• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.9
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• pp.815-821
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• 2013

The efficiency and lifetime of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system is critically affected by the humidity of the incoming gas, which should be maintained properly under normal operating conditions. Typically, the incoming gas of a fuel cell is humidified by an external humidifier, but few studies have reported on the device characteristics. In this study, a laboratory-scale planar membrane humidifier is designed to investigate the characteristics of water transport through a hydrophilic membrane. The planar membrane humidifier is immersed in a constant temperature bath to isolate the humidifier from the effect of temperature variations. The mass transfer capability of the hydrophilic membrane is first examined under isothermal conditions. Then, the mass transfer capability is investigated under various conditions. The results show that water transport in the hydrophilic membrane is significantly affected by the flow rate, operating temperature, operating pressure, and flow arrangement.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2012

The efficiency and life time of the Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system is critically affected by incoming gas with humidity which should be maintained properly at normal operating conditions. Typically, incoming gas of automotive fuel cell is humidified by external humidifier but the characteristics of device is rarely reported. In this study, characteristics of water transfer in the membrane humidifiers have been experimentally investigated for flow rates of gas and for different flow arrangement under steady state condition. At first, capability of mass transfer through the membrane is examined at constant temperature. Then, the temperature distribution effect on the capability of mass transfer is tested over various inlet conditions. In summary, this research presents the mass transfer capability of hydrophilic membrane over various operating conditions.

• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.2256-2268
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• 2018

Hydrophilic and hydrophobic polyethersulfone (PES)-zinc oxide (ZnO) sublayers were prepared by loading of ZnO nanoparticles into PES matrix. Both porosity and hydrophilicity of the hydrophilic sublayer were increased upon addition of hydrophilic ZnO, while these were decreased for the hydrophobic sublayer. In addition, the results demonstrated that the hydrophilic membrane exhibited smaller structural parameter (S value or S parameter or S), which is beneficial for improving pure water permeability and decreasing mass transfer resistance. In contrast, a higher S parameter was obtained for the hydrophobic membrane. With a 2 M NaCl as DS and DI water as FS, the pure water flux of hydrophilic TFN0.5 membrane was increased from $21.02L/m^2h$ to $30.06L/m^2h$ and decreased for hydrophobic TFN0.5 membrane to $14.98L/m^2h$, while the salt flux of hydrophilic membrane increased from $10.12g/m^2h$ to $17.31g/m^2h$ and decreased for hydrophobic TFN0.5 membrane to $3.12g/m^2h$. The increment in pure water permeability can be ascribed to reduction in S parameter, which resulted in reduced internal concentration polarization (ICP). The current study provides a feasible and low cost procedure to decrease the ICP in FO processes.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.159-164
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• 2000

For the purpose of development of a liquid membrane permeator which separates metal ions from aqueous solutions continuously and effectively, a continuous membrane permeator with the membrane solution trapped between extraction and stripping phases by two micro-porous hydrophilic films was manufactured. Experimental researches on the separation of zinc ion from aqueous solutions were performed in the liquid membrane permeator with 30 vol % D2EHPA solution in kerosine as liquid membrane. As results, the liquid membrane permeator separates zinc ion from aqueous solutions continuously and effectively in the wide range of operating conditions. A simple mass transfer rate model using equilibrium constant of the extraction reaction for the system used were proposed, and the model was compared with experimental results of separation of zinc ion in the permeator. And the effects of operating factors, such as space time, pH of extraction solution, extraction temperature, on the separation rate of zinc ion in the permeator were experimentally examined.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.126.2-126.2
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• 2010

The "grafting from" technology to prepare the well-defined microphase-separated structure of polymer using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) will be introduced in this presentation. Various amphiphilic comb copolymers were synthesized through this approach using poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-co-CTFE) and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) as a macroinitiator. Hydrophilic side chains such as poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) or poly (sulfopropyl methacrylate) (PSPMA) were grafted from the mains chains using direct initiation of the chlorine atoms. The structure of mass transport channels has been controlled and fixed by crosslinking the hydrophobic domains, which also provides the greater mechanical properties of membranes. Successful synthesis and microphase-separated structure of the polymer were confirmed by $^1H$ NMR, FT-IR spectroscopy and TEM. The grafted/crosslinked membranes exhibited good mechanical properties (400 MPa of Young's modulus) and high thermal stability (up to $300^{\circ}C$), as determined by a universal testing machine (UTM) and TGA, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2006

In this study, five commercially available fouling resistant low-pressure RO membranes were investigated for the treatment of seasonally brackish surface water with high organic content (${\approx}24mg/L$). The membranes investigated are LFC-1 (Hydranautics), X20 (Trisep), BW30FR1 (FilmTec), SG (Osmonics), and BE-FR (Saehan). The results of surface characterization revealed that each of these membranes has one or two unique surface characteristics to minimize the adherence of the fouling materials to the membrane. Specifically, the LFC1 membrane features a neutral or low negative surface to minimize electrostatic interactions with charged foulants. The X20, on the other hand, shows a highly negatively charged surface, and thus, is expected to perform well with feed waters containing negatively charged organics and colloids. The BW30FR1 exhibits a relatively neutral and hydrophilic surface, which could be beneficial for lessening organic and/or biofouling. The SG membrane has a smooth surface that makes it quite resistant to fouling, particularly for colloidal deposition. Lastly, BE-FR membrane demonstrated a medium surface charge and a slightly higher hydrophobicity. In the pilot study, all of the four membranes experienced a gradual increase in MTC (water mass transfer coefficient or specific flux) over time, indicating no fouling occurred during the pilot study. The deterioration of permeate water quality such as TDS was also observed over time, suggesting that the integrity of the membranes was compromised by the monochloramine used for biofouling control.