• Title/Summary/Keyword: Energy plant

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Inhalation of Bacterial Cellulose Nanofibrils Triggers an Inflammatory Response and Changes Lung Tissue Morphology of Mice

  • Silva-Carvalho, Ricardo;Silva, Joao P.;Ferreirinha, Pedro;Leitao, Alexandre F.;Andrade, Fabia K.;da Costa, Rui M. Gil;Cristelo, Cecilia;Rosa, Morsyleide F.;Vilanova, Manuel;Gama, F. Miguel
    • Toxicological Research
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.45-63
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    • 2019
  • In view of the growing industrial use of Bacterial cellulose (BC), and taking into account that it might become airborne and be inhaled after industrial processing, assessing its potential pulmonary toxic effects assumes high relevance. In this work, the murine model was used to assess the effects of exposure to respirable BC nanofibrils (nBC), obtained by disintegration of BC produced by Komagataeibacter hansenii. Murine bone marrow-derived macrophages ($BMM{\Phi}$) were treated with different doses of nBC (0.02 and 0.2 mg/mL, respectively 1 and $10{\mu}g$ of fibrils) in absence or presence of 0.2% Carboxymethyl Cellulose (nBCMC). Furthermore, mice were instilled intratracheally with nBC or nBCMC at different concentrations and at different time-points and analyzed up to 6 months after treatments. Microcrystaline $Avicel-plus^{(R)}$ CM 2159, a plant-derived cellulose, was used for comparison. Markers of cellular damage (lactate dehydrogenase release and total protein) and oxidative stress (hydrogen peroxidase, reduced glutathione, lipid peroxidation and glutathione peroxidase activity) as well presence of inflammatory cells were evaluated in brochoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids. Histological analysis of lungs, heart and liver tissues was also performed. BAL analysis showed that exposure to nBCMC or CMC did not induce major alterations in the assessed markers of cell damage, oxidative stress or inflammatory cell numbers in BAL fluid over time, even following cumulative treatments. $Avicel-plus^{(R)}$ CM 2159 significantly increased LDH release, detected 3 months after 4 weekly administrations. However, histological results revealed a chronic inflammatory response and tissue alterations, being hypertrophy of pulmonary arteries (observed 3 months after nBCMC treatment) of particular concern. These histological alterations remained after 6 months in animals treated with nBC, possibly due to foreign body reaction and the organism's inability to remove the fibers. Overall, despite being a safe and biocompatible biomaterial, BC-derived nanofibrils inhalation may lead to lung pathology and pose significant health risks.

Development and Evaluation of Artificial Lightweight Soil Using Bottom Ash (바텀애시를 활용한 인공경량토양의 개발 및 성능 평가)

  • Kim, Chul-Min;Kim, Min-Woo;Cho, Gun-Young;Choi, Na-Rae
    • Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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    • v.6 no.4
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    • pp.252-258
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    • 2018
  • A larger energy consumption and concentration of population induced green house gas glowing and heat island effect in the urban space. Roof green system was a effect method to reduce green house gas and heat concentration in the city. Therefore, construction of this system was increasing. Most of lightweight soil used in roof green system was perlite, but this caused dust and skin disease. So it needed to develop another new lightweight soli for roof green system. Meanwhile, a thermoelectric power plant generated bottom ash as a by-product. According to previous research, bottom ash could be used for artificial lightweight soil with 60 wt% of mixing rate. But this study was proceed to develop a artificial lightweight soil using bottom ash with higher mixing rate by 65 wt% and different organic ingredients. First, physical and chemical properties of bottom ash was investigated. Then test according to landscaping design standard was proceeded for various artificial lightweight soil mix types using bottom ash, bark, compost and coco peat. As a result, the artificial lightweight soil with 65% of bottom ash, 30% of bark and 5% of compost was suitable for low and middle range of soil standard.

