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The Influence of Surface Modification of Gold Nanoparticles Supported on TiO2 in the Catalytic Activity of CO Oxidation

  • Park, Da-Hee;Reddy, A.S.;Eah, Sang-Kee;Park, Jeong-Young
    • Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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    • 2011.08a
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    • pp.213-213
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    • 2011
  • Gold catalysts supported on TiO2 have shown a unique catalytic behavior on CO oxidation, depending on surface effects. Particle size has an influence on the surface activity. To make monodisperse Au nanoparticles, organic capping ligands, such as alkylthiols, were used by a "greener" synthesis method [1,2] and Au nanoparticles were deposited on TiO2. However, organic capping ligands must be removed for high catalytic activities by the Au nanoparticles without changing the Au size [3]. We used UV ozone treatment to decompose thiol ligands. The samples have been characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to examine the surface modification by UV ozone treatment. We show the size distribution of the gold nanoparticles by light scattering analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Au/TiO2 have been prepared using the wetness impregnation method. The catalytic performance of CO oxidation over Au supported on TiO2 under oxidizing reaction conditions (40 Torr CO and 100 Torr O2) were tested. The results show that the catalytic activity depends on particle size and the time of UV ozone exposure, which suggests the role of sulfur bonding in determining the catalytic activity of Au/TiO2 catalysts.

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COMPASS - New modeling and simulation approach to PWR in-vessel accident progression

  • Podowski, Michael Z.;Podowski, Raf M.;Kim, Dong Ha;Bae, Jun Ho;Son, Dong Gun
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.51 no.8
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    • pp.1916-1938
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    • 2019
  • The objective of this paper is to discuss the modeling principles of phenomena governing core degradation/melting and in-vessel melt relocation during severe accidents in light water reactors. The proposed modeling approach has been applied in the development of a new accident simulation package, COMPASS (COre Meltdown Progression Accident Simulation Software). COMPASS can be used either as a stand-alone tool to simulate in-vessel meltdown progression up to and including RPV failure, or as a component of an integrated simulation package being developed in Korea for the APR1400 reactor. Interestingly, since the emphasis in the development of COMPASS modeling framework has been on capturing generic mechanistic aspects of accident progression in light water reactors, several parts of the overall model should be useful for future accident studies of other reactor designs, both PWRs and BWRs. The issues discussed in the paper include the overall structure of the model, the rationale behind the formulation of the governing equations and the associated simplifying assumptions, as well as the methodology used to verify both the physical and numerical consistencies of the overall solver. Furthermore, the results of COMPASS validation against two experimental data sets (CORA and PHEBUS) are shown, as well as of the predicted accident progression at TMI-2 reactor.

Enhancement of Heparin and Heparin Disaccharide Absorption by the Phytolacca americana Saponins

  • Cho, So-Yean;Sim, Joon-Soo;Kang, Sam-Sik;Jeong, Choon-Sik;Linhardt, Robert-J;Kim, Yeong-Shik
    • Archives of Pharmacal Research
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    • v.26 no.12
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    • pp.1102-1108
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    • 2003
  • We studied the effects of phytolaccosides, saponins from Phytolacca americana, on the intestinal absorption of heparin in vitro and in vivo. The absorption enhancing activity of these compounds (phytolaccosides B, $D_2$, E, F, G and I) was determined by changes in transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and the transport amount of heparin disaccharide, the major repeating unit of heparin, across Caco-2 cell monolayers. With the exception of phytolaccoside G, all of them decreased TEER values and increased the permeability in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. In vitro, phytolaccosides B,$D_2$, and E showed significant absorption enhancing activities, while effects by phytolaccoside F and I were mild. In vivo, phytolaccoside E increased the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and thrombin time, indicating that phytolaccoside E modulated the transport of heparin in intestinal route. Our results suggest that a series of phytolaccosides from Phytolacca americana can be applied as pharmaceutical excipients to improve the permeability of macromolecules and hydrophilic drugs having difficulty in absorption across the intestinal epithelium.

