• Clean Technology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2010

Methane was produced from the anaerobic digestion of marine macro-algae. Elemental analysis was first performed to estimate the theoretical methane production of three macro-algae (Undaria pinnatifida, Laminaria japonica, Hizikia fusiformis). Three algae were found to contain C 34 ~ 36%, H 5%, O 37 ~ 43%, N 2 ~ 4%, S 0.4 ~ 0.7%, and ash 14~21%, and the theoretical methane content was in the range of 56 ~ 60%, which can produce 442 ~ 568 mL $CH_4$ per g of volatile solid (VS). Using the biological methane potential (BMP) test, we found that L. japonica resulted in the highest yield of methane (52%). Moreover, various operational conditions, such as algae amount, pH, salinity, particle size, and pre-treatment, were investigated in order to find an optimal condition of anaerobic digestion. At pH 8.0, the autoclaved L. japonica (5g VS/200 mL), when used without washing salt, produced 268.5 mL/g VS which is 65% of the theoretical methane productions. Furthermore, using a CSTR (with the working volume of 7 L out of the total volume of 10 L), we have successfully operated the reactor for 65 days and obtained maximum methane production rate of 1.4 L/day with purity of 70%.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.650-658
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• 2006

The recycling of TDA from solid waste of TDI plant(TDI-R) by near-critical hydrolysis reaction had been studied by means of a statistical design of experiment. The main and interaction effects of process variables had been defined from the experiments in a batch reactor and the correlation equation with process variables for TDA yield had been obtained from the experiments in a continuous pilot plant. It was confirmed that the effects of reaction temperature, catalyst type and concentration, and the weight ratio of water to TDI-R(WR) on TDA yield were significant. TDA yield decreased with increases in reaction temperature and catalyst concentration, and increased with an increase in WR. As a catalyst, NaOH was more effective than $Na_2CO_3$ for TDA yield. The interaction effects between catalyst concentration and temperature, WR and temperature, catalyst type and reaction time on TDA yield had been defined as significant. Although the effect of catalyst concentration on TDA yield at $300^{\circ}C$ as subcritical water was insignificant, the TDA yield decreased with increasing catalyst concentration at $400^{\circ}C$ as supercritical water. On the other hand, the yield increased with an increase in WR at $300^{\circ}C$ but showed negligible effect with WR at $400^{\circ}C$. The optimization of process variables for TDA yield has been explored with a pilot plant for scale-up. The catalyst concentration and WR were selected as process variables with respect to economic feasibility and efficiency. The effects of process variables on TDA yield had been explored by means of central composite design. The TDA yield increased with an increase in catalyst concentration. It showed maximum value at below 2.5 of WR and then decreased with an increase in WR. However, the ratio at which the TDA yield showed a maximum value increased with increasing catalyst concentration. The correlation equation of a quadratic model with catalyst concentration and WR had been obtained by the regression analysis of experimental results in a pilot plant.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.198-204
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• 2021

This study focused on a two-step process using heterogeneous catalysts to produce biodiesel using Nepalese jatropha oil as a raw material. As a first step, the effect of the repetitive regeneration number of Amberlyst-15 on the esterification reaction of FFA in jatropha oil was investigated. Second, the possibility of a transesterification reaction scale-up using a dolomite bead catalyst was tested. Using 120 kg of jatropha seeds from Nepal, 30 L (27 kg) of jatropha oil was obtained, and the jatropha oil yield from the seeds was about 25.0 wt%. The acid value and FFA content of jatropha oil were measured to be 11.3 mgKOH g^-1 and 5.65%, respectively. As a result of the esterification reaction of jatropha oil using the Amberlyst-15 catalyst in the form of beads, the acid value of the reaction product could be lowered to 0.26 mgKOH g^-1 when the fresh Amberlyst-15 catalyst was used. As the regeneration of the Amberlyst-15 catalyst is repeated, the catalyst has been deactivated, and the esterification reaction performance has deteriorated. The cause of the deactivation seems to be due to the catalyst being broken and impurities being deposited. It was confirmed that the Amberlyst-15 catalyst could be reused up to 5 times for the esterification reaction of jatropha oil. In the second step, the transesterification reaction, a dolomite catalyst, was mass-produced and used in the form of beads. By transesterifying the pretreated jatropha oil in a spinning catalyst basket reactor equipped with 90 g of dolomite bead catalyst, 89.1 wt% of biodiesel yield was obtained in 2 hours after the start of the reaction, which was similar to the transesterification of soybean oil under the same conditions.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.664-668
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• 2011

