• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.12-18
• /
• 2023

In 2018, the demand for silver (referred to as Ag) in the electrical and electronics sector was 249 million tons. The demand stood at 81 million tons in the solar module production sector. Currently, due to the rapid increase in solar module installation, the demand for silver is increasing drastically in Korea. However, Korea's natural metal resources and reserves are insufficient in comparison to their consumption, and the domestic silver ore self-sufficiency rate was as low as 2.2% as of 2021. This implies that a recycling technology is necessary to recover valuable metal resources contained in the waste plating solution generated in the metal industry. Therefore, this study compared and analyzed, the results of the impact evaluation through life cycle assessment according to an improvement in the process of recovery of valuable metals in the waste plating solution. The process improvement resulted in reducing GWP (Global Warming Potential) and ADP(Abiotic Depletion Potential) by 50% and 67%, respectively. The GWP of electricity and industrial water was reduced by 98% and 93%, respectively, which significantly contributed to the minimization of energy and water consumption. Thus, the improvement in recycling technology has a high potential to reduce chemical and energy use and improve resource productivity in the urban mining industry.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2010

Biodiesel is a type of biofuel obtained from bioresources and able to use in diesel vehicles as an alternative/additive to petro diesel. In recent biodiesel research, there are three main issues which include high quality biodiesel, low cost feed stock and a highly efficient biodiesel production process. The sustainable production and use of biodiesel are attracting much attention in the renewable energy field. In this paper, we review some of the literatures related to environmental and economic evaluation for biodiesel production and analysis the issues including life cycle assessment (LCA), global warming potential (GWP), energy consumption, biodiesel production cost, production technologies and feedstock.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.55-61
• /
• 2013

In this study, eco efficiency analysis is performed to analyze Neodymium (Nd) containing permanent magnet recycling process. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) are used to apply eco efficiency analysis. In the environmental aspects, global warming potential (GWP) of 1kg permanent magnet is 1.25E + 00 kg $CO_2$ eq. and abiotic resource depletion potential (ADP) is 1.10E - 02 Sb eq. This recycling process costs about 2130 KWR. Environmental efficiency of GWP is at 6.43 and ADP is at 5.32 when compared with vigin metal. Economic efficiency is at 6.74. This study confirms that Nd containing permanent magnet recycling process is sustainable system because of environmental and economical improvement.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.10-17
• /
• 2018

POU (point of use) scrubbers were applied for the treatment of waste gases including PFCs (perfluorocompounds) exhausted from the CVD (chemical vapor deposition), etching, and cleaning processes of semiconductor and display manufacturing plant. The GWP (global warming potential) and atmosphere lifetime of PFCs are known to be a few thousands higher than that of $CO_2$, and extremely high temperature more than 3,000 K is required to thermally decompose PFCs. Therefore, POU gas scrubbers based on the thermal plasma technology were developed for the effective control of PFCs and industrial application of the technology. The thermal plasma technology encompasses the generation of powerful plasma via the optimization of the plasma torch, a highly stable power supply, and the matching technique between two components. In addition, the effective mixture of the high temperature plasma and waste gases was also necessary for the highly efficient abatement of PFCs. The purpose of this paper was to provide not only a useful technical information of the post-treatment process for the waste gas scrubbing but also a short perspective on R&D of POU plasma gas scrubbers.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.777-799
• /
• 2022

This study examined the latest EU regulatory strengthening trends for refrigerant gases with very large global warming potential (GWP) and derived implications for carbon neutrality. The European Commission recently unveiled an amendment that significantly strengthens the F-gas Regulation. This study presented the meaning of the main contents related to refrigerants in the amendment by comparing them with the current regulations. The main contents of the amendment include drastically reducing the maximum amount of HFCs that can be placed on the market, strengthening regulations related to HFCs allocation, adding products and equipment that use high GWP refrigerants, adding regulated F-gas and updating the GWP of existing gases, and other stricter regulatory designs. This movement of the EU will affect the policy stance of advanced countries such as the United States and Japan, and Korea's policy will also be further strengthened. Therefore, it will be inevitable for related industries to change to next-generation refrigerant gas. Meanwhile, this study also analyzed the latest policy trends related to per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) regulation, which were not noted in previsou studies on refrigerants and F-gas. If PFAS's registration of REACH restricted substances, which are being promoted by five European countries, is made, it will have a very big impact on the industry regarding refrigerant gas. In addition, it will be inevitable to thoroughly review each country's greenhouse gas reduction strategies related to F-gas materials, including refrigerants.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.326-332
• /
• 2017

$SF_6$ (sulfur hexafluoride) gas has an extremely high global warming potential (GWP). Therefore, there has been an effort to reduce of $SF_6$ its emission into atmosphere. In this study, $SF_6$ was injected into the plasma reactor directly, decomposed particulate matter of $SF_6$ was analyzed. Destruction and removal efficiency (DRE) of $SF_6$ were tested with varying degrees of plasma power and initial concentrations of $SF_6$ (1,000 ppm). This study is conducted with plasma power which are 4.4 kW, 5.5 kW, 6.0 kW, 6.6 kW, 7.6 kW, 8.1 kW and 9.1 kW. It was confirmed through experiment that the decomposition efficiency of $SF_6$ is 100% at 7.6 kW of the plasma power. In addition, the particulate matter is formed as minute particles of which size is $1{\mu}m$ and the main component of particulate matter is identified as $AlF_3$.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.189-203
• /
• 2013

