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Box-shaped Pressure Vessel for LNG Developed by KAIST Research Team
Earlier today, Korean researchers successfully showcased the installation and operation of a box-shaped, high-pressure tank for the storage of liquefied natural gas in Pohang, Republic of Korea. The development was the first of its kind in the world. Pressure vessels have many applications and are widely used within the petrochemical, energy, and other industrial sectors where the transport and storage of many types of pressurized gases and fluids are essential. Pressure vessels must be designed, manufactured, installed, and operated strictly in accordance with the appropriate codes and standards since they can, in cases of leak or rupture, pose considerable health and safety hazards. Pressure vessels are normally designed in the form of a cylindrical or spherical tank. These shapes are, in principle, highly efficient in withstanding internal pressure, but rather inefficient in terms of space utilization. The tanks fit very poorly within a typically prismatic-shaped room. They cannot be packed closely together, so they do not efficiently utilize the overall space. Moreover, cylindrical or spherical tanks are not easily scalable to very large sizes because the wall thickness of the tank must increase proportionally to its overall radius. Therefore, a large pressure vessel unavoidably will have very thick walls, which are difficult and expensive to manufacture, requiring a great amount of thick-walled steel to be rolled, forged, and welded together. KAIST researchers, sponsored by POSCO, a multinational steel-making company based in Pohang, Republic of Korea, have taken a turnabout approach to construct a pressure vessel that is neither cylindrical nor spherical. Professors Pål G. Bergan and Daejun Chang and of Ocean Systems Engineering at KAIST developed a box-type, large size pressure vessel for the storage and transportation of liquids such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), or liquefied natural gas (LNG). The box-shaped pressure vessel has an internal, load-carrying lattice-type structure. The lattice pattern is modular in all three spatial directions, thereby effectively anchoring and balancing pressure forces on the external walls of the vessel. The modular lattice can easily be adapted to prescribed pressure levels as the overall volumetric dimensions are directly linked to the number of repetitive modules. A giant prismatic pressure vessel with a size of 20,000 m3 and a design pressure of 10 atmospheres (10 barg) can be built simply by scaling up a smaller size pressure vessel. It is interesting to note that the thickness of steel walls remains unchanged and that the weight of steel per unit storage volume goes down as the vessel size increases. Professor Chang explained the benefit of a prismatic or box-shaped pressure vessel.“If we use cylindrical pressure vessels to supply LNG fuel for a large container ship, for example, many fuel tanks will be needed. Those tanks will take up large and valuable space onboard because the cylinders have to be lined up. In our case, however, much less space is needed. The operation of a ship becomes simpler with one fuel tank rather than with many. Furthermore, our box-type pressure vessel can be designed with dimensions that precisely fit a ship. For a container ship, there may be room for a substantially higher number of containers to be loaded than when using cylindrical vessels. In a case study on a 13,000 TEU container ship, the value of the increased transport capacity tuned out USD 8.4 million for one year of operation for one ship.”The manufacturing cost of a pressure vessel has been reduced as well. Several types of special steel for cryogenic (low temperature) applications have been investigated in design and analysis studies, and this includes a new type of high-manganese steel that is being developed by POSCO. Regardless of materials, in any instance of large pressure vessels, the new lattice tank technology can offer significant savings of combined capital and operational costs. Professor Bergan was also upbeat regarding the impact of the KAIST technology innovation. “Our box-type pressure vessel represents ground-breaking research. This innovative technology will dramatically change the rules of the game for industry concerning production, transportation, and storage of fluids under high pressure and at low temperatures.”The showcased prismatic pressure vessel was a scale-down model with a volume size of 80 m3 and design pressure of 10 atmospheres. The vessel complies with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC), the international standard for the appropriateness of design, fabrication, and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels. It passed the 15 pressure testing in January 2014 and received an accreditation from the ASME BPVC (ASME U2 Stamp). KAIST’s prismatic pressure vessel will be presented and displayed at Gastech 2014, the largest global conference and exhibition in the natural gas, LNG, and hydrocarbons industry. This event will take place on March 24-27 at KINTEX in Ilsan, Republic of Korea. Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woJwc5zisxk&list=TLGOLcI7L6_YYTn0lImPqNyeppQWRXqUt5Picture 1: The prototype of a prismatic pressure vesselPicture 2: A lattice pattern that is lined inside a prismatic pressure tankPicture 3: Above is a container ship having a box-shaped pressure vessel as a fuel tank, and below are traditional cylindrical fuel tanks.
