• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.113-120
• /
• 2013

A steam reformer is a chemical reactor to produce high purity hydrogen from fossil fuel. In the steam reformer, since endothermic steam reforming is heated by exothermic combustion of fossil fuel, the heat transfer between two reaction zones dominates conversion of fossil fuel to hydrogen. Steam Reforming is complex chemical reaction, mass and heat transfer due to the exothermic methane/air combustion reaction and the endothermic steam reforming reaction. Typically, a steam reformer employs burner to supply appropriate heat for endothermic steam reforming reaction which reduces system efficiency. In this study, the heat of steam reforming reaction is provided by anode-off gas combustion of stationary fuel cell. This paper presents a optimization of heat transfer effect and average temperature of cross-section using two-dimensional models of a coaxial cylindrical reactor, and analysis three-dimensional models of a coaxial cylindrical steam reformer with chemical reaction. Numerical analysis needs to dominant chemical reaction that are assumed as a Steam Reforming (SR) reaction, a Water-Gas Shift (WGS) reaction, and a Direct Steam Reforming(DSR) reaction. The major parameters of analysis are temperature, fuel conversion and heat flux in the coaxial reactor.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.1259-1264
• /
• 2014

Hydrogen is in the world limelight for future energy source, and it has been already used in various industry fields including aerospace. The extremely fine molecule of the hydrogen can be easily leaked from tiny size of the crack on the surface of transporting pipes or storage tanks, and it could bring on awfully terrible disaster. In this study, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) was employed to develope a reliable detection scheme for a small quantity of hydrogen leakage. Effect of three different metal substrates (i.e. Al, Cu, SUS) on plasma generation and the intensity of the hydrogen atomic signal was investigated, and the surface damage of the substrates due to repetitive laser shots was observed using Scanning electron microscope. It was also evaluated how the surface damage could distort the atomic signal. The intensity of the atomic signal was found to be the strongest, and the signal distortion due to the surface damage was approximately $100W/m^2$ lower when Al was used for the substrate.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.47 no.7
• /
• pp.433-439
• /
• 2009

Ti and Ti based hydrogen storage alloys have been thought to be the third generation of alloys with a high hydrogen capacity, which makes it difficult to handle because of high reactivity. In order to solve the problem, the activation of a wide range of hysteresis of hydriding/dehydriding and without degradation of hydrogen capacity due to the hydriding/dehydriding cycle have to be improved in order to be aplied. Ti-Cr alloys have a high capacity about 0.8 wt.% in an ambient atmosphere. When the Ti-Cr alloys are added to Nb and Ta elements, they formed a laves phase in the alloy system. The Nb element was expected to make easy diffuse hydrogen in the Ti-Cr storage alloy, which was a catalytic element. In this study, the Ti-Nb-Cr ternary alloy was prepared by melt spinning. As-received specimens were characterized using XRD (X-ray Diffraction), SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) with EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray) and TG/DSC (Thermo Gravimetric Analysis/Differential Scanning Calorimetry). In order to examine hydrogenation behavior, the PCI (Pressure-Composition-Isotherm) was performed at 293, 323, 373 and 423 K.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.389-398
• /
• 2019

Hydrogen energy is not only a solution to climate change problems caused by the use of fossil fuels, but also as an alternative source for the industrial power generation and automotive fuel. Among hydrogen production methods, electrolysis of water is considered to be one of the most efficient and practical methods. Compared to that of the fossil fuel production method, the method of producing hydrogen directly from water has no emission of methane and carbon dioxide, which are regarded as global environmental pollutants. In this paper, the alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) and polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE), which are one of the hydrogen production methods, were discussed. Recent research trends of hydrocarbon electrolyte membranes and the crossover phenomenon of electrolyte membranes were also described.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.303-311
• /
• 2019

Reversible solid oxide fuel cell (RSOFC) has become a prospective device for energy storage and hydrogen production. Many studies have been conducted around the world focusing on system efficiency improvement and realization. The system should have not only high efficiency but also a certain level of simplicity for stable operation. External waste steam utilization was proved to remarkably increase the efficiency at solid oxide electrolysis system. In this study, RSOFC system coupled with waste steam was proposed and optimized in term of simplicity and efficiency. Ejector for fuel recirculation is selected due to its simple design and high stability. Three system configurations using ejector for fuel recirculation were investigated for performance of design condition. In parametric study, the system efficiencies at different current density were analyzed. The system configurations were simulated using validated lumped model in EBSILON(R) program. The system components, balance of plants, were designed to work in both electrolysis and fuel cell modes, and their off-design characteristics were taken into account. The base case calculation shows that, the system with suction pump results in slightly lower efficiency but stack can be operated more stable with same inlet pressure of fuel and air electrode.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.182-192
• /
• 2022

