• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.56-64
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• 2012

The ITER fuel cycle is designed for DT operation in equimolar ratio. It involves not only a group of fuelling system and torus cryo-pumping system of the exhaust gases through the divertor from the torus in tokamak plant, but also from the exhaust gas processing of the fusion effluent gas mixture connected to the hydrogen isotope separation in cryogenic distillation to the final safe storage & delivery of the hydrogen isotopes in tritium plant. Tritium plant system supplies deuterium and tritium from external sources and treats all tritiated fluids in ITER operation. Every operation and affairs is focused on the tritium inventory accountancy and the confinement. This paper describes the major fuel cycle processes and interfaces in the tritium plant in aspects of upcoming technologies for future hydrogen and/or hydrogen isotope utilization.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• 제58권4호
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• pp.596-603
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• 2020

본 연구에서는 화학공정 최적화에 사용되는 생산계획최적기법을 도입하여 핵융합 공정에서의 삼중수소 재고량을 최소로 유지하는 수학적 모델을 구축하여 최적 운전 시나리오를 도출하였다. 핵융합 발전을 위한 공정 중 연료주기 공정(fuel cycle)은 반응연료인 중수소와 삼중수소를 저장 하고 공급하는 시스템과 핵융합 반응 배가스로부터 이를 회수 및 분리하는 세부 공정들로 구성되어 있다. 이들 공정들은 삼중수소가 방사성 물질이라는 것을 제외하면 대부분 촉매반응과 분리공정으로 이루어져 화공플랜트에 적용된 기술과 유사한 특성이 많아 화학공정에 사용되는 스케줄링 기법을 통해 최적 운전 시나리오를 도출 가능하다. 본 연구에서는 핵융합로의 다양한 장치의 특성을 반영해서, 펌프내부의 삼중수소량을 최소로 하는 최적 재생주기를 구하고, 구해진 최적 재생주기 결과를 반영하여 후단의 트리튬 플랜트에서의 최적 운전 시나리오를 확인해 보았다. 구축된 모델은 실제 토카막 시나리오에 적용되어 ITER 연료주기 내 공정의 연료흐름 및 밸런스 분석에 활용되었다.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제30권12호
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• pp.655-659
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• 2020

Hydrogen isotopes (i.e. deuterium and tritium) are supplied to the tokamak in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) fuel cycle. One important part of the ITER fuel cycle is the recycling of unused fuel back to the tokamak, as almost 99 % of fuel is unburned during fusion reaction. For this, cryogenic distillation has been used in the isotope separation system (ISS) of ITER, but this technique tends to be energy-intensive and to have low selectivity (typically below 1.5 at 24 K). Recently, efficient isotope separation by porous materials has been reported in the so-called quantum sieving process. Hence, in this study, hydrogen isotope adsorption behavior is studied using chemically stable ZIF-11. At low temperature (40 K ~ 70 K), the adsorption increases and the sorption hysteresis becomes stronger as the temperature increases to 70K. Molar ratio of deuterium to hydrogen based on the isotherms shows the highest (max. 14) ratio at 50 K, confirming the possibility of use as a potential isotope separation material.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• 제50권4호
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• pp.595-603
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• 2012

국제핵융합실험로(ITER)가 2019년까지 7개국의 공동개발사업으로 건설될 예정이다. ITER의 핵융합연료주기는 핵융합진공용기, 삼중수소 플랜트, 연료공급부로 구성되어 있다. 이중에서 삼중수소 플랜트는 핵융합연료주기를 위한 중 수소와 삼중수소의 저장, 공급, 분리, 제거, 회수 등의 기능을 제공한다. 삼중수소 플랜트는 외부에서 중수소와 삼중수소를 공급받아 저장 공급하는 SDS, 토카막배출처리의 TEP, 수소동위원소 분리의 ISS, 삼중수소수 및 대기 처리의 WDS ADS, 정성 정량분석의 ANS 등으로 구성된다. 이 논문에서는 삼중수소 플랜트를 구성하는 주요 공정에 대한 기능 및 설계요건을 기술하였다. 한국은 SDS 개발에 참여하고 있으며 월성원전 삼중수소 제거설비(WTRF) 건설 및 운전경험을 통해 WDS 대한 기술을 일부 확보하였다. 향후 ISS 및 TEP에 대한 기술확보를 위한 여러 분야에서의 참여 확대를 기대하고 있다.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.372-379
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• 2011

A nuclear fusion fuel cycle plant is composed of various subsystems such as a hydrogen isotope storage and delivery system, a tokamak exhaust processing system, and a hydrogen isotope separation system. Korea shares in the construction of its ITER fuel cycle plant with the EU, Japan, and the US, and is responsible for the development and supply of the storage and delivery system. The authors thus present details on the development status of hydrogen isotope storage technologies for nuclear fusion fuel cycle plants. We have developed various hydride beds of different size. We have realized a hydrogen delivery rate of 12.5 $Pam^3/s$ with a typical 1242g-ZrCo bed.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.128-135
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• 2013

The nuclear fuel cycle plant is composed of various subsystems such as a fuel storage and delivery system (SDS), a tokamak exhaust processing system, a hydrogen isotope separation system, and a tritium plant analytical system. Korea is sharing in the construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) fuel cycle plant with the EU, Japan, and the US, and is responsible for the development and supply of the SDS. Hydrogen isotopes are the main fuel for nuclear fusion reactors. Metal hydrides offer a safe and convenient method for hydrogen isotope storage. The storage of hydrogen isotopes is carried out by absorption and desorption in a metal hydride bed. These reactions require heat removal and supply respectively. Accordingly, the rapid storage and delivery of hydrogen isotopes are enabled by a rapid cooling and heating of the metal hydride bed. In this study, we designed and manufactured a vertical-type hydrogen isotope storage bed, which is used to enhance the cooling performance. We present the experimental details of the cooling performances of the bed using various cooling parameters. We also present the modeling results to estimate the heat transport phenomena. We compared the cooling performance of the bed by testing different cooling modes, such as an isolation mode, a natural convection mode, and an outer jacket helium circulation mode. We found that helium circulation mode is the most effective which was confirmed in our model calculations. Thus we can expect a more efficient bed design by employing a forced helium circulation method for new beds.