4차 산업혁명 시대의 흐름에 맞춰 농업에서도 ICT 기술을 활용한 스마트팜의 개발 및 보급을 통해 경쟁력을 높이기 위한 노력이 진행되고 있다. 과거 농부의 경험에 의해 축적된 지식을 이용하던 농업에서 각종 센서를 이용하여 다양한 재배 환경을 분석하고 이를 이용하여 최적의 재배 환경을 제어하는 지능형 시스템으로 변 하고 있으며, 네트워크를 통하여 시간과 공간의 제약이 없이 작물 재배가 가능한 환경이 만들어지고 있다. 본 논문에서는 기존에 구축된 클라우드 기반 스마트팜과 연동하여 팜 시뮬레이터를 구현하는 방법을 제안한 다. 클라우드에 누적된 환경 데이터와 제어 데이터를 이용하여 환경 변수에 대한 예측 모델을 학습하고 실제 운영중인 스마트팜의 실시간 환경 데이터를 이용하면 보다 현실감 있는 시뮬레이션이 가능하게 되어 사용자 의 몰입을 유도할 수 있다. 단순 시뮬레이션에서 벗어나 학습 모드를 통해 실제 농부의 스마트팜 운영 데이 터를 학습할 수 있도록 하고, 운영 모드에서는 실제 스마트팜의 운영 결과와 비교를 통하여 경쟁을 통한 성 취감을 얻을 수 있도록 하였다. 이러한 경험이 누적되면 작물재배에 관심이 있는 사용자들에게 실제 스마트 팜을 통한 작물 재배의 경험을 제공할 수 있는 사업 모델로의 확장도 가능할 것이다. 추후 메타버스 (metaverse) 상에 스마트팜을 연동하는 연구를 통하여 가상 공간에서 보다 사실적으로 스마트팜을 운영하는 사용자 경험을 제공해 줄 수 있도록 확장할 수 있을 것이다.

In this study, a chlorination technique for recycling Li2ZrO3, a reaction product of ZrO2-assisted rinsing process, was investigated to minimize the generation of secondary radioactive pyroprocessing waste. It was found that the reaction temperature was a key parameter that determined the reaction rate and maximum conversion ratio. In the temperature range of 400−600℃, an increase in the reaction temperature resulted in a profound increase in the reaction rate. Hence, according to the experimental results, a reaction temperature of at least 450℃ was proposed to ensure a Li2ZrO3 conversion ratio that exceeded 80% within 8 h of the reaction time. The activation energy was found to be 102 ± 2 kJ·mol−1·K−1 between 450 and 500℃. The formation of LiCl and ZrO2 as reaction products was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The experimental results obtained at various total flow rates revealed that the overall reaction rate depends on the Cl2 mass transfer rate in the experimental condition. The results of this study prove that the chlorination technique provides a solution to minimize the amount of radioactive waste generated during the ZrO2-assisted rinsing process.

Solid-state mechanochemical reduction combined with subsequent melting consolidation was suggested as a technical option for the oxide reduction in pyroprocessing. Ni ingot was produced from NiO as a starting material through this technique while Li metal was used as a reducing agent. To determine the technical feasibility of this approach for pyroprocessing, which handles spent nuclear fuels, thermodynamic calculations of the phase stabilities of various metal oxides of U and other fission elements were made when several alkaline and alkali-earth metals were used as reducing agents. This technique is expected to be beneficial, not only for oxide reduction but also for other unit processes involved in pyroprocessing.

The reaction between Li2CO3 and Cl2 was investigated to verify its occurrence during a carbon-anode-based oxide reduction (OR) process. The reaction temperature was identified as a key factor that determines the reaction rate and maximum conversion ratio. It was found that the reaction should be conducted at or above 500℃ to convert more than 90% of the Li2CO3 to LiCl. Experiments conducted at various total flow rate (Q) / initial sample weight (W i) ratios revealed that the reaction rate was controlled by the Cl2 mass transfer under the experimental conditions adopted in this work. A linear increase in the progress of reaction with an increase in Cl2 partial pressure (pCl2) was observed in the pCl2 region of 2.03–10.1 kPa for a constant Q of 100 mL∙min−1 and W i of 1.00 g. The results of this study indicate that the reaction between Li2CO3 and Cl2 is fast at 650℃ and the reaction is feasible during the OR process.

In this study, we developed a facile and template-free strategy for the preparation of activated porous carbon beads (APCBs) from polyacrylonitrile. The chemical activation with KOH was found to enhance the pore properties, such as specific surface area (SSA), pore volume, and pore area. The APCBs exhibited a large SSA of 1147.99 m2/g and a pore area of 131.73 m2/g. The APCB-based electrodes showed a good specific capacitance of 112 F/g at 1 A/g in a 6 M KOH electrolyte, and excellent capacitance retention of 100% at a current density of 5 A/g after 1000 cycles. Therefore, the APCBs prepared in this study can be applied as electrode materials for electric double-layer capacitors.