• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.347-352
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• 2013

Four types of electrolyte were tested for the application as an electrolyte in the Zn-Br redox flow battery. Electrolyte was consist of $ZnBr_2$ (electrolyte number 1), $ZnBr_2+KCl$ (electrolyte number 2), $ZnBr_2+KCl+NH_4Br$ (electrolyte number 3) and $ZnBr_2+KCl+EMPBr(C_7H_{16}BF_4N)$ (electrolyte number 4). The each electrolyte property was measured by CV (cyclic voltammetry) method. The different between the potential of anodic and cathodic maximum current density in a CV experiment (${\Delta}E_P$) was 0.89V, 0.89V, 1.06V and 0.61V for the electrolyte number 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The electrolyte involved KCl increased conductivity which was appeared by anodic and cathodic maximum current density in a CV experiment. It was estimated that the electrolyte of number 3 ($ZnBr_2+KCl+NH_4Br$) and number 4 ($ZnBr_2+KCl+EMPBr$) could be suitable as an electrolyte in the Zn-Br redox flow battery with non-appeared bubble, non-Br formation and high anodic-cathodic maximum current density.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.340-346
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• 2013

Study on clean and efficient utilization technology for low rank coal with high moisture content is actively ongoing due to limited reserves of petroleum and of high grade coal and serious climate change caused by fossil fuel usage. In the present study, supercritical water gasification of low rank coal was performed. With increasing reaction temperature, content of combustible gases such as $H_2$ and $CH_4$ in the syngas increased while the $CO_2$ content decreased. As the reaction pressure increased from 210 to 300 bar, the $CO_2$ content in the syngas increased while the hydrocarbon gas content decreased. The $H_2$ and $CH_4$ content in the syngas increased slightly with pressure. With the addition of Pd, Pt, and Ru catalysts, it was possible to improve the production of $H_2$. Moreover, the increase of active metal content in the catalyst increased the $H_2$ productivity. The Ru catalyst shows the best performance for increasing the $H_2$ content in the syngas, while decreasing the $CO_2$ content.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.295-301
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• 2013

Long-term global energy-demand growth is expected to increase driven by strong energy-demand growth from developing countries. Fusion power offers the prospect of an almost inexhaustible source of energy for future generations, even though it also presents so far insurmountable scientific and engineering challenges. One of the challenges is safe handling of hydrogen isotopes. Metal hydrides such as depleted uranium hydride or ZrCo hydride are used as a storage medium for hydrogen isotopes reversibly. The metal hydrides bind with hydrogen very strongly. In this paper, we carried out a modeling and simulation work for absorption/desorption of hydrogen by ZrCo in a horizontal annulus cylinder bed. A comprehensive mathematical description of a metal hydride hydrogen storage vessel was developed. This model was calibrated against experimental data obtained from our experimental system containing ZrCo metal hydride. The model was capable of predicting the performance of the bed for not only both the storage and delivery processes but also heat transfer operations. This model should thus be very useful for the design and development of the next generation of metal hydride hydrogen isotope storage systems.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.219-225
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• 2018

This study was carried out to investigate the injection characteristics of 800 kPa compressed natural gas compressed natural gas (CNG) injector developed in Korea. The CNG injector with multi-holes, employed in this experiment, was designed to inject CNG in the manifold at high pressure of 800 kPa. The spray macroscopic visualization test was carried out via Schlieren photography to study fuel-air mixing process. The fundamental spray characteristics, such as spray penetration, spray cone angle and spray velocity, were evaluated in the constant volume combustion chamber (CVCC) with varying the constant back pressure in CVCC from 0 to 1.8 bar. For the safety reason, nitrogen ($N_2$) and an acetone tracer were utilized as a surrogate gas fuel instead of CNG. The surrogate gas fuel pressures were controlled at 3, 5.5, and 8 bar, respectively. Injection durations were set at 5 ms throughout the experiment. The simulating events of the low engine speed were arranged at 1,000 rpm. The spray images were recorded by using a high-speed camera with a frame rate of 10,000 f/s at $512{\times}256pixels$. The spray characteristics were analyzed by using the image processing (Matlab). The results showed the significant difference that higher injection pressure had more effect on the spray shape than the lower injection pressure. When the injection pressure was increased, the longer spray penetration occurred. Moreover, the linear relation between speed and time are dependent on the injection pressure as well.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.197-204
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• 2018

In the present study, unsteady flow analysis has been conducted to investigate the blade forces and wake flow around a hybrid street-lamp having a vertical-axis small wind turbine and a photovoltaic panel. Uniform velocities of 3, 5 and 7 m/s are applied as inlet boundary condition. Relatively large vortex shedding is formed at the wake region of the photovoltaic panel, which affects the increase of blade torque and wake flow downstream of the wind turbine. It is found that blade force has a good relation to the variation of the angle of attack with the rotation of turbine blades. Variations in the torque on the turbine blade over time create a cyclic fluctuation, which can be a source of turbine vibration and noise. Unsteady fluctuation of blade forces is also analyzed to understand the nature of the vibration of a small wind turbine over time. The detailed flow field inside the turbine blades is analyzed and discussed.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.170-180
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• 2018