This study provides an overview of the production costs of methane and hydrogen via water electrolysis-based hydrogen production followed by a methanation based methane production technology utilizing CO₂ from external sources. The study shows a comparative way for economic optimization of green methane generation using excess free electricity from renewable sources. The study initially developed the overall process on the Aspen Plus simulation tool. Aspen Plus estimated the capital expenditure for most of the equipment except for the methanation reactor and electrolyzer. The capital expenditure, the operating expenditure and the feed cost were used in a discounted cash flow based economic model for the methane production cost estimation. The study compared different reactor configurations as well. The same model was also used for a hydrogen production cost estimation. The optimized economic model estimated a methane production cost of $11.22/mcf when the plant is operating for 4000 hr/year and electricity is available for zero cost. Furthermore, a hydrogen production cost of $2.45/GJ was obtained. A sensitivity analysis was performed for the methane production cost as the electrolyzer cost varies across different electrolyzer types. A sensitivity study was also performed for the changing electricity cost, the number of operation hours per year and the plant capacity. The estimated levelized cost of methane (LCOM) in this study was less than or comparable with the existing studies available in the literature.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.21-35
• /
• 2017

Hydrogen peroxide is being considered as a monopropellant in micropropulsion systems for the next generation of miniaturized satellites ('nanosats') due to its high energy density, modest specific impulse and green characteristics. Efforts at the University of Vermont have focused on the development of a MEMS-based microthruster that uses a novel slug flow monopropellant injection scheme to generate thrust and impulse-bits commensurate with the intended micropropulsion application. The present study is a computational effort to investigate the initial decomposition of the monopropellant as it enters the catalytic chamber, and to compare the impact of the monopropellant injection scheme on decomposition performance. Two-dimensional numerical studies of the monopropellant in microchannel geometries have been developed and used to characterize the performance of the monopropellant before vaporization occurs. The results of these studies show that monopropellant in the lamellar flow regime, which lacks a non-diffusive mixing mechanism, does not decompose at a rate that is suitable for the microthruster dimensions. In contrast, monopropellant in the slug flow regime decomposes 57% faster than lamellar flow for a given length, indicating that the monopropellant injection scheme has potential benefits for the performance of the microthruster.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.33 no.10
• /
• pp.1108-1118
• /
• 2009

A Very High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (VHTR) has been selected as a high energy heat source of the order of $950^{\circ}C$ for nuclear hydrogen generation, which can produce hydrogen from water or natural gas. A primary hot gas duct (HGD) as a coaxial double-tube type cross vessel is a key component connecting a reactor pressure vessel and an intermediate heat exchanger in the VHTR. In this study, a structural sizing methodology for the primary HGD of the VHTR is suggested in order to modulate a flow-induced vibration (FIV). And as an example, a structural sizing of the horizontal HGD with a coaxial double-tube structure was carried out using the suggested method. These activities include a decision of the geometric dimensions, a selection of the material, and an evaluation of the strength of the coaxial double-tube type cross vessel components. Also in order to compare the FIV characteristics of the proposed design cases, a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis was carried out using the ADINA code.

• Journal of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.261-272
• /
• 2020

A Kalman filter algorithm is used for the generation of an ensemble timescale with three hydrogen masers maintained in KRISS. Allan deviation curves of three pairs of clocks were obtained by a three-cornered hat method and were used as reference curves for determination of parameters of the Kalman filter-based timescale. The ensemble timescale equation of a 3-clock system was established, and the clocks' phases estimated by the Kalman filter were used as the prediction time of each clock in the equation. The weight of each clock was determined inversely proportional to the Allan variance calculated with the clocks' phases. The Allan deviation of the weighted mean was 1.2×10^-16 at the averaging time of 57,600 s. However when we made fine adjustments of the clocks' weight, the minimum Allan deviation of 2×10^-17 was obtained. To find out the reason of the great improvement in the frequency stability, additional researches are in progress theoretically and experimentally.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.767-790
• /
• 2013

MAAP4 is a computer code that can simulate the response of a light water reactor power plant during severe accident sequences, including actions taken as part of accident management. The code quantitatively predicts the evolution of a severe accident starting from full power conditions given a set of system faults and initiating events through events such as core melt, reactor vessel failure, and containment failure. Furthermore, models are included in the code to represent the actions that could mitigate the accident by in-vessel cooling, external cooling of the reactor pressure vessel, or cooling the debris in containment. A key element tied to using a code like MAAP4 is an uncertainty analysis. The purpose of this paper is to present a MAAP4 based analysis to examine the sensitivity of a key parameter, in this case hydrogen production, to a set of model parameters that are related to a Level 2 PRA analysis. The Level 2 analysis examines those sequences that result in core melting and subsequent reactor pressure vessel failure and its impact on the containment. This paper identifies individual contributors and MAAP4 model parameters that statistically influence hydrogen production. Hydrogen generation was chosen because of its direct relationship to oxidation. With greater oxidation, more heat is added to the core region and relocation (core slump) should occur faster. This, in theory, would lead to shorter failure times and subsequent "hotter" debris pool on the containment floor.