• Title/Summary/Keyword: Critical Minerals

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U.S. Forest Service Research : Its Administration and Management

  • Krugman, Stanley L.
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.76 no.3
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    • pp.243-248
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    • 1987
  • The U.S. Forest Service administers the world's largest forestry research organization. From its modest beginning in 1876, some 30 years before the United States national forest system was established, the research branch has devoted its effort to meet current and future information needs of the forestry community of the United States, not just for the U.S. Forest Service. The research branch is one of three major administrative units of the U.S. Forest Service. The others being the National Forest System and State and Private Forestry. Currently the National Forest System comprises 155 national forests, 19 national grasslands, and 18 utilization projects located in 44 states. Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The National Forest System manages these areas for a large array of uses and benefits including timber, water, forage, wildlife, recreation, minerals, and wilderness. It is through the State and Private Forestry branch that the U.S. Forest Service cooperates and coordinates forestry activities and programs with state and local governments, forest industries, and private landowners. These activities include financial and technical assistance in disease, insect, and fire protection ; plan forestry programs ; improve harvesting and marketing practices ; and transfer forestry research results to user groups. Forestry research is carried out through eight regional Forest Experiment Stations and the Forest Product Laboratory. Studies are maintained at 70 administrative sites, and at 115 experimental forest and grasslands. All of the current sciences that composed modern forestry are included in the research program. These range from forest biology (i. e. silviculture, ecology, physiology, and genetics) to the physical, mathematical, engineering, managerial, and social sciences. The levels of research range from application, developmental, and basic research. Research planning and priority identification is an ongoing process with elements of the research program changing to meet short-term critical information needs(i. e. protection research) to long-term opportunities(i. e. biotechnology). Research planning and priority setting is done in cooperation with National Forest Systems, forest industries, universities, and individual groups such as environmental, wilderness, or wildlife organizations. There is an ongoing review process of research administration, organization, and science content to maintain quality of research. In the U.S. Forest Service the research responsibility is not completed until the new information is being applied by the various user group : I. e. technology transfer program. Research planning and development in the U.S. Forest Service is a dynamic activity. Porgrams for the year 2000 and beyond are now in the planning stage.

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Quality and Thermoluminescence Properties of ${\gamma}$-Irradiated Boiled-Dried Anchovies during Storage (감마선 조사와 저장 기간에 따른 건멸치류의 품질 및 열발광 특성)

  • 권중호;노정은;변명우
    • Food Science and Preservation
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.19-27
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    • 2002
  • The effect of gamma irradiation was investigated on the microbiological and physicochemical qualities of boiled-dried anchovies (large- and smallsized) packed in PVC film (0.06 ㎜) during storage at 15$\pm$1$\^{C}$ for 6 months. On the other hand, thermoluminescence characteristics of minerals extracted from the sample were analyzed to evaluate its possibility in detecting the irradiated anchovies. The samples were contaminated by microbial levels of 104∼106 CFU/g in total aerobic bacterial counts and negative in coliforms, which were different depending on the sample sizes. Gamma irradiation at 3 kGy was effective for improving the hygienic quality of both samples for 6 months, keeping the microbial population less than 20 CFU/g. Besides it was not detrimental to the quality attributes, such as instrumental color parameters L, a, b, ΔE), browning, TBA value, volatile basic nitrogen, trimethylamine-N and sensory properties(appearance, color, odor, tape, overall acceptability). However, storage conditions (time, temperature, packing) showed a critical factor nfluencing the quality changes of dried anchovies. Thermoluminscence analysis was prove to distinguish irradiated from non-irradiated anchovies by comparing both temperature at which glow curves appear and the curve intensity, that was possible even after 6 months at - 20$\^{C}$.

Current Research Trends for Treatment of Microplastics (미세플라스틱 처리를 위한 연구동향)

  • Kim, Seong-Min;Baek, Sang-Ho;Han, Yosep;Davaadorj, Tsogchuluun;Go, Byung-Hun;Jeon, Ho-Seok
    • Resources Recycling
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    • v.29 no.5
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    • pp.15-27
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    • 2020
  • Microplastics are recognized as critical and serious environmental problem in worldwide. Plastics are inexpensive, lightweight, excellent in processability, and various in material-specific properties. Along industrial development, the production and disposal amount of plastics are also rapidly increasing. In particular, abundant plastic wastes are eventually disposed into marine environment with harmful impacts on the ecosystem. Therefore, lots of relevant studies were recently progressed in various fields. However, many studies are being just conducted due to its difficulty in applying a general treatment method for those small particle sizes and their various characteristics. In the meantime, lots of researches are being conducted on applying methods using physical properties such as specific gravity, magnetic, and electrostatic separation, which are beneficiation processes of minerals. However, since it is still in the laboratory stage, the development of larger scale separation technology for efficient treatment is urgent.

