• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권3호
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• pp.803-811
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• 2024

Nuclear accidents such as Fukushima Daiichi have highlighted the potential of passive safety systems to replace or complement active safety systems as part of the overall prevention and/or mitigation strategies. In addition, passive systems are key features of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), for which they are becoming almost unavoidable and are part of the basic design of many reactors available in today's nuclear market. Nevertheless, their potential to significantly increase the safety of nuclear power plants still needs to be strengthened, in particular the ability of computer codes to determine their performance and reliability in industrial applications and support the safety demonstration. The PASTELS project (September 2020-February 2024), funded by the European Commission "Euratom H2020" programme, is devoted to the study of passive systems relying on natural circulation. The project focuses on two types, namely the SAfety COndenser (SACO) for the evacuation of the core residual power and the Containment Wall Condenser (CWC) for the reduction of heat and pressure in the containment vessel in case of accident. A specific design for each of these systems is being investigated in the project. Firstly, a straight vertical pool type of SACO has been implemented on the Framatome's PKL loop at Erlangen. It represents a tube bundle type heat exchanger that transfers heat from the secondary circuit to the water pool in which it is immersed by condensing the vapour generated in the steam generator. Secondly, the project relies on the CWC installed on the PASI test loop at LUT University in Finland. This facility reproduces the thermal-hydraulic behaviour of a Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS) mainly composed of a CWC, a heat exchanger in the containment vessel connected to a water tank at atmospheric pressure outside the vessel which represents the ultimate heat sink. Several activities are carried out within the framework of the project. Different tests are conducted on these integral test facilities to produce new and relevant experimental data allowing to better characterize the physical behaviours and the performances of these systems for various thermo-hydraulic conditions. These test programmes are simulated by different codes acting at different scales, mainly system and CFD codes. New "system/CFD" coupling approaches are also considered to evaluate their potential to benefit both from the accuracy of CFD in regions where local 3D effects are dominant and system codes whose computational speed, robustness and general level of physical validation are particularly appreciated in industrial studies. In parallel, the project includes the study of single and two-phase natural circulation loops through a bibliographical study and the simulations of the PERSEO and HERO-2 experimental facilities. After a synthetic presentation of the project and its objectives, this article provides the reader with findings related to the physical analysis of the test results obtained on the PKL and PASI installations as well an overall evaluation of the capability of the different numerical tools to simulate passive systems.

• 설비공학논문집
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• 제26권6호
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• pp.247-256
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• 2014

The regulations to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission in building sectors are being developed and promoted all over the world. However, in Korea, as balcony extension of the apartments has been legally allowed, it became prevalent and resulted in excessive energy consumption. This study derived the possibility of PCM application to the thermal storage wall system through theoretical consideration and investigated the problems occurring when the balcony space has been extended to the diverted space. In addition, this study aims at the possibility of verifying the installation and confirming the cooling energy reduction effect, by conducting measuring tests with the actual installation of PCM applied thermal storage wall system. As a result of theoretical consideration, it is determined that the disadvantages with the existing thermal storage wall system can be complemented by applying PCM, and this study suggests the PCM applied Thermal Storage Wall System. The study was conducted on 1/6 of a miniature inner room of a domestic apartment with 84 $m^2$ of exclusive area. From the results of actual measurements, it is confirmed that the balcony extension structure can gain 11.3% of more calories than the existing balcony structure, resulting in the increase in cooling energy usage. It is determined that the installation of the PCM applied Thermal Storage Wall System may gain 25.2% of less calories to reduce cooling energy usage.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제45권5호
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• pp.605-612
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• 2013

Removal of decay heat from an operating reactor during a prolonged station blackout condition is a big concern for reactor designers, especially after the recent Fukushima accident. In the case of a prolonged station blackout condition, heat removal is possible only by passive means since no pumps or active systems are available. Keeping this in mind, the AHWR has been designed with many passive safety features. One of them is a passive means of removing decay heat with the help of Isolation Condensers (ICs) which are submerged in a big water pool called the Gravity Driven Water Pool (GDWP). The ICs have many tubes in which the steam, generated by the reactor core due to the decay heat, flows and condenses by rejecting the heat into the water pool. After condensation, the condensate falls back into the steam drum of the reactor. The GDWP tank holds a large amount of water, about 8000 $m^3$, which is located at a higher elevation than the steam drum of the reactor in order to promote natural circulation. Due to the recent Fukushima type accidents, it has been a concern to understand and evaluate the capability of the ICs to remove decay heat for a prolonged period without escalating fuel sheath temperature. In view of this, an analysis has been performed for decay heat removal characteristics over several days of an AHWR by ICs. The computer code RELAP5/MOD3.2 was used for this purpose. Results indicate that the ICs can remove the decay heat for more than 10 days without causing any bulk boiling in the GDWP. After that, decay heat can be removed for more than 40 days by boiling off the pool inventory. The pressure inside the containment does not exceed the design pressure even after 10 days by condensation of steam generated from the GDWP on the walls of containment and on the Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS) tubes. If venting is carried out after this period, the decay heat can be removed for more than 50 days without exceeding the design limits.

