• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2015

In this study, characteristics of reforming process of automotive liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel using plasma reactor are investigated. Because plasma reformer technology has advantages of a fast start-up and wide fuel/oxidizer ratio of operation, and reactor size is smaller and more simple compared to typical combustor and catalytic reactor, plasma reforming is suitable to the on-board vehicle reformer. To evaluate the characteristics of the reforming process, parametric effect of $O_2/C$ ratios, reactant flow rate and metal form on the process were investigated. In the test of varying $O_2/C$ ratio from partial oxidation to stoichiometry combustion, conversion of LPG was increased but selectivity of $H_2$ decreased. The optimum condition of $O_2/C$ ratio for the highest $H_2$ yield was determined to be around 1.0 for 20~50 lpm, and 1.35 for 100 lpm. Specific energy density (SED) was major factor in reforming process and higher SED leads to higher $H_2$ yield. And metal form in the reformer increased $H_2$ yield of about 34 % as compared to the case of no metal form. The result can be a guide to map optimal condition of reforming process.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.156-160
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• 2004

The extraction rates of plasticizer of LPG high pressure rubber are studied. Submerging solvents are composed of propane, n-butane, n-pentane, n-hexane, n-heptane, propylene, 1,3-butadiene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene, ethanethiol, t-butanethiol, dimethyl sulfide, methyl ethyl sulfide. The relationship between the extraction rate of plasticizer and the descriptors of submerging solvent by using multiple linear regression is as follows; PE(wt%) = 7.5193 - 0.58500Carbon${\sharp}$ + 2.3294DB + 2364SH, (N = 13, F = 24.135, R$^2$ = 0.8894, R$_{adj}^2$ = 0.8526, Variance = 7.588) Plasticizer is well extracted by LPG composed of the high vapour pressure and polarity compounds. The mass of extracted plasticizer becomes increasing in proportion to the contents of thiol sulfur compound and unsaturated hydrocarbon such as propylene and 1,3-butadiene in LPG. While the heavier hydrocarbons are, the less the quantities of plasticizer extracted from rubber are.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.11 no.1 s.34
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• pp.23-28
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• 2007

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the sealing defects and cracks of O-rings and a valve packing of a gas valve for a LPG cylinder. O-ring in which stops a gas leakage of a liquefied petroleum gas is very important for a LPG valve safety. Valve packing is to open and close a gas flow port for supplying and charging a LPG fuel. The sealing performance of two sealing units ism related to the leak safety and long lift of a gas valve. The investigated results show that most of O-rings was failed due to a circumferential crack in which is caused by partial press bonding failure near the partition zone and an excess compression rate. Some of the O-ring failure was originated by an extrusion of an excessive leak pressure of a LP gas. Thus, this paper strongly recommends a tight quality control and a safety guarantee system of O-rings and valve packing to guarantee a leak safety and to extend a service lift of a gas valve. At the end, a warranty policy of the sealing units should be adopted for increasing a product quality and safety of a gas valve.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1563-1571
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• 2003

This paper is the second part of several companion papers which compare the method of Air-fuel ratio(AFR) determination. In the previous paper, Eltinge chart was applied to the arbitrary fuel composition and the charts for gasoline, diesel, methanol, M85, liquefied petroleum gas(LPG), natural gas(NG), propane and butane were illustrated. In Eltinge chart, however, unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) is not used for determination of AFR. For improving accuracy, Eltinge suggested UHC compensation after the AFR reading in the chart. This compensation reduced the difference between real and reading value. In the compensation, however, the correction of oxygen and carbon dioxide is uncertain and there might be a mistake in conversion of UHC reading value. Therefore, the error is overestimated comparing with Spindt one which is most widely used. In addition, there is no comparison of the value with other useful methods. In this paper, the compensation of unburned HC was performed in Eltinge chart and the compensated value was compared with Spindts formula over wide range of AFR. The objects of investigating fuel are gasoline, methanol, NG and LPG. The result shows that Eltinge and Spindt method is flawlessly compatible and the difference between the two methods is under 0.3% in a λrange from 0.9 to 1.7. The method fur debugging instrumentation error is also presented.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.53-60
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• 2010

LPG(Liquefied Petroleum Gas) vehicles in metropolitan area are being applied to improve air quality and have been proven effective for the reduction of air pollutant. In addition, LPG demand is growing rapidly as an environmentally friendly energy source and its gas station is also increasing every year. Consequently, this study tries to find out the influence of flame caused by the VCE(Vapor Cloud Explosion) in filling station on the adjacent combustibles and people by simulating relevant quantity of TNT. In addition, the damage estimation was conducted by using API regulations. If the scale of the radiation heat is known by calculating the distance of flame influence from the explosion site, the damage from the site can be easily estimated. And the accident damage was estimated by applying the influence on the adjacent structures and people into the PROBIT model. According to the probit analyze, the spot which is 30m away from the flame has 100% of the damage probability by the first-degree burn, 99.2% of the damage probability by the second-degree burn and 93.4% of the death probability by the fire.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.49-56
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• 2015

