• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.661-669
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• 2022

The need for miniaturization, high efficiency, and green energy resources as an energy storage device through the development of various electronic device has emerged. Accordingly, nanomaterials with excellent electrochemical properties, such as graphene and graphene hybrids, are attracting attention as promising materials. In particular, in the electric vehicle industry, cost reduction of secondary batteries is a key factor that can determine the spread of related industries, and it is most important to analyze R&D trends for battery material technology and respond to future technological development directions. Therefore, in this study, we tried to suggest a direction for R&D activities in the future by analyzing patent trends for graphene anode material technology for secondary batteries and deriving implications. As a result, in the case of anode material technology, the proportion of foreigners in the US and European patent markets was higher than in the Korean and Japanese patent markets, which means that the US and European marketability is high. In addition, Japanese applicants are filing high-level applications not only in the Japanese patent market but also in other countries suggests that Japan is leading the technology in this field. Lastly, the proportion of research institutes in the patent market of Korea and the US remains high compared to that of Japan and Europe, indicating that the commercialization of technology is still slow in those countries. Therefore research institutes and companies in Korea will have to establish their own strategies for developing and securing materials using the results of patent trends in major countries and major companies analyzed in this study.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.54-66
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• 2023

Titanium's importance as a mineral resource is increasing, but the Korean industry depends on imports. Ilmenite is the principal titanium ore. However, research and development from raw materials have not been investigated yet in detail. Hence, measures to secure a stable titanium supply chain are urgently needed. Accordingly, through beneficiation technology, we evaluated the possibility of technological application for the efficient recovery of valuable minerals. As a result of the experiments, we confirmed that mineral particles existed as fine particles due to weathering, making recovery through classification difficult. Consequently, applying beneficiation technologies, i.e., specific gravity separation, magnetic separation, and flotation, makes it possible to recover valuable minerals such as hematite and rutile. However, there are limitations in increasing the quality and yield of TiO₂ due to the mineralogical characteristic of the hematite and rutile contained in titanium ore. Hametite is combined with rutile even at fine particles. Therefore, it is essential to develop mineral processing routes, to recover iron, vanadium, and rare earth elements as resources. On that account, we used grinding technology that improves group separation between constituent minerals and magnetic separation technology that utilizes the difference in magnetic sensitivity between fine mineral particles. The development of beneficiation technology that can secure the economic feasibility of valuable materials after reforming iron oxide and titanium oxide components is necessary.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.460-468
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• 2021

A TBM is an equipment that excavates a tunnel with a full face by rotating a circular cutter head and its advantages are fast excavation rate and safe construction. A TBM, which is primarily used for tunnel excavation on civil construction sites, is easily adaptable to information and communication technology. Research related to unmanned and automated technology is being actively pursued. TBM applications for mining and energy resource development in other countries were investigated in this study. The difference of TBM applications between the mining and energy resource development and civil construction sites was examined. Technical factors such as geological conditions, depth, site access, TBM launching, alignment and inclination, TBM size, and others that should be considered when choosing a TBM were investigated. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of TBM application in mines and the technical requirements for TBM for successful mine application are summarized.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.303-316
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• 2014

This study was carried out to raise research productivity through the analysis on the research projects and to find trends of mineral resources survey and mineral deposits of the KIGAM for 38 years since the fiscal year of 1976 to 2013. The KIGAM in the projects for mineral resources survey and mineral deposits expended 67.41 billion won for last 38 years, which is 107.07 billion won calculated using the present value in 2013 at discount rate of 5%. R&D expenditure in mineral resources survey and mineral deposits of KIGAM increased approximately 59.4 times from 108 million won in 1976 to 6,420 million won in 2013, and about 9.8 times from 657 million won in 1976, as calculated using the present value in 2013. The percentage of research projects in mineral resources survey by research sub-areas was as follows: survey, 32%(90 projects); origin of ore deposits and basic research, 19%(54 projects); exploration for ore deposits, 17%(48 projects); database and information, 13%(37 projects); mineralogy and ore analysis, 9%(25 projects); and etc., 10%(27 projects). Based on analysis of research trends over the last 38 years, to raise research productivity, the existing survey research techniques with repeated use and related technology development should be enhanced.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.29-41
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• 2024

The increasing demand for metallic minerals due to global growth and the continued exploitation of near-surface minerals requires safe and efficient ways to mine ores present in deep mines. In deep mines, stresses concentrated around the cavity increase, which can lead to problems such as induced seismicity and rockbursts. In addition, the transfer of energy from blasting to deeply located faults can cause fault slip, which can lead to earthquakes, and controlling these events is key to deep mining methods. In this technical report, we will introduce the Underhand Closed Bench (UCB) mining method, which can control possible accidents and increase productivity when mining in deep mines.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.20-32
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• 2022