Analysis of the Latest Trends in Mineral Resource Exploration and Mining in China and its Implications (중국의 광물자원 탐사개발 최신동향 분석 및 시사점)

  • Kim, Seong-Yong;Heo, Chul-Ho
    • Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.75-81
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    • 2022
  • Given that China's resource research, exploration and development and resource economy policies are closely related to Korea's industrial competitiveness in the field of global mineral energy resources, it is important to establish the domestic and overseas resource development strategies. In 2020, China will revise and set standards for mineral resources to ensure efficiency in exploration and development and storage management. China's Ministry of Natural Resources has established the National Mineral Resources Plan (2021-2025), aiming to achieve national goals and strategies, and local governments at all levels are also establishing and implementing regional mineral resources plans. As a result, the supervision and management of geological mineral exploration activities have been strengthened, and the safety of industrial production management in the field of geological mineral exploration and development has been strengthened. China has developed guidelines for high-quality geological exploration, surveying and mapping, improved the level of geological mineral exploration and strengthened the mining supervision and management system. According to China's standardization of mineral resources such as solid mineral resources and petroleum gas mineral resources, a new standard system for resource management will be established in China to improve scientific understanding, rational management and utilization.

Mineralogical and Geochemical Studies on the Daum Vent Field, Central Indian Ridge (인도양 중앙해령 Daum 열수분출대의 광물·지구화학적 연구)

  • Ryoung Gyun Kim;Sun Ki Choi;Jonguk Kim;Sang Joon Pak;Wonnyon Kim
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.56 no.6
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    • pp.765-779
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    • 2023
  • The Daum Vent Field (DVF) was newly discovered in the Central Indian Ridge during the hydrothermal expedition by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST) in 2021. In this paper, we describe the detailed mineralogy and geochemistry of hydrothermal chimney and mound to understand the nature of hydrothermal mineralization in the DVF. The mineral assemblages (pyrite±sphalerite±chalcopyrite) of dominant sulfides, FeS contents (mostly <20 mole %) of sphalerite, and (Cu+Zn)/Fe values (0.001-0.22) of bulk compositions indicate that the DVF has an strong affinity with basaltic-hosted seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposit along the oceanic ridge. Combined with the predominance of colloform and/or dendritic-textured pyrite and relatively Fe-poor sphalerite in chimneys, the fluid-temperature dependency of trace element systematics (Co, Mn, and Tl) between chimney and mound indicates that the formation of mound was controlled by relatively reducing and high-temperature fluids compared to chimney. The δ34S values (+8.31 to +10.52‰) of pyrite reflect that sulfur and metals were mainly leached from the associated basement rocks (50.6-61.3%) with a contribution from reduced seawater sulfur (38.7-49.4%). This suggests that the fluid-rock interaction, with little effect of magmatic volatile influx, is an important metal source for the sulfide mineralization in the DVF.

Thermogravimetric Analysis of Black Mass Components from Li-ion Battery (폐이차전지 블랙 매스(Black Mass) 구성 성분의 열중량 특성 분석)

  • Kwanho Kim;Kwangsuk You;Minkyu Kim;Hoon Lee
    • Resources Recycling
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    • v.32 no.6
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    • pp.25-33
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    • 2023
  • With the growth of the battery industry, a rapid increase in the production and usage of lithium-ion batteries is expected, and in line with this, much interest and effort is being paid to recycle waste batteries, including production scrap. Although much effort has been made to recycle cathode material, much attention has begun to recycle anode material to secure the supply chain of critical minerals and improve recycling rates. The proximate analysis that measures the content of coal can be used to analyze graphite in anode material, but it cannot accurately analyze due to the interaction between the components of the black mass. Therefore, in this study, thermogravimetric analysis of each component of black mass was measured as the temperature increased up to 950℃ in an oxygen atmosphere. As a result, in the case of cathode material, no change in mass was measured other than a mass reduction of about 5% due to oxidation of the binder and conductive material. In the case of anode material, except for a mass reduction of about 2% due to the binder, all mass reduction were due to the graphite(fixed carbon). In addition, metal conductors (Al, Cu) were oxidized and their mass increased as the temperature increased. Thermal analysis results of mixed samples of cathode/anode show similar results to the predictive values that can be calculated through each cathode and anode analysis results.

