• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.543-553
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• 2023

The current status of domestic a agalmatolite mines in South Korea was investigated with a view to establishing a stable supply of agalmatolite and managing its demand. Most mined agalmatolite deposits were formed through hydrothermal alteration of Mesozoic volcanic rocks. The physical characteristics of pyrophyllite, the main constituent mineral of agalmatolite, are as follows: specific gravity 2.65~2.90, hardness 1~2, density 1.60~1.80 g/cm³, refractoriness ≥29, and color white, gray, grayish white, grayish green, yellow, or yellowish green. Among the chemical components of domestic agalmatolite, SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ contents are respectively 58.2~67.2 and 23.1~28.8 wt.% for pyrophyllite, 49.2~72.6 and 16.5~31.0 wt.% for pyrophyllite + dickite, 45.1 and 23.3 wt.% for pyrophyllite + illite, 43.1~82.3 and 11.4~35.8 wt.% for illite, and 37.6~69.0 and 19.6~35.3 wt.% for dickite. Domestic agalmatolite mines are concentrated mainly in the southwest and southeast of the Korean Peninsula, with some occurring in the northeast. Twenty-one mines currently produce agalmatolite in South Korea, with reserves in the order of Jeonnam (45.6%) > Chungbuk (30.8%) > Gyeongnam (13.0%) > Gangwon (4.8%), and Gyeongbuk (4.8%). The top 10 agalmatolite-producing mines are in the order of the Central Resources Mine (37.9%) > Wando Mine (25.6%) > Naju Ceramic Mine (13.4%) > Cheongseok-Sajiwon Mine (5.4%) > Gyeongju Mine (5.0%) > Baekam Mine (5.0%) > Minkyung-Nohwado Mine (3.3%) > Bugok Mine (2.3%) > Jinhae Pylphin Mine (2.2%) > Bohae Mine. Agalmatolite has low thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, thermal deformation, and expansion coefficients, low bulk density, high heat and corrosion resistance, and high sterilization and insecticidal efficiency. Accordingly, it is used in fields such as refractory, ceramic, cement additive, sterilization, and insecticide manufacturing and in filling materials. Its scope of use is expanding to high-tech industries, such as water treatment ceramic membranes, diesel exhaust gas-reduction ceramic filters, glass fibers, and LCD panels.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.52-58
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• 2023

With the increasing awareness of the importance of carbon neutrality in response to global climate change, the utilization of hydrogen as a carbon-free fuel source is also growing. Hydrogen is commonly used in fuel cells (FC), but it can also be utilized in internal combustion engines (ICE) that are based on combustion. Particularly, ICEs that already have established infrastructure for production and supply can greatly contribute to the expansion of hydrogen energy utilization when it becomes difficult to rely solely on fuel cells or expand their infrastructure. However, a disadvantage of utilizing hydrogen through combustion is the potential generation of nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are harmful emissions formed when nitrogen in the air reacts with oxygen at high temperatures. In particular, for the EURO-7 exhaust regulation, which includes cold start operation, efforts to reduce exhaust emissions during the warm-up process are required. Therefore, in this study, the characteristics of nitrogen oxides and fuel consumption were investigated during the warm-up process of cooling water from room temperature to 88℃ using a 2-liter direct injection spark ignition (SI) engine fueled with hydrogen. One advantage of hydrogen, compared to conventional fuels like gasoline, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), is its wide flammable range, which allows for sparser control of the excessive air ratio. In this study, the excessive air ratio was varied as 1.6/1.8/2.0 during the warm-up process, and the results were analyzed. The experimental results show that as the excessive air ratio becomes sparser during warm-up, the emission of nitrogen oxides per unit time decreases, and the thermal efficiency relatively increases. However, as the time required to reach the final temperature becomes longer, the cumulative emissions and fuel consumption may worsen.