• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.729-744
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• 2023

The value of lithium has significantly increased due to the rising demand for electric cars and batteries. Lithium is primarily found in pegmatites, hydrothermally altered tuffaceous clays, and continental brines. Globally, groundwater-fed salt lakes and oil field brines are attracting attention as major sources of lithium in continental brines, accounting for about 70% of global lithium production. Recently, deep groundwater, especially geothermal water, is also studied for a potential source of lithium. Lithium concentrations in deep groundwater can increase through substantial water-rock reaction and mixing with brines. For the exploration of lithim in deep groundwater, it is important to understand its origin and behavior. Therefore, based on a nationwide preliminary study on the hydrogeochemical characteristics and evolution of thermal groundwater in South Korea, this study aims to investigate the distribution of lithium in the deep groundwater environment and understand the geochemical factors that affect its concentration. A total of 555 thermal groundwater samples were classified into five hydrochemical types showing distinct hydrogeochemical evolution. To investigate the enrichment mechanism, samples (n = 56) with lithium concentrations exceeding the 90th percentile (0.94 mg/L) were studied in detail. Lithium concentrations varied depending upon the type, with Na(Ca)-Cl type being the highest, followed by Ca(Na)-SO₄ type and low-pH Ca(Na)-HCO₃ type. In the Ca(Na)-Cl type, lithium enrichment is due to reverse cation exchange due to seawater intrusion. The enrichment of dissolved lithium in the Ca(Na)-SO₄ type groundwater occurring in Cretaceous volcanic sedimentary basins is related to the occurrence of hydrothermally altered clay minerals and volcanic activities, while enriched lithium in the low-pH Ca(Na)-HCO₃ type groundwater is due to enhanced weathering of basement rocks by ascending deep CO₂. This reconnaissance geochemical study provides valuable insights into hydrogeochemical evolution and economic lithium exploration in deep geologic environments.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.158-169
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• 2019

A probabilistic model that can predict the residual useful lifetime of structure is formulated by using the gamma process which is one of the stochastic processes. The formulated stochastic model can take into account both the sampling uncertainty associated with damages measured up to now and the temporal uncertainty of cumulative damage over time. A method estimating several parameters of stochastic model is additionally proposed by introducing of the least square method and the method of moments, so that the age of a structure, the operational environment, and the evolution of damage with time can be considered. Some features related to the residual useful lifetime are firstly investigated into through the sensitivity analysis on parameters under a simple setting of single damage data measured at the current age. The stochastic model are then applied to the rubble-mound breakwater straightforwardly. The parameters of gamma process can be estimated for several experimental data on the damage processes of armor rocks of rubble-mound breakwater. The expected damage levels over time, which are numerically simulated with the estimated parameters, are in very good agreement with those from the flume testing. It has been found from various numerical calculations that the probabilities exceeding the failure limit are converged to the constraint that the model must be satisfied after lasting for a long time from now. Meanwhile, the expected residual useful lifetimes evaluated from the failure probabilities are seen to be different with respect to the behavior of damage history. As the coefficient of variation of cumulative damage is becoming large, in particular, it has been shown that the expected residual useful lifetimes have significant discrepancies from those of the deterministic regression model. This is mainly due to the effect of sampling and temporal uncertainties associated with damage, by which the first time to failure tends to be widely distributed. Therefore, the stochastic model presented in this paper for predicting the residual useful lifetime of structure can properly implement the probabilistic assessment on current damage state of structure as well as take account of the temporal uncertainty of future cumulative damage.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.227-237
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• 2008

