• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.1013-1021
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• 2024

A series of experiments were performed to produce a fuel source for a molten salt reactor (MSR) through pyroprocessing technology. A simulated LiCl-KCl-UCl₃-NdCl₃ salt system was prepared, and the U element was fully recovered using a liquid cadmium cathode (LCC) by applying a constant current. As a result, the salt was purified with an UCl₃ concentration lower than 100 ppm. Subsequently, the U/RE ingot was prepared by melting U and RE metals in Y₂O₃ crucible at 1473 K as a surrogate for RE-rich ingot product from pyroprocessing. The produced ingot was sliced and used as a working electrode in LiCl-KCl-LaCl₃ salt. Only RE elements were then anodically dissolved by applying potential at - 1.7 V versus Ag/AgCl reference electrode. The RE-removed ingot product was used to produce UCl₃ via the reaction with NH4Cl in a sealed reactor.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.87-95
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• 2009

EGR(Exhaust gas recirculation) provides an important contribution in achieving the development targets of low fuel consumption and low exhaust emission levels on gasoline engine for hybrid vehicles while allowing stoichiometric fuelling to be retained for applications using the three-way catalysts. However, the occurrence of excessive cyclic variation with high EGR normally prevents substantial fuel economy improvements from being achieved in practice. Therefore, the optimum EGR rate in gasoline engine for hybrid vehicles should be carefully determined in order to achieve low fuel consumption and low exhaust emission. In this study, 2 liters gasoline engine with E-EGR system was used to investigate the effects of EGR with optimum EGR rate on fuel economy, combustion stability, engine performance and exhaust emissions. As the engine load becomes higher, the optimum EGR rate tends to increase. The increase in engine load and reduction in engine speed make the fuel consumption better. The fuel consumption was improved by maximum 5.5% at low speed, high load operating condition. As the simulated EGR variation on a cylinder is increased, due to the increase in cyclic variation, the fuel consumption and emissions characteristics were deteriorated simultaneously. To achieve combustion stability without a penalty in fuel consumption and emissions, the cylinder-to-cylinder variations must be maintained under 10%.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.437-444
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• 2005

Unburned hydrocarbon (UBHC) emissions from gasoline engines remain a primary engineering research and development concern due to stricter emission regulations. Gasoline engines produce more UBHC emissions during cold start and warm-up than during any other stage of operation, because of insufficient fuel-air mixing, particularly in view of the additional fuel enrichment used for early starting. Impingement of fuel droplets on the cylinder wall is a major source of UBHC and a concern for oil dilution. This paper describes an experimental study that was carried out to investigate the distribution and 'footprint' of fuel droplets impinging on the cylinder wall during the intake stroke under engine starting conditions. Injectors having different targeting and atomization characteristics were used in a 4-Valve engine with optical access to the intake port and combustion chamber. The spray and targeting performance were characterized using high-speed visualization and Phase Doppler Interferometry techniques. The fuel droplets impinging on the port, cylinder wall and piston top were characterized using a color imaging technique during simulated engine start-up from room temperature. Highly absorbent filter paper was placed around the circumference of the cylinder liner and on the piston top to collect fuel droplets during the intake strokes. A small amount of colored dye, which dissolves completely in gasoline, was used as the tracer. Color density on the paper, which is correlated with the amount of fuel deposited and its distribution on the cylinder wall, was measured using image analysis. The results show that by comparing the locations of the wetted footprints and their color intensities, the influence of fuel injection and engine conditions can be qualitatively and quantitatively examined. Fast FID measurements of UBHC were also performed on the engine for correlation to the mixture formation results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.363-374
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• 2005

A heterogeneous thorium-based Kyung Hee Thorium Fuel (KTF) assembly design was assessed for application in the APR-1400 to study the feasibility of using thorium fuel in a conventional pressurized water reactor (PWR). Thermal hydraulic safety was examined for the thorium-based APR-1400 core, focusing on the Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio (DNBR) and Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LBLOCA) analysis. To satisfy the minimum DNBR (MDNBR) safety limit condition, MDNBR>1.3, a new grid design was adopted, that enabled grids in the seed and blanket assemblies to have different loss coefficients to the coolant flow. The fuel radius of the blanket was enlarged to increase the mass flow rate in the seed channel. Under transient conditions, the MDNBR values for the Beginning of Cycle (BOC), Middle of Cycle (MOC), and End of Cycle (EOC) were 1.367, 1.465, and 1.554, respectively, despite the high power tilt across the seed and blanket. Anticipated transient for the DNBR analysis were simulated at conditions of $112\%$ over-power, $95\%$ flow rate, and $2^{\circ}C$ higher inlet temperature. The maximum peak cladding temperature (PCT) was 1,173K for the severe accident condition of the LBLOCA, while the limit condition was 1,477K. The proliferation resistance potential of the thorium-based core was found to be much higher than that of the conventional $UO_2$ fuel core, $25\%$ larger in Bare Critical Mass (BCM), $60\%$ larger in Spontaneous Neutron Source (SNS), and $155\%$ larger in Thermal Generation (TG) rate; however, the radio-toxicity of the spent fuel was higher than that of $UO_2$ fuel, making it more environmentally unfriendly due to its high burnup rate.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.769-778
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• 2012

