• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2006

Dimethyl ether (DME) is a new clean fuel as an environmentally-benign energy resource. DME can be manufactured from various energy sources including natural gas, coal, biomass and spent plastic. In addition to its environmentally friendly properties, DME has similar characteristics to those of LPG. Therefore, it is considered as an excellent substitute fuel for LPG, fuel cells, power plant, and especially diesel and is expected to be the alternative fuel by 2010. The experimental study of the direct synthesis of DME was investigated under various conditions over a temperature range of $220{\sim}280^{\circ}C$, syngas ratio 1.2~3.0. All experiments were carried out with a hybrid catalyst, composed of a methanol synthesis catalyst ($Cu/ZnO/Al_2O_3$) and a dehydration catalyst (${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$). The observed reaction rate follows qualitatively a Langmiur-Hinshellwood model as the reaction mechanism. Such a mechanism is considered with three reactions; methanol synthesis, methanol dehydration and water gas shift reaction. From a surface reaction with dissociative adsorption of hydrogen, methanol, and water, individual reaction rate was determined.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2014

Risk assessment considers the situations and characteristics of the exposure environment and host. Various physiological variables of the human body reflects the characteristics of the population that can directly influence risk exposure. Therefore, identification of exposure factors based on the Korean population is required for appropriate risk assessment. It is expected that a handbook about general exposure factors will be used by professionals in many fields as well as the risk assessors of the health department. The process of developing the exposure factors handbook for the Korean population will be introduced in this article, with a specific focus on the general exposure factors including life expectancy, body weight, surface area, inhalation rates, amount of water intake, and soil ingestion targeting the Korean population. The researchers used national databases including the Life Table and the 2005 Time Use Survey from the National Statistical Office. The anthropometric study of size in Korea used the resources provided by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards. In addition, direct measurement and questionnaire surveys of representative samples were performed to calculate the inhalation rate, drinking water intake, and soil ingestion.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.47-57
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• 2020

In Floating PV (Photovoltaic) systems, PV modules are installed on water by utilizing the surface of idle water such as a reservoir and multipurpose dam. A floating PV system, therefore, has the advantage of efficiency in national land use and improved energy yield owing to cooling effect compared to on-land PV systems. Owing to the limitation of installation environment for a floating PV system, the system, however, has the disadvantage of an increase in transmission distance of DC (Direct current) cables. A longer transmission distance of a DC cable results in greater power loss due to a voltage drop. This leads to a decline in economic feasibility for the floating PV system. In this paper, the economic analysis for 10 floating PV systems installed in a reservoir has been conducted in terms of a change in annual power sales according to the variation of transmission losses depending on the factors affecting the voltage drop, such as transmission distance, cross-section area of underwater cable, the presence of joint box, and PV capacity.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.455-462
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• 2015

It is well known that warm eddy is frequently developed through the year in the East Sea. The warm eddy may affect sound propagation due to changes of sound velocity structures in the sea water. To verify the effects of the warm eddy for long-range sound propagation, transmission loss and performance surface, which were used mean direct signal excess range generated by sound propagation modeling using re-analyzed climatology data on March 23th in 2007 were analysed. From these analyses, we found that characteristics of sound propagation in the sea water are changed by the warm eddy, and boundaries of the warm eddy act as a barrier for long-range sound propagation. Furthermore, these disadvantages of the eddy related to sound propagation were increased when the sea bottom depth is shallow.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.79-87
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• 2013

In this paper, an Euler equation solver based on a Cartesian-grid method and non-uniform staggered grid system is applied to predict the ship motion response and added resistance in waves. Water, air, and solid domains are identified by a volume-fraction function for each phase and in each cell. For capturing the interface between air and water, the tangent of hyperbola for interface capturing (THINC) scheme is used with a weighed line interface calculation (WLIC) method. The volume fraction of solid body embedded in a Cartesian-grid system is calculated by a level-set based algorithm, and the body boundary condition is imposed by volume weighted formula. Added resistance is calculated by direct pressure integration on the ship surface. Numerical simulations for a Wigley III hull and an S175 containership in regular waves have been carried out to validate the newly developed code, and the ship motion responses and added resistances are compared with experimental data. For S175 containership, grid convergence test has been conducted to investigate the sensitivity of grid spacing on the motion responses and added resistances.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.71-77
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• 2017

In the event of loss of coolant accident (LOCA) and station black out (SBO) in the primary system of a nuclear reactor, the coolant water should be injected to reactor coolant system (RCS) without any intervention of operators or active components. To satisfy the requirements, hybrid safety injection tank (Hybrid SIT) was suggested by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The pressure equalizing time of Hybrid SIT is an important parameter to determine the timing of coolant injection. To predict the pressure equalizing time of the Hybrid SIT, a separate effect test facility was constructed and sensitivity tests were conducted in various conditions. The main parameter determining the pressure equalizing time was obtained from separate effect test (SET) results. The wall of condensation on the inner wall of SIT and direct contact condensation on the water surface affected to the pressure equalizing time very much. In this study, the effect of each condensation phenomena on pressure equalizing time was quantitatively analyzed from results of SET and a prediction method of pressure equalizing time was proposed.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.235-243
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• 2022

