• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.218-222
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• 2018

An oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) layer was formed on Zircaloy-4 tubes by a laser beam scanning process to increase mechanical strength. Laser beam was used to scan the yttrium oxide ($Y_2O_3$)-coated Zircaloy-4 tube to induce the penetration of $Y_2O_3$ particles into Zircaloy-4. Laser surface treatment resulted in the formation of an ODS layer as well as microstructural phase transformation at the surface of the tube. The mechanical strength of Zircaloy-4 increased with the formation of the ODS layer. The ring-tensile strength of Zircaloy-4 increased from 790 to 870 MPa at room temperature, from 500 to 575 MPa at $380^{\circ}C$, and from 385 to 470 MPa at $500^{\circ}C$. Strengthening became more effective as the test temperature increased. It was noted that brittle fracture occurred at room temperature, which was not observed at elevated temperatures. Resistance to dynamic high-temperature bursting improved. The burst temperature increased from 760 to $830^{\circ}C$ at a heating rate of $5^{\circ}C/s$ and internal pressure of 8.3 MPa. The burst opening was also smaller than those in fresh Zircaloy-4 tubes. This method is expected to enhance the safety of Zr fuel cladding tubes owing to the improvement of their mechanical properties.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.70-79
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• 2022

Biodiesel production has attracted attention as a sustainable source of fuel and is a competitive alternate to diesel engines. The glycerol that is produced as a by-product is generally discarded as waste and can be converted to green chemicals such as acetins to increase bio-diesel profitability. Acetins find application in fuel, food, pharmaceutical and leather industries. Batch experiments and analysis have been previously conducted for synthesis of acetins using glycerol esterification reaction aided by sulfated metal oxide catalysts (SO₄^2-/CeO₂-ZrO₂). The aim of this study was to optimize process parameters: effects of mole ratio of reactants (glycerol and acetic acid), catalyst concentration and reaction temperature to maximize glycerol conversion/acetin selectivity. The optimum conditions for this reaction were determined using response surface methodology (RSM) designed as per a five-level-three-factor central composite design (CCD). Statistica software 10 was used to analyze the experimental data obtained. The optimized conditions obtained were molar ratio - 1:12, catalyst concentration - 6 wt.% and temperature -90 ℃. A packed bed reactor was fabricated and column studies were performed using the optimized conditions. The breakthrough curve was analyzed.

• Annual Conference of KIPS
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.669-672
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• 2006

고온가스냉각 원자로에서는 고온 안정성 및 핵분열생성물 차단 성능이 우수한 TRISO(tri-tsotropic) 핵연료를 사용하고 있다. TRISO 핵연료 입자는 직경이 약 1 mm인 구 형태로 입자의 중심에는 직경 $0.5{\mu}m$의 핵연료 커널(kernel)이 포함되며 커널 외곽을 코팅 층이 에워싸고 있다. 이 코팅 층은 완충(buffer) PyC(pyrolytic carbon) 층, 내부 PyC 층, SiC 층, 그리고 외부 PyC 층으로 구성되어 있다. 각 코팅 층의 두께는 수십${\sim}$백 ${\mu}m$ 범위이며, 본 연구에서는 각 코팅 층의 두께를 비파괴적으로 측정하기 위하여 마이크로포커스 X-선 발생장치와 고해상도 X-선 평판(flat panel) 검출기로 구성된 정밀한 X-선 래디오그래피 장치를 구성하고, $UO_2$ 핵물질 대신에 $ZrO_2$를 커널로 사용한 모의 TRISO 핵연료 입자에 대한 래디오그래피 영상을 획득한 후 디지털 영상처리기술을 이용하여 코팅 층 사이의 경계선이 구분 가능하도록 영상을 개선하고 디지털 영상처리 알고리즘을 개발하여 코팅 층의 두께를 측정하였다.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.397-400
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• 2002

Vapor explosion is one of the most important problems encountered in severe accident management of nuclear power plants. In spite of many efforts, a lot of questions still remain. So, KAERI launched a real experimental program called TROI using $UO_{2}$ and $ZrO_{2}$ to investigate the vapor explosion. Besides TROI tests, a small-scale experiment with molten-tin/water system was performed to quantify the characteristics of vapor explosion and to understand the phenomenology of vapor explosion. A vapor explosion was observed while the amount of air bubble and water temperature were systematically varied The mass and temperature of tin are $50\;g\;and\;150^{\circ}C$, respectively. Water temperature is set to $24^{\circ}C\;and\;50^{\circ}C$. The void fraction of air bubble ranges from $0\;to\;10\;{\%}$. The strength of vapor explosion was measured using dynamic pressure sensors attached in reactor tube wall. as a function of void fraction. In addition, a high speed video filming up to 1,000 flame/sec was taken in order to visually investigate the behavior of the vapor explosion .

