• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.99-110
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• 2022

We investigated physicochemical properties and isotopic compositions of organic matter (δ¹³C_TOC and δ ¹⁵N_TN) in the old fish farming (OFF) site after the cessation of aquaculture farming. Based on this approach, our objective is to determine the organic matter origin and their relative contributions preserved at sediments of fish farming. Temporal and spatial distribution of particulate and sinking organic matter(OFF sites: 2.0 to 3.3 mg L^-1 for particulate matter concentration, 18.8 to 246.6 g m^-2 day^-1 for sinking organic matter rate, control sites: 2.0 to 3.5 mg L^-1 for particulate matter concentration, 25.5 to 129.4 g m^-2 day^-1 for sinking organic matter rate) between both sites showed significant difference along seasonal precipitations. In contrast to variations of δ¹³C_TOC and δ¹⁵N_TN values at water columns, these isotopic compositions (OFF sites: -21.5‰ to -20.4‰ for δ¹³ C_TOC, 6.0‰ to 7.6‰ for δ¹⁵N_TN, control sites: -21.6‰ to -21.0‰ for δ¹³C_TOC, 6.6‰ to 8.0‰ for δ¹⁵N_TN) investigated at sediments have distinctive isotopic patterns(p<0.05) for seawater-derived nitrogen sources, indicating the increased input of aquaculture-derived sources (e.g., fish fecal). With respect to past fish farming activities, representative sources(e.g., fish fecal and algae) between both sites showed significant difference (p<0.05), confirming predominant contribution (55.9±4.6%) of fish fecal within OFF sites. Thus, our results may determine specific controlling factor for sustainable use of fish farming sites by estimating the discriminative contributions of organic matter between both sites.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.378-387
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• 2023

Petrochemical is an energy consuming industry that consumes about 30% of total industrial energy consumption and is a representative carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission source. Among them, the Naphtha Cracking Center (NCC), which produces ethylene, propylene, propane and mixed C4, consumes large amounts of energy and emits significant amounts of CO₂. For this reason, an integrated techno economic- environmental impact assessment aimed at reducing energy consumption and environmental impact factors is necessary to ensure efficiency in terms of economics and environment. This study aims to analyze the efficiency of the heat exchanger network used in the existing NCC base on the pinch analysis and select an improvement plan that can reduced energy consumption. In order to reduces the utility consumption in the process, an optimal heat exchanger network considering the high-temperature and low-temperature stream was derived, and the economic evaluation was conducted by considering the trade-off between the reduction in utility consumption and the increase in heat exchanger installation cost. In addition, an environmental impact assessment was conducted on the reduced CO₂ emission in consideration of the environmental aspect, and the economic environmental impact assessment used the payback period to recover the invested funds to come up with an energy saving plan that can be applied based on the actual process. As a result of considering the economic-environmental impact assessment, when the environmental impact assessment was not considered, it was 4.29 months, 3.21 months, and 3.39 months for each case, and when considering the environmental impact assessment, it was 4.24 months, 3.17 months, and 3.35 months for each case. These results appeared equally both when the environmental impact assessment was not include and when it was include. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was conducted for each case to determine how important factors affect the payback period. As a result of the sensitivity analysis, the cost of the heat exchanger was identified as a major factor influencing the overall cost.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.346-358
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• 2023

Due to the acceleration of climate change or global warming, it is important to predict rice productivity in the future and investigate physiological changes in rice plants. The research aimed to explore how rice adapts to climate change by examining the response of nitrogen absorption and nitrogen use efficiency in rice under elevated levels of carbon dioxide and temperature, utilizing the SPAR system for analysis. The temperature increased by +4.7 ℃ in comparison to the period from 2001 to 2010, while the carbon dioxide concentration was held steady at 800 ppm, aligning with South Korea's late 21st-century RCP8.5 scenario. Nitrogen was applied as fertilizer at rates of 0, 9, and 18 kg 10a^-1, respectively. Under conditions of climate change, there was an 81% increase in the number of panicles compared to the present situation. However, grain weight decreased by 38% as a result of reduction in the grain filling rate. BNUE, indicative of the nitrogen use efficiency in plant biomass, exhibited a high value under climate change conditions. However, both NUEg and ANUE, associated with grain production, experienced a notable and significant decrease. In comparison to the current conditions, nitrogen uptake in leaves and stems increased by 100% and 151%, respectively. However, there was a 25% decrease in nitrogen uptake in the panicle. Likewise, the nitrogen content and NDFF (Nitrogen Derived from Fertilizer) in the sink organs, namely leaves and roots, were elevated in comparison to current levels. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure resources by mitigating the decrease in ripening rates under climate change conditions. Moreover, there seems to be a requirement for follow-up research to enhance the flow of photosynthetic products under climate change conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.779-793
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• 2023