• 한국태양에너지학회 논문집
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.161-167
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• 2007

Zero Energy Multi-House(ZeMH) signifies a residential building which can be self sufficient with just new and renewable energy resources without the aid of any existing fossil fuel. For success of ZeMH, various innovative energy technologies Including passive and active systems should be well integrated with a systematic design approach. The first step for ZeMH is definitely to minimize the conventional heating and cooling loads over 50% with major energy conservation measure and passive solar features which are mainly related to building design components such as super-insulation, super window, including infiltration and ventilation issues. The purpose of this study is to analyze the thermal effect of various building design components in the early design of ZeMH. The process of the study is presented in the following. 1) selection reference model for simulation 2) verification of reference model with computer simulation program(ESP-r 9.0). 3) analysis of effect according to insulation-thickness, kinds of windows, rate of infiltration. and The simulation results indicate that almost 50% savings of conventional heating load in multi-house can be achieved with the optimum design of building components such as super insulation, super window, infiltration, ventilation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제38권1호
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• pp.99-108
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• 2006

SNU-RCCS is a water pool type RCCS (Reactor Cavity Cooling System) developed for VHTR (Very High Temperature Reactor) application by SNU (Seoul National University). Since radiation heat transfer is the major process of passive heat removal in a RCCS, it is important to determine the precise emissivity of the reactor vessel. Review studies have used a constant emissivity in the passive heat removal analysis, even though the emissivity depends on many factors such as temperature, surface roughness, oxidation level, wavelength, direction, atmosphere conditions, etc. Therefore, information on the emissivity of a given material in a real RCCS is essential in order to properly analyze the radiation heat transfer in a VHTR. The objectives of this study are to develop a method for compensation of the factors affecting the emissivity measurement using an infrared thermometer and to estimate the true emissivity from the measured emissivity via the developed method, especially in the SNU-RCCS environment. From this viewpoint, we investigated factors such as the attenuation effect of the window, filling gas, and the effect of background radiation on the emissivity measurements. The emissivity of the vessel surface of the SNU-RCCS facility was then measured using a sight tube. The background radiation was subsequently removed from the measured emissivity by solving a simultaneous equation. Finally, the calculated emissivity was compared with the measured emissivity in a separate emissivity measurement device, yielding good agreement with the emissivity increase with vessel temperature in a range of 0.82 to 0.88.

• KIEAE Journal
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.21-28
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• 2015

Purpose: In this study, we analyzed the energy performance levels and high-performance technology trends through the case studies of foreign high-performance buildings. Method: Buildings built within 10 years were selected for the analysis of recent trends. we analyzed the buildings of U.S.A, Germany and Japan using LEED certified buildings, Passive House certified buildings and CASBEE certified buildings database for the case study of foreign high-performance buildings. A total of 20 high-performance buildings including 14 cases in U.S.A, 4 cases in Germany and 4 cases in Japan were selected. Annual energy consumption levels for 20 high-performance buildings were collected with the actual energy consumption data or data from simulation programs officially recognized by DOE. Annual energy consumption were compared with the energy performance standard of the office buildings in the CBECS database, ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004 and Building Energy Efficiency Rating System in Korea. Result: The order of the green strategies applied in the main categories are Renewable Energy(63%), Indoor Environment Control(51%), Envelope Improvement(44%) and HVAC System & Control(28%). Specified strategies most widely used in the sub-categories are high-performance Insulation (70%), High Efficiency Heating, Cooling Source Equipment(85%), Photovoltaic&Solar Thermal(80%) and Daylighting(80%).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제47권4호
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• pp.443-453
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• 2015

