• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.44-50
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• 2013

Process gas piping is one of the most basic components frequently used in the refinery and petrochemical plants. Many kinds of by-product gas have been used as fuel in the process plants. In some plants, natural gas is additionally introduced and mixed with the byproduct gas for upgrading the fuel. In this case, safety or design margin of the changed piping system of the plant should be re-evaluated based on a proper design code such as ASME or API codes since internal pressure, temperature and gas compositions are different from the original plant design conditions. In this study, series of piping stress analysis were conducted for a process piping used for transporting the mixed gas of the by-product gas and the natural gas from a mixing drum to a knock-out drum in a refinery plant. The analysed piping section had been actually installed in a domestic industry and needed safety audit since the design condition was changed. Pipe locations of the maximum system stress and displacement were determined, which can be candidate inspection and safety monitoring points during the upcoming operation period. For studying the effects of outside air temperature to safety the additional stress analysis were conducted for various temperatures in $0{\sim}30^{\circ}C$. Effects of the friction coefficient between the pipe and support were also investigated showing a proper choice if the friction coefficient is important. The maximum system stresses were occurred mainly at elbow, tee and support locations, which shows the thermal load contributes considerably to the system stress rather than the internal pressure or the gravity loads.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.8-14
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• 2015

Synthetic natural gas(SNG), acquired from coal, is regarded as an alternative to natural gas since a rise in natural gas due to high oil price can be coped with it. In the present study, 11-liter heavy duty compressed natural gas(CNG) engine was employed in order to examine the combustion and emission characteristics of SNG. The simulated SNG, made up 90.95% of methane, 6.05% propane and 3% hydrogen was used in the experiment. Power output, thermal efficiency, combustion stability and emission characteristics were compared to those with CNG at the same engine operating conditions. Knocking phenomenon was also analyzed at 1260 rpm, full load condition. Combustion with SNG was more stable than CNG. Nitrogen oxides emissions increased while Carbon dioxides emissions decreased. Anti-knocking characteristics were improved with SNG.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.528-539
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• 2004

It is essential in commercial reactors that the safety limits imposed on the fuel pellets and fuel clad barriers, such as the linear power density (LPD) and the departure from nucleate boiling ratio (DNBR), are not violated during reactor operations. In order to accurately monitor the safety limits of current reactor states, a detailed three-dimensional (3D) core power distribution should be estimated from the in-core detector signals. In this paper, we propose a calculation methodology for detailed 3D core power distribution, using in-core detector signals and core monitoring constants such as the 3D Coupling Coefficients (3DCC), node power fraction, and pin-to-node factors. Also, the calculation method for several core safety parameters is introduced. The core monitoring constants for the real core state are promptly provided by the core design code and on-line MASTER (Multi-purpose Analyzer for Static and Transient Effects of Reactors), coupled with the core monitoring program. through the plant computer, core state variables, which include reactor thermal power, control rod bank position, boron concentration, inlet moderator temperature, and flow rate, are supplied as input data for MASTER. MASTER performs the core calculation based on the neutron balance equation and generates several core monitoring constants corresponding to the real core state in addition to the expected core power distribution. The accuracy of the developed method is verified through a comparison with the current CECOR method. Because in all the verification calculation cases the proposed method shows a more conservative value than the best estimated value and a less conservative one than the current CECOR and COLSS methods, it is also confirmed that this method secures a greater operating margin through the simulation of the YGN-3 Cycle-1 core from the viewpoint of the power peaking factor for the LPD and the pseudo hot pin axial power distribution for the DNBR calculation.

