• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.3359-3366
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• 2021

An engineered barrier system (EBS) for the deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) is composed of a disposal canister, buffer material, gap-filling material, and backfill material. As the buffer fills the empty space between the disposal canisters and the near-field rock mass, heat energy from the canisters is released to the surrounding buffer material. It is vital that this heat energy is rapidly dissipated to the near-field rock mass, and thus the thermal conductivity of the buffer is a key parameter to consider when evaluating the safety of the overall disposal system. Therefore, to take into consideration the sizeable amount of heat being released from such canisters, this study investigated the thermal conductivity of Korean compacted bentonites and its variation within a temperature range of 25 ℃ to 80-90 ℃. As a result, thermal conductivity increased by 5-20% as the temperature increased. Furthermore, temperature had a greater effect under higher degrees of saturation and a lower impact under higher dry densities. This study also conducted a regression analysis with 147 sets of data to estimate the thermal conductivity of the compacted bentonite considering the initial dry density, water content, and variations in temperature. Furthermore, the Kriging method was adopted to establish an uncertainty metamodel of thermal conductivity to verify the regression model. The R² value of the regression model was 0.925, and the regression model and metamodel showed similar results.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.44 no.10
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• pp.887-894
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• 2016

The thermal control device using solid-liquid phase change material (PCM) is designed, manufactured, and experimented in thermal environment chamber. The n-Hexadecane is selected as a PCM and its melting point is placed within the component working temperature range. The PCM container is made of Al6061 and has the thermal spreading fins inside. To simulate the working condition for on-orbit satellite the heat pipes are used to connect the heater and radiator and the PCM thermal control device (PCMTD) is installed at the middle portion of heat pipes. The thermal buffer mass (TBM), which is same configuration and volume with PCMTD, is also manufactured to compare the thermal control performance. As a result, the PCMTD is not only more efficient than TBM in their temperature control features but both mass and power of compensation heater are reduced.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2013

Adequate design of engineered barriers, including canister, buffer and backfill, is important for the safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Three-dimensional computer simulations were carried out under different condition to examine the thermal and mechanical behavior of engineered barriers and rock mass. The research looked at five areas of importance, the effect of the swelling pressure, water content of buffer, density of compacted bentonite, emplacement type and the selection of failure criteria. The results highlighted the need to consider tensile stress in the outer shell of a canister due to thermal expansion of the canister and the swelling pressure from the buffer for a more reliable design of an underground repository system. In addition, an adequate failure criterion should be used for the buffer and backfill.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.1041-1048
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• 2021

An engineered barrier system (EBS) for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) is composed of a disposal canister with spent fuel, a buffer material, a gap-filling material, and a backfill material. As the buffer is located in the empty space between the disposal canisters and the surrounding rock mass, it prevents the inflow of groundwater and retards the spill of radionuclides from the disposal canister. Due to the fact that the buffer gradually becomes saturated over a long time period, it is especially important to investigate its thermal-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) properties considering variations of saturated condition. Therefore, this paper suggests a new method of measuring thermal conductivity and water suction for single compacted bentonite at various levels of saturation. This paper also highlights a convenient method of saturating compacted bentonite. The proposed method was verified with a previous method by comparing thermal conductivity and water suction with respect to water content. The relative error between the thermal conductivity and water suction values obtained through the proposed method and the previous method was determined as within 5% for compacted bentonite with a given water content.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.1191-1198
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• 2023

Bentonite buffer material is a critical component in an engineered barrier system (EBS) for disposing high-level radioactive waste (HLW). The bentonite buffer material protects the disposal canister from groundwater penetration and releases decay heat to the surrounding rock mass; thus, it should possess high thermal conductivity, low hydraulic conductivity, and moderate swelling pressure to safely dispose the HLWs. Bentonite clay is a suitable buffer material because it satisfies the safety criteria. Several additives have been suggested as mixtures with bentonite to increase the thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical (THMC) properties of bentonite buffer materials. Therefore, this study investigated the geotechnical, mineralogical, and THMC properties of several candidate additives such as sand, graphite, granite, and SiC powders. Datasets obtained in this study can be used to select adequate additives to improve the THMC properties of the buffer material.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.339-346
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• 2018

