• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.466-474
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• 2018

The high theoretical energy density ($2600Wh\;kg^{-1}$) of Lithium-sulfur batteries and the high theoretical capacity of elemental sulfur ($1672mAh\;g^{-1}$) attract significant research attention. However, the poor electrical conductivity of sulfur and the polysulfide shuttle effect are chronic problems resulting in low sulfur utilization and poor cycling stability. In this study, we address these problems by coating a polyethylene separator with a layer of activated carbon powder. A lithium-sulfur cell containing the activated carbon powder-coated separator exhibits an initial specific discharge capacity of $1400mAh\;g^{-1}$ at 0.1 C, and retains 63% of the initial capacity after 100 cycles at 0.2 C, whereas the equivalent cell with a bare separator exhibits a $1200mAh\;g^{-1}$ initial specific discharge capacity, and 50% capacity retention under the same conditions. The activated carbon powder-coated separator also enhances the rate capability. These results indicate that the microstructure of the activated carbon powder layer provides space for the sulfur redox reaction and facilitates fast electron transport. Concurrently, the activated carbon powder layer traps and reutilizes any polysulfides dissolved in the electrolyte. The approach presented here provides insights for overcoming the problems associated with lithium-sulfur batteries and promoting their practical use.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.597-606
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• 2015

This work investigates the carbonation of KOH-dissolved methanol and ethanol solution systems carried out for $CO_2$ fixation. Potassium methyl carbonate (PMC) and potassium ethyl carbonate (PEC) were synthesized during the reaction in each solution as the solid powder, and they were characterized in detail. The amount of $CO_2$ chemically absorbed to produce the PMC and PEC precipitates were calculated to be 97.90% and 99.58% of their theoretical values, respectively. In addition, a substantial amount of $CO_2$ was physically absorbed in the solution during the carbonation. PMC precipitates were consisted of the pure PMC and $KHCO_3$ with the weight ratio of 5:5, respectively. PEC precipitates were also mixture of the pure PEC and $KHCO_3$ with the weight ratio of 8:2, respectively. When these two precipitates were dissolved in excess water, methanol and ethanol were regenerated remaining solid $KHCO_3$ in the solutions. Therefore, the process has the potential to be one of the efficient options of CCS and CCU technologies.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.181-188
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• 2018

A sidestream contains the filtrate or concentrate from the belt filter press, filter backwash and supernatant from sludge digesters. The sidestream flow, which heads back into the sewage treatment train, is about 1-3% less than the influent flow. However, the sidestream can increase the nutrient load since it contains high concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen. In this study, the removal of PO4-P with organic matter characteristics and bacteriological changes during the sidestream treatment via ladle furnace (LF) slag was investigated. The sidestream used in this study consisted of 11-14% PO4-P and 3.2-3.6% soluble chemical oxygen demand in influent loading rates. LF slag, which had a relatively high $Ca^{2+}$ release compared to other slags, was used to remove $PO_4-P$ from the sidestream. The phosphate removal rates increased as the slag particle size decreased 19.1% (2.0-4.0 mm, 25.2% (1.0-2.0 mm) and 79.9% (0.5-1.0 mm). The removal rates of dissolved organic carbon, soluble chemical oxygen demand, color and aromatic organic matter ($UV_{254}$) were 17.6, 41.7, 90.2 and 77.3%, respectively. Fluorescence excitation-emission matrices and liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection demonstrated that the sidestream treatment via LF slag was effective in the removal of biopolymers. However, the removal of dissolved organic matter was not significant during the treatment. The intact bacterial biomass decreased from $1.64{\times}10^8cells/mL$ to $1.05{\times}10^8cells/mL$. The use of LF slag was effective for the removal of phosphate and the removal efficiency of phosphate was greater than 80% for up to 100 bed volumes.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.843-849
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• 2007

