• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.41 no.11
• /
• pp.699-707
• /
• 2017

This study presents a comparative thermodynamic analysis of subcritical and transcritical organic Rankine cycles for the recovery of low-temperature heat sources considering nine substances as the working fluids. The effects of the turbine inlet pressure, source temperature, and working fluid on system performance were all investigated with respect to metrics such as the temperature distribution of the fluids and pinch point in the heat exchanger, mass flow rate, and net power production, as well as the thermal efficiency. Results show that as the turbine inlet pressure increases from the subcritical to the supercritical range, the mismatch between hot and cold streams in the heat exchanger decreases, and the net power production and thermal efficiency increase; however, the turbine size per unit power production decreases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
• /
• 2006.09a
• /
• pp.79-80
• /
• 2006

From a viewpoint of heat stress at high temperatures and contact thermal resistance, it is confirmed that the optimal structure is the skeleton structure using Cu substrate on the cooling side, which has excellent heat conductivity and the optimal installation method is to adopt a carbon sheet and a mica sheet to the high temperature side, where Si grease is applied to the low temperature side, under pressurized condition. The power of the developed modules indicated 0.5W in an $FeSi_2$ module and 3.8 W with a SiGe module at 823K, respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.40 no.9
• /
• pp.589-596
• /
• 2016

Recently organic flash cycle (OFC) has been proposed which is a vapor power cycle where heat addition occurs with the working fluid remaining in the liquid state. This study proposes a modified OFC with regeneration and carries out thermodynamic performance analysis of the system utilizing low-temperature heat source in the form of sensible energy. Effects of working fluid and flash temperature are systemically investigated on the system performance such as net power production and thermal efficiency. Results show that the net power production has a peak value with respect to the flash temperature but the thermal efficiency increases with the flash temperature. The regenerative system shows higher thermal efficiency compared to the original OFC and improved potential for recovery of low-temperature heat sources.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.17-23
• /
• 2007

Geothermal energy is used in various forms, such as power generation, direct use, and geothermal heat pumps. High temperature geothermal energy sources have been used for power generation for more than a century. Recent technical advances in power generation equipments make relatively low temperature geothermal energy to be available for power generation. In these applications, lower temperature geothermal energy source makes smaller difference between condensing water temperature and it. Various condensing water temperatures were investigated in analyzing its influence on power generation performance. Condensing water temperature of organic Rankine cycle imposed greater influence on power generation and its performance in lower temperature geothermal power generation.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2005.06a
• /
• pp.697-700
• /
• 2005

Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) system can be very cost-effective and renewable energy sources, depending on site-specific parameters and load characteristics. In order to develop an ATES system which has certain hydrogeological characteristics, understanding of the thermo hydraulic processes of an aquifer is necessary for a proper design of an aquifer heat storage system under given conditions. The thermo hydraulic transfer for heat storage is simulated using FEFLOW according to two sets of pumping and waste water reinjection scenarios of heat pump operation in a two layered confined aquifer. In the first set of model, the movement of the thermal front and groundwater level are simulated by changing the locations of injection and pumping well in seasonal cycle. However, in the second set of model the simulation is performed in the state of fixing the locations of pumping and injection well. After 365 days simulation period, the temperature distribution is dominated by injected water temperature and the distance from injection well. The small temperature change is appears on the surface compared to other slices of depth because the first layer has very low porosity and the transfer of thermal energy are sensitive at the porosity of each layer. The groundwater levels and temperature changes in injection and pumping wells are monitored to validate the effectiveness of the used heat pump operation method and the thermal interference between wells is analyzed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.248-257
• /
• 2020

