• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.330-334
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• 2021

BACKGROUND: More recently, it has been shown that atmospheric ammonia (NH₃) plays a primary role in the formation of secondary particulate matter by reacting with the acidic species, e.g. SO₂, NOx, to form PM2.5 aerosols in the atmosphere. The Jeonbuk region is an area with high concentration of particulate matter. Due to environmental changes in the Saemangeum reclaimed land with an area of 219 km², it is necessary to evaluate the impact of the particulate matter and atmospheric ammonia in the Jeonbuk region. METHODS AND RESULTS: Atmospheric ammonia concentrations were measured from June 2020 to May 2021 using a passive sampler and CRDS analyzer. Seasonal and annual atmospheric ammonia concentration measured using passive sampler was significantly lower in Jangjado (background concentration), and the concentration ranged from 11.4 ㎍/m³ to 18.2 ㎍/m³. Atmospheric ammonia concentrations in Buan, Gimje, Gunsan, and Wanju regions did not show a significant difference, although there was a slight seasonal difference. The maximum atmospheric ammonia concentration measured using the CRDS analyzer installed in the IAMS near the Saemangeum reclaimed land was 51.5 ㎍/m³ in autumn, 48.0 ㎍/m³ in summer, 37.6 ㎍/m³ in winter, and 32.7 ㎍/m³ in spring. The minimum concentration was 4.9 ㎍/m³ in spring, 4.2 ㎍/m³ in summer, and 3.5 ㎍/m³ in autumn and winter. The annual average concentration was 14.6 ㎍/m³. CONCLUSION(S): Long term monitoring of atmospheric ammonia in agricultural areas is required to evaluate the formation of fine particulate matter and its impact on the environment. In addition, continuous technology development is needed to reduce ammonia emitted from farmland.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 2021

Objectives: Acute exposure to high concentrations of chemicals can occur when a chemical accident takes place. As such exposure can cause ongoing environmental pollution, such as in the soil and groundwater, there is a need for a tool that can assess health effects in the long term. The purpose of this study was assessing the health risks of residents living near a chemical accident site due to long-term exposure while considering the temporal concentration changes of the toxic chemicals leaked during the accident until their extinction in the environment using a multimedia environmental dynamics model. Methods: A health risk assessment was conducted on three cases of formaldehyde chemical accidents. In this study, health risk assessment was performed using a multimedia environmental dynamics model that considers the behavior of the atmosphere, soil, and water. In addition, the extinction period of formaldehyde in the environment was regarded as extinction in the environment when the concentration in the air and soil fell below the background concentration prior to the accident. The subjects of health risk assessment were classified into four groups according to age: 0-9 years old, 10-18 years old, 19-64 years old, and over 65 years old. Carcinogenic risk assessment by respiratory exposure and non-carcinogenic risk assessment by soil intake were conducted as well. Results: In the assessment of carcinogenic risk due to respiratory exposure, the excess carcinogenic risk did not exceed 1.0×10-6 in all three chemical accidents, so there was no health effect due to the formaldehyde chemical accident. As a result of the evaluation of non-carcinogenic risk due to soil intake, none of the three chemical accidents had a risk index of 1, so there was no health effect. For all three chemical accidents, the excess cancer risk and hazard index were the highest in the age group 0-9. Next, 10-18 years old, 65 years old or older, and 19-64 years old showed the highest risk. Conclusion: This study considers environmental changes after a chemical accident occurs and until the substance disappears from the environment. It also conducts a health risk assessment by reflecting the characteristics of the long-term persistence and concentration change over time. It is thought that it is of significance as a health risk assessment study reflecting the exposure characteristics of the accident substance for an actual chemical accident.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.411-420
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• 2018

This study presents a revised crackling core model for the description of $UO_2$ sphere oxidation in air atmosphere. For close reproduction of the sigmoid behavior exhibited in $UO_2$ to $U_3O_8$ conversion, the fragmentation effect contributing to the increased reactive surface area and the concept of variable grain conversion time were considered in the model development. Under the assumptions of two-step successive reaction of $UO_2{\rightarrow}U_3O_7{\rightarrow}U_3O_8$ and final grain conversion time equivalent to ten times the initial grain conversion time, the revised model showed good agreement with the experimental data measured at 599 - 674 K and a lowest deviation when compared with Nucleation and Growth model and AutoCatalytic Reaction model. The evaluated activation energy at 100% conversion to $U_3O_8$, $57.6kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$, was found to be closer to the experimentally extrapolated value than to the value determined in AutoCatalytic Reaction model, $48.6kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$.

