• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.650-655
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• 2009

In this study, a consumer willingness to pays for residential heating systems are estimated by economic valuation method. The major Korean residential heating systems in apartments are central heating system (CH), district heating system (DH), and individual heating system (IH). However, DH and IH systems are adopted in newly constructed apartments. Each heating system has own characteristics which residents can identify and value. 700 households in apartment were surveyed to analyze the preference of the residential heating systems and to estimate willingness to pay. We find that the households in DH system are more satisfied with their heating system than the households in other systems overall and that consumers prefer an apartment with DH system than with IH system and the willingness to pay for IH system is less than DH system. The results indicate that DH system has the relative premium which may be caused by the safety and the convenience to manage the system.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.632-638
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• 2011

This paper presents a cascaded coil flux control based on a Current Source Parallel Resonant Push-Pull Inverter (CSPRPI) for Induction Heating (IH) applications. The most important problems associated with current source parallel resonant inverters are start-up problems and the variable response of IH systems under load variations. This paper proposes a simple cascaded control method to increase an IH system's robustness to load variations. The proposed IH has been analyzed in both the steady state and the transient state. Based on this method, the resonant frequency is tracked using Phase Locked Loop (PLL) circuits using a Multiplier Phase Detector (MPD) to achieve ZVS under the transient condition. A laboratory prototype was built with an operating frequency of 57-59 kHz and a rated power of 300 W. Simulation and experimental results verify the validity of the proposed power control method and the PLL dynamics.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.851-858
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• 2012

This paper presents resonant inverter tuning for current source parallel resonant induction heating systems based on a new self oscillating switching technique. The phase error is suppressed in a wide range of operating frequencies in comparison with Phase Locked Loop (PLL) techniques. The proposed switching method has the capability of tuning under fast changes in the resonant frequency. According to this switching method, a multi-frequency induction heating (IH) system is proposed by using a single inverter. In comparison with multi-level inverter based IH systems, the advantages of this technique are its simple structure, better transients and wide range of operating frequencies. A laboratory prototype was built with an operating frequency of 35 kHz to 55 kHz and 300 W of output power. The performance of the IH system shows the validity of the new switching technique.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.870-873
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• 2018

This paper presents the high frequency resonant inverter using ZVS(Zero Voltage Switching) known as the soft switching technology, which can reduce the turn-on and turn-off switching losses. Also, the analysis of the proposed resonant inverter is described by adopting normalized parameters, and its operating characteristics are evaluated according to the switching frequency and parameters. An example of 1.3[kW] IH-Jar design technique is presented based on the characteristic values obtained from the theoretical analysis. To prove the validity of the theoretical analysis, the experimental results using IGBT as the switching devices are additionally presented. In the future, it can be practically used in various power systems such as induction heating cooking, IH-Jar etc.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.112-119
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• 2000

A die-casting junction method is usually used to manufacture the tub of an IH(induction heating) jar. If there is a very small air bubble in the junction area, the thermal conductivity is deteriorated and local overheat occurs. Such problem brings serious inferiority of the IH jar. In this paper, we propose a new method to detect such defect with simply measured thermal data. Thermal distribution of preheated tubs is obtained by scanning with infrared thermal sensors and analyzed with the statistic pattern recognition method. By defining the characteristic feature as the temperature difference between sensors and using ellipsoid function as decision boundary, a supervised learning method of genetic algorithm is proposed to obtain the required parpameters. After applying the proposed method to experiment, we have proved that the rate of recognition is high even for a small number of data set.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.633-637
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• 2018

Present study was performed to survey on infection status of Isthmiophora hortensis (formerly Echinostoma hortense) metacercariae (IhMc) in dark sleepers, Odontobutis spp., from some water systems of the Republic of Korea. A total of 237 Odontobutis spp. was collected in the water systems of 5 rivers, i.e., Mangyeong-gang (gang means river), Geum-gang, Tamjin-gang, Seomjin-gang, and Nakdong-gang. They were all examined with artificial digestion method for 5 years (2013-2017). A total of 137 (57.8%) Odontobutis spp. were infected with 14.8 IhMc in average. The prevalence was the highest in Nakdong-gang areas (62.9%) and followed by in Mangyeong-gang (57.1%), Geum-gang (56.3%), Tamjin-gang (54.8%), and Seomjin-gang (53.9%) areas. Metacercarial densities were 28.1 (Geum-gang), 13.9 (Mangyeong-gang), 13.3 (Nakdong-gang), 13.1 (Tamjin-gang), and 2.3 (Seomjin-gang) per infected fish. Especially, in case of Yugucheon (cheon means stream), a branch of Geum-gang, IhMc were detected in all fish (100%) examined and their density was about 48 per fish. By the present study, it was confirmed that the infection status of IhMc is more or less different by the surveyed areas and the dark sleepers, Odontobutis spp., are suitable fish hosts of I. hortensis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.614-618
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• 2001

