• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.177-188
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• 2011

This paper proposes a DEA model for the performance evaluation of each brand of coking coals in an integrated steel mill. The performance is defined as the efficiency which is the ratio of two linear combinations of the output factors to the input factors. There is only one input factor considered in the model : unit price of each brand based on CIF. Five output factors are chosen in consideration of their impact to the quality of cokes such as Ash, VM, LMF, TD, and Rm. Some of the output factors are treated as undesirable in DEA model because the quality criteria are given by the range. The CCR and BCC efficiencies are derived by the DEA model, and the scale efficiency is calculated, too. Each brand of coking coal is classified into four categories according to the CCR and BCC efficiencies, and the most inferior brands are identified as a result. The impact of the input and output factors to the efficiency is analyzed using a multiple regression, then the unit price is revealed as the most critical among them. Also, ANOVA results show that there exist efficiency differences among the coal types and the countries imported, respectively. Finally, the quantitative projection for the inefficient brands is performed if they are to be efficient. The result could be utilized in selecting the good or bad brands of coking coal based on the efficiency in an integrated steel mill. Also, this model will be used to assess the relative efficiency of a new brand of coking coal if it is a candidate to be imported.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.796-806
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• 2014

The key for the commercial deployment of IGCC power plants or chemical (methanol, dimethyl ether, etc.) production plants based on coal gasification is their economic advantage over plants producing electricity or chemicals from crude oil or natural gas. The better economy of coal gasification based plants can be obtained by co-production of electricity and chemicals. In this study, we carried out the economic feasibility analysis on the process of co-producing electricity and DME (dimethyl ether) using coal gasification. The plant's capacity was 250 MW electric and DME production of 300,000 ton per year. Assuming that the sales price of DME is 500,000 won/ton, the production cost of electricity is in the range of 33~58% of 150.69 won/kwh which is the average of SMP (system marginal price) in 2013, Korea. At present, the sales price of DME in China is approximately 900,000 won/ton. Therefore, there are more potential for lowering the price of co-produced electricity when comparing that from IGCC only. Since the co-production system can not only use the coal gasifier and the gas purification process as a common facility but also can control production rates of electricity and DME depending on the market demand, the production cost of electricity and DME can be significantly reduced compared to the process of producing electricity or DME separately.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.509-546
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• 2010

Although coal has been utilized as major fuel, it is known as 'most climate unfriendly' fuel. Carbon tax or tradable permit policy has been discussed as major measure for reducing production and consumption of coal, but it might be more efficient to remove subsidy on coal production and consumption. This study examines economic and environmental effects of recycling revenue from reducing subsidy on the use of coal to foster climate friendly fuel (ligneous biomass) by price subsidy or increased public expenditure. A static CGE model was applied to analyze the welfare consequences and economic impacts of two policy measures. The result shows that price subsidy policy is more desirable than creation of public demand in terms of welfare as well as overall economic impacts.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.64-72
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• 2007

During the 2nd World War, several Coal-to-Liquid (CTL) plants were operated in Germany and England to convert coal to large volumes of liquid fuel. Big oil fields discovered in the Middle East after the war supplied crude oil at the low price and all CTL plants were forced to shut down. However, South Africa (Sasol) built a CTL plant in 1955 and 2 more plants afterward and the current production of coal-derived synfuel reached 150,000 bbl/day. Recently, the sustained high crude oil price and the fear of the "peak oil" rejuvenated the interest of CTL and several CTL projects are in progress. China established a plan to build CTL plants with the total capacity of 30 million tons of synfuel per year by 2030. China is building a direct coal liquefaction plant which is scheduled to produce 20,000bbl/day of synfuel in 2008. There are 8 CTL projects in USA either in the planning stage or in the ground-breaking stage. CTL projects are also carried out in Australia, Philippines, New Zealand, Indonesia and India. Korea needs to approach the CTL project in the perspective of the national energy security. In this paper, the history, the status, current activities and the prospect of CTL are described.