Monitoring of NOM characteristics is important for improving removal efficiency of natural organic matter (NOM) in water treatment processes. In this study, several NOM characteristics, which include specific UV absorbance (SUVA), total carbonate content, molecular weight distribution, and fluorescence properties, were measured using samples collected from a pilot-scale water treatment plant consisting of coagulation/flocculation (C/F), filtration, ozonation and granular activated carbon (GAC) processes. The highest removal of NOM was observed in C/F and filtration processes as demonstrated by the reduction of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by 25% and 21%, respectively. Despite nearly no change in DOC, however, the lowest SUVA value and the highest total carbohydrate content were observed in the sample from ozonation process. This indicates that non-degradable aromatic compounds become depleted and biodegradable organic compounds are enriched during the process. Comparison of synchronous fluorescence spectra of the samples showed that ozoation process increased protein-like fluorescence while it decreased fulvic-like and terrestrial humic-like fluorescence. Consistently, a slight peak of protein-like fluorescence was observed in the sample from ozonation process. The greatest change in molecular weight distributions of the samples was observed in C/F process. Comparison of size exclusion chromatogram of the samples revealed that NOM fractions with the molecular weight greater than 2000 Da were reduced by over 90% after C/F process. SUVA values and total carbohydrate content of the samples were well correlated with a ratio of protein-like fluorescence and terrestrial humic-like fluorescence intensities with the correlation coefficients of 0.99 and 0.91, respectively. This suggests that synchronous fluorescence properties of NOM could be used as useful tolls for monitoring changes of some NOM characteristics during water treatment processes.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.141-146
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• 2005

The aim of this study is to quantify and characterize the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from paddy fields and crop fields in Tottori, Japan. DOC and ultraviolet (UV) absorption were measured in the filtrated water of each sample. The DOC concentration and the SUVA (specific UV absorption) of biodegradation analysis samples were determined around 50 days after their incubation. In the Fukui paddy fields, DOC concentration varied seasonally from 1.1 to $10.1mg\;Cl^{-1}$, becoming higher during heavy runoffs in April, a non-agriculture period. Variations in DOC concentration did not always correspond to rainfall, though. The Obadake paddy fields showed a DOC concentration pattern similar to that of the Fukui paddy fields. The daily DOC discharge per area in the Fukui (up), Fukui (down), Obadake (south) and Obadake (north) paddy fields influent from paddy fields were 0.02, 0.0161, 0.0135 and $0.0027kg\;a^{-1}day^{-1}$, respectively. These differences resulted from differences in agricultural types and customs of farmers according to paddy fields and other kinds of fields. Also, the SUVAs [which are indirect means to evaluate humic substances (hydrophobic fractions)] of the studied influent waters from paddy fields were generally lower than those of the influent waters from crop fields. Nonbiodegradable DOC accounted for 50.2 - 98% and 46.8 - 85.5% of the total DOC in the paddy fields and in the crop fields, respectively.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.171-184
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• 2017

This study presents the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the characteristics of emission of three major greenhouse gases (GHGs) including $CH_4$, $CO_2$ and $N_2O$ during operation of a sequencing batch reactor for aerobic oxidation of methane with denitrification (AeOM-D SBR). Dissolved $N_2O$ concentration increased, leveled-off and slightly decreased as the HRT increased from 0.25 to 1d. Concentration of the dissolved $N_2O$ was higher at the shorter HRT, which was highly associated with the lowered C/N ratio. A longer HRT resulted in a higher C/N ratio with a sufficient carbon source produced by methanotrophs via methane oxidation, which provided a favorable condition for reducing $N_2O$ formation. With a less formation of the dissolved $N_2O$, $N_2O$ emission rate was lower at a longer HRT condition due to the lower C/N ratio. Opposite to the $N_2O$ emission, emission rates of $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ were higher at a longer HRT. Longer HRT resulted in the greater total GHGs emission as $CO_2$ equivalent which was doubled when the HRT increased from 0.5d to 1.0 d. Contribution of $CH_4$ onto the total GHGs emission was most dominant accounting for 98 - 99% compared to that of $N_2O$ (< 2%).

