• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.555-560
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• 2018

The high temperature stability of a chloride mixture, $NaCl-KCl-ZnCl_2$ (NaKZn-Chloride), is investigated to evaluate its potential as a thermal storage material. A thermal storage media should maintain a stable thermal properties within the temperature range of heat storage. Results from an a priori experiment showed that the NaKZn-chloride is stable only up the much lower temperature, while its stability limit is reported to be $850^{\circ}C$ in the literature. This study aims to investigate if the thermal property is changed by the moisture absorbed in the heat storage material. The effect of moisture content on the thermal properties was measured. The results show that the melting point remains the same regardless of the amount of moisture absorbed. Meanwhile, the high temperature stability is lower for the moisture treated samples. The results of this work infer that the loss of a hygroscopic thermal storage media can be reduced by avoiding its contacts to moisture in designing high temperature thermal storage systems.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.401-422
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• 2005

We review here research and development progress achieved in US Plasma Chamber technology roughly over the last decade. In particular, we focus on two major programs carried out in the US: the APEX project (1998-2003) and the US ITER TBM activities (2003-present). The APEX project grew out of the US fusion program emphasis in the late 1990s on more fundamental science and innovation. APEX was commissioned to investigate novel technology concepts for achieving high power density and high temperature reactor coolants. In particular, the idea of liquid walls and the related research is described here, with some detailed examples of liquid metal and molten salt magnetohydrodynamic and free surface effects on flow control and heat transfer. The ongoing US ITER Test Blanket Module (TBM) program is also described, where the current first wall/blanket concepts being considered are the dual coolant lead lithium concept and the solid breeder helium cooled concepts, both using ferritic steel structures. The research described for these concepts includes both thermofluid MHD issues for the liquid metal coolant in the DCLL, and thermomechanical issues for ceramic breeder packed pebble beds in the solid breeder concept. Finally, future directions for ongoing research in these areas are described.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.696-701
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• 2012

Non-aqueous processes have been developed for stable management and reuse of spent fuels. Nowadays, a plan for the management of spent fuel is being sought focusing on a non-aqueous process in Korea. Named as pyroprocessing, it includes an electrolytic reduction process using molten salt at high temperature for the spent fuels, which provides metallic product for a following electro-refining process. The electrolytic reduction process utilizes electrochemical reaction producing Li to convert oxides into metals in high temperature LiCl medium. Various kinds of elements in the spent fuels would be distributed in the system according to their respective reactivity with the reductant, Li, and the medium, LiCl. This study elucidates the reactions of the elements to understand the behavior of composite elements on the spent fuels by thermodynamic calculations. Uranium and transuranic are reduced into their metallic forms while rare-earth oxides, except for Eu, are stable against the reaction at a process temperature. This study also covers the tendency of reactions with respect to the temperature and, finally, estimates radioactivity and heat load on the distributed phases based on the reference spent fuel characteristics.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2013

High velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spray coating of WC-metal powder (powder) was carried out to improve the resistances of friction, wear and corrosion of magnetic bearing shaft material Inconel718 (In718) of turbo blower. A micron sized WC-metal powder (86.5% WC, 9.5% Co 4% Cr) was coated onto In718 surface using HVOF thermal spraying. During the spraying, the binder metals and alloy such as Co, Cr and Co-Cr alloy were molten and a small portion of WC particles were partially decomposed to $W_2C$ and free carbon at above its decomposition temperature of $1250^{\circ}C$. The free carbon and excessively sprayed oxygen formed carbon oxide gases, resulting a porous coating of porosity of $2.2{\pm}0.3%$. The surface hardness of substrate increased approximately three times from 400 Hv of In718 to $1260{\pm}30Hv$ of the coating The friction coefficients of the coating were approximately $0.33{\pm}0.03$ at $25^{\circ}C$ and $0.26{\pm}0.03$ at $450^{\circ}C$. These values were smaller than those of In718 substrate at both temperatures due to the lubrication from the free carbon and the cobalt oxide debris. The corrosion resistance of the coating was higher than that of In718 both in salt water of 3.5% NaCl and acid of 1 M HCl solutions, on the contrary, it was lower in base solution of 1 M NaOH. According to this study, the HVOF WC-metal powder coating is recommended for the durability improvement of magnetic bearing shaft of turbo blower.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.316-327
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• 1997

