• New Physics: Sae Mulli
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• v.68 no.11
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• pp.1173-1182
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• 2018

Mesoporous silica allows proper hydration of an ion exchange membrane under low relative humidity due to its strong hydrophilicity and structural characteristic. A mesoporous silica and Nafion composite membrane shows good proton conductivity under low relative humidity. An understanding of ion-channel formation and proton transfer through an ion-channel network in mesoporous silica and Nafion composite membranes is essential for the development and the optimization of ion exchange membranes. In this study, a mesoporous cellular foam $SiO_2/Nafion$ composite membrane is fabricated, and its proton conductivity and performance are measured. Also, the ion-channel distribution is analyzed by using electrostatic force microscopy to measure the surface charge density of the mesoporous cellular foam $SiO_2/Nafion$ composite membrane. The research reveals a few remarkable results. First, the composite membrane shows excellent proton conductivity and performance under low relative humidity. Second, the composite membrane is observed to form ion-channel-rich and ion-channel-poor region locally.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.138-145
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• 2011

Diesel particulate filter (DPF) systems are being used to reduce the particulate matter emission of diesel vehicles. The DPF should be regenerated after certain driving hours or distance to eliminate soot in the filter. The most widely used method is active regeneration with oxygen at $550{\sim}650^{\circ}C$. Syngas (synthetic gas) can be used to lower the regeneration temperature of Catalyzed DPF (CDPF). The syngas is formed by fuel reforming process of CPOx (Catalytic Partial Oxidation) at specific engine condition (1500rpm, 2bar) using 1wt.% $Rh/CeO_2-ZrO_2$ catalyst. The oxidation characteristics of PM with syngas supplied to filter were studied using partial flow system that can control temperature and flow rate independently. The filter is coated with washcoat loading of $25g/ft^3$ $Pt/Al_2O_3-CeO_2$, and multi-channel CDPF (MC-CDPF) was used. The filter regeneration experiments were performed to investigate the effect of syngas exothermic reaction on soot oxidation in the filter. For this purpose, before oxidation experiment, PM was collected about 8g/L to the filter at engine condition of 1500rpm, bmep 8bar and flow temperature of $200^{\circ}C$ Various conditions of temperature and concentration of syngas were used for the tests. Regeneration of filter started at 2% $H_2$ and CO concentration respectively and inlet temperature of $260^{\circ}C$. Filter Regeneration occurs more actively as the syngas concentration becomes higher.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.373-373
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• 2009

Relative humidity, membrane conductivity and water activity are critical parameters of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) for high performance and reliability. These parameters are closely related with temperature. Moreover, the ideal values of these parameters are not always identical along the channels. Therefore, the cooling channel design and its operating condition should be well optimized along the all location of the channels. In the present study, we have performed a numerical investigation on the effects of cooling channels on performance of a PEMFC. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are solved with the energy equation including heat generated by the electrochemical reactions in the fuel cell. The present numerical model includes the gas diffusion layers (GDL) and serpentine channels for both anode and cathode gas flows, as well as cooling channels. To accurately predict the water transport across the membrane, the distribution of water content in the membrane is calculated by solving a nonlinear differential equation with a nonlinear coefficient, i.e., the water diffusivity which is a function of water content as well as temperature. Main emphasis is placed on the heat transfer between the solid bipolar plate and coolant flow. The present results show that local current density is affected by cooling channels due to the change of the oxygen concentration and the membrane conductivity as well as the water content. It is also found that the relative humidity is influenced by the generated water and the gas temperature and thus it affects the distribution of fuel concentration and the conductivity of the membrane, ultimately fuel cell performance. Unit-cell experiments are also carried out to validate the numerical models. The performance curves between the models and experiments show reasonable results.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.467-470
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• 2006

For a mobile application such as cellular phone, micro fuel cells should be extremely compact and thin. RHFC can be an alternative solution because RHFC gives higher power density than DMFC and does not need ahydrogen storage vessel In this paper, RHFC using methanol fuel is made as a novel planar design without a PROX. Both reformer and cell are made closely in a same plate to share the heater of reformer with the cell. The PBI membrane is used in the cell. The reason is that high temperature of reformer can cause a performance drop when perfluorosulfonic acid membrane such as Nafion is used such a high temperature operation also guarantees the higher CO tolerance to MEA catalyst. The cell is designed as an air-breathing type which the cathode of the cell is opened to the air. The commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 steam reformer catalyst is packed in reformer channel. The active area of MEA is $11.9cm^2$ and the peak power density was $27.5mW/cm^2$.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.306-310
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• 2007

