• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.679-690
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• 1997

Oil spill over the sea and the river become a serious problem in these days. Two different approaches are used to clean up the spilled oil by means of chemical dispersion and mechanical devices. If it is possible, removing spilled oil using mechanical devices are highly desirable in order not to worry about the secondary contamination from chemical treatment. One of the major unsolved problems using mechanical devices has been the recovery of highly viscous oil spill. So, the systematic experimental data for treating very viscous oil are still wanting. In the present study a series of experiments were carried out to study the effect of the rotational direction of the belt skimmer on the rate of oil recovery using Bunker C oil. Three different situations, namely, upward, downward and up-and-downward pickup rate have been investigated for variable belt speed. The results showed that the rate of oil recovery for downward pickup was much higher than that for upward pickup. The major mechanism to recover the oil using a belt skimmer has been confirmed that oil sticks to the belt surface while moving to the water rather than moving upward. For the removal of spilled oil the optimal belt speed under the present experimental conditions was found to be about 200 ~ 270 mm/s just before the starvation started. The present experimental results would provide the basis for understanding the performance characteristics and physics of various types of skimmers.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.111-123
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to investigate the time-elapse change of oil-polluted Taean coastal area with by Herbei Spirit oil spill incident. From Mandae of Iwonmeyon to Padori beach of Sowonmeyon, field monitering was conducted at eleven surveying points surveying. The specific conclusions from this study are as follows. The residual oil was not founded at ten surveying points, but the crude oil remained under the ground at the Groompo beach one year passed since the oil spill. Because the efforts of volunteers over millionaires and inhabitants for cleaning and reciprocating actions of waves, the oil-polluted coastal area by Herbei Spirit oil spill incident. It is guessed that a part of stranded oil spilled from the incident was degraded by physical, chemical, and biological weathering and the residue was dispersed in tidal and subtidal zone with oil-minerals aggregates(OMA).

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.16-27
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• 2003

For the last decade, some 400 small and large oil spill accidents have occurred every year. Such accident blow a serious damage to the marine resource and ecosystem, which can't be estimated in terms of economic and environmental losses. The physical/chemical methods used currently may be effective at the initial stage of accidents, but they can't serve to remove the spilled oil completely. Moreover, the dispersant may lead to a secondary contamination detrimental to the lives inhabiting wet lands, beaches and tidal zone. Thus, a new decomposing technology Is required for the environmentally sensitive areas. Bioremediation is the active use of biological techniques to mitigate the consequences of a spill using biological processes and refers both of stimulation of pollutant biodegradation and/or to enhance ecosystem recovery Bioremediation is an economically attractive method for the clean-up of oil-contaminated area. Bioremediation has been demonstrated to be an effective oil spill countermeasure for use in cobble, sand beach, salt marsh, and mud flat environment.

• Korean Journal of Hazardous Materials
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 2014

There have been frequent chemical leaks over the past 10 years. Particularly, inorganic acids like sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and hydrogen chloride take up 37 % of the total chemical accidents which took place for the past 10 years. When an acid chemical leak happens, fume is generated, diffusing into the air, which might cause serious damage to health of local residents and the environment. However, most of the acid-based chemicals, detecting and analysis methods have not been settled considering the frequency of accidents. In this study, we investigated detection and analysis methods to quickly analyze accident sites and evaluate the impacts on environments. Reviewing local and international test analysis methods of acids suggested that nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride can be analyzed with IC. It was also found that UV is better for the analysis of hydrogen fluoride and GC/MS for acrylic acid. The analytical methods suggested in the official test methods basically have limitations of consuming much time at stages of preparation and analysis. Considering prompt responses to chemical accidents, further studies should be done to compare the applicability of rapid monitoring methods such as FT-IR, IMR-MS and SIFT-MS.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.181-187
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• 2018

The historical consumption of oil dispersant was recorded during the protection plans after huge oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. As a well-known oil dispersant, Corexit 9500 was used and continuously blamed for the negative effects on environmental ecology. Nevertheless, US EPA still recognizes Corexit 9500 as a future oil dispersant that might be possibly sprayed again to oil slick. In order to develop alternative oil dispersants, it is important to impel the convergency works mainly from microbiologist, ecologist, environmentalist, chemist, and chemical engineer. In this paper, the major components of Corexit 9500 were introduced by chemical structures and physical properties. Presented were also the biodegradable process of dispersed oils and the possible candidates of biosurfactants.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.799-804
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• 2007

