• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.83-88
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• 2019

In this study, the high-temperature high-pressure vessel was successfully manufactured, which can be used to store pressurized air and to increase the temperature for the mix performance test of high-temperature high-pressure air with coolant (e.g., water). In this research, static structure analysis and transient thermal analysis were performed using the commercial software Midas NFX 2015 R1. Based on the results, the optimized pressure vessel design was carried out. As a result of the optimized design, the minimum stress and minimum weight were found at 120 mm of the vessel thickness, and the optimized pressure vessel was verified. Finally, through manufacture and performance test (e.g., the non-destructive inspection and hydraulic pressure test), the reliability and safety were validated for the designed pressure vessel.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.4373-4391
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• 2022

Marine reactor systems experience platform movement, and therefore, the system thermal-hydraulic analysis code needs to reflect the motion effect on the fluid to evaluate reactor safety. A moving reactor model for MARS-KS was developed to simulate the hydrodynamic phenomena in the reactor under motion conditions; however, its applicability does not cover the MULTID component used in multidimensional flow analyses. In this study, a moving reactor model is implemented for the MULTID component to address the importance of multidimensional flow effects under dynamic motion. The concept of the volume connection is generalized to facilitate the handling of the junction of MULTID. Further, the accuracy in calculating the pressure head between volumes is enhanced to precisely evaluate the additional body force. Finally, the Coriolis force is modeled in the momentum equations in an acceleration form. The improvements are verified with conceptual problems; the modified model shows good agreement with the analytical solutions and the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation results. Moreover, a simplified gravity-driven injection is simulated, and the model is validated against a ship flooding experiment. Throughout the verifications and validations, the model showed that the modification was well implemented to determine the capability of multidimensional flow analysis under ocean conditions.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2004

The NSSS (Nuclear Steam Supply System) thermal-hydraulic programs adopted in the domestic full-scope power plant simulators were provided in early 1980s by foreign vendors. Because of limited compulsational capability at that time, they usually used very simplified physical models for a real-time simulation of NSSS thermal-hydraulic transients, which entails inaccurate results and, thus, the possibility of so-called "negative training", especially for complicated two-phase flows in the reactor coolant system. In resolve the problem, KEPRI developed a realistic NSSS T/H program ARTS which was based on the RETRAN-3D code for the improvement of the Nuclear Power Plant full-scope simulator. The ARTS (based on the RETRAN-3D code) guarantees the real-time calculations of almost all transients and ensures the robustness of simulations. However, there is some possibility of failing to calculate in the case of large break loss of coolant accident (LBLOCA) and low-pressure low-flow transient. In this case, the backup calculation system cover automatically the ARTS. The backup calculation system was expected to provide substantially more accurate predictions in the analysis of the system transients involving LBLOCA. The results were reasonable in terms of accuracy, real-time simulation, robustness and education of operators, complying with FSAR and the AMSI/ANS-3.5-1998 simulator software performance criteria.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.418-426
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• 2009

The effect of an inertia moment of a pump flywheel on the thermal-hydraulic behaviors of the KALIMER-600(Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor) reactor pool during an early-phase of a loss of normal heat sink accident was investigated. The thermal-hydraulic analyses for a steady and a transient state were made by using the COMMIX-1AR/P code. In the present analysis a quarter of the reactor geometry was modeled in a cylindrical coordinate system, which includes a quarter of a reactor core and a UIS, a half of a DHX and a pump and a full IHX. In order to evaluate the effects of an inertia moment of the pump flywheel, a coastdown flow whose flow halving time amounts to 3.69 seconds was supplied to a natural circulation flow in the reactor vessel. Thermal-hydraulic behaviors in the reactor vessel were compared to those without the flywheel equipment. The numerical results showed a good agreement with the design values in a steady state. It was found that the inertia moment contributes to an increase in the circulation flow rate during the first 40 seconds, however to a decrease of it there after. It was also found that the flow stagnant region induced by a core exit overcooling decelerated the flow rate. The appearance of the first-peak temperature was delayed by the flow coastdown during the initial stages after a reactor trip.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.1083-1095
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• 2016

The design of Prototype Gen-IV Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (PGSFR) has been developed and the validation and verification (V&V) activities to demonstrate the system performance and safety are in progress. In this paper, the current status of test activities is described briefly and significant results are discussed. The large-scale sodium thermal-hydraulic test program, Sodium Test Loop for Safety Simulation and Assessment-1 (STELLA-1), produced satisfactory results, which were used for the computer codes V&V, and the performance test results of the model pump in sodiumshowed good agreement with those in water. The second phase of the STELLA program with the integral effect tests facility, STELLA-2, is in the detailed design stage of the design process. The sodium thermal-hydraulic experiment loop for finned-tube sodium-to-air heat exchanger performance test, the intermediate heat exchanger test facility, and the test facility for the reactor flow distribution are underway. Flow characteristics test in subchannels of a wire-wrapped rod bundle has been carried out for safety analysis in the core and the dynamic characteristic test of upper internal structure has been performed for the seismic analysis model for the PGSFR. The performance tests for control rod assemblies (CRAs) have been conducted for control rod drive mechanism driving parts and drop tests of the CRA under scram condition were performed. Finally, three types of inspection sensors under development for the safe operation of the PGSFR were explained with significant results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.763-775
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• 2021

