• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.325-343
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• 2023

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) have been attracting attention as energy conversion devices that can directly supply methanol liquid fuel without a fuel reforming process. The commercial polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) currently applied to DMFC are perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer-based PEMs, which exhibit high proton conductivity and physicochemical stability during the operation. However, problems such as high methanol permeability and environmental pollutants generated during decomposition require the development of PEMs for DMFCs using novel ionomers. Recently, studies have been reported to develop PEMs using hydrocarbon-based ionomers that exhibit low fuel permeability and high physicochemical stability. This review introduces the following studies on hydrocarbon-based PEMs for DMFC applications: 1) synthesis of grafting copolymers that exhibit distinct hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase-separated structure to improve both proton conductivity and methanol selectivity, 2) introduction of cross-linked structure during PEM fabrication to reduce the methanol permeability and improve dimensional stability, and 3) incorporation of organic/inorganic composites or reinforcing substrates to develop reinforced composite membranes showing improved PEM performances and durability.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.9
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• pp.543-551
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• 2023

Snow is an essential climate factor that affects the climate system and surface energy balance, and it also has a crucial role in water balance by providing solid water stored during the winter for spring runoff and groundwater recharge. In this study, statistical analysis of Local Data Assimilation and Prediction System (LDAPS), Modern.-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), and ERA5-Land snow depth data were used to evaluate the applicability in South Korea. The statistical analysis between the Automated Synoptic Observing System (ASOS) ground observation data provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and the reanalysis data showed that LDAPS and ERA5-Land were highly correlated with a correlation coefficient of more than 0.69, but LDAPS showed a large error with an RMSE of 0.79 m. In the case of MERRA-2, the correlation coefficient was lower at 0.17 because the constant value was estimated continuously for some periods, which did not adequately simulate the increase and decrease trend between data. The statistical analysis of LDAPS and ASOS showed high and low performance in the nearby Gangwon Province, where the average snowfall is relatively high, and in the southern region, where the average snowfall is low, respectively. Finally, the error variance between the four independent snow depth data used in this study was calculated through triple collocation (TC), and a merged snow depth data was produced through weighting factors. The reanalyzed data showed the highest error variance in the order of LDAPS, MERRA-2, and ERA5-Land, and LDAPS was given a lower weighting factor due to its higher error variance. In addition, the spatial distribution of ERA5-Land snow depth data showed less variability, so the TC-merged snow depth data showed a similar spatial distribution to MERRA-2, which has a low spatial resolution. Considering the correlation, error, and uncertainty of the data, the ERA5-Land data is suitable for snow-related analysis in South Korea. In addition, it is expected that LDAPS data, which is highly correlated with other data but tends to be overestimated, can be actively utilized for high-resolution representation of regional and climatic diversity if appropriate corrections are performed.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.337-341
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• 2014

Due to the nature of the ambient air temperature in summer in korea, the growth of crops in greenhouse normally requires cooling and dehumidification. Even though various cooling and dehumidification methods have been presented, there are many obstacles to figure out in practical application such as excessive energy use, cost, and performance. To overcome this problem, the lab scale experiments using lithium bromide(LiBr) solution and cooling coil for dehumidification and cooling in greenhouses were performed. In this study, preliminary experiment of dehumidification and cooling for the greenhouse was done using LiBr solution as the dehumidifying materials, and cooling coil separately and then combined system was tested as well. Hot and humid air was dehumidified from 85% to 70% by passing through a pad soaked with LiBr, and cooled from 308K to 299K through the cooling coil. computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) analysis and analytical solution were done for the change of air temperature by heat transfer. Simulation results showed that the final air temperature was calculated 299.7K and 299.9K respectively with the deviation of 0.7K comparing the experimental value having good agreement. From this result, LiBr solution with cooling coil system could be applicable in the greenhouse.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.93-99
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• 2022

