• Clean Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.250-258
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• 2006

CFC compounds such as CFC-113 and 1,1,1-TCE, etc. have been used in various industries due to their excellent chemical stability, thermodynamic characteristics, non-inflammability and anti-corrosiveness. However, in oder to protect the earth environment, "the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer" was adopted in 1989 for prevention of production and utilization of these CFC compounds and alternative cleaning agent have been required in the industry. The objective of this study is to develop non-aqueous cleaning agents that do not require major change of cleaning system, have excellent cleaning efficiency, are favorable to the environment, are harmless to the human body, and are not generated corrosive materials. In this work, non-aqueous cleaning agents have been formulated with glycol ether series and paraffinic hydrocarbon series with siloxane, and their physical properties and cleaning efficiencies were analyzed and compared with those of regulated materials. As a result of physical properties measurement of the formulated cleaning agents, it is expected that they may have good penetration ability into contaminated materials due to their properties with low density and low surface tension. Measurement of flash point and vapor pressure of the cleaning agents will be helpful for evaluation of their safety and working environment. The experimental results of cleaning flux, solder and grease by the formulated cleaning agents show that their cleaning abilities of soils were good and that there were no residues on the substance after cleaning. Therefore, alternative cleaning agents which have equivalent cleaning ability to regulating materials, good penetration ability and low hazard to human body, have been developed in this work.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.3-21
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• 1997

The remediation of contamiated sites using currently available remediation technologies requires long term treatment and huge costs, and it is uncertain to achieve the remediation goal to drop contamination level to either back-ground or health-based standards by using such technologies. Intrinsic remediation technology is the remediation technology that relies on the mechanisms of natural attenuation for the containment and elimination of contaminants in subsurface environments. Initial costs for the intrinsic remediation may be higher than conventional treatment technologies because the most comprehensive site assessment for intrinsic remediation is required. Total remediation cost, however may be the lowest among the presently employed technologies. The applicability of intrinsic remediation in the contaminated sites should be theroughly investigated to achieve the remedial goal of the technology. This paper provides the frame of the extended site assessment procedure based on knowledge of biodegradability to evaluate the applicability of intrinsic remediation. This site assessment procedure is composed of 5 steps such as preliminary site screening, assessment of the current knowledge of biodegradability, selecting the appropriate approach, analyzing the contaminant fate and transport and planning the monitoring schedule. In the step 1, followings are to be decided 1) whether to go on the the detailed assessment or not based on the rules of thumb concerning the biodegradability of organic compounds, 2) which protocol document is selected to follow for detailed site assessment according to the site characteristics, contaminants and the relative distance between the contamination and potential receptors. In the step 2, the database for biodegradability are searched and evaluated. In the step 3, the appropriate biodegradability pathways for the contaminated site is selected. In the step 4, the fate and transport of the contaminants at the site are analyzed through modeling. In the step 5, the monitoring schedule is planned according to the result of the modeling. Through this procedure, users may able to have the rational and systematic informations for the application of intrinsic remediation. Also the collected data and informations can be used as the basic to re-select the other remediation technology if it reaches a conclusion not to applicate intrinsic remediation technology at the site from the site assessment procedure.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 2014

Biochar (BC) from biomass pyrolysis is a carbonaceous material that has been used to remove various contaminants in the environment. The eliminatory action for burcucumber (Sicyos angulatus L.) as an invasive plant is being consistently carried out because of its harmfulness and ecosystem disturbance. In this study, burcucumber biomass was converted into BCs at different pyrolysis temperatures of 300 and $700^{\circ}C$ under a limited oxygen condition. Produced BCs were characterized and investigated to ensure its efficiency on antibiotics' removal in water. The adsorption experiment was performed using two different types of antibiotics, tetracycline (TC) and sulfamethazine (SMZ). For the BC pyrolyzed at a high temperature ($700^{\circ}C$), the values of pH, electrical conductivity, and the contents of ash and carbon increased whereas the yield, mobile matter, molar ratios of H/C and O/C, and functional groups decreased. Results showed that the efficiency of BCs on antibiotics' removal increased as pyrolysis temperature increased from 300 to $700^{\circ}C$ (38 to 99% for TC and 6 to 35% for SMZ). The reaction of ${\pi}-{\pi}$ EDA (electron-donor-acceptor) might be involved in antibiotics' adsorption to BCs. BC has potential to be a superior antibiotics' adsorbent with environmental benefit by recycling of waste/invasive biomass.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.375-383
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• 2011

