• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.77.2-77.2
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• 2013

In this talk, I will briefly review recent results of my group related to application of atomic layer deposition (ALD) for fabricating environmental catalysts and organic solar cells. ALD was used for preparing thin films of TiO2 and NiO on mesporous silica with a mean pore size of 15 nm. Upon depositing TiO2 thin films of TiO2 using ALD, the mesoporous structure of the silica substrate was preserved to some extent. We show that efficiency for removing toluene by adsorption and catalytic oxidation is dependent of mean thickness of TiO2 deposited on silica, i.e., fine tuning of the thickness of thin film using ALD can be beneficial for preparing high-performing adsorbents and oxidation catalysts of volatile organic compound. NiO/silica system prepared by ALD was used for catalysts of chemical conversion of CO2. Here, NiO nanoparticles are well dispersed on silica and confiend in the pore, showing high catalytic activity and stability at 800oC for CO2 reforming of methane reaction. We also used ALD for surface modulation of buffer layers of organic solar cell. TiO2 and ZnO thin films were deposited on wet-chemically prepared ZnO ripple structures, and thin films with mean thickness of ~2 nm showed highest power conversion efficiency of organic solar cell. Moreover, performance of ALD-prepared organic solar cells were shown to be more stable than those without ALD. Thin films of oxides deposited on ZnO ripple buffer layer could heal defect sites of ZnO, which can act as recombination center of electrons and holes.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.681-686
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• 2006

Plasma nitrocarburising and plasma post oxidation were performed to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of S45C and SCM440 steel by a plasma ion nitriding system. Plasma nitrocarburizing was conducted for 3h at $570^{\circ}C$ in the nitrogen, hydrogen and methane atmosphere to produce the ${\varepsilon}-Fe_{2-3}$(N, C) phase. Plasma post oxidation was performed on the nitrocarburized samples with various oxygen/hydrogen ratio at constant temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour. The very thin magnetite ($Fe_3O_4$) layer $1-2{\mu}m$ in thickness on top of the $15{\sim}25{\mu}m$ ${\varepsilon}-Fe_{2-3}$(N, C) compound layer was obtained by plasma post oxidation. A salt spray test and electrochemical testing revealed that in the tested 5% NaCl solution, the corrosion characteristics of the nitrocarburized compound layer could be further improved by the application of the superficial magnetite layer. Throttle valve shafts were treated under optimum plasma processing conditions. Accelerated life time test results, using throttle body assembled with shaft treated by plasma nitrocarburising and post oxidation, showed that plasma nitrocarburizing and plasma post oxidation processes could be a viable technology in the very near future which can replace $Cr^{6+}$ plating.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1983-1993
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• 1996

For selected (pure and compound) metallic species effects of saturation ratio, temperature, particle size and number density on condensation mechanisms are first reviewed. The tendencies for vaporization and condensation differ between metallic species because of the significant differences in their saturation pressures. Then particle pressure of a metal vapor species at incineration temperature is calculated by simplifying waste as a compound of methane, chlorine and small amounts of metals and assuming a thermodynamic equilibrium state. Next the condition is assessed for which supersaturation of combustion gases by the species above the critical level for homogeneous condensation may occur, when the gases contain a large number of pre-existing particles such as entrained ashes. Regardless of the presence of chlorine in the waste, the homogeneous condensation of PbO vapors may occur, depending on number density of the pre-existing particles. However, when chlorine exists in the waste, the homogeneous condensation of PbCl$_2$vapors does not occur, which is similar to the case of Cd and Hg vapors. Thus these highly volatile species, PbCl$_2$, Cd, and Hg, may emit to atmosphere as vapor phase. In general, for reducing the emission of hazardous metallic species into the atmosphere, the number density of pre-existing particles has to be increased. For fixed particle number density, the temperature drop rate must be kept in low if the temperature at which a condensable vapor species emits from a incineration system is fixed, while the temperature drop rate must be kept in high if the residence time for which a condensable species stays in the system is fixed.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.465-469
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• 2006

