• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.8-14
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• 2011

The clogging of the flow area at the tube support plates(TSPs), especially at the upper TSPs results in the water level oscillation of a steam generator during normal operation. A reduction of the TSP flow area causes to increase in pressure drop within the two-phase flow zone, which destabilizes the boiling flow through the tube bundle. This phenomenon was occasionally observed at a few domestic and foreign nuclear power plants. One of the methods for defining the flow area clogging is visual inspection, which is the most effective inspection method. The results of the visual inspection for TSPs' flow area are clogging images on TSPs' quartrefoil lobes. These images are complexly distorted due to lens aberration and external factors like the distance to a subject and angle etc. In this work, we developed the analysis algorithm for clogging image of the TSP flow area of steam generators. For this purpose, we designed an image verification device applicable to the camera employed in the field for visual inspection and then, we demonstrated the validity of image analysis algorithm by using this device and commercial autoCAD program.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.12a
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• pp.509-514
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• 2005

Main coolant pump (MCP) is a canned-motor-type axial pump to circulate the primary coolant between nuclear fuel rods and steam generators in an integral type reactor. The reactor is designed to operate under condition of 310 oC and 14.7 MPa. Thus MCP has to be tested under same operating condition as reactor design condition in order to verify its performance and safety. In present work, a test loop to simulate real operating situation of the reactor has been designed and constructed to test MCP. And then, as a part of qualification test, canned motor functional test and pump hydraulic performance test have been carried out upon a prototype MCP. Canned motor efficiency and pump hydraulic characteristics including homologous curves and NPSH curves were obtained from the qualification test.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1454-1459
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• 2024

Researchers have applied theoretical and CFD models for years to analyze the fluidelastic instability (FEI) of tube arrays in steam generators and other heat exchangers. The accuracy of each approach has typically been evaluated using the discrepancy between the experimental critical flow velocity and the predicted value. In the best cases, the predicted critical flow velocity was within an order of magnitude comparable to the measured one. This paper revisits the quasi-steady approach for damping controlled FEI in a normal triangular array with a pitch ratio of P/d = 1.375. The method addresses the fluidelastic frequency at the stability threshold as an input parameter for the approach. The excellent agreement between the estimated stability thresholds and the equivalent experimental results suggests that the fluidelastic frequency must be included in the quasi-steady analysis, which requires minimal computing time and experimental data. In addition, the model allows a simple time delay analysis regarding flow convective and viscous effects.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 2009

The nuclear power plants have been safely operated by plugging the steam generator tubes which have the crack indications. Tube rupture events can occur if analysts fail to detect crack indications during in-service inspection. There are various types of crack indication in steam generator tubes and they have been detected by the eddy current test. The integrity assessment should be performed using the crack-sizing results from eddy current data when the crack indication is detected. However, it is not easy to evaluate the crack-depth precisely and consistently due to the complexity of the methods. The current crack-sizing methods were reviewed in this paper and the suitable ones were selected through the laboratory tests. The retired steam generators of Kori Unit 1 were used for this study. The round robin tests by the domestic qualified analysts were carried out and the statistical models were introduced to establish the appropriate depth-sizing techniques. It is expected that the proposed techniques in this study can be utilized in the Steam Generator Management Program.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.10 no.10
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• pp.68-77
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• 2010

In the case of operating steam generators for long periods in nuclear power plants, sludge is accumulated inside the steam generator. This phenomenon could adversely affect the operation of the steam generator. This paper is about the design of a sludge washing apparatus which can remove the sludge efficiently and the control methods of the apparatus. In this paper, to design the sludge washing apparatus, firstly, we design nozzles for spraying high-pressure water through applying mathematical models and lab tests. Secondly, we establish the mathematical theory for performance parameters required to drive the sludge washing apparatus. Thirdly, we design physical structures of the apparatus based on the established performance parameters. Finally, we present the control methods of the apparatus. The sludge washing apparatus presented in this paper moves along the walls of the steam generator according to cracks in the tube array, and spray the high pressure water to remove the sludge. By this way, a relatively large amount of sludge formed in the inner surfaces can be washed very effectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4571-4584
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• 2022

