• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.25-35
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• 2022

The adsorption/desorption behavior and separation conditions of vanadium and tungsten ions were investigated using a gel-type anion-exchange resin. In the adsorption experiment with the initial acidity of the solution, the adsorption rate of vanadium was remarkably low in strong acids and bases. Additionally, the adsorption rate of tungsten was low in a strong base. An increase in the reaction temperature increased the adsorption reaction rate and maximum adsorption. The effect of tungsten on the maximum adsorption was minimal. The adsorption isotherms of vanadium and tungsten on the ion-exchange resin were suitable for the Langmuir adsorption isotherms of both the ions. For tungsten, the adsorption isotherms of vanadium and tungsten were polyoxometalate. Both ion-exchange resins were simulated using similar quadratic reaction rate models. Vanadium was desorbed in the aqueous solutions of HCl or NaOH, the desorption characteristics of vanadium and tungsten depended on the desorption solution, and tungsten was desorbed in the aqueous solution of NaOH. It was possible to separate the two ions using the desorption process. The desorption reaction reached equilibrium within 30 min, and more than 90% recovery was possible.

• 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.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.356-361
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• 2023

In order to improve the durability of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), it is important to accurately evaluate the durability of the polymer membrane in a short time. The test conditions for chemically accelerated durability evaluation of membranes are high voltage, high temperature, low humidity, and high gas pressure. It can be said that the protocol is developed by changing these conditions. However, the relative influence of each test condition on the degradation of the membrane has not been studied. In chemical accelerated degradation experiment of the membrane, the influence of 4 factors (conditions) was examined through the factor experiment method. The degree of degradation of the membrane after accelerated degradation was determined by measuring the hydrogen permeability and effluent fluoride ion concentration, and it was possible to determine the degradation order of the polymer membrane under 8 conditions by the difference in fluoride ion concentration. It was shown that the influence of the membrane degradation factor was in the order of voltage > temperature > oxygen pressure > humidity. It was confirmed that the degradation of the electrode catalyst had an effect on the chemical degradation of the membrane.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

Research, such as developing alternative energy in the transportation field, including aviation, is being actively conducted to solve the issue of current climate change. Interest in ammonia fuel as a carbon free energy (CFE) source is increasing due to the ease of liquefaction and transportation and similarity in energy density to that of methanol. However, explosiveness and toxicity of ammonia make it difficult to handle. Therefore, in this study, stable ammonia production was attempted using relatively easy-to-handle urea water solution (UWS). High temperature steam was used to promote the hydrolysis of ammonia. In order to determine the causes for ammonia production below the theoretical equivalent ratio, it was suggested that there were not enough collisions to promote the hydrolysis based on the kinetic theory of gases. The hydrolysis of unreacted isocyanic acid (HNCO) was tested according to the change in water supply. As a result, an increased amount of ammonia produced was confirmed. The increased amount of ammonia produced in a certain section was dependent on the steam temperature and the flow rate of water supplied.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.162-169
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• 2024

In this study, PAN(polyacrylonitrile)-based precursor fibers were produced through a wet-spinning process, and their morphologies and graphitization behavior were investigated in the presence of two graphitization catalysts (Ca, Ni). The graphitization catalysts were introduced into the formed pores during hot-water stretching of wet-spun PAN-based precursor fibers. The catalytic effects of graphitization catalysts were examined through crystal structure and Raman analysis. At a relatively low temperature of 1500℃, the graphitization was not significantly affected, whereas at a high temperature of 2400℃, the obtained I_D/I_G value of graphite fiber (GF-Ni100) was decreased by about twice (~0.28) compared to the untreated fibers (GF-AS~0.54). By comparing the I_D/I_G values (GF-Ca100~0.42: GF-Ni100~0.28) of Ca and Ni graphitization catalyst, it was found that the degree of graphitization of Ni graphitization catalyst showed higher influence than that of Ca graphitization catalyst. Moreover, 2D band was also observed, indicating that the graphite plane structures composed of multiple layers were developed. XRD results confirmed that the crystal inter-planar distance (d₀₀₂) of the graphite crystal was slightly decreased after the treatment with the graphitization catalyst, But, the crystal size of Ca-treated graphite fiber (GF-Ca100) was increased by up to ~5 nm.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.344-349
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• 2017

Alkaline fuel cells using polymer electrolyte membranes are expected to replace proton exchange membrane fuel cells, which have similar system configurations. In particular, in alkaline fuel cells, a low-cost non-platinium catalyst can be used. In this study, to fabricate high performance and high durability anion exchange membranes for alkaline fuel cell systems, two kinds of supports, polybenzoxazole and polyethylene supports, were impregnated with Fumion FAA ionomer, by which we tried to fabricate the support-impregnated membrane which has higher mechanical strength and higher ion conductivity than the Fumion series. Finally, the Pore-filling membranes were successfully fabricated and ionic conductivity and mechanical properties were different depending on the properties of the supports. In the pore-filling membranes with Fumion ionomer on the PE support, excellent mechanical properties were obtained, but ionic conductivity decreased. On the other hand, when the PBO support was impregnated with Fumion ionomer, high ionic conductivity was shown after impregnation due to high basicity of PBO, but the mechanical strength was relatively low as compared with Fumion-PE membrane. As a result, it was concluded that it is necessary to consider the characteristics of the support according to the operating conditions of the alkaline fuel cell during the preparation of the pore-filling membranes.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.262-273
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• 2010

