• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.863-870
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• 2016

We investigated the physical/chemical phenomena that a slow loss of $CO_2$ inventory into sodium after the sodium-$CO_2$ boundary failure in printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHEs), which is considered for the supercritical $CO_2$ Brayton cycle power conversion system of a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). The first phenomenon is plugging inside narrow sodium channels by micro cracks and the other one is damage propagation referred to as wastage combined with the corrosion/erosion effect. Experimental results of plugging shows that sodium flow immediately stopped as $CO_2$ was injected through the nozzle at $300{\sim}400^{\circ}C$ in 3 mmID sodium channels, whereas sodium flow stopped about 60 min after $CO_2$ injection in 5 mmID sodium channels. These results imply that if pressure boundary of sodium-$CO_2$ fails a narrow sodium channel would be plugged by reaction products in a short time whereas a relatively wider sodium channel would be plugged with higher concentration of reaction products. Wastage by the erosion effect of $CO_2$ (200~250 bar) hardly occurred regardless of the kinds of materials (stainless steel 316, Inconel 600, and 9Cr-1Mo steel), temperature ($400{\sim}500^{\circ}C$), or the diameter of the $CO_2$ nozzle (0.2~0.8 mm). Velocities at the $CO_2$ nozzle were specified as Mach 0.4~0.7. Our experimental results are expected to be used for determining the design parameters of PCHEs for their safeties.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 2016

Steam reforming of tar produced from biomass gasification was conducted using several Ni-based catalysts. In labscale, the catalytic steam reforming of toluene which is a major component of biomass tar was studied. A fixed bed reactor was used at various temperatures of 400-800 ℃. Ru (0.6 wt%) and Mn or K (1 wt%) were applied as a promoter in Ni based catalysts. Generally, Ni/Ru-K/Al₂O₃ catalyst shows higher performance on steam reforming of toluene than Ni/Ru-Mn/Al₂O₃ catalyst. Used catalysts were analyzed by XRD and TGA to detect sintering and carbon deposition. Base on the lab-scale studies, the monolith and pellet type catalysts were tested in 1 ton/day scale biomass gasification system. Ni/Ru-K/Al₂O₃ monolith catalyst shows high tar reforming performance at high temperature. In addition, Ni/Ru-Mn/Al₂O₃ monolith catalyst was showed deactivation with operation time. Reforming performance of Ni/Ru-K/Al₂O₃ pellet catalyst which showed 66.7% tar conversion at 587 ℃ was compared to regenerated one. Overall, Ni/Ru-K/Al₂O₃ pellet catalyst shows higher stability and performance than other used catalysts.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.340-360
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• 2010

The depletion of fossil fuels, ecological problems associated with $CO_2$ emissions climate change, growing world population, and future energy supplies are forcing the development of alternative resources for energy (heat and electricity), transport fuels and chemicals: the replacement of fossil resources with $CO_2$ neutral biomass. Several options exist to cover energy supplies of the future, including solar, wind, and water power; however, chemical carbon source can get from biomass only. When used in combination with environmental friend production and processing technology, the use of biomass can be seen as a sustainable alternative to conventional chemical feedstocks. The biorefinery concept is analogous to today's petroleum refinery, which produce multiple fuels and chemical products from petroleum. A biorefinery is a facility that integrates biomass conversion processes and equipment to produce fuels, power, and value-added chemicals from biomass. Biorefinery is the co-production of a spectrum of bio-based products (food, feed, materials, and chemicals) and energy (fuels, power, and heat) from biomass [definition IEA Bioenergy Task 42]. By producing multiple products, a biorefinery takes advantage of the various components in biomass and their intermediates therefore maximizing the value derived from the biomass feedstocks. A biorefinery could, for example, produce one or several low-volume, but high-value, chemical or nutraceutical products and a low-value, but high-volume liquid transportation fuel such as biodiesel or bioethanol. Future biorefinery may play a major role in producing chemicals and materials as a bridge between agriculture and chemistry that are traditionally produced from petroleum. Industrial biotechnology is expected to significantly complement or replace the current petroleum-based industry and to play an important role.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.261-268
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• 1987

