• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.745-753
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• 2016

Micro methanol-steam reformer for fuel cell can effectively produce hydrogen as reforming response to steam takes place in low temperature (less than $250^{\circ}C$). This study conducted numerical research on this reformer. First, study set wall temperature of the reformer at 100, 140, 180 and $220^{\circ}C$ while methanol conversion efficiency was set in 0, 0.072, 3.83 and 46.51% respectively. Then, porosity of catalyst was set in 0.1, 0.35, 0.6 and 0.85 and although there was no significant difference in methanol conversion efficiency, values of pressure drop were 4645.97, 59.50, 5.12 and 0.45 kPa respectively. This study verified that methanol-steam reformer rarely responds under the temperature of $180^{\circ}C$ and porosity does not have much effect on methanol conversion efficiency if the fluid flowing through reformer lowers activation energy by sufficiently contacting reformer.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.245-250
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• 2008

The treatment of a model wastewater containing quinoline in an integrated wet oxidation-aerobic biological treatment was investigated. Partial wet oxidation under mild operating conditions was capable of converting the original quinoline to biodegradable organic acids such as nicotinic, formic and acetic acid, the solution of which was subjected to the subsequent aerobic biological treatment. The wet oxidation was carried out at 250$^{\circ}C$ and the initial pH of 7.0, and led to effluents of which nicotinic acid was oxidized through 6-hydroxynicotinic acid by a Bacillus species in the subsequent aerobic biological treatment. Either homogeneous catalyst of $CuSO_4$ or phenol, which is more degradable in the wet oxidation compared to quinoline, was also used for increasing the oxidation rate in the wet oxidation of quinoline at 200$^{\circ}C$. The oxidation of quinoline in the catalytic wet oxidation and the wet co-oxidation with phenol resulted in effluents of which nicotinic acid was biodegradable earlier in the aerobic biological treatment compared to those out of the non-catalytic wet oxidation at 250$^{\circ}C$. However, the lag phase in the biodegradation of nicotinic acid formed out of the wet oxidation at 250$^{\circ}C$ was considerably shortened after the adaptation of Bacillus species used in the aerobic biological treatment with the effluents of the quinoline wet oxidation.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.217-223
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• 2015

Effects of the post-acid treatment of SAPO-34 sample by hydrochloric acid were investigated to enhance the catalytic performance in DTO reaction. Uniformly sized SAPO-34 samples with cubic-like morphology were prepared by hydrothermal method using TEAOH and DEA as the structure directing agents. It was modified in terms of the HCl concentration and treating time. As a result, the total surface area and micropore volume for the well modified samples increased and the total acid site was somewhat decreased along with the erosion of the external surface. Especially, the catalytic lifetime and light olefins selectivity for acid treated SAPO-0.2 M (3 h) samples were considerably enhanced compared with those of untreated SAPO-34 samples. It indicates that the deactivation by coke formation proceeds mainly at the pore entrance on the external surface. Therefore, the acid treatment was confirmed to be a simple method which can significantly improve the catalytic performance by modifying the external surface of SAPO-34 catalyst.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.157-160
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• 2008

The generation of high-purity hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels is essential for efficient operation of fuel cell. In general, most feasible strategies to generate hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels consist of a reforming step to generate a mixture of $H_2$, CO, $CO_2$ and $H_2O$ (steam) followed by water gas shift (WGS) and CO clean-up steps. The WGS reaction that shifts CO to $CO_2$ and simultaneously produces another mole of $H_2$ was carried out in a two-stage catalytic conversion process involving a high temperature shift (HTS) and a low temperature shift (LTS). In a typical operation, gas emerges from the reformer is taken through a high temperature shift catalyst to reduce the CO concentration to about 3~5%. The HTS reactor was designed and tested in this study to produce hydrogen-rich gas with CO to a range of 2~4%. The iron based catalysts (G-3C) was used for the HTS to convert the most of CO in the effluent from the partial oxidation (POX) to $H_2$ and $CO_2$ at a relatively high rate. Parametric screening studies were carried out for variations of the following variables: reaction temperature, steam flow rate, components ratio ($H_2/CO$), and reforming gas flow rate.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.5728-5735
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• 2015

