• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.79-84
• /
• 2024

Methane is an abundant and renewable hydrocarbon, but it causes global warming as a greenhouse gas. Therefore, methods to convert methane into useful chemicals or energy sources are needed. Methanol is a simple and abundant chemical that can be synthesized by the partial oxidation of methane. Methanol can be used as a chemical feedstock or a transportation fuel, as well as a fuel for low-temperature fuel cells. However, the electrochemical oxidation of methanol is a complex and multi-step reaction. To understand and optimize this reaction, new electrocatalysts and reaction mechanisms are required. This review discusses the methanol oxidation reaction mechanism, recent research trends, and future research directions.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.312-318
• /
• 2011

We have investigated the kinetics and catalytic activity of $CO_2$-lignite gasification with various metal precursors as catalysts. $K_2CO_3$, $Mn(NO_3)_2$, and $Ce(NO_3)_3$ were used and impregnated on a coal using an evaporator. The gasification experiments were carried out with the low rank coal loaded with 5 wt% catalyst at the temperature range from $700{\sim}900^{\circ}C$ and atmospheric pressure with the $N_2-CO_2$ reactant gas mixture. The catalytic effect on the gasification rate of the low rank coal with $CO_2$ was determined by the thermogravimetric analyzer. It was observed that the low rank coal reached the complete carbon conversion regardless of the kinds of catalysts at $900^{\circ}C$ from the results of TGA. The catalytic activity was ranked as 5 wt% $K_2CO_3$ > 5 wt% $Mn(NO_3)_2$ > 5 wt% $Ce(NO_3)_3$ > Non-catalyst at $900^{\circ}C$. The gasification rate increased with increasing the temperature. The activation energy of the catalytic gasification with 5 wt% $K_2CO_3$ was 119.0 kJ/mol, which was the lowest among all catalysts.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
• /
• v.24 no.5
• /
• pp.9-16
• /
• 2019

In today's global energy market, the importance of green energy is emerging. Hydrogen energy is the future clean energy source and one of the pollution-free energy sources. In particular, the fuel cell method using hydrogen enhances the flexibility of renewable energy and enables energy storage and conversion for a long time. Therefore, it is considered to be a solution that can solve environmental problems caused by the use of fossil resources and energy problems caused by exhaustion of resources simultaneously. The purpose of this study is to efficiently produce hydrogen using plasma, and to study the optimization of DME reforming by checking the reforming reaction and yield according to temperature. The research method uses a 2.45 GHz electromagnetic plasma torch to produce hydrogen by reforming DME(Di Methyl Ether), a clean fuel. Gasification analysis was performed under low temperature conditions ($T3=1100^{\circ}C$), low temperature peroxygen conditions ($T3=1100^{\circ}C$), and high temperature conditions ($T3=1376^{\circ}C$). The low temperature gasification analysis showed that methane is generated due to unstable reforming reaction near $1100^{\circ}C$. The low temperature peroxygen gasification analysis showed less hydrogen but more carbon dioxide than the low temperature gasification analysis. Gasification analysis at high temperature indicated that methane was generated from about $1150^{\circ}C$, but it was not generated above $1200^{\circ}C$. In conclusion, the higher the temperature during the reforming reaction, the higher the proportion of hydrogen, but the higher the proportion of CO. However, it was confirmed that the problem of heat loss and reforming occurred due to the structural problem of the gasifier. In future developments, there is a need to reduce incomplete combustion by improving gasifiers to obtain high yields of hydrogen and to reduce the generation of gases such as carbon monoxide and methane. The optimization plan to produce hydrogen by steam plasma reforming of DME proposed in this study is expected to make a meaningful contribution to producing eco-friendly and renewable energy in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.50-55
• /
• 2011

To enhance the performance of a MEA (membrane electrode assembly) in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), optimum contents of Nafion ionomer as electrolyte in the 20 and 40 wt% Pt/C used in electrodes were examined. Variety characterization techniques were applied to examine optimum Nafion contents: cell performance test, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). According to Pt wt% supported on carbon support, it has been observed that polarization, ohmic, and mass transfer resistances were changed so that the cell performance was significantly dependent on the content of Nafion ionomer. Optimum Nafion ionomer contents in the 20 wt% Pt/C and 40 wt% Pt/C were showed 35 wt% and 20 wt%, respectively. This is due to different surface area of the Pt/C catalyst, and formation of triple phase boundary seems to be affected by the Nafion contents.

• Journal of the Speleological Society of Korea
• /
• no.95
• /
• pp.15-21
• /
• 2009

Global village warming and carbon dioxide CO2 gas, and the human efforts for their healing and necessary alternative technology would be much more difficult things than that of making necessary funds and efforts to lay to sleep angry nature on the earth. The limited natural resources of fossil fuel would be dried up in several decades, and the intensity of diplomatic negotiations for natural resource guarantee among countries may be showed looking alike an war. The drain of fossil fuel called a new word of alternative policy like an environment-friendly green-growth, and the solar-cell and lighting technology for the solar energy applications were developed still more repeatedly day by day from oil lantern to LED high-tech illumination in great economy. Therefore, it was studied that the low-carbon green-growth illumination technology in cave applications with SOLAR-LED system which was produced and unified in connection with solar-cell and LED from the semiconductor production technology, and it was also clarified in necessary with useful cave lighting in heatless and with no photosynthesis of plant production in underground space.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.41-47
• /
• 2003

