• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.250-256
• /
• 2017

A graphene electrode with a novel in-plane structure is proposed and successfully adopted for use in supercapacitor applications. The in-plane structure allows electrolyte ions to interact with all the graphene layers in the electrode, thereby maximizing the utilization of the electrochemical surface area. This novel structure contrasts with the conventional out-of-plane stacked structure of such supercapacitors. We herein compare the volumetric capacitances of in-plane- and out-of-plane-structured devices with reduced multi-layer graphene oxide films as electrodes. The in-plane-structured device exhibits a capacitance 2.5 times higher (i.e., $327F\;cm^{-3}$) than that of the out-of-plane-structured device, in addition to an energy density of $11.4mWh\;cm^{-3}$, which is higher than that of lithium-ion thin-film batteries and is the highest among in-plane-structured ultra-small graphene-based supercapacitors reported to date. Therefore, this study demonstrates the potential of in-plane-structured supercapacitors with high volumetric performances as ultra-small energy storage devices.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.227-233
• /
• 2009

Recently, dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), one of the solar cells, has been widely investigated. Studies on DSSCs can be classified into 4 fields such as $TiO_2$ nanocrystalline materials, dyes, electrolytes and conductive plate. In this work, $TiO_2$ nanoparticles for dye adsorption were synthesized, and added into the photo-electrode paste with different phosphor types and contents. Then, the influence of phosphor additives on the conversion efficiency of DSSCs was investigated. It was found that the maximum conversion efficiency was 8.81% when 0.5% of YAG phospher having the particle size of 400 nm was used.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.291-294
• /
• 2010

Recently, the design of the multi-layered $TiO_2$ electrodes has been attracted for high efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells. In this study, conversion efficiency of the multi-layered $TiO_2$ electrodes was investigated by using small and large $TiO_2$ nanoparticles. Nanostructured $TiO_2$ powders were prepared by $TiCl_4$ hydrolysis. Differently sized $TiO_2$ powders of which the average diameter was 7.6 and 18 nm were obtained by controlled calcination temperature. It was confirmed that multi-layered $TiO_2$ electrodes significantly influence short-circuit current (Jsc) and also show higher conversion efficiency than dye-sensitized solar cells consisting of each particles.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.53-58
• /
• 2023

This study shows the summary of the economic performance of excess electricity conversion to hydrogen as well as methane and returned conversion to electricity using a fuel cell. The methane production process has been examined in a previous study. Here, this study focuses on the conversion of methane to electricity. As a part of this study, capital expenditure (CAPEX) is estimated under various sized plants (0.3, 3, 9, and 30 MW). The study shows a method for economic optimization of electricity generation using a fuel cell. The CAPEX and operating expenditure (OPEX) as well as the feed cost are used to calculate the discounted cash flow. Then the levelized cost of returned electricity (LCORE) is estimated from the discounted cash flow. This study found the LCORE value was ¢10.2/kWh electricity when a 9 MW electricity generating fuel cell was used. A methane production plant size of 1,500 Nm³/hr, a methane production cost of $11.47/mcf, a storage cost of $1/mcf, and a fuel cell efficiency of 54% were used as a baseline. A sensitivity analysis was performed by varying the storage cost, fuel cell efficiency, and excess electricity cost by ±20%, and fuel cell efficiency was found as the most dominating parameter in terms of the LCORE sensitivity. Therefore, for the best cost-performance, fuel cell manufacturing and efficiency need to be carefully evaluated. This study provides a general guideline for cost performance comparison with LCORE.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.961-965
• /
• 2007

In this study, degradation of carbohydrates and composition of fermentative products were investigated in semi-continuous acid fermenter varying hydraulic retention time (HRT). Rice soup was used as a sole substrate for the acid fermentation. Solubilization efficiency of the substrate was higher than 70% for all HRT, however the gas conversion was ignorable implying that most of organic contents in the influent remained in the form of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and ethanol after acid fermentation. The VFAs were the predominant product and the VFAs conversion increased as the HRT decreased. The VFAs conversion reached the maximum value at 12 hr HRT accounting for 70% of the influent COD. Similar to VFAs, ethanol conversion was increased with the decrease of HRT and the maximum ethanol conversion efficiency was 8% at the HRT of 12 hr. Composition of VFAs was markedly dependent on HRT. As HRT increased, the composition of acetic acid was increased as a product of acetogenesis from butyrate, valerate and ethanol. This study demonstrated that HRT affected acid fermentation of a carbohydrate containing organic wastes producing VFAs and ethanol which could be effectively used to compensate the lack of carbon in wastewater for biological nutrient removal.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
• /
• v.1
• /
• pp.39-44
• /
• 2006

