• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 2023

Arsenic is a highly toxic element, and its contamination is widespread around the world. The natural materials with high selectivity and efficiency toward pollutants are important in wastewater treatment technology. In this study, the mesoporous synthetic hectorite was synthesized by facile hydrothermal crystallization of gels comprising silica, magnesium hydroxide, and lithium fluoride. Additionally, the naturally available clay was modified using zirconium at room temperature. Both synthetic and modified natural clays were employed in the removal of arsenate from aquatic environments. The materials were fully characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) analyses. The synthesized materials were used to remove arsenic (V) under varied physicochemical conditions. Both materials, i.e., Zr-bentonite and Zr-hectorite, showed high percentage removal of arsenic (V) at lower pH, and the efficiency decreased in an alkaline medium. The equilibrium-state sorption data agrees well with the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms, and the maximum sorption capacity is found to be 4.608 and 2.207 mg/g for Zr-bentonite and Zr-hectorite, respectively. The kinetic data fits well with the pseudo-second order kinetic model. Furthermore, the effect of the background electrolytes study indicated that arsenic (V) is specifically sorbed at the surface of these two nanocomposites. This study demonstrated that zirconium intercalated synthetic hectorite as well as zirconium modified natural clays are effective and efficient materials for the selective removal of arsenic (V) from aqueous medium.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.45-54
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• 2006

Resistivity cone penetrometer test (RCPT) can be employed at a relatively low cost for in-situ delineation of subsurface contamination. While the resistivity measurement has a potential to investigate the subsurface contamination, resistivity measurements alone will lead to some degree of ambiguity in the results. In this study, capacitance measurement was incorporated into the RCPT to overcome the ambiguity inherent in electrical resistivity measurements. This study is focused on verifying the applicability of resistivity and capacitance measurements of CPT module to provide information on subsurface contaminated by heavy metal and petroleum hydrocarbon. Laboratory model tests were performed to evaluate the sensitivity of the measured resistivity and relative capacitance on the water content and different types of contaminants. Test results show that simultaneous measurement of electrical resistivity and capacitance can give more reliable information on subsurface contamination. Electrical measurements of the CPT module showed high applicability to be used in detecting saturated soils contaminated by heavy metal and diesel plume floating above the groundwater table.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2021.06a
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• pp.401-401
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• 2021

최근 급격한 기후변화로 인한 기온, 강수량 등의 시·공간적 변화는 홍수, 가뭄 등과 같은 자연재해의 빈도와 규모를 증가시키고 있다. 특히 한강수계 주요 하천에서는 급격한 도시화 및 산업화로 인한 물 수요의 증가와 기후변화로 인한 강수량 감소 그리고 하천변 시설에서의 과다한 지하수 이용으로 인해 지하수위 변동이 발생하고 있다. 2017년 국가 지하수관측연보 및 지하수조사연보에 따르면 한강수계에 위치한 전체 569개 관정 중 암반층 관정과 충적층 관정의 최근 5년간 지하수위 평균 변동폭은 각각 3.91 m, 2.73 m로 조사되었으며, 10년 이상 장기관측 자료를 보유한 430개소 관정 중 228개소 관정에서 지하수위 하강 추세를 보이는 것으로 조사된 바 있다. 이처럼 강우나 하천수위 등 자연적인 원인과 양수, 유출 등 인위적인 원인에 의해 발생하는 지하수위의 하강은 지반 침하의 주요 원인이 되며, 하천 기저유출의 변화에도 큰 영향을 미치고 있다. 기저유출은 하천으로 단기 유출되는 지하수로 평수기 및 갈수기 하천 유량의 대부분을 차지하고 있기 때문에 건기시 하천 수질과 수생태계 관리에 있어 매우 중요한 요소에 해당된다. 따라서, 기후변화에 의한 이상가뭄 발생 등을 대비하기 위한 비상용수 또는 대체수자원으로서의 지하수 개발수요가 증가하는 추세에 따라 기저유량 확보 및 수질 개선 방안을 수립하는 것은 지속가능한 수자원 이용·관리 측면에 있어서 매우 중요하다. 현재 활용되는 SWAT(Soil and Water Assessment Tool)과 HSPF(Hydrological Simulation Program Fortran) 수문모형의 경우 지표유출 모의에 있어서 다양하게 활용되고 있으나 기저유량의 특성을 고려하기 위해서는 지표하 수문거동 모의가 어렵다는 한계가 있다. 또한 지표하 수문거동 모의가 가능한 MODFLOW의 경우 지표유출을 모의하기 어려운 한계가 있다. 이를 극복하기 위하여 SWAT-MODFLOW 모형이 개발되었으며, 본 연구에서는 SWAT-MODFLOW 모형을 활용하여 신둔천 유역을 대상으로 유량 및 지하수위 모의결과를 검보정하여 기저유량을 산정하고 변동특성을 분석하였다.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.177-186
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• 2023

