• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2021

A road structure washing vehicle equipped with a 4 HP, 80 LPM ultrafine bubble generator was used to clean a tunnel wall and the surface of the surrounding structure, consisting of concrete and tiles, in a heavy traffic area around an apartment complex in the city. Ultrafine bubbles were generated by supplying air at 2 to 3 LPM and using a specially designed nozzle, whereas fine bubbles made by an impeller in a gas-liquid mixing self-priming pump were produced with an average diameter of 165.4 nm and 6.81 × 107 particles mL-1. Using a high pressure washer gun that can perform high-pressure cleaning at 150 bar and 30 LPM, ultrafine bubbles were used to wash dust adsorbed on the surface of the road structures. The experimental analysis was divided into before and after washing. The samples were analyzed by applying ISO 8502-3 to measure surface contamination of dust adsorbed on the surface. Using the transparent tape attached to the surface, the removal rate was calculated by measuring the weight of the dust, and the number of particles was calculated using the gravimetric method and the software, ImageJ. The results of the experiment showed that the number of dust particles adsorbed on the tile wall surface before and after washing were 3,063 ± 218 particles mL-1 and 20 ± 5 particles mL-1, respectively, with weights of 580 ± 82 mg and 13 ± 4 mg. Particles on the surface of the concrete structure before and after washing were 8,105 ± 1,738 particles mL-1 and 39 ± 6 particles mL-1, respectively, with weights of 1,448 ± 190 mg and 118 ± 32 mg.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.153-170
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• 2022

Waterjet has been comprehensively used in urban areas owing to a suitable technique for cutting concrete and rock, and low noise and vibration. Recently, the abrasive waterjet technique has been adopted and applied by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute to demolish concrete plugging without disturbing and damaging In-situ Demonstration of Engineered Barrier System in the disposal research tunnel. In this study, the use of abrasive waterjet in the tunnel was evaluated for practical applicability and the existing cutting model was compared with the experimental results. As a variable for waterjet cutting, multi-cutting, water flow rate, abrasive flow rate, and standoff distance were selected for the diversity of analysis. As regarding the practical application, the waterjet facilitated path selection for cutting the concrete plugging and prevented additional disturbances in the periphery. The pump's noise at idling was 64.9 dB which is satisfied with the noise regulatory standard, but it exceeded the standard at ejection to air and target concrete because the experiment was performed in the tunnel space. The experimental result showed that the error between the predicted and measured cutting volume was 12~13% for the first cut and 16% for second cut. The standoff distance had a significant influence on the cutting depth and width, and the error tended to decrease with decrement of standoff distance.