The analysis of rapid flow transients in Reactor Coolant Pumps (RCP) is essential for a reactor safety study. An accurate and precise analysis of the RCP coastdown is necessary for the reactor design. The coastdown of RCP affects the coolant temperature and the colloidal crud in the primary coolant. A realistic and kinetic model has been used to investigate the behavior of activated colloidal crud in the primary coolant and steam generator that solves the pump speed analytically. The analytic solution of the non-dimensional flow rate has been determined by the energy ratio β. The kinetic energy of the coolant fluid and the kinetic energy stored in the rotating parts of a pump are two essential parameters in the form of β. Under normal operation, the pump's speed and moment of inertia are constant. However, in a coastdown situation, kinetic damping in the interval has been implemented. A dynamic model ACCP-SMART has been developed for System Integrated Modular and Advanced Reactor (SMART) to investigate the corrosion due to activated colloidal crud. The Fickian diffusion model has been implemented as the reference corrosion model for the constituent component of the primary loop of the SMART reactor. The activated colloidal crud activity in the primary coolant and steam generator of the SMART reactor has been studied for different equilibrium corrosion rates, linear increase in corrosion rate, and dynamic RCP coastdown situation energy ratio b. The coolant specific activity of SMART reactor equilibrium corrosion (4.0 mg s^-1) has been found 9.63×10^-3 µCi cm^-3, 3.53×10^-3 µC cm^-3, 2.39×10^-2 µC cm^-3, 8.10×10^-3 µC cm^-3, 6.77× 10^-3 µC cm^-3, 4.95×10^-4 µC cm^-3, 1.19×10^-3 µC cm^-3, and 7.87×10^-4 µC cm^-3 for ²⁴Na, ⁵⁴Mn, ⁵⁶Mn, ⁵⁹Fe, ⁵⁸Co, ⁶⁰Co, ⁹⁹Mo, and ⁵¹Cr which are 14.95%, 5.48%, 37.08%, 12.57%, 10.51%, 0.77%, 18.50%, and 0.12% respectively. For linear and exponential coastdown with a constant corrosion rate, the total coolant and steam generator activity approaches a higher saturation value than the normal values. The coolant and steam generator activity changes considerably with kinetic corrosion rate, equilibrium corrosion, growth of corrosion rate (ΔC/Δt), and RCP coastdown situations. The effect of the RCP coastdown on the specific activity of the steam generators is smeared by linearly rising corrosion rates, equilibrium corrosion, and rapid coasting down of the RCP. However, the time taken to reach the saturation activity is also influenced by the slope of corrosion rate, coastdown situation, equilibrium corrosion rate, and energy ratio β.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.12
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• pp.2928-2938
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• 2020

A light water nuclear Reactor has been exergy analyzed, and the rate of irreversible exergy loss and exergy destruction is calculated for each of its components. The ratio of these losses compared to the total input exergy loss is calculated, which shows that most irreversible losses occur in the reactors, turbines, steam generators, respectively, as well as in the downstream operations. The main aim of this paper is to optimize the power plant using an innovative firefly algorithm and then to propose a novel strategy to improve the overall performance of the plant. As shown in the results, the exergy destruction rate of the plant decreased by 1.18% using the firefly method, and the exergy efficiency of the plant reached 29.3% comparing to the operational amount of 28.99%. Also, the results of the firefly optimization process compared to the Genetic algorithm and gravitational search algorithm to study the accuracy of the model for exergy analysis fitness problems in the power plants and the results of this comparison has shown that the results are nearly similar in the mentioned methods. However, the firefly is faster and more accurate in limited iterations.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2020

This study aims to develop and advance the evaluation technology for assessing PHWR safety. For this purpose, the complete loss of AC power or station blackout (SBO) was selected as a target accident scenario and the analysis model to evaluate the plant responses was envisioned into the MARS-KS input model. The model includes the main features of the primary heat transport system 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 achieved successfully by running the present model to check out the stable convergence of the key parameters. Subsequently, through the SBO transient analyses two cases with and without the coolant leakage via the PHTS pumps were simulated and the behaviors of the major parameters were compared. The sensitivity analysis on the amount of the coolant leakage by varying its flow area was also performed to investigate the effect on the system responses. It is expected that the results of the present study will contribute to upgrading the evaluation technology of the detailed thermal hydraulic analysis on the SBO transient of the operating PHWRs.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.377-387
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• 2018

Korea's first commercial nuclear power plant, Kori Unit 1, was permanently shut down on June 18, 2017, after 40 years of successful operation. Kori Unit 1 plans to construct a waste treatment facility in the turbine building prior to commencement of dismantling in earnest. Various radioactive wastes are decontaminated, disassembled, cut and melted in the waste treatment facility and sent to the radioactive waste repository. The proportion of metal radioactive waste in dismantled waste is about 70%, of which large metal radioactive waste is mainly generated in the primary circuit and has high radioactivity, so radiation exposure must be managed during disassembly. In this study, the steam generators are selected as large metal radioactive waste, the exposure doses of the dismantling workers are calculated using RESRAD-RECYCLE code and the methods for reducing the exposure doses are suggested.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.633-640
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• 2014

In this research, the surface roughness affecting the pressure drop in a pipe used as the steam generator of a PWR was studied. Based on the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) technique using a commercial code named ANSYS-FLUENT, a straight pipe was modeled to obtain the Darcy frictional coefficient, changed with a range of various surface roughness ratios as well as Reynolds numbers. The result is validated by the comparison with a Moody chart to set the appropriate size of grids at the wall for the correct consideration of surface roughness. The pressure drop in a full-scale U-shaped pipe is measured with the same code, correlated with the surface roughness ratio. In the next stage, we studied a reduced scale model of a U-shaped heat pipe with experiment and analysis of the investigation into fluid-structure interaction (FSI). The material of the pipe was cut from the real heat pipe of a material named Inconel 690 alloy, now used in steam generators. The accelerations at the fixed stations on the outer surface of the pipe model are measured in the series of time history, and Fourier transformed to the frequency domain. The natural frequency of three leading modes were traced from the FFT data, and compared with the result of a numerical analysis for unsteady, incompressible flow. The corresponding mode shapes and maximum displacement are obtained numerically from the FSI simulation with the coupling of the commercial codes, ANSYS-FLUENT and TRANSIENT_STRUCTURAL. The primary frequencies for the model system consist of three parts: structural vibration, BPF(blade pass frequency) of pump, and fluid-structure interaction.