Two mesophilic trickling bed bioreactors filled with two different types of media, hydrophilic- and hydrophobic-cubes, were designed and tested for hydrogen production via anaerobic fermentation of sucrose. Each reactor consisted of a column packed with polymeric cubes and inoculated with heat-treated sludge obtained from anaerobic digestion tank. A defined medium containing sucrose was fed with changing flow rate into the capped reactor, hydraulic retention time and recycle rate. Hydrogen concentrations in gas-phase were constant, averaging 40% for all conditions tested. Hydrogen production rates increased up to $10.5 L{\cdot};h^{-1}{\cdot}L^{-1}$ of reactor when influent sucrose concentrations and recycle rates were varied. Hydrophobic media provided higher value of hydrogen production rate than hydrophilic media at the same operation conditions. No methane was detected when the reactor was under a normal operation. The major fermentation by-products in the liquid effluent of the both trickling biofilters were acetate and butyrate. The reactor filled with hydrophilic media became clogged with biomass and bio gas, requiring manual cleaning of the system, while no clogging occurred in the reactor with hydrophobic media. In order to make long-term operation of the reactor filled with hydrophilic media feasible, biofilm accumulation inside the media in the reactor with hydrophilic media and biogas produced from the reactor will need to be controlled through some process such as periodical backwashing or gas-purging. These tests using trickling bed biofilter with hydrophobic media demonstrate the feasibility of the process to produce hydrogen gas in a trickle-bed type of reactor. A likely application of this reactor technology could be hydrogen gas recovery from pre-treatment of high carbohydrate-containing wastewaters.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.35-42
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• 2017

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) was peformed for the backdraft occurred in a compartment filled with high-temperature methane fuel using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) of version 6. The prediction performance of FDS, adopted the Eddy Dissipation Concept (EDC) combustion model with five different chemical reaction mechanisms, was evaluated. The temporal distributions of temperature, fuel mass fraction, velocity and pressure were discussed with numerical results and the pressure variation in time was compared with that of previous experiment. The FDS adopted the EDC model showed the possibility of LES for the backdraft phenomena. However, the prediction performance of the LES with EDC model strongly depended on the chemical reaction mechanism considered. It is necessary that the suitability of the chemical reaction mechanism should be validated in advance for LES with the FDS v6 to be applied to the simulation of backdraft.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.68-76
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• 2016

This research is carried out for the performance evaluation of the injector that is one of the critical components of bipropellant-rocket-engine. Spray characteristics are investigated in detail according to the recess length and injection pressure on the swirl-coaxial-injector using gaseous methane and liquid oxygen as propellants. A visualization is conducted by the Schlieren photography that is composed of a light source, concave mirrors, knife, and high-speed-camera. A hollow-cone-shape is identified in the liquid spray that is spread only by inner injector and the spray angle is decreased due to the diminution of swirl strength in accordance with the increase of the length of injector orifice. When the injector sprays the liquid through the inner injector with the aid of gas through the outer injector, the spray angle in external mixing region tends to increase with rise of the recess length, while in internal mixing region, it is decreased. It is also confirmed that the same tendency of the spray angle with recess length appears irrespective of the injection pressure of liquid spray.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2014

Polyamide4 (PA4)-polyurethane (PU)-PA4 triblock copolymers were synthesized by isocynated (NCO)-terminated PU prepared from 4,4'-diphenyl methane diisocyante (MDI) and polytetramethylene glycol (PTMG) as an initiator and potassium pyrrolidonate (P-py) as a catalyst for anionic ring opening polymerization of 2-pyrrolidone. Subsequently copolymer was controlled to contain different or same molecular weight of PA4 hard block with same or different molecular weight of PU soft block in order to investigate the effects of those differences on various properties of triblock copolymers as a thermoplastic elastomer. As the results shown in typical properties of block copolymeric elastomers, the mechanical strength and melting point ($T_m$) of the copolymers increased with an increase in molecular weight of PA4 block while the elongation at break increased with an increase in that of PU block.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.63-72
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• 2011