2014.03.25 View 14223 -
Science Daily: Nanostructured Capsules Could Bring About Paints and Electronic Displays That Never Fade
A collaborative research by Professor Shin-Hyun Kim of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering, KAIST, and his student, Tae-Min Choi, on nano-structural colors with Harvard University was published by Science Daily on March 14, 2014.
For the article, please go to:
Science Daily,
March 14, 2014
Featured Research
"Brighter inks, without pigment: Nanostructured capsules could bring about paints and electronic displays that never fade"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140314164214.htm
2014.03.17 View 9380 -
The Korea Herald: Synthetic Biology Holds Key to Future
The Korea Herald
, a leading English newspaper in Korea, published an article on the production of gasoline by a metabolically engineered microorganism. For the article, please go to the link below:
The Korea Herald
March 14, 2014
"Synthetic biology holds key to future"
KAIST professor makes breakthrough in biorefining using E. coli’s metabolic process
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140314001343
2014.03.17 View 7676 -
Professor Kyung-Wook Paik Receives the Best Presentation Award from 2014 Pan Pacific Symposium
The Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) hosted its 19th Annual Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium on February 11-13, 2014 in Hawaii.
The 2014 conference, promoting international technical exchange and extensive networking among microelectronics professionals from around the world, presented over 50 papers from 17 countries.
Professor Kyung-Wook Paik of Materials Science Engineering at KAIST received the Best Presentation Award for his paper titled, “Novel Nanofiber Anisotropic Films for Nine Pitch Assembly” at the conference.
SMTA is an international network of professionals in electronics assembly technologies, including Microsystems, emerging technologies, and related business operations.
2014.03.17 View 9483 -
Tae-Wan Kim, a doctoral candidate, receives the best paper award from ECTC
The 2014 Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC) will take place on May 27-30 in Florida, USA. Tae-Wan Kim, a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Materials Science Engineering (MSE), KAIST, will receive the Intel Best Student Paper Award at the conference.ECTC is the premier international conference that brings together the best researchers and engineers in packaging, components and microelectronic systems science, technology and education in an environment of cooperation and technical exchange. The conference is sponsored by the Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology (CPMT) Society of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering).The paper describes research on novel nanofiber anisotropic conductive films for ultra fine pitch electronic package application, which was written under the guidance of Professor Kyung-Wook Paik of the MSE Department. In the past ten years, two of his students have received the best paper award from ECTC.
2014.03.14 View 11530 -
Visit by Sir Paul Maxime Nurse, President of the Royal Society
Sir Paul Maxime
Nurse, who is an English geneticist and cell biologist, visited KAIST and gave
a lecture entitled The Great Ideas of
Biology on March 11, 2014.
Sir Paul was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine with Leland H. Hartwell and R. Timothy Hunt for their discoveries
of protein molecules that control the division of cells in the cell cycle.
He was Professor of Microbiology at the University
of Oxford, CEO of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and Cancer Research UK, and
President of Rockefeller University in New York. Sir Paul is currently the President of
the Royal Society as well as Director and Chief Executive of the Francis Crick
Institute.
Founded in London in 1660, the Royal Society is composed of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of
science, engineering, and medicine.
Below is a summary of his lecture, The Great Ideas of Biology:
Four major ideas of biology
are the theory of genes, evolution by natural selection, the proposal that the
cell is the fundamental unit of all life, and the chemical composition of a cell.
When considering the
question “what is life?” these ideas come together. The special way cells reproduce
provides the conditions by which natural selection takes place, allowing living
organisms to evolve. The organization of chemistry within the cell provides
explanations for life’s phenomena.
In addition, an emerging idea
is the nature of biological self-organization with which living cells and organisms
process information and acquire specific forms. These great ideas have
influenced one another and changed the way we perceive biology and science
today.
2014.03.11 View 10561 -
Book Announcement: Sound Visualization and Manipulation
The movie
Gravity
won seven Oscar awards this year, one of which was for its outstanding 3D sound mixing, immersing viewers in the full experience of the troubled space expedition.