Arsenic has recently become of the most serious environmental concerns, and the worldwide regulation of arsenic fur drinking water has been reinforced. Arsenic contaminated groundwater and soil have been frequently revealed as well, and arsenic contamination and its treatment and measures have been domestically raised as one of the most important environmental issues. Arsenic behavior in geo-environment is principally affected by oxides and clay minerals, and particularly iron (oxy)hydroxides have been well known to be most effective in controlling arsenic. Among a number of iron (oxy)hydroxides, for this reason, 2-line ferrihydrite was selected in this study to investigate its effect on arsenic behavior. Adsorption of 2-line ferrihydrite was characterized and compared between As(III) and As(V) which are known to be the most ubiquitous species among arsenic forms in natural environment. Two-line ferrihydrite synthesized in the lab as the adsorbent of arsenic had $10\sim200$ nm for diameter, $247m^{2}/g$ for specific surface area, and 8.2 for pH of zero charge, and those representative properties of 2-line ferrihydrite appeared to be greatly suitable to be used as adsorbent of arsenic. The experimental results on equilibrium adsorption indicate that As(III) showed much stronger adsorption affinity onto 2-line ferrihydrite than As(V). In addition, the maximum adsorptions of As(III) and As(V) were observed at pH 7.0 and 2.0, respectively. In particular, the adsorption of As(III) did not show any difference between pH conditions, except for pH 12.2. On the contrary, the As(V) adsorption was remarkably decreased with increase in pH. The results obtained from the detailed experiments investigating pH effect on arsenic adsorption show that As(III) adsorption increased up to pH 8.0 and dramatically decreased above pH 9.2. In case of As(V), its adsorption steadily decreased with increase in pH. The reason the adsorption characteristics became totally different depending on arsenic species is attributed to the fact that chemical speciation of arsenic and surface charge of 2-line ferrihydrite are significantly affected by pH, and it is speculated that those composite phenomena cause the difference in adsorption between As(III) and As(V). From the view point of adsorption kinetics, adsorption of arsenic species onto 2-line ferrihydrite was investigated to be mostly completed within the duration of 2 hours. Among the kinetic models proposed so for, power function and elovich model were evaluated to be the most suitable ones which can simulate adsorption kinetics of two kinds of arsenic species onto 2-line ferrihydrite.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.103-113
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• 2023

The river confluence is a section in which two rivers with different topographical and hyrodynamic characteristics are combined into one, and it is a section in which rapid flow, inflow of sediments, and hydrological topographic changes occur. In the confluence section, the flow of fluid occurs due to the difference in density due to the type of material or temperature difference, which is called a density flow. It is necessary to accurately measure and observe the confluence section including a certain section of the main stream and tributaries in order to understand the mixing behavior of the water body caused by the density difference. A comprehensive analysis of this water mixture can be obtained by obtaining flow field and flow rate information, but there is a limit to understanding the mixing of water bodies with different physical properties and water quality characteristics of rivers flowing with stratigraphic flow. Therefore, this study attempts to grasp the density flow through the water temperature distribution in the confluence section. Among the extensive data of the river, vertical data and water surface data were acquired, and through this, the stratification phenomenon of the confluence was to be confirmed. It was intended to analyze the mixed pattern of the confluence by analyzing the water mixing pattern according to the water temperature difference using the vertical data obtained by measuring the repair volume by installing the ADCP on the side of the boat and measuring the real-time concentration using YSI. This study can supplement the analysis results of the existing water quality measurement in two dimensions. Based on the comparative analysis, it will be used to investigate the current status of stratified sections in the water layer and identify the mixing characteristics of the downstream section of the river.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.17-26
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• 2021

Ground investigation and result analysis generally used to examine all sorts of structures' subsidence or stability can be classified into sandy soil and cohesive soil, and analysis on the liquid limit of soil is utilized to evaluate the physical properties of ground and types or technical behavior of soil. The most widely used method to analyze liquid limit is Casagrande with which liquid limit can be calculated relatively easily; however, it is fairly difficult to apply it to soil equipped with intermediate properties. Therefore, concerning the properties of soil having the intermediate properties of sedimentary ground, this researcher mixed the clay from Yangsan, Gwangyang, and Busan with sandy soil to make intermediate soil and then carried out the test of consistency limit and also evaluated applicability by using the suggested formula of consistency revision. The sample of intermediate soil was the mixture of clay and sandy soil, and to produce intermediate soil, the content (F_c) of fine soil was applied as 50%, 75%, or 100%. Regarding the physical properties of intermediate soil, to maintain the properties of clay in the natural state, bentonite was added at a fixed rate for controlling the properties of clay, and then, consistency was analyzed. By adopting the formula of consistency revision suggested in advanced research, this author analyzed consistency based on the experiment and consistency based on the suggested formula of revision. Also, about intermediate soil collected at the site, consistency based on the experiment and consistency based on the suggested formula of revision were analyzed comparatively, and about intermediate soil collected, this researcher analyzed particle size and calculated the content (F_c) of fine soil to analyze intermediate soil in diverse conditions. Moreover, about intermediate soil collected at the site, the suggested formula of consistency revision was applied to calculate the compression index, and the compression index based on the experiment and the compression index based on the suggested formula were analyzed comparatively to evaluate the applicability of the suggested formula.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.105-118
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• 2000

