• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.36 no.8
• /
• pp.554-560
• /
• 2014

To investigate the applicability of montmorillonite to capping material for the remediation of contaminated marine sediment, adsorption characteristics of $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ onto montmorillonite were studied in a batch system with respect to changes in contact time, initial concentration, pH, adsorbent dose amount, competing anions, adsorbent mixture, and seawater. Sorption equilibrium reached in 1 h at 50 mg/L but 3 h was required to reach sorption equilibrium at 300 mg/L. Freundlich model was more suitable to describe equilibrium sorption data than Langmuir model. The $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ adsorption decreased as pH increased, due to the $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ competition for favorable adsorption site with OH- at higher pH. The presence of anions such as nitrate, sulfate, and bicarbonate had no significant effect on the $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ adsorption onto the montmorillonite. The use of the montmorillonite alone was more effective for the removal of the $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ than mixing the montmorillonite with red mud and steel slag. The $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ adsorption capacity of the montmorillonite was higher in seawater than deionized water, resulting from the presence of calcium ion in seawater. The water tank elution experiments showed that montmorillonite capping blocked well the elution of $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$, which was not measured up to 14 days. It was concluded that the montmirillonite has a potential capping material for the removal of the $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ from the aqueous solutions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.36 no.7
• /
• pp.469-475
• /
• 2014

The study investigated the physicochemical characteristics and the ecological risk of the Northport sediment in B city and the releasing properties of heavy metals into seawater during the resuspension also studied. The major components of the sediment are fine silt and clay which contains high organic matter and AVS (Acid volatile sulfide) and the ecological risk of the heavy metals in sediment also very high. The release rate of heavy metals into seawater was in order of Pb>>Cu>Cr>>Zn>Cd during the resuspension in a batch experiment, and the heavy metal release mainly attributed to the oxidation of metal sulfides. Heavy metals which came from easily oxidisable metal sulfides rapidly contaminated seawater within about 1.0 h of the sediment resuspension. The sulfide oxidation during the resuspension increased the residual fraction of heavy metals in the sediment, decreased the organic bound fraction, and changed the other fractions of heavy metals in the sediment. The release of heavy metals from the sediment during resuspension was affected by the resuspension time, the oxidation rate of metal sulfides and resuspended concentration of the sediment particle.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.55-62
• /
• 2013

Generally, the radioactivity from NPP(Nuclear Power Plants) operation can be released below 3% of DRLs(Derived Release Limits) to environment. It was tried to understand which plant was efficient for absorbing radioactivity in this study. Pinus thunbergii Parl. and Viburnum awabuki K. KOCH were analyzed for radioisotope absorption. The samples were collected at three different locations depending on the distance from NPP at the vicinity 10km away, and 30km away. Gamma radionuclide was not detected from the samples, which means that the direct transition into the plant was not significant. Meanwhile, the very low level of radioactive tritium was detected in the samples. One remark was that every plant has different ability for tritium absorption. These results are expected to be applied to propagation and transplanting in radioactively contaminated area or reducing radioactivity in the soil and water near the plants.

• Advances in nano research
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.541-550
• /
• 2023

The escalating growth of industrial sectors has led to a pervasive global problem—oil pollution, particularly in industrial areas. The release of substantial volumes of oil and its by-products into the environment has resulted in extensive contamination. Multiple factors contribute to the entry of these substances into water bodies and soils, thereby inflicting irreparable consequences on ecosystems, natural resources, and human health. Consequently, it becomes imperative to comprehend the characteristics and behavior of oil pollution, anticipate its impacts, and develop effective mitigation strategies. Understanding this intricate issue requires considering the physicochemical properties of the environment, the interactions between oil and sediments, and biological factors such as evaporation and dissolution. Although the oil industry has brought about remarkable advancements, its activities have raised significant concerns regarding pollution from extraction and production processes. Oil-rich nations face a particularly challenging predicament of soil pollution caused by petroleum compounds. The areas surrounding oil exploration mines and refineries often endure contamination due to oil leakages from storage tanks and transmission lines resulting from deterioration and damage. Investigating the dispersion of such pollutants and devising methods to remediate petroleum-contaminated soil represent crucial and intricate issues within the realm of environmental geotechnics.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.81-87
• /
• 2008

