• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.5 s.248
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• pp.489-495
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• 2006

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) should be sufficiently hydrated with a careful consideration of heat and water management. Water management has been a critical operation issue for better understanding the operation and optimizing the performance of a PEM fuel cell. The flooding on cathode side resulting from excess water can limit the fuel cell performance. In this study, the visual cell was designed and fabricated fur the visualization of liquid water droplet dynamics related to cathode flooding in flow channels. The experiment was carried out to observe the formation, growth and removal of water droplets using CCD imaging system. Effects of operating conditions such as cell temperature, air flow rate and air relative humidity on cathode flooding characteristics were mainly investigated. Based on this study, we can get the basic insight into flooding phenomena and its two-phase flow nature. It is expected that data obtained can be effectively used fur the setup and validation of two-phase PEM fuel cell models considering cathode flooding.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.269-280
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• 2009

The drop formation dynamics of a shear thinning, elastic, yield stress ($\tau_o$) fluid (Carbopol 980 (poly(acrylic acid)) dispersions) in silicone oil has been investigated in a flow-focusing microfluidic channel. The rheological character of each solution investigated varied from Netwonian-like through to highly non-Newtonian and was varied by changing the degree of neutralization along the poly (acrylic acid) backbone. We have observed that the drop size of these non-Newtonian fluids (regardless of the degree of neutralisation) showed bimodal behaviour. At first we observed increases in drop size with increasing viscosity ratio (viscosity ratio=viscosity of dispersed phase (DP)/viscosity of continuous phase (CP)) at low flowrates of the continuous phases, and thereafter, decreasing drop sizes as the flow rate of the CP increases past a critical value. Only at the onset of pinching and during the high extensional deformation during pinch-off of a drop are any differences in the non-Newtonian characteristics of these fluids, that is extents of shear thinning, elasticity and yield stress ($\tau_o$), apparent. Changes in these break-off dynamics resulted in the observed differences in the number and size distribution of secondary drops during pinch-off for both fluid classes, Newtonian-like and non-Newtonian fluids. In the case of the Newtonian-like drops, a secondary drop was generated by the onset of necking and breakup at both ends of the filament, akin to end-pinching behavior. This pinch-off behavior was observed to be unaffected by changes in viscosity ratio, over the range explored. Meanwhile, in the case of the non-Newtonian solutions, discrete differences in behaviour were observed, believed to be attributable to each of the non-Newtonian properties of shear thinning, elasticity and yield stress. The presence of a yield stress ($\tau_o$), when coupled with slow flow rates or low viscosities of the CP, reduced the drop size compared to the Newtonian-like Carbopol dispersions of much lower viscosity. The presence of shear thinning resulted in a rapid necking event post onset, a decrease in primary droplet size and, in some cases, an increase in the rate of drop production. The presence of elasticity during the extensional flow imposed by the necking event allowed for the extended maintenance of the filament, as observed previously for dilute solutions of linear polymers during drop break-up.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.369-375
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• 2001

Urushiol, a natural monomeric oil, was used to prepare a detergentless micro-emulsion with water and 2-propanol The formation of micro-emulsion was verified by conductivity measurements and dynamic light scattering. The conductivity data showed phase change dynamics, a characteristics of micro-emulsions, and subsequent dynamic light scattering study further confirmed the phenomenon. Average water droplet diameter was 10 nm to 500 nm when the molar ratio of 2-propanol ranged from 0.40 to 0.44 . Earlier studies were performed on toluene and hexane, in which the insoluble substrate in water phase was added to the solvents to be reacted on by enzymes. However, in the present urushiol system, urushiol was used as both solvent and substrate in the laccase polymerization of urushiol. The laccase activity in the system was examined using polymerization of urushiol. The laccase activity in the system was examined using syringaldezine as a substrate, and the activity increased rapidly near the molar ratio of 2-propanol at 0.4, where micro-emulsion started. The activity rose until 0.46 and fell dramatically thereafter. The study of laccase activity in differing mole fractions of 2-propanol showed the existence of an ‘optimal zone’, where the activity of laccase was significantly higher. In order to analyze urushiol polymerization by laccase, a bubble column reactor using a detergentless micro-emulsion system was constructed. Comparative study using other organic solvents systems were conducted and the 2-propanol system was shown to yield the highest polymerization level. The study of laccase activity at a differing mole fraction of 2-propanol showed the existence of an ‘optimal zone’ where the activity was significantly higher. Also, 3,000 cP viscosity was achieved in actual urushi processing, using only 1/100 level of laccase present in urushi.