• Title/Summary/Keyword: Energy margin sensitivity

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Development of Main Steam Line Break Mass and Energy Release Analysis with RETRAN-3D Code

  • Park, Young-Chan;Kim, Yoo
    • Journal of Energy Engineering
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.93-100
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    • 2003
  • An estimation methodology of the mass and energy (M/E) release due to the main steam line break (MSLB) has been developed with the RETRAN-3D code. In the case of equipment qualification (EQ), the over-estimated temperature would exceed the design limits of some cables or valves. In order to have a more flexible EQ profiles from the MSLB M/E release, the methodology with the best-estimated code was used. The major conditions affecting the MSLB M/E were found to be the initial SG level, heat transfer between primary and secondary sides, power level, operable protection system, main or auxiliary feedwater availability, and break conditions. The RETRAN-3D models were developed for the Kori unit 1 (KRN-1) which is typical two loop Westinghouse (WH) designed plant. Particularly, a detailed model of the steam generators was developed to estimate a more realistic two-phase heat transfer effect of the steam flow. After the modeling, the methodology has been developed through the sensitivity analyses. The M/E release data generated from the analyses have been used as the input to the inside containment pressure and temperature (P/T) analysis. According to the results at the point of view containment P/T, the Kori unit 1 can have more margin of 5∼15 ㎪ in pressure and 8∼15$^{\circ}C$ in temperature.

EVALUATION OF HEAT-FLUX DISTRIBUTION AT THE INNER AND OUTER REACTOR VESSEL WALLS UNDER THE IN-VESSEL RETENTION THROUGH EXTERNAL REACTOR VESSEL COOLING CONDITION

  • JUNG, JAEHOON;AN, SANG MO;HA, KWANG SOON;KIM, HWAN YEOL
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.47 no.1
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    • pp.66-73
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    • 2015
  • Background: A numerical simulation was carried out to investigate the difference between internal and external heat-flux distributions at the reactor vessel wall under in-vessel retention through external reactor vessel cooling (IVR-ERVC). Methods: Total loss of feed water, station blackout, and large break loss of coolant accidents were selected as the severe accident scenarios, and a transient analysis using the element-birth-and-death technique was conducted to reflect the vessel erosion (vessel wall thickness change) effect. Results: It was found that the maximum heat flux at the focusing region was decreased at least 10% when considering the two-dimensional heat conduction at the reactor vessel wall. Conclusion: The results show that a higher thermal margin for the IVR-ERVC strategy can be achieved in the focusing region. In addition, sensitivity studies revealed that the heat flux and reactor vessel thickness are dominantly affected by the molten corium pool formation according to the accident scenario.

Development of an Entrainment Model for the Steam Line Break Mass and Energy Release Analysis

  • Park, Young-Chan;Kim, Yoo
    • Journal of Energy Engineering
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.101-108
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    • 2003
  • The purpose of this study is to develop an entrainment model of the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) U-tube Steam Generator (SG) for Main Steam Line Break (MSLB) analyses. Generally, the temperature of the inside containment vessel at MSLB is decreased by introducing the liquid entrainment effect. This effect makes a profit on the aspect of integrity evaluation for Equipment Environmental Qualification (EEQ) in the containment. However, the target plant, Kori unit 1 does not have the entrainment data. Therefore, this study has been performed. RETRAN-3D and LOFTRAN computer programs are used for the model development. There are several parameters that are used for the initial benchmark, such as Combustion Engineerings (CE) experimental data and the RETRAN-3D model which describes the test leg. A sensitivity study is then performed with this model in which the model parameters are varied until the calculated results provide reasonable agreement with the measured results for the entire test set. Finally, a multiplication factor has been obtained from the 95/95 values of the calculated (best-estimate) quality data relative to the measured quality data. With this new methodology, an additional temperature margin of about 40$^{\circ}C$ can be obtained. So, the new methodology is found to have an explicit advantage to EQ analyses.