For the development of low temperature anode-supported planar solid oxide fuel cell, the planar anode supports with the thickness of 0.8 to 1 mm and the area of 25, 100 and $150\;cm^2$ were fabricated by the tape casting method. The strength, porosity, gas permeability and electrical conductivity of the planar anode support were measured. The porosity of anode supports sintered at $1400^{\circ}C$ and then reduced in$H_2$ atmosphere was increased from $45.8\%\;to\;53.9\%$. The electrical conductivity of the anode support was $900 S/cm\;at\; 850^{\circ}C$ and its gas permeability was 6l/min at 1 atm in air atmosphere. The electrolyte layer and cathode layer were fabricated by slurry dip coating method and then had examined the thickness of $10{\mu}m$ and the gas permeability of 2.5 ml/min at 3 atm in air atmosphere. As preliminary experiment, cathode multi-layered structure consists of LSM-YSZ/LSM/LSCF. At single cell test using the electrolyte layer with thickness of 20 to $30{\mu}m$, we achieved $300\;mA/cm^2$ and 0.6V at $750^{\circ}C$

• Journal of Climate Change Research
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.349-358
• /
• 2013

In this study, the newest technology available to reduce GHG emissions, which can be applicable in energy industries of the future that has large reduction obligations by energy target management and large intensity of GHG emissions, has been investigated by searching the technical characteristics of each technology. The newest technology to reduce GHG emissions in the field of power generation and energy can be mainly classified into the improvement of efficiency, CCS, and gas combined-cycle technology. In order to improve the reliability of the GHG emission factor obtained from the investigation process, it has been compared to the technology-specific GHG emission factor derived from the estimated amount of emissions. Then the GHG abatement measures, using the derived estimation of factor, by using the newest technology to reduce GHG emissions have been predicted. As a result, the GHG reduction rate by technology of CCS development has been expected to be the largest more than 30%, and the abatement rate by technology of coal gasified fuel cell and pressurized fluidized-bed thermal power generation has been showed more than 20%. If the effective introduction of the newest technology and the study of its characteristics is continued, and properly applied for future GHG emissions, it can be prospected that the national GHG reduction targets can be achieved in cost-efficient way.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.41 no.12 s.271
• /
• pp.900-906
• /
• 2004

Solid oxide fuel cells have a limitation in their low-temperature application due to the low ionic conductivity of electrolyte materials and difficulties in thin film formation on porous gas diffusion layer. These problems can be solved by improvement of ionic conductivity through controlled nanostructure of electrolyte and adopting nanoporous electrodes as substrates which have homogeneous submicron pore size and highly flattened surface. In this study, ultra-thin oxide films having submicron thickness without gas leakage are deposited on nanoporous substrates. By oxidation of metal thin films deposited onto nanoporous anodic alumina substrates with pore size of $20nm{\sim}200nm$ using dc-magnetron sputtering at room temperature, ultra-thin and dense ionic conducting oxide films with submicron thickness are realized. The specific material properties of the thin films including gas permeation, grain/gran boundaries formation, change of crystalline structure/microstructure by phase transition are investigated for optimization of ultra thin film deposition process.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.352-361
• /
• 2023

Steam methane reforming is currently the most widely used technology for producing hydrogen, a clean fuel. Hydrogen produced by steam methane reforming contains impurities such as carbon monoxide, and it is essential to undergo an appropriate post-purification step for commercial usage, such as fuel cells. Recently, membrane separation technology has been gaining great attention as an effective purification method; in this study, we evaluated the feasibility of using commercial polysulfone membranes for biogas upgrading to separate and recover hydrogen from a hydrogen/carbon monoxide gas mixture. Initially, we examined the physicochemical properties of the commercial membrane used. We then conducted performance evaluations of the commercial membrane module under various conditions using mixed gas, considering factors such as stage-cut and operating pressure. Finally, based on the evaluation results, we carried out simulations for process design. The maximum H₂ permeability and H₂/CO separation factor for the commercial membrane process were recorded at 361 GPU and 20.6, respectively. Additionally, the CO removal efficiency reached up to 94%, and the produced hydrogen concentration achieved a maximum of 99.1%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.02a
• /
• pp.570-570
• /
• 2012

그래핀(graphene)은 육각형의 탄소원자 한층으로 이루어진 이차원 구조체로써 우수한 물리적, 전기적 특성으로 인해 다양한 분야에서 응요을 위한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 특히, 그래핀과 금속 나노입자의 복합구조는 수소 저장체, 가스센서, 연료전지, 화학 촉매등의 다양한 분야에서 응용이 가능하다. 현재까지 그래핀/금속나노입자 복합구조의 제작 방법에는 열증발(thermal evaporation), 전기도금법(electrodeposition), 표면 기능화(surface functionalization)를 이용한 방법이 보고되었다. 하지만 이러한 방법은 긴 공정시간이 요구되며, 나노입자의 크기 분포가 넓다는 단점을 지닌다. 본 연구에서는 화학기상증착법을 통해 합성된 그래핀이 전사된 SiO2 (300nm)/Si 기판에 염화기가 포함된 백금 화합물 분산용액을 스핀코팅(spin-coating)하고 MeV 전자빔을 조사하여 Pt/grapheme 복합구조를 형성하였다. 이 방법은 균일한 크기 분포의 나노입자의 형성이 가능하며, 간단하고, 대면적 공정이 가능하며, 다른 방법에 비해 그래핀의 결함형성이 적다는 장점을 지닌다. Pt/grapheme 의 기하학적 구조를 주사전자현미경(scanning electron microscopy)와 투과전자현미경(transimission)을 통해 분석하였고, Pt와 graphene의 일함수(workfunction)의 차이에 의해 야기되는 전하이동에 의한 도핑(doping)현상을 라만 분광기(Raman spectroscopy)와 X-선 광전자 분광기(X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy)를 통해 분석하였다.