• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

Bio-oil has attracted considerable interest as one of the promising renewable energy resources because it can be used as a feedstock in conventional petroleum refineries for the production of high value chemicals or next-generation hydrocarbon fuels. Zeolites have been shown to effectively promote cracking reactions during pyrolysis resulting in highly deoxygenated and hydrocarbon-rich compounds and stable pyrolysis oil products. In this study, catalytic pyrolysis was applied to upgrade bio-oil from yellow poplar and then fuel characteristics of upgraded bio-oil was investigated. Yellow Poplar(500 g) which ground 0.3~1.4 mm was processed into bio-oil by catalytic pyrolysis for 1.64 seconds at $465^{\circ}C$ with Control, Blaccoal, Whitecoal, ZeoliteY and ZSM-5. Under the catalyst conditions, bio-oil productions decreased from 54.0%(Control) to 51.4 ~ 53.5%, except 56.2%(Blackcoal). HHV(High heating value) of upgraded bio-oil was more lower than crude bio-oil while the water content increased from 37.4% to 37.4 ~ 45.2%. But the other properties were improved significantly. Under the upgrading conditions, ash and TAN(Total Acid Number) is decrease and particularly important as transportation fuel, the viscosity of bio-oil decreased from 6,933 cP(Control) to 2,578 ~ 4,627 cP. In addition, ZeoliteY was most effective on producing aromatic hydrocarbons and decreasing of from the catalytic pyrolysis.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.319-326
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• 2010

An interest in the production of seed-oil based fuel and raw materials, which comes from renewable plant sources, has been intrigued by the phenomenon of global warming and shortage of fossil fuels. Rapeseed (Brassica napus) is the most important oilseed crop, which produces seeds with 40% oil. It is desirable to develop genetically modified rapeseed producing oils, which can be easily converted to biodiesel. As an initial step for development of genetically modified rapeseed for the production of biofuels or bio-based materials, Korean rapeseed cultivars, Naehan, Youngsan, Tammi and Halla, were analyzed. Four Korean rapeseed cultivars produce 32 to 40% oil of seed dry weight, which is rich in oleic acid (more than 60 mole%). The cotyledonary petioles of rapeseed cultivar, Halla, were transformed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain GV3101, carrying the uidA gene encoding $\beta$-glucuronidase (GUS) as a reporter gene and the phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) gene as a selectable marker. The stable integration of PAT gene in the genome of transgenic rapeseeds was confirmed by PCR analysis. Expression of uidA gene in various rapeseed organs was determined by fluorometric assay and histochemical staining. Transformation efficiency of a Korean rapeseed Halla cultivar was 10.4%. Genetic inheritance of transgenes was confirmed in $T_2$ generation.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.191-199
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• 2011

The char burn-out and NOx emissions from sub-bituminous coal were investigated in drop tube furnace under $O_2/N_2$ and $O_2/CO_2$ environments with different $O_2$ concentrations of 12, 21 and 31%. Results show that the char burn-out rate is faster as $O_2$ concentration increases higher and char burn-out rate under $O_2/CO_2$ decreases due to the lower oxygen diffusion into coal surface through the $CO_2$ rich boundary layer. NO concentration increases with increasing $O_2$ concentration, but declines at $O_2$ concentration of 31%. Meanwhile, NO emission indexes decreases monotonically with increasing $O_2$ concentration, which indicates that more NO reduction occurs with higher $O_2$ concentration probably due to greater HCN formation. For all conditions of $O_2$ concentration, the NO concentration under $O_2/N_2$ maintains higher than those of $O_2/CO_2$ due to presence of thermal NO.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.461-468
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• 2014

Biochar is a carbon rich solid produced by the pyrolysis of biomass such as energy crops, forestry residues, and wood wastes. Biochar returned to soil is to mitigate climate change and the feedstock of wood wastes reduces fossil fuel consumption as well as disposal costs. This study was practiced to evaluate a biochar system by gasification in terms of global warming regarding the soil application of the produced biochar. Life cycle assessment methodology was used to analyze the environmental impacts of the system, and the functional unit was 1 tonne of wood wastes. The result shows that the biochar system by using wood wastes as feedstock produces 4.048E-01 $kgCO_2-eq$ from the pre-treatment process as chipping and drying, 4.579E-01 $kgCO_2-eq$ from the pyrolysis process, and 9.070E-02 $kgCO_2-eq$ from the spreading to agricultural land, therefore total 9.534E-01 $kgCO_2-eq$ are generated. About 252 kg of $CO_2$ is still stored in the produced biochar in soil after carbon offsetting of the system. Therefore, the net carbon of the system is -251 kg of $CO_2-eq$.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.67-79
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• 1996