Development of CO2 Emission Factor for Wood Chip Fuel and Reduction Effects (목질계 바이오매스 중 대체연료 우드칩의 온실가스(CO2) 배출계수 개발 및 저감 효과)

  • Lee, Seul-Ki;Kim, Seung-Jin;Cho, Chang-Sang;Jeon, Eui-Chan
    • Journal of Climate Change Research
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    • v.3 no.3
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    • pp.211-224
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    • 2012
  • Technology for energy recovery from waste can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. So recently, there are several companies using RDF, RPF, WCF instead of using only coal fuel and it's part of the fuel on the increase. In this study, we developed Wood chip fuel $CO_2$ emission factor through fuel analysis. It's moisture content is 23%, received net calorific value is 2,845 kcal/kg, and received basis carbon is 34%. The result of emission factor is $105ton\;CO_2/TJ$, it's 5.9% lower than 2006 IPCC guideline default factor $112ton\;CO_2/TJ$. The gross GHG(Greenhouse gases) emissions of plant A is $178,767ton\;CO_2 eq./yr$, and Net GHG emissions is $40,359ton\;CO_2 eq./yr$. Therefore, the reduction of GHG emissions is $138,408ton\;CO_2/yr$ through using WCF, and I accounts for 77% of all GHG emissions.

Effect of Meteorological Factors on Evapotranspiration Change of Cnidium officinale Makino (기상요인이 일천궁의 증발산량 변화에 미치는 영향)

  • Seo, Young-Jin;Nam, Hyo-Hoon;Jang, Won-Cheol;Kim, Jong-Soo;Lee, Bu-Yong
    • Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.366-375
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    • 2018
  • Evapotranspiration (ET) information is needed for many applications in agricultural and environmental resource management because crop yields, plant growth and physiological characteristics are primarily water limited. This study was conducted to evaluate the diurnal change of ET using electronic weighing lysimeter and to determine whether the ET of Cnidium officinale Makino could be manipulated through meteorological factors such as solar radiation, windy conditions and air temperature etc., Pot has a diameter of 35 cm and an height of 38 cm. A disturbed soil of sandy loam (coarse, mixed, mesic family of Dystric Fluventic Eutroudepts) within lysimeter has a mass of approximately 40.0 kg. In 2017, 10-minute recordings of data were used for measuring actual ET, and also evaluating a relationship between ET and meteorological factors during from 2 Aug. to 6 Aug. The maximum daily ET of Cnidium officinale was $44.04{\pm}3.949g$ per hour in lysimetric measurements. Diurnal changes of ET was highly correlated with solar radiation ($r^2=0.7778$) and followed by wind speed ($r^2=0.6400$). But on the other hand, air temperature was not consistent with ET ($r^2=0.2260$). This results imply that ET of Cnidium officinaele seems to be mainly governed by radiation energy in clear days, and approximately 40% of solar radiation is likely to be converted into ET. Therefore, weighing lysimeter can be used to accurately estimate actual ET and is expected to attract a great deal of attention to reliable application of water management in agriculture.

Development of Robot Platform for Autonomous Underwater Intervention (수중 자율작업용 로봇 플랫폼 개발)

  • Yeu, Taekyeong;Choi, Hyun Taek;Lee, Yoongeon;Chae, Junbo;Lee, Yeongjun;Kim, Seong Soon;Park, Sanghyun;Lee, Tae Hee
    • Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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    • v.33 no.2
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    • pp.168-177
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    • 2019
  • KRISO (Korea Research Institute of Ship & Ocean Engineering) started a project to develop the core algorithms for autonomous intervention using an underwater robot in 2017. This paper introduces the development of the robot platform for the core algorithms, which is an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) type with one 7-function manipulator. Before the detailed design of the robot platform, the 7E-MINI arm of the ECA Group was selected as the manipulator. It is an electrical type, with a weight of 51 kg in air (30 kg in water) and a full reach of 1.4 m. To design a platform with a small size and light weight to fit in a water tank, the medium-size manipulator was placed on the center of platform, and the structural analysis of the body frame was conducted by ABAQUS. The robot had an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), a DVL (Doppler Velocity Log), and a depth sensor for measuring the underwater position and attitude. To control the robot motion, eight thrusters were installed, four for vertical and the rest for horizontal motion. The operation system was composed of an on-board control station and operation S/W. The former included devices such as a 300 VDC power supplier, Fiber-Optic (F/O) to Ethernet communication converter, and main control PC. The latter was developed using an ROS (Robot Operation System) based on Linux. The basic performance of the manufactured robot platform was verified through a water tank test, where the robot was manually operated using a joystick, and the robot motion and attitude variation that resulted from the manipulator movement were closely observed.