This study attempts to verify the applicability of ceramic membrane as a separator by comparing the power generation characteristics in single-chamber MFCs using ceramic membranes to those in the MFCs using nafion membrane. The generated power in MFCs by using acetate as a substrate was more stable than that by using formate, propionate and butyrate, respectively. It was shown that the generated power by using formate substrate in MFCs was unstable and a little higher than that by using acetate, and the power generated by using propionate and butyrate were lower than that by using acetate. In order to find out the Pt catalyst effect, it was compared the power generated in MFCs using Pt-coated carbon cloth as electrode to that power using normal carbon cloth. The power generated in MFCs using Pt-coated carbon cloth as electrode was 1.2 times higher than that using normal carbon cloth. The Pt-coated carbon cloth was about 5 times more expensive than normal carbon cloth. It is suggested that both power generation efficiency and cost together should be considered in selecting electrodes of MFCs. It was found that the ceramic membrane was superior to nafion membrane by comparing to the power generation characteristics obtained. It was shown that average voltage values were $523.67mV{\pm}49.41mV$ by using synthetic wastewater, in MFCs of ceramic membrane as a separator. While average voltage values were $424.09mV{\pm}79.95mV$ by using synthetic wastewater, in MFCs of nafion membrane as a separator. The organic removal efficiency, 41.7% by using ceramic membrane was a little bit higher than 40.8% by using nafion membrane. This research implies ceramic membrane can be a valid alternative to nafion membrane as a separator when considering the power generation and the efficiency of organics removal.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to compare the water channel morphology and the proton conductivity by changing the number of repeating units of the polymer backbone of PEMs, and to present a criterion for selecting an appropriate polymer model for MD simulation. In the model with the shortest polymer main chain, the movement of the main chain and the sulfonic acid group was observed to be large, but no change in the water channel morphology was found. In addition, due to the nature of the proton transport ability that is most affected by the water channel morphology, the proton conductivity did not show a significant correlation with the length of the polymer backbone. These results provide important information, particularly for the preparation of ionomers for binders. In general, a low molecular weight polymer electrolyte material is used for a binder ionomer. Since the movement of the main chain/sulfonic acid group is improved, it can play a role of enclosing the catalyst layer well. However, there is no change in its proton conducting performance. In conclusion, the preparation of ionomers for binders will require molecular weight and structure design with a focus on physical properties rather than proton transfer performance.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.479-485
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• 2011

Pt-Bi/C catalysts supported on carbon black with various Pt/Bi ratios were synthesized by a reduction method. Chloroplatinic acid hydrate ($H_2PtCl_6{\cdot}xH_2O$) and bismuth (III) nitrate pentahydrate ($Bi(NO_3)_3{\cdot}5H_2O$) were used as precursors for Pt and Bi, respectively. Before loading metal on carbon, heat treatment and pretreatment of carbon black in an acidic solution was conducted to enhance the degree of dispersion. The physical property of the synthesized catalysts was investigated by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The XRD pattern of untreated Pt-Bi/C catalyst showed BiPt and $Bi_2Pt$ peaks in addition to Pt peaks. These results imply that Bi atoms were incorporated into the Pt crystal lattice by Pt-Bi alloy formation. The catalytic activity for methanol oxidation was measured using cyclic voltammetry in a mixture of 0.5 M $H_2SO_4$ and 0.5 M $CH_3OH$ aqueous solution. The addition of proper amount of Bi was found to significantly improve catalytic activity for methanol oxidation. The catalytic activity for methanol oxidation was closely related to the stability between electrode and electrolyte. In order to investigate the stability of catalysts, chronoamperometry analysis was carried out in the same solution at 0.6 V.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.356-361
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• 2023

In order to improve the durability of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), it is important to accurately evaluate the durability of the polymer membrane in a short time. The test conditions for chemically accelerated durability evaluation of membranes are high voltage, high temperature, low humidity, and high gas pressure. It can be said that the protocol is developed by changing these conditions. However, the relative influence of each test condition on the degradation of the membrane has not been studied. In chemical accelerated degradation experiment of the membrane, the influence of 4 factors (conditions) was examined through the factor experiment method. The degree of degradation of the membrane after accelerated degradation was determined by measuring the hydrogen permeability and effluent fluoride ion concentration, and it was possible to determine the degradation order of the polymer membrane under 8 conditions by the difference in fluoride ion concentration. It was shown that the influence of the membrane degradation factor was in the order of voltage > temperature > oxygen pressure > humidity. It was confirmed that the degradation of the electrode catalyst had an effect on the chemical degradation of the membrane.