Spherical alumina precursors represented by $AlO_xCl_y(OH)_z$, 30~200 nm in particle diameter, were prepared by partial hydrolysis of $AlCl_3$ vapor in a 500 ml reactor. Investigated on the particle morphology and size were the effects of the reaction time, the stirring speed and the reaction temperature. The particle morphology and size was insensitive to the reaction time in the range 20 to 300 s. The variation of the stirring speed from 0 to 300 and 800 rpm showed that the particle size was the largest at 0 rpm. As the temperature was varied from 180 to 190, 200, $140^{\circ}C$, the particle size showed a maximum at $190^{\circ}C$. By calcination of the as-produced particles at $1,200^{\circ}C$ for 6h with a heating rate of $10^{\circ}C$/min, ${\alpha}$-alumina particles 45 nm in surface area equivalent diameter were obtained. The particle shape after calcination turned wormlike due to sintering between neighboring particles. A rapid calcination at $1400^{\circ}C$ for 0.5 h with a higher heating rate of $50^{\circ}C$/min reduced the sintering considerably. An addition of $SiCl_4$ or TMCTS(2,4,6,8-tetramethylcyclosiloxane) to the $AlCl_3$ reduced the sintering effectively in the calcination step; however, peaks of ${\gamma}$ or mullite phase appeared. An addition of $AlF_3$ to the particles obtained from the hydrolysis resulted in a hexagonal disc shaped alumina particles.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.558-567
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• 1989

The synthesis of methanol from carbon dioxide and hydrogen was studied for various compositions of Cu/ZnO catalyst system. Effect of the composition ratio of CuO and ZnO on the catalytic activity in the above reaction and the relationship between the activity and the characteristics of the catalysts were explained from the result of surface area measurements, SEM, XRD, and XPS. The major products of the reaction were methanol and carbon monoxide. The selectivity to methanol increased with increase of the copper oxide content in the catalyst up to CuO: ZnO = 30:70 weight ratio, and decreased rapidly when the content is above 70%. SEM and BET measurements, indicate that this point corresponds to the increasing point of the catalyst crystallite size and the decreasing point of the surface area. As to the Cu/Cu + Zn atomic ratio, the surface concentration of copper measured by XPS decreased remarkably when the copper oxide content in catalyst was higher than 50%. All the unreduced catalysts had almost same binding energy of Cu(2P3) level, but the binding energy for $Cu(2P^3)$ level of reduced catalysts was lowered than that of calcined catalysts. The surface copper species which was in the maximum amount when the CuO:ZnO composition in the catalyst was 30:70, existed as zero valent copper. This result agreed with the experimental result that the highest rate of methanol formation was observed when the CuO content in the catalyst was 30%. It was postulated that these reduced catalysts performed with a relatively strong basicity because the formation rate of acetone was higher than that of propylene in isopropanol decomposition as measured in a pulse type reactor.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.329-334
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• 2009

Bacterial numbers, such as endospore-formers, and treatment efficiencies were investigated for Rotating Activated Bacillus Contactors (RABC) and other advanced wastewater treatment processes including anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (A2O), sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and biological aerated filter (BAF). Endospore-forming bacterial numbers in the RABC showed 129-fold higher levels than those of the existing advanced systems. RABC process demonstrated the highest bacterial numbers in its bioreactors (paired t-test, p<0.01). RBC biofilms and aeration tanks of the RABC system showed 131- and 476-fold higher than other existing advanced processes, respectively. Mean treatment efficiencies of the existing systems were 83.5% for chemical oxygen demand (COD), 59.1% for total nitrogen (TN) and 76.8% for total phosphorus (TP). However, RABC process removed 96.9% for COD, 96.9% for TN and 91.9% for TP for highly concentrated food wastewater (COD>1,500 mg/L, TN>150 mg/L, TP>50 mg/L). Treatment efficiency was significantly reduced when the numbers of Bacillus genus in the bioreactors decreased below $10^6CFU/mL$. The automated RABC (A-RABC), in which dissolved oxygen concentrations are automatically controlled, showed higher treatment efficiencies compared to the RABC process. The RABC system maintained sufficient bacterial numbers for the effective treatment of highly concentrated food wastewater. Moreover, final effluent was in agreement to water quality standards.