The thermal hydraulic performances of Steam Generator (SG) under both steady and transient operation conditions are of great importance for the safety and economy in nuclear power plants. In this paper, based on our self-developed SG thermal hydraulic analysis code STAF (Steam-generator Thermalhydraulic Analysis code based on Fluent), an improved new version STAF-CT (fully Coupling and Transient) is developed and introduced. Compared with original STAF, the new version code STAF-CT has two main functional improvements including "Transient" and "Fully Three Dimensional Coupling" features. In STAF-CT, a three dimensional energy transferring module is established which can achieve energy exchange computing function at the corresponding position between two sides of SG. The STAF-CT is validated against the international benchmark experiment data and the results show great agreement. Then the U-shaped SG in AP1000 nuclear power plant is modeled and simulated using STAF-CT. The results show that three dimensional flow fields in the primary side make significant effect on the energy source distribution between two sides. The development of code STAF-CT in this paper can provide an effective method for further SG high fidelity research in the nuclear reactor system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.167-179
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• 2024

This study explores the feasibility of employing (U, Th)-based accident tolerant fuels (ATFs), specifically (_0.8UO₂, _0.2ThO₂), (_0.8UN, _0.2ThN), and (_0.8UC, _0.2ThC). The investigation assesses the overall performance of these proposed fuel materials in comparison to the conventional UO₂, focusing on deep neutronic and thermal-hydraulic (Th) analyses. Neutronic analysis utilized the MCNPX code, while COMSOL Multiphysics was employed for thermal-hydraulic analysis. The primary objective of this research is to overcome the limitations associated with traditional UO₂ fuel by exploring alternative fuel materials that offer advantages in terms of abundance and potential improvements in performance and safety. Given the limited abundance of UO₂, long-term sustainable nuclear energy production faces challenges. From a neutronic standpoint, the U-Th based fuels demonstrated remarkable fuel cycle lengths, except (_0.8UN, _0.2ThN), which exhibited the minimum fuel cycle length and, consequently, the lowest fuel burn-up. Regarding thermal-hydraulic performance, (_0.8UN, _0.2ThN) exhibited outstanding performance with significant margins against fuel melting compared to the other materials. Overall, when considering the integrated performance, the most favourable results were obtained with the use of the (_0.8UC, _0.2ThC) fuel configurations. This study contributes valuable insights into the potential benefits of (U, Th)-based ATFs as a promising avenue for enhanced nuclear fuel performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.05b
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• pp.23-28
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• 1996

The potential for the RELAP5/MOD3.2 was assessed for the loss-of-RHR event during the mid-loop operation and the predictability of major thermal-hydraulic phenomena was also evaluated for the long term transient. The analysis results of the typical two cases(cold leg opening case and pressurizer opening case) were compared with experimental data which was conducted at ROSA-IV/LSTF in Japan. As a result, it was shown that tile code was capable of simulating the thermal-hydraulic transport process with appropriate time step during the reduced inventory operation with the loss-of- RHR system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.625-630
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• 2010

Parametric study was performed using the SCW numerical model for evaluating the performance of the SCW. The five ground related parameters, which are porosity, hydraulic conductivity, thermal conductivity, specific heat, geothermal gradient, and five SCW design parameters, which are pumping rate, well depth well diameter, dip tube diameter, bleeding rate, were used in the study. Numerical simulations were performed for short-term (24-hour) simulation. The study results indicate that the parameters that have important influence on the performance of SCW were hydraulic conductivity, thermal conductivity, geothermal gradient, pumping rate, and bleeding rate. Overall, this study showed that various factors had a cumulative influence on the performance of the SCW, and a numerical simulation can be used to accurately predict the performance of the SCW.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.522-531
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• 2002

In order to study the thermal-hydraulic behavior of the cable-in-conduit-conductor (CICC), a numerical model has been developed. In the model, the high heat transfer approximation between superconducting strands and supercritical helium is adopted. The strong coupling of heat transfer at the front of normal zone generates a contact discontinuity in temperature and density. In order to obtain the converged numerical solutions, a moving mesh method is used to capture the contact discontinuity in the short front region of the normal zone. The coupled equation is solved using the finite element method with the artificial viscosity term. Details of the numerical implementation are discussed and the validation of the code is performed for comparison of the results with thse of GANDALF and QSAIT.