• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.190-198
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• 2016

Application of fuel cell to produce renewable energy for commercial purpose is limited by the high cost of Pt based electrode materials. Development of inexpensive, high energetic electrode is the need of the hour to produce pollution free energy using bio-fuel through a fuel cell. Ni-Cu and Ni-CeO₂-Cu electrode materials, electro synthesized by pulse current have been developed. The surface morphology of the electrode materials is controlled by different deposition parameters in order to produce a high current from the electro-oxidation of the fuel, the ethanol. The developed materials are electrochemically characterized by Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Chronoamperometry (CA) and Potentiodynamic polarization tests. The results confirm that the high current is due to their enhanced catalytic properties viz. high exchange current density (i₀), low polarization resistance (R_p) and low impedance. It is worthwhile to mention here that the addition of CeO₂ to Ni-Cu has outperformed Pt as far as the high electro catalytic properties are concerned; the exchange current density is about eight times higher than the same on Pt surface. The morphology of the electrode surface examined by SEM and FESEM exhibits that the grains are narrow and sub spherical with 3D surface, containing vacancies in between the elongated grains. The fact has enhanced more surface area for electro oxidation of the fuel, giving rise to an increase in current. Presence of Ni, CeO₂, and Cu is confirmed by the XRD and EDXS. Fuel cell fabricated with Ni-CeO₂-Cu material electrode is expected to produce clean electrical energy at cheaper rates than conventional one, using bio fuel the derived from biomass.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 2008

The influence of fission products' contents on the DUPIC fuel powder and pellet properties was experimentally evaluated using SIMFUEL as a surrogate for actual spent PWR fuel due to the high radioactivity of spent fuel. Pure $UO_2$ and SIMFUEL pellets with fission products equivalent to a burn-up of 35,000 MWd/tU and 60,000 MWd/tU were used as impurities in this study. The specific surface area of the powder milled after the OREOX treatment increased and resulted in sintered pellets with a theoretical density (TD) higher than 95%, regardless of the impurity contents. However, the grain size of the sintered pellets decreased with the increasing impurity contents. As a result of the dissolved oxides in $UO_2$ from the impurity groups, the specific surface area of the OREOX powder increased with an increase of the impurities. The grain size of the sintered pellets was significantly decreased by the metallic and oxide precipitates.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.553-559
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• 2016

There has been increasing global interest in the environmental pollution problems produced by fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In order to tackle these issues, new renewable energy such as solar, wind, bio gas, fuel cell and pressure retarded osmosis(PRO) have been developed extensively. Among these energy sources, PRO is one of the salinity gradient power generation methods. In PRO, energy is obtained by the osmotic pressure generated from the concentration difference between high and low concentration solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane. The development for high power density PRO membranes is imperative with the purpose of commercialization. This study investigates development of thin film composite PRO membrane and spiral wound module for high power density. Also, the influence of membrane backing layer on power density was identified, and the characteristic factors of PRO membranes was determined. Different backing layers were used to improve power density. As expected, the PRO membrane with more porous backing layer showed higher power density.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.29-40
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• 2013

Two different kinds of nuclear power plants produce a substantial amount of spent fuel annually in Korea. According to the current projection, it is expected that around 60,000 MtU of spent fuel will be produced from 36 PWR and APR reactors and 4 CANDU reactors by the end of 2089. In 2006, KAERI proposed a conceptual design of a geological disposal system (called KRS, Korean Reference disposal System for spent fuel) for PWR and CANDU spent fuel, as a product of a 4-year research project from 2003 to 2006. The major result of the research was that it was feasible to construct a direct disposal system for 20,000 MtU of PWR spent fuels and 16,000 MtU of CANDU spent fuel in the Korean peninsula. Recently, KAERI and MEST launched a project to develop an advanced fuel cycle based on the pyroprocessing of PWR spent fuel to reduce the amount of HLW and reuse the valuable fissile material in PWR spent fuel. Thus, KAERI has developed a geological disposal system for high-level waste from the pyroprocessing of PWR spent fuel since 2007. However, since no decision was made for the CANDU spent fuel, KAERI improved the disposal density of KRS by introducing several improved concepts for the disposal canister. In this paper, the geological disposal systems developed so far are briefly outlined. The amount and characteristics of spent fuel and HLW, 4 kinds of disposal canisters, the characteristics of a buffer with domestic Ca-bentonite, and the results of a thermal design of deposition holes and disposal tunnels are described. The different disposal systems are compared in terms of their disposal density.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.791-798
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• 2007

