• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.466-475
• /
• 2017

Coolant mixing under natural circulation flow regime constitutes a key parameter that may play a role in the course of an accidental transient in a nuclear pressurized water reactor. This issue has motivated some experimental investigations carried out within the OECD/NEA PKL projects. The aim was to assess the coolant mixing phenomenon in the reactor pressure vessel downcomer and the core lower plenum under several asymmetric steady and unsteady flow conditions, and to provide experimental data for code validations. Former studies addressed the mixing phenomenon using, on the one hand, one-dimensional computational approaches with cross flows that are not fully validated under transient conditions and, on the other hand, expensive computational fluid dynamic tools that are not always justified for large-scale macroscopic phenomena. In the current framework, an unsteady coolant mixing experiment carried out in the Rossendorf coolant mixing test facility is simulated using the three-dimensional porous media capabilities of the thermal-hydraulic system CATHARE code. The current study allows highlighting the current capabilities of these codes and their suitability for reproducing the main phenomena occurring during asymmetric transient natural circulation mixing conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.12
• /
• pp.3892-3901
• /
• 2021

The pressure drop of a moisture separator in a steam generator is the important design parameter to ensure the successful performance of a nuclear power plant. The moisture separators have a wide range of operating conditions based on the arrangement of them. The prediction of the pressure drop in a moisture separator is challenging due to the complexity of the multi-dimensional two-phase vortex flow. In this study, the moisture separator test facility using the air/water two-phase flow was used to predict the pressure drop of a moisture separator in a Korean OPR-1000 reactor. The prototypical steam/water two-phase flow conditions in a steam generator were simulated as air/water two-phase flow conditions by preserving the centrifugal force and vapor quality. A series of experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of hydraulic characteristics such as the quality and liquid mass flux on the two-phase pressure drop. A new prediction model based on the scaling law was suggested and validated experimentally using the full and half scale of separators. The suggested prediction model showed good agreement with the steam/water experimental results, and it can be extended to predict the steam/water two-phase pressure drop for moisture separators.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.6
• /
• pp.2048-2054
• /
• 2022

The coolant temperature feedback coefficient is an important parameter of reactor core power control system. To study the coolant temperature feedback coefficient influence on the core power control system of small PWR, the core power control system is built with the nonlinear model and fuzzy control theory. Then, the uncertainty quantification method of reactor core parameters is established based on the Latin hypercube sampling method and the Bootstrap method. Finally, under the conditions of reactivity step perturbation and coolant inlet temperature step perturbation, uncertainty analysis for two cases is carried out. The result shows that with fuzzy controller and fuzzy PID controller, the uncertainty of the coolant temperature feedback coefficient affects the core power control system, and the maximum uncertainties of core relative power, coolant temperature deviation, fuel temperature deviation and total reactivity are acceptable.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.9
• /
• pp.3567-3579
• /
• 2022

This paper provides an assessment of fluid transport and mixing processes inside the primary circuit of the test facility ROCOM through the numerical simulation of Test 2.1 with the system code ATHLET. The experiment represents an asymmetric injection of cold and non-borated water into the reactor coolant system (RCS) of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to restore core cooling, an emergency procedure which may subsequently trigger a core re-criticality. The injection takes place at low velocity under single-phase subcooled conditions and presents a major challenge for the simulation in lumped parameter codes, due to multidimensional effects in horizontal piping and vessel arising from density gradients and gravity forces. Aiming at further validating ATHLET 3-D capabilities against horizontal geometries, the experiment conditions are applied to a ROCOM model, which includes a newly developed horizontal pipe object to enhance code prediction inside coolant loops. The obtained results show code strong simulation capabilities to represent multidimensional flows. Enhanced prediction is observed at the vessel inlet compared to traditional 1-D approach, whereas mixing overprediction from the descending denser plume is observed at the upper-half downcomer region, which leads to eventual deviations at the core inlet.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.562-569
• /
• 1994

In this study improvement of transient analysis model, KOTRAC, for the passive reactor has been performed. In the KOTRAC, mixture drift flux model is adopted to simulate thermal hydraulic behavior, which can simulate ECCS injection in the passive plant. However, there is a difficulty to handle complete phase separation phenomena due to the near-zero density, which may occur in the pressurizer surge line or horizontal flow paths. In this study, a couple of model changes to over-come Courant limit feilure has been examined. One of key features is to substitute flow distribution parameters with Ishii's correlation. Corrected results are nil compared to those of RELAP/MOD3 analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.4
• /
• pp.1571-1584
• /
• 2023