This study implemented a chelating agent (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA) in purification to obtain high-purity vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) for use in VRFB (Vanadium Redox Flow Battery). V₂O₅ (powder) was produced through the precipitation recovery of ammonium metavanadate (NH₄VO₃) from a vanadium solution, which was prepared using a low-purity vanadium raw material. The initial purity of the powder was estimated to be 99.7%. However, the use of a chelating agent improved its purity up to 99.9% or higher. It was conjectured that the added chelating agent reacted with the impurity ions to form a complex, stabilizing them. This improved the selectivity for vanadium in the recovery process. However, the prepared V₂O₅ powder exhibited higher contents of K, Mn, Fe, Na, and Al than those in the standard counterparts, thus necessitating additional research on its impurity separation. Furthermore, the vanadium electrolyte was prepared using the high-purity V₂O₅ powder in a newly developed direct electrolytic process. Its analytical properties were compared with those of commercial electrolytes. Owing to the high concentration of the K, Ca, Na, Al, Mg, and Si impurities in the produced vanadium electrolyte, the purity was analyzed to be 99.97%, lower than those (99.98%) of its commercial counterparts. Thus, further research on optimizing the high-purity V₂O₅ powder and electrolyte manufacturing processes may yield a process capable of commercialization.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.10
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• pp.774-779
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• 2011

S-N fatigue behavior of cast 304 stainless steel was studied at 25, -50 and $-196^{\circ}C$ and at a stress ratio of -1 in uniaxial and bending loading condition. It was found that the resistance to S-N fatigue was greatly improved with decreasing testing temperature. The normalized S-N fatigue curves by tensile strength at three different testing temperatures matched each other, suggesting that tensile strength determines the S-N fatigue resistance of cast 304 stainless steel at low temperatures. The effects of different loading on the resistance to S-N fatigue of cast 304 stainless steel were quantified. The S-N fatigue curves at 25, -50 and $-196^{\circ}C$ were described by using Basquin's law the relationship between the S-N fatigue curve and the testing temperature was obtained by using a simple regression method.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.655-666
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• 2020

This study evaluated the characteristics of arsenic production in groundwater through microbial community analysis of groundwater contaminated with high arsenic in Haman area. Groundwater in Haman area is contaminated with arsenic in the range of 0-757.2 ㎍/L, which represents the highest arsenic contamination concentration reported in Korea as natural groundwater pollution source. Of the total 200 samples, 29 samples (14.5%) showed higher arsenic concentration than that of 10 ㎍/L, which is the standard for drinking water quality, and 8 samples (4%) found in wells with 80-100 m depth were above 50 ㎍/L. In addition, seven wells with arsenic concentration more than 100 ㎍/L located in the northern part of Haman. As a result of microbial community analysis for high arsenic-contaminated groundwater, the microbial community compositions were significantly different between each sample, and Proteobacteria was the most dominant phyla with an average of 61.5%. At the genus level, the Gallinonella genus was predominant with about 12.8% proportion, followed by the Acinetobacter and Methermicoccus genus with about 7.8 and 7.3%, respectively. It is expected that high arsenic groundwater in the study area was caused by a complex reaction of geochemical characteristics and biogeochemical processes. Therefore, it is expected that the constructed information on geochemical characteristics and microbial communities through this study could be used to identify the origin of high arsenic groundwater and the development of its controlling technology.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.231-247
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• 2024

In the field of high-level radioactive waste disposal targeting deep rock environments, hydraulic characteristic information serves as the most important key factor in selecting relevant disposal sites, detailed design of disposal facilities, derivation of optimal construction plans, and safety evaluation during operation. Since various rock types are mixed and distributed in a small area in Korea, it is important to conduct preliminary work to analyze the hydrogeological characteristics of rock aquifers for various rock types and compile the resulting data into a database. In this paper, we obtained hydraulic conductivity data, which is the most representative field hydraulic characteristic of a high-depth volcanic bedrock aquifer, and also analyzed and evaluated the field data. To acquire field data, we used a high-performance hydraulic testing system developed in-house and applied standardized test methods and investigation procedures. In the process of hydraulic characteristic data analysis, hydraulic conductivity values were obtained for each depth, and the pattern of groundwater flow through permeable rock joints located in the test section was also evaluated. It is expected that the series of data acquisition methods, procedures, and analysis results proposed in this report can be used to build a database of hydraulic characteristics data for high-depth rock aquifers in Korea. In addition, it is expected that it will play a role in improving technical know-how to be applied to research on hydraulic characteristic according to various bedrock types in the future.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.70-81
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• 2021

This study evaluated the recyclability of waste plastics in used coffee capsules disposed of as municipal waste. For recycling, a new material separation process was developed to remove the coffee grounds through primary crushing, washing, sieving, and secondary crushing, followed by corona discharge electrostatic separation. Furthermore, for the under 10 mm size fraction samples, the aluminum removal and the plastic recovery were 95.4% and 98.3%, respectively, under optimal conditions. In addition, for the 15 mm fraction samples, the aluminum removal and the plastic recovery were 91.3% and 97.2%, respectively. To evaluate the recyclability of the separated waste plastics, the samples were pelleted, and their material properties were analyzed. No hazardous substances were detected, and the results were similar to those for homo-PP. Therefore, it was confirmed tha t sufficient functiona lity existed a s recycled PP. However, owing to the da rk color of the pellets, limited applications to black or dark products are expected.