A green house experiment was conducted to find out the differences in the amount of biologically fixed nitrogen and kjeldahl nitrogen on the different soil texture, kinds and amounts of fertilizer nitrogen under light (photosynthetic $N_2$-fixation) and dark (heterotrophic $N_2$-fixation) condition in submerged paddy soil. The reults obtained were summarized as follows; 1. The amount of biologically fixed nitrogen per mg carbon from different organic matter was obtained as 0.13 mg in glucose, 0.09 mg in rice straw, and 0.07 mg in refused mushroom compost and barley straw under 60 days of incubation. 2. Nitrogen fixing activities were decreased with increase of fertilizer nitrogen and those tendency was pronounced more in sandy soil with application of urea than that of ammonium sulfate. 3. The application of ammonium sulfate in sandy soil under light condition was increased the photosynthetic $N_2$-fixation and the applied urea was remarkably reduced the heterotrophic $N_2$-fixation in sandy soil. The proportion of biologically fixed total nitrogen after experiment in sandy soil was obtained as 25% for dark(heterotrophic $N_2$-fixation) and 75% for light (photosynthetic $N_2$-fixation) condition. On the other hand, very similar biological $N_2$-fixing tendency was obtained between kinds of nitrogen fertilizer and two light condition in clayey soil. 4. The kjeldahl nitrogen was remarkably decreased after experiment under dark condition with application of urea than that of light condition with ammonium sulfate, and no remarkable decreasing tendency was obtained in clayey soil between two kinds of fertilizer nitrogen. 5. The high significant positive correlationship was obtained between calculated biological nitrogen fixation by acetylene reducing activity and kjeldahl nitrogen after experiment under light (y=0.8488X-5.9632, $r=0.9928^{**}$, n=21) and dark (y=0.8795X-7.1056, $r=0.9782^{**}$, n=21) condition. In this experiment condition, conversion factors of 6:1 was obtained from biological nitrogen fixation to soil nitrogen.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.308-318
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• 2013

Korean soybean varieties, 'Seonyu' and 'Hwangkeum' were planted in 2012, and three temperature gradient, Tc($19.8^{\circ}C$, ambient temperatured), $Tc+1.7^{\circ}C$, and $Tc+2.5^{\circ}C$, were artificially created by controlling the green house system during seed filling period. Mature seeds that developed under these conditions were analyzed for variances in physicochemical properties. The 100-seed weight and seed-coat ratio of soybean were decreased, but small seed rate was increased by high temperature during seed filling period. Protein content was increased, but oil content was decreased significantly with increasing the seed filling temperature. The decrement of carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N), and the increment of monosaccharide, fructose and sucrose, in seeds explained that carbohydrate assimilation during seed filling was restricted by high temperature. Rapid increments of seed volume and weight were observed in the seeds of high seed filling temperature, but as soaking time increased the highest values were observed in the seeds of ambient seed filling temperature. The 100-seed weight and seed-coat ratio of soybean were closely related not only to the increment of soaking volume and weight, but also the increments of total dissolved solids (TDS) and electro conductivity (EC). Whereas protein content and C/N ratio showed less relationship with the soaking properties, but they had a positive correlation with TDS and EC. From the results, it was considered that high values of TDS and EC in the seeds of high temperature were mainly due to the incomplete conversion of assimilates into storage compounds. However, sugar content showed less influence on the soaking properties and the values of TDS and EC.

• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.145-150
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• 2020

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is one of the six greenhouse gases, and it is essential to reduce N₂O by showing a global warming potential (GWP) equivalent to 310 times that of carbon dioxide (CO₂). Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is a technology that converts ammonia into harmless N₂ and H₂O by using ammonia as a reducing agent to remove NOx, one of the air pollutants; the process also produces high denitrification efficiency. In this study, the Fe-BEA catalyst was steam-treated at 100 ℃ for 2 h before Fe ion exchange in the fixed bed reactor in order to investigate the effect of the steam-treated Fe-BEA catalyst on the NH₃-SCR reaction. NH₃-SCR reaction test of synthesized catalysts was performed at WHSV = 180 h^-1, 370 to 400 ℃ in the fixed bed reactor. The Fe-BEA(100) catalyst steam-treated at 100 ℃ showed a somewhat higher activity than the Fe-BEA catalyst at 370 to 390 ℃. The catalysts were characterized by BET, ICP, NH₃-TPD, H₂-TPR, and ²⁷Al MAS NMR in order to determine the cause affecting NH₃-SCR activity. The H₂-TPR result confirmed that the Fe-BEA(100) catalyst had a higher reduction of isolated Fe³⁺ than the Fe-BEA catalyst, and that the steam treatment increased the amount of isolated Fe³⁺ as an active species, thus increasing the activity.