Anchored measurements (12.5 hr) of suspended sediment concentration and other hydrodynamic parameters were carried out at two stations located at the entrance to Hampyung Bay in summer (August 1999). Tidal variations in water temperature and salinity were in the range of 26.0-27.9$^{\circ}C$ and 30.9-31.5, respectively, indicating exchange offshore and offshore water mass. Active tidal mixing processes at the entrance appear to destroy the otherwise vertical stratification in temperature and salinity in spite of strong solar heating in summer. On the contrary, suspended sediment concentrations show a marked stratification with increasing concentrations toward bottom layer. Clastic particles in suspended sediments consist mostly of very fine to fine silt (4-16 ${\mu}$m) with a poorly-sorted value of 14.7-25.9 ${\mu}$m. However, at slack time with less turbulent energy, flocs larger than 40 ${\mu}$m are formed by cohesion and inter-collision of particles, resulting in a higher settling velocity. Strong ebb-dominated and weak flood dominated tidal currents, in the southwestern and the northeastern part, respectively, result in a seaward residual flow of -10${\sim}$-20 cm $s^{-1}$ at station H1 and a bayward residual flow less than 5.0 cm $s^{-1}$ at station H2. However, mean concentration of suspended sediments at station H1 is higher at flood (95.0-144.1 mg $1^{-1}$) than in ebb (75.8-120.9 mg $1^{-1}$). On the contrary, at the station H2, the trend is reversed with higher concentration at the ebb (84.7-158.4 mg $1^{-1}$) than that at the flood (53.0-107.9 mg $1^{-1}$). As a result, seaward net suspended sediment fluxes ($f_{s}$) are calculated to be -1.7 ${\sim}$-$15.610^{3}$ kg $m^{-2}$ $s^{-1}$ through the whole water column. However, the stations H1 and H2 show definitely different values of the flux with higher ones in the former than in the latter. Alternatively, depth-integrated net suspended sediment loads ($\c{Q}_{s}$) for one tidal cycle are also toward the offshore with ranges of 0.37${\times}$$10^{3}$ kg $m^{-1}$ and 0.21${\times}$$10^{3}$ kg $m^{-1}$, at station H1 and H2, respectively. This seaward transport of suspended sediment in summer suggests that summer-time erosion in the Hampyung muddy tidal flats is a rather exceptional phenomenon compared to the general deposition reported for many other tidal flats on the west coast of Korea.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.93-107
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• 1998

Because of its stable quantity and quality, groundwater has long been a reliable source of drinking water for domestic users. Rapid economic growth and rising standards of living have in recent years put severe demands on drinking water supplies in Korea. Groundwaters that are currently being used for natural mineral water were hydrochemically evaluated and investigated in order to maintain their quality to satisfy strict health standards. There exist 15 natural mineral water plants in the Okcheon metamorphic belt. Characteristics of groundwaters are different from those of other areas in that electrical conductivity, hardness, contents of Ca, Mg and $HCO_3$are relatively high. The content of major cations is in the order of Ca>Mg, Na>K, whereas that of major anions shows the order of $HCO_3$>$SO_4$>Cl>F. The fact that the Ca-Mg-HCO$_3$type is mostly predominant among water types reflects that dissolution of carbonates that are abundantly present in the metamorphic rocks plays an important part in groundwater chemistry. Representative correlation coefficients between chemical species show Mg-$HCO_3$(0.92), Ca-$HCO_3$(0.88), Ca-Mg(0.80), Ca-Cl(0.78), Mg-$SO_4$(0.78), Ca-$SO_4$(0.71), possibly due to the effect by dissolution of carbonates, gypsum or anhydrite. Determinative coefficients between some chemical species represent a good relationship, especially for EC-(K+Na+Ca), Ca-$HCO_3$, Ca-Mg, indiacting that they are similar in chemical behaviors. According to saturation index, most chemical species are undersaturated with respect to major minerals, except for some silica phases. Groundwater is slightly undersaturated with respect to calcite and dolomite, whereas it is still greatly undersaturated with respect to gypsum, anhydrite and fluorite, Based on the Phase equilibrium in the systems $NA_2$O-$Al_2$$O_3$-$SiO_2$-$H_2$O and $K_2$O-$Al_2$$O_3$-$SiO_2$-$H_2$O, it is clear that groundwater is in equilibrium with kaolinite, evolved from the stability area of gibbsite during water-rock interaction. It is expected that chemical evolution of groundwater continue to proceed with increasing pH by reaction of feldspars, with calcite much less reactive.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.109-120
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• 2017