Effect of Carbon Dioxide Pressure on Mineral Carbonation in Acidic Solutions (산성용액에서 이산화탄소의 압력이 광물탄산화에 미치는 영향)

  • Ryu, Kyoung Won;Hong, Seok Jin;Choi, Sang Hoon
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.53 no.1
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    • pp.1-9
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    • 2020
  • Magnesium silicate minerals such as serpentine [Mg3Si2O5(OH)4] have a high potential for the sequestration of CO2; thus, their reactivity toward dissolution under CO2-free and CO2-containing conditions in acidic solvents is a critical process with respect to their carbonation reactions. To examine the carbonation efficiency and dissolution mechanism of serpentine, hydrothermal treatment was performed to the starting material via a modified direct aqueous carbonation process at 100 and 150℃. The serpentine dissolution experiments were conducted in H2SO4 solution with concentration range of 0.3-1 M and at a CO2 partial pressure of 3 MPa. The initial pH of the solution was adjusted to 13 for the carbonation process. Under CO2-free and CO2-containing conditions, the carbonation efficiency increased in proportion to the concentration of H2SO4 and the reaction temperature. The leaching rate under CO2-containing conditions was higher than that under CO2-free conditions. This suggests that shows the presence of CO2 affects the carbonation reaction. The leaching and carbonation efficiencies at 150℃ in 1 M H2SO4 solution under CO2-containing conditions were 85 and 84%, respectively. The dissolution rate of Mg was higher than that of Si, such that the Mg : Si ratio of the reacted serpentine decreased from the inner part (approximately 1.5) to the outer part (less than 0.1). The resultant silica-rich layer of the reaction product ultimately changed through the Mg-depleted skeletal phase and the pseudo-serpentine phase to the amorphous silica phase. A passivating silica layer was not observed on the outer surface of the reacted serpentine.

Particle Size Analysis of Nano-sized Talc Prepared by Mechanical Milling Using High-energy Ball Mill (고에너지 볼 밀을 이용한 나노 활석의 형성 및 입도 분석)

  • Kim, Jin Woo;Lee, Bum Han;Kim, Jin Cheul;Kim, Hyun Na
    • Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.47-55
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    • 2018
  • Talc, hydrous magnesium phyllosilicate, is one of the most popular industrial minerals due to their chemical stability and adsorptivity. While micro-sized talc has long been used as a filler and coating, nano-sized talc recently is attracting attention as additives for improving the stability of nanocomposites. In this study, we produced the nano-sized talc powder by mechanical method using high energy ball mill and investigated the changes in particle size and crystallinity with increasing milling time up to 720 minutes. X-ray diffraction results show that the peak width of talc gradually as the milling proceeded, and after 720 minutes of pulverization, the talc showed an amorphous-like X-ray diffraction pattern. Lase diffraction particle size analysis presents that particle size of talc which was ${\sim}12{\mu}m$ decreased to ${\sim}0.45{\mu}m$ as the milling progressed, but no significant reduction of particle size was observed even after grinding for 120 minutes or more. BET specific surface area, however, steadily increases up to the milling time of 720 minutes, indicating that the particle size and morphology change steadily as the milling progressed. Scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope images shows that layered particles of about 100 to 300 nm was aggregated as micro-sized particles after pulverization for 720 minutes. As the grinding time increases, the particle size and morphology of talc continuously change, but the nano-sized talc particles form micro sized agglomerates. These results suggest that there is a critical size along the a, b axes in which the size of plates is reduced even though the grinding proceeds, and the reduction of plate thickness along the c axis leads the increase in specific surface area with further grinding. This study could enhance the understanding of the mechanism of the formation of nano-sized talc by mechanical grinding.