A geological repository system consists of a disposal canister with packed spent fuel, buffer material, backfill material, and intact rock. The buffer is indispensable to assure the disposal safety of high-level radioactive waste. Since the heat generated from spent nuclear fuel in a disposal canister is released to the surrounding buffer materials, the thermal properties of the buffer material are very important in determining the entire disposal safety. Especially, since thermal expansion can cause thermal stress to the intact rock mass in the near-field, it is very important to evaluate thermal expansion characteristics of bentonite buffer materials. Therefore, this paper presents a thermal expansion coefficient prediction model of the Gyeongju bentonite buffer materials which is a Ca-bentonite produced in South Korea. The linear thermal expansion coefficient was measured considering heating rate, dry density and temperature variation using dilatometer equipment. Thermal expansion coefficient values of the Gyeongju bentonite buffer materials were $4.0{\sim}6.0{\times}10^{-6}/^{\circ}C$. Based on the experimental results, a non-linear regression model to predict the thermal expansion coefficient was suggested and fitted according to the dry density.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.12
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• pp.1013-1019
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• 2014

Solid-liquid Phase Change Material(PCM) as a thermal control hardware for the electro-optical payload of low earth orbit satellite is numerically studied which can be substituted with Thermal Buffer Mass(TBM). The electro-optical module in LEO satellite is periodically work and high heat is dissipated during the imaging period, however, the design temperature range is very tight and sensitive. In order to handle this problem TBM is added and as a result the time constant of the module temperature increases. TBM is made of Al6010 and its mass directly affects the system design. To save the mass PCM is suggested in this study. The latent heat of melting or solidification is very high and small amount of PCM can play a role instead of TBM. The result shows that only 12% of TBM mass is enough to control the module temperature using PCM.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.373-379
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• 2016

The thermal control device for the periodic working component combined solid-liquid phase change material (PCM) with heat pipes is designed and numerically studied. Due to high latent heat and retaining constant temperature during melting process the component peak temperature, not withstanding small radiator size, is reduced. The warm-up heater power consumption to keep the minimum allowed temperature is also cut down since the accumulated thermal energy is released through the solidification. The thermal buffer mass (TBM) made of Al can give the similar effect but the mass and power consumption of warm-up heater should increase compared to PCM. The amount of PCM can be optimized depending on the component heat dissipation and on/off duty time.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.580-585
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• 2009

Thermal analysis and design of FPA(Focal Plane Assembly)-CU(Cooling Unit) for Earth observation camera is performed. FPA-CU is the first cooling device for a spacecraft which is designed and manufactured by its own technology in Korea. FPA-CU has a special feature, TBM(Thermal Buffer Mass) which is discriminated from typical cooling devices using heat pipes and radiator. TBM can be regarded as a thermal energy reservoir and it shows thermally transient characteristics, which make it difficult to design the size and shape of TBM. In current study, a method to determine the volume and the size of TBM is proposed and validated. The transient thermal analysis for FPA-CU for 5 operational scenarios is performed and validates the final design of FPA-CU (Radiator,TBM, Heat pipe I/F). In case of an abnormal operation of a heat pipe among three radiator heat pipes, the temperature of FPA can be increased $3{\sim}4^{\circ}C$ according to the numerical simulation.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.23-41
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• 2023

Coupled thermo-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) processes are essential for the long-term performance of deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. In this study, a numerical sensitivity analysis was performed to analyze the effect of rock properties on THM responses after the execution of the heater test at the Kamaishi mine in Japan. The TOUGH-FLAC simulator was applied for the numerical simulation assuming a continuum model for coupled THM analysis. The rock properties included in the sensitivity study were the Young's modulus, permeability, thermal conductivity, and thermal expansion coefficients of crystalline rock, rock salt, and clay. The responses, i.e., temperature, water content, displacement, and stress, were measured at monitoring points in the buffer and near-field rock mass during the simulations. The thermal conductivity had an overarching impact on THM responses. The influence of Young's modulus was evident in the mechanical behavior, whereas that of permeability was noticed through the change in the temperature and water content. The difference in the THM responses of the three rock type models implies the importance of the appropriate characterization of rock mass properties with regard to the performance assessment of the deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste.