• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2023.11a
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• pp.77-78
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• 2023

This paper experimentally examined the recycling of combustion by-products emitted from a combined heat and power plant using lignocellulosic biomass fuel. Physical and chemical analyzes were performed on Bio-SRF and three types of wood pellet combustion by-product samples (fly-ash, FA). As a result of the experiment, the compressive strength of mortar substituted with 5, 10, and 20% of FA compared to the cement weight was found to be excellent, and its recyclability was confirmed as a substitute for existing admixtures.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.470-478
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• 2020

Spent coffee grounds (SCG), the residue after brewing coffee beverage, is a promising biodiesel feedstock due to its high oil contents (15-20%). However, SCG should be pretreated to reduce the high free fatty acid content, which hampers transesterification reaction. To overcome this, we explored a direct transesterification reaction of SCG using ultrasound irradiation and identified the optimal sonication parameters. A high fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content, up to 97.2%, could be achieved with ultrasound amplitude of 99.2 ㎛, irradiation time of 10 min, and methanol to oil ratio of 7:1 in the presence of potassium hydroxide concentration of 1.25 wt.%. In addition, we demonstrated that ultrasound irradiation is an efficient method to produce biodiesel from untreated SCG in a short time with less energy than the conventional mechanical stirring method. The physical and chemical properties of the SCG biodiesel met the requirements for an alternative fuel to the current commercial biodiesel.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.6
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• pp.729-736
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• 2022

Earth is facing a serious problem of pollution and scarcity of energy sources. The synthetic fibers used in automobile and Aerospace manufacturing sectors are non-renewable and harmful to environment. International Agency such as FAA and SAE is forcing for green fuel, green materials and structures. Further exploration is much needed to understand its potential in structural applications. In the current study, hemp and Jute fibre based composites were developed and tested for assessing their suitability for possible applications in automobile and aerospace sectors. Composites were undergone tensile test, water absorption test, and fatigue analysis to understand its behavior under various loading conditions. The finite element analysis has been carried out to understand the fatigue behaviour of composites. The results revealed that the usage of hemp and jute fibre reinforced composites can improve mechanical properties and have shown a viable alternative to replace synthetic fibres such as glass fibres for specific applications. Hemp reinforced bio-composites have shown better performance as compared to Jute reinforced bio-composites while water resistance characteristics for hemp is poorer to jute fibres.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.410-420
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• 2012

The heavy reliance on fossil fuels, especially oil and gas has triggered the global energy crisis. Continued use of petroleum fuels is now widely recognized as unsustainable because of their depleting supplies and degradation to the environment. To become less dependent on fossil fuels, current world is shifting paradigm in energy by developing alternative energy sources mainly through the utilization of renewable energy sources. In particular, bioenergy recovery from wastes with the help of microorganism is viewed as one of the promising ways to mitigate the current global warming crisis as well as to supply global energy. It has been proved that microorganism can generate power by converting organic matter into electricity using microbial fuel cells (MFCs). MFC is a bioelectrochemical device that employs microbes to generate electricity from bio-convertible substrate such as wastewaters including municipal solid waste, industrial, agriculture wastes, and sewage. Sustainability, carbon neutral and generation of renewable energy are some of the major features of MFCs. However, the MFC technology is confronted with a number of issues and challenges such as low power production, high electrode material cost and so on. This paper reviews the recent developments in MFC technology with due consideration of electrode materials used in MFCs. In addition, application of biocathodes in MFCs has been discussed.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.208-212
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• 2018

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has been attractive since it can not only treat organic waste in an eco-friendly way by digesting it but also generate electricity by the unique metabolic process of microbes. However, it hasn't been employed in practical use until now because it is hard to integrate a small electricity up to an adequate amount of electric power and difficult to keep its bio-electric activity consistent. In this study, we combined an energy harvester with MFC (MFC-EH) to make the power-integration convenient and developed an energy self-sustainable wireless sensor system driven by a stable electric power produced by MFC-EH. Additionally, we build the low power application measuring data to be cast by the web in real-time so that it can be quickly and easily accessed through the internet. The proposed system could contribute to improvement of waste treatment and up-cycling technologies in near future.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.567-578
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• 2013