Performance prediction of gamma electron vertex imaging (GEVI) system for interfractional range shift detection in spot scanning proton therapy

  • Kim, Sung Hun;Jeong, Jong Hwi;Ku, Youngmo;Jung, Jaerin;Kim, Chan Hyeong
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.54 no.6
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    • pp.2213-2220
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    • 2022
  • The maximum dose delivery at the end of the beam range provides the main advantage of using proton therapy. The range of the proton beam, however, is subject to uncertainties, which limit the clinical benefits of proton therapy and, therefore, accurate in vivo verification of the beam range is desirable. For the beam range verification in spot scanning proton therapy, a prompt gamma detection system, called as gamma electron vertex imaging (GEVI) system, is under development and, in the present study, the performance of the GEVI system in spot scanning proton therapy was predicted with Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations in terms of shift detection sensitivity, accuracy and precision. The simulation results indicated that the GEVI system can detect the interfractional range shifts down to 1 mm shift for the cases considered in the present study. The results also showed that both the evaluated accuracy and precision were less than 1-2 mm, except for the scenarios where we consider all spots in the energy layer for a local shifting. It was very encouraging results that the accuracy and precision satisfied the smallest distal safety margin of the investigated beam energy (i.e., 4.88 mm for 134.9 MeV).

The On-Line Application Algorithm of SCOPE Using Time-varying Sensitivities (시변민감도를 이용한 안전도제약 최적조류계산의 On-Line 적용 알고리즘)

  • 김발호;신영균
    • Journal of Energy Engineering
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.60-67
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    • 2004
  • The recent movement to deregulated and competitive electricity market reacquires new concepts against existing central dispatch in the system operation and pinning. As power systems tend to be operated more closely to their ultimate ratings, the role of SCOPF (Security Constrained Optimal Power flow) is changed and the importance for real-time security inhancement will be more increased i]1 the new and com partitive electricity market. This paper deals with the application of the SCOPF which makes possible the On-Line application. The security margin of power system truly is changed according to the conditions or configuration of power systems, therefore, the sensitivity factor reiated to the security is recalculated and the application should be updated in accordance with the state of power system. The goal of this paper is to obtain proper security through the effluent usage of the sensitivity and to apply this a1gorithm to system operation. The proposed mechanism has been tested on a sample system and the results show more secure conditions against critical contingencies.

An Application of Realistic Evaluation Methodology for Large Break LOCA of Westinghouse 3 Loop Plant

  • Choi, Han-Rim;Hwang, Tae-Suk;Chung, Bub-Dong;Jun, Hwang-Yong;Lee, Chang-Sub
    • Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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    • 1996.05b
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    • pp.513-518
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    • 1996
  • This report presents a demonstration of application of realistic evaluation methodology to a posturated cold leg large break LOCA in a Westinghouse three-loop pressurized water reactor with 17$\times$17 fuel. The new method of this analysis can be divided into three distinct step: 1) Best Estimate Code Validation and Uncertainty Quantification 2) Realistic LOCA Calculation 3) Limiting Value LOCA Calculation and Uncertainty Combination RELAP5/MOD3/K [1], which was improved from RELAP5/MOD3.1, and CONTEMPT4/MOD5 code were used as a best estimate thermal-hydraulic model for realistic LOCA calculation. The code uncertainties which will be determined in step 1) were quantified already in previous study [2], and thus the step 2) and 3) for plant application were presented in this paper. The application uncertainty parameters are divided into two categories, i.e. plant system parameters and fuel statistical parameters. Single parameter sensitivity calculations were performed to select system parameters which would be set at their limiting value in Limiting Value Approach (LVA) calculation. Single run of LVA calculation generated 27 PCT data according to the various combinations of fuel parameters and these data provided input to response surface generation. The probability distribution function was generated from Monte Carlo sampling of a response surface and the upper 95$^{th}$ percentile PCT was determined. Break spectrum analysis was also made to determine the critical break size. The results show that sufficient LOCA margin can be obtained for the demonstration NPP.

