• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.356-367
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• 2018

A series of tests dedicated to station blackout (SBO) accident scenarios have been recently performed at the $Prim{\ddot{a}}rkreislauf-Versuchsanlage$ (primary coolant loop test facility; PKL) facility in the framework of the OECD/NEA PKL-3 project. These investigations address current safety issues related to beyond design basis accident transients with significant core heat up. This work presents a detailed analysis using the best estimate thermal-hydraulic code TRACE (v5.0 Patch4) of different SBO scenarios conducted at the PKL facility; failures of high- and low-pressure safety injection systems together with steam generator (SG) feedwater supply are considered, thus calling for adequate accident management actions and timely implementation of alternative emergency cooling procedures to prevent core meltdown. The presented analysis evaluates the capability of the applied TRACE model of the PKL facility to correctly capture the sequences of events in the different SBO scenarios, namely the SBO tests H2.1, H2.2 run 1 and H2.2 run 2, including symmetric or asymmetric secondary side depressurization, primary side depressurization, accumulator (ACC) injection in the cold legs and secondary side feeding with mobile pump and/or primary side emergency core coolant injection from the fuel pool cooling pump. This study is focused specifically on the prediction of the core exit temperature, which drives the execution of the most relevant accident management actions. This work presents, in particular, the key improvements made to the TRACE model that helped to improve the code predictions, including the modeling of dynamical heat losses, the nodalization of SGs' heat exchanger tubes and the ACCs. Another relevant aspect of this work is to evaluate how well the model simulations of the three different scenarios qualitatively and quantitatively capture the trends and results exhibited by the actual experiments. For instance, how the number of SGs considered for secondary side depressurization affects the heat transfer from primary side; how the discharge capacity of the pressurizer relief valve affects the dynamics of the transient; how ACC initial pressure and nitrogen release affect the grace time between ACC injection and subsequent core heat up; and how well the alternative feeding modes of the secondary and/or primary side with mobile injection pumps affect core quenching and ensure stable long-term core cooling under controlled boiling conditions.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.35-40
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• 2019

In this study, the mass flow rate of the heat release rate equation, which is the major factor of the oxygen consumption method, was analyzed for the fundamental investigation of the cone-calorimeter (5 m length and 0.3 m diameter). The shapes of a completely empty inside, 3 mm pore diameter mesh and pore diameter 10 mm honeycomb with 0.76 porosity were constructed using the cone-calorimeter. To calculate the mass flow rate, four bi-directional probes and thermocouples were installed in a uniform position in the vertical direction of flow. The velocity gradient and flow perturbation were measured from the increase in Reynolds number. As the flow capacity increased, the speed gradient increased in all three shapes relative to the turbulence intensity. In addition, the deviation of extended uncertainty to the mass flow was completely low in the order of empty space, mesh (d_p = 3 mm) and honeycomb (d_p = 10 mm and 𝜖 = 0.76) at the 95% confidence level. The results can be used in designs to improve the flow stability of the cone calorimeter.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.204-210
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• 2019

In case of a fire inside a tunnel, unlike ordinary roads, it is very difficult for a driver to obtain visibility, and a large accident is highly likely to occur. In this study, the smoke behavior, visible distance, and CO concentration of a jet fan were analyzed using the NIST fire simulation (FDS). All analyses were set to HRRPUA (Heat Release Rate Per Area) 3.6MW/m and all the analysis times were set to 600s. In all analyses by CFD, the results were confirmed at y=30m and y=110m, and smoke behavior analysis, visible range analysis, and carbon monoxide concentration were confirmed according to the diameter and flow rate. As the size and flow rate of the jet fan increased, the visibility distance was high at y=30m, and the concentration of carbon monoxide was also confirmed to be 0 ppm. Therefore, proper setting of the jet fan diameter and flow rate will be an excellent solution for fires in tunnels, and taking refuge at upstream area of a re-ventilated fan can reduce the number of casualties.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.103-109
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• 2011

