• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.261-269
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• 2015

In this study, numerical analysis of curved channel steam-methanol reformer was conducted using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) commercial code STAR-CCM. A pre-numerical analysis of reference model with a cylindrical channel reactor was performed to validate the combustion model of the CFD commercial code. The result of advance validation was in agreement with reference model over 95%. After completing the validation, a curved channel reactor was designed to determine the effects of shape and length of flow path on methanol conversion efficiency and generation of hydrogen. Numerical analysis of the curved-channel reformer was conducted under various flow rate ($10/15/20{\mu}l/min$). As a result, the characteristics of flow and mass transfer were confirmed in the cylindrical channel and curved channel reactor, and useful information about methanol conversion efficiency and hydrogen generation was obtained for various flow rate.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1996.10b
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• pp.156-159
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• 1996

An adaptive predictive control for steam-reforming plant which consist of a steam-gas reformer and a waste heat steam-boiler was studied by using MIMO bilinear model. The simulation experiments of the process identification were performed by using linear and bilinear models. From the simulation results it was found that the bilinear model represented the dynamic behavior of a steam-reforming plant very well. ARMA model was used in the process identification and the adaptive predictive control. To verify the performance and effectiveness of the adaptive predictive controller proposed in this study the simulation results of steam-reforming plant control based on bilinear model were compared to those of linear model. The simulation results showed that the adaptive predictive controller based on bilinear model provides better performance than those of linear model.

• 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.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.12 s.255
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• pp.1196-1202
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• 2006

A MEMS methanol reformer was fabricated and its performance was evaluated in the present study. Catalytic steam reforming of methanol was selected because the process had been widely applied in macro scale reformers. Conventional Cu/ZnO catalyst that was prepared by co-precipitation method to give the highest coating quality was used. The reactor structure was made by bonding three layers of glass wafers. The internal structure of the wafer was fabricated by the wet-etching process that resulted in a high aspect ratio. The internal surface of the reactor was coated by catalyst and individual wafers were fusion-bonded to form the reactor structure. The internal volume of the microfabricated reactor was $0.3cm^3$ and the reactor produced exhaust gas with hydrogen concentration at 73%. The production rate of hydrogen was 4.16 ml/hr that could generate power of 350 mW in a typical PEM fuel cell.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.733-742
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• 2022

Hydrogen fuel cell propulsion ships are emerging to respond to the recently strengthened carbon emission regulations in the international shipping sector. Methanol can be stored in a liquid state at normal pressure and temperature, and has the advantage of lower reforming temperature compared to other fuels. In this study, the optimal operating point of the methanol steam reforming system was derived by changing the Steam Carbon Ratio (SCR) from 0.10 to 3.00. Results showed that In terms of methanol conversion rate and hydrogen yield, the larger the SCR is the better, but in terms of system efficiency, it is most advantageous to operate at SCR 0.70 in Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) mode and SCR 0.80 in Pd membrane mode. Through this study, it was found that the optimal SCR in the reformer and the entire system including the reformer may be different, which indicates that the optimum operating point may be different depending on the change of the system configuration.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.187-190
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• 2007

A combined hydrogen generator of plasma and catalytic reformers has been developed, and has been applied to stabilize unstable flame of 200,000 Kcal/hr LPG combustor. The role of the plasma reformer is to generate hydrogen in a short period and to heat-up the catalytic reformer during the start-up time. After the start-up period, the catalytic reformer generates hydrogen through steam reforming with oxygen (SRO) reactions. The maximum capacity of the hydrogen generator is 100 lpm that is sufficient to be used to stabilize the flame of the present combustor. In order to reduce NOx and CO emissions simultaneously, 1) FGR (Flue Gas Recirculation) technique has been adopted and 2) the hydrogen has been added into the fuel supplied to the combustor. Test results shows that 25 % addition of hydrogen and 30 % FGR rate lead to simultaneous decrease of CO and NOx emissions. The technique proposed in the present study shows good potential to replace $NH_3$ SCR technique, especially in the case of small-scale combustor applications.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.240-245
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• 2010

In this study, characteristics of wood pellet gasification was studied using a Two Stage Gasifier which is consisted of pyrolysis reactor and ultra high temperature reformer. The average yields of $H_2$, $CH_4$, CO, $CO_2$ were 16.7, 11.3, 37.2, 26.6 L/mim, conversion rate from biomass to gas was 65% in pyrolysis reactor and gas yields in reformer were 55.4, 0.8, 120.8, 56.8 L/mim, respectively. The hydrogen flow rate from reformer is obtained 360.1 L/hr. The most of $CH_4$ was decomposed from 12.3 to 0.3 vol.% while $H_2$ is from 18.2 to 23.7 vol.% in reformer by methane dry reforming, Boudouard reaction, oxidation and/or steam reforming. The amount of $H_2O$ generated by hydration reaction from reformer was 1111.8 g, its accelerated conversion of $CH_4$ to other products. The conversion rate from $CH_4$ to other Compounds was 97.2%. Cold gas efficiency was 53.2%.