With the rapid development of ultra-small and wearable device technology, continuous electricity supply without spatiotemporal limitations for driving electronic devices is required. Accordingly, Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which utilizes static electricity generated by the contact and separation of two different materials, is being used as a means of effectively harvesting various types of energy dispersed without complex processes and designs due to its simple principle. However, to apply the TENG to real life, it is necessary to increase the electrical output. In addition, stable generation of electrical output, as well as increase in electrical output, is a task to be solved for the commercialization of TENG. In this study, we proposed a method to not only improve the output of TENG but also to stably represent the improved output. This was solved by using the contact layer, which is one of the components of TENG, as an electret for improved output and stability. The utilized electret was manufactured by sequentially performing corona charging-thermal annealing-corona charging on the Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) film. Electric charges artificially injected due to corona charging enter a deep trap through the thermal annealing, so an electret that minimizes charge escape was fabricated and used in TENG. The output performance of the manufactured electret was verified by measuring the voltage output of the TENG in vertical contact separation mode, and the electret treated to the corona charging showed an output voltage 12 times higher than that of the pristine FEP film. The time and humidity stability of the electret was confirmed by measuring the output voltage of the TENG after exposing the electret to a general external environment and extreme humidity environment. In addition, it was shown that it can be applied to real-life by operating the LED by applying an electret to the clap-TENG with the motif of clap.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 2017.04a
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• pp.34-34
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• 2017

목질계바이오매스 중 목재펠릿은 '탄소중립(Carbon Neutral)' 연료로써 온실가스 감축 의무에 대응 가능한 에너지원이다. 하지만 목질계바이오매스 연소 시 발생되는 타르는 보일러 내부에 누적되어 효율을 감소시킨다. 타르 및 연소 불꽃에 의한 효율 감소를 최소화하기 위해 반대측면에 내화재(Castable)를 적용하여 실험하였으며 시뮬레이션을 이용하여 구조변경 분석이 실시되었다. 적용된 내화재는 비중이 낮고 단열성이 우수하여 열손실을 막아 연료비 절감의 효과를 가져 오며, 연소실 내부 청소 면적 감소로 인한 경제적 효과도 기대 할 수 있다. 분석결과를 이용하여 최적화된 펠릿보일러가 제작되었으며, 실험을 통하여 200시간 가동 후 열효율 감소량이 나타났다. 단위시간별 동일한 외부환경(산화제량, 부하, 주변 온도, 펠릿소비량)에서 실험이 진행 되었으며, 타르생성이전(Non-tar), 이후(Tar-existence) 보일러의 열효율 성능 비교실험이 실시되었다. 실험결과 타르생성이전 조건에서 구조변경 전 후 보일러의 열효율은 각각 91.87%, 90.73%로 확인되었으며, 타르생성이후 조건에서 각각 82.68%, 83.27%의 열효율을 확인하였다. 타르생성이전 대비 이후 조건에서 열효율 감소량은 각각 9.19%p, 7.46%p로 구조변경 전 대비 변경 후 보일러의 열효율이 약 1.73%p 더 적게 감소됨을 확인되었으며, 시뮬레이션 결과 타르생성이전 조건에서 구조변경 전 후 보일러의 효율은 각각 91.83%, 92.05%로 확인되었으며 타르 생성이후 조건에서 각각 85.25%, 87.43%의 열효율을 확인하였다. 타르생성이전 대비 이후 조건에서 열효율 감소량은 각각 6.58%, 4.62%로 구조변경 전 대비 변경 후 보일러의 열효율이 약 1.96%p 더 적게 감소됨을 확인하였다.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.8-14
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• 2009

In the research field of speech recognition, pinpointing the endpoints of speech utterance even with the presence of background noise is of great importance. These noise present during recording introduce disturbances which complicates matters since what we just want is to get the stationary parameters corresponding to each speech section. One major cause of error in automatic recognition of isolated words is the inaccurate detection of the beginning and end boundaries of the test and reference templates, thus the necessity to find an effective method in removing the unnecessary regions of a speech signal. The conventional methods for speech endpoint detection are based on two linear time-domain measurements: the short-time energy, and short-time zero-crossing rate. They perform well for clean speech but their precision is not guaranteed if there is noise present, since the high energy and zero-crossing rate of the noise is mistaken as a part of the speech uttered. This paper proposes a novel approach in finding an apparent threshold between noise and speech based on Lyapunov Exponents (LEs). This proposed method adopts the nonlinear features to analyze the chaos characteristics of the speech signal instead of depending on the unreliable factor-energy. The excellent performance of this approach compared with the conventional methods lies in the fact that it detects the endpoints as a nonlinearity of speech signal, which we believe is an important characteristic and has been neglected by the conventional methods. The proposed method extracts the features based only on the time-domain waveform of the speech signal illustrating its low complexity. Simulations done showed the effective performance of the Proposed method in a noisy environment with an average recognition rate of up 92.85% for unspecified person.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.43-51
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• 2011

