• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.84-89
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• 2007

Direct decomposition of hydrocarbon (methane, propane) was studied using a thermal plasma to produce high purity hydrogen and carbon black. Thermodynamic equilibrium compositions were calculated based on the minimization of Gibb's free energy, and decomposition experiments were performed on the basis of calculation results. The purity of hydrogen was found to be depended strongly on the flow rate of hydrocarbon. The decomposition conditions for high purity hydrogen were investigated. The purity of hydrogen produced from methane decomposition was higher than that from propane. In the case of propane, it was investigated that by products such as methane, acetylene, and ethane etc., by radical recombination under thermal plasma were produced more than that of methane. Produced carbon blacks were characterized by material analyses, such as XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and particle size analysis. In both methane and propane decompositions, well-crystallized carbon blacks were produced and showed uniform and sphere-like morphologies. The size of carbon black synthesized from methane was observed to be smaller than that from propane.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2007

To check feasibility of SMART(Steam Methane Advanced Reforming Technology) system, conceptual design and sensitivity analysis of operating variables have been performed based on the design program of two-interconnected fluidized beds. Among three configurations of two-interconnected fluidized beds systems, the bubbling-bubbling system was selected as the best configuration. Process design results indicate that the SMART system is compact and feasible. Based on the selected operating conditions, the effects of variables such as process capacity, pressure, and weight percent of $CO_2$ absorbable component have been investigated as well.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.50-57
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• 2010

Stepwise production of syn-gas and hydrogen from methane on ferrite based media added with yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was carried out using a fixed bed infrared reactor. In this study, all M-ferrite (M=Co, Cu, Mn and Ni) media were prepared by co-precipitation method, and there the YSZ was added as a binder to improve thermal stability, reactivity, and resistance against carbon deposition. Most of the ferrite media containing YSZ showed the good redox property for temperature programmed reduction/oxidation (TPR/O) tests. Notably, the Cu-substituted ferrite medium with YSZ showed the great resistance against carbon deposition as well as the good reactivity for the stepwise production of syngas and hydrogen. Furthermore, it also showed the good durability without significant deactivation during five repeated cyclic tests.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.683-689
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• 2010

Reforming of methane with carbon dioxide has been carried out using a bipolar pulse driven elongated arc reactor operating at atmospheric pressure and non-equilibrium regime. This plasma reactor is driven by two kinds of power supply, characterized by different voltage-current characteristics under the same operating power and frequency. Varying the $CO_2/CH_4$ ratio and the discharge power, the conversion rate, yield, and reforming efficiency for the two power supplies are investigated in conjunction with the static and dynamic behaviors of voltage and current. It is found that not only the values of voltage and current but also their shapes give an influence on the reforming performances. Finally, a better electrical operation regime for the efficient plasma reforming is proposed based on the relationship between the voltage-current characteristics and the reforming performance.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.161-169
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• 2011

Methane production during anaerobic fermentation in the rumen represents an energy loss to the host animal and induces emissions of greenhouse gases in the environment. Our study focused on comparison in methane production from growing Korean native steers fed different grain sources. Six Hanwoo steers (BW = $180.6{\pm}3.1$ kg) were fed, on a DM basis (TDN 2.80 kg), 40% timothy and 60% barley concentrate (Barley) or corn concentrate (Corn), respectively, based on the Korean Feeding Standards. Each period lasted 18 days including a 14-day adaptation and a 4-day measuring times. The steers were in the head hood chamber system (one cattle per chamber) during each measuring time to measure heat and methane production per day. Different grain sources did not affect digestibilities of dry matter, crude protein, crude fiber, crude fat, NDF, ADF and nitrogen-free extract. The mean methane concentrations per day were 202.0 and 177.1 ppm for Barley and Corn, respectively. Methane emission averaged 86.8 and 77.7 g/day for Barley and Corn, respectively. Methane emission factor by maintenance energy requirement for the growing steers fed barley based concentrate was higher than the steers fed corn based concentrate (Barley vs. Corn, 31.7 kg $CH_4\;head^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$ vs. 28.4 kg $CH_4\;head^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$). Thus, methane conversion rate was 0.065 (6.5%) and 0.055 (5.5%) for Barley and Corn, respectively.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2014

This study was performed with electrolysis treatment method for improving anaerobic digestion gas production efficiency in a sewage sludge, thereby confirmed in anaerobic digestion production and denitrification effect. As a result, solubilization was increased by increasing treatment time of electrolysis and current density, also showed to be 9.02% with 10 mA/cm2 of current density in 4 mm electrode distance. Based on the results of BMP test used the above experiment, methane production was 0.49 L CH4/g VS, and increased by 88.4% compared with control groups. As for the results of denitrification using the sewage sludge treated with the same conditions, denitrification rate appeared $19.2mg\;NO_3{^{-}}N/g\;MLVSS{\cdot}hr$, and through the sewage sludge treated with electrolysis, it can be applied to anaerobic digestion and denitrification process by increasing biodegradation.