3D audio effects are generated by manipulating the sound produced by speakers, speaker-arrays, or headphones to place a virtual sound source at a desired location in 3D space such as behind, above, or below the listener's head.
Two professors from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at KAIST have recently published a book that explains two important technologies related to 3D sound effects: sound visualization and manipulation.
Professor Yang-Hann Kim, an eminent scholar in sound engineering, and Professor Jung-Woo Choi collaborated to write Sound Visualization and Manipulation (Wily 2013), which uniquely addresses the two most important problems in the field in a unified way.
The book introduces general concepts and theories and describes a number of techniques in sound visualization and manipulation, offering an interrelated approach to two very different topics: sound field visualization techniques based on microphone arrays and controlled sound field generation techniques using loudspeaker arrays.
The authors also display a solid understanding of the associated physical and mathematical concepts applied to solve the visualization and manipulation problems and provide extensive examples demonstrating the benefits and drawbacks of various applications, including beamforming and acoustic holography technology.
The book will be an excellent reference for graduate students, researchers, and professionals in acoustic engineering, as well as in audio and noise control system development.
For detailed descriptions of the book:
http://as.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118368479.html
2014.03.10 View 13311 -
The 4th Meeting of Korea and Denmark Alliance for Green Growth
President Steve Kang attended the “Fourth Meeting of Korea and Denmark Alliance for Green Growth” which took place on March 6, 2014 at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul. President Kang was a keynote speaker at the meeting and gave a lecture on sustainable energy.
KAIST and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the “Cooperation for Innovation and Entrepreneurship” at the meeting.
In the MOU, KAIST and DTU agreed to post the information on their websites regarding the patents acquired through the implementation of joint research programs. In addition, KAIST students will attend conferences and idea competitions organized by DTU, e.g., the Green Challenges. DTU students will participate in KAIST’s conferences and competitions including “Startup KAIST Global Idea Competition.”
2014.03.07 View 8559 -
KAIST Holds Open Lecture For Daejeon Residents
Free of cost for any Korean citizen, the registration for the new course opens on the official website from 5th March KAIST’s Department of Humanities and Social Science is currently operating free humanities and liberal arts classes for Daejeon residents.
The theme of the course for this semester is “World and Politics,” which will begin on 13th March and run every Thursday for 6 weeks at KAIST’s International Seminar Room.
This course has been organized to introduce the general public to the current political situation with neighboring countries such as China, Japan and North Korea, as well as the characteristics of multinational companies.
Top experts in the related fields will give lectures. First, Professor Ha-Yong Jung from Kyunghee University will talk on “American liberalism and democracy”; Professor Gyeong-Mo An from Korea National Defense University on “Kim Jeong-Eun and the Future of North Korea--Is the Collapse of North Korea A Reality?” and Ja-Seon Koo, a visiting professor at Korea National Diplomatic Academy on “The Chinese Communist Party during the Xi Jinping Period.”
“With the era of globalization, the political situations in the neighboring countries have both direct and indirect effects on our lives,” said Professor Hyeon-Seok Park who has organized the courses. "These classes will be an opportunity for our citizens to understand and learn about the current affairs in the world.”
Anyone can attend the course, and registration is from March 5th to 9th at the official webpage of KAIST’s Humanities and Social Sciences Department (http://hss.kaist.ac.kr). All the courses are free of charge.
Contact: Department of Humanities and Social Science Research (Tel. 350-4687, E-mail: baobab@kaist.ac.kr)
2014.03.06 View 6874 -
Welcoming the Class of 2014
“The four years from today will go quickly, and I urge you to make the most of your time in KAIST, a great educational and research institution where you will explore the frontiers of science and technology and take part in the creation of new knowledge,” President Kang told the freshmen at the convocation ceremony.
Freshmen Convocation for the Class of 2014 took place on March 3, 2014 at the auditorium on the main campus. Members of the KAIST community, along with hundreds of parents and guests, welcomed the incoming 800 freshmen, celebrating the beginning of their four-year college life.
Kwang-Joon Ahn, a graduate of the Korea Science Academy, and Ha-Rim Jin, a graduate of Daegu Il Science High School, were representatives of the incoming students, and they took the “Class of 2014 Pledge,” a commitment to uphold KAIST’s core values, which is "creativity and challenge (endeavoring spirit)," and to pursue intellectual passion and discovery.
