• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.85-92
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• 2009

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are a promising technology for short-term power generation required in residential and automobile applications. Proper management of water has been found to be essential for improving the performance and durability of PEM fuel cells. This study investigated the liquid water exhaust capabilities of various flow channels having different geometries and surface properties. Three-pass serpentine flow fields were prepared by patterning channels of 1 mm or 2 mm width onto hydrophilic Acrylic plates or hydrophobic Teflon plates, and the behaviors of liquid water in those flow channels were experimentally visualized. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were also conducted to quantitatively assess the liquid water exhaust capabilities of flow channels for PEM fuel cells. Numerical results showed that hydrophobic flow channels have better liquid water exhaust capabilities than hydrophilic flow channels. Flow channels with curved corners showed less droplet stagnation than the channels with sharp corners. It was also found that a smaller width is desirable for hydrophobic flow channels while a larger width is desirable for hydrophilic ones. The above results were explained as being due to the different droplet morphologies in hydrophobic and hydrophilic channels.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2007

A three dimensional numerical model to predict the flow and transport of mixtures and also the electrochemical reactions in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells is developed. The numerical computation is base on vorticity- velocity method. Governing equations for the flow and transport of mixtures are coupled with the equations for electrochemical reactions and are solved simultaneously including production and condensation of vapor. Fuel cell performance predicted by this calculation is compared with the experimental results and resonable agreements are achieved.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.754-758
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• 2002

In the fuel-cell electric vehicle system, the low-voltage output of unit fuel-cell demands a number of cells to be stacked In series to produce a DC link voltage which is high enough to drive the vehicle inverter system. However, this increases the complexity of the fuel-cell control system. This paper presents a design of high-efficiency boost converter employing the average current-mode control, which is able to convert a low voltage of a fuel-cell generator with a small number of unit cells to a stable and high DC link voltage for electric vehicle applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.553-554
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• 2006

This paper presents the effects of different operating parameters on the performance of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell by a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. The effects of different operating parameters on the performance of PEM fuel cell studied using pure hydrogen on the anode side and air on the cathode side. The various parameters are temperatures, pressures, humidification of the gas steams and various combinations of these parameters. In addition, geometrical and material parameters such as the gas diffusion layer (GDL) thickness and porosity as well as the ratio between the channel width and the land area were investigated.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.219-224
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• 2019

In this study, we evaluated the energy production from plant-microbial fuel cells using representative indoor plants, such as Scindapsus aureus and Clatha minor. The maximum power density of microbial fuel cell (MFC) using S. aureus ($3.36mW/m^2$) was about 2 times higher than that of the MFC using C. minor ($1.43mW/m^2$). It was confirmed that energy recovery is possible using plant-MFCs without fuel. However, further research is needed to improve the performance of plant-MFCs. Nevertheless, plant-MFCs have proved their potential as a novel energy source to overcome the limitations of the conventional renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar cells, and could be employed to a power source for the sensor in charge of the fourth industrial revolution.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.418-425
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• 2021

Submarines are weapons systems that have been proven to be useful in battle since World War I and have continued to improve the efficiency of propulsion systems in order to be used efficiently on the battlefield. In particular, countries that unable to utilize nuclear propulsion systems make efforts to increase the efficiency of Air Independent Propulsion systems, and typical examples are fuel cells, Stirling engines and MESMA. It is also expected that the development of new propulsion systems such as hydrogen-reformer fuel cells, metal-air fuel cell and direct combustion propulsion systems will continue, so the characteristics of these will be examined and the performance based on the published data be checked in this thesis.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.75-79
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• 2007

The cathode design is one of the most important parts in order to enhance the performance of fuel cells. A 3-D model of the porous oxygen reducing cathode with perforated current collectors is analysed for the enhanced design in fuel cells. Simulation is performed using equations of electric potential balance, momentum balance, and mass balance. The gas concentrations are quite large and are significantly affected by the reactions that take place. The weight fraction of oxygen, velocity field for the gas phase, and local overvoltage are illustrated in the porous reactive cathode layer. The current density is also analysed and the result shows the distribution and variation are stated in a wide range. It is found that the rate of reaction and the current production is higher beneath the orifice, and decreases as the distance to the gas inlet increases. The significance of the results is discussed in the viewpoint of the mass transportation phenomena, which is inferred that the mass transport of reactants dictates the efficiency of the electrode in this design and at these conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.426-430
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• 2012

The properties of green sheet were investigated in order to understanding an effects of organic solvent mixture ratio for solid oxide fuel cells fabrication. The purpose of this work is to optimize the slurry condition using the design of experiment to improve green sheet properties. The elongation increased with increasing amount of binder and solvent. With increasing amount of solvent, the air permeability increased but the tensile strength decreased. The best properties of the green sheet appeared amount of the binder 17 wt%, solvent 35 wt% and powder 48 wt%. The optimum condition of green and sintered density for solid oxide fuel cells fabrication was obtained in the sample pressured at 800 $kgf/cm^2$.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.421-425
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• 2012

Two types of Pt nanoparticle electrocatalysts were composited on Pt nanowires by a combination of an electrospinning method and an impregnation method with NaBH4 as a reducing agent. The structural properties and electrocatalytic activities for methanol electro-oxidation in direct methanol fuel cells were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and cyclic voltammetry. In particular, SEM, HRTEM, XRD, and XPS results indicate that the metallic Pt nanoparticles with polycrystalline property are uniformly decorated on the electro-spun Pt nanowires. In order to investigate the catalytic activity of the Pt nanoparticles decorated on the electro-spun Pt nanowires, two types of 20 wt% Pt nanoparticles and 40 wt% Pt nanoparticles decorated on the electro-spun Pt nanowires were fabricated. In addition, for comparison, single Pt nanowires were fabricated via an electrospinning method without an impregnation method. As a result, the cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry results demonstrate that the electrode containing 40 wt% Pt nanoparticles exhibits the best catalytic activity for methanol electro-oxidation and the highest electrochemical stability among the single Pt nanowires, the 20 wt% Pt nanoparticles decorated with Pt nanowires, and the 40 wt% Pt nanoparticles decorated with Pt nanowires studied for use in direct methanol fuel cells.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.171-179
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• 2015

Perfluorinated sulfonic acid ionomers (PFSAs) have been widely as solid electrolyte materials for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, since they exhibit excellent chemical durability under their harsh application conditions as well as good proton conductivity. Even PFSA materials, however, suffer from physical failures associated with repeated membrane swelling and deswelling, resulting in fairly reduced electrochemical lifetime. In this study, pore-filling membranes are prepared by impregnating a Nafion ionomer into the pore of a porous PTFE support film and their fundamental characteristics are evaluated. The developed pore-filling membranes exhibit extremely high proton conductivity of about $0.5S\;cm^{-1}@90^{\circ}C$ in liquid water.