• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.538-544
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• 2022

One of the most exciting areas for the development of alternative fuels is the production of biodiesel. To reduce the cost of biodiesel production, in situ trans-esterification has been introduced to simplify the production process by enabling extraction and trans-esterification to occur at a single stage in the presence of a catalyst. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of using non-corrosive and environmentally receptive flying jet plasma as an alternative catalytic route for in situ tran-sesterification of castor bean seeds (CBS). Upon optimizing the reaction conditions, it is elucidated that applying a low ratio of methanol to seeds (≤6:1) has resulted in hindering the in situ trans-esterification and leading to insignificant conversion. The yield of esters has increased from 80.5% to 91.7% as the molar ratio rose from 9:1 to 12:1. Excess alcohol beyond the ratio of 15:1 was shown to have a negative impact on the yield of the produced esters, attributed to an increase in the biodiesel portion prone to dissolving in the co-product (glycerol). An increase in the reaction bulk temperature from 40 to 55 ℃ led to a higher ester content by 50%. Further increases in the bulk temperature beyond 55 ℃ did not affect yields. Regarding the reaction period, the results have shown that 3 h of reaction is adequate for a higher biodiesel yield. The quality of the biodiesel obtained has demonstrated that all physicochemical properties meet the ASTM D6751 specifications.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.69-73
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• 2003

The atmospheric pressure plasma is regarded as an effective method for surface treatments because it can reduce the period of process and doesn't need expensive vacuum apparatus. The performance of non-transferred plasma torches is significantly depended on jet flow characteristics out of the nozzle. In order to produce the high performance of a torch, the maximum discharge velocity near an annular gap in the torch should be maintained. Also, the compulsory swirl is being produced to gain the shape that can concentrate the plasma at the center of gas flow. In this work, the distribution of gas flow that goes out to atmosphere through a plenum chamber and nozzle is analyzed to evaluate the performance of atmospheric pressure plasma torch which can present the optimum design of the torch. Numerical analysis is carried out with various angles of an inlet flow velocity. Especially, three-dimensional model of the torch is investigated to estimate swirl effect. We also investigate the stabilization of plasma distribution. For analyzing the swirl in the plenum chamber and the flow distribution, FVM (finite volume method) and SIMPLE algorithm are used for solving the governing equations. The standard k-model is used for simulating the turbulence.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.308-312
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• 2012

Argon-plasma jet (Ar-PJ) is generated by ionizing Ar gas, and the resulting Ar-PJ consists of a mixture of neutral particles, positive ions, negative electrons, and various reactive species. Although Ar-PJ has been used in various biomedical applications, little is known about the biological effects on cells located near the plasma-exposed region. Here, we investigated the effects of the Ar-PJ on actin cytoskeleton of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) in response to indirect as well as direct exposure to Ar-PJ. This Ar-PJ was generated at 500 mL/min of flow rate and 100 V electric power by our device mainly consisting of electrodes, dielectrics, and a high-voltage power supply. Because actin cytoskeleton is the key cellular machinery involved in cellular movement and is implicated in regulation of cancer metastasis and thus resulting in a highly desirable cancer therapeutic target, we examined the actin filament architectures in Ar-PJ-treated MEFs by staining with an actin-specific phalloidin labeled with fluorescent dye. Interestingly, the Ar-PJ treatment causes destabilization of actin filament architectures in the regions indirectly exposed to Ar-PJ, but no differences in MEFs treated with Ar gas alone and in untreated cell control, indicating that this phenomenon is a specific cellular response against Ar-PJ in the live cells, which are indirectly exposed to Ar-PJ. Collectively, our study raises the possibility that Ar-PJ may have potential as anti-cancer drug effect through direct destabilization of the actin cytoskeleton.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.111-118
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• 2013

The influence of gas flow on the plasma generation in the atmospheric plasma jet is described with the theory of hydrodynamics. The plasma discharge is affected by the gas-flow streams with Reynolds number (Re) as well as the gas pressure with Bernoulli's theorem according to the gas flow rate inserted into the glass tube. The length of plasma column is varied with the flow types such as the laminar flow of Re<2,000 and the turbulent flow of Re>4,000 as it has been known in a general fluid experiments. In the laminar flow, the plasma column length is increased as the increase of flow rate. Since the pressure in the glass tube becomes low as the increase of flow velocity by the Bernoulli's theorem, the breakdown voltage of plasma discharge is reduced by the Paschen's law. Therefore, the plasma length is increased as the increasing flow rate with the fixed operation voltage. In the transition of laminar and turbulent flows, the plasma length is decreased. When the flow becomes turbulent as the flow rate is increasing, the plasma length becomes short and the discharge is shut down ultimately. In the discharge of laminar flow, the diameter of plasma beam exposed on the substrate surface is kept less than the glass diameter, since the gas flow is kept to the distinct distance from the nozzle of glass tube.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.641-646
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• 2016

