• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.7
• /
• pp.2207-2220
• /
• 2021

Lead alloy is used as coolant in Lead-based cooled Fast Reactor (LFR). The natural characteristics of lead alloy are combined with the simple structural design of LFR. This constitutes the inherent safety characteristics of LFR. The main work of this paper is to take the main coolant pump (MCP) in the lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) as the research object, and to study the flow pattern distribution of the internal flow field under the reverse rotation pump condition, the reverse rotation positive-flow braking condition and the reverse rotation negative-flow braking condition. In this paper, the double-outlet volute type and the space guide vane are selected as the potential designs of the CLEAR-I MCP. In this paper, the CFD method is used to study the potential reverse accident of the MCP. It is found that the highest flow velocity in the impeller appears at the impeller outlet, and the Q-H curves of the two design programs basically coincide. The space guide vane type MCP has better hydraulic performance under the reverse rotation positive-flow condition, the Q-H curves of the two designs gradually separate with increasing flow rate, and the maximum flow velocity inside the space guide vane type MCP is obviously lower than that of the double-outlet volute type. For the reverse rotation test of MCP, only the condition of the forward rotating pump of the main coolant pump is tested and verified. For the simulation of the MCP in LBE medium, it proved that the turbulence model and basic settings selected in the simulation are reliable.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.368-378
• /
• 2018

Understanding of turbulent flow in the reactor coolant pump (RCP) is a premise of the optimal design of the RCP. Flow structures in the RCP, in view of the specially devised spherical casing, are more complicated than those associated with conventional pumps. Hitherto, knowledge of the flow characteristics of the RCP has been far from sufficient. Research into the nonintrusive measurement of the internal flow of the RCP has rarely been reported. In the present study, flow measurement using particle image velocimetry is implemented to reveal flow features of the RCP model. Velocity and vorticity distributions in the diffuser and spherical casing are obtained. The results illuminate the complexity of the flows in the RCP. Near the lower end of the discharge nozzle, three-dimensional swirling flows and flow separation are evident. In the diffuser, the imparity of the velocity profile with respect to different axial cross sections is verified, and the velocity increases gradually from the shroud to the hub. In the casing, velocity distribution is nonuniform over the circumferential direction. Vortices shed consistently from the diffuser blade trailing edge. The experimental results lend sound support for the optimal design of the RCP and provide validation of relevant numerical algorithms.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.23 no.8
• /
• pp.1022-1030
• /
• 1999

A numerical study was carried out to analyze the effect of flow distribution of stirred part and plug flow part on combustion efficiency at the coal gasification process in an entrained bed coal reactor. The model of computation was based on gas phase eulerian balance equations of mass and momentum. The solid phase was described by lagrangian equations of motion. The $k-{\varepsilon}$ model was used to calculate the turbulence flow and eddy dissipation model was used to describe the gas phase reaction rate. The radiation was solved using a Monte-Carlo method. One-step parallel two reaction model was employed for the devolatilization process of a high volatile bituminous Kideco coal. The computations agreed well with the experiments, but the flame front was closer to the burner than the measured one. The flow distribution of a stirred part and a plug flow part in a reactor was a function of the magnitude of recirculation zone resulted from the swirl. The combustion efficiency was enhanced with decreasing stirred part and the maximum value was found around S=1.2, having the minimum stirred part. The combustion efficiency resulted from not only the flow distribution but also the particle residence time through the hot reaction zone of the stirred part, in particular for the weak swirl without IRZ(internal recirculation zone) and the long lifted flame.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.10
• /
• pp.3919-3927
• /
• 2022

This study presents an optimal design of the coolant system of a non-refueling full-life small reactor by analyzing the space-integrated geometrical and electromagnetic variables of an extra vessel electromagnetic pump (EVEMP) for the circulation of a lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) coolant. The EVEMP is an ideal alternative to the thermal-hydraulic system of non-refueling full-life micro reactors as it possesses no internal structures, such as impellors or sealing structures, for the transportation of LBE. Typically, the LBE passes through the annular flow channel of a reactor, is cooled by the heat exchanger, and then circulates back to the EVEMP flow channel. This thermal-hydraulic flow method is similar to natural circulation, which enhances thermal efficiency, while providing a golden time for cooling cores in the event of an emergency. When the forced circulation technology of the EVEMP was applied, the non-refueling full-life micro reactor achieve an output power of 60 MWt, which is higher than that achievable via the natural circulation method (30 MWt). Accordingly, an optimized EVEMP for Micro URANUS with a flow rate of 4196 kg/s and developed pressure of 73 kPa under a working temperature of 250 ℃ was designed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.34 no.8
• /
• pp.1059-1065
• /
• 2010

An analysis was conducted to predict the hydraulic performance of a reactor coolant pump (RCP) of SMART at the off-design as well as design points. In order to reduce the analysis time efficiently, a single passage containing an impeller and a diffuser was considered as the computational domain. A stage scheme was used to perform a circumferential averaging of the flux on the impeller-diffuser interface. The pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the pump was determined and was used to compute the head, efficiency, and break horse power (BHP) of a scaled-down model under conditions of steady-state incompressible flow. The predicted curves of the hydraulic performance of an RCP were similar to the typical characteristic curves of a conventional mixed-flow pump. The complex internal fluid flow of a pump, including the internal recirculation loss due to reverse flow, was observed at a low flow rate.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.8 no.5
• /
• pp.816-821
• /
• 1997