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.220-227
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• 2004

The purpose of this paper is, based on the theoretical background of the principle of gas purification and absorption, and the absorbing ability of metals, to syudy the efficiency of gas purification of inorganic gases using Zr alloys, so as to contribute to the IT industry. To produce and distribute gas with high purity and ultra-high purity, different types of gas purifier are currently being used: distillation type, getter type, catalyst type, absorption at low-temperature type, and membrane separation equipment. From the different purification methods mentioned above, the getter type gas purifier is capable of not only high performance and capacity but also P.O.U(Point Of Use) method. The key of the getter type gas purifier is its efficiency of gas purification, which is the subject chosen for this study.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.414-419
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• 2003

In the recent TROI experiments, melts of zirconia and two different compositions of corium were used to observe the occurrence of a steam explosion when it came into contact with water at two different depths. The compositions of the corium were 70 : 30 and 80 : 20 in weight percent of $UO_{2}$ and $ZrO_{2}$, and the mass of the corium was about 10kg. The depth of water in the interaction vessel was 67cm and 130cm. A steam explosion did not occur in the interaction between 80 : 20 corium melt and water at 130cm depth, while steam spikes were observed in the interactions between corium melts of two different compositions and water at 67cm depth. A strong steam explosion occurred in the interaction between 5.43kg of zirconia melt and water at 67cm depth. This fact shows that the explosivity of zirconia is much greater than that of corium.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.05c
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• pp.93-96
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• 2002

In this study, PZT thin films were fabricated using sol-gel processing onto Si/$SiO_2$/Ti/Pt substrates. PZT sol with different Zr/Ti ratio(20/80, 30/70, 40/60, 52/48) were prepared, respectively. The films were fabricated by using the spin-coating method on substrates. The films were heat treated at $450^{\circ}C$, $650^{\circ}C$ by rapid thermal annealing(RTA). The preferred orientation of the PZT thin films were observed by X-ray diffraction(XRD), and Scanning electron microscopy(SEM). All of the resulting PZT thin films were crystallized with perovskite phase. The fine crystallinity of the films were fabricated. Also, we found that the ferroelectric properties from the dielectric constant of the PZT thin films were over 600 degrees, P-E hysteresis constant. And the leakage current densities of films were lower than $10^{-8}A/cm^2$. It is concluded that the PZT thin films by sol-gel process to be convinced of application for ferroelectric memory device.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.226-229
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• 2005

In this study, a step-down piezoelectric transformer was fabricated to utilize as an adapter for charging batteries of mobile electronic appliances. The ceramic part of the transformer is $Pb[(Mn_{1/3}Sb_{2/3})_{0.05}Zr_{0.475}Ti_{0.475}]O_3$ with mechanical quality factor of 1600, electromechanical coupling coefficient 59 %, and piezoelectric constant d33 1300, which can be utilized as a piezoelectric transformer. A simply fabricated disk-typed test pattern of diameter 28 mm and thickness 2 mm was used to characterize resonant frequency, Qm, kp according to the different input/output electrode area. efficiency and power as a function of load resistance was also investigated. The sample APT showed some spurious mode and BPT showed better frequency property. Taking all properties which are admittance, effective electromechanical coupling coefficient and mechanical quality factor most suitable for piezoelectric transformer is BPT which has 12 mm diameter electrode and the condition of 15 Vrms, 30 $\Omega$ made the maximum efficiency of 93.7 % and maximum power is 6W with 50 Vrms.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.117-126
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• 2001

Tribological properties of high temperature fade were investigated by changing relative amounts of ingredients in the brake friction material. Based on a simple experimental formulation containing 10 ingredients, friction materials were tested using a pad-on-disk type friction tester. Twenty-five friction material specimens with different relative amounts of the ingredients were manufactured according to the constrained mixture design .The difference ($\Delta$${\mu}$=${\mu}$$\sub$max/. -${\mu}$$\sub$min/. ) of friction coefficients was measured to represent the high temperature fade. Results from elevated temperature tests showed that five ingredients including cashew, graphite, Sb$_2$S$_3$, ZrSiO$_4$, and Cu fibers played important roles on $\Delta$${\mu}$. In order to find relative importance on fade phenomena among these ingredients, ANOVA(analysis of variance) was performed in this investigation. Thirty-two friction material specimens by changing ${\pm}$50vol.％ of these five ingredients were tested to examine the relative importance. Results showed that cashew, graphite '||'&'||' Sb$_2$S$_3$, and cashew '||'&'||' graphite aggravated the fade behavior and Cu fibers improved on fade resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.12 s.283
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• pp.816-820
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• 2005

The doped-ceria is a strong candidate material for an intermediate temperature SOFC. However, the mechanical strength and the magnitude of electrical conductivity need to be increased at low sintering temperature. In this study, to improve both properties, $1at\% $ of Mg, Ca, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ga, and Zr were added to the GDC20 ($20at\%$ Gd-doped Ceria) and sintered at $1350^{\circ}C$ that is $250^{\circ}C$ lower than $1600^{\circ}C$. With addition, the relative density of the sintered sample increased. Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ga doped-GDC20 showed high relative density over $92\%$. Among them, Ga doped-GDC20 showed the most improved sinterability. The conductivity of doped­GDC20 increased by $\~10$ times at $300\~700^{\circ}C$.