In this study, we calculated the smoke movement at the fire area of the refuge floor which has the refuge safety area in case of fire in the high rise building by using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code of FLUENT (ver. 13.0). The buoyancy plume was applied using the temperature and flow velocity which represent 10 MW heat release rate in order to describe the fire, and the smoke movement was predicted using a species conservation equation. The pressurization system of smoke control was adopted with smoke control damper in refuge safety area, at the result, it is confirmed that the damper capacity was enough to smoke control in which the flow rate of supply was applied 25 $m^3/s$ in the case of the door at fire area opened only, and 50 $m^3/s$ in the doors at the fire area and lobby both opened case. They were satisfied in NFSC 501-A. Even though the door of fire area closed, there were smoke leakages at the gap between the door and wall. In addition, the refugee could be isolated in the fire area when the door of fire area closed during smoke control in the case of using the high damper flow rate of supply, 50 $m^3/s$. Therefore the proper damper flow rate of supply are needed in order to prevent the damage of refugee and this study proposes the suitable condition of damper capacity according to refuge scenario.

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.55-65
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• 2002

Ginseng has been used as a key constituent in traditional medicine prescriptions for centuries. Other than its well-known anti-stress and adaptogenic properties, ginseng has also been shown to be very effective in treating age-related deterioration in metabolic and memory functions. Although it is generally believed that the saponin (GS) fraction of the ginseng root accounts for the bioactivity of ginseng, a direct demonstration on which ginsenoside does what is still generally lacking. In the past decade, our laboratory has endeavored to identify the active GS components involved in energy metabolism, memory, and anti-neurotoxicity. To examine the ergogenic effects of GS in enhancing aerobic capacity, rats were subjected to either severe cold ($40^{\circ}C$ under helium-oxygen, two hours) or exercise workload $(70\%\;VO_{2}max,$ to exhaustion). Acute systemic injection (i.p.) of ginseng GS (5-20 mg/kg) significantly elevated both the total and maximum heat production in rats and improved their cold tolerance. However, pretreating the animal with the optimal dose (10 mg/kg) of GS devoid of $Rg_1\;and\;Rb_1$ failed to elicit any beneficial effects in improving cold tolerance. This indicates that either $Rb_1\;and/or\;Rg_1$ may be essential in exemplifying the thermogenic effect of GS. Further studies showed that only pretreating the animals with $Rb_1(2.5-5\;mg/kg),\;but\;not\;Rg_l,$ resulted in an increase in thermogenesis and cold tolerance. In contrast to the acute effect of GS on cold tolerance, enhancement of exercise performance in rats was only observed after chronic treatment (4 days). Further, we were able to demonstrate that both $Rb_1\;and\;Rg_1$ are effective in enhancing aerobic endurance by exercise. To illustrate the beneficial effects of GS in learning and memory, a passive avoidance paradigm (shock prod) was used. Our results indicated that the scopolamineinduced amnesia can be significantly reversed by chronically treating (4 days) the rats with either $Rb_1\;or\;Rg_1$ (1.25 - 2.5 mg/kg). To further examine its underlying mechanisms, the effects of various GS on ${\beta}-amyloid-modulated$ acetylcholine (ACh) release from the hippocampal slices were examined. It was found that inclusion of $Rb_1$ (0.1 ${\mu}M$), but not $Rg_1$, can attenuate ${\beta}-amyloid-suppressed$ ACh release from the hippocampal slices. Our results demonstrated that $Rb_1\;and\;Rg_1$ are the key components involved in various beneficial effects of GS but they may elicit their effects through different mechanisms.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2012

