• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1140-1146
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• 2013

Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have been suggested as a new technology for wastewater treatment while accomplishing energy and chemical generation. This study describes the performance of BESs based on mixed culture that are capable of reducing carbon dioxide to acetate. The cathode potential was a critical factor that affected the performance of the BESs. The rate of acetate production increased as the electrode potential became more negative, from 0.38 mM $d^{-1}$ (-900 mV vs. Ag/AgCl) to 2.35 mM $d^{-1}$ (-1,100 mV), while the electron recovery efficiency of carbon dioxide reduction to acetate increased from 53.6% to 89.5%. The microbial population was dominated by relatives of Acetobacterium woodii when a methanogenic inhibitor was added to the BESs initially.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.307-312
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• 2023

In this study, a catalytic oxidation-heat recovery system was designed that can remove unreacted with a concentration of about 1% to 6% in the exhaust gas of hydrogen fuel cells and recover heat to ensure safety in the hydrogen economy. The safety system was devised by filling hydrogen oxidation catalysts at room temperature that can remove unreacted hydrogen without any energy source, and an exhaust-heat recovery device was integrated to efficiently recover the heat released from the oxidation reaction. Through CFD analysis, variations in pressure and fluid within the system were shown depending on the filling conditions of the hydrogen oxidation system. In addition, it was found that waste heat could be recovered by optimizing the temperature of the exhaust gas, flow rate, and pressure conditions within the heat recovery system and securing hot water above 40 ℃ by utilizing the exhaust gas oxidation heat source above 300 ℃. Through this study, it was possible to confirm the potential of utilizing hydrogen processes, which are applied in small to medium-sized systems such as hydrogen fuel cells, as a safety system by evaluating them at a pilot scale. Additionally, it could be a safety guideline for responding to unexpected hydrogen safety accidents through further pilot-scale studies.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.101-101
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• 2010

Anaerobic digestion(AD) is the most promising method for treating and recycling of different organic wastes, such as organic fraction of municipal solid waste, household wastes, animal manure, agro-industrial wastes, industrial organic wastes and sewage sludge. During AD, i.e. organic materials are decomposed by anaerobic forming bacteria and fina1ly converted to excellent fertilizer and biogas which is a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane. AD has been one of the leading technologies that can make a large contribution to produce renewable energy and to reduce $CO_2$ and other green-house gas(GHG) emission, it is becoming a key method for both waste treatment and recovery of a renewable fuel and other valuable co-products. Currently some 80% of the world's overall energy supply of about 400 EJ per year in derived from fossil fuels. Nevertheless roughly 10~15% of this demand is covered by biomass resources, making biomass by far the most important renewable energy source used to date. The representative biofuels produced from the biomass are bioethanol, biodiesel and biogas, and currently biogas plays a smaller than other biofuels but steadily growing role. Traditionally anaerobic digestion applied for different biowaste e.g. sewage sludge, manure, other organic wastes treatment and stabilization, biogas has become a well established energy resource. However, the biowaste are fairly limited in respect to the production and utilization as renewable source, but the plant biomass, the so called "energy crops" are used for more biogas production in EU countries and the investigation on the biomethane potential of different crops and plant materials have been carried out. In Korea, with steadily increasing oil prices and improved environmental regulations, since 2005 anaerobic digestion was again stimulated, especially on the biogasification of different biowastes and agro-industrial biomass including "energy crops". This study have been carried out to investigate anaerobic biodegradability by the biochemical methane potential(BMP) test of animal manures, different forage crops i.e. "energy crops", plant and industrial organic wastes in the condition of thermophilic temperature, The biodegradability of animal manure were 63.2% and 58.2% with $315m^3CH_4/tonVS$ of cattle slurry and $370m^3CH_4/tonVS$ of pig slurry in ultimate methane yields. Those of winter forage crops were the range 75% to 87% with ultimate methane yield of $378m^3CH_4/tonVS$ to $450m^3CH_4/tonVS$ and those of summer forage crops were the range 81% to 85% with ultimate methane yield of $392m^3CH_4/tonVS$ to $415m^3CH_4/tonVS$. The forge crops as "energy crops" could be used as good renewable energy source to increase methane production and to improve biodegradability in co-digestion with animal manure or only energy crop digestion.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.345-350
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• 2018

Nanomaterials have considerable potential to solve several key challenges in various electrochemical devices, such as fuel cells. However, the use of nanoparticles in high-temperature devices like solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is considered problematic because the nanostructured surface typically prepared by deposition techniques may easily coarsen and thus deactivate, especially when used in high-temperature redox conditions. Herein we report the synthesis of a self-regenerated Pd metal nanoparticle on the perovskite oxide anode surface for SOFCs that exhibit self-recovery from their degradation in redox cycle and $CH_4$ fuel running. Using Pd-doped perovskite, $La(Sr)Fe(Mn,Pd)O_3$, as an anode, fairly high maximum power densities of 0.5 and $0.2cm^{-2}$ were achieved at 1,073 K in $H_2$ and $CH_4$ respectively, despite using thick electrolyte support-type cell. Long-term stability was also examined in $CH_4$ and the redox cycle, when the anode is exposed to air. The cell with Pd-doped perovskite anode had high tolerance against re-oxidation and recovered the behavior of anodic performance from catalytic degradation. This recovery of power density can be explained by the surface segregation of Pd nanoparticles, which are self-recovered via re-oxidation and reduction. In addition, self-recovery of the anode by oxidation treatment was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.213-223
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• 2016

