• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.196-201
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• 2023

In order to improve the efficiency of the water splitting system for hydrogen energy production, the high overvoltage in the electrochemical reaction caused by the catalyst in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) must be reduced. Among them, transition metal-based compounds (hydroxide, sulfide, etc.) are attracting attention as catalyst materials to replace currently used precious metals such as platinum. In this study, Ni foam, an inexpensive metal porous material, was used as a support and β-Ni(OH)₂ microcrystals were synthesized through a hydrothermal synthesis process. In addition, changes in the crystal morphology, crystal structure, and water splitting characteristics of β-Ni(OH)₂ microcrystals synthesized by doping Fe to improve electrochemical properties were observed, and applicability as a catalyst in a commercial water electrolysis system was examined.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.837-842
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• 2014

A computer program is developed for the prediction of NO generation by the addition of water moisture and water electrolysis gas in LNG-fired turbulent reacting flow. This study is the first part to deal with the moisture effect on NO generation. In this study, parametric investigation has been made in order to see the reduction of thermal NO as a function of amount of moisture content in a LNG-fired flame together with the swirl and radiation effect. First of all, calculation results show that the flame separation together with the NO concentration separation are observed by the typical flow separation due to strong swirl flow. With a fixed amount of air, the increased amount of water moisture from 0 to 10% by 2% interval shows the decrease of NO concentration and flame temperature at exit are from $973^{\circ}C$ and 139 ppm to $852^{\circ}C$ and 71 ppm. The radiation effects on the generation on NO appears more dominant than swirl strength over the range employed in this study. However, for the strong swirl flow employed in this study, the flow separation cause the relatively high NO concentration observed near exit after peak concentration in the front side of the combustor.

• Clean Technology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.121-132
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• 2017

The increase of greenhouse gases and the concern of global warming instigate the development and spread of renewable energy and hydrogen is considered one of the clean energy sources. Hydrogen is one of the most elements in the earth and exist in the form of fossil fuel, biomass and water. In order to use hydrogen for a clean energy source, the hydrogen production method should be eco-friendly and economic as well. There are two different hydrogen production methods: conventional thermal method using fossil fuel and renewable method using biomass and water. Steam reforming, autothermal reforming, partial oxidation, and gasification (using solid fuel) have been considered for hydrogen production from fossil fuel. When using fossil fuel, carbon dioxide should be separated from hydrogen and captured to be accepted as a clean energy. The amount of hydrogen from biomass is insignificant. In order to occupy noticeable portion in hydrogen industries, biomass conversion, especially, biological method should be sufficiently improved in a process efficiency and a microorganism cultivation. Electrolysis is a mature technology and hydrogen from water is considered the most eco-friendly method in terms of clean energy when the electric power is from renewable sources such as photovoltaic cell, solar heat, and wind power etc.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.352-359
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• 2005

This work has studied the changes of pH in both of anodic and cathodic chambers of a divided cell due to the electrolytic split of water during the ammonia decomposition to nitrogen, and has studied the continuous decomposition characteristics of ammonia in a multi-cell stacked electrolyzer. The electrolytic decomposition of ammonia was much affected by the change of pH of ammonia solution which was caused by the water split reactions. The water split reaction occurred at pH of less than 8 in the anodic chamber with producing proton ions, and occurred at pH of more than 11 in the cathodic chamber with producing hydroxyl ions. The pH of the anodic chamber using an anion exchange membrane was sustained to be higher than that using a cation exchange membrane, which resulted in the higher decomposition of ammonia in the anodic chamber. By using the electrolytic characteristics of the divided cell, a continuous electrolyzer with a self-pH adjustment function was newly devised, where a portion of the ammonia solution from a pHadjustment tank was circulated through the cathodic chambers of the electrolyzer. It enhanced the pH of the ammonia solution fed from the pH-adjustment tank into the anodic chambers of the electrolyzer, which caused a higher decomposition yield of ammonia. And then, based on the electrolyzer, a salt-free ammonia decomposition process was suggested. In that process, ammonia solution could be continuously decomposed into the environmentally-harmless nitrogen gas up to 83％, when chloride ion was added into the ammonia solution.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.291-298
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• 2016

Electrochemical water treatment process as a useful treatment method for the removal of non-degradable matter has been consistently studied for several decades. Key process of electrochemical water treatment are oxidation reaction from an anode and reduction from a cathode. In this study, the effect of pre-treatment methods in the insoluble electrode manufacturing process for the water treatment has been evaluated for the life time of electrode The results of this study showed that pre-treatment methods of a base metal such as surface roughness, clean method and interlayer formation influenced to life time of electrode when the same condition (catalyst electrode layer coating method and material system) was applied for pre-treatment methods. This study was conducted by using $IrO_2/Ti$ electrode In the test of sand-blasting process, an electrode manufactured by using sanding media of different sizes resulted in the most effective electrode life time when the size of alumina was used for $212{\sim}180{\mu}m$ praticle size (#80). The most effective method was considered using arc plasma in the additional roughness control and cleaning process, sputtering method to form Ta type interlayer formation process.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.595-603
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• 2010