Benzalkonium chloride is most widely used in S. Korea as a disinfectant in livestock husbandry. Inhibition of biogas potentials were investigated with three different doses of benzalkonium chloride in swine slurry. The system was operated at batch mode. The inhibition rates were 10%, 30~40% and >70% at the dose of 10ppm, 40ppm and 80ppm, respectively assuming it was zero percent in case of no dose. Enzymatic activities were analyzed to determine the enzymatic type which was inhibited by benzalkonium chloride. The acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and protease were shown negatively correlated with biogas potential. Correlation of ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and biogas potentials was observed not high (p<0.01, r=-0.426) while benzalkonium chloride (r=-0.853, p<0.01) and acid phosphatase (p<0.01) with biogas potentials were significantly and negatively correlated. The effect of benzalkonium chloride on Escherichia coli were also evaluated by disc diffusion method. As increase of benzalkonium concentration, inhibition zone of anaerobic bacteria was extended. It revealed that benzalkonium chloride significantly deteriorated biogas potential through inhibition of acetogenic bacteria.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1022-1028
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• 2021

Objective: Supplemental nitrate is known to be an effective tool to mitigate methane emission by ruminants. Based on theoretical considerations, supplemental nitrate can improve but also deteriorate the growth performance. The overall effect of supplemental nitrate on growth performance, however, is not yet known. The objective of the current study was therefore to evaluate the effect of a higher dose of NO3- on overall growth performance when feeding either Pangola grass hay or rice straw. Methods: Thirty-two crossbred, 3-month-old Thai native×Anglo-Nubian crossbred male goats were used. The experiment had a 2×2 factorial design with an experimental period of 60 days. Eight goats were randomly allocated to each dietary treatment, i.e. a ration containing either Pangola hay (Digitaria eriantha Steud) or rice straw (Oryza Sativa) as a source of roughage, supplemented with a concentrate containing either 3.2% or 4.8% potassium nitrate. The rations were formulated to be isonitrogenous. The animals were weighed at the start of the experiment and at days 30 and 60. Feces were collected during the last five days of each 30-day period. Results: High-nitrate increased overall DM intake by approximately 3%, irrespective the source of roughage, but only the goats fed a rice straw-based ration responded with an increase in body weight (BW). Thus, the overall feed conversion ratio (kg feed/kg BW gain) was influenced by roughage source ×nitrate and decreased by almost 60% when the goats were fed rice straw in combination with a high versus a low dietary nitrate content. The digestibility of macronutrients was only affected by the source of roughage and the digestibility of organic matter, crude protein, and neutral detergent fibre was greater when the goats were fed Pangola hay. Conclusion: It was concluded that the replacement of soybean meal by nitrate improves the growth performance of meat goats fed rations based on rice straw, but not Pangola hay.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.38-44
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• 2019

The Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) of fresh leachate and domestic wastewaters codigestion was determined by laboratory Bach Tests at $35^{\circ}C$ over a period of 90 d using a wide range of leachates volumetric ratios from 0% to 100%. To simulate wastewaters plant treatment step, all the ratios were first air stripped for 48 h before anaerobic incubation. The kinetic of biogas production was assessed using modified Gompertz model and exponential equation. The results obtained showed that cumulative biogas production was insignificant in the case of wastewaters monodigestion while the codigestion significantly improves the BMP. Air stripping pretreatment had positive effect on both ammonium concentration and volatiles fatty acids with reduction up to 75% and 42%, respectively. According to the Modified Gompertz model, the optimal anaerobic co-digestion conditions both in terms of maximal biogas potential, start-up period and maximum daily biogas production rate, could be achieved within large leachate volumetric ratios from 25% to 75% with a maximum BMP value of 438.42 mL/g volatile solid at 50% leachate ratio. The positive effect of codigestion was attributed to a dilution effect of chemical oxygen demand and volatile fatty acid concentrations to optimal range that was between 11.7 to $32.3gO_2/L$ and 2.1 to 7.4 g/L, respectively. These results suggested that the treatment of fresh leachate by their dilution and co digestion at wastewaters treatment plants could be a promising alternative for both energetic and treatment purposes.