Intensive and long-term aquaculture activities in Korea have generated considerable amounts of organic matter, deteriorating the sedimentary environment and ecosystem. The Korean government enacted the Fishery Management Act to preserve and manage the environment of fish farms. Based on this, a fisheries environment assessment has been conducted on fish cage farms since 2014, necessitating the development of a scientific and objective evaluation method suitable for the domestic environment. Therefore, a benthic health index (BHI) was developed using the relationship between benthic polychaete communities and organic matter, a major source of pollution in fish farms. In this study, the development process and calculation method of the BHI have been introduced. The BHI was calculated by classifying 225 species of polychaetes appearing in domestic coastal and aquaculture areas into four groups by linking the concentration gradient of the total organic carbon in the sediment and the distributional characteristics of each species and assigning differential weights to each group. Using BHI, the benthic fauna communities were assigned to one of the four ecological classes (Grade 1: Normal, Grade 2: Slightly polluted, Grade 3: Moderately polluted, and Grade 4: Heavily polluted). The application of the developed index in the field enabled effective evaluation of the Korean environment, being relatively more accurate and less affected by the season compared with the existing evaluation methods like the diversity index or AZTI's Marine Biotic Index developed overseas. In addition, using BHI will be useful in the environmental management of fish farms, as the environment can be graded in quantified figures.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.52-58
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• 2023

With the increasing awareness of the importance of carbon neutrality in response to global climate change, the utilization of hydrogen as a carbon-free fuel source is also growing. Hydrogen is commonly used in fuel cells (FC), but it can also be utilized in internal combustion engines (ICE) that are based on combustion. Particularly, ICEs that already have established infrastructure for production and supply can greatly contribute to the expansion of hydrogen energy utilization when it becomes difficult to rely solely on fuel cells or expand their infrastructure. However, a disadvantage of utilizing hydrogen through combustion is the potential generation of nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are harmful emissions formed when nitrogen in the air reacts with oxygen at high temperatures. In particular, for the EURO-7 exhaust regulation, which includes cold start operation, efforts to reduce exhaust emissions during the warm-up process are required. Therefore, in this study, the characteristics of nitrogen oxides and fuel consumption were investigated during the warm-up process of cooling water from room temperature to 88℃ using a 2-liter direct injection spark ignition (SI) engine fueled with hydrogen. One advantage of hydrogen, compared to conventional fuels like gasoline, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), is its wide flammable range, which allows for sparser control of the excessive air ratio. In this study, the excessive air ratio was varied as 1.6/1.8/2.0 during the warm-up process, and the results were analyzed. The experimental results show that as the excessive air ratio becomes sparser during warm-up, the emission of nitrogen oxides per unit time decreases, and the thermal efficiency relatively increases. However, as the time required to reach the final temperature becomes longer, the cumulative emissions and fuel consumption may worsen.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.36-43
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• 2024

Fishing net waste (FNW) constitutes over half of all marine plastic waste and is a major contributor to the degradation of marine ecosystems. While current treatment options for FNW include incineration, landfilling, and mechanical recycling, these methods often result in low-value products and pollutant emissions. Importantly, FNWs, comprised of plastic polymers, can be converted into valuable resources like syngas and pyrolysis oil through pyrolysis. Thus, this study presents a process for generating high-purity hydrogen (H₂) by catalytically pyrolyzing FNW in a CO₂ environment. The proposed process comprises of three stages: First, the pretreated FNW undergoes Ni/SiO₂ catalytic pyrolysis under CO₂ conditions to produce syngas and pyrolysis oil. Second, the produced pyrolysis oil is incinerated and repurposed as an energy source for the pyrolysis reaction. Lastly, the syngas is transformed into high-purity H₂ via the Water-Gas-Shift (WGS) reaction and Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA). This study compares the results of the proposed process with those of traditional pyrolysis conducted under N₂ conditions. Simulation results show that pyrolyzing 500 kg/h of FNW produced 2.933 kmol/h of high-purity H₂ under N₂ conditions and 3.605 kmol/h of high-purity H₂ under CO₂ conditions. Furthermore, pyrolysis under CO₂ conditions improved CO production, increasing H₂ output. Additionally, the CO₂ emissions were reduced by 89.8% compared to N₂ conditions due to the capture and utilization of CO₂ released during the process. Therefore, the proposed process under CO₂ conditions can efficiently recycle FNW and generate eco-friendly hydrogen product.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.335-340
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• 2010

This study was conducted to select organic materials (OM) and nitrogen sources in composting of waste mushroom bed from Agaricus bisporus. We examined physio-chemical properties of the organic materials and the mixture ratio for preparing the wasted mushroom bed (M) compost. The carbon content of sawdust was higher than those of rice straw (R) as OM source and the nitrogen content was high in the order of fowl manure (F)>> pig manure (P)> cow manure (C). The compost was prepared to maintain the criteria of above 25% organic matter and then the change of their ingredients was estimated during the process of fermentation. The temperature of waste mushroom bed+pig manure+rice straw (MRP) treatment was varied fast throughout fermentation, on the other hand the temperature of waste mushroom bed+pig manure+sawdust (MSP) treatment was steadily elevated to the middle of composting. The pH of the compost was somewhat high to pH 8.5~9.0 at the early stage, but decreased to 7.5 at the end stage of composting. The content of OM after fermentation was decreased to the level of 19~21% in rice straw, but the sawdust treatment maintained 25~27% organic matter. The waste mushroom bed+fowl manure+rice straw (MRF) treatment, which contains 26.2% organic matter and 0.68% nitrogen, was the highest among them. The volume of compost was reduced to 50% by using rice straw as organic matter, but reduced to 30% by using the sawdust. The contents of heavy metal in the compost were suitable within the legal criteria. The number of microorganisms were higher in the rice straw than those in the sawdust. It was high in the order of fowl manure> pig manure> cow manure. The major groups consisted of aerobic bacteria, gram negative bacteria and Bacillus sp. and their populations after fermentation were increased to $1{\times}10^1{\sim}1{\times}10^2\;cfu\;g^{-1}$ rather than those before fermentation. Therefore we concluded that the waste mushroom bed+fowl manure+sawdust (MSF 3:9:1 v/v/v) treatment was suitable combination for high organic matter and nitrogen source, and the periods of composting were 50~60 days.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.27
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• pp.47-55
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• 1984

The results of series studies on the ratio of supplements, out-door composting and out-door fermentation induced by using the rice straw as a main substrates at the cultivation of Agaricus bisporus, and the cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus using the rice straw bundles on its compost are as follows; When rice straw for cultivation of A. bisporus was used as the main substrates in synthetic compost as a carbon source, yields were remarkably high. Fermentation was more rapid than that of barley straw or wheat straw and the total nitrogen content was high in rice straw compost. Use of barley straw compost for cultivation of A. bisporus was shown of low yield compared with rice straw, but when a 50% barley straw and 50% rice straw mixture was used, the yield was almost the same as that using only rice straw. The total organic nitrogen on the compost were shown the positive relation to the yield of A. bisporus, but the ammonium nitrogen negative relation to the mycelial growth and yield of A. bisporus. When rice straw was used as the main substrate for compost media, urea was the most suitable source of nitrogen. Poor results were obtained with calcium cyanamide and ammonium sulfate. When urea was applied three separate times, nitrogen loss during composting was decreased and the total nitrogen content of compost was increased. The supplementation of organic nutrient activated compost fermentation and increased yield of A. bisporus. The best sources of organic nutrients selected were as follows: perilla meal, sesame meal, wheat bran and poultry manure, etc. Soybean meal, tobacco powder and glutamic acid fermentation byproducts which were industrial wastes, could be substituted for perilla meal, sesame meal and wheat bran as organic nutrient sources for compost media. During out door composing of rice straw for cultivation of A. bisporus, using of tuner, composter and tunnel system increased up to 13% of its yield, and also cut down 34% of production Cost. The cultivation of P. ostreatus and utilizing of rice straw and wheat straw was established and its yield was high on the rice straw pots. When the substrates 'Rice straw' was heated by steam at $60^{\circ}C$ for 6 hr. mycelial growth of P. ostreatus was moderately rapid and its yield was high.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.403-418
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• 2007