F-gases, gases containing fluorine such as perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfurhexafluoride ($SF_6$), nitrogen trifluoride ($NF_3$) are known to have green house effects. Although the net emission rates of gases containing fluorine are much lower than those of $CO_2$, their contribution to global warming cannot be ignored because of their extremely high global warming potential (GWP). F-gases mainly have been used for a variaty of applications in the semiconductor/LCD processes and in the electric power distribution industry of the national key industry. One of practical solutions of controlling the emission rates of F-gases is to reuse by separation and recovery of F-gases of low concentration from the gases mixtures with nitrogen or air. This work investigates some methods for F-gases recovery and separation around the membrane-based process.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.49-58
• /
• 2015

In order to determine how much a new green building reduce the environmental impacts, it is necessary to establish the reference target for comparison. Therefore, this study aims to establish the reference target by evaluating the environmental impacts of existing buildings. To ensure this end, this study evaluated the environmental impacts(Global warming potential, ozone layer depletion potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, photochemical ozone creation potential, and abiotic depletion potential) of 17 existing elementary school buildings, which are located in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, and Gwangju, by using the hybrid LCA model. As a result, the environmental impacts of the case buildings were clearly distinguished in different regions. Therefore, this study presented the reference targets which are appropriate to each region. For example, the reference targets for global warming potential, which can be used in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, and Gwangju, are 3.76E+03, 1.90E+03, 2.63E+03, $2.81E+03kg-CO_2\;eq./m^2$, respectively. The presented reference targets are expected to be useful for understanding how much environmental impacts can be reduced when a new green school building is constructed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.02a
• /
• pp.328-329
• /
• 2012

$SF_6$ gas는 반도체 및 디스플레이 제조공정 중 Dry etch과정에서 널리 사용되는 gas로 자연적으로 존재하는 것이 아닌 사용 목적에 맞춰 인위적으로 제조된 gas이다. 디스플레이 산업에서 $SF_6$ gas가 사용되는 Dry etch 공정은 주로 ${\alpha}$-Si, $Si_3N_4$ 등 Si계열의 박막을 etch하는데 사용된다. 이러한 Si 계열의 박막을 식각하기 위해서는 fluorine, Chlorine 등이 사용된다. fluorine계열의 gas로는 $SF_6$ gas가 대표적이다. 하지만 $SF_6$ gas는 대표적인 온실가스로 지구 온난화의 주범으로 주목받고 있다. 세계적으로 온실가스의 규제에 대한 움직임이 활발하고, 대한민국은 2020년까지 온실가스 감축목표를 '배출전망치(BAU)대비 30% 감축으로' 발표하였다. 따라서 디스플레이 및 반도체 공정에는 GWP (Global warming Potential)에 적용 가능한 대체 가스의 연구가 필요한 상황이다. 온실가스인 $SF_6$를 대체하기 위한 방법으로 GWP가 낮은 $C_3F_6$가스를 이용하여 $Si_3N_4$를 Dry etching 방법인 RIE (Reactive Ion Etching)공정을 한 후 배출되는 가스를 측정하였다. 4인치 P-type 웨이퍼 위에 PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition)장비를 이용하여 $Si_3N_4$를 200 nm 증착하였고, Photolithography공정을 통해 Patterning을 한 후 RIE공정을 수행하였다. RIE는 Power : 300 W, Flow rate : 30 sccm, Time : 15 min, Temperature : $15^{\circ}C$, Pressure : Open과 같은 조건으로 공정을 수행하였다. 그리고 SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope)장비를 이용하여 Etching된 단면을 관찰하여 단차를 확인하였다. 또한 Etching 전후 배출가스를 포집하여 GC-MS (Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrophotometry)를 측정 및 비교하였다. Etching 전의 경우에는 $N_2$, $O_2$ 등의 가스가 검출되었고, $C_3F_6$ 가스를 이용해 etching 한 후의 경우에는 $C_3F_6$ 계열의 가스가 검출되었다.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.406-412
• /
• 2008

Biogas plant with anaerobic digestion is receiving high attention as a facility for both livestock waste treatment and electric power generation. Objective of this study was to perform life cycle assessment (LCA) of a biogas plant which incorporates swine and food waste (7:3) as source materials for biogas production. In addition, the biogas production process was compared with the prevalent composting method as a reference in the aspects of green house gas (GHG) reduction potential and environmental impact. The biogas method was capable of reducing 52 kg $CO_2$ eq. emission per ton of swine/food waste, but the composting process was estimated to emit 268 kg $CO_2$ eq. into air. The biogas method was evaluated as more beneficial to the environment by mitigating the impact on abiotic depletion potential (ADP), global warming potential (GWP), ozone depletion potential (ODP), eutrophication potential (EP), and photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP), but not to acidification potential (AP).