This paper deals with an economic evaluation of domestic window type photoelectrochemical hydrogen production utilizing solar cells. We make some sensitivity analysis of hydrogen production prices by changing the values of input factors such as the initial capital cost, the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency, and the system duration time. The hydrogen production price of the window type photoelectrochemical system was estimated as 1,168,972 won/$kgH_2$. It is expected that hydrogen production cost can be reduced to 47,601 won/$kgH_2$ if the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency is increased to 14%, the system duration time is increased to 20,000 hours, and the initial capital cost is decreased to 25% of the current level. We also evaluate the hydrogen production cost of the water electrolysis using the electricity produced by solar cells. The corresponding hydrogen production cost was estimated as 37,838 won/$kgH_2$. The photoelectrochemical hydrogen production is evaluated as uneconomical at this time, and we need to enhance the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency and the system duration time as well as to reduce prices of the system facilities.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.156-165
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• 2017

This study quantitatively assessed the environmental impacts of fuel cell (FC) systems by performing life cycle assessment (LCA) and analyzed their energy efficiencies based on energy return on investment (EROI) and electrical energy stored on investment (ESOI). Molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) system and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system were selected as the fuel cell systems. Five different paths to produce hydrogen ($H_2$) as fuel such as natural gas steam reforming (NGSR), centralized naptha SR (NSR(C)), NSR station (NSR(S)), liquified petroleum gas SR (LPGSR), water electrolysis (WE) were each applied to the FCs. The environmental impacts and the energy efficiencies of the FCs were compared with rechargeable batteries such as $LiFePO_4$ (LFP) and Nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH). The LCA results show that MCFC_NSR(C) and PEMFC_NSR(C) have the lowest global warming potential (GWP) with 6.23E-02 kg $CO_2$ eq./MJ electricity and 6.84E-02 kg $CO_2$ eq./MJ electricity, respectively. For the impact category of abiotic resource depletion potential (ADP), MCFC_NGSR(S) and PEMFC_NGSR(S) show the lowest impacts of 7.42E-01 g Sb eq./MJ electricity and 7.19E-01 g Sb eq./MJ electricity, respectively. And, the energy efficiencies of the FCs are higher than those of the rechargeable batteries except for the case of hydrogen produced by WE.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

Nuclear hydrogen production using high temperature heat of a very high temperature reactor(VHTR) is one of the most attractive ways of mass hydrogen production without greenhouse gas emission. In many countries, sulfur-iodine(S-I) thermochemical process and high temperature steam electrolysis(HTSE) process are being investigated. In such processes, corrosion behavior of Intermediate heat exchanger materials are the most critical issues. Especially in a HTSE system, several heat exchangers will be facing hot steam conditions. In this paper, the status of high temperature corrosion researches in hot steam and supercritical water conditions are reviewed in view of the implication to HTSE conditions. Based on the review, test condition and plan of the hot steam corrosion of the candidate materials are formulated and described in some details along with the schematics of the test set-up. The test results and subsequent evaluation will be used in development of a interface system between the HTSE hydrogen production system and the VHTR.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.212-220
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• 2015

The engineering plastic of sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) as a polymer matrix has been developed in this lab to replace Nafion, solid polymer electrolytes of perfluorosulfonic acid membrane which has several flaws such as high cost, and limited operational temperature above $80^{\circ}C$. The SPEEK was prepared in the sulfonation reaction of polyether ether ketone (PEEK). The organic-inorganic blended composite membranes were prepared by sol-gel casting method with loading the highly dispersed ceria and cesium-substituted tungstosilicic acid (Cs-TSiA) with cross-linking agent contents of 0.01 mL. In conclusion, CL-SPEEK/Cs-TSiA/ceria 1% membrane showed the optimum results such as 0.1882 S/cm of proton conductivity at $80^{\circ}C$, and 99.61 MPa of tensile strength which were better than Nafion 117 membrane.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.273-281
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• 2020

Constructing and making highly active and stable nanostructured Pt-based catalysts with ultralow Pt loading are still electrifying for electrochemical applications such as water electrolysis and fuel cells. In this study, MoO₃ ribbons (RBs) of few micrometer in length is successfully synthesized via hydrothermal synthesis. Subsequently, 3-dimentional (3D)-silicate layer for about 10 to 15 nm is introduced via chemical deposition onto the pre-formed MoO₃ RBs; to setup the platform for Pt metaldots (MDs) deposition. In comparison with the bare MoO₃ RBs, the MoO₃-Si has served as a efficient solid-support for stabilizing and accommodating the uniform deposition of sub-2 nm Pt MDs. Such a structural design would effectively assist in improving the electronic conductivity of a fabricated MoO₃-Si-Pt catalyst towards MOR; the interfaced, porous and 3D silicate layer has assisted in an efficient mass transport and quenching the poisonous CO_ads species leading to a significant electrocatalytic performance for MOR in alkaline medium. Uniformly decorated, sub-2 nm sized Pt MDs has synergistically oxidized the MeOH in association with the MoO₃-Si solid-support hence, synergistic catalytic activity has been achieved. Present facile approach can be extended for fabricating variety of highly efficient Metal Oxide-Metal Nanocomposite for energy harvesting applications.