Clay soils typically have low hydraulic conductivities in the presence of high polarity pore fluid, such as water. Low polarity fluids, such as hydrocarbon fuels and halogenated organic solvents, typically cannot migrate into clay pores because they cannot displace the pore water. Oxygenated additives in gasoline, such as alcohols and methyl-tert-butyl ether, are increasingly used to control air pollution emissions. These relatively polar and highly water-soluble compounds may facilitate displacement of pore water and enhance migration of fuels and solvents through clay-rich soil strata. In the reported research, the migration of gasoline-alcohol fuel mixtures (gasohol) through consolidated clay was examined. Prepared kaolinite clay samples were consolidated from slurry, and various combinations of gasoline, alcohol, and water were applied to the clays under 152 Pa gauge pressure. Movement of the fluids into the clay samples was monitored by measur ing displaced pore fluid and by magnetic resonance imaging of the samples. The structures of selected samples were examined using environmental scanning electron microscopy. Results of the research suggest that alcohol added to hydrocarbon fuels can enhance migration through some clays significantly. Gasoline did not migrate appreciably into water saturated clay, even after 14 days under pressure. The gasohol mixture migrated readily into the clay in only 20 minutes. Increased hydraulic conductivity of the clay in the presence of gasohol is hypothesized to be due to the collapse of the clays pore structure when ethanol is present, creating larger pores. Increasing pore diameter decreases the capillary pressure needed for the gasohol to replace water and allows gasohol to migrate through the clay.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.157-160
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• 2008

The generation of high-purity hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels is essential for efficient operation of fuel cell. In general, most feasible strategies to generate hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels consist of a reforming step to generate a mixture of $H_2$, CO, $CO_2$ and $H_2O$ (steam) followed by water gas shift (WGS) and CO clean-up steps. The WGS reaction that shifts CO to $CO_2$ and simultaneously produces another mole of $H_2$ was carried out in a two-stage catalytic conversion process involving a high temperature shift (HTS) and a low temperature shift (LTS). In a typical operation, gas emerges from the reformer is taken through a high temperature shift catalyst to reduce the CO concentration to about 3~5%. The HTS reactor was designed and tested in this study to produce hydrogen-rich gas with CO to a range of 2~4%. The iron based catalysts (G-3C) was used for the HTS to convert the most of CO in the effluent from the partial oxidation (POX) to $H_2$ and $CO_2$ at a relatively high rate. Parametric screening studies were carried out for variations of the following variables: reaction temperature, steam flow rate, components ratio ($H_2/CO$), and reforming gas flow rate.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2008

The GTL(Gas to Liquids) technology, manufacturing synthesized oil from natural gas, had been developed about 1920 for the military purpose by Fischer and Tropsch, German scientists. And 1960, Sasol company had started commercializing the FT(Fischer-Tropsch) synthesis technology, for the transport fuel in South Africa. Until a recent date, the commercialization of GTL technology had been delayed by low oil price. But concern about depletion of petroleum resources, and development in synthesizing technology lead to spotlight on the GTL businesses. Especially, Qatar, which has rich natural gas fields, aims at utilizing natural gas like conventional oil resources. Therefore, around this nation, GTL plants construction has been promoted. There are mainly 3 processes to make GTL products(Diesel, Naphtha, lube oil, etc) from natural gas. The first is synthesis gas generation unit reforming hydrogen and carbomonoxide from natural gas. The second is FT synthesis unit converting synthesized gas to polymeric chain-hydrocarbon. The third is product upgrading unit making oil products from the FT synthesized oil. There are quite a little sulfur, nitrogen, and aromatic compounds in GTL products. GTL product has environmental premium in discharging less harmful particles than refinery oil products from crude to the human body. In short, the GTL is a clean technology, easier transportation mean, and has higher stability comparing to LNG works.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2019

The accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) resulted in the deposition of large quantities of radionuclides over parts of eastern Japan. Radioactive contaminants have been observed over a large area including forests, cities, rivers and lakes. Due to the strong adsorption of radioactive cesium by soil particles, radioactive cesium migrates with the eroded soil, follows the surface flow paths, and is delivered downstream of population-rich regions and eventually to coastal areas. In this study, we developed a model to simulate the transport of contaminated sediment in a watershed hydrological system and this model was compared with observation data from eroded soil observation instruments located at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Two methods were applied to analyze the soil particle size distribution of the collected soil samples, including standardized sieve analysis and image analysis methods. Numerical models were developed to simulate the movement of soil along with actual rainfall considering initial saturation, rainfall infiltration, multilayer and rain splash. In the 2019 study, a numerical model will be used to add rainfall shield effect by trees, evaporation effect and shield effects of surface water. An eroded soil observation instrument has been installed near the Wolsong nuclear power plant since 2018 and observation data are being continuously collected. Based on these observations data, we will develop the numerical model to analyze long-term behavior of radionuclides on land as they move from land to rivers, lakes and coastal areas.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.394-401
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• 2005

A nonthermal plasma-assisted fuel reformer was developed and the effects of operating variables on the performance of this reformer were studied. The $H_2$-rich reformed gas from the reformer was injected into a diesel engine under an idle condition and the effects of the amount of injected gas on the NO and soot reduction were investigated. It was found that with increasing electric power consumption, the degree of facility of ignition of the reforming reaction in the reformer could be enhanced. The performance of the reformer including $H_2$ concentration, $H_2$ recovery, and energy conversion was affected only by the O/C mole ratio. This was because the equilibrium reaction temperature was governed by the O/C mole ratio. With increasing O/C mole ratio, the $H_2$ recovery and energy conversion passed through the maximum values of 33.4% and 66%, respectively, at an O/C mole ratio between 1.2 and 1.5. The reason why the $H_2$ recovery and energy conversion increased with increasing O/C mole ratio when the O/C mole ratio was lower than $1.2{\sim}1.5$ appeared to be that the complete oxidation reaction occurred more enough with increasing O/C mole ratio in this low O/C mole ratio range and accordingly the reaction temperature increased. Whereas the reason why the $H_2$ recovery and energy conversion decreased with increasing O/C mole ratio when the O/C mole ratio was higher than $1.2{\sim}1.5$ appeared to be that the complete oxidation reaction was further advanced and the $H_2$ recovery and energy conversion decreased. As the weight ratio of reformed diesel to total diesel which entered the diesel engine was increased to $18.2{\sim}23.5%$, NO and soot reduction efficiencies increased and reached as values high as 68.5% and 23.5%, respectively.

• Clean Technology
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• v.13 no.1 s.36
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• pp.54-63
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• 2007

Even traces of CO in the hydrogen-rich feed gas to proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) poison the platinum anode electrode and dramatically decrease the power output. In this work, a variety of catalytic materials consisting of $Cu/Ce_xZr_{1-x}O_2$, (x = 0.0-1.0) were synthesised, characterized and tested for CO oxidation and preferential oxidation of CO (PROX). These catalysts prepared by hydrothermal and deposition-precipitation methods. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, XRF, SEM, BET, $N_2O$ titration and oxygen storage capacity (OSC) measurement. The effects of composition of the support and degree of excess oxygen were investigated fur activity and $CO_2$ selectivity with different temperatures. The composition of the support markedly influenced the PROX activity. Among the various $Cu/Ce_xZr_{1-x}O_2$ catalysts having different composition, $Cu/Ce_{0.9}Zr_{0.1}O_2$ and $Cu/Ce_{0.7}Zr_{0.3}O_2$ showed the highest activities (>99%) and selectivities (ca.50%) in the temperature range of $150{\sim}160^{\circ}C$. It was found that by using of $Ce_xZr_{1-x}O_2$ mixed oxide support which possesses a high oxygen storage capacity, oxidation-reduction activity of Cu-based catalyst was improved, which resulted in the increase of catalytic activity and selectivity of CO oxidation in excess $H_2$ environments.