After $MoS_2$ catalyst was prepared at 1, 30, and 70 atm, the hydrothermal pressure effect over preparation of $MoS_2$ was investigated in terms of catalyst characterization and direct methanation. Multifaceted characterization techniques such as XRD, BET, SEM, TPR, EDS, and XPS were used to analyze and investigate the effect of high pressure over the preparation of surface and bulk $MoS_2$ catalyst. Result from XRD, SEM, and BET demonstrated that $MoS_2$ was more dispersed as preparation pressure was increased, which resulted finer $MoS_2$ crystal size and higher surface area. EDS result confirmed that bulk composition was $MoS_2$ and XPS result showed that S/Mo mole ratio of surface was about 1.3. TPR showed that $MoS_2$ prepared at 30 atm possessed higher active surface sites than $MoS_2$ prepared at 1 atm and these sites could contribute to higher CO yield during methanation. Direct methanation was used to evaluate the CO conversion of the both catalysts prepared at 1 atm and 30 atm and reaction condition was at feed mole ratio of $H_2/CO=1$, GHSV=4800, 30 atm, temperature($^{\circ}C$) of 300, 350, 400, and 450. $MoS_2$ prepared at 30 atm showed more stable and higher CO conversion than $MoS_2$ prepared at 1 atm. Faster deactivation was occurred over $MoS_2$ prepared at 1 atm, which indicated that preparation pressure of $MoS_2$ catalyst was the dominant factor to improve the yield of direct methanation.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.139-147
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• 2018

Korea Electric Power Research Institute (KEPCO RI) had developed molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) system since 1993. Finally, KEPCO RI developed and operated a 125 kW MCFC system in 2010. To make MCFC system compact, it is indispensable to install an ejector in this system where the anode off gas, the cathode off gas, and fresh air are mixed before flowing to the catalytic burner. KEPCO RI had developed various ejectors for MCFC system since 2006. The 125 kW MCFC system built with the developed ejector was operated successfully in Boryeong Thermal Power Plant in 2010. This 125 kW MCFC ejector was designed on the basis of the experimental results of 5 kW and 75 kW MCFC ejectors. The main goal of ejector design in our MCFC system is to maintain the entrainment ratio and the pressure between fuel cell stack and catalytic burner within the operating range. In this paper, the design results of the ejector are presented based on the 125 kW MCFC system operating conditions. In addition, a designed ejector was manufactured and installed in the MCFC system. As the fuel cell is under load operation, the pressure surrounding the ejector was measured to ensure that the fuel cell system is operating smoothly.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.181-189
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• 2018

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system receives great attention as a promising power device for automotive applications. For the wide commercialization, the efficiency and performance of automotive PEMFC system should be further improved in terms of total system (stack and balance of plant [BOP]). Air supply module, which is a major part of the BOP, greatly affects the efficiency of automotive PEMFC system. In this paper, a systematic study on the low-pressure automotive PEMFC system was made in an attempt to enhance the net system efficiency. This study mainly presents an investigation of the effect of blower configuration (1-blower and 2-blower) on the net system efficiency of automotive PEMFC system. For this purpose, the effect of operating pressure and cathode stoichiometry on the system efficiency was investigated with stack temperature under the fixed net system power condition. Results indicate that 1-blower system is better in system efficiency over 2-blower system under an air stoichiometry of 2. However, 2-blower system is better in system efficiency under an air stoichiometry of 3. The simulation results show that the optimum operating strategy needs to be established for various blower system configurations considering blower performance maps.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.212-218
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• 2018

Li-ion battery system is regarded as one of the most potent power sources for electrified power-trains. For the Li-ion battery system to be widely adopted in automotive applications, the performance, safety, and cycle life issues need to be properly addressed. These issues are closely related to the thermal management of battery system. Especially, the effective cooling module design is the core part for the novel battery thermal management system development. In this paper, an experimental approach was carried out as a basic part of comprehensive battery thermal management research. The main goal of this paper is to present a comparison of two cooling systems (air cooling and phase change material (PCM) based cooling) of the unit 18650 battery module. The temperature rise with different battery discharge rate (c-rate) was mainly investigated and analyzed for two types of battery cooling systems. It is expected that this study can properly contribute to providing basic insights into the design of robust battery thermal management system for vehicular applications.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2018

A high efficiency integrated reforming system for improving the efficiency of the 5 kW PEMFC system used as the back up power of building was studied. The separated reforming system consisted of three parts - A steam reformer with two stage concentric circular shape, a heat exchanger type steam generator and a CO shift reactor. Temperature and steam carbon ratio (SCR) were control variables during operation. The operating conditions were optimized based on the thermal efficiency of the steam reformer as reformate gas composition changes at different temperature. In experiments, water was fully vaporized in the steam generator up to SCR 3.5 and the maximum thermal efficiency was achieved at the operating temperature around $700^{\circ}C$ in the steam reforming reactor. With the results of the separated reforming system research, we improved the shape of high efficiency integrated reformer. The performance evaluation of the integrated reformer was based on optimized operating conditions in SCR 3.5. As a result, the developed integrated reforming system maintained an efficiency of 76% and constant performance over 3,000 hours.