The recent development of the technology for wireless mobile computing and applied technology for location-based services has made it possible to support query processing faster than that in the past. However, some technological limitations on hardware and software still exist. The most critical aspects of query processing are accuracy and speed. For improving the accuracy, it is required that detailed information on the data involved in query processing be saved. In this case, the amount of information on the data increases, which decreases the speed. On the other hand, for increasing the speed, it is necessary to reduce the broadcast cycle, which enables rapid data acquisition as desired. In this case, because of insufficient index information, the listen time for the client increases, which may cause unnecessary energy consumption. Therefore, a trade-off occurs between the accuracy and speed. This paper proposes a hierarchical bitmap-based spatial index (HBI) as a solution for the aforementioned problems. HBI describes an object with 0 and 1 on the Hilbert curve map. It reduces the broadcast cycle by decreasing the index size on the basis of bit information and tree structure. Therefore, it is able to shorten the listen time and query processing time. In addition, HBI enables the detection of the locations of all the objects so that it is possible selectively listen to a broadcast. A performance evaluation of the proposed technique demonstrates that it is excellent.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.133-138
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• 2011

In IP-based wireless sensor networks (WSNs), it might be necessary to distribute application updates to the sensor nodes in order to fix bugs or add new functionality. However, physical access to nodes is in many cases extremely limited following deployment. Therefore, network reprogramming protocols have recently emerged as a way to distribute application updates without requiring physical access to sensor nodes. In order to solve the network reprogramming problem over the air interface, this thesis presents a new scheme for new update code propagation using fragmentation scheme and network coding. The proposed code propagation method roughly shows reduced performance improvement in terms of the number of data exchange compared with the previously proposed pipelining scheme. Further, It is shows enhanced reliability for update code propagation and reduced overhead in terms of the number of data exchange. As a result, we can efficiently perform the software update from the viewpoint of speed, energy, and network congestion when the proposed code propagation system is applied. In addition, the proposed system solves overhearing problems of network coding such as the loss of original messages and decoding error using the predefined message. Therefore, our system allows a software update system to exchange reliable data in wireless sensor networks.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.33-40
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• 2020

As the number of automobile registrations increases and luxury expectations grow, consumers are increasingly interested in indoor environment of vehicles. Therefore, manufacturers have an increasing interest in improving the indoor comfort as well as automobile performance. Research on indoor automobile comfort can help manufacturers increase driver satisfaction and reduce driver stress and discomfort, thereby reducing the risk of traffic accidents. Using electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements, we investigated the change in comfort and comfortable temperature according to the ventilating seat temperature change for both men and women. Results showed that the sensation of comfort was statistically significantly higher at 25℃ than at 28℃. Secondly, there was no statistically significant difference in temperature-based comfort feeling between male and female subjects. In the future, if the correlation between the driver's comfort feeling and the change in ventilating seat temperature is analyzed, it is possible to reduce traffic accidents caused by human error and reduce the electric energy consumption of the automobile.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.11-19
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• 2010

ZigBee is a standard for wireless personal area networks(WPANs) based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. It has been developed for low cost and low power consumption. There are two alternative routing schemes that have been proposed for the ZigBee standard: Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector(AODV) and tree routing. The tree routing forwards packets from sensors to a sink node based on the parent-child relationships established by the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC topology formation procedure. In order to join the network, a sensor node chooses an existing node with the strongest RSSI(Received signal strength indicator) signal as a parent node. Therefore, some nodes carry a large amount of traffic load and exhaust their energy rapidly. To overcome this problem, we introduce a new metric based on link quality and traffic load for load balancing. Instead of the strength of RSSI, the proposed scheme uses the new metric to choose a parent node during the topology formation procedure. Extensive simulation results using TOSSIM(TinyOS mote SIMulator) show that the CFR scheme outperforms well in comparison to the conventional tree routing scheme.