Changes in Miscanthus sacchariflorus Growth and Heading Rate Influenced by Water Stress Treatment at Reproductive Growth Stage (생식생장기 수분스트레스 처리가 억새의 출수율 및 생육 변화에 미치는 영향)

  • Lee, Ji-Eun;Cha, Young-Lok;Moon, Youn-Ho;Kim, Kwang-Soo;Kwon, Da-Eun;Kang, Yong-Ku
    • KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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    • v.63 no.4
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    • pp.390-398
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    • 2018
  • Miscanthus is a perennial energy plant that reproduces via rhizomes and has C4 metabolism. The flowering pattern of a wild type M. sacchariflorus (WTM) is affected by environmental conditions such as photoperiod and soil water status. Geodae-Uksae 1 (Geodea), which is a new M. sacchariflorus cultivar, has a lower heading rate than WMS; however the mechanism with why this happens is unknown. To confirm the effects of drought or waterlogging stresses on the growth of WTM and Geodea at the reproductive stage, we investigated variations in morphological characteristics and nutrient contents of the two Miscanthus species after four months of three water treatments. Morphological traits of the two Miscanthus species under the drought condition were similar to those under the control condition. But, the height of Geodea increased by 30% in response to the waterlogging stress. In WTM, the heading rate under the drought condition was lowest, while there was no significant difference between the waterlogging and control conditions. In the two Miscanthus species, nutrient contents, such as sucrose, total N, $P_2O_5$, K and Mg, were the highest under the drought condition, wherea Ca and Mg contents under the waterlogging condition were more than three times lower than those under the drought condition. The current study results showed that drought stress accelerated senescence and then inhibited nutrient mobilization in WTM, while waterlogging stress promoted the growth. This study is the first report to confirm that waterlogging stress promotes flowering of M. sacchariflorus.

Development of Chemical and Biological Decontamination Technology for Radioactive Liquid Wastes and Feasibility Study for Application to Liquid Waste Management System in APR1400 (액체방사성폐기물에 대한 화학적, 생물학적 제염기술 개발 및 APR1400 액체폐기물관리계통 적용을 위한 타당성 연구)

  • Son, YoungJu;Lee, Seung Yeop;Jung, JaeYeon;Kim, Chang-Lak
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.59-73
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    • 2019
  • A decontamination technology for radioactive liquid wastes was newly developed and hypothetically applied to the liquid waste management system (LWMS) of the nuclear power plant (NPP) to evaluate its decontamination efficacy for the purpose of the fundamental reduction of spent resins. The basic principle of the developed technology is to convert major radionuclide ions in the liquid wastes into inorganic crystal minerals via chemical or biological techniques. In a laboratory batch experiment, the biological method selectively removed more than 80% of cesium within 24 hours, and the chemical method removed more than 95% of cesium. Other major nuclides (Co, Ni, Fe, Cr, Mn, Eu), which are commonly present in nuclear radioactive liquid wastes, were effectively scavenged by more than 99%. We have designed a module including the new technology that could be hypothetically installed between the reverse osmosis (R/O) package and the organic ion-exchange resin in the LWMS of the APR1400 reactor. From a technical evaluation for the virtual installation, we found that more than 90% of major radionuclides in the radioactive liquid wastes were selectively removed, resulting in a large volume reduction of spent resins. This means that if the new technology is commercialized in the future, it could possibly provide drastic cost reduction and significant extension of the life of resins in the management of spent resins, consequently leading to delay the saturation time of the Wolsong repository.

