• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2000.11d
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• pp.638-640
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• 2000

Reactor Noise is defined as the fluctuations of measured instrumentation signals during full-power operation of reactor which have informations on reactor system dynamics such as neutron kinetics, thermal-hydraulics, and structural dynamics. Reactor noise analyses of ex-core neutron detector internals such as fuel assembly and Core Support Barrel in Nuclear Power Plant. A real time mode separation technique have been developed and applied for the analyses. The analyses data base have been constructed for the continuous monitoring and diagnose of the reactor internals. Detailed design of diagnostic system reactor internal structures using neutron noise(RIDS).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.11
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• pp.2442-2451
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• 2020

The safety level of Sodium Fast Reactors is directly related with the sodium void reactivity. A low-void effect design has been proposed within the Horizon2020 ESFR-SMART project thanks to the introduction of a sodium plenum above the active core. In order to assess the impact of this core conception on transient analysis, a map with the spatial distribution of sodium void worth can be computed and fed into a point-kinetics-based transient code. Due to the spatial correlations between neighboring zones, the global effect of voiding two different axial or radial regions is not necessarily the sum of both individual contributions. Neglecting those correlations in the void worth map and consequently in the transient analysis may lead to an unrealistic prediction of the transient sequences. In this work, a method based on sensitivity analysis and similarity assessment is proposed for predicting those correlations. The method proved to be able to establish correlations between axial slices of a sub-assembly and was checked against realistic sodium void propagation patterns.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.437-443
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• 2024

The development and testing of inspection equipment is necessary for the safe deployment of advanced nuclear reactors. One proposed advanced reactor design is Westinghouse's lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR). In this paper, the process of achieving adequate wetting for an ultrasonic under-lead viewing system is discussed and results presented. Such a device would be used for inspection in the molten lead core during reactor outages. Wider tests into the wetting of various materials in molten lead at microscale were performed using electron microscopy. The possible mechanisms and kinetics for materials wetting in lead, particularly stainless steel and nickel, are proposed and discussed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.412-424
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• 2019

Global fitting functions for Fe-selective chlorination in ilmenite($FeTiO_2$) and successive chlorination of beneficiated $TiO_2$ are proposed and validated based on a comparison with experimental data collected from the literature. The Fe-selective chlorination reaction is expressed by the unreacted shrinking core model, which covers the diffusion-controlling step of chlorinated Fe gas that escapes through porous materials of beneficiated $TiO_2$ formed by Fe-selective chlorination, and the chemical reaction-controlling step of the surface reaction of unreacted solid ilmenite. The fitting function is applied for both chemical controlling steps of the unreacted shrinking core model. The validation shows that our fitting function is quite effective to fit with experimental data by minimum and maximum values of determination coefficients of $R^2$ as low as 0.9698 and 0.9988, respectively, for operating parameters such as temperature, $Cl_2$ pressure, carbon ratio and particle size that change comprehensively. The global fitting functions proposed in this study are expressed simply as exponential functions of chlorination rate(X) vs. time(t), and each of them are validated by a single equation for various reaction conditions. There is therefore a certain practical merit for the optimal process design and performance analysis for field engineers of chlorination reactions of ilmenite and $TiO_2$.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.151-160
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• 1990

In order to develop a controlled-release oral drug delivery system (DDS) which sustains the plasma acetaminophen (AAP) concentration for a certain period of time, microporous membrane-coated tablets were prepared and evaluated in vitro. Firstly, highly water-soluble core tablet of AAP were prepared with various formulations by wet granulation and compression technique. Then the core tablets were coated with polyvinychloride (PVC) in which micronized sucrose particles were dispersed. Effect of formula compositions of core tablets and coating suspensions on the pharmaceutical characteristics such as drug release kinetics and membrane stability of the coated tablets was investigated in vitro. AAP was released from the coated tablets as a zero-order rate in a pH-independent manner. This independency of AAP release to pH change from 1.2 to 7.2 is favorable for the controlled oral drug delivery, since it will produce a constant drug release in the stomach and intestine regardless of the pH change in the GI tract. Drug release could be extended upto 10 h according to the coating condition. The release rate could be controlled by changing the formula compositions of the core tablets and coating suspensions, coat weight per each tablet, and especially PVC/sucrose ratio and particle size of the sucrose in the coating suspension. The coated tablets prepared in this study had a fairly good pharmaceutical characteristics in vitro, however, overall evaluation of the coated tablet should await in vivo absorption study in man.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.216-222
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• 2022

