. Particularly, the Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) is a leading candidate for nearterm human missions to Mars and beyond due to its relatively high thrust and efficiency. Traditional NTR designs use typically high power reactors with fast or epithermal neutron spectrums to simplify core design and to maximize thrust. In parallel there are a series of new NTR designs with lower thrust and higher efficiency, designed to enhance mission versatility and safety through the use of redundant engines (when used in a clustered engine arrangement) for future commercialization. This paper proposes a new NTR design of the second design philosophy, Korea Advanced NUclear Thermal Engine Rocket (KANUTER), for future space applications. The KANUTER consists of an Extremely High Temperature Gas cooled Reactor (EHTGR) utilizing hydrogen propellant, a propulsion system, and an optional electricity generation system to provide propulsion as well as electricity generation. The innovatively small engine has the characteristics of high efficiency, being compact and lightweight, and bimodal capability. The notable characteristics result from the moderated EHTGR design, uniquely utilizing the integrated fuel element with an ultra heat-resistant carbide fuel, an efficient metal hydride moderator, protectively cooling channels and an individual pressure tube in an all-in-one package. The EHTGR can be bimodally operated in a propulsion mode of $100MW_{th}$ and an electricity generation mode of $100MW_{th}$, equipped with a dynamic energy conversion system. To investigate the design features of the new reactor and to estimate referential engine performance, a preliminary design study in terms of neutronics and thermohydraulics was carried out. The result indicates that the innovative design has great potential for high propellant efficiency and thrust-to-weight of engine ratio, compared with the existing NTR designs. However, the build-up of fission products in fuel has a significant impact on the bimodal operation of the moderated reactor such as xenon-induced dead time. This issue can be overcome by building in excess reactivity and control margin for the reactor design.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.1326-1338
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• 2017

The continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport code, MC21, was coupled to the CTF subchannel thermal-hydraulics code using a combination of Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) tools and in-house Python scripts. An MC21/CTF solution for VERA Core Physics Benchmark Progression Problem 6 demonstrated good agreement with MC21/COBRA-IE and VERA solutions. The MC21/CTF solution for VERA Core Physics Benchmark Progression Problem 7, Watts Bar Unit 1 at beginning of cycle hot full power equilibrium xenon conditions, is the first published coupled Monte Carlo neutronics/subchannel T-H solution for this problem. MC21/CTF predicted a critical boron concentration of 854.5 ppm, yielding a critical eigenvalue of $0.99994{\pm}6.8E-6$ (95% confidence interval). Excellent agreement with a VERA solution of Problem 7 was also demonstrated for integral and local power and temperature parameters.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.1022-1028
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• 2024

A neutronics study of a supercritical CO₂-cooled fast reactor core for nuclear propulsion has been performed in this work. The thermal power of the reactor core is 30 MWth and a ceramic UO₂ fuel can be used to achieve a 20-year lifetime without refueling. In order to make a compact core with inherent safety features, the drum-type reactivity control system and folding-type shutdown system are adopted. In addition, we suggest a cold shutdown system using gadolinium as a spectral shift absorber (SSA) against flooding. Although there is a penalty of U-235 enrichment for the core embedded with the cold shutdown system, it effectively mitigates the increment of reactivity at the flooding of seawater. In this study, the neutronics analyses have been performed by using the continuous energy Monte Carlo Serpent 2 code with the evaluated nuclear data file ENDF/B-VII.1 Library. The supercritical CO₂-cooled fast reactor core is characterized in view of important safety parameters such as the reactivity worth of reactivity control systems, fuel temperature coefficient (FTC), coolant temperature coefficient (CTC), and coolant temperature-density coefficient (CTDC). We can say that the suggested core has inherent safety features and enough flexibility for load-following operation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.53-59
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• 2019

Solid fuel reacts with an oxidizer during combustion of a propellant to increase performance. Representative solid fuels are aluminum, cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) and octahydro-1, 3,5,7-tetra nitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocin (HMX). During combustion, these compounds generate white smoke by reacting with moisture and produce materials that are harmful to the environment, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and methane gas. This study prepared a high-nitrogen-containing energetic material, hydrazinium 5-aminotetrazolate (HAT), which could be applied as a solid fuel. The compound was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and a thermal analysis was measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Also, the specific impulses and volumes of detonation gases were calculated using the EXPLO5 program.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.36-42
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• 2021

In this study, the impregnation of Lyocell fabrics was performed using phosphoric acid, ammonium phosphate, diammonium hydrogen, triammonium phosphate as phosphorus flame retardant, to fabricate continuous graphite fabrics using lyocell fiber. The physical and chemical structure changes were investigated by thermogravimetric, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, C-nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, and weight analyses, By analyzing the thermal behavior of phosphorus flame retardant, conditions for the temperature, gas, and residual time of the pyrolysis process were set. Graphite fabrics with a tensile strength of 1,007.19±11.47 N/5 cm and yield of 25.3% were fabricated using continuous pyrolysis, carbonization and graphitization process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.3-8
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• 1998

The industrial revolution in England was based on the manufacturing systems by the power of water mill and rapidly progressed by the innovation of steam engine. It is no exaggeration to say that today's civilization is realized by the development of various types of power machinery, namely fluid machinery and heat engine. The electric energy is converted mainly from thermal energy (mainly steam) of mineral oil, coal and nuclear fuel through generator connected with steam turbine which is a kind of power machinery. There are various types of power machinery as shown in Tables 1a and 1b. They are classified into two types by use. One is absorption type of fluid and/or thermal energy, for examples, windmill and heat engine. The other is provision type of the energies for examples, pump, compressor and propulsion. By flow type, they are also classified by two types, turbo type and positive-displacement type. The turbo type began from water mill and windmill and evolve to steam turbine and finally to gas turbine. The positive-displacement type started from reciprocating water pump and developed into steam engine and changed to reciprocating combustion engine. The pumps and motors used in oil hydraulic system for power control are also positive-displacement type.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.8
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• pp.640-647
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• 2014

Infrared signature of aircraft exhaust plume is the critical factor for aircraft survivability. To improve the military aircraft survivability, the accurate prediction of infrared signature for the propulsion system is needed. The numerical analysis of thermal fluid field for nozzle inflow, free stream flow, and plume region is conducted by using the in-house code. Weighted Sum of Gray Gases Model based on Narrow Band with regrouping is adopted to calculate the spectral infrared signature emitted from aircraft exhaust plume. The accuracy and reliability of the developed code are validated in the one-dimensional band model. It is found that the infrared radiant intensity is relatively more strong in the plume through the analysis, the results show the different characteristic of the spectral infrared signature along the temperature, the partial pressure, and the species distribution. The continuous spectral radiant intensity is shown near the nozzle exit due to the emission from the nozzle wall.