Oil spill caused severe effects on the marine fauna and flora due to direct contact of organisms with the oil and even in regions not directly affected by the spill. This study was conducted to understand the effects of the oil spill accidents and the use of dispersant on the red tide of Cochlodinium polykrikoides. Crude oil produced in Kuwait, bunker-C, kerosene and diesel oil, and a chemical dispersant produced in Korea, were added with a series of 10 ppb to 100 ppm in the f/2-Si medium at $20^{\circ}C$ under a photon flux from cool white fluorescent tubes of $100\;mol\;m^{-2}\;s^{-1}$ in a 14: 10 h L:D cycle for the culture of C. polykrikoides. In low concentrations of ${\leq}$ 1 ppm of examined oils no impact on the growth of C. polykrikoides was recorded, while in high concentration of ${\geq}$ 10 ppm, cell density was significantly decreased with the range of 10 to 80% in comparison with the control. The growth of C. polykrikoides after the addition of the dispersant and the mixtures combined with oils and a dispersant of ${\geq}$ 10 ppm appeared to decrease, whereas the growth of C. polykrikoides exposed to ${\leq}$ 100 ppb showed little serious impact. However, almost all the C. polykrikoides cells were died regardless of a dispersant and combined mixtures within a few days after the addition of high concentrations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.spc
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• pp.37-43
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• 2022

Post-spill monitoring of hazardous noxious substances accidents is essential in the event of a spillage of significant quantities of pollutants and for the management of the marine environment resulting from the long-term effects of the persistent toxic substances. The accidental introduction of a sinker into the marine environment can create harmful anaerobic conditions in the benthic ecosystem and spread over the seafloor by the topography and currents. Through case studies, most post-spill monitoring includes modeling, remote sensing, and chemical analyses of the sediment and benthic organisms. The monitoring also evaluates the effectiveness of restoration and recovery activities and assesses damages and compensation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.322-331
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• 2016

Oil budget calculator identifies the removal pathways of spilled oil by both natural and response methods, and estimates the remaining oil required response activities. A oil budget calculator was newly developed as a response tool for Deepwater Horizon oil spill incident in Gulf of Mexico in 2010 to inform clean up decisions for Incident Comment System, which was also successfully utilized to media and general public promotion of oil spill response activities. This study analyzed the theoretical background of the oil budget calculator and explored its future application to Korea. The oil budge calculation of four catastrophic marine pollution incidents indicates that 3~8% of spilled oil was removed mechanically by skimmers, 1~5% by in-situ burning, 4.8~16% by chemical dispersion due to dispersant operation, and 37~56% by weathering processes such as evaporation, dissolution, and natural dispersion. The results show that in-situ burning and chemical dispersion effectively remove spilled oil more than the mechanical removal by skimming, and natural weathering processes are also very effective to remove spilled oil. To apply the oil budget calculator in Korea, its parameters need to be optimized in response to the seasonal characteristics of marine environment, the characteristics of spilled oil and response technologies. A new algorithm also needs to be developed to estimate the oil budget due to shoreline cleanup activities. An oil budget calculator optimized in Korea can play a critical role in informing decisions for oil spill response activities and communicating spill prevention and response activities with the media and general public.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.845-859
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• 2020

Climate change and recent heat waves have drawn public attention toward other environmental issues, such as water pollution in the form of algal blooms, chemical leaks, and oil spills. Water pollution by the leakage of chemicals may severely affect human health as well as contaminate the air, water, and soil and cause discoloration or death of crops that come in contact with these chemicals. Chemicals that may spill into water streams are often colorless and water-soluble, which makes it difficult to determine whether the water is polluted using the naked eye. When a chemical spill occurs, it is usually detected through a simple contact detection device by installing sensors at locations where leakage is likely to occur. The drawback with the approach using contact detection sensors is that it relies heavily on the skill of field workers. Moreover, these sensors are installed at a limited number of locations, so spill detection is not possible in areas where they are not installed. Recently hyperspectral images have been used to identify land cover and vegetation and to determine water quality by analyzing the inherent spectral characteristics of these materials. While hyperspectral sensors can potentially be used to detect chemical substances, there is currently a lack of research on the detection of chemicals in water streams using hyperspectral sensors. Therefore, this study utilized remote sensing techniques and the latest sensor technology to overcome the limitations of contact detection technology in detecting the leakage of hazardous chemical into aquatic systems. In this study, we aimed to determine whether 18 types of hazardous chemicals could be individually classified using hyperspectral image. To this end, we obtained hyperspectral images of each chemical to establish a spectral library. We expect that future studies will expand the spectral library database for hazardous chemicals and that verification of its application in water streams will be conducted so that it can be applied to real-time monitoring to facilitate rapid detection and response when a chemical spill has occurred.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2024

Approximately 250 marine oil spill accidents have occurred in Korea, with profound impact on local communities and the environment. The restoration process necessitates significant resources and costs to return affected areas to their pre-accident state. In accordance with the polluter pays principle, compensation is demanded from polluter, as stipulated in both international conventions and national laws. Consequently, investigations are conducted to determine civil and criminal liability. As the importance of investigation actors in oil spill accidents increases, standards such as CEN 15522-2 and ASTM D 3248 are employed to determine the similarity between the spilled oil and the oil of the suspected ship. Among these standards, CEN 15522-2, the most actively used European standard, underwent its third revision and is now known as EN 15522-2, as of 2023. This study used EN 15522-2 to analyze samples from marine oil spill accidents that occurred in Korea. The results indicated that, considering the characteristics of domestic spills where light fuel oil spills account for more than 40%, the application of EN 15522-2, which includes low-boiling point substances such as Adamantanes, was confirmed to be highly effective.