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Two Dimensional Analysis for the External Vessel Cooling Experiment

  • Yoon, Ho-Jun;Kune Y. Suh
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.32 no.4
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    • pp.410-423
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    • 2000
  • A two-dimensional numerical model is developed and applied to the LAVA-EXV tests performed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) to investigate the external cooling effect on the thermal margin to failure of a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) during a severe accident. The computational program was written to predict the temperature profile of a two-dimensional spherical vessel segment accounting for the conjugate heat transfer mechanisms of conduction through the debris and the vessel, natural convection within the molten debris pool, and the possible ablation of the vessel wall in contact with the high temperature melt. Results of the sensitivity analysis and comparison with the LAVA-EXV test data indicated that the developed computational tool carries a high potential for simulating the thermal behavior of the RPV during a core melt relocation accident. It is concluded that the main factors affecting the RPV failure are the natural convection within the debris pool and the ablation of the metal vessel, The simplistic natural convection model adopted in the computational program partly made up for the absence of the mechanistic momentum consideration in this study. Uncertainties in the prediction will be reduced when the natural convection and ablation phenomena are more rigorously dealt with in the code, and if more accurate initial and time-dependent conditions are supplied from the test in terms of material composition and its associated thermophysical properties.

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Chinese Corporate Leverage Determinants

  • Ferrarini, Benno;Hinojales, Marthe;Scaramozzino, Pasquale
    • The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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    • v.4 no.1
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    • pp.5-18
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    • 2017
  • Total debt in the People's Republic of China surged to nearly 290% as a ratio to GDP by the second quarter of 2016, mostly on account of non-financial corporate debt. The outpouring of credit to stem the impact of the global financial crisis accentuated industrial overcapacity in traditional sectors, such as steel, cement, and energy, while feeding asset bubbles in the property, equity and bond markets. At the Chinese corporate level, this has translated into weakened fundamentals and a fall in industrial profits, particularly of SOEs. As debtors struggle to service interest payments, non-performing loans (NPLs) have been on the rise. This paper assesses the financial fragility of the Chinese economy by looking at risk factors in the non-financial sector. We apply quantile regressions to a dataset containing all Chinese listed companies in Standard & Poor's IQ Capital database. We find higher sensitivity over time of corporate leverage to some of its key determinants, particularly for firms at the upper margin of the distribution. In particular, profitability increasingly acts as a curb on corporate leverage. At a time of falling profitability across the Chinese non-financial corporate sector, this eases the brake on leverage and may contribute to its continuing increase.

A Study on Dynamic Characteristics of 3-axis Actuator for the Slim Type Pick-Up (3축 구동이 가능한 Slim형 Pick-Up Actuator 개발 및 동특성 분석)

  • 박관우;서민석;홍삼열;김영중;최인호;김진용
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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    • 2002.05a
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    • pp.373-377
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    • 2002
  • In this study, we suggested a slim-type actuator that can be controlled in radial direction for compensating coma aberration in high-capacity optical storage devices. To deal successfully with narrow space in slim-type optical pick-up for notebook pc device, additional yokes for tilting motion are integrated into main yoke of the actuator. And the location of tilting coils is determined for mass-b3lancing effect to achieve optimal configuration for high driving sensitivity. We also suggested new concept of lens holder to guarantee excellent stability of control system by enhancing the gain margin at secondary resonant frequency. The concept was realized by forming damping sections in the lens holder, which prevent vibrational energy from transferring to lens. An exclusive measurement system was newly developed for fast and precise measurement of dynamic characteristics of actuators and utilized for the practical use. We hope to make good use of this system also in time to come.

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Improvement in Efficiency and Operating Range of Centrifugal Blower Stage for Sewage Aeration Blower

  • Hiradate, Kiyotaka;Kanno, Toshio;Nishida, Hideo;Shinkawa, Yasushi;Joukou, Satoshi
    • International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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    • v.3 no.4
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    • pp.379-385
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    • 2010
  • We developed a high-efficiency, wide-operating-range centrifugal blower stage to meet the demand for reduced total energy-consumption in sewage treatment plants. We improved the efficiency of the two-dimensional impeller using a shape optimization tool and one-dimensional performance prediction tool. A limit of the throat deceleration ratio was set to maintain the stall-margin of the impeller. The low solidity vaned diffuser and return channel were designed using a sensitivity analysis with orthogonal arrays and three-dimensional steady flow simulations. The low solidity diffuser was designed in order to improve the performance in the low-flow-rate region. The return channel was designed so that the total pressure loss in the return channel was minimized. Model tests of both the conventional and optimized blower stages were carried out, and the efficiency and operating range of both stages were compared. The optimized blower stage improved in stage efficiency by 3% and in operating range by 5% compared with the conventional blower stage.