Recent advances in digital technology and diversified internet services have resulted in a rapid growth of research on monitering systems using embedded web servers in USN systems. In designing USN systems equipped with wireless sensor modules requiring extra power for heating sensors for their appropriate operations, excessive power consumption introduces inefficiency to the entire system. In this paper, using embedded systems in web environment, we develop a remote-monitoring system with VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) sensor signal, and propose a real time method of processing sensor-data streams by way of the serial bus from the sensor module in the USN system. The proposed system has an advantage of monitering the harmful gases on real-time basis and can be used semi-permanently by providing the sensor module with power through the serial bus. The harmful gas to be detected by the VOC sensor module is Toluene and the sensor module is composed of TGS-2602 VOC(Volatile Organic Compounds) sensors of FIGARO. The detected signal is transferred to the embedded web server using the RS-485 serial communication device. The proposed remote VOC monitering system is designed to coordinate in such a way that the VOC sensor module and embedded web server (EMPOS-II) work together effectively for real time monitering of harmful gases on the web at any places where the internet is connected.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.152-168
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• 2019

The element arsenic, which is abundant in the Earth's crust, is used for various industrial purposes including materials for disease treatment and household goods. Various human activities, such as the disposal of soil waste, metal mining and smelting, and combustion of fossil fuels, have caused the pollution of the environment with arsenic. Recently, guidelines for arsenic in rice have been adopted by the Korean ministry of food and drug safety to prevent health risks based on rice consumption. Because of the exposure to arsenic and its accumulation in the human body through various channels, such as air inhalation, skin contact, ingestion of drinking water, and food consumption, integrated multimedia risk assessment is required to adopt appropriate risk management policies. Therefore, integrated human health risk assessment was carried out in this study using integrated exposure assessment based on multimedia (e.g., air, water, and soil) and multi-route (e.g., oral, inhalation, and dermal) scenarios. The results show that oral uptake via drinking water is the most common pathway of arsenic into the human body, accounting for 57%-96% of the total arsenic exposure. Among various age groups, the highest exposures to arsenic were observed in infants because the body weight of infants is low and the surface areas of infant bodies are large. Based on the results of the exposure assessment, the cancer and non-cancer risks were calculated. The cancer risk for CTE and RME is in the range of 2.3E-05 to 6.7E-05 and thus is negligible because it does not exceed the cancer probability of 1.0E-04 for all age groups. On the other hand, the cancer risk for RME varies from 6.4E-05 to 1.8E-04 and from 1.3E-04 to 1.8E-04 for infants and preschool children, exceeding the excess cancer risk of 1.0E-04. The non-cancer risks range from 5.4E-02 to 1.9E-01 and from 1.5E-01 to 6.8E-01, respectively. They do not exceed the hazard index 1 for all scenarios and all ages.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.108-113
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• 2014

The harmful materials as volatile organic compounds (VOCS) that is easy for gas to be changed from liquid on ambient temperature, those should be controlled by Korea Chemicals Management Association. The VOCs samples should be collected directly in place so that those could be analyzed. Generally but it couldn't avoid to have the risk of analyst. Moreover, if there is the place limited to entrance, it is impossible to collect directly and measure. Owing to such problem, it tried to be solved by open path FT-IR spectrometer that could be studied on the combustion gases within long path and VOCs samples were tried to measure to large volume by remote and real time. Firstly, it was to investigate optimized measured length between the system and benzene sample of VOCs. As result, The optimized measured length was confirmed with 15 meter length and the qualitative analysis could be measured on seven VOC samples. The calibration curve as quantitative analysis of benzene samples could be worked. On the basis of the result, the system as remote monitor could show to have potentiality.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.409-419
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• 2023

Acid mine drainage(AMD) treatment is classified as both passive and active treatment. During the treatment, about 5,000 tons of neutralization sludge is generated as a by-product per year in Korea. This study was conducted to evaluate the characteristics of sludge generated from physico·chemical treatment processes as an active treatment from 5 different sources (D, H, S, T, Y) and the possibility of the sludges being recycled. The sludges have a pH range of 5.86 ~ pH 7.89, and a water content range of 51% ~ 82%. Most of particle sizes were less than 25 ㎛. In analysis of inorganic elements, the concentration of Al, Fe, and Mn were between 1,189 mg/kg ~ 129,344 mg/kg, 106,132 mg/kg ~ 338,011 mg/kg, and 3,472 mg/kg ~ 11,743 mg/kg, respectively. The concentration of As and Zn in sludge-T, Cd in sludge-D, Ni in sludge-H, Zn in sludge-S, and Cd in sludge-Y exceeded the soil contamination standards of Korea. The results from 2 separate kinds of leaching test, the Korea Standard Leaching Test(KSLT) and Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure(TCLP), showed that all the sludges met the Korea groundwater standards. From the XRD and SEM-EDS analysis, the peaks of calcite and quartz were found in the sludges. The sludge also had a high proportion of Fe and O, and the majority of the composition was amorphous iron hydroxide.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 2022

