• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1997.06a
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• pp.143-158
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• 1997

Electrochemical deionization (EDI) offers continuous demineralization at higher water recovery rates (>90%), compared with mixed bed ion exchange, and without the use of chemical regenerants and the associated production of saline waste water. Although EDI technology has been used in some power generation applications, its wider application requires the satisfactory resolution of outstanding capital cost and performance issues. This paper reports on the field evaluation of a new cost-effective EDI technology in a power generation application. The E-Cell System$^{TM}$, which became commercially available in the fourth quarter of 1996, consists of a rugged, modular system, based on a new high-performance EDI stack. Starting in May 1996, a 100 gpm modular EDI pilot system, rated for operation at 100 psi, was evaluated at the TVA Brown's Ferry Nuclear Plant. The feed consisted of Reverse Osmosis (RO) permeate with a conductivity of 4-7 $\mu$S/cm. The pilot system reliably produced 17.8-18.0 M$\Omega$.cm water under design operating conditions, independent. Silica levels were reduced from ca. 50 ppb to 4 ppb, while TOC levels were reduced from ca. 120 ppb to 30 ppb.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2019

This study was focused on the design and the performance analysis of integral Hot BoP for recovering waste heat from high-temperature exhaust gas in 2 kW class solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The hot BoP system was consisted of a catalytic combustor, air preheater and steam generator for burning the stack exhaust gas and for recovering waste heat. In the design of the system, the maximum possible heat transfer was calculated to analyze the heat distribution processes. The detail design of the air preheater and steam generator was carried out by solving the heat transfer equation. The hot BoP was fabricated as a single unit to reduce the heat loss. The simulated stack exhaust gas which considered SOFC operation was used to the performance test. In the hot BoP performance test, the heat transfer rate and system efficiency were measured under various heat loads. The combustibility with the equivalent ratio was analyzed by measuring CO emission of the exhaust gas. As a result, the thermal efficiency of the hot BoP was about 60% based on the standard heat load of 2 kW SOFC. CO emission of the exhaust gas rapidly decreased at an equivalent ratio of 0.25 or more.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.423-431
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• 2011

Recentincreasing awareness of the environmental damage caused by the $CO_2$ emission of fossil fuelsstimulated the interest in alternative and renewable sources of energy. Fuel cell is a representative example of hydrogen energy utilization. In this study, Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell system is simulated by using $Aspen^{TM}$. Stack model is consisted of equilibrium reaction equations using $ACM^{TM}$(Aspen Custom Modeler). Balance of process of fuel cell system is developed in Aspen $Plus^{TM}$ and simulated at steady-state. Analysis of performance of the system is carried out by using sensitivity analysis tool with main operating parameters such as current density, S/C ratio, and fuel utilization and recycle ratio.In Aspen $Dynamics^{TM}$, dynamics of MCFC system is simulated with PID control loops. From the simulation, we proposed operation range which generated maximum power and efficiency in MCFC power plant.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.527-535
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• 2017

Heat management is one of the most critical issues in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) installed inside the fuel cell power pack of a fuel cell battery hybrid UPS. If the heat generated by the chemical reaction in the fuel cell is not rapidly removed, the durability and performance of the fuel cell may be affected, which may shorten its lifetime. Therefore, the objective of this study is to select and propose a proper cooling method for the fuel cells used in the fuel cell power pack of a UPS. In order to find the most appropriate cooling method, the various design factors affecting the cooling performance were studied. The numerical analysis was performed by a commercial program, i.e., COMSOL Multiphysics. Firstly, the surface temperature of the 1 kW class fuel cell stack with the cooling fans placed at the top was compared with the one with the cooling fans placed at the bottom. Various rotation speeds of the cooling fan, viz. 2,500, 3,000, 3,500, and 4,000 RPM, were tested to determine the proper cooling fan speed. In addition, the influence of the inhaled air flow rate was investigated by changing the porous area of the grille, which is the entrance of the air flowing from the outside to the inside of the power pack. As a result, it was found that for the operating conditions of the 1 kW class PEMFC to be acceptable, the cooling fan was required to have a minimum rotating speed of 3500 RPM to maintain the fuel cell surface temperature within an acceptable range. The results of this study can be effectively applied to the development of thermal management technology for the fuel cells inside the fuel cell power pack of a UPS.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.129-136
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• 2006

High temperature corrosion behavior of AISI-type 316L stainless steel for the MCFC(molten carbonate fuel cell) bipolar application was studied by immersion test and penetration attack method in anode environment ($650^{\circ}C$, $Li_2CO_3/K_2CO_3=62/38$ mol%, $H_2/CO_2=80/20$ vol%) without or with different $CaCO_3$ content. Not only immersion test method but also morphological observation of samples in the carbonate melts are adopted as experimental methods. With aid of the morphological observation of cross section of samples immersed in a carbonate melt was possible to obtain penetration attack. The concentration effect of $CaCO_3$ inhibitor was investigated in order to verify the optimum concentration for practical application in MCFC stack operation. The corrosion rate in the presence of $CaCO_3$ was proven to be decreased as a function of $CaCO_3$ concentration. The corrosion rate in the presence of $CaCO_3$ was measured with a value of 6.9 mpy which is 2.4 times lower than that of inhibitor-free electrolyte. The cross section microscopy revealed that the internal penetration by oxidation in molten carbonate is very severe. In this case, the attack was occurred not only dissolution loss in the electrolyte by corrosion reaction but also weight gain through oxide layer by internal penetration.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.582-588
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• 2013

