• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.777-784
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• 2017

Energy harvesting through a thermoelectric module normally makes use of the temperature gradient in the system's operational environment. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain the desired output power when the system is subjected to an environment in which a low temperature gradient is generated across the module, because the power generation efficiency of the thermoelectric device is not optimized. The utilization of solar energy, which is a form of renewable energy abundant in nature, has mostly been limited to photovoltaic solar cells and solar thermal energy generation. However, photovoltaic power generation is capable of utilizing only a narrow wavelength band from the sunlight and, thus, the power generation efficiency might be lowered by light scattering. In the case of solar thermal energy generation, the system usually requires large-scale facilities. In this study, a simple and small size thermoelectric power generation system with a solar concentrator was designed to create a large temperature gradient for enhanced performance. A solar tracking system was used to concentrate the solar thermal energy during the experiments and a liquid circulating chiller was installed to maintain a large temperature gradient in order to avoid heat transfer to the bottom of the thermoelectric module. Then, the setup was tested through a series of experiments and the performance of the system was analyzed for the purpose of evaluating its feasibility and validity.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.249-254
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• 2022

With the rapid advance of the semiconductor and Information and communication technologies, remote environment monitoring technology, which can detect and analyze surrounding environmental conditions with various types of sensors and wireless communication technologies, is also drawing attention. However, since the conventional remote environmental monitoring systems require external power supplies, it causes time and space limitations on comfortable usage. In this study, we proposed the concept of the self-powered remote environmental monitoring system by supplying the power with the levitation-electromagnetic generator (L-EMG), which is rationally designed to effectively harvest biomechanical energy in consideration of the mechanical characteristics of biomechanical energy. In this regard, the proposed L-EMG is designed to effectively respond to the external vibration with the movable center magnet considering the mechanical characteristics of the biomechanical energy, such as relatively low-frequency and high amplitude of vibration. Hence the L-EMG based on the fragile force equilibrium can generate high-quality electrical energy to supply power. Additionally, the environmental detective sensor and wireless transmission module are composed of the micro control unit (MCU) to minimize the required power for electronic device operation by applying the sleep mode, resulting in the extension of operation time. Finally, in order to maximize user convenience, a mobile phone application was built to enable easy monitoring of the surrounding environment. Thus, the proposed concept not only verifies the possibility of establishing the self-powered remote environmental monitoring system using biomechanical energy but further suggests a design guideline.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.93-99
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• 2022

With the rapid development of ultra-small and wearable device technology, continuous electricity supply without spatiotemporal limitations for driving electronic devices is required. Accordingly, Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which utilizes static electricity generated by the contact and separation of two different materials, is being used as a means of effectively harvesting various types of energy dispersed without complex processes and designs due to its simple principle. However, to apply the TENG to real life, it is necessary to increase the electrical output. In addition, stable generation of electrical output, as well as increase in electrical output, is a task to be solved for the commercialization of TENG. In this study, we proposed a method to not only improve the output of TENG but also to stably represent the improved output. This was solved by using the contact layer, which is one of the components of TENG, as an electret for improved output and stability. The utilized electret was manufactured by sequentially performing corona charging-thermal annealing-corona charging on the Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) film. Electric charges artificially injected due to corona charging enter a deep trap through the thermal annealing, so an electret that minimizes charge escape was fabricated and used in TENG. The output performance of the manufactured electret was verified by measuring the voltage output of the TENG in vertical contact separation mode, and the electret treated to the corona charging showed an output voltage 12 times higher than that of the pristine FEP film. The time and humidity stability of the electret was confirmed by measuring the output voltage of the TENG after exposing the electret to a general external environment and extreme humidity environment. In addition, it was shown that it can be applied to real-life by operating the LED by applying an electret to the clap-TENG with the motif of clap.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.115-122
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• 2004

Physical and mechanical properties of fruits of jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Miller), leaves, secondary branches, and leafy stems were measured and analyzed. The physical dimensions of the fruits were measured and the detachment force of the fruit and leafy stems was measured. The detachment force of the jujube fruits increased and the force-to-weight ratio of the jujube fruits decreased as the weight of the jujube fruit increased. The weight of the leafy stems, number of leaves attached to the leafy stems, length of the leafy stems, diameter of the stem side of the leafy stems, diameter of the leafy stem end was average of 0.7g, 6.6ea, 12.2cm, 4.5mm, and 2.7mm, respectively. The major and minor axis of the jujube leaves, area of leaves, weight of the leaves, and detachment force of the leaves was average of 5.7cm, 3.3cm, $12.98cm^2$, 0.20g, and 4.39N, respectively. The terminal velocity of the jujube fruits increased as the weight of the fruits increased. The terminal velocity of the leafy stems, however, did not show a relationship with the weight of the leafy stems and the number of leaves attached to the leafy stem. The terminal velocity, however, slightly increased as the length of the leafy stems increased.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.416-416
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• 2016

Organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite solar cells have received attention because it has a number of advantages with excellent light harvesting, high carrier mobility, and facile solution processability and also recorded recently power conversion efficiency (PCEs) of over 20%. The major issue on perovskite solar cells have been reached the limit of small area laboratory scale devices produced using fabrication techniques such as spin coating and physical vapor deposition which are incompatible with low-cost and large area fabrication of perovskite solar cells using printing and coating techniques. To solution these problems, we have investigated the feasibility of achieving fully printable perovskite solar cells by the blade-coating technique. The blade-coating fabrication has been widely used to fabricate organic solar cells (OSCs) and is proven to be a simple, environment-friendly, and low-cost method for the solution-processed photovoltaic. Moreover, the film morphology control in the blade-coating method is much easier than the spray coating and roll-to-roll printing; high-quality photoactive layers with controllable thickness can be performed by using a precisely polished blade with low surface roughness and coating gap control between blade and coating substrate[1]. In order to fabricate perovskite devices with good efficiency, one of the main factors in printed electronic processing is the fabrication of thin films with controlled morphology, high surface coverage and minimum pinholes for high performance, printed thin film perovskite solar cells. Charge dissociation efficiency, charge transport and diffusion length of charge species are dependent on the crystallinity of the film [2]. We fabricated the printed perovskite solar cells with large area and flexible by the bar-coating. The morphology of printed film could be closely related with the condition of the bar-coating technique such as coating speed, concentration and amount of solution, drying condition, and suitable film thickness was also studied by using the optical analysis with SEM. Electrical performance of printed devices is gives hysteresis and efficiency distribution.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.207-218
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• 1990

Grains display characteristics of both elastic bodies and viscous fluids when they are subjected to mechanical treatments in harvesting, handling, and processing. This viscoelastic behavior of grains when mechanically stressed must be fully understood to establish maximum machine efficiency and have a minimum degree of grain damage and the highest quality of the final product. The studies were conducted to examine the effect of the moisture content, the loading rate and the initial deformation on the stress relaxation behavior of whole kernel of rough rice, and develop the rheological model to represent its stress relaxation behavior. The following results were obtained from the study. 1. Moisture content had the greatest influence on the initial portion of the relaxation curve. With elapsing time the lower moisture content resulted in the lower residual stress for the Japonica-type rough rice and vice versa for the Indica-type rough rice. But within the ranges of moisture content tested, the degree of stress relaxation per unit strain on the Indica-type rough rice was a little higher than those on the Japonica-type rough rice. 2. The slower loading rate resulted in less initial stress. The decreasing trend of residual stress for all the samples tested with increasing loading rate was shown. 3. The higher initial deformation for all the samples resulted in less initial stress. The increasing of amount of stress relaxation per unit strain with increase of initial stress indicated that viscoelastic properties of rough rice depended not only upon duration of load applied but also initial stress applied. This means that rough rice is nonlinear viscoelastic material. 4. The compression stress relaxation properties of rough rice kernel can be described by a generalized Maxwell model representing by the Maxwell elements.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.554-558
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• 2011

Piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) as a box type was fabricated in order to harvest mechanical energy imparted to roadways from passing vehicles and convert it into electricity. The PEH was composed of 72 piezoelectric cantilevers with 9 springs with elasticity stick to a bottom of the PEH. For the single piezoelectric cantilever, when a single push with approximately 5 mm displacement was incident to it, power of 0.355 mW was produced at $100\;k{\Omega}$. It is found that the power from the single piezoelectric cantilever increases when spring constant is high. We investigated power of PEH when the moving vehicle passes in it. Power was increased with increasing vehicle speed. When vehicle speed is 30 km/h, power is 20.6 mW.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.1320-1327
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• 2013