• Atmosphere
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.311-324
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• 2019

We employed a Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera (MASC) to quantitatively analyze snow particles at the ground level in the Yeongdong region of Korea. The MASC captures high-resolution photographs of hydrometeors from three angles and simultaneously measures fallspeed. Based on snowflake images of the several episodes in 2017 and 2018, we derived statistics of size, aspect ratio, orientation, complexity, and fallspeed of snow crystals, which generally showed similar characteristics to the previous studies in other regions of the world. Dominant snow crystal habits of January 22, 2018 generated by northerly were melted aggregates when 850 hPa temperature was about $-6{\sim}-8^{\circ}C$. Average fallspeed of snow crystals was $1.0m\;s^{-1}$ though its size gradually increased as temperature decreased. Another snowfall event (March 8, 2018) was driven by the baroclinic instability as accompanied with a deep trough. Snow crystal habits were largely rimed aggregates (complexity ~1.8) and melting particles of dark images. Meanwhile, in the extreme snowfall event whose snow rate was greater than $10cm\;hr^{-1}$ on January 20, 2017, main snow crystals appeared to be heavily rimed particles with relatively smaller size when convective clouds developed vertically up to 9 km in association with tropopause folding. MASC also could successfully measure a decrease in snow crystal size and an increase in riming degree after AgI seeding at Daegwallyeong on March 14, 2017.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.327-333
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• 2019

For sustainable lunar exploration, the most required resources should be procured on site because it takes tremendous cost to transfer the resources from the Earth to the Moon. The technologies required for use of lunar resources refers to In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). As the ISRU technology cannot be verified in the Earth, a lunar surface environment simulator is necessary to be prepared in advance. The Moon has no atmosphere, and the average temperature of the lunar surface reaches to $107^{\circ}C$ during the daytime and $-153^{\circ}C$ at night. The lunar surface is also covered with very fine soils with sharp particles that are electrostatically charged by solar radiation and solar wind. In this research, generation of vacuum environment with lunar soil mass in a chamber and simulation of electrostatically charged soils are taken into consideration. It was successful to make a vacuum environment of a chamber including lunar soils without soil disturbance by controlling evacuation rate of a vacuum chamber. And an experiment procedure for simulating the charged lunar soil was suggested by theoretical consideration in charging phenomena on lunar dust.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.131-140
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• 2020

Air pollutants emitted from chimneys of coal-fired power plants are considered to be a major source of fine particulate matter in the atmosphere. In order to manage fine particle in the chimney of a coal-fired power plant, it is necessary to know the concentration of fine particle emitted in real time, but the current system is difficult. In this study, a real-time measurement system for chimney fine particle was developed, and measurements were performed on six coal-fired power plants. Through the measurements, the mass concentration distribution according to the particle size could be secured. All six chimneys showed bimodal distribution, and the count median diameters of each mode were 0.5 and 1.1 ㎛. In addition, it was compared with the gravimetric measurement method, and it was determined that the relative accuracy for PM10 was within 20%, and the value measured using the developed measuring instrument was reliable. Finally, three power plants were continuously measured for one month, and as a result of comparing the concentration of PM10 according to the amount of power generation, it was confirmed that the PM10 discharged from the chimney increased in the form of an exponential function according to the amount of power generation.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.719-725
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• 2020