Modern Paper Quality Control

  • Olavi Komppa
    • Proceedings of the Korea Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Conference
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    • 2000.06a
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    • pp.16-23
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    • 2000
  • The increasing functional needs of top-quality printing papers and packaging paperboards, and especially the rapid developments in electronic printing processes and various computer printers during past few years, set new targets and requirements for modern paper quality. Most of these paper grades of today have relatively high filler content, are moderately or heavily calendered , and have many coating layers for the best appearance and performance. In practice, this means that many of the traditional quality assurance methods, mostly designed to measure papers made of pure. native pulp only, can not reliably (or at all) be used to analyze or rank the quality of modern papers. Hence, introduction of new measurement techniques is necessary to assure and further develop the paper quality today and in the future. Paper formation , i.e. small scale (millimeter scale) variation of basis weight, is the most important quality parameter of paper-making due to its influence on practically all the other quality properties of paper. The ideal paper would be completely uniform so that the basis weight of each small point (area) measured would be the same. In practice, of course, this is not possible because there always exists relatively large local variations in paper. However, these small scale basis weight variations are the major reason for many other quality problems, including calender blacking uneven coating result, uneven printing result, etc. The traditionally used visual inspection or optical measurement of the paper does not give us a reliable understanding of the material variations in the paper because in modern paper making process the optical behavior of paper is strongly affected by using e.g. fillers, dye or coating colors. Futhermore, the opacity (optical density) of the paper is changed at different process stages like wet pressing and calendering. The greatest advantage of using beta transmission method to measure paper formation is that it can be very reliably calibrated to measure true basis weight variation of all kinds of paper and board, independently on sample basis weight or paper grade. This gives us the possibility to measure, compare and judge papers made of different raw materials, different color, or even to measure heavily calendered, coated or printed papers. Scientific research of paper physics has shown that the orientation of the top layer (paper surface) fibers of the sheet paly the key role in paper curling and cockling , causing the typical practical problems (paper jam) with modern fax and copy machines, electronic printing , etc. On the other hand, the fiber orientation at the surface and middle layer of the sheet controls the bending stiffness of paperboard . Therefore, a reliable measurement of paper surface fiber orientation gives us a magnificent tool to investigate and predict paper curling and coclking tendency, and provides the necessary information to finetune, the manufacturing process for optimum quality. many papers, especially heavily calendered and coated grades, do resist liquid and gas penetration very much, bing beyond the measurement range of the traditional instruments or resulting invonveniently long measuring time per sample . The increased surface hardness and use of filler minerals and mechanical pulp make a reliable, nonleaking sample contact to the measurement head a challenge of its own. Paper surface coating causes, as expected, a layer which has completely different permeability characteristics compared to the other layer of the sheet. The latest developments in sensor technologies have made it possible to reliably measure gas flow in well controlled conditions, allowing us to investigate the gas penetration of open structures, such as cigarette paper, tissue or sack paper, and in the low permeability range analyze even fully greaseproof papers, silicon papers, heavily coated papers and boards or even detect defects in barrier coatings ! Even nitrogen or helium may be used as the gas, giving us completely new possibilities to rank the products or to find correlation to critical process or converting parameters. All the modern paper machines include many on-line measuring instruments which are used to give the necessary information for automatic process control systems. hence, the reliability of this information obtained from different sensors is vital for good optimizing and process stability. If any of these on-line sensors do not operate perfectly ass planned (having even small measurement error or malfunction ), the process control will set the machine to operate away from the optimum , resulting loss of profit or eventual problems in quality or runnability. To assure optimum operation of the paper machines, a novel quality assurance policy for the on-line measurements has been developed, including control procedures utilizing traceable, accredited standards for the best reliability and performance.

(U-Th)/He Dating: Principles and Applications ((U-Th)/He 연령측정법의 원리와 응용)

  • Min, Kyoung-Won
    • The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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    • v.23 no.3
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    • pp.239-247
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    • 2014
  • The (U-Th)/He dating utilizes the production of alpha particles ($^4He$ atoms) during natural radioactive decays of $^{238}U$, $^{235}U$ and $^{232}Th$. (U-Th)/He age can be determined from the abundances of the parent nuclides $^{238}U$, $^{235}U$ and $^{232}Th$ and the radiogenic $^4He$. Because helium is one of the noble gases (non-reactive) with a relatively small radius, it diffuses rapidly in many geological materials, even at low temperatures. Therefore, ingrowth of $^4He$ during radioactive decay competes with diffusive loss at elevated temperatures during the geologic time scale, determining the amount of $^4He$ existing today in natural samples. For example, He diffusion in apatite is known to be very rapid compared to that in most other minerals, causing a significant diffusive loss at ${\sim}80^{\circ}C$ or higher. At ${\sim}40^{\circ}C$, He diffusion in apatite becomes slow enough to preserve most $^4He$ in the sample. Thus, an apatite's (U-Th)/He age represents the timing when the sample passed through the temperature range of $80-40^{\circ}C$. The crustal depth corresponding to this temperature range is called a "partial retention zone." Normal closure temperatures for a typical grain size and cooling rate are ${\sim}60-70^{\circ}C$ for apatite and ${\sim}200^{\circ}C$ for zircon and titanite. Because the apatite He closure temperature is lower than that of most other thermochronometers, it can provide critical constraints on relatively recent or shallow-crustal exhumation histories.