• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.200-207
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• 1993

A methanol reformer was designed and fabricated using a CuO-ZnO low temperature shift catalyst, and its operation characteristics have been studied for the phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) power generation system. The type of reactor was annular Methanol was consumed both for heating and for reforming fuel. Contents of carbon monoxide produced from the reformer increased as the reaction temperatures increased, but decreased as the mole ratios of water to methanol(H$_2$O/CH$_3$OH) increased. At steady state operating conditional, temperature profile of the catalytic reactor of the reformer was well coincide with the model equation, and it took 50 minutes from start to the rated condition of the reformer. When the system was operated at 4/4 and 1/4 of load, thermal efficiencies of the system were 72.3% and 77%, respectively. When the PAFC system was operated with reformed gas in the range of 62 V-37.6 V and 0-147 A, the trend of I-V curve showed a typical fuel tell characteristic. At steady state condition, the flow rates of reforming and combustion methanol were 88.1 mol/h and 50.1 mol/h, respectively.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.141-146
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• 2009

In present work, we study the hydrogen storage of MWNT decorated with bimetallic Pt and Pd nanosize catalysts by Thermal Vapor Deposition [TVD]. The size of Pt and Pd particles is controlled as 5nm, 3nm, respectively by TVD. Before hydrogen storage measurement, the sample was heated for 1hr at $200^{\circ}C$ in H2 atmosphere. The Hydrogen sto rage of the sample was performed at room temperature and 33~34atm. The hydrogen storage of this composite showed 3.2wt% at 298K and 34atm, for three times. At 4th cycle, hydrogen storage is decreased to 1.5wt%, owing to the aggregation of bimetallic Pt and Pd nano particles.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.343-352
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• 2010

A zirconia gel/polymer hybrid nanofiber was produced in a nonwoven fabric mode by electrospinning a sol derived from hydrolysis of zirconium butoxide with a polyvinyl butyral. Results indicated that the hydroxyl groups on the vinyl alcohol units in the backbone of the polymer were involved in the hydrolysis as well as grafting the hydrolyzed zirconium butoxide. In addition, use of acetic acid as a catalyst resulted in further hydrolysis and condensation in the sol, which led to the growth of -Zr-O-Zr- networks among the polymer chains. These networks gradually transformed into a crystalline zirconia structure upon heating. The as-spun fiber was smooth but partially wrinkled on the surface. The average fiber diameter was $690{\pm}110\;nm$. The fiber exhibited a strong but broad blue photoluminescence with its maximum intensity at a wavelength of ~410 nm at room temperature. When the fiber was heat-treated at $400^{\circ}C$, the fiber diameter shrunk to $250{\pm}60\;nm$. Nanocrystals which belonged to a tetragonal zirconia phase and were ~5 nm in size appeared. A strong white photoluminescence was observed in this fiber. This suggests that oxygen or carbon defects associated with the formation of the nanocrystals play a role in generating the photoluminescence. Further heating to $800^{\circ}C$ resulted in a monoclinic phase beginning to form In the heat-treated fibers, coloring occurred but varied depending on the heating temperature. Crystallization, coloring, and phase transition to the monoclinic structure influenced the photoluminescence. At $600^{\circ}C$, the fiber appeared to be fully crystallized to a tetragonal zirconia phase.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.235-240
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• 2010

We investigated the carbon monoxide (CO) gas-sensing properties of nanostructured Al-doped zinc oxide thin films deposited on self-assembled Au nanodots (ZnO/Au thin films). The Al-doped ZnO thin film was deposited onto the structure by rf sputtering, resulting in a gas-sensing element comprising a ZnO-based active layer with an embedded Pt/Ti electrode covered by the self-assembled Au nanodots. Prior to the growth of the active ZnO layer, the Au nanodots were formed via annealing a thin Au layer with a thickness of 2 nm at a moderate temperature of $500^{\circ}C$. It was found that the ZnO/Au nanostructured thin film gas sensors showed a high maximum sensitivity to CO gas at $250^{\circ}C$ and a low CO detection limit of 5 ppm in dry air. Furthermore, the ZnO/Au thin film CO gas sensors exhibited fast response and recovery behaviors. The observed excellent CO gas-sensing properties of the nanostructured ZnO/Au thin films can be ascribed to the Au nanodots, acting as both a nucleation layer for the formation of the ZnO nanostructure and a catalyst in the CO surface reaction. These results suggest that the ZnO thin films deposited on self-assembled Au nanodots are promising for practical high-performance CO gas sensors.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.573-576
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• 2016

In this study, hydrogenation of 1,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropene was performed to produce R-1234yf as an environmentally friendly refrigerant. Palladium based carbon was prepared as a catalyst in the hydrogenation reaction. The effect of reaction conditions including the weight hourly space velocity (WHSV), reaction temperature and ratio of hydrogen and reactants on the catalytic performance was investigated. Under the identical reaction conditions, the effect of WHSV on the main product selectivity was insignificant, but a high reaction temperature was essential for the good product selectivity. A high product selectivity was also obtained when the ratio of hydrogen and reactants kept less than 1.5. Moreover, a correlation model involving the statistical approach to predict product yields was developed.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2012