Diesel DeNOx experiments using the SNCR process were performed by directly injecting NH3 into a simulated engine cylinder (966 $cm^3$) for which a diesel fuelled combustion-driven flow reactor was designed by simulating diesel engine geometry, temperature profiles, aerodynamics and combustion products. A wide range of air/fuel mixtures (A/F=20~45) were combusted for oxidizing diesel flue gas conditions where an initial NOx levels were 250~900 ppm and molar ratios (${\beta}=NH_3/NOx$) ranged from 0.5~2.0 for NOx reduction tests. Effective NOx reduction occurred over a temperature range of 1100~1350 K at cylinder injections where about 34% NOx reduction was achieved with ${\beta}$=1.5 and cylinder cooling at optimum flow conditions. The effects of simulated engine cylinder and exhaust parts, initial NOx levels, molar ratios and engine speeds on NOx reduction potential are discussed following temperature gradients and diesel engine environments. A staged injection by $NH_3$ and diesel fuel additive is tested for further NOx reduction, and more discussed for practical implication.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.258-263
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• 2010

A numerical stack model has been developed to predict the temperature at a constant-load operation of molten carbonate fuel cell stacks. For the validity of the model, the simulated results with several boundary conditions were compared in the cell temperature data obtained from 75 kW class MCFC stack operation. It was shown that the simulated results with the existing boundary condition, which the stack outlet temperature was fixed at $650^{\circ}C$, didn't match well with the measured data. On the other hand, the stack model with the outlet temperature modified by the outlet manifold temperature measured from the stack under several electric loads was found to explain the measured cell temperature distribution well. The results show that the model can be used to predict the cell temperature distribution in the stacks by the measurement of the manifold outlet temperature.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.1109-1114
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• 2009

The evolution of a high burnup structure (HBS) in a light water reactor (LWR) $UO_2$ fuel was simulated using the Potts model. A simulation system for the Potts model was defined as a two-dimensional triangular lattice, for which the stored energy was calculated from both the irradiation damage of the $UO_2$ matrix and the formation of a grain boundary in the newly recrystallized small HBS grains. In the simulation, the evolution probability of the HBS is calculated by the system energy difference between before and after the Monte Carlo simulation step. The simulated local threshold burnup for the HBS formation was 62 MWd/kgU, consistent with the observed threshold burnup range of 60-80 MWd/kgU. The simulation revealed that the HBS was heterogeneously nucleated on the intergranular bubbles in the proximity of the threshold burnup and then additionally on the intragranular bubbles for a burnup above 86 MWd/kgU. In addition, the simulation carried out under a condition of no bubbles indicated that the bubbles played an important role in lowering the threshold burnup for the HBS formation, thereby enabling the HBS to be observed in the burnup range of conventional high burnup fuels.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.659-664
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• 2000

Fuel-consumption and catalyst-out emissions of a parallel hybrid electric vehicle are affected by operating region of an engine. In many researches, It is generally known that it is profitable in fuel- consumption to operate engine in OOL(Optimal Operating Line). We established the mathematical model of a parallel hybrid electric vehicle, which is linear time-invariant. To operate an engine in OOL, we applied RHC(Receding Horizon Control) to the driving control of a parallel hybrid electric vehicle. And it is known that the RHC has advantages such as good tracking performance under state and control constraints. This RHC is obtained by using linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimization. In this paper, there are three main topics. First, without state and control constraints, the optimal tracking of OOL was simulated. Second, with state and control constraints by engine and motor performances, the optimal tracking of OOL was simulated. In the last, we studied on the optimal gear ratio. That is to say, we combined the RHC and the iterative simulation to extract the optimal gear ratio. In this simulation, the vehicle is commanded to track the reference vehicle trajectory and the engine is operated in the optimal operating region which is made by the state constraints.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.30 no.5 s.111
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• pp.369-374
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• 2006

The flow analysis was made by applying the turbulent models in the complicated fuel chamber of engine. The $k-\varepsilon,\;k-\omega$, Spalart-Allmaras and reynolds stress models are used in which the hybrid grid is applied for the simulation. The velocity vector, the pressure contour, the change of residual along the iteration number, and the dynamic head are simulated for the comparison of four example cases. Computational results are compared with others. For the code's validation, 2-D bodies were simulated in advance by predicting the drag coefficients.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.305-312
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• 2011

The use of a separator to control stack temperature in a molten carbonate fuel cell was studied by numerical simulation using a computational fluid dynamics code. The stack model assumed steady-state and constant-load operation of a co-flow stack with an external reformer at atmospheric pressure. Representing a conventional cell type, separators with two flow paths, one each for the anode and cathode gas, were simulated under conditions in which the cathode gas was composed of either air and carbon dioxide (case I) or oxygen and carbon dioxide (case II). The results showed that the average cell potential in case II was higher than that in case I due to the higher partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the cathode gas. This result indicates that the amount of heat released during the electrochemical reactions was less for case II than for case I under the same load. However, simulated results showed that the maximum stack temperature in case I was lower than that in case II due to a reduction in the total flow rate of the cathode gas. To control the stack temperature and retain a high cell potential, we proposed the use of a separator with three flow paths (case III); two flow paths for the electrodes and a path in the center of the separator for the flow of nitrogen for cooling. The simulated results for case III showed that the average cell potential was similar to that in case II, indicating that the amount of heat released in the stack was similar to that in case II, and that the maximum stack temperature was the lowest of the three cases due to the nitrogen gas flow in the center of the separator. In summary, the simulated results showed that the use of a separator with three flow paths enabled temperature control in a co-flow stack with an external reformer at atmospheric pressure.