In accompany with the transfer of US army bases, recent surveys reported serious contamination of soils by the release of petroleum from storage facilities and heavy metals accumulated in rifle-ranges. These problems have made an increased concerns of cleanup technology for contaminated soils. In this study, a full-scale soil washing process improved by multistage continuous desorption and agitational desorption techniques was examined for petroleum-contaminated soils obtained from three different remedial sites that contained 29.3, 16.6, and 7.8% of silt and clay, respectively. The initial concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) were 5,183, 2,560, and 4,860 mg/kg for each soil. Pure water was applied to operate washing process, in which water used for washing process was recycled 100% for over 6 months. The results of full-scale washing tests showed that the TPH concentrations for soils (> 3.0 mm) were 50${\sim}$356 mg/kg (85.2${\sim}$98.2% removal rates), regardless of the contents of silt and clay from in A, B and C soil, when the soils were washed at 3.0 kg/$cm^2$ of injection pressure with the method of wet particle separation. Based on the initial TPH concentration, the TPH removal rates for each site were 85.2, 98.2 and 89.9%. For soils in the range of 3.0${\sim}$0.075 mm, the application of first-stage desorption technique as a physical method resulted 834, 1,110, and 1,460 mg/kg of TPH concentrations for each soil, also additional multi-stage continuous desorption reduced the TPH concentration to 330, 385, and 245 mg/kg that were equivalent to 92.4, 90.6, and 90.1% removal rates, respectively. The result of multi-stage continuous desorption for fine soil (0.075${\sim}$0.053 mm) were 791, 885, and 1,560 mg/kg, and additional agitation desorption showed 428, 440, and, 358 mg/kg of TPH concentrations. Compared with initial concentration, the removal rates were 92.0, 93.9 and 92.9%, respectively. These results implied we could apply strategic process of soil washing for varies types of contaminated soils to meet the regulatory limit of TPH.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.230-237
• /
• 2020

Nitrogen flux release from organically enriched sediments into overlying water, which may have significantly influence on water quality and increasing continuous eutrophication. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the remediation efficiency of oyster shell powder and its treated product into organically enriched sediment in terms of nitrogen flux, organic matter, chlorophyll-a, pH and dissolved oxygen (DO). The TOSP was mainly composed of CaO2. The application of TOSP into the sediment has increased the pH, DO and significantly decreased the concentrations of NH₄⁺-N and T-N compared to other basins. On the other hand, nitrate was enriched with the addition of treated oyster powder, an oxygen releasing compound on both phases. Furthermore, chlorophyll-a was found to be increasing with time in the control basin meanwhile it dropped drastically with the addition of TOSP, which implied on the repression of algal growth owing to blockage of nitrogen source migrating from the sediment. This study has shown that the TOSP was effective to improve sediment-water quality, diminish eutrophication and control harmful algae blooms in a marine environment. Therefore, it is a good reference as an effective environmental remediation agent.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.41-49
• /
• 1999

The horizontal two-dimensional model which can predict the long-term water quality(WQ) change is setup for the environmental management. For the model calibration and verification, we measured the pollutants load at 22 streams and the WQ at 16 stations monthly and/or seasonally in Chinhae . Masan Bay. The pollutants release rate from the sediment was also measured to consider the regionally different sediment pollution level. From the model application results, it is shown that the WQ concentrations in most of the regions adjacent to land and river inflow are considerably high, but rapidly decrease along the seaward direction. In Masan Bay, the particulate inflow-pollutants were substantially deposited and gradually contaminated the bottom sediment on account of the excessive pollutants load and flow stagnancy. Eutrophication in the effluent discharge region was also being slowly progressed by the inefficiently treated wastewater containing amount of Nand P constituents.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.24-31
• /
• 2021