Ever increasing global energy demand gives rise to uncontrollable environmental pollution. Demand on fossil fuel and consequent carbon emission leads to global warming and climate change. Nuclear energy is an alternative source to generate clean energy but mining of nuclear fuel is associated with harmful chemicals. Mining of valuable minerals from sea water by membrane separation process is a cost effective along with environmental friendly process. Separation and adsorption based mining of valuable minerals from sea water are another efficient process. Recovery of actinides from rare earth elements are very challenging and expensive process. Pressure driven membrane separation process is economically more viable along with environmental process. In this review membrane separation process are based on polyether sulfone, polyamide, polyimide, polyamidoxine and hybrid membranes. In case of adsorption process, mainly amidoxime kind of adsorbent are discussed.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.123-133
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• 2023

Wastewater generated in the secondary battery production process contains lithium and high-concentration sulfate. Recently, as demand as demand for high-Ni precursors with high-energy density has surged, nickel emission is also a concern. Lithium and sulfate are not included in the current water pollutant discharge standard, so if they are not properly processed and discharged, the negative effect on future environment may be great. Therefore, in this study, the ecotoxicity of lithium, nickel, and sulfate, which are potential contaminants that can be discharged from the secondary battery production process, was evaluated using water flea (Daphnia magna) and luminescent bacteria (Aliivibrio fischeri). As a result of the ecotoxicity test, 24-hour and 48-hour D. magna EC₅₀ values of lithium were 18.2mg/L and 14.5mg/L, nickel EC50 values were 7.2mg/L and 5.4mg/L, and sulfate EC₅₀ values were 4,605.5mg/L and 4,345.0mg/L, respectively. In the case of D. magna, it was found that there was a difference in ecotoxicity according to the contaminants and exposure time (24 hours, 48 hours). Comparing the EC₅₀ of D. magna for lithium, nickel, and sulfate, the EC₅₀ of nickel at 24h and 48h was 39.6-37.2% compared to lithium and 0.1-0.2% compared to sulfate, which was the most toxic among the three substances. The difference appeared to be at a similarlevelregardless of the exposure time. The EC₅₀ of sulfate was 253.0-299.7% and 639.5-804.6%, respectively, compared to lithium and nickel, showing the least toxicity among the three substances. The 30-minute EC₅₀ values of luminescent bacteria forlithium, nickel, and sulfate were 2,755.8mg/L, 7.4mg/L, and 66,047.3mg/L,respectively. Unlike nickel, it was confirmed that there was a difference in sensitivity between D. magna and A. fischeri bacteria to lithium and sulfate. Studies on the mixture toxicity of these substances are needed.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.228-236
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• 2015

Urbanization causes many environmental, hydrological and ecological problems such as distortion of the natural water circulation system, increase in nonpoint source pollutants in stormwater runoff, degradation of surface water quality, and damage to the ecosystem. Due to the increase in impervious surface by urbanization, developed countries apply low impact development (LID) techniques as important alternatives to reduce the impacts of urbanization. In Korea, LID techniques were employed since 2012 in order to manage nonpoint source pollutants. LID technology is a technique for removing pollutants using a variety of physical, chemical and biological mechanisms in plants, microorganisms and filter media with the reduced effluence of stormwater runoff by mimicking natural water circulation system. These LID facilities are used in a variety of filter media, but an assessment has not been carried out for the comprehensive comparison evaluation of adsorption and desorption characteristics for the pollutant removal capacity. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze the adsorption and desorption characteristics of various filter media used in the LID facilities such as sand, gravel, bioceramic, wood chips and bottom ash etc. in reducing heavy metals(Pb, Cu). In this study, the adsorption affinity for Pb in all filter media was higher than Cu. Pseudo second order equation and Langmuir-3 isotherm are more applicable in the adsorption kinetic model and adsorption isotherm model, respectively. As a result of the desorption experiment, the filter media does not exceed KSLT which is the hazardous substance leaching limit, showing the capability of the filter media in LID. The bioceramic and woodchip as filter medias were evaluated and exhibited excellent adsorption capacity for Pb.