• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.225-229
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• 2005

We have designed micro-fuel processor system, which consists of a steam reforming area and a PROX(preferential oxidation) area. Micro-fuel processor system generates $H_2$ rich gas from a methanol. In our experiment, we have integrated micro-fuel processor system using low temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC) process because LTCC is superior to other materials principally due to their high thermal and chemical stability, simpler fabrication processes, and lower materials cost. Therefore, we have studied and integrated micro-fuel processor system containing embedded heaters, cavities, and 3D structures of micro-channel with LTCC. Also we have optimized the LTCC process.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.19-22
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• 2007

In this study, we investigated operating characteristics of natural gas fuel processor for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The fuel processor consists of a natural gas reformer, a water-gas shift reactor, a heat-exchanger and a burner, in which the overall integrated volume is exactly(exceptionally) small, namely, about 10L except outer insulation. The producted hydrogen is $1Nm^3/hr$ and the maximum thermal efficiency is ${\sim}76%$(low heating value) at full operating load. A compact and highly efficient $1Nm^3/hr$ class natural gas fuel processor was developed at UNISON is an advantage for application in residential PEMFCs co-generation systems.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.323-327
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• 2009

To extract hydrogen for stack, fuels such as LPG and LNG were reformed in the fuel processor, which is comprised of desulfurizer, reformer, shift converter, CO remover and steam generator. All elements of fuel processor are integrated in a single package. Highly active catalysts (desulfurizing adsorbent, reforming catalyst, CO shift catalyst, CO removal catalyst) and the various burners were developed and evaluated in this study. The performance of the developed catalysts and the commercial ones was similar. 1 kW, 5 kW class fuel processor systems using the developed catalyst and burner showed efficiency of 75 %(LHV, for LNG). The start-up time of the 1 kW class fuel processor was less than 50 minutes and its volume including insulation was about 30 l. The start-up time of 3 kW and 5 kW class fuel processors with the volume of 90 l and 150 l, respectively, was about 60 minutes. In the case of LPG fuel, efficiency, volume and start-up time of 1kW class fuel processor showed 73 %(LHV), < 60 l and < 60 min, respectively. Advanced fuel processor showed more highly efficiency and shorter start-up time due to the improvement of heat exchanger and operating method. 1 kW and 3 kW class fuel processors have been evaluated for reliability and durability including with on/off test of developed catalysts and burner.

• Carbon letters
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.303-307
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• 2008

The studies on integrated operation of fuel cell with fuel processor are very essential prior to its commercialization. In this study, Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) was operated with a fuel processor, which is mainly composed of two parts, methanol steam reforming reaction and preferential oxidation (PROX). In fuel processor, ICI 33-5 (CuO 50%, ZnO 33%, $Al_2O_3$ 8%, BET surface area: $66\;m^2g^{-1}$) catalyst and CuO-$CeO_2$ catalyst were used for methanol steam reforming, preferential oxidation (PROX) respectively. PEMFC was operated by hydrogen fuel generated from fuel processor. The resulting gas from PROX reactor is used to operate PEMFC equipped with our prepared anode and cathode catalyst. PtRu/C catalyst gives more tolerance to CO.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.111.1-111.1
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• 2010

This paper focuses on a systematic configuration of steam reforming fuel processor, particularly designed for small and medium sized hydrogen production application. In a typical integration of the fuel processor, there exist significant temperature gradients over the entire system which has negative effect on both catalyst life-time and system performance. Also, the volumetric inefficiency should be avoided to obtain the possible compactness for the commercial purpose. In the present work, the computational analysis will be performed to gain the fundamental insight on the transport phenomena and chemical reactions in the reformer consisting of preheating, steam reforming (SR), and water gas shift (WGS) reaction beds in the flow direction. Also, the fuel processing system includes a top-fired burner providing necessary thermal energy for endothermic catalytic reactor. A fully two-dimensional numerical modeling for a integrated fuel processing system is introduced for in-depth analysis of the heat and mass transport phenomena based on surface kinetics and catalytic process. In the model, water gas shift reaction and decomposition reaction were assumed to be at equilibrium. A kinetic model was developed and then computational results were compared with the experimental data available in the literature. Finally, the case study was done by considering the key parameters, i.e. steam to carbon (S/C) ratio and temperature. The computer-aided models developed in this study can be greatly utilized for the design of advanced fast-paced compact fuel processors research.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.551-552
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• 2006

