• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.18-27
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• 2021

This study aims to develop an improved evaluation technology for assessing CANDU-6 safety. For this purpose, the multiple steam generator tube rupture (mSGTR) followed by an unmitigated station blackout (SBO) in a CANDU-6 plant was selected as a hypothetical event scenario and the analysis model to evaluate the plant responses was envisioned into the MARS-KS input model. The model includes logic models for controlling the pressure and inventory of the primary heat transport system (PHTS) decreasing due to the u-tubes' rupture, as well as the main features of PHTS with a simplified model for the horizontal fuel channels, the secondary heat transport system including the shell side of steam generators, feedwater and main steam line, and moderator system. A steady state condition was successfully achieved to confirm the stable convergence of the key parameters. Until the turbine trip, the fuel channels were adequately cooled by forced circulation of coolant and supply of main feedwater. However, due to the continuous reduction of PHTS pressure and inventory, the reactor and turbine were shut down and the thermal-hydraulic behaviors between intact and broken loops got asymmetric. Furthermore, as the conditions of low-flow coolant and high void fraction in the broken loop persisted, leading to degradation of decay heat removal, it was evaluated that the peak cladding temperature (PCT) exceeded the limit criteria for ensuring nuclear fuel integrity. This study is expected to provide the technical bases to the accident management strategy for transient conditions with multiple events.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.1233-1243
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• 2023

Shell-and-tube heat exchanger (STHX) is widely used by virtue of its simple structure and high reliability, especially in a space-constrained surface ship. For the STHX of the surface ship, roll, pitch and other motion of the ship will affect the heat transfer performance, resistance characteristics and structural strength of the heat exchanger. Therefore, it is urgent to carry out numerical simulation research on three-dimensional thermal hydraulic characteristics of surface ship STHX under the marine conditions. In this paper, the numerical simulation of marine shell and tube heat exchanger of surface ship was carried out using the porous media model. Firstly, the mathematical physical model and numerical method are validated based on the experimental data of a marine engine cooling water shell and tube heat exchanger. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results. The prediction errors of pressure drop and heat transfer are less than 10% and 1% respectively. The effect of marine conditions on the heat transfer characteristics of the heat exchanger is investigated by introducing the additional force model of marine condition to evaluate the effect of different motion parameters on the heat transfer performance of the heat exchanger. This study could provide a reference for the optimization of marine heat exchanger design.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.37-42
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• 2022

An influence analysis on multiple steam generator tube rupture (mSGTR) followed by an unmitigated station blackout is performed to compare the plant responses according to the number of ruptured u-tubes under the assumption of a total of 10 ruptured u-tubes. In all calculation cases, the transient behaviour of major thermal-hydraulic parameters, such as the discharge flow rate through the ruptured u-tubes, reactor header pressure, and void fraction in the fuel channels is found to be overall similar to that of the base case having a single SG with 10 u-tubes ruptured. Additionally, as the conditions of low-flow coolant with high void fraction in the broken loop continued, causing the degradation of decay heat removal, the peak cladding temperature (PCT) would be expected to exceed the limit criteria for ensuring nuclear fuel integrity. However, despite the same total number of ruptured u-tubes, because of the different connection configuration between the SG and pressurizer, a difference is foud in time between the pressurizer low-level signal and reactor header low-pressure signal, affecting the time to trip the reactor and to reach the PCT limit. The present study is expected to provide the technical basis for the accident management strategy for mSGTR transient conditions of CANDU-6 plants.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.495-507
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• 2023

The roughness of discontinuity significantly influences the mechanical characteristics of rock masses and extensively affects thermal and hydraulic behaviors. In this study, we utilized photogrammetry to generate 3D point cloud data for discontinuity and applied this data to characterize the roughness of discontinuity. The discontinuity profiles, reconstructed from the 3D point cloud data, were compared with those manually measured using a profile gauge. This comparison served to validate the accuracy and reliability of the acquired point cloud data in replicating the actual configurations of rock surfaces. Subsequent to this validation, influence of the number of profiles for representative JRC assessment was further investigated followed by suggestion of roughness anisotropy evaluation method with application of it to actual rock discontinuity surfaces.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.1066-1080
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• 2024

SMART100 has a containment pressure and radioactivity suppression system (CPRSS) for passive containment cooling system (PCCS). This prevents overheating and over-pressurization of a containment through direct contact condensation in an in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST) and wall condensation in a CPRSS heat exchanger (CHX) in an emergency cool-down tank (ECT). The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) constructed scaled-down test facilities, SISTA1 and SISTA2, for the thermal-hydraulic validation of the SMART100 CPRSS. Three separate effect tests were performed using SISTA1 to confirm the heat removal characteristics of SMART100 CPRSS. When the low mass flux steam with or without non-condensable gas is released into an IRWST, the conditions for mitigation of the chugging phenomenon were identified, and the physical variables were quantified by the 3D reconstruction method. The local behavior of the non-condensable gas was measured after condensation inside heat exchanger using a traverse system. Stratification of non-condensable gas occurred in large tank of the natural circulation loop. SISTA2 was used to simulate a small break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLCOA) transient. Since the test apparatus was a metal tank, compensations of initial heat transfer to the material and effect of heat loss during long-term operation were important for simulating cooling performance of SMART100 CPRSS. The pressure of SMART100 CPRSS was maintained below the design limit for 3 days even under sufficiently conservative conditions of an SBLOCA transient.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.200-208
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• 1986