Decommissioning efforts are underway at the reactor where the accident occurred, namely the damaged Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP). However, a large amount of groundwater flowing into the site has become contaminated with radioactive substances and is stored in tanks on site, which has hampered the decommissioning work. Although the inflow of groundwater has been greatly reduced through measures such as the construction of frost walls, approximately 170 ㎥ of water treated by the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) is being stored in tanks, each day. The tanks used to store this treated water are expected to become full by around the summer of 2022. It is not easy to get people to understand the efforts of all concerned parties, and providing clear information to these concerned parties is also a challenge. Questions have also been raised regarding whether other alternatives have been fully explored in the ALPS subcommittee. Some people have commented that the answers to the questions raised regarding the biological effects of tritium transmutation are inadequate. Some suspect that the answers are too detailed and incomprehensible, and that the respondents may be manipulating the public with some malicious intent. In any case, each possible plan presents both advantages and disadvantages, depending on the people who are involved. That makes it an ethical and vexing issue that can sway decisions, as perspectives change. While the environmental release plan is scientifically safe, it may represent a painful alternative. On the other hand, a more careful and imaginative approach to the idea of continued storage in tanks or other forms of storage may reveal some troublesome hidden disadvantages. Under these circumstances, experts must be prepared to answer people's questions in a comprehensive and robust manner.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.679-687
• /
• 2007

Nanoscale zero valent ion (nZVI) technology is emerging as an innovative method to treat contaminated groundwater. The activity of nZVI is very high due to their high specific surface area, and supporting this material can help to preserve its chemical nature by inhibiting oxidation. In this study, nZVI particles were attached to granular ion-exchange resin through borohydride reduction of ferrous ions, and chemical reduction of nitrate by this material was investigated as a potential technology to remove nitrate from groundwater. The pore structure and physical characteristics were measured and the change by the adsorption of nZVI was discussed. Batch tests were conducted to characterize the activity of the supported nZVI and the results indicated that the degradation of nitrate appeared to be a pseudo first-order reaction with the observed reaction rate constant of $0.425h^{-1}$ without pH control. The reduction process continued but at a much lower rate with a rate constant of $0.044h^{-1}$, which is likely limited by mass transfer. To assess the effects of other ions commonly found in groundwater, the same experiments were conducted in simulated groundwater with the same level of nitrate. In simulated groundwater, the rate constant was $0.078h^{-1}$ and it also reduced to $0.0021h^{-1}$ in later phase. The major limitation in application of ZVI for nitrate reduction is ammonium production. By using a support material with ion exchange capacity, the problem of ammonium release can be solved. The ammonium was not detected in the batch test, even when other competitive ions such as calcium and potassium existed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.618-629
• /
• 2021

The Fukushima nuclear power plant (NPP) accident caused by the East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and the recent increase in the frequency of earthquakes in Korea have caused safety concerns regarding radionuclide exposure. In addition, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in Japan recently decided to release radionuclide-contaminated water from Fukushima's NPP into the Pacific Ocean, raising public concerns that the possibility of radionuclide contamination through both domestic- and foreign fishery products is increasing. Although many studies have been conducted on the input of artificial radionuclides into the Pacific after the Fukushima NPP accident, studies on the distribution and accumulation of artificial radionuclides in marine products from East Asia are lacking. Therefore, in this study, we attempted to explore recent research on the distribution of artificial radionuclides (e.g., ¹³⁷Cs, ^239+240Pu, ⁹⁰Sr, and etc.) in marine products from Korean seas after the Fukushima NPP accident. In addition, we also discuss future research directions as it is necessary to prepare for likely radiation accidents in the future around Korea associated with the new nuclear facilities planned by 2030 in China and owing to the discharge of radionuclide-contaminated water from the Fukushima NPP.