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.729-734
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• 2012

During chlorination processes dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) can form toxic nitrogenous disinfection byproducts and organic chloramines which have little or no bactericidal activity. DON needs to be removed before chlorination processes to reduce the formation of those products. This study investigated the removal of DON from surface water and reclaimed water by coagulation with aluminum sulfate (alum) and a cationic polymer (polyDADMAC). Removal characteristics of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm ($UVA_{254}$) were compared with that of DON. Coagulation with alum removed DON, DOC, and $UVA_{254}$ with similar trends, but the removal of $UVA_{254}$ was highest. A dual coagulation strategy of alum and cationic polymer improved the removal of DON. Coagulation with cationic polymer alone was not effective due to its narrow range of charge neutralization. DON in reclaimed water was easier to remove than that in surface water, and higher molecular weight fraction (>10,000 Da) of DON was preferentially removed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.203-210
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• 2000

The preparative methods of a chitosan-deposited activated carbon and its characteristics were studied by using three kinds of chitosan with different degree of deacetylation and average molecular weight. The procedure was consisted of the dissolution of chitosan into acid solution, impregnation of activated carbon, agitation, evaporation, and drying. When the chitosan-dissolved acid and its concentration, amounts of chitosan deposited, and agitation conditions were changed, the specific surface area, deposition state on surface, and stability were investigated, and amounts of Cr(VI) adsorbed was measured. In the preparation process, it was proper to agitate the chitosan-dissolved acetic acid solution at room temperature for 1hr. In the deposition of chitosan with low molecular weight, the specific surface area of activated carbon was greatly decreased even at low chitosan loading, but in the case of high molecular weight it was not nearly changed to 10wt% loading. It was known that chitosan was uniformly and physically deposited on activated carbon. The chitosan-deposited activated carbon was stable into the solution over about pH 6. The removal of Cr(VI) was remarkably enhanced by adding the adsorption function of chitosan to the surface of activated carbon with about 5wt% chitosan. It may be therefore used as an adsorbent for removing the pollutants in air and wastewater.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.481-484
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• 2011

Although formation of organic chloramines have been studied for decades, most of them have involved model organic compounds (e.g., amino acids) but not naturally occurring organic nitrogen in water. This study investigated formation of organic chloramines during chlorination of 16 natural organic matters (NOM) solutions which were isolated from surface water and contained dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). Organic chloramine yields per chlorine consumption was $0.25mg-Cl_2/mg-Cl_2$. Upon chlorination of NOM solutions, organic chloramines were rapidly formed within 10 minutes. The average organic chloramine yields upon addition of chlorine in to NOM solutions were $0.78mg-Cl_2/mg-DON$ at 10 minutes and $0.16mg-Cl_2/mg-DON$ at 24 hours. Organic chloramine yields increased as the dissolved organic carbon/dissolved organic nitrogen (DOC/DON) ratios decreased. Chlorination of molecular weight (10,000 Da) fractionated samples showed that the influence of DON molecular weights on the organic chloramine formation was minimal.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.289-298
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• 2010

A number of characteristics of the Lake H$\ddot{o}$vsg$\ddot{o}$l watershed, such as the lake's location at the edge of the Central Asian continuous permafrost zone, provide a unique opportunity to evaluate possible anthropogenic impacts in this remote area in northern Mongolia. In this study, we compared stream solute concentrations in six sub-watersheds in the Lake H$\ddot{o}$vsg$\ddot{o}$l watershed. Water samples were collected during the summer months between 2003 and 2005. Concentrations of $Cl^-$ ranged from 9.8 to $51.3\;{\mu}mol/L$; average nitrate concentrations were very low and ranged from undetectable to $1.1\;{\mu}mol/L$ and average ${SO_4}^{2-}$ concentration at sampling stations with minimal animal grazing ranged from 66 to $294\;{\mu}mol/L$. Average dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations ranged from 642 to $1,180\;{\mu}mol$ C/L. We did not find statistically significant differences in DOC concentrations among the six streams, although DOC concentrations tended to be higher in the two northernmost streams, possibly related to differences in the active layer above the permafrost. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) concentrations were correlated with DOC concentration, and followed the same spatial pattern as those for DOC. In streams in this remote watershed, total dissolved nitrogen was made up of mostly organic N, as has been found for other regions distant from anthropogenic N sources. Overall, these results suggest that future research on the dynamics of DOC and DON in this watershed will be especially insightful in helping to understand how changes in climate and land use patterns will affect transformations, retention, and export of dissolved organic matter within these sub-watersheds in the Lake H$\ddot{o}$vsg$\ddot{o}$l region.