• Plant Journal
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.44-51
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• 2011

Given the fact that the entire bituminous coal used for a boiler is imported, the supply of coal is often affected by the rise of international coal price. Moreover, coal suppliers have been diversified due to the competition among power generation companies for reducing costs and inexpensive sub-bituminous coal is used. As a result, boilers combustion conditions have been deviated from the initial boiler design. This requires the selection of adequate excessive air ratio for different combustion conditions to enhance the efficiency of boiler operation. The boiler efficiency has been identified through an examination on the change of excessive air ratio by mixed fuel in unit 8 of Dangjin power plant complex. In addition, an excessive air ratio was calculated based on the examination result. According to the study result, the adequate excessive air ratio was 13% when Macquarie and Powder river were mixed at a ratio of 5:5 and when Sonoma and Megaprima persada were mixed at a ratio of 5:5. When BHP Billiton and Powder river were mixed at a ratio of 4:6 and Centennial and Batubara were mixed at a ratio of 3:7, the adequate excessive air ratio was 11%.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.187-194
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• 2020

It is very important to forecast freight volume accurately to establish major port policies and future operation plans. Thus, related studies are being conducted because of this importance. In this paper, stepwise regression analysis and artificial neural network model were analyzed to compare the predictive power of each model on Gwangyang Port, the largest domestic port for coal and iron ore transportation. Data of a total of 121 months J anuary 2009-J anuary 2019 were used. Factors affecting coal and iron ore trade volume were selected and classified into supply-related factors and market/economy-related factors. In the stepwise regression analysis, the tonnage of ships entering the port, coal price, and dollar exchange rate were selected as the final variables in case of the Gwangyang Port coal volume forecasting model. In the iron ore volume forecasting model, the tonnage of ships entering the port and the price of iron ore were selected as the final variables. In the analysis using the artificial neural network model, trial-and-error method that various Hyper-parameters affecting the performance of the model were selected to identify the most optimal model used. The analysis results showed that the artificial neural network model had better predictive performance than the stepwise regression analysis. The model which showed the most excellent performance was the Gwangyang Port Coal Volume Forecasting Artificial Neural Network Model. In comparing forecasted values by various predictive models and actually measured values, the artificial neural network model showed closer values to the actual highest point and the lowest point than the stepwise regression analysis.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2014

In line with the expected price reduction of natural gas associated with the introduction of shale gas, it is expected that the optimal power mix for the electric power generation be changed. In this study, the reconfigured power mix is estimated with the varying natural gas price by using the Screening Curve Method (SCM). It is found that about 3% and 9% coal in the overall power mix is replaced with natural gas if the natural gas price falls 20% and 40% of the current price, respectively. It is also found that the reconfigured power mixes would provide the reduction of the emissions of air pollutants which are equivalent to 369 and 807 MUS$.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.449-454
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• 2012

Economic feasibility of the process for a coal extraction under mild condition, which will produce ash-free coal at a temperature lower than that of coal softening, was analyzed. To this end, the plant of 6000 t/d in capacity was assumed to be constructed near a coal mine in Indonesia, and the IRR, NPV, B/C ratio, and DPP of the plant were calculated based on $96 million investment cost and 15 years service life. The IRR, NPV, B/C ratio, and DPP of the plant were calculated to be 31%, $87 million, 1.08, and 3.9 years, respectively, and which satisfied the evaluation criteria of investment. The economic feasibility of the plant was mainly dependent on the price of the coal initially fed and the residue coal remaining after the extraction, according to sensitivity analysis.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.113-140
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• 2016

Achieving the two goals of providing stable remuneration and promoting market based incentive for generation capacity with only one kind of capacity price is a difficult proposition. This paper suggests a market design in which two different kinds of capacity prices are used to achieve these goals. It maintains the current capacity price that is determined administratively based on the fixed cost of the gas-turbine generator. A second capacity price is added that covers generators with higher fixed costs and lower fuel costs such as combined-cycle gas turbine, coal-powered, and nuclear generators. This second capacity price is conditional on a lower energy price ceiling and determined by the interaction of the market supply and a demand schedule derived from the optimal fuel mixed principle.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.393-417
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• 2022

Using hourly SMP data from 2016 to 2020, this paper measures the weekly realized volatility and investigates the main force of its determinants. To this end, we extend the Bayesian variable selection by incorporating the regime-switching model which identifies important variables among a large number of predictors by regimes. We find that the increase in coal and nuclear generation, as well as solar power, reinforce the SMP volatility in both high volatility and low volatility regime. In contrast the increase in gas generation and gas price decrease SMP volatility when SMP volatility is high. These results suggest that the expansion of renewable energy according to 2050 Carbon Neutrality or energy transition policies increases SMP volatility but the increase in the gas generation or reduction of coal generation might offset its impact.