As an alternative fuel that can be used in SI engine, LPG is one of clean fuels with larger H/C ratio compared to gasoline, low $CO_2$ emission, and small amount of pollutants such as sulfur compounds. When LPG is used in spark ignition engine, volumetric efficiency of the engine can be improved and pumping loss can be reduced by performing direct injection into the combustion chamber instead of port fuel injection. LPG-DI engine allows for lean combustion and stratified combustion under low load. In case of stratified combustion, air fuel ratio can be greatly increased compared to theoretic mixture ratio combustion. Improved thermal efficiency of the engine and reduced pumping loss can be expected from stratified combustion. Accordingly in this study, an experimental apparatus for visualization was designed and manufactured to study the combustion process of LPG after injection and ignition, intended to examine ignition probability and combustion characteristics of spark ignition direct injection(SIDI) LPG fuel. Ambient pressure, ambient temperature and fuel injection pressure were found as important variables that affect ignition probability and flame propagation characteristics of LPG-air mixture. Also, it was verified that the injected LPG fuel can be directly ignited by spark plug under appropriate ambient conditions.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.566-575
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• 2011

Since LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) fuel supply system has an advantage of low emission characteristics, many studies have been conducted. In spite of the advantage of LPG supply system, a higher vapor pressure and lower viscosity than diesel or gasoline fuel may cause unstable running of fuel pump by the deterioration in lubrication performance and chemical reaction with rubber parts than that of diesel and gasoline fuel. Therefore its physical properties can cause the deterioration of durability. In this research, we developed an external type LPG pump which has the advantage of the price competitiveness and the convenient maintenance for LPLi system. The experiments were carried out in order to assess characteristics of the external type fuel pump at different fuel composition and temperature. As a result, there aren't any differences between internal and external type pump performance. It is observed that the same level of efficiency was maintained for both pumps as flow rate was increased with higher fuel temperature and more contents of propane in the fuel. And the pressure difference in LPLi system is maintained at constant with the various fuel compositions and temperatures due to their own characteristics of fuel supply system.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.204-210
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• 2007

The worldwide energy problem and global warming cause the need of alternative fuels which feature low carbon-dioxide emission and another energy source. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is one of the alternative fuels widely used as domestic and transportational fuel. The third generation LPLi fuel supply system has merits in the increase of engine power and low emissions. The injectors used in LPLi system should overcome a leakage problem and satisfy the durability conditions. Therefore, 1000 hour durability test of the injectors was carried out throughout this research. First, the spray pattern and the penetration length of the selected injectors is graphically shown. Next, the leakage amount with respect to the injection cycle is introduced. Finally, the shapes of nozzle holder and nozzle tip after durability test was investigated by analyzing the microscopic image of the injector tip. The variation in the shape of nozzle tip mainly due to the residue of rubber materials is found to be the reason for leakage.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.18-25
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• 2009

Fuel lean reburning method is very attractive way in comparison with conventional reburning method for reducing NOX. Meanwhile, the knowledge of the how flue gas re-circulated, temperature distribution and species concentration is crucial for the design and operation of an effective fuel lean reburning system. For this reason, numerical analysis of fuel lean reburning system is a very important and challenge task. In this work, the effect of fuel lean reburn system on NOX reduction has been experimentally and numerically conducted. Experimental study has been conducted with a 15kW lab scale furnace. Liquefied Petroleum Gas is used as main fuel and reburn fuel. To carry out numerical study, the finite-volume based commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT6.3 was used to simulate the reacting flow in a given laboratory furnace. Steady state, three dimensional analysis performed for turbulent reactive flow and radiative heat transfer in the furnace.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.305-311
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• 2005

Throughout the world, studies on the water energization are currently under way. Of those, Brown gas, which is generated through the electrolyzation of water and is a mixed gas of the constant volume of 2 parts hydrogen to 1 part oxygen, has better characteristics in terms of economy, energy efficiency, and environmental affinity than those of acetylene gas and LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) used for existing welding machines. This paper analyzes the characteristics of Brown gas and presents methods for increasing the generating efficiency of Brown gas by designing a power supply to deliver power to a water-electrolytic cell and designing a cylindrical electrode to improve the efficiency of the electrolyzer needed for water electrolyzation. Based on the above the methods, a welding machine using Brown gas is developed. And the generation efficiency of Brown gas is measured tinder different conditions (duty ratio, frequency and amplitude) of supplied power.