• Clean Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.68-75
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• 2015

In this study, we investigated the structure and properties of a highly heat conductive metal-ceramic core-shell CoAl₂O₄@Al micro-composite for heterogeneous catalysts support. The CoAl₂O₄@Al was prepared by hydrothermal surface oxidation of Al metal powder, which resulted in the structure with a high heat conductive Al metal core encapsulated by a high surface area CoAl₂O₄ shell. For comparison, CoAl₂O₄ was also prepared by co-precipitation method and also utilized for a catalyst support. Rh catalysts supported on CoAl₂O₄@Al and CoAl₂O₄ were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation and characterized by N₂ adsorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), CO chemisorption, and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). The properties of catalysts were investigated for glycerol steam reforming reaction for hydrogen production at 550 ℃. Rh/CoAl₂O₄@Al exhibited about 2.8 times higher glycerol conversion turnover frequency (TOF) than Rh/CoAl₂O₄ due to facilitated heat transport through the core-shell structure. The CoAl₂O₄@Al and CoAl₂O₄ also showed some catalytic activities due to a partial reduction of Co on the support, and a higher catalytic activity was also found on the CoAl₂O₄@Al core-shell than CoAl₂O₄. These catalysts, however, displayed deactivation on the reaction stream due to carbon deposition on the catalysts surface.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.61-62
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• 2003

Clonal propagation of high-value forest trees through somatic embryogenesis (SE) has the potential to rapidly capture the benefits of breeding or genetic engineering programs and to improve raw material uniformity and quality. A major barrier to the commercialization of this technology is the low quality of the resulting embryos. Several factors limit commercialization of SE for Corsican pine, including low initiation rates, low culture survival, culture decline causing low or no embryo production, and inability of somatic embryos to fully mature, resulting in low germination and reduced vigour of somatic seedlings. The objective was to develop a Corsican pine maturation medium that would produce cotyledonary embryos capable of germination. Treatments were arranged in a completely randomized design. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance, and significant differences between treatments determined by multiple range test at P=0.05. Corsican pine (Pinus nigra var. maritima) cultures were initiated on modified !P6 medium. Modifications of the same media were used for culture multiplication and maintenance. Embryogenic cultures were maintained on the same medium semi solidified with 2.5 g/l Gelrite. A maturation medium, capable of promoting the development of Corsican pine somatic embryos that can germinate, is a combination of iP6 modified salts, 2% maltose, 13% polyethylene glycol (PEG), 5 mg!l abscisic acid (ABA), and 2.5 g/l Gelrite. After initiation and once enough tissue developed they were grown in liquid medium. Embryogenic cell suspensions were established by adding 0.951.05 g of 10- to 14-day-old semisolid-grown embryogenic tissue to 9 ml of liquid maintenance media in a 250ml Erlenmeyer flask. Cultures were then incubated in the dark at 2022$^{\circ}$C and rotated at 120 rpm. After 2.53 months on maturation medium, somatic embryos were selected that exhibited normal embryo shape. Ten embryos were placed horizontally on 20 ml of either germination medium ($\frac{2}{1}$strength Murashige and Skoog (1962) salts with 2.5 g/l activated charcoal) or same medium with copper sulphate adjusted to 0.25 mg/1 to compensate for copper adsorption by activated carbon. 2% and 4% maltose was substituted by 7.5% and 13% PEG respectively to improve the yield of the embryos. Substitution of' maltose with PEG was clearly beneficial to embryo development. When 2% of the maltose was replaced with 7.5% PEG, many embryos developed to large bullet-shaped embryos. At latter stages of development most embryos callused and stopped development. A few short, barrel-shaped cotyledonary embryos formed that were covered by callus on the sides and base. When 4% of the maltose was removed and substituted with 13% PEG, the embryos developed further, emerging from the callus and increasing yield slightly. Microscopic examination of the cultures showed differing morphologies, varying from mostly single cells or clumps to well-formed somatic embryos that resembled early zygotic embryos only liquid cultures with organized early-stag. A procedure for converting and acclimating germinants to growth in soil and greenhouse conditions is also tested. Seedling conversion and growth were highly related to the quality of the germinant at the time of planting. Germinants with larger shoots, longer, straighter hypocotyls and longer roots performed best. When mature zygotic embryos germinate the root emerges, before or coincident with the shoot. In contrast, somatic embryos germinate in reverse sequence, with the cotyledons greening first, then shoot emergence and then, much later, if at all, the appearance of the root. Somatic seedlings, produced from the maturation medium, showed 100% survival when planted in a field setting. Somatic seedlings showed normal yearly growth relative to standard seedlings from natural seed.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.189-203
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• 2010

