• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.729-738
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• 2009

Given the evolution of High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor(HTGR) designs, the source terms for licensing must be developed. There are three potential source terms: fission products, actinides in the fuel and tritium in the coolant. It is necessary to provide first an inventory of the source terms under normal operations. An analysis of source terms has yet to be performed for HTGRs. The previous code, which can estimate the inventory of the source terms for LWRs, cannot be used for HTGRs because the general data of a typical neutron cross-section and flux has not been developed. Thus, this paper uses a combination of the MCNP, ORIGEN, and MONTETEBURNS codes for an estimation of the source terms. A method in which the HTR-10 core is constructed using the unit lattice of a body-centered cubic is developed for core modeling. Based on this modeling method by MCNP, the generation of fission products, actinides and tritium with an increase in the burnup ratio is simulated. The model developed by MCNP appears feasible through a comparison with models developed in previous studies. Continuous fuel management is divided into five periods for the feeding and discharging of fuel pebbles. This discrete fuel management scheme is employed using the MONTEBURNS code. Finally, the work is investigated for 22 isotope fission products of nuclides, 22 actinides in the core, and tritium in the coolant. The activities are mainly distributed within the range of $10^{15}{\sim}10^{17}$ Bq in the equilibrium core of HTR-10. The results appear to be highly probable, and they would be informative when the spent fuel of HTGRs is taken into account. The tritium inventory in the primary coolant is also taken into account without a helium purification system. This article can lay a foundation for future work on analyses of source terms as a platform for safety assessment in HTGRs.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.355-362
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• 2009

Fuels based on petroleum will eventually run out in the near future. DME (Di-methyl Ether) is a clean energy source that can be manufactured from various raw materials such as natural gas, coal as well as biomass. As DME has no carbon-carbon bond in its molecular structure and is an oxygenate fuel, its combustion essentially generates no soot as well as no SOx. Because the physical properties of DME are similar to those of LPG, the LPG distribution infrastructure can be converted to use with DME. DME has such high cetane number of 55~60 that it can be used as a diesel engine fuel. Practical use of DME as a next-generation clean fuel or next-generation chemical feedstock is advancing in the fields of power generation, diesel engines, household use, and fuel cells, among others. The purpose of this paper is review the characteristics, standardization, status of research and development in domestic and foreign countries of DME.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.11-25
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• 2009

Fuel cells are expected to be one of the major clean new energy sources in the near future. However, the slow kinetics of electrocatalytic hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and the high loading of Pt for the anode and cathode material are the urgent issues to be addressed since they determine the efficiency and the cost of this energy source. In this review paper, a new approach was developed for designing electrocatalysts for the HOR and ORR in fuel cells. It was found that the electronic properties of Pt could be fine-tuned by the electronic and geometric effects introduced by the substrate alloy metal and the lateral effects of the neighboring metal atoms. The role of substrate was found reflected in a volcano plot for the HOR and ORR as a function of their calculated d-band centers. This paper demonstrated a viable way to designing the electrocatalysts which could successfully alleviate two issue facing the commercializing of the fuel cell-the cost of electrocatalysts and their efficiency.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.167-190
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• 2023

This study analyzes the potential demand for automobiles based on fuel type using survey data in Korea. The dependent variable of the model is the future desired fuel type, including gasoline, diesel, hybrid, electricity, and hydrogen. The main explanatory variables are the respondent demographic characteristics, key reasons for choosing vehicle fuel type and environmental awareness extracted via principal component analysis (PCA). Using a multinomial logit (MNL) model, we find that respondents who consider fuel economy and infrastructure increase the demand for a hybrid car but decrease the demand for electric and hydrogen vehicles. The denial-types increase the demand for gasoline (petrol) and diesel (light oil), and decrease the demand for electric vehicles. The anxiety-types increase the demand of hybrid vehicles, and decrease the demand for electric vehicles. In contrast, in the case of pro-types, the demand for diesel (light oil) hydrogen vehicles decreased.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.285-299
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• 2006

At the end of 2005, 443 nuclear reactors were operating in 32 countries worldwide. They had provided about 3,000 TWh, which was just over 16 percent of global electricity supply. With the generating capacity of 368 GWe in 2004, the spent fuel generation rate worldwide, now becomes at about 11,000 tHM/y. Projections indicate that cumulative amounts to be generated by the year 2020, the time when most of the existing NPP will be closed to the end of their licensed lifetime, may be close to 445,000 tHM. In this regard, spent fuel management is a common issue in all countries with nuclear reactors. Whatever their national policy and/or strategy is selected for the backend of the nuclear fuel cycle, the management of spent fuel will contribute an impending and imminent issues to be resolved in the foreseeable future. The 2nd Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Joint Convention was held in Vienna from 15 to 24 May 2006. The meeting gave an opportunity to exchange information on the national policy and strategy of spent fuel management of the Contracting Parties, to discuss their situations, prospects and the major factors influencing the national policies in this field and to identify the most important directions that national efforts and international co-operation in this area should be taken. In this paper, an overview of national and global trends of spent fuel management is discussed. In addition, some directions are identified and recent activities of each Member States in the subject area are summarized.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.681-688
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• 2018

