• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.277-290
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• 2021

A supercapacitor, also called an ultracapacitor or an electrochemical capacitor, stores electrochemical energy by the adsorption/desorption of electrolytic ions or a fast and reversible redox reaction at the electrode surface, which is distinct from the chemical reaction of a battery. A supercapacitor features high specific power, high capacitance, almost infinite cyclability (~ 100,000 cycle), short charging time, good stability, low maintenance cost, and fast frequency response. Supercapacitors have been used in electronic devices to meet the requirements of rapid charging/discharging, such as for memory back-up, and uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Also, their use is being extended to transportation and large industry applications that require high power/energy density, such as for electric vehicles and power quality systems of smart grids. In power generation using intermittent power sources such as solar and wind, a supercapacitor is configured in the energy storage system together with a battery to compensate for the relatively slow charging/discharging time of the battery, to contribute to extending the lifecycle of the battery, and to improve the system power quality. This article provides a concise overview of the principles, mechanisms, and classification of energy storage of supercapacitors in accordance with the electrode materials. Also, it provides a review of the status of recent research and patent, product, and market trends in supercapacitor technology. There are many challenges to be solved to meet industrial demands such as for high voltage module technologies, high efficiency charging, safety, performance improvement, and competitive prices.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2022

Electrochemical carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction technology, one of the promising solutions for climate change, can convert CO₂, a representative greenhouse gas (GHG), into valuable base chemicals using electric energy. In particular, carbon monoxide (CO), among various candidate products, is attracting much attention from both academia and industry because of its high Faraday efficiency, promising economic feasibility, and relatively large market size. Although numerous previous studies have recently analyzed the GHG reduction potential of this technology, the assumptions made and inventory data used are neither consistent nor transparent. In this study, a comparative life cycle assessment was carried out to analyze the potential for reducing GHG emissions in the electrochemical CO production process in a more transparent way. By defining three different system boundaries, the global warming impact was compared with that of a fossil fuel-based CO production process. The results confirmed that the emission factor of electric energy supplied to CO₂-electrolyzers should be much lower than that of the current national power generation sector in order to mitigate GHG emissions by replacing conventional CO production with electrochemical CO production. Also, it is important to disclose transparently inventory data of the conventional CO production process for a more reliable analysis of GHG reduction potential.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.291-317
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• 2022

This study tried to analyze the factors affecting consumers' vehicle selection for the spread of eco-friendly vehicles. We used the energy census data for this purpose, and although the energy census collects useful information from a large number of samples, it has been limitedly used to create simple statistics in many cases. Based on 2,771 transport sector microdata from the 2017 Energy Census, we collected vehicle price, fuel efficiency, and number of vehicle models, which are alternative characteristic variables that change according to consumers' choice, and converted and analyzed data to enable conjoint analysis. The analysis results in two-folds. First, it was confirmed that the official fuel efficiency of a vehicle and the fuel cost, which is affected by changes in the relative price of each fuel, are important variables in selecting an eco-friendly vehicle. In order to achieve the goal of spread of eco-friendly vehicles, it is necessary to develop technologies to improve fuel efficiency and set appropriate electric rates for charging electric vehicles. Second, an increase in the number of vehicle models through the expansion of the eco-friendly car industry and market also affects consumers' choice of eco-friendly vehicles, so efforts to expand the supply of eco-friendly vehicles will be an important factor. In addition, it is also significant that this study showed that the use of the energy census can be diversified by deriving meaningful policy implications using the results of the energy census periodically conducted in the country without a separate survey.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.525-531
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• 2023

In Korea, which is entering a super-aged society, the number of elderly patients who have difficulty walking independently is expected to increase rapidly, and it is necessary to develop wheelchair products with various functions to improve the quality of life of people with walking disabilities. Recently, wheelchair power assist devices that provide propulsion power by being attached to a manual wheelchair has been developed and is entering the domestic and global markets. In this study, we compared and analyzed the process of obtaining medical device certification for wheelchair power assist devices in Korea, the United States, and Europe. In Korea, a Class 2 medical device certification process was developed in 2021, and in the US FDA, it corresponds to Class 2 like the existing electric wheelchair and must pass the 510k certification process. In the case of Europe, it is uniquely regulated as Class I, and the CE mark can be attached through a relatively easy self-declaration of conformity. The Korean medical device industry, which is struggling with MDR certification, a new European medical device regulation, should pay attention to the relatively easy entry into the global market for wheelchair power assist products.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.131-138
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• 2018

In this study, we investigated the trend of technological development in major countries related to the propulsion equipment of railway vehicles. The propulsion system is the main equipment of electric vehicles. A lot of time and investment are required in order to ensure the development of technology. Therefore, developed countries have maximized their effort to develop technologies with safety, reliability, and convenience of maintenance. They have also done their utmost to prevent technology transfer to other countries after the development of new technologies. For example, Toshiba of Japan developed a new 3,300V/1,500 A class IGBT power device, but was reluctant to export it to foreign countries in order to protect this technology. In this study, we analyzed the patents applied for related to propulsion control systems and presented the direction of development during the technical development of these systems. The patent analysis of the core technologies was conducted using the Thomson Innovation DB. We examined the number of patents applied for by country, year and major applicant. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the proportion of patent applications per country was in the order of China, 48%, Europe 16.6%, and the United States 14.9%. The patent situation of the top 10 principal applicants revealed that (the top three were?) ABB 14%, GE 13%, and CRRC 12%. At the same time, we also conducted a qualitative analysis of the level of technical development by evaluating such factors as the influence index, quotation, market securing power and citation. Based on the result of the patent analysis, we presented the direction of technical development of the propulsion control equipment of railway vehicles. Based on the analysis results, it was found that domestic applicants considerably reduced their efforts to protect their patents from foreign companies. Nowadays, most of the electric motors used in Korea are induction motors. In advanced countries, permanent magnet electric motors are employed in new railway lines. Therefore, intensive investment is needed in new developments.