Traffic Fuzzy Control : Software and Hardware Implementations

  • Jamshidi, M.;Kelsey, R.;Bisset, K.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems Conference
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    • 1993.06a
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    • pp.907-910
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    • 1993
  • This paper describes the use of fuzzy control and decision making to simulate the control of traffic flow at an intersection. To show the value of fuzzy logic as an alternative method for control of traffic environments. A traffic environment includes the lanes to and from an intersection, the intersection, vehicle traffic, and signal lights in the intersection. To test the fuzzy logic controller, a computer simulation was constructed to model a traffic environment. A typical cross intersection was chosen for the traffic environment, and the performance of the fuzzy logic controller was compared with the performance of two different types of conventional control. In the hardware verifications, fuzzy logic was used to control acceleration of a model train on a circular path. For the software experiment, the fuzzy logic controller proved better than conventional control methods, especially in the case of highly uneven traffic flow between different directions. On the hardware si e of the research, the fuzzy acceleration control system showed a marked improvement in smoothness of ride over crisp control.

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Performance analysis of the passive safety features of iPOWER under Fukushima-like accident conditions

  • Kang, Sang Hee;Lee, Sang Won;Kang, Hyun Gook
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.51 no.3
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    • pp.676-682
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    • 2019
  • After the Fukushima Daiichi accident, there has been an increasing preference for passive safety features in the nuclear power industry. Some passive safety systems require limited active components to trigger subsequent passive operation. Under very serious accident conditions, passive safety features could be rendered inoperable or damaged. This study evaluates (i) the performance and effectiveness of the passive safety features of iPOWER (innovative Power Reactor), and (ii) whether a severe accident condition could be reached if the passive safety systems are damaged, namely the case of heat exchanger tube rupture. Analysis results show that the reactor coolant system remains in the hot shutdown condition without operator actions or electricity for over 72 h when the passive auxiliary feedwater systems (PAFSs) are operable without damage. However, heat exchanger tube rupture in the PAFS leads to core damage after about 18 h. Such results demonstrate that, to enhance the safety of iPOWER, maintaining the integrity of the PAFS is critical, and therefore additional protections for PAFS are necessary. To improve the reliability of iPOWER, additional battery sets are necessary for the passive safety systems using limited active components for accident mitigation under such extreme circumstances.

Evaluation of effectiveness of fault-tolerant techniques in a digital instrumentation and control system with a fault injection experiment

  • Kim, Man Cheol;Seo, Jeongil;Jung, Wondea;Choi, Jong Gyun;Kang, Hyun Gook;Lee, Seung Jun
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.51 no.3
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    • pp.692-701
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    • 2019
  • Recently, instrumentation and control (I&C) systems in nuclear power plants have undergone digitalization. Owing to the unique characteristics of digital I&C systems, the reliability analysis of digital systems has become an important element of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). In a reliability analysis of digital systems, fault-tolerant techniques and their effectiveness must be considered. A fault injection experiment was performed on a safety-critical digital I&C system developed for nuclear power plants to evaluate the effectiveness of fault-tolerant techniques implemented in the target system. A software-implemented fault injection in which faults were injected into the memory area was used based on the assumption that all faults in the target system will be reflected in the faults in the memory. To reduce the number of required fault injection experiments, the memory assigned to the target software was analyzed. In addition, to observe the effect of the fault detection coverage of fault-tolerant techniques, a PSA model was developed. The analysis of the experimental result also can be used to identify weak points of fault-tolerant techniques for capability improvement of fault-tolerant techniques

RCD success criteria estimation based on allowable coping time

  • Ham, Jaehyun;Cho, Jaehyun;Kim, Jaewhan;Kang, Hyun Gook
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.51 no.2
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    • pp.402-409
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    • 2019
  • When a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) occurs in a nuclear power plant, accident scenarios which can prevent core damage are defined based on break size. Current probabilistic safety assessment evaluates that core damage can be prevented under small-break LOCA (SBLOCA) and steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) with rapid cool down (RCD) strategy when all safety injection systems are unavailable. However, previous research has pointed out a limitation of RCD in terms of initiation time. Therefore, RCD success criteria estimation based on allowable coping time under a SBLOCA or SGTR when all safety injection systems are unavailable was performed based on time-line and thermal-hydraulic analyses. The time line analysis assumed a single emergency operating procedure flow, and the thermal hydraulic analysis utilized MARS-KS code with variables of break size, cooling rate, and operator allowable time. Results show while RCD is possible under SGTR, it is impossible under SBLOCA at the APR1400's current cooling rate limitation of 55 K/hr. A success criteria map for RCD under SBLOCA is suggested without cooling rate limitation.