Low-threshold T-type $Ca^{2+}$ channels are distinctive voltage-operated gates for external $Ca^{2+}$ entry around a resting membrane potential due to their low voltage activation. These phenomena have already been extensively studied due to their relevance in diverse physiological functions. Recently, three T-type $Ca^{2+}$ channel ${\alpha}$$_1$subunits were cloned and their biophysical properties were characterized after expression in mammalian expression systems. In this study, ${\alpha_IG} and {\alpha_IH}$ low-threshold $Ca^{2+}$ channels were expressed and characterized in Xenopus oocytes after adding 5' and 3'untranslated portions of a Xenopus ${\beta}$ globin to improve their expression levels. The added portions dramatically enhanced the expression levels of the ${\alpha_IG} and {\alpha_IH}$ T-type channels. When currents were recorded in 10 mM $Ba^{2+}$ as the charge carrier, the activation thresholds were about -60 mV, peak currents appeared at -20 mV, and the reversal potentials were between +40 and +45. The activation time constants were very similar to each other, while the inactivation time constants of the ${\alpha_IG}$ currents were smaller than those of ${\alpha_IH}$. Taken together, the electrophysiological properties of the ${\alpha_IG} and {\alpha_IH}$ channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes were similar to the previously reported characteristics of low-threshold $Ca^{2+}$ channel currents.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.65-77
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• 2015

Resonant converters are well suited for induction heating (IH) applications due to their advantages such as efficiency and power density. The control systems of these appliances should provide smooth and wide power control with fewer losses. In this paper, a simple phase locked loop (PLL) based variable duty cycle (VDC) pulse density modulation (PDM) power control scheme for use in class-D inverters for IH loads is proposed. This VDC PDM control method provides a wide power control range. This control scheme also achieves stable and efficient Zero-Voltage-Switching (ZVS) operation over a wide load range. Analysis and modeling of an IH load is done to perform a time domain simulation. The design and output power analysis of a class-D inverter are done for both the conventional pulse width modulation (PWM) and the proposed PLL based VDC PDM methods. The control principles of the proposed method are described in detail. The validity of the proposed control scheme is verified through MATLAB simulations. The PLL loop maintains operation closer to the resonant frequency irrespective of variations in the load parameters. The proposed control scheme provides a linear output power variation to simplify the control logic. A prototype of the class-D inverter system is implemented to validate the simulation results.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.204-212
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• 2020

In this study, device suitability analysis is performed by comparing the performance of SiC MOSFET and GaN Transistor, which are WBG power semiconductor devices in the induction heating (IH) system. WBG devices have the advantages of low conduction resistance, switching losses, and fast switching due to their excellent physical properties, which can achieve high output power and efficiency in IH systems. In this study, SiC and GaN are applied to a general half-bridge series resonant converter topology to compare the conduction loss, switching loss, reverse conduction loss, and thermal performance of the device in consideration of device characteristics and circuit conditions. On this basis, device suitability in the IH system is analyzed. A half-bridge series resonant converter prototype using the SiC and GaN of a 650-V rating is constructed to verify device suitability through performance comparison and verified through an experimental comparison of power loss and thermal performance.

• KIEE International Transaction on Electrical Machinery and Energy Conversion Systems
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• v.5B no.2
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• pp.181-188
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• 2005

In this paper, a DC smoothing filterless soft switching pulse modulated high frequency AC power conversion circuit connected to utility. frequency AC power source is proposed for consumer induction heating hot water producer, steamer and super heated steamer. The operating principle of DC link filterless utility frequency AC-high frequency AC (HF AC) power conversion circuit defined as high frequency cycloinverter is described, which can operate under a principle of ZVS/AVT and power regulation based on alternate asymmetrical PWM in synchronization with the utility frequency single phase AC positive or negative half wave voltage. The dual mode modulation control scheme based on high frequency PWM and commercial frequency AC voltage PDM for the proposed high frequency cycloinverter are discussed to enlarge its soft switching commutation operating range for wide HF AC power regulation. This high frequency cycloinverter is developed for high frequency IH Dual Packs Heater (DPH) type boiler used in consumer and industrial fluid pipeline systems. Based on the experiment and simulation results, this high frequency cycloinverter is proved to be suitable for the consumer use IH-DPH boiler and hot water producers. The cycloinverter power regulation and power conversion efficiency characteristics are evaluated and discussed.