• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.562-568
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• 2000

The pressure in a water-entry induced cavity, is analyzed up to the closed cavity (bubble). Water-entry is a highly transient phenomenon, and the evolution of the water-entry cavity must be explained by considering the entry speed, shape of the solid body, atmosphere pressure, and cavity pressure as the primary variables. This work is an extension of the cavity dynamics model recently reported by Lee (l997a). To extend the model for a wide range of entry speeds the cavity pressure is calculated from a one-dimensional quasi-steady flow model. The estimation of the cavity pressure allows us to explain the experimentally observed surface closure phenomena at low entry speeds. Predictions for the time of surface closure are compared with the published experimental data.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.477-488
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• 2011

A formulation is proposed for modelling the process of intra-granular diffusion of fission gas during irradiation of $UO_2$ under both normal operating conditions and power transients. The concept represents a simple extension of the formulation of Speight, including an estimation of the contribution of bubble motion to fission gas diffusion. The resulting equation is formally identical to the diffusion equation adopted in most models that are based on the formulation of Speight, therefore retaining the advantages in terms of simplicity of the mathematical-numerical treatment and allowing application in integral fuel performance codes. The development of the new model proposed here relies on results obtained by means of molecular dynamics simulations as well as finite element computations. The formulation is proposed for incorporation in the TRANSURANUS fuel performance code.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.1152-1166
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• 2023

The bubbly flow of air or steam in subcooled water are investigated here in several test cases, characterized by different pipe sizes, bubble dimensions and flow rates, by means of CFD using a Eulerian-Eulerian approach. The performance of models that differ for the turbulence closure in the continuous phase, as well as for the description of the lift force on the dispersed phase, are compared in detail. When air is considered, the space of the experimental parameters leading to a reasonable performance for the selected models are identified and discussed, while the issues left in the modelling of the concurrent condensation are highlighted for the cases where steam is used.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2029-2038
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• 2024

A deep understanding of the characteristics and mechanism of geyser boiling and capillary pumping is necessary to optimize a high-temperature sodium heat pipe. In this work, the Volume of Fluid (VOF) two-phase model and the capillary force model in the mesh wick were used to model the complex phase change and fluid flow in the heat pipe. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations successfully predicted the process of bubble nucleation, growth, aggregation, and detachment from the wall in the liquid pool of the evaporation section of the heat pipe in horizontal and tilted states, as well as the reflux phenomenon of capillary suction within the wick. The accuracy and stability of the capillary force model within the wick were verified. In addition, the causes of geyser boiling in heat pipes were analyzed by extracting the oscillation distribution of heat pipe wall temperature. The results show that adding the capillary force model within the wick structure can reasonably simulate the liquid backflow phenomenon at the condensation; Under the horizontal and inclined operating conditions of the heat pipe, the phenomenon of local dry-out will occur, resulting in a sharp increase in local temperature. The speed of bubble detachment and the timely reflux of liquid sodium (condensate) replenishment in the wick play a vital role in the geyser temperature oscillation of the tube wall. The numerical simulation method and the results of this study are anticipated to provide a good reference for the investigation of geyser boiling in high-temperature heat pipes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.710-716
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• 2013

New and renewable energy sources have drawn attention because of climate change. Many studies have been carried out in waste-to-energy field. Fast pyrolysis of waste lignocelluosic biomass is one of the waste-to-energy technologies. Bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) reactor is widely used for fast pyrolysis of the biomass. In BFB pyrolyzer, bubble behavior influences on the chemical reaction. Accordingly, in the present study, hydrodynamic characteristics and fast pyrolysis reaction of waste lignocellulosic biomass occurring in a BFB pyrolyzer are scrutinized. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the fast pyrolysis reactor is carried out by using Eulerian-Granular approach. And two-stage semi-global kinetics is applied for modeling the fast pyrolysis reaction of waste lignocellulosic biomass. To summarize, generation and ascendant motion of bubbles in the bed affect particle behavior. Thus biomass particles are well mixed with hot sand and consequent rapid heat transfer occurs from sand to biomass particles. As a result, primary reaction is observed throughout the bed. And reaction rate of tar formation is the highest. Consequently, tar accounts for 66wt.% of the product gas. However, secondary reaction occurs mostly in the freeboard. Therefore, it is considered that bubble behavior and particle motions hardly influences on the secondary reaction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2021

Experiments of vertically upward steam-water two-phase flow have been carried out in single-side heated narrow rectangular channel with a gap of 3 mm. Flow patterns were identified and classified through visualization directly. Slug flow was only observed at 0.2 MPa but replaced by block-bubble flow at 1.0 MPa. Flow pattern maps at the pressure of 0.2 MPa and 1.0 MPa were plotted and the difference was analyzed. The experimental data has been compared with other flow pattern maps and transition criteria. The results show reasonable agreement with Hosler's, while a wide discrepancy is observed when compared with air-water two-phase experimental data. Current criteria developed based on air-water experiments poorly predict bubble-slug flow transition due to the different formation and growth of bubbles. This work is significant for researches on heat transfer, bubble dynamics and flow instability.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.421-428
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• 2005