In the enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw and wood meals using extra-cellular enzymes from Fomitopsis palustris, key factors which enhanced the sugar conversion yield were investigated in this work, such as enzyme production and enzyme reaction conditions, surfactant effects, and the surface structure of substrates. F. palustris cultured with softwood mixture produced 12.0 U/$m{\ell}$ for endo-${\beta}$-1,4-gulcanase (EG), 116.68 U/$m{\ell}$ for ${\beta}$-glucosidase (BGL), 18.82 U/$m{\ell}$ for cellobiohydrolase (CBH), and 13.33 U/$m{\ell}$ for ${\beta}$-xylosidase (BXL). These levels of BGL, CBH, and BXL activities were two to four folds more than enzyme activities of F. palustris cultured with rice straw. The optimum reaction conditions of cellulase-RS which produced by F. palustris with rice straw and cellulase-SW which produced by F. palustris with softwood mixture were pH 5.0 at $45^{\circ}C$ and pH 5.0 at $50^{\circ}C$, respectively. The sugar conversion yield of cellulase-SW had the highest value of $40.6{\pm}0.6%$ within 72 h when rice straw was used as substrate. By adding 0.1% Tween 20 (w/w-substrate), the sugar conversion yield of rice straw was increased to 44%, which was about four fifths sugar conversion yield of commercial enzyme, Celluclast 1.5L (Novozyme A/S). A low crystallinity and an intensive fibril surface observed by the scanning electron microscope may explain the high sugar conversion yield of rice straw.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.403-409
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• 2000

The formation and dissociation rates of $Zn^{2+}$ Complexes with l,4,7,10-tetraaza-13,16-diox-acyclooctadecane-N,N',N",N'"-tetraacetic acid (1), 1,4,7,10-tetraaza-13,16- dioxacyclooctadecane-N,N',N",N'"-tetramethylacetic acid (2), and 1,4,7,10-tetraaza-13,16- dioxacyclooctadecane-N,N',N",N'"-tetrapropionic acid(3) have been measured by stopped-flow and conventional spectrophotometry. Observations were made at 25.0$\pm$0.1 $^{\circ}C$ and at an ionic strength of 0.10 M NaClO$_4$. The formation reactions of $Zn^{2+}$ ion with 1 and 2 took place by the rapid formation of an intermediate complex (ZnH$_3L^+$) in which the $Zn^{2+}$ ion is incompletely coor-dinated. This might then lead to be a final product in the rate-determining step.ln the pH range 4.76-5.76, the diprotonated (H2L2-) form is the kinetically active species despite of its low concentration. The stability con-stants (log$K_{(ZnH$_3$3$L^+$)}$) and specific water-assisted rate constants (koH) of intermediate complexes have been deter-mined from the kinetic data. The dissociation reactions of $Zn^{2+}$ complexes of 1,2, and 3 were investigated with $Cu^{2+}$ ions as a scavenger in acetate buffer. All complexes exhibit acid-independent and acid-catalyzed con-tributions. The effect of buffer and $Cu^{2+}$ concentration on the dissociation rate has also been investigated. The ligand effect on t dissociation rate of $Zn^{2+}$ complexes is discussed in terms of the side-pendant armsand the chelate ring sizes of the ligands.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.60-67
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• 2019

A valuable metal recovery from waste resources such as spent rechargeable secondary batteries is of critical issues because of a sharp increase in the amount of waste resources. In this context, it is necessary to research not only recycling waste lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), but also reusing valuable metals (e.g., Li, Co, Ni, Mn etc.) recovered from waste LIBs. In particular, the lithium hydroxide ($LiOH{\cdot}xH_2O$), which is of precursors that can be prepared by the recovery of Li in waste LIBs, can be reused as a catalyst, a carbon dioxide absorbent, and again as a precursor for cathode materials of LIB. However, most studies of recycling the waste LIBs have been focused on the preparation of lithium carbonate with a recovery of Li. Herein, we show the preparation of high purity lithium hydroxide powder along with the precipitation process, and the systematic study to find an optimum condition is also carried out. The lithium carbonate, which is recovered from waste LIBs, was used as starting materials for synthesis of lithium hydroxide. The optimum precipitation conditions for the preparation of LiOH were found as follows: based on stirring, reaction temperature $90^{\circ}C$, reaction time 3 hr, precursor ratio 1:1. To synthesize uniform and high purity lithium hydroxide, 2-step precipitation process was additionally performed, and consequently, high purity $LiOH{\cdot}xH_2O$ powder was obtained.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.341-349
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• 2021

In combustion facilities, the nitrogen and sulfur in fossil fuels react with oxygen to generate air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NO_X) and sulfur oxides (SO_X), which are harmful to the human body and cause environmental pollution. There are regulations worldwide to reduce NO_X and SO_X, and various technologies are being applied to meet these regulations. There are commercialized methods to reduce NO_X and SO_X emissions such as selective catalytic reduction (SCR), selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) and wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD), but due to the disadvantages of these methods, many studies have been conducted to simultaneously remove NO_X and SO_X. However, even in the NO_X and SO_X simultaneous removal methods, there are problems with wastewater generation due to oxidants and absorbents, costs incurred due to the use of catalysts and electrolysis to activate specific oxidants, and the harmfulness of gas oxidants themselves. Therefore, in this research, microbubbles generated in a high-pressure disperser and reducing agents were used to reduce costs and facilitate wastewater treatment in order to compensate for the shortcomings of the NO_X, SO_X simultaneous treatment method. It was confirmed through image processing and ESR (electron spin resonance) analysis that the disperser generates real microbubbles. NO_X and SO_X removal tests according to temperature were also conducted using only microbubbles. In addition, the removal efficiencies of NO_X and SO_X are about 75% and 99% using a reducing agent and microbubbles to reduce wastewater. When a small amount of oxidizing agent was added to this microbubble system, both NO_X and SO_X removal rates achieved 99% or more. Based on these findings, it is expected that this suggested method will contribute to solving the cost and environmental problems associated with the wet oxidation removal method.