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) has been focused as a promising power source, which can replace a diesel engine regarding as major source of air pollution by the ship, due to high efficiency and eco-friendly. High operating temperature of SOFC is enable to secure of high efficiency, use various fuels and no need of high priced catalyst, but it may damage to components of SOFC. Therefore temperature control system has to be designed and validated before employing the fuel cell system for securing high efficiency and reliability. In this paper, instead of using typical method to validate performance of the controller, which consumes high cost and time, performance validation system using Hardware-in-the-loop simulation was developed and validated performence of the designed temperature controller for SOFC system.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.589-593
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• 2016

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) can produce electricity from oxidation-reduction of organic and inorganic matters by electrochemically active bacteria as catalyst. Stacked MFCs have been investigated for overcoming low electricity generation of single MFC. In this study, two-typed stacked-MFCs (submerged-flat and stand-falt) were operated according to electrode connection for optimal stacked technology of MFC. In case of submerged-flat MFC with all separator electrode assembly (SEA) sharing anode chamber, MFC with mixed-connection showed more voltage loss than MFC with single-connection method. And MFC stacked in parallel showed better voltage production than MFC stacked in series. In case of stand-flat MFC, voltage loss was bigger when SEAs sharing anodic chamber only were connected in series. Voltage loss was decreased when SEAs parallel connected SEAs sharing anodic chamber were connected in series.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.343-352
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• 2007

This paper proposes a modularized charge equalization converter for hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) lithium-ion battery cells, in which the intra-module and the inter-module equalizer are Implemented. Considering the high voltage HEV battery pack, over approximately 300V, the proposed equalization circuit modularizes the entire $M^*N$ cells; in other words, M modules in the string and N cells in each module. With this modularization, low voltage stress on all the electronic devices, below roughly 64V, can be obtained. In the intra-module equalization, a current-fed DC/DC converter with cell selection switches is employed. By conducting these selection switches, concentrated charging of the specific under charged cells can be performed. On the other hand, the inter-module equalizer makes use of a voltage-fed DC/DC converter for bi-directional equalization. In the proposed circuit, these two converters can share the MOSFET switch so that low cost and small size can be achieved. In addition, the absence of any additional reset circuitry in the inter-module equalizer allows for further size reduction, concurrently conducting the multiple cell selection switches allows for shorter equalization time, and employing the optimal power rating design rule allows fur high power density to be obtained. Experimental results of an implemented prototype show that the proposed equalization scheme has the promised cell balancing performance for the 7Ah HEV lithium-ion battery string while maintaining low voltage stress, low cost, small size, and short equalization time.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 1996

Alkaline water electrolysis has been commercialized as the only large-scale method for a long time to produce hydrogen and the technology is superior to other methods such as photochemical, thermochemical water splitting, and thermal decomposition method in view of efficiency and related technical problem. However, such conventional electrolyzer do not have high electric efficiency and productivity to apply to large scale hydrogen production for energy or chemical feedstocks. Solid polymer electrolyte water electrolysis using a perfluorocation exchange membrane as an $H^+$ ion conductor is considered to be a promising method, because of capability for operating at high current densities and low cell voltages. So, this is a good technology for the storage of electricity generated by photovoltaic power plants, wind generators and other energy conversion systems. One of the most important R&D topics in electrolyser is how to minimize cell voltage and maximize current density in order to increase the productivity of the electrolyzer. A commercialized technology is the hot press method which the film type electrocatalyst is hot-pressed to soild polymer membrane in order to eliminate the contact resistance. Various technologies, electrocatalyst formed over Nafion membrane surface by means of nonelectrolytic plating process, porous sintered metal(titanium powder) or titanium mesh coated with electrocatalyst, have been studied for preparation of membrane-electrocatalyst composites. In this study some experiments have been conducted at a solid polymer electrolyte water electrolyzer, which consisted of single cell stack with an electrode area of $25cm^2$ in a unipolar arrangement using titanium mesh coated with electrocatalyst.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.300-308
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• 2009

In a pursuit of the development of alternative mobile power sources with a high energy density, a planar and air-breathing PEMFCs with a new type of hydrogen cartridge which uses onsite $H_2$ generated from sodium borohydride ($NaBH_4$) hydrolysis have been investigated for use in advanced power systems. Two types of $H_2$ generation through $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis are available: (1) using organic acids such as sulphuric acid, malic acid, and sodium hydrogen carbonate in aqueous solution with solid $NaBH_4$ and (2) using solid selected catalysts such as Pt, Ru, CoB into the stabilized alkaline $NaBH_4$ solution. It might therefore be relevant at this stage to evaluate the relative competitiveness of the two methods mentioned above. The effects of flow rate of stabilized $NaBH_4$ solution, MEA (Membrane Electrode Assembly) improvement, and type and flow control of the catalytic acidic solution have been studied and the cell performances of the planar, air-breathing PEMFCs using $NaBH_4$ has been measured from aspects of power density, fuel efficiency, energy density, and fast response of cell. In our experiments, planar, air-breathing PEMFCs using $NaBH_4$ achieved to maximum power density of 128mW/$cm^2$ at 0.7V and energy efficiency of 46% and has many advantages such as low operating temperature, sustained operation at a high power density, compactness, the potential for low cost and volume, long stack life, fast star-up and suitability for discontinuous operation.