The objective of this research was to characterize the fate and transport of Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater in the Daejeon industrial area. Five subsidiary monitoring wells were newly installed and two existing wells were utilized for the investigation and the reduction process of Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater of the Daejeon(Mun-pyeong) national groundwater monitoring station. The Cr(VI) concentrations at the shallow aquifer well of the station were in the range of 3.2-4.5 mg/L indicating continuous contamination. However, Cr was not detected at the deep bedrock well and the other monitoring wells except MPH-1 and 3. The Cr(VI) concentrations of MPH-1 and MPH-3 were below the drinking water guideline value (0.05 mg/L). Therefore, the plume of the Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater was predicted to be confined within the narrow boundary around the station. The soluble/exchangeable Cr(VI) concentrations were below the detection limit in all core and slime samples taken from the five newly installed wells. Although the exact source of contamination was not directly detected in the study area, the spatial Cr(VI) distribution in groundwater and characteristics of the core samples indicated that the source and the dispersion range were confined within the 100 m area from the monitoring station. The contamination might be induced from the unlined landfill of industrial wastes which was observed during the installation of an subsidiary monitoring well. For the evaluation of the natural attenuation of Cr(VI), available reduction capacities of Cr(VI) with an initial concentration of 5 mg/L were measured in soil and aquifer materials. Dark-gray clay layer samples have high capacities of Cr(VI) reduction ranging from 58 to 64%, which is obviously related to organic carbon contents of the samples. The analysis of reduction capacities implied that the soil and aquifer materials controlled the dispersion of Cr(VI) contamination in this area. However, some possibilities of dispersion by the preferential flow cannot be excluded due to the limited numbers of monitoring wells. We suggest the removal of Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater by periodical pumping, and the continuous groundwater quality monitoring for evaluation of the Cr(VI) dispersion should be followed in the study area.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.785-792
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• 2006

The characteristics of alcohol fermentation using sweet persimmon juice were studied in static fermentation in an effort to develop new types of functional wine. The yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae KCCM 12650 was selected for use in the fermentation of sweet persimmon juice. Attempts were made to modify the sweet persimmon juice in order to find suitable conditions for alcohol fermentation. The modified sweet persimmon juice (pH 4.0) that was most suitable for alcohol fermentation contained $24^{\circ}Brix$ of sugar supplemented with sucrose as a carbon source and 0.5 g/L of $(NH_4)_2HPO_4$ as a nitrogen source. After 5 days of fermentation at $25^{\circ}C$, 12.8% of alcohol was produced from the modified juice and its pH was slightly decreased to 3.9. Browning of the wine was observed during storage due to the oxidation of phenolic compounds. The initial browning of 0.08% at $OD_{420}$ after fermentation increased to 0.40 during storage for 11 weeks at room temperature. The addition of $K_2S_2O_5$ was effective in delaying the browning of the wine. The browning of the wine decreased to 0.25 at $OD_{420}$ with the addition of 200 mg/L of $K_2S_2O_5$. The wine produced in this study contained some organic acids such as malic acid (6.82% g/L) and succinic acid (1.40 g/L), some minerals such as $K^+$ (947.8 mg/L) and $Mg^{2+}$ (36.4 mg/L), as well as soluble phenolics (779 mg/L of gallic acid equivalent). Schisandra fruit was added to the sweet persimmon juice during alcohol fermentation in order to improve the sour taste and flavor. The best sensory quality (taste, flavor, and color) was obtained by adding 0.5% schisandra fruit.