• 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.37 no.5
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• pp.479-490
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• 2005

The thermalhydraulic performance of a CANDU-6 reactor loaded with various CANFLEX fuel bundles is evaluated by the NUCIRC code, which is incorporated with recent models of pressure drop and critical heat flux (CHF) predictions based on high-pressure steam-water tests for the CANFLEX bundle as well as a 37-element bundle. The distributions of channel flow rate, channel exit quality, critical channel power (CCP), and critical power ratio (CPR) for the CANFLEX bundles (with natural or recycled uranium fuel) in the CANDU-6 reactor fuel channel are calculated by the code. The effects of axial and radial heat flux on CCP are evaluated by assuming that the recycled uranium fuel (CANFLEX-RU) has the same geometric data as the natural uranium fuel bundle (CANFLEX-NU), but a different power distribution due to different fuel composition and refueling scheme. In addition, the effects of pressure tube creep and bearing-pad height are examined by comparing various results of uncrept, and $3.3\%\;and\;5.1\%$ crept channels loaded with CANFLEX bundles with 1.4 mm or 1.7 mm high bearing-pads with those of the 37-element bundle. The distributions of the channel flow rate and CCP for the CANFLEX-NU or -RU bundle show a typical trend for a CANDU-6 reactor channel, and the CPRs are maintained above at least 1.444 (NU) or 1.455 (RU) in the uncrept channel. The enhanced CHF of the CANFLEX bundle (particularly with 1.7mm height bearing-pads) produces a higher thermal margin and considerably less sensitivity to CCP reduction due to the pressure tube creep than the 37-element bundle. The CCP enhancement due to the raised bearing-pads is estimated to be about $3\%\~5\%$ for the CANFLEX-NU and $2\%\~6\%$ for the CANFLEX-RU bundle, respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.379-384
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• 2014

The most critical rotating parts of a gas turbine engine are turbine blades and disc, given that they must operate under severe conditions such as high turbine inlet temperature, high speeds, and high compression ratios. Owing to theses operating conditions and high rotational speed energy, some failures caused by turbine disks and blades are categorized into catastrophic and critical, respectively. To maximize the margin of structural integrity, we aim to optimize the vulnerable area of disc-blade interface region. Then, to check the robustness of the obtained optimized solution, we evaluated structural reliability under uncertainties such as dimensional tolerance and fatigue life variant. The results highlighted the necessity for and limitations of optimization which is one of deterministic methods, and pointed out the requirement for introducing reliability-based design optimization which is one of stochastic methods. Thermal-structural coupled-filed analysis and contact analysis are performed for them.

• Plant Journal
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.42-47
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• 2021

In terms of district heating operation, efficient production and supply of heat by alleviating the peak load at a specific time require an application technology that can solve the inconvenience of the user and the difficulties of the supplier. In this study, a 78 ℃ class PCM heat storage tank suitable among the technologies that can solve these problems was manufactured and applied to the hot water supply facility for apartments in district heating users. As a result of the application of this system, it was confirmed that the supply temperature was constant to the user compared to the existing supply method. In addition, it was confirmed that the reduction of the peak load due to load equalization reduced the heat supply margin of 10% in the existing heat supply facility. And the construction cost of the new heat supply facility and the construction cost of heat users is decreased by 5% and 10%, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2019

In this study, to optimize the production and utilization of biogas for organic waste resources, the precision monitoring of on-site facilities and the energy balance by facility were analyzed, and the solutions for field problems were investigated, and the design and operation guidelines for pretreatment facilities and generators were presented. Gas pre-treatment is required to solve frequent failures and efficiency degradation in operation of high quality refining facilities, and processing processes such as desulfurization, dehumidification, deoxidization, dust treatment, volatile organic compounds, etc. Since these processes are substances that are also eliminated from the high-quality process, quantitative guidelines are not presented in the gas pretreatment process, but are suggested to operate during the processing process as a qualitative guideline. In particular, dust, siloxane, and volatile organic compounds are the main cause of frequent failure of high-quality processes if they are not removed from the gas pretreatment process. Design of the biogas high-quality process. The operation guidelines provide quality standards [Methane content (including propane) of 95% or more] with 90% or more utilization of the total gas generation, two systems, and a margin of 10% or more. It also proposed installing gas equalization tank, installing thermal automatic control system for controlling equalization of auxiliary fuel, installing dehumidification device at the back of high quality for removing moisture generated in the process of gas compression, installing heat-resisting facilities to prevent freezing of facilities in winter and reducing efficiency, and installing membrane facilities in particular.