In this study, the manufacturing process of micro capsulized PCM (phase changing material) for thermal storage performance of latent heat was investigated to save energy during the use of buildings: i.e. use of melamine-type resin as the micro-capsule material and paraffin wax as the inner material that are together used in concrete walls. For the manufacturing process of the micro-capsulized PCM, the amount of SDS addition as surfactant was the key variable and the resulting thermal storage performance depended on the SDS amount. With increasing amount of SDS, the micro capsulation became much easier while the capsule surface became harder. The micro capsules became uniform at an optimum SDS addition. The addition of SDS also affected the thermal capacity: with increasing SDS amount, the heat storage and release tendency at melting point was more clearly manifested. The current investigation is part of a study under progress to explore the use of PCM in concrete walls to save building maintenance cost and energy.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.283-293
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• 2015

The buffer is a key component of the engineered barrier system in a high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repository. The present study reviewed the requirements and functional criteria of the buffer reported in literature, and also based on the results, proposed an approach to establish a buffer concept which is applicable to an HLW repository in Korea. The hydraulic conductivity, radionuclide-retarding capacity (equilibrium distribution coefficient and diffusion coefficient), swelling pressure, thermal conductivity, mechanical properties, organic carbon content, and illitization rate were considered as major technical parameters for the functional criteria of the buffer. Domestic bentonite (Ca-bentonite) and, as an alternative, MX-80 (Na-bentonite) were proposed for the buffer of an HLW repository in Korea. The technical specifications for those proposed bentonites were set to parameter values that conservatively satisfy Korea's functional criteria for the Ca-bentonite and Swedish criteria for the Na-bentonite. The thickness of the buffer was determined by evaluating the means of shear behavior, radionuclide release, and heat conduction, which resulted in the proper buffer thickness of 0.25 to 0.5 m. However, the final thickness of the buffer should be determined by considering coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical evaluation and economics and engineering aspects as well.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.19-26
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• 2021

The high-level radioactive waste (HLW) produced from nuclear power plants is disposed in a rock-mass at a depth of hundreds meters below the ground level. Since HLW is very dangerous to human being, it must be disposed of safely by the engineered barrier system (EBS). The EBS consists of a disposal canister, backfill material, buffer material, and so on. When the components of EBS are installed, gaps inevitably exist not only between the rock-mass and buffer material but also between the canister and buffer material. The gap can reduce water-retarding capacity and heat release efficiency of the buffer material, so it is necessary to investigate properties of gap-filling materials and to analyze gap spacing effect. Furthermore, there has been few researches considering domestic disposal system compared to overseas researches. In this reason, this research derived the peak temperature of the bentonite buffer material considering domestic disposal system based on the numerical analysis. The gap between the canister and buffer material had a minor effect on the peak temperature of the bentonite buffer material, but there was 40% difference of the peak temperature of the bentonite buffer material because of the gap existence between the buffer material and rock mass.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.397-405
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• 2023

Although glutathione (GSH) has been shown to play an important role in the prevention of oxidative damage as an antioxidant, studies on immune regulation by it have not been properly conducted. In this study, we investigated whether luthione^®, a reduced GSH, has an immune enhancing effect in murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. The results of flow cytometry and immunofluorescence experiments indicated that luthione increased phagocytic activity, a representative function of macrophages, compared to the control cells. According to the results of the cytokine array, the expression of interleukin (IL)-5, IL-1β, and IL-27 was significantly increased in the luthione-treated cells. Luthione also enhanced the production of tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-1β through increased expression of their proteins, and increased release of the immune mediators such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E₂ was associated with increased expression of inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase-2. In addition, the expression of cluster of differentiation 86, an M1 macrophage marker, was dramatically enhanced in RAW 264.7 cells treated with luthione. Furthermore, as a result of heat map analysis, we found that cytokine signaling 1/3-mediated signal transducer and activator of transcription/Janus tyrosine kinase signaling pathway was involved in the immunomodulatory effect by luthione. In conclusion, our data suggested that luthione could act as a molecular regulator in M1 macrophage polarization and enhance immune capacity by promoting macrophage phagocytic function.