• Carbon letters
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• v.24
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• pp.82-89
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• 2017

In this study, composite PAN-based ACNFs embedded with MgO and $MnO_2$ were prepared by the electrospinning method. The resultant pristine ACNFs, ACNF/MgO and $ACNF/MnO_2$ were characterized in terms of their morphological changes, SSA, crystallinity and functional group with FESEM-EDX, the BET method, XRD and FTIR analysis, respectively. Results from this study showed that the SSA of the ACNF/MgO composite ($1893m^2g^{-1}$) is significantly higher than that of the pristine ACNFs and $ACNF/MnO_2$ which is 478 and $430m^2g^{-1}$, respectively. FTIR analysis showed peaks of 476 and $547cm^{-1}$, indicating the presence of MgO and $MnO_2$, respectively. The FESEM micrographs analysis showed a smooth but coarser structure in all the ACNFs. Meanwhile, the ACNF/MgO has the smallest fiber diameter ($314.38{\pm}62.42nm$) compared to other ACNFs. The presence of MgO and $MnO_2$ inside the ACNFs was also confirmed with EDX analysis as well as XRD. The adsorption capacities of each ACNF toward $CH_4$ were tested with the volumetric adsorption method in which the ACNF/MgO exhibited the highest $CH_4$ adsorption up to $2.39mmol\;g^{-1}$. Meanwhile, all the ACNF samples followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model with a $R^2$ up to 0.9996.

• Solar Energy
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.197-203
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• 1998

A 5 ton/day pilot scale two-phase anaerobic digester was constructed and tasted to treat Korean food wastes in Anyang city. The process was developed based on 3 years of lab-scale experimental results on am optimim treatment method for the recovery of biogas and humus. Problems related to food waste are ever Increasing quantity among municipal solid wastes(MSW) and high moisture and salt contents. Thus our food waste produces large amounts of leachate and bed odor in landfill sites which are being exhausted. The easily degradable presorted food waste was efficiently treated in the two-phase anaerobic digestion process. The waste contained in plastic bags was shredded and then screened for the removal of inert material such as fabrics and plastics, and subsequently put into the two-stage reactors. Heavy and light inerts such as bones, shells, spoons and plastic pieces were again removed by gravity differences. The residual organic component was effectively hydrolyzed and acidified in the first reactor with 5 days space time at pH of about 6.5. The second, methanization reactor part of which is filled with anaerobic fillters, converted the acids into methane with pH between 7.4 to 7.8. The space time for the second reactor was 15 days. The effluent from the second reactor was recycled to the first reactor to provide alkalinities. The process showed stable steady state operation with the maximum organic rate of 7.9 $kgVS/m^3day$ and the volatile solid reduction efficiency of about 70%. The total of 3.6 tons presorted MSW containing 2.9 tons of food organic was treated to produce about $230m^3$ of biogas with 70% of methane and 80kg humus. This process is extended to full scale treating 15 tons of food waste a day in Euiwang city and the produced biogas is utilized for the heating/cooling of adjacent buildings.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.213-218
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• 2012

Steam reforming of methane (SRM) is the primary method to produce hydrogen. Commercial Ni-based catalysts have been optimized for SRM with excess steam ($H_2O/CH_4$ > 2.5) at high temperatures (> $700^{\circ}C$). However, commercial catalysts are not suitable under severe conditions such as stoichiometric steam over methane ratio ($H_2O/CH_4$ = 1.0) and low temperature ($600^{\circ}C$). In this study, 15wt.% Ni catalysts supported on $Ce_{0.8}Zr_{0.2}O_2$ were prepared at various calcination temperatures for SRM at a very high gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of $621,704h^{-1}$. The calcination temperature was systematically varied to optimize 15wt.% $Ni-Ce_{0.8}Zr_{0.2}O_2$ catalyst at a $H_2O/CH_4$ ratio of 1.0 and at $600^{\circ}C$. 15wt.% $Ni-Ce_{0.8}Zr_{0.2}O_2$ catalyst calcined at $500^{\circ}C$ exhibited the highest $CH_4$ conversion as well as stability with time on stream. Also, 15wt.% $Ni-Ce_{0.8}Zr_{0.2}O_2$ catalyst calcined at $500^{\circ}C$ showed the highest $H_2$ yield (58%) and CO yield (21%) among the catalysts. This is due to complex NiO species, which have relatively strong metal to support interaction (SMSI).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.488.2-488.2
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• 2014

Carbon-based materials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene have emerged as promising building blocks in applications for nanoelectronics and energy devices due to electrical property, ease of processability, and relatively inert electrochemistry. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in core-shell nanomaterials, in which inorganic nanowires are surrounded by inorganic or organic layers. Especially, carbon encapsulated semiconductor nanowires have been actively investigated by researchers in lithium ion batteries. We report a method to synthesize silicon nanowire (SiNW) core/carbon shell structures by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), using methane (CH4) as a precursor at growth temperature of $1000{\sim}1100^{\circ}C$. Unlike carbon-based materials synthesized via conventional routes, this method is of advantage of metal-catalyst free growth. We characterized these materials with FE-SEM, FE-TEM, and Raman spectroscopy. This would allow us to use these materials for applications ranging from optoelectronics to energy devices such as solar cells and lithium ion batteries.