A Mathematical Programming Method for Minimization of Carbon Debt of Bioenergy (바이오에너지의 탄소부채 최소화를 위한 수학적 계획법)

  • Choi, Soo Hyoung
    • Clean Technology
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    • v.27 no.3
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    • pp.269-274
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    • 2021
  • Bioenergy is generally considered to be one of the options for pursuing carbon neutrality. However, for a period of time, combustion of harvested plant biomass inevitably causes more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than combustion of fossil fuels. This paper proposes a method that predicts and minimizes the total amount and payback period of this carbon debt. As a case study, a carbon cycle impact assessment was performed for immediate switching of the currently used fossil fuels to biomass. This work points out a fundamental vulnerability in the concept of carbon neutrality. As an action plan for the sustainability of bioenergy, formulas for afforestation proportional to the decrease in the forest area and surplus harvest proportional to the increase in the forest mass are proposed. The results of optimization indicate that the carbon debt payback period is about 70 years, and the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases by more than 50% at a maximum and 3% at a steady state. These are theoretically predicted best results, which are expected to be worse in reality. Therefore, biomass is not truly carbon neutral, and it is inappropriate as an energy source alternative to fossil fuels. The method proposed in this work is expected to be able to contribute to the approach to carbon neutrality by minimizing present and future carbon debt of the bioenergy that is already in use.

Importance and Performance Analysis on Factors of PC Component Allocation and Loading Planning (IPA를 통한 PC부재 할당 및 적재 계획 시 고려사항 분석)

  • Jang, JunYoung;Cho, Kyeong Woon;Koo, Choongwan;Lee, Chansik;Kim, Taewan
    • Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.53-62
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    • 2021
  • PC component allocation and loading plan can contribute to reductions in carbon dioxide emission and energy use of vehicles and total project costs with increased utilization of vehicle loading space. The study derived 18 considerations that PC construction plant managers and site managers take into account when they plan allocation and loading of PC components. Then, IPA (Importance and Performance Analysis) was performed to assess importance and performance of the 18 considerations. Results show that in the PC component allocation planning, considerations regarding the number of vehicles and existence of yard for storing PC components have not been taken into account well by the managers. In the PC component loading planning, PC component loading direction has not been reflected well by the managers although it is considered important by them. Recently, ill-planning issues of PC component transportation, such as inefficient use of vehicle space and loading with low stability, are frequent due to various types of PC components produced. In this context, if the results of this study are reflected in the development of component allocation and loading planning, vehicle management of PC projects would be more efficient, thereby leading to economic project management.

A Study on the Environmentally-friendly Design Techniques Extract and Applying Modern of Traditional Residential Area - The Case of Dokrakdang in Kyungbuk Province - (전통주거공간의 환경친화적 설계기법 추출 및 현대적 적용 - 경상북도 독락당을 사례로 -)

  • Heo, Jun;Song, Byeong Hwa
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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    • v.29 no.2
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    • pp.63-72
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    • 2011
  • The aim of this study, a traditional residential area in the environmentally friendly design techniques to identify the techniques and principles that have been carried out to reestablish the principles. To do this, through literature review environmental performance is reflected in the traditional residential area side of resources conservation, locational aspects, spatial configuration, and how cases were selected looking for ways to apply modern. Are examples of upper class housing in the Chosen Dynasty Period period construction relatively well-preserved round and a good building with a clear housing Dokrakdang year were selected. Locational aspects of the terrain with minimal changes to the building and construction techniques were entirely in terms of environmental conservation and environmental temperature was adjusted to regulate the room temperature technique could be seen. In terms of cycling in natural materials were recycled. and water make used of positive through water cycling technique & water control. In addition, the importance of landscape views overlooking the landscape from inside to outside through the regulation of the various internal and external space technique was used to attract and expand. Traditionality in the pursuit of modern space, simply cut off because of tradition rather than to restore or recover the organizing principle inherent in the traditional space, and extraction of the contemporary social, cultural and environmental understanding of space is acceptable in basis. Environmentally-friendly design techniques in a traditional residential area for a long time to be developed by the experience of its application of modern environmental and energy problems and pleasant environment to the creation of human life and are subject to significant swings in that.