Perfluorooctanoic acid(PFOA) was one of widely used per- and poly substances(PFAS) in the industrial field and its concentration in the surface and groundwater was found with relatively high concentration compared to other PFAS. Since various processes have been introduced to remove the PFOA, adsorption using GAC is well known as a useful and effective process in water and wastewater treatment. Surface modification for GAC was carried out using Cu and Fe to enhance the adsorption capacity and four different adsorbents, such as GAC-Cu, GAC-Fe, GAC-Cu(OH)₂, GAC-Fe(OH)₃ were prepared and compared with GAC. According to SEM-EDS, the increase of Cu or Fe was confirmed after surface modification and higher weight was observed for Cu and Fe hydroxide(GAC-Cu(OH)₂ and GAC-Fe(OH)₃, respectively). BET analysis showed that the surface modification reduced specific surface area and total pore volumes. The highest removal efficiency(71.4%) was obtained in GAC-Cu which is improved by 17.9% whereas the use of Fe showed lower removal efficiency compared to GAC. PFOA removal was decreased with increase of solution pH indicating electrostatic interaction governs at low pH and its effect was decreased when the point of zero charges(pzc) was negatively increased with an increase of pH. The enhanced removal of PFOA was clearly observed in solution pH 7, confirming the Cu in the surface of GAC plays a role on the PFOA adsorption. The maximum uptake was calculated as 257 and 345 ㎍/g for GAC and GAC-Cu using Langmuir isotherm. 40% and 80% of removal were accomplished within 1 h and 48 h. According to R², only the linear pseudo-second-order(pso) kinetic model showed 0.98 whereas the others obtained less than 0.870.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.16-34
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• 2015

Impervious covers(IC) are artificial structures, such as driveways, sidewalks, building's roofs, and parking lots, through which water cannot infiltrate into the soil. IC is an environmental concern because the pavement materials seal the soil surface, decreasing rainwater infiltration and natural groundwater recharge, and consequently disturb the hydrological cycle in a watershed. Increase of IC in a watershed can cause more frequent flooding, higher flood peaks, groundwater drawdown, dry river, and decline of water quality and ecosystem health. There has been an increased public interest in the institutional adoption of LID(Low Impact Development) and GI(Green Infrastructure) techniques to address the adverse impact of IC. The objectives of this study were to construct the modeling site for a samll urban watershed with the Storm Water Management Model(SWMM), and to evaluate the effect of various LID techniques on the control of rainfall runoff processes and non-point pollutant load. The model was calibrated and validated using the field data collected during two flood events on July 17 and August 11, 2009, respectively, and applied to a complex area, where is consist of apartments, school, roads, park, etc. The LID techniques applied to the impervious area were decentralized rainwater management measures such as pervious cover and green roof. The results showed that the increase of perviousness land cover through LID applications decreases the runoff volume and pollutants loading during flood events. In particular, applications of pervious pavement for parking lots and sidewalk, green roof, and their combinations reduced the total volume of runoff by 15~61 % and non-point pollutant loads by TSS 22~72 %, BOD 23~71 %, COD 22~71 %, TN 15~79 %, TP 9~64 % in the study site.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 1994

To determine the apparent equilibrium constants, K$_{ad,app}$, for the adsorption reactions of trace metals on amorphous iron oxyhydroxide (AIO) in the Taebag coal mine area, time-adsorption and pH-adsorption experiments were performed for a selected bottom sediment mainly comprised of AIO from the study area. The results from the adsorption experiments indicate that most of the trace metals, except Pb, achieve equilibrium states with AIO and thus, the calculated K$_{ad,app}$ may represent the true apparent equilibrium constants. K$_{ad,app}$ and the stoichiometric coefficients of proton, x, of the adsorption reactions between the trace metals and AIO were respectively calculated from the intercepts and slopes of the regression lines of log($\Gamma$/ ［M］$_{aq}$)against pH provided by pH-adsorption experiments. The calculated K$_{ad,app}$ this study has the values of the range from 10$^{－4.5}$ to 10$^{2.75}$ , which is much different from the reported values by other investigators for simple experimental systems. K$_{ad,app}$ of this study is more or less close but not exactly pertinent to the estimated values for the other natural systems. It indicates that K$_{ad,app}$ for the adsorption reactions in the aquatic system in the study area is unique and thus should be determined befor the adsorption modelling. The calculated x of this study has the values of the range from -0.3 to 0.7, which is also much different from what most geochemists generally accept. The discrepancy in x may be due to the competition among different kinds of ionic species on the adsorption site or simulataneous occurrence of different kinds of adsorption reactions. The results from this study should help construct an appropriate adsorption model for the aquatic systems polluted by the coal mine drainage in the Taebag area. With the constructed model, one can describe the concentration variations of trace metals due to the adsorption in the system, which is an essential part of the investigation on the water quality affected by coal mine drainage in the Taebag coal field.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.87-96
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• 2007