The hydraulic hybrid vehicle(HHV) is an application of hydrostatic transmission technology to improve vehicle fuel economy and emissions. A relatively lower energy density of hydraulic accumulator and complicated coordinating operations between two power sources require a special energy management strategy to maximize the fuel saving potential. This paper presents a new type of configuration for parallel HHV to minimize the disadvantages of the hydraulic accumulator, as well as a methodology for developing an energy management strategy tailored specially for PHHV. Based on an analysis of the optimal energy distribution between two power sources over a representative urban driving cycle with a Dynamic Programming(DP) algorithm, a fuzzy-based optimal torque management strategy is designed and developed to control the torque distribution. Simulation results demonstrates that the optimal torque management strategy maximizes the advantages of this hybrid type of configuration, and the high power density characteristics of hydraulic technology effectively improve the robustness of the energy management strategy and fuel economy of the PHHV.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.1-4
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• 2008

Fuel cells have the potential of providing several times higher energy storage densities than those possible using current state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries, but current energy density of fuel cell system is not better than that of lithium-ion batteries. To achieve the high energy density, volume and weight of fuel cell system need to be reduced by miniaturizing system components such as stack, fuel tank, and balance-of-plant. In this paper, the thin flexible PCB (Printed circuit board) is used as a current collector to reduce the stack volume. Two end plates are made from light weight aluminum alloy plate. The plate surface is wholly oxidized through the anodizing treatment for electrical insulation. The opening rate of cathode plate hole is optimized through unit cell performance measurement of various opening rates. The performances are measured at room temperature and ambient pressure condition without any repulsive air supply. The active area of MEA is 10.08 $cm^2$ and active area per a unit cell is 1.68 $cm^2$. The peak power density is about 210 mW/$cm^2$ and the air-breathing planar stack of 2 Wis achieved as a small volume of 18 cc.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.506-510
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• 2016

The eutectic melt of BaO-CuO flux is known to be a potential sintering aid for $Ba(Zr,Y)O_3$ (BZY) electrolyte for proton-conducting ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs). A density of BZY higher than 97% of theoretical density can be achieved via sintering at $1300^{\circ}C$ for 2 h using a flux composed of 28 mol% BaO and 72 mol% CuO. In the present study, chemical and structural evolution of BaO-CuO flux throughout the sintering process was investigated. An intermediate holding step at $1100^{\circ}C$ leads to formation of various impurity compounds such as $BaCuO_{1.977}$, $Ba_{0.92}Cu_{1.06}O_{2.28}$ and $Cu_{16}O_{14.15}$, which exhibit significantly larger unit cell volumes than the matrix. The presence of such secondary compounds with large lattice mismatch can potentially lead to mechanical failure. On the other hand, direct heating to the final sintering temperature produced CuO and $Cu_2O$ as secondary phases, whose unit cell volumes are close to that of the matrix. Therefore, the final composition of the flux is strongly affected by the thermal history, and a proper sintering schedule should be used to obtain the desired properties of the final product.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 1991

The microstructure and pore characteristics have been studied on the sintered UO$_2$pellet which was made of the UO$_2$powder manufactured via AUC process. The open porosity decrease with the density and is nearly annihilated above the density of 10.45 g/㎤. The round pore smaller than 3 $\mu$m exist In all densities. The large and elongated pore appears additionally In low density The pore in low density is more elongated than the pore in high density The distribution of the pore area versus the pore size is monomodal and shows its peak on the pore size of 2 to 3 $\mu$m. As the density decreases, the related area of large pore Increases.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.12-21
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• 2023

Governments and global companies are working towards using renewable sources of energy, such as solar, wind, and biomass, to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. In the defense sector, the new strategy seeks to increase the sustainable use of renewable energy sources to improve energy security and reduce military transportation. Renewable energy technologies are affected by factors such as climate, resources, and policy environments. Therefore, governments and global companies need to carefully select the optimal renewable energy sources and deployment strategies. Biomass is a promising energy source owing to its high energy density and ease of collection and harvesting. Many techniques have been developed to convert the biomass into electrical energy. Recently, diverse types of fuel cells have been suggested that can directly convert the chemical energy of biomass into electrical energy. The recently developed biomass flow fuel cell has significantly enhanced the power density several hundred times, reaching to ~100 mW/cm². In this review, we explore various strategies for producing electrical energy from biomass using modern methods, and discuss the challenges and potential prospects of this method.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.187-195
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• 2023

Data centers not only consume significant electricity to operate IT equipment, but also use a lot of electricity to cool the heat generated by IT equipment. The waste heat of a high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell (HT-PEFC) is capable of producing cooling , so it can be effectively applied to data centers that require cooling throughout the year. The energy-saving effects of the proposed combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) system using HT-PEFC. That was analyzed based on the annual energy consumption data of a specific data center. When the system was running at 100% of the year, It was shown that the installation of 1 MW of the proposed system can save 3,407 MWh of electrical energy per year. In addition, compared to the existing system, the annual power usage effectiveness can be improved from 2.0 to 1.57 and 6,293 MWh of extra heat energy per year can be produced to sell. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis was performed on the fuel cell operating temperature and current density to guide the appropriate installation capacity of the proposed system.