The capacity of high nickel Li(Ni_xCo_yMn_1-x-y)O₂ (NCM, x ≥ 0.8) cathodes is known to rapidly decline, a serious problem that needs to be solved in a timely manner. It was reported that cathode materials with the {010} plane exposed toward the outside, i.e., a radial structure, can provide facile Li⁺ diffusion paths and stress buffer during repeated cycles. In addition, cathodes with a core-shell composition gradient are of great interest. For example, a stable surface structure can be achieved using relatively low nickel content on the surface. In this study, precursors of the high-nickel NCM were synthesized by coprecipitation in ambient atmosphere. Then, a transition metal solution for coprecipitation was replaced with a low nickel content and the coprecipitation reaction proceeded for the desired time. The electrochemical analysis of the core-shell cathode showed a capacity retention of 94 % after 100 cycles, compared to the initial discharge capacity of 184.74 mA h/g. The rate capability test also confirmed that the core-shell cathode had enhanced kinetics during charging and discharging at 1 A/g.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 1986

A one dimensional neutron kinetics program, BIK which is applicable to the safety analyses of PWR's is developed to analyze the reactor core in axial dimension. The BIK employs the finite difference technique in space and $\theta$-time integration method in time. Detailed models for the Doppler and moderator feedbacks and control rod motion are included. The benchmark of the nuclear model is carried out through the ANL benchmark problem and the time dependent nuclear power change in the rod ejection accident of KNU1 is calculated by BIK code. The results indicate that the BIK can predict the neutron dynamics with fair accuracy within the limits of one dimensional analysis and it is useful for the safety analyses of PWR's.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.940-947
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• 2022

Meta-heuristic algorithms have found their place in optimization problems. Henry gas solubility optimization (HGSO) is one of the newest population-based algorithms. This algorithm is inspired by Henry's law of physics. To evaluate the performance of a new algorithm, it must be used in various problems. On the other hand, the optimization of the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) gains for load-following of a nuclear power plant (NPP) is a good challenge to assess the performance of HGSO. Accordingly, the power control of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) is targeted, based on the point kinetics model with six groups of delayed-neutron precursors. In any optimization problem based on meta-heuristic algorithms, an efficient objective function is required. Therefore, the integral of the time-weighted square error (ITSE) performance index is utilized as the objective (cost) function of HGSO, which is constrained by a stability criterion in steady-state operations. A Lyapunov approach guarantees this stability. The results show that this method provides superior results compared to an empirically tuned PID controller with the least error. It also achieves good accuracy compared to an established GA-tuned PID controller.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.9
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• pp.3183-3193
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• 2023

The water radiolysis in-core at light water reactors (LWRs) produces various radicals with other ionic species/molecules and radioactive nitrogen species in the reactor coolant. Nitrogen species can exist in many different chemical forms and recirculate in water and steam, and consequently contribute to what extent the environmental safety at nuclear power plants. Therefore, a clear understanding of formation kinetics and chemical behaviors of nitrogen species under irradiation is crucial for better insight into the characteristics of major radioactive species released to the main steam or relevant coolant systems and eventually development of advanced processes/methodologies to enhance the environmental safety at nuclear power plants. This paper thus focuses on basic principles on electrochemical interaction kinetics of radiolytic molecules and various nitrogen species in high temperature water, fundamental approaches for calculating thermodynamic values to predict their stability and domain in LWRs, and the effect of nitrogen species on crevice chemistry/corrosion and intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) susceptibility of structure materials in high temperature water.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2017

Leaching kinetics for extracting yttrium from the coal fly ash was investigated in the presence of sulfuric acid during extraction. The leaching kinetics of yttrium were conducted at reactant densities of 5~1,000 g coal fly ash per L of $1.0{\sim}10.0N\;H_2SO_4$, agitation speed of 250 rpm and temperature ranging from 30 to $90^{\circ}C$. As a result, the leaching kinetic model was determined in a two-step model based on the shrinking core model with spherical particles. The first step was proceeded by chemical reaction at ash surface, and the second step was proceeded by ash layer diffusion because the leaching conversion of yttrium by the first chemical reaction increases with increased the time irrelevant to the temperature whereas it increases with increased the leaching temperature. The activation energy of the first chemical leaching step was determined to be $1.163kJmol^{-1}$. After the first chemical reaction, the activation energy of ash layer diffusion leaching was derived to be $41.540kJmol^{-1}$. The optimum conditions for leaching the yttrium metal of 60 % were found to be the slurry density of 250 g fly ash per L of $H_2SO_4$, solvent concentration of $2.0N\;H_2SO_4$, second step leaching of temperatures of $30^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours and then $90^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours at agitation rate of 250 rpm.