Objectives: With the growth of national interest in fine particulate matter, many complaints about pollutants emitted from air pollution emitting facilities have arisen in recent years. In particular, it is thought that a large volume of particulate pollutants are discharged from workplaces that use Solid Refuse Fuel (SRF). Therefore, particulate contaminants generated from SRF were measured and analyzed in this study in terms of respective particle sizes. Methods: In this study, particulate matter in exhaust gas was measured by applying US EPA method 201a using a cyclone. This method measures Filterable Particulate Matter (FPM), and does not consider the Condensable Particulate Matter (CPM) that forms particles in the atmosphere after being discharged as a gas in the exhaust gas. Results: The mass concentration of Total Suspended Particles (TSP) in the four SRF-using facilities was 1.16 to 11.21 mg/Sm3, indicating a very large concentration deviation of about 10 times. When the fuel input method was the continuous injection type, particulate matter larger than 10 ㎛ diameter showed the highest particle size fraction, followed by particulate matter smaller than 10 ㎛ and larger than 2.5 ㎛, and particulate matter of 2.5 ㎛ or less. Contrary to the continuous injection type, the batch injection type had the smallest particle size fraction of particulate matter larger than 10 ㎛. The overall particulate matter decreased as the operating load factor decreased from 100% to 60% at the batch input type D plant. In addition, as incomplete combustion significantly decreased, the particle size fraction also changed significantly. Both TSP and heavy metals (six items) satisfied the emissions standards. The measured value of the emission factor was 38-99% smaller than the existing emissions factor. Conclusions: In the batch injection facility, the particulate matter decreased as the operating load factor decreased, as did the particle size fraction of the particulate matter. These results will help the selection of effective methods such as reducing the operating load factor instead of adjusting the operating time during emergency reduction measures.

• Atmosphere
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.241-249
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• 2021

A smart city utilizes data collected from various sensors through the internet of things (IoT) and improves city operations across the urban area. Recently substantial research is underway to examine all aspects of data that requires for the smart city operation. Atmospheric data are an essential component for successful smart city implementation, including Urban Air Mobility (UAM), infrastructure planning, safety and convenience, and traffic management. Unfortunately, the current level of conventional atmospheric data does not meet the needs of the new city concept. New and innovative approaches to developing high spatiotemporal resolution of observational and modeling data, resolving the complex urban structure, are expected to support the future needs. The geographic information system (GIS) integrates the atmospheric data with the urban structure and offers information system enhancement. In this study we proposed the necessity and applicability of the high resolution urban meteorological dataset based on heavy fog cases in the smart city region (e.g., Sejong and Pusan) in Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Analysis, Health and Toxicology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.281-291
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• 2018

Recently, long-range atmospheric transport (LRAT) from China is regarded as a major reason for elevated levels of particulate matter (PM) in Korea. However, local emissions also play an important role in PM pollution, especially in large-scale industrial cities. In this study, PM samples were collected at suburban, residential, and industrial sites in Ulsan, Korea. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals were analyzed, and a potential human health risk assessment was conducted. The concentrations of PAHs and heavy metals in total suspended particles (TSP) increased during high $PM_{10}$ episodes, and backward trajectory analysis verified the influence of LRAT from China during the high episodes. Furthermore, the concentrations of PAHs and heavy metals in $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ at the industrial site were higher than those at the residential site. The risk assessment of PAHs and heavy metals in $PM_{2.5}$ suggested no significant health effects. The highest levels of PAHs were measured in the particle size of $0.32{\sim}0.56{\mu}m$ at the residential site, and those of heavy metals were detected in the particle size of 1.8~5.6 and $>18{\mu}m$, reflecting different major emissions sources for both groups. On the basis of this preliminary study, we are planning long-term monitoring and modeling studies to quantitatively evaluate the influence of industrial activities on the PM pollution in Ulsan.

• New Physics: Sae Mulli
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• v.68 no.12
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• pp.1315-1323
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• 2018

We studied the carbonization due to the annealing condition of waste coffee powder for application as an active anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The coffee powder used as an active anode material for LIBs was obtained from coffee beans, not from a coffee shells. The waste coffee powder was dried in air and heat-treated in an $Ar/H_2$ atmosphere to obtain a pore-forming activated carbon powder. The specific capacity of the sample annealed at $700^{\circ}C$ was still 303 mAh/g after 1000 cycles at a current density of 1000 mA/g and with a coulombic efficiency of over 99.5%. The number of pores and the pore size of the waste coffee powder were increased due to chemical treatment with KOH, which had the some effect as an increased specific surface area. The waste coffee powder is considered to be a very promising active anode material because of both its excellent electrochemical properties due to enhanced carrier conduction and its being a cost effective resource for use in LIBs.