In this paper, two different electromagnetic energy harvesters using bulk micromachined silicon spiral springs and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) packaging technique have been fabricated, characterized, and compared to generate electrical energy from ultra-low ambient vibrations under 0.3g. The proposed energy harvesters were comprised of a highly miniaturized Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) magnet, silicon spiral spring, multi-turned copper coil, and PDMS housing in order to improve the electrical output powers and reduce their sizes/volumes. When an external vibration moves directly the magnet mounted as a seismic mass at the center of the spiral spring, the mechanical energy of the moving mass is transformed to electrical energy through the 183 turns of solenoid copper coils. The silicon spiral springs were applied to generate high electrical output power by maximizing the deflection of the movable mass at the low level vibrations. The fabricated energy harvesters using these two different spiral springs exhibited the resonant frequencies of 36Hz and 63Hz and the optimal load resistances of $99{\Omega}$ and $55{\Omega}$, respectively. In particular, the energy harvester using the spiral spring with two links exhibited much better linearity characteristics than the one with four links. It generated $29.02{\mu}W$ of output power and 107.3mV of load voltage at the vibration acceleration of 0.3g. It also exhibited power density and normalized power density of $48.37{\mu}W{\cdot}cm-3$ and $537.41{\mu}W{\cdot}cm-3{\cdot}g-2$, respectively. The total volume of the fabricated energy harvesters was $1cm{\times}1cm{\times}0.6cm$ (height).

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.260-271
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• 1992

Fruits are generally subjected to mechanical forces during harvesting, handling, and transportation that may cause damage in the form of bruises, punctures, and cracks. In order to prevent damage, and insure better quality fruits for consumers, it is very essential to study physical properties of these materials. The studies were conducted to examine the effect of storage period, storage condition, and other factors, such as loading rate and initial strain, on the stress relaxation behavior of the fruit flesh, and develop nonlinear viscoelastic models to represent its stress relaxation behavior. The following results were obtained from the study : 1. Since the viscoelastic behavior of the fruits flesh was nonlinear, the behavior was satisfactorily modelled as follows ; $${\delta}({\varepsilon},\;t)={\varepsilon}^A[B\;{\exp}(-Ct)+D\;{\exp}(-Ft)+G(-Ht)]$$ But, for the every strain applied, the stress relaxation behavior of the fruit flesh, such as apple and pear, could be well described by the Generalized Maxwell model, respectively. 2. The effect of loading rate on the stress relaxation behavior was remarkable. The higher loading rate resulted in the higher initial stress, and the faster stress relaxation. 3. The higher initial strain resulted in the higher initial stress, and stress relaxed at the large initial strain was also much higher than at the small initial strain. 4. Stress relaxation rate and quantity stored in the fruits at the low temperature storage were much higher than those at the normal temperature storage in the same storage period. Also, in all fruits tested, the longer storage period was the more relaxation rate and quantity were shown. These trends in the normal temperature condition was the more significant than in the low temperature condition.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.338-351
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• 2018

This study was conducted in a long-term experimental forest in the central hardwoods region of southwestern Michigan to retrospectively examine the role of past forest management practices and climate on red oak (Quercus rubra L.) productivity. Initially, in 1971, plots within the experimental forest were treated separately with a clearcut and shelterwood regeneration harvest in an attempt to increase red oak regeneration. From 1987-1989, a new study was initiated within a portion of the clearcut and shelterwood plots to evaluate the effectiveness of additional oak crop tree release using mechanical and chemical applications. Cumulative diameter and mortality rates of 719 red oaks were monitored across the four silvicultural treatments: Clearcut-A (clearcut without additional release treatment), Clearcut-B (clearcut with additional release treatment), Shelterwood-A (shelterwood without additional release), and Shelterwood-B (shelterwood with additional release) plus an untreated control. Increment cores were obtained from red oak trees and neighboring competitor species. Tree-ring analyses (dendrochronology) were applied to examine the effect of these silvicultural treatments and climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) on red oak productivity. The results indicated that crop tree release following a clearcut or shelterwood harvest reduced mortality rates and thus increased survival of red oak. Red oak in control plots or plots only receiving the initial regeneration harvesting treatment and no additional competition release were negatively affected by climatic stress, which included summer moisture stress. In contrast, red oak in plots that received the competition release treatment from shade tolerant tree species not only had higher tree level productivity (i.e., tree basal area) and lower mortality rates, but were also relatively more resilient to climatic stress by showing limited or no associations between climate and growth.