• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.317-322
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• 2015

Salinity gradient power is a system which sustainably generates electricity for 24 hrs, if the system is constructed at a certain place where both seawater and river water are consistently pumped. Since power is critically determined by the water flux and the salt rejection, a membrane of water-semipermeable aquaporin protein in cell membranes was studied for pressure-retarded osmosis. NaCl was used as a salt, and $NaNO_3$ was used as a candidate to check the ion selectivity. The water flux of biomimetic aquaporin membranes was negligible at a concentration below 2M. Also, there is no remarkable dependence of water flux and ion selectivity on concentrations higher than 3M. Therefore, the biomimetic aquaporin membrane could not be applied into pressure-retarded osmosis; however, if a membrane could overcome the current limitations, the properties shown by natural cells could be accomplished.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.109-120
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• 2017

The reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an energy generation system to convert chemical potential of saline water directly into electric energy via the combination of current derived from a redox couple electrolyte and ionic potential obtained when cation ($Na^+$) and anion ($Cl^-$) pass through cation exchange membrane (CEM) and anion exchange membrane (AEM) into fresh water, respectively. Ion exchange membrane, a key element of RED system, should satisfy requirements such as 1) low swelling behavior, 2) a certain level of ion exchange capacity, 3) high ion conductivity, and 4) high perm-selectivity to achieve high power density. In this paper, research trends and prospects of ionomer materials and ion exchange membranes are dealt with.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.68-74
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• 2014

In the spiral wound module of the pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) system for the salinity gradient power generation, effects of the inlet pressure differences between feed-channel and draw-channel were studied. Fluxes of water and solute through membrane and power were estimated. The water flux through membrane decreased along the x-direction and increased along the y-direction with the increase of inlet pressure differences between two channels. On the other hand, the solute flux through membrane showed the opposite trend. The concentration of flow in the feed-channel increased a lot along the y-direction and that in the draw-channel decreased along the x-direction. In our system, for the inlet pressure differences of 1~11 atm, the flow rate in the feed-channel decreased about 8~13% and that in the draw-channel increased by the same amount. The power density increased and then decreased with the increasing inlet pressure difference.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.09a
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• pp.54-69
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• 2000

There are groundwater trouble by high-salinity yield inducing sea-water intrusion in Cheju Island. It is used groundwater-GIS(Well-lnfo) in the maintenance and management of groundwater in Cheju Island to grasp groundwater trouble area and cause of high-salinity yield. For 16 wells certain to yield high-salinity, we logged specific electrical conductivity(EC) and tried to get hold of freshwater and saltwater relationship. As result of distribution of $Cl^-$ by depth, it is showed up groundwater trouble by high-salinity yield in the east coastal area and the partly north coastal area. The reason of high-salinity groundwater yield are low-groundwater level by the structure of geology and low-hydraulic gradient etc. There is necessity for management to development and use of groundwater in the high-salinity area, special management area.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.347-352
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• 2017

Reverse electrodialysis (RED), which generates electrical energy from the difference in concentration of two solutions, has been actively studied owing to its high potential and the increased interest in renewable energy resulting from the Paris Agreement on climate change. For RED commercialization, its power density needs to be maximized, and therefore various methods have been discussed. In this paper, the power density was measured using various flow shapes based on the aspect ratio, opening ratio, and number of distribution channels. We found that the power density is enhanced with a decrease in the aspect ratio and an increase in the opening ratio and number of distribution channels.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2017

Pressure retarded osmosis(PRO) has attracted much attention as potential technology to reduce the overall energy consumption for reverse osmosis(RO) desalination. The RO/PRO hybrid process is considered as the most logical next step for future desalination. The PRO process aims to harness the osmotic energy difference of two aqueous solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane. By using the concentrated water(RO brine) discharged from existing RO plants, the PRO process can effectively exploit a greater salinity gradient to reduce the energy cost of processing concentrated water. However, in order to use RO brine as the draw solution, PRO membrane must have high water flux and enough mechanical strength to withstand the high operational pressure. This study investigates the development of a thin film composite PRO membrane and spiral wound module for high power density. Also, the influence of membrane backing layer on the overall power density was studied using the characteristic factors of PRO membranes. Finally, the performance test of an 8-inch spiral wound module was carried out under various operating conditions(i.e. hydraulic pressure, flow rate, temperature). As the flow rate and temperature increased under the same hydraulic pressure, the PRO performance increased due to the growth of water permeability coefficient and osmotic pressure. For a high performance PRO system, in order to optimize the operating conditions, it is highly recommended that the flow pressure be minimized while the flow rate is maintained at a high level.