Characteristics of GDL (Gas Diffusion Layer) mainly determine the gas diffusion and water removal in a cell, thereby changing the performance and affecting durability of PEFC. To optimize the water management and understand the two phase flow in a GDL, it is important to study the behaviors of GDL micro structure under the real operating condition. In the clamped condition of cell, the GDL beneath the rib is more compressed than beneath the channel. Many researches on physical, electrochemical, mechanical behaviors of gas diffusion layer has been conducted. However, changes in surface properties under clamped condition have rarely studied. In present study, the morphology of broken connections of carbon fibers and detachment of PTFE coatings on the fibers were shown from the microscopic observations. In addition, changes in wetting properties of GDL by compression were investigated by using XPS and liquid uptake methods. The hydrophobic characteristics of GDL surface beneath the rib of the flow field plate are changed due to the deformation of micro structure.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.88-98
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• 1980

The process of solidification of a single-phase flowing hot fluid in a cylindrical tube has been investigated analytically and experimentally. A series of tests were performed, using paraffin -wax and Wood's metal as flowing hot fluids. These data verified the existing quasistatic numerical analysis model of freezing process developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory In addition, experimental results provided information regarding the effects of various parameters on the .process of transient flowing and freezing through a vertical channel. The experimental apparatus and techniques are described. Comparison of experimental data with predictions of mathematical models for transient molten fluid displacement are presented in graphical form. In addition, the mathematical model is applied to LMFBR post-accident conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.449-454
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• 2006

Neutron imaging technique was used to investigate the water distribution and movement in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) at HANARO, KAERI. The Feasibility tests were performed in the first and second exposure rooms at the neutron radiography facility (NRF) at HANARO in order to check the ability of each exposure room, respectively. The feasibility test apparatus was composed of water and pressurized air before making up the actual test apparatus. Due to the low neutron intensity in the second exposure room, the exposure time was too long to investigate the transient phenomena of PEMFC. Although the exposure time was improved to 0.1 sec in the first exposure room, it was difficult to discriminate detail water movement at the channel due to the high noise level. Therefore, the experimental setup must be optimized according to the test conditions. Water discharge characteristics were investigated under different flow field geometries by using feasibility test apparatus and the neutron imaging technique. The water discharge characteristics of a 3-parallel serpentine are superior to those of a 1-parallel serpentine, but water at Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) was not removed, regardless of the flow field type.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.111-117
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• 2004

An analytical study was carried out to evaluate the regenerative cooling characteristics in the liquid rocket engine of a 10tf-thrust level using kerosene as a fuel. As a supplementary cooling method, a radiative cooling was applied to the nozzle extension. It was found out from this work that the cooling system with the regenerative and radiation cooling only is not adaptable for the liquid rocket engine of a 10tf-thrust level using kerosene as a fuel for the $2^{nd}$ stage of the space launch vehicle, with the viewpoint of the thermal and thermo-structural instability and the excessive pressure drop in the cooling channel.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.401-412
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• 2013

The paper is to study on the simulation of the micro/macroscale thermo-electrochemical model of a single cell of anode-supported SOFC with direct internal reforming. The coupled heat and mass transport, electrochemical and reforming reactions, and fluid flow were simultaneously simulated based on mass, energy, charge conservation. The micro/macroscale model first calculates the detailed electrochemical and direct internal reforming processes in porous electrodes based on the comprehensive microscale model and then solve the macroscale processes such as heat and mass transport, and fluid flow in SOFCs with assumption of fully-developed flow in gas channel. The simulation results evaluate the overall performance by analyzing distributions of mole fraction, current density, temperature and microstructural design in co/counter flow configurations.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.85.1-85.1
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• 2011

In this study, Grafoil$^{TM}$ which has comparable electric resistance and chemical stability but is flexible, fragile, and cheap material was adopted as bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) having only one straight line flow channel. Because of its flexibility, pressurizations of cell with various pressures showed different operating characteristics compared to ordinary graphite-used PEMFC. While performances of both cells decreased as these were pressurized, investigation of ohmic and faradaic resistance by electrochemical impedance measurement indicated different tendency of change. Ohmic resistance of graphite-used cell increased with increasing pressure, which is reversed in Grafoil$^{TM}$-used cell. It is speculated that effective chemical reaction area is decreased with increasing pressure in case of graphite-used one, but because of flexible property of Grafoil$^{TM}$, gas diffusion layer in Grafoil$^{TM}$-used cell was well-activated. Different rate of change of faradaic resistances in both cells support this supposition. However, although optimum point of pressurization is found, it is required to investigate other operating conditions because of low performance compared to graphite-used cell.