The validity of landfill gas models is an important problem considering that they are frequently used for landfill-site-related policy making and energy recovery planning. In this study, the Monte Carlo method was applied to an landfill gas generation model in order to enhance conformity. Results show that the relative mean deviation between measured data and modeled results (MD) decreased from 19.8% to 11.7% after applying the uncertainty range of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to the methane-generation potential and reaction constants. Additionally, when let reaction constant adjust derived errors from all other modeling components, such as model logic, gauging waste, and measured methane data, MD decreased to 6.6% and the disparity in total methane generation quantity to 2.1%.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2024

The surge in demand for lithium is primarily fueled by the expanding electric vehicle market, the necessity for renewable energy storage, and governmental initiatives aimed at achieving carbon neutrality. This study proposes a straightforward method for lithium extraction utilizing cellulose nanofiber (CNF) via a vacuum filtration process. This approach yields a porous CNF film, showcasing its potential utility as a lithium extractor and indicator. Given its abundance and eco-friendly characteristics, cellulose nanofiber (CNF) emerges as a material offering both economic and environmental advantages over traditional lithium extraction techniques. Hence, this research not only contributes to lithium recovery but also presents a sustainable solution to meet the growing demand for lithium in energy storage technologies.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2013

This study analyzes the explosion hazard of dry cleaning solvent recovery machine in laundry shop in two aspects, i.e. combustible and ignition source, and determines the explosive conditions of this machine by conducting mockup explosion tests repeatedly, varying conditions and using real dry cleaning solvent recovery machines. As to combustibles, two kinds of combustibles used widely in Korea have been selected and tested. The flash points, LEL's, and saturation vapor pressures of those combustibles have been measured, and their explosion specific curves have been drawn, based on the results of the measurements, so that the explosion risks of those materials may be determined, depending on the temperatures. Potential voltages generated from materials for laundry and foreign materials of metals have been assumed to be the ignition sources in this application, and their potential voltages have been measured, depending on temperature, humidity, and antistatic agent, by using real materials for laundry and a potential voltage measuring device. Tests have been conducted, varying the quantities, concentrations, and operating temperatures of materials for laundry. As a result, explosions have not been generated with potential voltages of materials for laundry, but explosions have been observed when applying artificial spark energy of 2.0 mJ.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.451-476
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• 2015

Membrane distillation (MD), which can utilize low-grade thermal energy, has been extensively studied for desalination. By incorporating solar thermal energy, the solar membrane distillation desalination system (SMDDS) is a potential technology for resolving the energy and water resource problems. Small-scale SMDDS (s-SMDDS) is an attractive and viable option for the production of fresh water for small communities in remote arid areas. The minimum-cost design and operation of s-SMDDS are determined by a systematic method, which involves a pseudo steady state approach for equipment sizing and the dynamic optimization using overall system mathematical models. The s-SMDDS employing three MD configurations, including the air gap (AGMD), direct contact (DCMD) and vacuum (VMD) types, are optimized. The membrane area of each system is $11.5m^2$. The AGMD system operated for 500 kg/day water production rate gives the lowest unit cost of $5.92/m^3$. The performance ratio and recovery ratio are 0.85 and 4.07%, respectively. For the commercial membrane employed in this study, the increase of membrane mass transfer coefficient up to two times is beneficial for cost reduction and the reduction of membrane heat transfer coefficient only affects the cost of the DCMD system.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.242-249
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• 2020

The Kalina cycle (KC) is considered as one of the most efficient systems for recovery of low grade heat. Recently, Kalina based power and cooling cogeneration cycles (KPCCCs) have been suggested and attracted much attention. This paper presents an energy and exergy analysis of a recently suggested KPCCC with flexible loads. The cycle consists of a KC (KCS-11) and an aqua-ammonia absorption refrigeration cycle. By adjusting the splitting ratios, the cycle can be operated with four modes of pure Kalina cycle, pure absorption cooling cycle, Kalina-cooling parallel cycle, and Kalina-cooling series cycle. The effects of system variables and the operating modes on the energetic and exergetic performances of the system are parametrically investigated. Results show that the system has great potential for efficient utilization of low-grade heat source by adjusting loads of power and cooling.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.122.1-122.1
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• 2011

The motivation for this work was the potential of hydrophobic amino acids such as glycine, L-alanine, and L-valine to be applied as thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors (THIs). To confirm their capabilities in inhibiting the formation of gas hydrates, three-phase (liquid-hydrate-vapor) equilibrium conditions for carbon dioxide hydrate formation in the presence of 0.1 to 3.0 mol% amino acid solutions were determined in the range of 273.05 to 281.45 K and 14.1 to 35.2 bar. From quantitative analyses, the inhibiting effects of the amino acids (on a mole concentration basis) decreased in the following order: L-valine > L-alanine > glycine. The application of amino acids as THIs has several potential advantages over conventional methods. First, the environmentally friendly nature of amino acids as compared to conventional inhibitors means that damage to ecological systems and the environment could be minimized. Second, the loss of amino acids in recovery process would be considerably reduced because amino acids are non-volatile. Third, amino acids have great potential as a model system in which to investigate the inhibition mechanism on the molecular level, since the structure and chemical properties of amino acids are well understood.