The paper presents the effect of operating temperatures and flow rates on the distillate flux that can be obtained from a hydrophobic membrane having the characteristics: pore size of 0.15 ㎛; thickness of 130 ㎛; and 85% porosity. That membrane in the present investigation could be the direct contact (DCMD) or the air-gap membrane distillation (AGMD). To model numerically the membrane distillation processes, the two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) is used for the DCMD and AGMD cases here. In this work, DCMD and AGMD models have been validated with the experimental data using different flows (Parallel and Counter-current flows) in non-steady-state situations. A good agreement is obtained between the present results and those of the experimental data in the literature. The new approach in the present numerical modeling has allowed examining effects of the nature of materials (Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymers, copolymers, and blends) used on thermal properties. Moreover, the effect of the area surface of the membrane (0.021 to 3.15 ㎡) is investigated to explore both the laminar and the turbulent flow regimes. The obtained results found that copolymer P(VDF-TrFE) (80/20) is more effective than the other materials of membrane distillation (MD). The mass flux and thermal efficiency reach 193.5 (g/㎡s), and 83.29 % using turbulent flow and an effective area of 3.1 ㎡, respectively. The increase of feed inlet temperatures and its flow rate, with the reduction of cold temperatures and its flow rate are very effective for increasing distillate water flow in MD applications.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.148-154
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• 2009

With respect to the durability of large scale ($150cm^2$) membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), degradation phenomena at cathode is monitored and analyzed according to the position on the cathode surface. After constant current mode operation of large scale MEA for 500 hr, the MEA is divided into three parts along the cathode channel; (close to) inlet, middle, and (close to) outlet. The performance of each MEA is tested and it is revealed that the MEA from the cathode outlet of large MEA shows the worst performance. This is due to the catalyst degradation and GDL delamination caused by flooding at cathode outlet of large MEA during the 500 hr operation. Particularly on the catalyst degradation, the loss of electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of catalyst gets worse along the cathode channel from inlet to outlet, of which the reason is believed to be loss of catalysts by dissolution and migration rather than their agglomeration. The extent of loss in the performance and catalyst degradation has strong relation to the cathode flooding and it is required to develop proper water management techniques and separator channel design to control the flooding.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.109 no.4
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• pp.429-437
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• 2020

In this study we quantified the long-term change in discharge against precipitation in a forested watershed and investigated how the growth of forest trees influences these changes. We found a proportional relationship between precipitation and discharge for each year, and discharge decreased gradually with time. Precipitation and discharge were highest in July and August, and the changes in precipitation, discharge, and runoff rate did not always coincide, given that high runoff rate was shown in August and September. The monthly coefficient of variation (CV) for discharge was larger than that for precipitation, and the deviation between precipitation and discharge increased gradually. From 2011 to 2017, the gradient of the trend line for the change of total discharge and direct runoff against precipitation decreased, whereas the gradient of the base flow increased in this same time period. A possible explanation is that the water holding capacity of soil deposits increased as the forest soil of the Palgong Mountain watershed developed and the increase of base flow rose with groundwater level together with that of outflow quantity. The coefficient of flood recession was lower in the period 2011 to 2017 than in 2003 to 2010; thus, the reduction of discharge was mitigated and remained steady as time progressed. We conclude from these results that the discharge of surface runoff decreased as tree growth and base flow increased; however, the water yield function of the forest increased gradually.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.3-3
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• 2017

The question of how to establish sustainable agricultural systems has become as prominent as questions related to water, energy and climate change. High input/high output agriculture has brought with it many adverse effects; the massive deterioration of soil and water in both quantity and quality, increased greenhouse gas emissions and an increased prevalence of unsafe foods. Additionally, urbanization and climate change has worsened the shortage of farmland and reduced the supply of agricultural water. Given these challenges, maintaining, conserving and efficiently using agri-environmental resources, through fostering of sustainable agriculture, have emerged as key tasks in solving these problems. What is needed therefore is research, based on systematic and comprehensive empirical analyses, that can propose plans and methods for establishing an appropriate sustainable agricultural system. The empirical analysis of sustainable agricultural system is approached separately from economic, environmental and social aspects. An analysis of environment effect reveals that the available phosphate level is 1.3~2.1 times greater than the optimal amount in rice paddies, upland fields and orchards. Further examination has revealed that the excess nutrient is polluting both ground water and surface water. Analytical results for economic feasibility show that factors of production have been invested heavily in the rice crop. Under these conditions, sustainable agriculture, including low-input agriculture, appears to be a possible alternative that will facilitate simultaneous improvements in both economic feasibility and environment effects. Analysis results for sociality reveal that social factors include the value of producer, association and interior networks. Social conditions are comprised of leadership, consumers' awareness, education and conflict solutions. In addition, analysis as to the degree investments contribute to improving agricultural value added has revealed that the direct payment program is the most effective instrument. Experts confirm that economic feasibility can be improved by scientific and well-reasoned nutrient management on the basis of soil testing. Farmers pointed to 'economic factors' as being the largest obstacle to switching to the practice of sustainable agriculture. They also indicate 'uncertainty with regards to sustainable agriculture technology' as an impediment to practicing sustainable agriculture. Even so, farmers who believe environmental and regional issues to be the most pressing problems have expanded their practice of sustainable agriculture. The keys to establishing sustainable agriculture system are classified into the following four aspects. Firstly, from an economic aspect, the research indicates that agricultural policy needs to be integrated with environmental policy and that the function of market making based on the value chain needs to be revitalized. Secondly, from an environmental aspect, there is a need for an optimal resource management system to be established in the agricultural sector. In addition, sustainable agriculture practice will need to be extended with attendant environmentally-friendly and sustainable intensive technology also requiring further development. Thirdly, from a social aspect, green agriculture management needs to be fostered, technology and education extended, and social conflict mediated. Lastly, from a governance aspect, it will be necessary to strengthen good governance, assign and share suitable roles and responsibilities, build a cooperation system and utilize community supported agriculture.