The hydrodynamics and the liquid flow characteristics were investigated in an internal circulation airlift reactor with a single nozzle as a gas distributor. In an air-water system, the gas holdup in the individual flow zone and the impulse-response curve of tracer were measured at various gas velocities and reactor heights. Experimental results showed that for the higher gas velocity(>about 8 cm/s), the flow behavior of bubbles in the riser was turbulent flow due to strong bubble coalescences and the axial height of dispersion zone of large bubbles having uniform sizes in the downcomer was decreased with increasing gas velocity. And mean gas holdups in the individual flow zone and the reactor were increased with increasing gas velocities and were decreased with increasing heights of the top section of the reactor and it was decreased with increasing the height of the top section and gas velocity. Flow characteristics of liquid in the riser and the downcomer was tend to access to plug flow and the overall flow behavior of liquid was mainly varied with the size of the top section which it was assumed to be perfect mixing zone. In these conditions, liquid circulation velocities were increased with increasing gas velocities and they were higher than those by using other gas distributors.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.31 no.10
• /
• pp.109-115
• /
• 1982

Reactor dynamics were studied by reactor noise at TRIGA MARK Il reactor whose rated power is 250KW thermal. The power spectral densities(PSD) of the noise were measured by stochastic method with high resolution digital filters and Fast Fourier Transformers. The transfer function of the reactor at zero power was identical to the theoretical characteristics. When the power was increasec above 1KW, reactor showed its poswer resonances at 3Hz and 10 Hz. It was analyzed that 3Hz peak was generated by heat transfer and coolant flow effects and 10Hz peak by nuclear reaction effects.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.81-88
• /
• 2010

This study was conducted to find the capability of comparison of overall oxygen transfer coefficient in the membrane coupled high performance reactor (MPHCR) in treating high organic loading wastewater. Effluent quality had been analyzed while the influent organic loading rate was changed from 2 to $7kg\;COD/m^3{\cdot}day$. The oxygen transfer coefficients had been investigated using two-phase nozzle for operating variables which were internal circulation flowrate (5~8 L/min), air flow rate (0.0125~0.2 L/min), liquid temperature ($10{\sim}20^{\circ}C$), and pure-oxygen flow rate (0.0125~0.2 L/min). The overall oxygen transfer coefficient was increased with flowrate of internal circulation and air and high temperature. Especially, internal circulation flow rate showed distinct effect on overall oxygen transfer coefficient due to an increase of gas holdup and air-liquid contract area by two-phase nozzle. In the high range of organic loading rate from 4 to $7kg\;COD/m^3{\cdot}day$, the removable efficiency of COD was 91%. Conventional activated sludge process usually treat organic loading from 0.32 to $0.64kg\;COD/m^3{\cdot}day$ however, the MPHCR can treat 10 to 20 times higher if it would be compared to the conventional activated sludge process. Foaming problem often happened and caused biomass wash out of the reactor, therefore, the foaming should be controlled for the enhanced operation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.86-95
• /
• 2020

This paper describes the work and the results of the final Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) for the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR). This final PSA was undertaken to assess the level of safety for the design of a research reactor and to evaluate whether it is probabilistically safe to operate and reliable to use. The scope of the PSA described here is a Level 1 PSA, which addresses the risks associated with core damage. After reviewing the documents and its conceptual design, nine typical initiating events were selected regarding internal events during the normal operation of the reactor. AIMS-PSA (Version 1.2c) was used for the accident quantification, and FTREX was used as the quantification engine. 1.0E-15/yr of the cutoff value was used to deliminate the non-effective Minimal Cut Sets (MCSs) when quantifying the JRTR PSA model. As a result, the final result indicates a point estimate of 2.02E-07/yr for the overall Core Damage Frequency (CDF) attributable to internal initiating events in the core damage state for the JRTR. A Loss of Primary Cooling System Flow (LOPCS) is the dominant contributor to the total CDF by a single initiating event (9.96E-08/yr), and provides 49.4% of the CDF. General Transients (GTRNs) are the second largest contributor, and provide 32.9% (6.65E-08/yr) of the CDF.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.77-83
• /
• 2014

The vessel of integral reactor contains its major primary components such as the fuel and core, pumps, steam generators, and a pressurizer, so its size is proportional to the required space for the installation of each component. The steam generators take up the largest volume of internal space of reactor vessel and their volumes is substantial for the overall size of reactor vessel. Reduction of installation space for steam generators can lead to much smaller reactor vessel with resultant decrease of overall cost for the components and related facilities. A printed circuit heat exchanger is one of the compact types of heat exchangers available as an alternative to conventional shell and tube heat exchangers. Its name is derived from the procedure used to manufacture the flat metal plates that form the core of the heat exchanger, which is done by chemical milling. These plates are then stacked and diffusion bonded, converting the plates into a solid metal block containing precisely engineered fluid flow passages. The overall heat transfer area and pressure drops are evaluated for the steam generator based on the concept of the printed circuit heat exchanger in this study. As the printed circuit heat exchanger is known to have much larger heat transfer area density per unit volume, we can expect significantly reduced steam generator compared to former shell and tube type of steam generator. For the introduction of new steam generator, two design requirements are considered: flow area ratio between primary and secondary flow paths, and secondary side parallel channel flow oscillation. The results show that the overall volume of the steam generator can be significantly reduced with printed circuit type of steam generator.