An OWC-type Wave Energy Conversion passes through 3 steps energy conversion process. This paper deal with the internal oscillating flow and effect of shape of air chamber and duct at setting place of turbine by numerical analysis using commercial CFD code, FLUENT. Air chamber and duct in OWC-type wave energy conversion are adopting sudden expanded and contracted form for high-efficiency. So, whole oscillating flow from OWC-type chamber to outlet duct through duct was solved by steady and unsteady analysis in order that flow efficiency of air chamber and duct was made better.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.31 no.1 s.117
• /
• pp.29-33
• /
• 2007

An OWC-type Wave Energy Conversion passes through 3 steps energy conversion process. This paper deal with the internal oscillating flow and effect of shape of air chamber and duct at setting place of turbine by numerical analysis using commercial CFD code, FLUENT. Air chamber and duct in OWC-type wave energy conversion are adopting sudden expanded and contracted form for high-efficiency. So, whole oscillating flow from OWC-type chamber to outlet duct through duct was solved by steady and unsteady analysis in order that flow efficiency of air chamber and duct was made better.

• Journal of Power Electronics
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.233-239
• /
• 2005

In this paper, a new conceptual circuit configuration of a 3-phase voltage source, soft switching AC-DC-AC converter using an IGBT module, which has one ARCPL circuit and one ARDCL circuit, is presented. In actuality, the ARCPL circuit is applied in the 3-phase voltage source rectifier side, and the ARDCL circuit is in the inverter side. And more, each power semiconductor device has a novel clamp snubber circuit, which can save the power semiconductor device from voltage and current across each power device. The proposed soft switching circuits have only two active power semiconductor devices. These ARCPL and ARDCL circuits consist of fewer parts than the conventional soft switching circuit. Furthermore, the proposed 3-phase voltage source soft switching AC-DC-AC power conversion system needs no additional sensor for complete soft switching as compared with the conventional 3-phase voltage source AC-DC-AC power conversion system. In addition to this, these soft switching circuits operate only once in one sampling term. Therefore, the power conversion efficiency of the proposed AC-DC-AC converter system will get higher than a conventional soft switching converter system because of the reduced ARCPL and ARDCL circuit losses. The operation timing and terms for ARDCL and ARCPL circuits are calculated and controlled by the smoothing DC capacitor voltage and the output AC current. Using this control, the loss of the soft switching circuits are reduced owing to reduced resonant inductor current in ARCPL and ARDCL circuits as compared with the conventional controlled soft switching power conversion system. The operating performances of proposed soft switching AC-DC-AC converter treated here are evaluated on the basis of experimental results in a 50kVA setup in this paper. As a result of experiment on the 50kVA system, it was confirmed that the proposed circuit could reduce conduction noise below 10 MHz and improve the conversion efficiency from 88. 5% to 90.5%, when compared with the hard switching circuit.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2011.05a
• /
• pp.118.2-118.2
• /
• 2011

In order to increase the energy conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), we employed a counter electrode that was platinum coated using a doctor blade technique on synthesized ZnO nanostructures on fluorinedoped tin oxide (FTO). The ZnO nanostructures possessing high electrochemical activity and large surface area of the counter electrode were grown by a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method at various times, 2, 4, and 8 h. The efficiency of DSSC with the Pt-ZnO counter electrode was improved 7.01% (grown for 2 h), 7.63% (grown for 4 h), and 6.13% (grown for 8 h), respectively. Compared with a standard DSSC without ZnO nanostructures, whose efficiency was 6.27%, the energy conversion efficiency increased approximately 22% for the DSSC with the Pt-ZnO (grown for 4 h) electrode. It indicates that the Pt coated on the ZnO nanostructure improves the electrocatalytic activity of the counter electrode.

• Advances in Energy Research
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.1-28
• /
• 2016

A grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system comprised of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) modules was installed in a cold climate region in the U.S. This roof-mounted stationary PV system is a real-world application of PV for building energy generation in International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) Climate Zone 5 (and possibly similar climate zones such as 6, 7 and 8), and it served the purposes of research, demonstration, and education. The importance of this work is highlighted by the fact that there has been less emphasis on solar PV system in this region of the U.S. because of climate and latitude challenges. The system is equipped with an extensive data acquisition system capable of collecting performance and meteorological data while visually displaying real-time and historical data through an interactive online interface. Experimental data was collected and analyzed for the system over a one-year period with the focus of the study being on measurements of power production, energy generation, and efficiency. The annual average daily solar insolation incident upon the array was found to be $4.37kWh/m^2$. During the first year of operation, the PV system provided 5,801 kWh (1,264 kWh/kWp) of usable AC electrical energy, and it was found to operate at an annual average conversion efficiency and PR of 10.6 percent and 0.79, respectively. The annual average DC to AC conversion efficiency of the inverter was found to be 94 percent.