As environmental regulations have been strengthened and high fuel efficiency has been in demand in recent years, the number of ships using natural gas as a fuel is increasing. The demand for ships using LPG or methanol, which are emerging as eco-friendly vessel fuels, is also increasing. In this perspective, ME-LGI engines using LPG or methanol as a fuel have attracted considerable attention. Ships equipped with an ME-LGI engine are required to check the reliability of the fuel injection valve during shipping. This means that the development of a fuel injection valve tester is essential for the commercialization of ME-LGI engine. This study conducted the conceptual design of a fuel injection valve tester for ME-LGI engines using a system engineering process in the order of requirements analysis, functional analysis, and design synthesis. In the requirement analysis stage, the operating process of fuel injection valve was analyzed, and the necessity of checking the sealing oil leakage was then derived. In the functional analysis stage, the functions and flow of them were defined at each functional level. In the design synthesis stage, the equipment for each function was set and the process block diagram based on it was derived. In addition, preliminary risk analysis was performed as a part of system analysis and control, and safety measures were added to the conceptual design. This study is expected to be a good reference material for the concept design of other systems in the future because it shows the application process of a system engineering process to the conceptual design in detail.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.391-402
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• 2017

The Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) has developed a concrete cask for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel that has been generated by domestic light-water reactors. During long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel in concrete casks kept in dry conditions, the integrity of the concrete cask and spent nuclear fuel must be maintained. In addition, the radiation dose rate must not exceed the storage facility's design standards. A suitable shielding design for radiation protection must be in place for the dry storage facilities of spent nuclear fuel under normal and accident conditions. Evaluation results show that the appropriate distance to the annual dose rate of 0.25 mSv for ordinary citizens is approximately 230 m. For a $2{\times}10$ arrangement within storage facilities, rollover accidents are assumed to have occurred while transferring one additional storage cask, with the bottom of the cask facing the controlled area boundary. The dose rates of 12.81 and 1.28 mSv were calculated at 100 m and 230 m from the outermost cask in the $2{\times}10$ arrangement. Therefore, a spent nuclear fuel concrete cask and storage facilities maintain radiological safety if the distance to the appropriately assessed controlled area boundary is ensured. In the future, the results of this study will be useful for the design and operation of nuclear power plant on-site storage or intermediate storage facilities based on the spent fuel management strategy.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.82.1-82.1
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• 2010

Recently, Molten carbonate fuel cells(MCFCs) have been developing to get a good durability and economic feasibility for commercialization. To achieve these objectives, the cost of nickel based electrodes should be reduced. Regular anode thickness used in MCFCs is normally 0.7mm. Thus, in our study, the purpose was to reduce anode thickness up to 0.3 mm keeping MCFC performance on standard levels. In-situ sintering has been used, with 2 different fabrication methods (method A and B) and 2 different supports (support 1 and 2). Voltage losses at different temperature (600,620,640,$650^{\circ}C$) and after 1000 hours showed the higher performance that can be obtained using method B and support 2. After single cell test, an open-circuit voltage(OCV) of 1.075 V and a closed-circuit voltage(CCV) of 0.829V were obtained, at current density of $150mV/cm^2$. Also the voltage loss ratio at different cell temperature was lower in the case of method B and support 2. According to these results, the cost of anode fabrication can be reduced in the future, contributing for the economical feasibility of MCFCs.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.51-65
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• 2008

The increasing demand for energy in the near future has created strong motivation for environmentally clean alternative energy resources. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have opened up new ways of utilizing renewable energy sources. MFCs are devices that convert the chemical energy in the organic compounds to electrical energy through microbial catalysis at the anode under anaerobic conditions, and the reduction of a terminal electron acceptor, most preferentially oxygen, at the cathode. Due to the rapid advances in MFC-based technology over the last decade, the currently achievable MFC power production has increased by several orders of magnitude, and niche applications have been extended into a variety of areas. Newly emerging concepts with alternative materials for electrodes and catalysts as well as innovative designs have made MFCs promising technologies. Aerobic bacteria can also be used as cathode catalysts. This is an encouraging finding because not only biofouling on the cathode is unavoidable in the prolonged-run MFCs but also noble catalysts can be substituted with aerobic bacteria. This article discusses some of the recent advances in MFCs with an emphasis on the performance, materials, microbial community structures and applications beyond electricity generation.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.330-338
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• 2002

A long-term energy system in the future is expected to be based on the ideal circulation system between water and hydrogen in the sense that the hydrogen prepared from water eventually returns to water again after its use. Currently, with respect to the hydrogen energy system, it is predicted that the turning-point at which the production cost of hydrogen will become to be lower than that of fossil fuels would be after 2010. However, fuel cell technology would be able to be practically used for the applications to the transportation vehicles and small-scale power sources from 2004, and therefore, an efficient construction of the infrastructure covering hydrogen production and supply systems would be required with short-/mid-term technologies for the $CO_2$ reduction associated with fossil fuel utilization. In this paper, the hydrogen quantity available in domestic market has been estimated focusing on the hydrogen by-produced from domestic industries, and also the infrastructure for hydrogen-driven vehicles like fuel cell cars has been reviewed.