The objective of this study is the estimate of $CO_2$ emissions by the energy consumption of functional technology introduced by classifying energy use in households according to functions as well as energy resources. This study also intends to provide the practical basis data in order to establish specific alternatives for GHG mitigation in residential sector with examining the cause analysis affecting $CO_2$ emission increases from 1995 to 2007. The results of this study show a 6.6% increase in the total $CO_2$ from 60,636 thousand tons in 1995 to 64,611 thousand tons in 2007 by using energy in residential sector. Heating is the greatest $CO_2$ emission sector by use, followed electric appliances, cooking, lighting and cooling. Heating sector shows 56.6% reductions from 71.5% in 1995 and as do cooling and electric home appliances, with a 2.4% increase from 0.6% and a 21.8% increase from 14.2% respectively. To analyze factors resulted in $CO_2$ emissions in residential sector, the relevant indicator change rate from 2005 to 2007 was examined. The results find that population, the number of household, housing areas, family patterns, and family income resulted in the $CO_2$ emissions increase in residential sector from 1995 to 2007. On the other hand, carbon intensity and energy intensity contribute to $CO_2$ reduction in residential sector with -2% and -38.7% respectively because of the energy conversion and the improvement of energy efficiency in electronic appliances. This study can be used as a reference when taken account of the reality and considered the introduction of highly effective measures to increase the possibility of mitigation potential in residential sector hereafter.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.198-221
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• 2021

After large-scale reforestation in the 1960s and 1970s, forests in Korea have gradually been aging. Net ecosystem CO₂ exchange of old-growth forests is theoretically near zero; however, it can be a CO₂ sink or source depending on the intervention of disturbance or management. In this study, we report the CO₂ budget dynamics of the Gwangneung deciduous old-growth forest (GDK) in Korea and examined the following two questions: (1) is the preserved GDK indeed CO₂ neutral as theoretically known? and (2) can we explain the dynamics of CO₂ budget by the common mechanisms reported in the literature? To answer, we analyzed the 15-year long CO₂ flux data measured by eddy covariance technique along with other biometeorological data at the KoFlux GDK site from 2006 to 2020. The results showed that (1) GDK switched back-and-forth between sink and source of CO₂ but averaged to be a week CO₂ source (and turning to a moderate CO₂ source for the recent five years) and (2) the interannual variability of solar radiation, growing season length, and leaf area index showed a positive correlation with that of gross primary production (GPP) (R²=0.32~0.45); whereas the interannual variability of both air and surface temperature was not significantly correlated with that of ecosystem respiration (RE). Furthermore, the machine learning-based model trained using the dataset of early monitoring period (first 10 years) failed to reproduce the observed interannual variations of GPP and RE for the recent five years. Biomass data analysis suggests that carbon emissions from coarse woody debris may have contributed partly to the conversion to a moderate CO₂ source. To properly understand and interpret the long-term CO₂ budget dynamics of GDK, new framework of analysis and modeling based on complex systems science is needed. Also, it is important to maintain the flux monitoring and data quality along with the monitoring of coarse woody debris and disturbances.