The effects of water addition on $Y_2O_3$ coatings or thick films prepared by plasma suspension spray (SPS) have been investigated. Water addition in suspension media was found to be effective to control the color of a $Y_2O_3$ coating prepared by SPS. The color changed with water addition at the shortest stand-off distance of 50 mm even if samples had the same crystalline phase. Change was not correlated with fragmentation behavior of liquid suspension inside the plasma jet. Water content over 50 vol% was found to produce unmelted particles, indicating that water suppressed heat transfer to the particles. However, plasma jet temperature was not affected. Instead, the coating fabricated with water addition has higher oxygen and lower carbon content compared to these characteristics of the coating without water addition. This was attributed to the retarded complete evaporation of liquid media from the suspension droplet, resulting in inhibition of excessive heating and evaporation of the molten $Y_2O_3$ droplet. In this regard, crystalline phase development with respect to stand-off distance and water addition was discussed.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.117-126
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• 2022

The Ionospheric Anomaly Monitoring by Magnetometer And Plasma-probe (IAMMAP) is one of the scientific instruments for the Compact Advanced Satellite 500-3 (CAS 500-3) which is planned to be launched by Korean Space Launch Vehicle in 2024. The main scientific objective of IAMMAP is to understand the complicated correlation between the equatorial electro-jet (EEJ) and the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) which play important roles in the dynamics of the ionospheric plasma in the dayside equator region. IAMMAP consists of an impedance probe (IP) for precise plasma measurement and magnetometers for EEJ current estimation. The designated sun-synchronous orbit along the quasi-meridional plane makes the instrument suitable for studying the EIA and EEJ. The newly-devised IP is expected to obtain the electron density of the ionosphere with unprecedented precision by measuring the upper-hybrid frequency (f_UHR) of the ionospheric plasma, which is not affected by the satellite geometry, the spacecraft potential, or contamination unlike conventional Langmuir probes. A set of temperature-tolerant precision fluxgate magnetometers, called Adaptive In-phase MAGnetometer, is employed also for studying the complicated current system in the ionosphere and magnetosphere, which is particularly related with the EEJ caused by the potential difference along the zonal direction.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.89-94
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• 2009

The influence on a stability of thermal plasma has been investigated in an electrode structure of non-transferred plasma torch. The variations of dynamic characteristic of the arc voltage was analyzed and compared in terms of voltage character and nozzle types for both the step-shaped nozzles and magnetic-approved cylindrical nozzle. From the experimental results, an electrode gap, flow rate of arc gas, and currents are considered as major operational parameters. As conclusion, it was assured that a torch with step-shaped nozzles of magnetic-approved type produce the stable plasma jet.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.306-308
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• 2006

Numerical simulations were carried out of the effects of momentum and heat produced by a plasma actuator on neutral flow. Momentum and heat generated during plasma discharge were modeled as a body force and heat source using results of experiments and DSMC of particle. These force and heat model were inserted into a Navier-Stokes equation and the flow around the plasma actuator could be explored by solving fluid dynamics only. Fluid simulation showed that force produced in DSMC generated a jet flow in the vicinity of the plasma actuator and heat accounted for density change.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.108-114
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• 2002

The new system using a glow discharge atomic emission spectrometer for the direct analysis of solid samples has been developed and characterized. The system was consisted of new glow discharge cell improved previous gas-jet boosted nozzle and radio-frequency power supply. In the case of previous type glow discharge chamber, it had been fitted trace analysis of low alloy steel with low discharge power, because it was to decrease redeposition and increase sample weight loss. But it had a problem that plasma becomes unstale due to increased sample weight loss and redeposition resulting from the high discharge power. Because of being problem of previous glow discharge, it is impossible to analyze using high power. The modified gas-jet boosted glow discharge to solve this problem would improve to be less sample loss rate of modified nozzle than sample loss rate of previous nozzle on the equal discharge condition, and improve to increase stability of plasma. The effect of discharge parameters such as discharge pressure, gas flow rate and power on the sample loss rate, emission intensity has been studied to find optimum discharge conditions. The calibration curves of Fe were obtained with 3 low-alloy samples.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.176-177
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• 2016

In the last few decades, attention toward atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) has been greatly increased due to the numerous advantages of those applications, such as non-necessity of high vacuum facility, easy setup and operation, and low temperature operation. The practical applications of APP can be found in a wide spectrum of fields from the functionalization of material surfaces to sterilization of medical devices. In the secondary battery industry, separator film has been typically treated by APP to enhance adhesion strength between adjacent films. In this process, the plasma is required to have high stability and uniformity for better performance of the battery. Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was usually adopted to limit overcurrent in the plasma, and we developed the pre-discharge technology to overcome the drawbacks of streamer discharge in the conventional DBD source which makes it possible to produce a super-stable plasma at atmospheric pressure. Simulations for the fluid flow and electric field were parametrically performed to find the optimized design for the linear jet plasma source. The developed plasma source (Plasmapp LJPS-200) exhibits spatial non-uniformity of less than 3%, and the adhesion strength between the separator and electrode films was observed to increase 17% by the plasma treatment.