This study was aimed at the development of catalysts for the direct methanol synthesis by partial oxidation of methane. Mo-Bi-V-Al mixed oxide catalysts were prepared and characterized and used in the direct methanol synthesis reaction. The catalysts prepared by the sol-gel method had much larger surface areas than those prepared by the co-precipitation method. The larger the surface area was, the less the methanol selectivity was. The catalysts having larger surface area facilitate the complete oxidation of methane, decreasing the selectivity of methanol. The catalysts prepared by the sol-gel method showed higher methanol selectivity of 13% at $20^{\circ}C$ lower temperature than those prepared by the co-precipitation method. Through XRD analysis, it was revealed that the structures of the catalysts prepared by the two methods were different. In the reaction, methanol selectivity increased and carbon dioxide selectivity decreased with pressure due to the suppression of complete oxidation reaction at a high pressure.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.58.2-58.2
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• 2012

Heavy hydrocarbon reforming is a core technology for "Dirty energy smart". Heavy hydrocarbons are components of fossil fuels, biomass, coke oven gas and etc. Heavy hydrocarbon reforming converts the fuels into $H_2$-rich syngas. And then $H_2$-rich syngas is used for the production of electricity, synthetic fuels and petrochemicals. Energy can be used efficiently and obtained from various sources by using $H_2$-rich syngas from heavy hydrocarbon reforming. Especially, the key point of "Dirty energy smart" is using "dirty fuel" which is wasted in an inefficient way. New energy conversion laboratory of KAIST has been researched diesel reforming for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) as a part of "Dirty energy smart". Diesel is heavy hydrocarbon fuels which has higher carbon number than natural gas, kerosene and gasoline. Diesel reforming has difficulties due to the evaporation of fuels and coke formation. Nevertheless, diesel reforming technology is directly applied to "Dirty fuel" because diesel has the similar chemical properties with "Dirty fuel". On the other hand, SOFC has advantages on high efficiency and wasted heat recovery. Nippon oil Co. of Japan recently commercializes 700We class SOFC system using city gas. Considering the market situation, the development of diesel reformer has a great ripple effect. SOFC system can be applied to auxiliary power unit and distributed power generation. In addition, "Dirty energy smart" can be realized by applying diesel reforming technology to "Dirty fuel". As well as material developments, multidirectional approaches are required to reform heavy hydrocarbon fuels and use $H_2$-rich gas in SOFC. Gd doped ceria (CGO, $Ce_{1-x}Gd_xO_{2-y}$) has been researched for not only electrolyte materials but also catalysts supports. In addition, catalysts infiltrated electrode over porous $La_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}Ga_{0.8}Mg_{0.2}O_3-{\delta}$ and catalyst deposition at three phase boundary are being investigated to improve the performance of SOFC. On the other hand, nozzle for diesel atomization and post-reforming for light-hydrocarbons removal are examples of solving material problems in multidirectional approaches. Likewise, multidirectional approaches are necessary to realize "Dirty energy smart" like reforming "Dirty fuel" for SOFC.

• Clean Technology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.244-249
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• 2011

We synthesized low molecular-weight polymers bearing hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts in a chain through $CO_2$/propylene oxide copolymerization. When hydrophilic poly (ethylene glycol) bearing -OH group (s) at the end group (s) was added as a chain transfer agent in the $CO_2$/propylene oxide copolymerization catalyzed by a highly active catalyst, block polymers were formed. If poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) bearing -OH group only at an end was fed, PEG-block-PPC diblock copolymer was obtained. When PEG bearing -OH group at both ends was fed, PPC-block-PEG-block-PPC triblock copolymer was obtained. We confirmed formation of block copolymers by $^1H$-NMR spectroscopy and GPC studies.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.346-352
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• 2015

Polyalphaolefin (PAO) is a synthetic lubricant that is superior to mineral-based lubricants in the terms of physical and chemical characteristics such as low pour point, high viscosity index (VI), and thermal and oxidation stability. Several kinds of PAOs have been synthesized by using 1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-octene, or 1-dodecene as monomer with three kinds of aluminum-based Lewis acid catalysts via cationic polymerization. The control of the catalytic performance and physical properties of PAO such like molecular weight, kinematic viscosity, pour point, and viscosity index was done by changing polymerization parameters. The alkyl aluminum halide-based catalysts show better catalytic activity than that of the conventional $AlCl_3$ catalyst. The microstructure of PAO was investigated by means of TOF-MS (time of flightmass spectroscopy) analysis in order to elucidate the correlation between the performances of the lubricant (VI, pour point) and the molecular structure of PAO. The VI of PAO increases with increases in the carbon number of ${\alpha}$-olefin. In other words, the performances of PAO as a lubricant strongly depended on the branch length of PAO.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.693-701
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• 2016

Steam gasification of low rank coals is possible at relatively low temperature and low pressure, and thus shows higher efficiency compared to high rank coals. In this study, the gasification reactivity of four different Indonesian low rank coals (Samhwa, Eco, Roto, Kideco-L) was evaluated in $T=700-800^{\circ}C$. The low rank coals containing $53.8{\pm}3.4$ wt% volatile matter in proximate analysis and $71.6{\pm}1.2$ wt% carbon in ultimate analysis showed comparable gasification reactivity. In addition, $K_2CO_3$ catalyst rapidly accelerated the reaction rate at $700^{\circ}C$, and all of the coals were converted over 90% within 1 hour. The XRD analysis showed no significant difference in carbonization between the coals, and the FT-IR spectrum showed similar functional groups except for differences due to moisture and minerals. TGA results in pyrolysis ($N_2$) and $CO_2$ gasification atmosphere showed very similar behavior up to $800^{\circ}C$ regardless of the coal species, which is consistent with the steam gasification results. This confirms that the indirect evaluation of the reactivity can be made by the above instrumental analyses.