A discounted cost model for preventive maintenance of armor units of rubble-mound breakwaters is mathematically derived by combining the deterioration model based on a discrete-time stochastic process of shock occurrence with the cost model of renewal process together. The discounted cost model of condition-based maintenance proposed in this paper can take into account the nonlinearity of cumulative damage process as well as the discounting effect of cost. By comparing the present results with the previous other results, the verification is carried out satisfactorily. In addition, it is known from the sensitivity analysis on variables related to the model that the more often preventive maintenance should be implemented, the more crucial the level of importance of system is. However, the tendency is shown in reverse as the interest rate is increased. Meanwhile, the present model has been applied to the armor units of rubble-mound breakwaters. The parameters of damage intensity function have been estimated through the time-dependent prediction of the expected cumulative damage level obtained from the sample path method. In particular, it is confirmed that the shock occurrences can be considered to be a discrete-time stochastic process by investigating the effects of uncertainty of the shock occurrences on the expected cumulative damage level with homogeneous Poisson process and doubly stochastic Poisson process that are the continuous-time stochastic processes. It can be also seen that the stochastic process of cumulative damage would depend directly on the design conditions, thus the preventive maintenance would be varied due to those. Finally, the optimal periods and scale for the preventive maintenance of armor units of rubble-mound breakwaters can be quantitatively determined with the failure limits, the levels of importance of structure, and the interest rates.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.6C
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• pp.249-257
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• 2012

The reinforced earth method is financially viable. Furthermore, it overcomes environmental limitations and is therefore employed in retaining walls, slopes, foundations, roads, embankments, and other structures. However, in some cases, reinforced retaining walls are not strong enough in the curved sections and can collapse. Such mishaps are believed to occur because of an unsatisfactory analysis of the curved sections of a reinforced retaining wall. Accordingly, with the aim of investigating the workability and structural safety of curved sections of various types, this study investigates the differences in the estimated horizontal displacements of curved sections of various types and subsequently uses this information to study and analyze preliminary data so that appropriate measures can be taken to resolve alignment issues. The results of an experiment reveal that when a load is applied to curved sections of both concave and convex types, the largest horizontal displacement occurs at the center of the section. In the concave form, the earth pressure force is directed inward, whereas in the convex form, this force is directed outward. As a result, the horizontal displacement in convex forms is larger than that in concave forms. Convex reinforced earth structures are subjected to earth pressures as well as lateral earth pressure, therefore horizontal displacements in convex curved sections is larger than that of concave curved sections.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2015

Olmesartan affiliated to biopharmaceutics classification system class 2 is a poorly water soluble drug. For this reason, olmesartan showed a low bioavailability and a lot of difficulties in the process of designing the pharmaceutical formulation. We prepared the solid dispersions of olmesartan. We confirmed the dissolution rate of drug which was prepared by manufacturing. The pharmaceutical formulation of solid dispersions was designed by using PVP as water soluble polymer. We analyzed morphological feature of solid dispersion by employing a scanning electron microscope. Then, the crystalline property of solid dispersion was confirmed through X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimeter. Also, the chemical change of solid dispersion was confirmed by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In vitro dissolution test was used to analyze the dissolution rate of solid dispersion. The prepared solid dissolution olmesartan confirmed the dissolution rate in the pH 1.2. It was compared with olmetec and improved dissolution rate through solid dispersion.