A hybrid safety injection tank (H-SIT) can enhance the capability of an advanced power reactor plus (APR+) during a station black out (SBO) that is accompanied by a severe accident. It may a useful alternative to an electric motor. The operations strategy of the H-SIT has to be investigated to achieve maximum utilization of its function. In this study, the master logic diagram (i.e., an analysis for identifying the differences between an H-SIT and a safety injection pump) and an accident case classification were used to determine the parameters of the H-SIT operation. The conditions that require the use of an H-SIT were determined using a decision-making process. The proper timing for using an H-SIT was also analyzed by using the Multi-dimensional Analysis of Reactor Safety (MARS) 1.3 code (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, South Korea). The operation strategy analysis indicates that a H-SIT can mitigate five types of failure: (1) failure of the safety injection pump, (2) failure of the passive auxiliary feedwater system, (3) failure of the depressurization system, (4) failure of the shutdown cooling pump (SCP), and (5) failure of the recirculation system. The results of the MARS code demonstrate that the time allowed for recovery can be extended when using an H-SIT, compared with the same situation in which an H-SIT is not used. Based on the results, the use of an H-SIT is recommended, especially after the pilot-operated safety relief valve (POSRV) is opened.

• 한국태양에너지학회 논문집
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.66-71
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• 2011

This study focused on the application of the Passive Solar Chamber System (PSCS) as proposed by a previous study. The seasonal performance and sizing method for the system were investigated for a feasibility of the PSCS in Korean climate. For seasonal performance, heat and ventilation performances of the PSCS were analyzed for the months of January and August. This study proposed a simple configuration method in which the designer can decide on the system size at the preliminary design stage by using system efficiency, overall heat transfer coefficient transmission, monthly solar radiation, highest and lowest temperatures. During weeks that require heating, the system showed to acquire a daily average heat amount of $860.28Wh/m^2$ day. For cooling periods, the system was computed to supply a daily average natural ventilation of $1,360.2m^3/day$ to the room. Moreover, proposed sizing method and the overall computation results showed a 6.04~7.24% error of assessment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권3호
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• pp.949-958
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• 2024

In contrast to all-time flooded small modular reactor (SMR) systems, an in-kind flooding safety system (FSS) has been proposed as a passive safety system applicable to small modular reactors (SMRs) that adopt a metal containment vessel (MCV). Under transient conditions, the FSS can provide emergency cooling to dry reactor cavities and sustain long-term coolability using re-acquired evaporated steam in the reactor building on demand. When designing an FSS, the effect of the flooding flow area is vital as it affects the overall accident sequence and safety. Therefore, in this study, a MELCOR model of a reference SMR is developed and numerical analysis is performed under postulated accident scenarios. Without flooding, the MCV pressure of the reactor module exceeds the design pressure before core damage. To prevent core damage, an emergency flooding strategy is devised using various flow path parameters and requirements to ensure an adequate emergency coolant supply before the core damage is investigated. The results indicate that a flow area exceeding 0.02 m2 is required in the FSS to prevent MCV overpressure and core damage. This study is the first to report a strategic analysis for appropriately sizing an FSS flooding valve applicable to innovative SMRs.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• 제5권4호
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• pp.411-430
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• 2018

This computational study examines the augmentation of classic 2-D Rayleigh-$B{\acute{e}}nard$ convection by the addition of periodically-spaced transverse fins. The fins are attached to the heated base of the cavity and serve to partition the cavity into 'units' with different aspect ratios. The respective impacts upon heat transfer of the fin configuration parameters - including spacing, height, thickness and thermal conductivity - are systematically examined through numerical simulations for a range of laminar Rayleigh numbers (0 < Ra < $2{\times}10^5$) and reported in terms of an average Nusselt number. The selection of the low Rayleigh number regime is linked to likely scenarios within aerospace applications (e.g. avionics cooling) where the cavity length scale and/or gravitational acceleration is small. The net heat transfer augmentation is found to result from a combination of competing fin effects, most of which are hydrodynamic in nature. Heat transfer enhancement of up to $1.2{\times}$ that for a Rayleigh-$B{\acute{e}}nard$ cavity without fins was found to occur under favorable fin configurations. Such configurations are generally characterized by short, thin fins with half-spacings somewhat less than the convection cell diameter from classic Rayleigh-$B{\acute{e}}nard$ theory. In contrast, for unfavorable configurations, it is found that the introduction of fins can result in a significant reduction in the heat transfer performance.