Extreme wind speeds from multiple wind hazards excluding tropical cyclones

  • Lombardo, Franklin T.
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.19 no.5
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    • pp.467-480
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    • 2014
  • The estimation of wind speed values used in codes and standards is an integral part of the wind load evaluation process. In a number of codes and standards, wind speeds outside of tropical cyclone prone regions are estimated using a single probability distribution developed from observed wind speed data, with no distinction made between the types of causal wind hazard (e.g., thunderstorm). Non-tropical cyclone wind hazards (i.e., thunderstorm, non-thunderstorm) have been shown to possess different probability distributions and estimation of non-tropical cyclone wind speeds based on a single probability distribution has been shown to underestimate wind speeds. Current treatment of non-tropical cyclone wind hazards in worldwide codes and standards is touched upon in this work. Meteorological data is available at a considerable number of United States (U.S.) stations that have information on wind speed as well as the type of causal wind hazard. In this paper, probability distributions are fit to distinct storm types (i.e., thunderstorm and non-thunderstorm) and the results of these distributions are compared to fitting a single probability distribution to all data regardless of storm type (i.e., co-mingled). Distributions fitted to data separated by storm type and co-mingled data will also be compared to a derived (i.e., "mixed") probability distribution considering multiple storm types independently. This paper will analyze two extreme value distributions (e.g., Gumbel, generalized Pareto). It is shown that mixed probability distribution, on average, is a more conservative measure for extreme wind speed estimation. Using a mixed distribution is especially conservative in situations where a given wind speed value for either storm type has a similar probability of occurrence, and/or when a less frequent storm type produces the highest overall wind speeds. U.S. areas prone to multiple non-tropical cyclone wind hazards are identified.

Development of a Probabilistic Safety Assessment Framework for an Interim Dry Storage Facility Subjected to an Aircraft Crash Using Best-Estimate Structural Analysis

  • Almomani, Belal;Jang, Dongchan;Lee, Sanghoon;Kang, Hyun Gook
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.49 no.2
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    • pp.411-425
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    • 2017
  • Using a probabilistic safety assessment, a risk evaluation framework for an aircraft crash into an interim spent fuel storage facility is presented. Damage evaluation of a detailed generic cask model in a simplified building structure under an aircraft impact is discussed through a numerical structural analysis and an analytical fragility assessment. Sequences of the impact scenario are shown in a developed event tree, with uncertainties considered in the impact analysis and failure probabilities calculated. To evaluate the influence of parameters relevant to design safety, risks are estimated for three specification levels of cask and storage facility structures. The proposed assessment procedure includes the determination of the loading parameters, reference impact scenario, structural response analyses of facility walls, cask containment, and fuel assemblies, and a radiological consequence analysis with dose-risk estimation. The risk results for the proposed scenario in this study are expected to be small relative to those of design basis accidents for best-estimated conservative values. The importance of this framework is seen in its flexibility to evaluate the capability of the facility to withstand an aircraft impact and in its ability to anticipate potential realistic risks; the framework also provides insight into epistemic uncertainty in the available data and into the sensitivity of the design parameters for future research.

Development of an Electric Pulp Tester with Constant Current Source (정 전류원을 이용한 치수 검사기의 개발)

  • 김재성;남기창;김수찬;이승종;김덕원
    • Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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    • v.41 no.2
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    • pp.61-68
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    • 2004
  • Electric stimulation of teeth has been used for assessing pulp vitality. The principle is based upon the assumption that a subject feels the pain produced by electrical current stimulation of intradental nerve. Because of very high and wide range of impedance of the enamel, it is very difficult to determine stimulation levels regardless of teeth status. Most pulp testers adopt voltage stimulation method and thus, their stimulating threshold levels significantly depend on each individual. Therefore, a constant current stimulator is necessary to minimize the effect of wide variation due to different enamel thickness. And it is also necessary to test teeth vitality with a wide current range regardless of tooth impedance. In this study, we constructed a burst-wave type pulp tester to reduce the pain using a current stabilizing circuit with the maximum current of 150 uA.