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.103-108
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• 2004

The present paper relates to an apparatus in which all carbonaceous material such as coal, oil, plastics and any substance having carbon atoms as part of its constituents are reformed(gasified) into syngas at temperature above $1,200^{\circ}C$(KR patent No.0391121, and PCT/KR2001/01717 and PCT/KR2004/001020). It comprises a single-stage reforming reactor without catalyst and a syngas burner as shown in Fig.2. syngas is combusted with $O_2$ gas in the syngas bunter to produce $M_2O$ and $CO_2$ gas with exothermic heat. Reaction products are introduced into the reforming reactor, reaction heat from syngas burner elevate the temperature of reactor above $1,200^{\circ}C$, and reaction products reduce carbonaceous material down to CO and $H_2$ gases. Reactants and heat necessary for the reaction are provided through the syngas burner only, Neither $O_2$ gas nor steam are injected into the reforming reactor. Reformer is made of ceramic inner lining and sst outer casing. Multiple syngas burners may be connected to the reforming reactor in order to increase the syngas output, and a portion of the product syngas is recycled into syngas burner. The present reformer as shown in Fig.2 is suitable to gasify carbonaceous wastes without secondary pollutants formed from oxidation. Further, it can be miniaturized to accompany a fuel cell system as shown in Fig.3 The output syngas may be used to drive a fuel cell and a portion of electrical power generated in a fuel cell is used to heat a compact reformer up to $1,200^{\circ}C$ so that gas/liquid fossil fuel can efficiently reformed into syngas. The fuel cell serves as syngas burner in Fig.2. The reformation reaction is sustained through recycling a portion of product syngas into a fuel cell and using a portion of electric power generated to heat the reformer for continuous operation. Such reforming reactor may be miniaturized into a size of PC, then you have a Personal Reformer(PR).

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.800-809
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• 2011

The reaction characteristics of an integrated reactor with steam reformer and catalytic combustor using anode offgas for high temperature fuel cells such as MCFC and SOFC have been experimentally investigated in the present study. The coupled reactor had a coaxial cylindrical shape, and the inner and the outer tube was packed with combustion catalysts and reforming catalysts, respectively. Thus, the endothermic steam reforming could proceed by absorbing heat from catalytic combustion of anode offgas. Results show that increasing inlet temperature and decreasing excess air ratio increased the reformer temperature, which led to the increase in $H_2$ yield. The reforming performance for SOFC conditions was better than that for MCFC conditions since the composition of flammable components became smaller for MCFC cases. Measured reformate composition under various test conditions correlated well with thermal equilibrium composition.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.343-350
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• 2012

A planar solid oxide fuel cell (PSOFC) is studied in its application in a high-temperature stationary power plant. Even though PSOFCs with external reformers are designed for application from the distributed power source to the central power plant, such PSOFCs may sacrifice more system efficiency than internally reformed SOFCs. In this study, modeling of the PSOFC with an external reformer was developed to analyze the feasibility of thermal energy utilization for the external reformer. The PSOFC system model includes the stack, reformer, burner, heat exchanger, blower, pump, PID controller, 3-way valve, reactor, mixer, and steam separator. The model was developed under the Matlab/Simulink environment with Thermolib$^{(R)}$ modules. The model was used to study the system performance according to its configuration. Three configurations of the SOFC system were selected for the comparison of the system performance. The system configuration considered the cathode recirculation, thermal sources for the external reformer, heat-up of operating gases, and condensate anode off-gas for the enhancement of the fuel concentration. The simulation results show that the magnitude of the electric efficiency of the PSOFC system for Case 2 is 12.13% higher than that for Case 1 (reference case), and the thermal efficiency of the PSOFC system for Case 3 is 76.12%, which is the highest of all the cases investigated.