The loss of coolant accident based on a double-ended cold leg break is analyzed with the discharge coefficient (Ca) of 0.4. This analysis covers the whole transient period from the start of depressurization to the complete refilling of the core by using RELAP4/MOD6-EM and RELAP4/ MOD6-HOT CHANNEL for the system thermal-hydraulics and the fuel performance during the blowdown phase respectively, and RELAP4/MOD6-FLOOD and TOODEE2 during the reflood phase. A simple analytical method has been developed to account for the lower plenum filling by approximating steam-water countercurrent flows and superheated wall effects at the downcomer during the refill period. Based on the informations. at the time of EOB (end-of-bypass), the refill duration time and the initial reflooding temperature were estimated and compared with the results from the RELAP4/MOD6, resulting in a good agreement. In addition, some parametric studies on the EOB were performed. The form loss coefficient between upper head and upper downcomer was found to be sensitive to the occurrence of the spurious EOB. Appropriate form loss coefficients should be taken into account to avoid the flow oscillations at the downcomer. The analyses with the six and three volume core nodalizations, respectively, show much similar trends in the system thermal-hydraulic performance, but the former case is recommended to obtain good results.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.361-368
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to invent the preparation technique of the foam-floater used as a level gauge of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank under high pressure, which has not only closed pores but also has under 5 wt% changingrate in case of depositing 72 h in room-temperature LPG. In pressure-resistance and deposition experiment, the prepared foam-floaters with different sulfur (325 Mesh and 400 Mesh) and foaming agent (dinitrosopentamethylenetetramin; DPT and azodicarbonamide; AC) had a marginal difference in its weight changing-rate. However, the prepared floater with sulfur 400 Mesh and the foaming agent AC had smaller pores and higher closed pore-rate. Under $50kg_f/cm^3$ hydraulic pressure, the floater with medium thermal (MT) carbon showed a lower weight changing-rate than semi reinforcing furnace (SRF) carbon. Providing a post-treatment to the prepared floater, the hardness and the pressure-resistance of the inner pore-wall of floater were increased. Prepared floaters having a specific gravity below 0.30 were distorted and broken, and other floaters with a specific gravity above 0.35 were not useful as a floater because of the low buoyancy. Therefore, it was considered that the floaters with a specific gravity between 0.3~0.35 are the most useful as a floater under $50kg_f/cm^3$ pressure-resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2007

In-cryostat helium lines are under installation to transfer a cryogenic helium into cold components in KSTAR device. In KSTAR, three kinds of helium should be supplied into the cold components, which are supercritical helium Into superconduction(SC) magnet system, liquid helium into current lead system, and gas helium into thermal shields. Cryogenic helium lines consist of transfer lines outside the cryostat, in-cryostat helium lines, and electrical breaks. In-cryostat helium lines should be guaranteed of leak tightness for tong time operation at high internal helium pressure of 20 bar. We wrapped the helium line with multi-layer insulator(MLI) to reduce radiation heat and insulated the surface of the high potential part with prepreg tape. The electrical break was fabricated by brazing ceramic tube with stainless steel tube. To ensure the operation reliability at operation temperature, all the electrical break have been examined by the thermal cycle test at liquid nitrogen and by the hydraulic test at 30 bar. And additional surface insulation was prepared with prepreg tape to give structural safety. At present most of the in-cryostat helium lines have been installed and the final inspection test is progressing.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.419-426
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• 2012

A transient, three-dimensional, two-phase flow analysis code, CUPID, has been developed in KAERI. In this work, we performed a preliminary analysis using the CUPID code to investigate the thermal-hydraulic behavior of the moderator in the Calandria vessel of a CANDU reactor. At first, we validated the CUPID code using the three experiments that were performed at Stern Laboratories Inc. To avoid the complexity to generate computational mesh around the Calandria tube bundles, a porous media approach was applied for the region. The pressure drop in the porous media zone was modeled by an empirical correlation. The results of the calculations showed that the CUPID code can predict the mixed flow pattern of forced and natural convection inside the Calandria vessel very well. Thereafter, the analysis was extended to a two-phase flow condition. Also, the local maximum temperature in the Calandria vessel was plotted as a function of the injection flow rate, which may be utilized to predict the local subcooling margin.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.487-499
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• 2014

While the vertical open type of heat exchanger is more effective in areas of abundant groundwater, and is becoming more widely used, the heat exchanger most commonly used in geothermal heating and cooling systems in Korea is the vertical closed loop type. In this study, we performed numerical simulations of the optimal utilization of geothermal energy based on the hydrogeological and thermal properties to evaluate the efficiency of the vertical open type in areas of abundant groundwater supply. The first simulation indicated that the vertical open type using groundwater directly is more efficient than the vertical closed loop type in areas of abundant groundwater. Furthermore, a doublet system with separated injection and extraction wells was more efficient because the temperature difference (${\Delta}$) between the injection and extraction water generated by heat exchange with the ground is large. In the second simulation, we performed additional numerical simulations of the optimal utilization of geothermal energy that incorporated heat transfer, distance, flow rate, and groundwater hydraulic gradient targeting a single well, SCW (standing column well), and doublet. We present a flow diagram that can be used to select the optimal type of heat exchanger based on these simulation results. The results of this study indicate that it is necessary to examine the adequacy of the geothermal energy utilization system based on the hydrogeological and thermal properties of the area concerned, and also on a review of the COP (coefficient of performance) of the geothermal heating and cooling system.