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bio-electrochemical device that converts chemical energy in the chemical bonds in organic compounds to electrical energy through catalytic reactions of microorganisms under anaerobic conditions. Power density and Coulombic efficiency are significantly affected by the types of microbe in the anodic chamber of an MFC, configurations of the system and operating conditions. The achievable power output from MFC increased remarkably by modifying their designs such as the optimization of MFC configurations, the physical and chemical operating conditions, and the choice of biocatalysts. This article presents a critical review on the recent advances made in MFC research with the emphasis on MFC configurations, optimization of important operating parameters, performances and future applications of MFC.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1745-1753
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• 2014

Sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC), equipped with Zn, Al, Cu, Fe or graphite felt (GF) anode and marine sediment, was performed. Graphite felt was used as a common cathode. SMFC was single chambered and did not use any redox mediator. The aim of this work was to find efficient anodic material. Oxidation reduction potential (ORP), cell voltage, current density, power density, pH and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were measured for SMFC's performance.. The order of maximum power density was $913mWm^{-2}$ for Zn, $646mWm^{-2}$ for Fe, $387.8mWm^{-2}$ for Cu, $266mWm^{-2}$ for Al, and $127mWm^{-2}$ for graphite felt (GF). The current density over voltage was found to be strongly correlated with metal electrodes, but the graphite felt electrode, in which relatively weaker electricity was observed because of its bio-oriented mechanism. Metal corrosion reactions and/or a complicated microbial electron transfer mechanism acting around the anodic compartment may facilitate to generate electricity. We presume that more sophisticated selection of anodic material can lead to better performance in SMFC.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.316-326
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• 2016

Development and discovery of efficient, cost-effective, and robust electrocatalysts are imperative for practical and widespread implementation of water electrolysis and fuel cell techniques in the anticipated hydrogen economy. The electrochemical reactions involved in water electrolysis, i.e., hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, are complex inner-sphere reactions with slow multi-electron transfer kinetics. To develop active electrocatalysts for water electrolysis, the physicochemical properties of the electrode surfaces in electrolyte solutions should be investigated and understood in detail. When electrocatalysis is conducted using nanoparticles with large surface areas and active surface states, analytical techniques with sub-nanometer resolution are required, along with material development. Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) is an electrochemical technique for studying the surface reactions and properties of various types of electrodes using a very small tip electrode. Recently, the morphological and chemical characteristics of single nanoparticles and bio-enzymes for catalytic reactions were studied with nanometer resolution by combining SECM with atomic force microscopy (AFM). Herein, SECM techniques are briefly reviewed, including the AFM-SECM technique, to facilitate further development and discovery of highly active, cost-effective, and robust electrode materials for efficient electrolysis and photolysis.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.423-427
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• 2013

We present the preparation and characteristics of liquid-phase sensors based on nano-porous silicon multilayer structures for determination of organic content in gasoline. The principle of the sensor is a determination of the cavity-resonant wavelength shift caused by refractive index change of the nano-porous silicon multilayer cavity due to the interaction with liquids. We use the transfer matrix method (TMM) for the design and prediction of characteristics of microcavity sensors based on nano-porous silicon multilayer structures. The preparation process of the nano-porous silicon microcavity is based on electrochemical etching of single-crystal silicon substrates, which can exactly control the porosity and thickness of the porous silicon layers. The basic characteristics of sensors obtained by experimental measurements of the different liquids with known refractive indices are in good agreement with simulation calculations. The reversibility of liquid-phase sensors is confirmed by fast complete evaporation of organic solvents using a low vacuum pump. The nano-porous silicon microcavity sensors can be used to determine different kinds of organic fuel mixtures such as bio-fuel (E5), A92 added ethanol and methanol of different concentrations up to 15%.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2010

A small unmanned helicopter was suggested to replace the conventional spray system. Aerial application using an agricultural helicopter helps precise and timely spraying, and reduces labor intensity and environmental pollution. In this research, a rotor system (SW05) was developed and its lift capability was evaluated. Lift force for the dead weight of the helicopter was obtained at the grip pitch angle of $12^{\circ}$. As the pitch angle increased to $14^{\circ}$ and $16^{\circ}$, the payload increased to 176 N and 216 N, respectively. Compared with SW04 airfoil performance in the total lift, the SW05 airfoil showed nearly the same capacity, but the payload of the SW05 was reduced because of the increased dead weight. A rated flight condition was defined as lifting mean payload of 294 N with the grip pitch angles of $16{\sim}17^{\circ}$ at the rotor rotating speed of 850~950 rpm for the adjusted engine power. The fuel consumption would be 4.8~6.0 L/hr, and the air temperature of cooling fan should be kept below $160^{\circ}C$.