The miniature fuel cells have emerged as a promising power source for applications such as cellular phones, small digital devices, and autonomous sensors to embedded monitors or to micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS) devices. Several chemicals run candidate at a fuel in those systems, such as hydrogen. methanol, ethanol, acetic acid, and di-methyl ether (DME). Among them, hydrogen shows most efficient fuel performance. However, there are some difficulties in practical application for portable power sources. Therefore, more recently, there have been many efforts for development of micro-reformer to operate highly efficient micro fuel cells with liquid fuels such as methanol, ethanol, and DME In our experiments, we have integrated a micro-fuel processor system using low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) materials. Our integrated micro-fuel processor system is containing embedded heaters, cavities, and 3D structures of micro- channels within LTCC layers for embedding catalysts (cf. Figs. 1 and 2). In the micro-channels of LTCC, we have loaded $CuO/ZnO/Al_2O_3$ catalysts using several different coating methods such as powder packing or spraying, dipping, and washing of catalyst slurry.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.8 s.251
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• pp.731-740
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• 2006

The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is expected to be a candidate for distributed power sources in the next generation, due to its high efficiency and high-temperature waste heat utilization. In this study, the 5-cell SOFC stack was operated with pure hydrogen or reformed gas at anode side and air at cathode side. When stack was operated with diesel and methane ATR reformer, the influence of the $H_2O/C,\;O_2/C$ and GHSV on performance of stacks have been investigated. The result shows that the cell voltage was decreased with the increase of $H_2O/C$ and $O_2/C$ due to the partial pressure of fuel and water, and cell voltage was more sensitive to $O_2/C$ than $H_2O/C$. Next, the dynamic model of SOFC system included with ATR reformer was established and compared with experimental data. Based on dynamic model, the operation strategy to optimize SOFC-Reformer system was suggested and simulated.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.156.1-156.1
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• 2011

It is of great importance to predict operating parameter characteristics of an integrated fuel processor by the increased life-time and system performance. In this study, computational analysis is performed to gain fundamental insights on transport phenomena and chemical reactions in reformer which consists of preheating, steam reforming, and water gas shift reaction beds. Also, a top-fired burner locates inside of the reforming system. The combustor is providing thermal energy necessary for the steam reforming bed which is a endothermic catalytic reactor. Two-dimensional numerical model of the integrated fuel processing system is introduced for the analysis of heat and mass transport phenomena as well as surface kinetics and catalytic process. A kinetic model was developed and then computational results were compared with the experimental data available in the literature. Subsequently, parameter study using the validated steam methane reforming model was conducted by considering operating parameters, i.e. steam to carbon ratio and temperature.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2018

A high efficiency integrated reforming system for improving the efficiency of the 5 kW PEMFC system used as the back up power of building was studied. The separated reforming system consisted of three parts - A steam reformer with two stage concentric circular shape, a heat exchanger type steam generator and a CO shift reactor. Temperature and steam carbon ratio (SCR) were control variables during operation. The operating conditions were optimized based on the thermal efficiency of the steam reformer as reformate gas composition changes at different temperature. In experiments, water was fully vaporized in the steam generator up to SCR 3.5 and the maximum thermal efficiency was achieved at the operating temperature around $700^{\circ}C$ in the steam reforming reactor. With the results of the separated reforming system research, we improved the shape of high efficiency integrated reformer. The performance evaluation of the integrated reformer was based on optimized operating conditions in SCR 3.5. As a result, the developed integrated reforming system maintained an efficiency of 76% and constant performance over 3,000 hours.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.106-112
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• 2012

As a fuel cell converts the chemical energy of the fuel cell into electrical energy by electrochemical reaction, the fuel cell system is uniquely integrated technique including fuel processor, fuel cell stack, power conditioning system. The residential fuel cell-PCS(Power Conditioning System) needs to convert efficiently the DC current produced by the fuel cell into AC current using single-phase DC-AC inverter. A single-phase DC-AC inverter has naturally low frequency ripple which is twice frequency of the output current. This low frequency(120Hz) ripple reduces the efficiency of the fuel cell. This paper presents notch filter with IP voltage controller to reject specific 120Hz current ripple in single-phase inverter. The notch filter is designed that suppress just only specific frequency component and no phase delay. Finally, the proposed notch filter design method has been verified with computer simulation and experimentation.