Dissolved air flotation (OAF) is a solid-liquid separation system that uses fine bubbles rising from bottom to remove particles in water. In this study, we investigated the effect of L/W (L; Length, W; Width) on the hydro-dynamic behavior in DAF system using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and ADV (Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry) technique. The factual full-scale DAF system, L/W ratio of 1:1, was selected and various L/W ratio (2:1, 3:1, 4:1 and 5:1) conditions were simulated with CFD. For modelling, 2-phase (gas-liquid) flow equations for the conservation of mass, momentum and turbulence quantities were solved using an Eulerian-Eulerian approach based on the assumption that very small particle is applied in the DAF system. Also, for verification of CFD simulation results, we measured the factual velocity at some points in the full-scale DAF system with ADV technique. Both the simulation and the measurement results were in good accordance with each other. As the results of this study, we concluded that L/W ratio and outlet geometry play important role for flow pattern and fine bubble distribution in the flotation zone. In the ratio of 1:1, the dead zone is less than those in other cases. On the other hands, in the ration of 3:1, the fine bubbles were more evenly distributed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.847-858
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• 2016

An overview is given on the work of the Laboratory of Nuclear Energy Systems at ETH, Zurich (ETHZ) and of the Laboratory of Thermal Hydraulics at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland on tight-lattice bundles. Two-phase flow in subchannels of a tight triangular lattice was studied experimentally and by computational fluid dynamics simulations. Two adiabatic facilities were used: (1) a vertical channel modeling a pair of neighboring sub-channels; and (2) an arrangement of four subchannels with one subchannel in the center. The first geometry was equipped with two electrical film sensors placed on opposing rod surfaces forming the subchannel gap. They recorded 2D liquid film thickness distributions on a domain of $16{\times}64$ measuring points each, with a time resolution of 10 kHz. In the bubbly and slug flow regime, information on the bubble size, shape, and velocity and the residual liquid film thickness underneath the bubbles were obtained. The second channel was investigated using cold neutron tomography, which allowed the measurement of average liquid film profiles showing the effect of spacer grids with vanes. The results were reproduced by large eddy simulation + volume of fluid. In the outlook, a novel nonadiabatic subchannel experiment is introduced that can be driven to steady-state dryout. A refrigerant is heated by a heavy water circuit, which allows the application of cold neutron tomography.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.893-899
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• 2024

In a secondary cooling system of a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), rapid detection of hydrogen due to sodium-water reaction (SWR) caused by water leakage from a heat exchanger tube of a steam generator (SG) is important in terms of safety and property protection of the SFR. For hydrogen detection, the hydrogen detectors using atomic transmission phenomenon of hydrogen within Ni-membrane were used in Japanese proto-type SFR "Monju". However, during the plant operation, detection signals of water leakage were observed even in the situation without SWR concerning temperature up and down in the cooling system. For this reason, the study of a new hydrogen detector has been carried out to improve stability, accuracy and reliability. In this research, the authors focus on the difference in composition of hydrogen and the difference between the background hydrogen under normal plant operation and the one generated by SWR and theoretically estimate the hydrogen behavior in liquid sodium by using ultra-accelerated quantum chemical molecular dynamics (UA-QCMD). Based on the estimation, dissolved H or NaH, rather than molecular hydrogen (H₂), is the predominant form of the background hydrogen in liquid sodium in terms of energetical stability. On the other hand, it was found that hydrogen molecules produced by the sodium-water reaction can exist stably as a form of a fine bubble concerning some confinement mechanism such as a NaH layer on their surface. At the same time, we observed experimentally that the fine H₂ bubbles exist stably in the liquid sodium, longer than previously expected. This paper describes the comparison between the theoretical estimation and experimental results based on hydrogen form in sodium in the development of the new hydrogen detector in Japan.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.709-713
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• 2004

Characteristics of laser-assisted wet etching of titanium in phosphoric acid were investigated to examine the feasibility of this method for fabrication of high aspect ratio microchannels. Laser power, number of scans, etchant concentration, position of beam waist and scanning speed were taken into consideration as the major process parameters exerting the temperature distribution and the cross sectional profile of etched channels. Experimental results indicated that laser power influences on both etch width and depth while number of scans and scanning speed mainly affect on the etch depth. At a low etchant concentration, the cross sectional profile of an etched channel becomes a U-shape but it gradually turns into a V-shape as the concentration increases. On the other hand, surface of the laser beam focus with respect to the sample surface is found to be a key factor determining the bubble dynamics and thus the process stability. It is demonstrated that metallic microchannels with different cross sectional profiles can be fabricated by properly controlling the process parameters. Microchannels of aspect ratio up to 8 with the width and depth ranges of 8∼32 m and 50∼300 m, respectively, were fabricated.