President Steve Kang delivered congratulatory remarks, encouraging students to use their opportunities to the fullest while at KAIST to broaden their knowledge and experience. He also stressed the following four important principles they should cultivate to become the leaders of tomorrow: be grateful, excel in their field, keep open minds about what the globalized world would bring, and never give up on their dreams and belief.
President Kang said:
“Probably, many of you, the graduates of the best high schools in Korea, will find KAIST a tougher place to be in than you imagined. But challenges, particularly intellectual challenges, should be viewed as an opportunity to grow. It is ok to fail. In fact, without risking failures, there won’t be a meaningful growth because the real growth comes from overcoming challenges.”
“You can’t avoid failing in the course of your college life, but your perseverance to do it over will allow you to develop the skills and passion needed to become a leader who will contribute to the local community, as well as to the betterment of humanity.”
The KAIST Alumni Scholarship Foundation presented a scholarship of USD 3,700 to 24 freshmen.
The convocation ended with music performances by members of the student clubs at KAIST.
2014.03.04 View 8349 -
Spillover Phenomenon Identified Using Model Catalyst System
Researchers at KAIST have identified spillover phenomenon, which has remained controversial since its discovery in the early 1960s.
KAIST Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering’s Professor Min-Gi Choi and his team has explained the "spillover phenomenon," using their own model catalyst system where platinum is selectively located within the amorphous aluminosilicate.
The research results were published on the 25th February online edition of Nature Communications.
Spillover refers to a phenomenon that occurs when hydrogen atoms that have been activated on the surface of metals, such as platinum, move to the surface of the catalyst. It was predicted that this phenomenon can be used to design a catalyst with high activity and stability, and thus has been actively studied over the last 50 years.
However, many cases of the known catalysts involved competing reactions on the exposed metal surface, which made it impossible to directly identify the presence and formation mechanism of spillover.
The catalysts developed by the researchers at KAIST used platinum nanoparticles covered with aluminosilicate. This only allowed the hydrogen molecules to pass through and has effectively blocked the competing reactions, enabling the research team to study the spillover phenomenon.
Through various catalyst structure and reactivity analysis, as well as computer modeling, the team has discovered that Brönsted acid sites present on the aluminosilicate plays a crucial role in spillover phenomenon.
In addition, the spillover-based hydrogenation catalyst proposed by the research team showed very high hydrogenation and dehydrogenation activity. The ability of the catalyst to significantly inhibit unwanted hydrogenolysis reaction during the petrochemical processes also suggested a large industrial potential.
Professor Min-Gi Choi said, “This particular catalyst, which can trigger the reaction only by spillover phenomenon, can be properly designed to exceed the capacity of the conventional metal catalysts. The future goal is to make a catalyst with much higher activity and selectivity.”
The research was conducted through funds subsidized by SK Innovation and Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.
The senior research fellow of SK Innovation Seung-Hun Oh said, “SK Innovation will continue to develop a new commercial catalyst based on the technology from this research.”
Juh-Wan Lim and Hye-Yeong Shin led the research as joint first authors under supervision of Professor Min-Gi Choi and computer modeling works were conducted by KAIST EEWS (environment, energy, water, and sustainability) graduate school’s Professor Hyeong-Jun Kim.
2014.03.03 View 10288 -
Seung-Han Lee, a doctoral student in electrical engineering, receives the best paper award from ISQED 2014
Seung-Han
Lee, a doctoral candidate in the department of electrical engineering at KAIST,
received a Best Paper Award from the International Symposium on Quality
Electronic Design (ISQED), a high-profile international conference started in 2000 to promote innovation and quality in electronic and
engineering designs through inter- and multidisciplinary approaches. The
award ceremony will take place at the 2014 ISQED on March 3-5, 2014 at the Convention
Center in Santa Clara, CA, USA.
Professor
Chong-Min Kyung, an advisor to Seung-Han, expressed his excitement about his student's achievement.
“This is
the first time a Korean has ever received the best paper award at this academic
conference. It’s great news to our student as well as to KAIST.”
The topic
of Lee’s research paper was dynamic cache data management for minimizing the
energy consumption of three-dimensional multi-processor semiconductor chips.
2014.03.03 View 10351