• Transactions of the KSME C: Technology and Education
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.285-290
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• 2015

Oxy gasification was performed for the production of high quality syngas from the waste. $CO_2$ was used as reactant with $O_2$ for $CO_2$ gasification and greenhouse gas reduction. Therefore, gasification was performed at high temperature of $1000-1400^{\circ}C$. RPF was gasified in the thermobalance and 0.5 ton/day pilot plant gasifier. Weight variation with temperature and CO production by Boudouard reaction were studied for $CO_2$ gasification of RPF in thermobalance reactor. Syngas of high $H_2$ concentration was produced from oxy gasification in 0.5 ton/day pilot system, which showed appropriate $H_2$/CO ratio for the production of transport fuel and chemical products.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.323-329
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• 2000

The coupling of an activated sludge reactor with a membrane unit, i.e., Membrane Coupled Activated Sludge (MCAS) system offers several advantages over conventional process. But the major hurdle in the extensive use of this process is the continuous reduction of permeation flux caused by membrane fouling. The aim of this study is to investigate membrane fouling characteristics in the MCAS process. During crossflow ultrafiltration(CFUF) of activated sludge, floc size decreased abruptly at the beginning of operation and thereafter decreased continuously and gradually. The floc size changed from 100~200 to $6{\sim}8{\mu}m$ depending on recirculation velocity. This floc breakage played a key role in rapid increase of $R_c$(cake layer resistance), which led to flux decline. The floc breakage stimulated biomass to release EPS(Extracellular Polymeric Substance) which has been known to be one of the major membrane foul-ants. The amounts of EPS before and after CFUF were 266 and 405(VS mg/MLSS g), respectively. The rise up of EPS concentration was another factor affecting flux decline in MCAS system.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.281-289
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• 2015

This study investigated the conversion of oil products from polypropylene by using dispersed Co and Mo catalyst on reaction time and concentration change for knowledging liquefation characteristics at low-temperature (425, 450 and $475^{\circ}C$) pyrolysis in a batch reactor. The reaction time was set in 20~80 minutes and the oil products formed during pyrolysis were classfied into gas, gasoline, kero, diesel and heavy oil according to the domestic specification of petroleum products. The pyrolysis conversion rate was showed as Mo catalyst > Co catalyst > Thermal in all reaction time at reaction temperature $450^{\circ}C$. The conversion rate and yields of the pyrolysis products were the most height when Co and Mo Catalyst ratio was 50:50.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.327-334
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• 2018

The nano/micro composites with highly porous surface area have attracted of great interest, particularly the synthesis of porous and thin film sheets of high performance. In this paper, an easy method of cost-effective synthesis of thin film ceramic fiber membranes based on Hydroxyapatite, and activated carbon by turned into studied to be applied within the service-facilitated the transport of radioactive waste such as $^{90}Sr$, $^{137}Cs$ and $^{60}Co$) as activated product of radioisotopes from ETRR-2 research reactor and dissolved in 3M $HNO_3$, across a thin flat-sheet supported liquid membrane (TFSSLM). Radionuclides are transported from alkaline pH values. The presence of sodium salts in the aqueous media improves in $HNO_3$, the lowering of permeability because the initial $HNO_3$ concentration is improved. The study some parameters on the thin sheet ceramic supported liquid membrane. EDTA as stripping phase concentration, time of extraction and temperature were studied. The study of maximum permeability of radioisotopes for all parameters. The pertraction of a radioactive waste solution from nitrate medium were examined at the optimized conditions. Under the optimum experimental 98.6-99.9% of $^{90}Sr$, 79.65-80.3% of $^{137}Cs$ and $^{60}Co$ 45.5-55.5% in 90-110 min with were extracted in 10-30 min, respectively. The process of diffusion in liquid membranes is governed by the chemical diffusion process.