• Journal of The Korean Digital Architecture Interior Association
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to improve productivity of architectural space planning(A.S.P,) by computer system and to optimize ASP. A searching algorithm is the best way to slave optimized A.S.P. Because architectural design is too many various site situations and client's demands to specify the general solving methods. This method seek the best design case in all possibility and to be modeled as this; Seongbukgu's case that is city structure former times negative by in facilities utilization of the near street limit. But, case of Gangnamgu and Songpagu is thought that environment and utilization etc. of area life of old people are affinity with quality of life environment of old people when see that is using various area facilities using electric railway and a bus etc. actively. It is looked by the other that individual's special quality uses area facilities according to life partner's existence and nonexistence and family composition and existence and nonexistence of profession and distinction of sex. Show difference of external behavior according to public garden and market and supermarket and welfare facilities etc.'s location in dwelling environment of area and relation about facilities of area has been formed and old people and dwelling environment of area can know that is that do interaction. Environment that access about facilities may have to be easy, and can live that communicating closely with area's inhabitantses may have to consist so that old people may can run various external life.. Notions of the evaluated value is an profit(+) and expense(-) that decide design intention. To adapt real planning, 1. A raster type space cell has logical site informations. 2. To be evaluate various factor. 3. To reflect operator's design mind, they should add an extra weight on evaluated value.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2010

Trends of the automotive market require the application of new engine technologies, which allows for the use of different types of fuel. Since ethanol is a renewable source of energy and it contributes to lower $CO_2$ emissions, ethanol produced from biomass is expected to increase in use as an alternative fuel. It is recognized that for spark ignition (SI) engines ethanol has advantages of high octane number and high combustion speed. In spite of the advantages of ethanol, fuel supply system might be affected by fuel blends with ethanol like a wear and corrosion of electric fuel pumps. So the on-board hydrogen production out of ethanol reforming can be considered as an alternative plan. This paper investigates the influence of ethanol fuel on SI engine performance, thermal efficiency and emissions. The results obtained from experiments have shown that specific fuel consumption has increased by increasing ethanol amount in the blend whereas decreased by the use of hydrogen-enriched gas. The combustion characteristics with hydrogen-enriched gaseous fuel from ethanol reforming are also examined.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.15 no.1 s.45
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• pp.14-22
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• 2006

Various pros and cons are raised as to the nuclear and renewable power portions. In order to generate scientific, objective, and comparative data, this study reviewed energy policies of some countries and derived 34 possible energy mix scenarios depending on the nuclear portion, the renewable portion and the make-up power sources. For each scenario, the unit electricity cost was calculated using the BLMP (Base Load Marginal Price) and SMP (System Marginal Price) methodology, which is currently adopted in Korean electricity market. The unit electricity cost for the current energy mix was 22.18 Won/kWh and those fir other scenarios spreaded from 19.74 to 164.07 Won/kWh excluding the transmission costs and profits of the electric utility companies. Generally, the increased nuclear power portion leads reduction in the unit electricity cost while the trend is reversed in the renewable power portion. Notable observation is that when the renewable power portion exceeds 20%, as the scenario cannot enjoy the benefit of cheap base load, the unit electricity cost at low demand time zone is increased.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2004

The new deregulated economic environment in the power utility market is forcing fundamental changes in the investment and operational decisions regarding transmission lines. Hence, it has come to be an important issue to evaluate their current utility in order to increase conductor ampacity based on conservative assumptions of worst case weather conditions. Static thermal rating has born still applied in most power companies worldwide, however some of them have been done various trials such as monitoring dynamic line ratings to increase line ratings in real time. This study is an attempt to access the static line ratings in Korea Electric Power Corporation(KEPCO) transmission lines, which were specified by weather model. Several environmental performances for determining static line ratings are examined by using the past weather data of Korean Meteorological Administration. As a result, it is shown that seasonal or regional line ratings could be adopt to the KEPCO's transmission lines, and their line ratings could be more increased without refurbishing current conductors in service to new high-temperature ones.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.121-146
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• 2016

This study is concerned with the analysis of two renewable technologies for electric energy production: wind energy and photovoltaic energy. The two technologies were assessed and compared by economic point of view, by using selected indicators characterized by a clear calculation approach, requirement of information easy to be collected, clear, but even complete, interpretation of results. The used economic indicators are Levelized Cost of Energy, $CO_2$ abatement cost and fossil fuel saving specific cost; these last two specifically aimed at evaluating the different capabilities that renewable technologies have to cut down direct $CO_2$ emissions and to avoid fossil fuel extraction. The two technologies were compared also from the environmental point of view by applying Life Cycle Assessment approach and using the environmental impact categories from the Eco-indicator'95 method. The economic analysis was developed by taking into account different energy system sizes and different geographic areas in order to compare different European conditions (Italy, Germany and Denmark) in term of renewable resource availability and market trend. The environmental analysis was developed comparing two particular types of PV and wind plants, respectively residential and micro-wind turbine, located in Italy. According to the three calculated economic indicators, the wind energy emerged as more favorable than PV energy. From the environmental point of view, both the technologies are able to provide savings for almost all the considered environmental impact categories. The proposed approach, based on the use of economic and environmental indicators may be useful in supporting the policies and the decision making procedures concerned with the promotion and use of renewables, in reference to the specific geographic, economic and temporal conditions.