In this study, a numerical analysis was performed as part of an international joint research project to reproduce a real cable tray fire that occurred in the heater bay area of the turbine building of a nuclear power plant. A sensitivity analysis was performed on various input parameters to derive results consistent with the sprinkler activation time obtained from the fire event analysis. For all sensitive parameters, the normalized sprinkler activation time correlated well with the power function of the normalized sprinkler height. A correlation equation was developed to identify the sprinkler activation time at any location when determining the slope or fire growth rate under the conditions assuming a linear or t-squared heat release rate (HRR) time curve. Various cable fire growth assumptions were used to determine which assumption was better to provide the prediction coincident with the information given from the fire event analysis in terms of the sprinkler activation time and total energy generated from cables damaged by fire. In the comprehensive analysis of all the sensitive parameters, the standard deviation of the input parameters increased as the sprinkler height decreased. Within the range of the sensitivity parameter values given in this study, when considering all sprinkler heights, the standard deviation of the cable model change was the largest and that of the overhang position change was the smallest.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.386-401
• /
• 2011

Mathematical models for various steps in coal gasification reactions were developed and applied to investigate the effects of operation parameters on dynamic behavior of gasification process. Chemical reactions considered in these models were pyrolysis, volatile combustion, water shift reaction, steam-methane reformation, and char gasification. Kinetics of heterogeneous reactions between char and gaseous agents was based on Random pore model. Momentum balance and Stokes' law were used to estimate the residence time of solid particles (char) in an up-flow reactor. The effects of operation parameters on syngas composition, reaction temperature, carbon conversion were verified. Parameters considered here for this purpose were $O_2$-to-coal mass ratio, pressure of reactor, composition of coal, diameter of char particle. On the basis of these parametric studies some quantitative parameter-response relationships were established from both dynamic and steady-state point of view. Without depending on steady state approximation, the present model can describe both transient and long-time limit behavior of the gasification system and accordingly serve as a proto-type dynamic simulator of coal gasification process. Incorporation of heat transfer through heterogenous boundaries, slag formation and steam generation is under progress and additional refinement of mathematical models to reflect the actual design of commercial gasifiers will be made in the near futureK.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Resources Recycling Conference
• /
• 2005.10a
• /
• pp.75-82
• /
• 2005

Pyrolysis of biomass is one of the promising methods to obtain energy and valuable chemical stocks. Fast pyrolysis of Q. acutissima and L. letolepis has been carried out in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor to determine the optimum operating conditions of the pyrolyzer. Effects of reaction temperature, Uo/Umf, L/D ratio, and feed rate have been determined and the optimum conditions are as follows: $T\;=\;400^{\circ}C,\;U_o/U_{mf}\;=\;3.0,\;L/D\;=\;2.0$. Maximum yield of bio-oil was about 55% and the main compositions were carbohydrates, guaiacols, furans, phenols, and syringols. Product gas was consists of CO, $CO_2$, light hydrocarbons and the measured gas yield using the compositions agreed with the calculated value.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.60-73
• /
• 1973

The reactor noise analysis was performed by the cross correlation method using two detectors to determine the dynamic stability and the system parameter of TRIGA Mark-II reactor under critical and subcritical conditions. The a values turned out to be 46.67 and 70.04 respectively at zero power and full power under critical condition, while 79.47 and 97.59 respectively at the safety rod dropping and the regulating rod dropping under subcritical condition. Prompt neutron life time of TRIGA Mark-II reactor measured 107 and 160 $\mu$sec, and shut down margin was -10.03$\times$10-4 at the safety rod dropping and -29-43$\times$10-4 at the regulating rod dropping CDC 3100/MSOS digital computer, HITACHI 505 Analog computer, and preamplifier, bandpass filter, FM modulator or demodulator designed for this specific purpose, were employed for the present investigation.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.467-476
• /
• 1999

This paper analyzed the behavior of fixed-bed catalytic reactor (FBCR) which synthesizing maleic anhydride(MA) from the selective oxidation of n-butane. The behavior of FBCR describing convection-diffusion-reaction mechanism is examined by using two-dimensional pseudohomogeneous plug-flow transient model, with the kinetics of Langmuir-Hinshelwood type. Prediction model is composed by optimum parameter estimation from temperature profile, yield and conversion of single FBCR on operating condition variations of Sharma's pilot-plant experiment. A double FBCR with same yield and conversion for single FBCR generated a $8.96^{\circ}C$ lower hot spot temperature than a single FBCR. We could predict parametric sensitivity according to the variation of possible operating condition (temperature, concentration, volumetric flow of feed reactant and coolant flow rate) of single and double FBCR. Double FBCR showed the behavior of more operating range than single FBCR. Double FBCR with nonuniform activities could assure safety operation condition for the possible variation of operating condition. Also, double FBCR had slightly higher than the single FBCR in conversion and yield.