This study presents an initial design for a novel system consisting in a coupled nuclear reactor and a phase change material-based thermal energy storage (TES) component, which acts as a buffer and regulator of heat transfer between the primary and secondary loops. The goal of this concept is to enhance the capacity factor of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the case of high integration of renewable energy sources into the electric grid. Hence, this system could support in elevating the economics of NPPs in current competitive markets, especially with subsidized solar and wind energy sources, and relatively low oil and gas prices. Furthermore, utilizing a prismatic-core advanced high temperature reactor (PAHTR) cooled by a molten salt with a high melting point, have the potential in increasing the system efficiency due to its high operating temperature, and providing the baseline requirements for coupling other process heat applications. The present research studies the neutronics and thermal hydraulics (TH) of the PAHTR as well as TH calculations for the TES which consists of 300 blocks with a total heat storage capacity of 150 MWd. SERPENT Monte Carlo and MCNP5 codes carried out the neutronics analysis of the PAHTR which is sized to have a 5-year refueling cycle and rated power of 300 MW_th. The PAHTR has 10 metric tons of heavy metal with 19.75 wt% enriched UO₂ TRISO fuel, a hot clean excess reactivity and shutdown margin of $33.70 and -$115.68; respectively, negative temperature feedback coefficients, and an axial flux peaking factor of 1.68. Star-CCM + code predicted the correct convective heat transfer coefficient variations for both the reactor and the storage. TH analysis results show that the flow in the primary loop (in the reactor and TES) remains in the developing mixed convection regime while it reaches a fully developed flow in the secondary loop.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.402-408
• /
• 2011

Organic Rankine cycles (ORC) can be used to produce power from heat at different temperature levels available as geothermal heat, as biogenic heat from biomass, as solar or as waste heat. In ORC working fluids with relatively low critical temperatures and pressures can be compressed directly to their supercritical pressures and heated before expansion so as to obtain a better thermal match with their heat sources. In this work thermal performance of ORC with and without an internal heat exchanger is comparatively investigated in the range of subcritical and transcritical cycles. R134a is considered as working fluid and special attention is paid to the effect of turbine inlet pressure on the characteristics of the system. Results show that operation with supercritical cycles can provide better performance than subcritical cycles and the internal heat exchanger can improve the thermal efficiency when the temperature of heat source becomes higher.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
• /
• 2010.05a
• /
• pp.165-169
• /
• 2010

Liquid Rocket Engine is generally composed of extremely low and high temperature field. So that the component works properly including the electric component, the heat insulator should be applied appropriately. There are three steps. First, the heat source components should be defined and temperature field analyzed. Second, the heat transfer of pipes between the heat sources should be analyzed. Third, the components and pipes before and after applying the heat insulator should be analyzed. Finally, the optimized heat insulator depth can be calculated. In this paper, the procedure of this steps is established and investigated.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.413-420
• /
• 2011

Thermodynamic cycles using binary mixtures as working fluids offer a high potential for utilization of low-temperature heat sources. This paper presents a thermodynamic performance analysis of Goswami cycle which was recently suggested to produce power and cooling simultaneously and combines the Rankine cycle and absorption refrigeration cycle by using ammoniawater mixture as working fluid. Effects of the system parameters such as concentration of ammonia and turbine inlet pressure on the system are parametrically investigated. Results show that refrigeration capacity or thermal efficiency has an optimum value with respect to ammonia concentration as well as to turbine inlet pressure.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.6
• /
• pp.2315-2324
• /
• 2023

Space nuclear reactors are becoming popular in deep space exploration owing to their advantages of high-power density and stability. Following the fourth-generation nuclear reactor technology, a conceptual design of the dual drum-controlled space molten salt reactor (D²-SMSR) is proposed. The reactor concept uses molten salt as fuel and heat pipes for cooling. A new reactivity control strategy that combines control drums and safety drums was adopted. Critical physical characteristics such as neutron energy spectrum, neutron flux distribution, power distribution and burnup depth were calculated. Flow and heat transfer characteristics such as natural convection, velocity and temperature distribution of the D²-SMSR under low gravity conditions were analyzed. The reactivity control effect of the dual-drums strategy was evaluated. Results showed that the D²-SMSR with a fast spectrum could operate for 10 years at the full power of 40 kWth. The D²-SMSR has a high heat transfer coefficient between molten salt and heat pipe, which means that the core has a good heat-exchange performance. The new reactivity control strategy can achieve shutdown with one safety drum or three control drums, ensuring high-security standards. The present study can provide a theoretical reference for the design of space nuclear reactors.