Polycrystalline $Sr_{2}Nb_{2}O_{7}$ and $La_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7}$ ceramics with very high Curie temperatures were synthesized by the chemical coprecipitation method (CCP). The powders synthesized were identified by XRD and their sintering behavior and physical properties were studied. The grain-orientation and electrical properties of sintered ceramics were investigated as a function of firing temperature. Single phase could be obtained by CCP method at temperature lower than that of the conventional method by 100 - $150^{\circ}C$. Strontium niobate, $Sr_{2}Nb_{2}O_{7}$, powder was Prepared by CCP method at temperatures as low as $800^{\circ}C$ via intermediate phase of $Sr_{5}Nb_{4}O_{15}$ formed at $700^{\circ}C$. The resulting CCP-derived powder was observed to have finer and more uniform particle size distribution than those obtained through the conventional or the molten salt synthesis method. Sintering of CCP-derived $Sr_{2}Nb_{2}O_{7}$ powder at $1500^{\circ}C$ yielded a highly dense ceramics with 97% theoretical density. Very high grain-orientation developed along the (0k0) direction was observed by SEM, which resulted in anisotropic dielectric properties of the sintered samples, with the dielectric constant values approaching those for single crystal.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.321-332
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• 2017

In order to build a general model of a high-throughput uranium electrorefining process according to the electrode configuration, numerical analysis was conducted using the COMSOL Multiphysics V5.3 electrodeposition module with Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) interfaces. The generated model was validated by comparing a current density-potential curve according to the distance between the anode and cathode and the electrode array, using a lab-scale (1kg U/day) multi-electrode electrorefiner made by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The operating temperature was $500^{\circ}C$ and LiCl-KCl eutectic with 3.5wt% $UCl_3$ was used for molten salt. The efficiency of the uranium electrorefining apparatus was improved by lowering the cell potential as the distance between the electrodes decreased and the anode/cathode area ratio increased. This approach will be useful for constructing database for safety design of high throughput spent nuclear fuel electrorefiners.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.309-322
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• 2007

This study deals with the irradiation effects on some selected components which are being used in an Advanced Spent Fuel Conditioning Process (ACP). Irradiation test components have a higher priority from the aspect of their reliability because their degradation or failure is able to critically affect the performance of an ACP equipment. Components that we chose for the irradiation tests were the AC servo motor, potentiometer, thermocouples, accelerometer and CCD camera. ACP facility has a number of AC servo motors to move the joints of a manipulator and to operate process equipment. Potentiometers are used for a measurement of several joint angles in a manipulator. Thermocouples are used for a temperature measurement in an electrolytic reduction reactor, a vol-oxidation reactor and a molten salt transfer line. An accelerometer is installed in a slitting machine to forecast an incipient failure during a slitting process. A small CCD camera is used for an in-situ vision monitoring between ACP campaigns. We made use of a gamma-irradiation facility with cobalt-60 source for an irradiation test on the above components because gamma rays from among various radioactive rays are the most significant for electric, electronic and robotic components. Irradiation tests were carried out for enough long time for total doses to be over expected threshold values. Other components except the CCD camera showed a very high radiation hardening characteristic. Characteristic changes at different total doses were investigated and threshold values to warrant at least their performance without a deterioration were evaluated as a result of the irradiation tests.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.339-350
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• 2007

Status on the spent nuclear fuel management policy and R&D plan of the major countries is surveyed. Also the prospect of the future R&D plan is suggested. Recently so-called fuel cycle nations, which have the reprocess policy of the spent fuel, announced new spent fuel management policy based on the advanced fuel cycle technology. The policy is focused to transmute highly radioactive material and material having a very long half-life, and to recycle the Pu and U contained in the spent fuel. In this way the radio-foxily of the spent fuel as well as the amount of the high level waste to be eventually disposed can greatly be reduced. Most of countries selected the wet process as a primary option for the treatment of the spent fuel since the advanced wet process, which is based on the existing PUREX process, looks more feasible as compared with the dry process. The wet process, however, is much more sensitive in terms of proliferation-resistance compared with the dry process. The pure Pu can easily be obtained by simply modifying the process. On the other hand the pure Pu can not be extracted in the dry process based on the high temperature molten salt process such as a pyroprocess. Even though the pyroprocess technology is very premature, it has a great merit. Thus it is necessary for Korea to have a long term strategy for pursuing a spent fuel treatment technology with a proliferation resistance and a great merit for the GEN-IV fuel cycles. Pyroprocess is one of the best candidates to satisfy these purposes.