Risk assessment was carried out in order to improve the remediation and management strategy on a contaminated gunnery site, where a flood control reservoir is under construction nearby. Six chemicals, including explosive chemicals and heavy metals, which were suspected to possess risk to humans by leaching events from the site were the target pollutants for the assessment. A site-specific conceptual site model was constructed based on effective, reasonable exposure pathways to avoid any overestimation of the risk. Also, conservative default values were adapted to prevent underestimation of the risk when site-specific values were not available. The risks of the six contaminants were calculated by API's Decision Support System for Exposure and Risk Assessment with several assumptions. In the crater-formed-area(Ac), the non-carcinogenic risks(i.e., HI values) of TNT(Tri-Nitro-Toluene) and Cd were slightly larger than 1, and for RDX(Royal Demolition Explosives), over 50. The total non-carcinogenic risk of the whole gunnery range calculated to a significantly high value of 62.5. Carcinogenicity of Cd was estimated to be about $10^{-3}$, while that of Pb was about $5\;{\times}\;10^{-4}$, which greatly exceeded the generally acceptable carcinogenic risk level of $10^{-4}{\sim}10^{-6}$. The risk assessment results suggest that an immediate remediation practice for both carcinogens and non-carcinogens are required before the reservoir construction. However, for more accurate risk assessment, more specific estimations on condition shifts due to the construction of the reservoir are required, and more over, the effects of the pollutants to the ecosystem is also necessary to be evaluated.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.73-86
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• 2007

Risk-based remediation strategy (RBRS) is a consistent decision-making process for the assessment and response to chemical release based on protecting human health and the environment. The decision-making process described integrates exposure and risk assessment practices with site assessment activities and remedial action selection to ensure that the chosen actions are protective of human health and the environment. The general sequences of events in Tier 1 is as follows: initial site assessment, development of conceptual site model with all exposure pathways, data collection on pollutants and receptors, and identification of risk-based screening level (RBSL). If site conditions do not meet RBSL, it needs further site-specific tier evaluation, Tier 2. In most cases, only limited number of exposure pathways, exposure scenarios, and chemicals of concern are considered the Tier 2 evaluation since many are eliminated from consideration during the Tier 1 evaluation. In spite of uncertainties due to the conservatism applied to risk calculations, limitation in site-specific data collections, and variables affecting the selection of target risk levels and exposure factors, RBRS provides us time- and cost-effectiveness of the remedial action. To ensure reliance of the results, the development team should consider land and resource use, cumulative risks, and additive effects. In addition, it is necessary to develop appropriate site assessment guideline and reliable toxicity assessment method, and to study on site-specific parameters and exposure parameters in Korea.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.286-301
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• 2008

When magnetotelluric (MT) data are obtained in vicinity of the coast, the sea can distort observed MT responses, especially those of deep part of subsurface. We introduce an iterative method to correct the sea effect, based on the previous topographic correction method which removes the distortions due to topographic changes in seafloor MT data. The method first corrects the sea effect in observed MT impedance, and then inverts corrected responses in a model space without the sea. Due to mutual coupling between sea and subsurface structure, the correction and inversion steps are iterated until changes in each result become negligible. The method is validated for 1-D and 2-D structure using synthetic MT data produced by 3-D forward modeling including surrounding seas. In all cases, the method closely recovers the given structure after a few iterations. To test the applicability of the proposed method to field data, we generate synthetic MT data for the Jeju Island whose 1-D conductivity structure is well known, using 3-D forward modeling. The distortions due to the surrounding sea start to appear below the frequency about 1 Hz, and are relatively severe in the electrical field perpendicular to the coastline because of the location of the observation sites. The proposed method successfully eliminates the sea effect after three iterations, and both 1-D and 2-D inversion of corrected responses closely recover the given subsurface structure of the Jeju Island model.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.39 no.3 s.178
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• pp.255-268
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• 2006

Recent 22-year (1981-2002) meteorological data of 58 Korea Meteorological Adminstration (KMA) station were analyzed to investigate spatial and temporal variation of surface air temperature (SAT) and ground surface temperature (GST) in Korea. Based on the KMA data, multiple linear regression (MLR) models, having two regression variables of latitude and altitude, were presented to predict mean surface air temperature (MSAT) and mean ground surface temperature (MGST). Both models showed a high accuracy of prediction with $R^2$ values of 0.92 and 0.94, respectively. The prediction of MGST is particularly important in the areas of geothermal energy utilization, since it is a critical parameter of input for designing the ground source heat pump system. Thus, due to a good performance of the MGST regression model, it is expected that the model can be a useful tool for preliminary evaluation of MGST in the area of interest with no reliable data. By a simple linear regression, temporal variation of SAT was analyzed to examine long-term increase of SAT due to the global warming and the urbanization effect. All of the KMA stations except one showed an increasing trend of SAT with a range between 0.005 and $0.088^{\circ}C/yr$ and a mean of $0.043^{\circ}C/yr$. In terms of meteorological factors controlling variation of GST, the effects of solar radiation, terrestrial radiation, precipitation, and snow cover were also discussed based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of the meteorological data.