• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1992 no.05
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• pp.27-47
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• 1992

Engineers have developed new instruments that aid in diagnosis and therapy Ultrasonic imaging has provided a nondamaging method of imaging internal organs. A complex transducer emits ultrasonic waves at many angles and reconstructs a map of internal anatomy and also velocities of blood in vessels. Fast computed tomography permits reconstruction of the 3-dimensional anatomy and perfusion of the heart at 20-Hz rates. Positron emission tomography uses certain isotopes that produce positrons that react with electrons to simultaneously emit two gamma rays in opposite directions. It locates the region of origin by using a ring of discrete scintillation detectors, each in electronic coincidence with an opposing detector. In magnetic resonance imaging, the patient is placed in a very strong magnetic field. The precessing of the hydrogen atoms is perturbed by an interrogating field to yield two-dimensional images of soft tissue having exceptional clarity. As an alternative to radiology image processing, film archiving, and retrieval, picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) are being implemented. Images from computed radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine, and ultrasound are digitized, transmitted, and stored in computers for retrieval at distributed work stations. In electrical impedance tomography, electrodes are placed around the thorax. 50-kHz current is injected between two electrodes and voltages are measured on all other electrodes. A computer processes the data to yield an image of the resistivity of a 2-dimensional slice of the thorax. During fetal monitoring, a corkscrew electrode is screwed into the fetal scalp to measure the fetal electrocardiogram. Correlations with uterine contractions yield information on the status of the fetus during delivery To measure cardiac output by thermodilution, cold saline is injected into the right atrium. A thermistor in the right pulmonary artery yields temperature measurements, from which we can calculate cardiac output. In impedance cardiography, we measure the changes in electrical impedance as the heart ejects blood into the arteries. Motion artifacts are large, so signal averaging is useful during monitoring. An intraarterial blood gas monitoring system permits monitoring in real time. Light is sent down optical fibers inserted into the radial artery, where it is absorbed by dyes, which reemit the light at a different wavelength. The emitted light travels up optical fibers where an external instrument determines O2, CO2, and pH. Therapeutic devices include the electrosurgical unit. A high-frequency electric arc is drawn between the knife and the tissue. The arc cuts and the heat coagulates, thus preventing blood loss. Hyperthermia has demonstrated antitumor effects in patients in whom all conventional modes of therapy have failed. Methods of raising tumor temperature include focused ultrasound, radio-frequency power through needles, or microwaves. When the heart stops pumping, we use the defibrillator to restore normal pumping. A brief, high-current pulse through the heart synchronizes all cardiac fibers to restore normal rhythm. When the cardiac rhythm is too slow, we implant the cardiac pacemaker. An electrode within the heart stimulates the cardiac muscle to contract at the normal rate. When the cardiac valves are narrowed or leak, we implant an artificial valve. Silicone rubber and Teflon are used for biocompatibility. Artificial hearts powered by pneumatic hoses have been implanted in humans. However, the quality of life gradually degrades, and death ensues. When kidney stones develop, lithotripsy is used. A spark creates a pressure wave, which is focused on the stone and fragments it. The pieces pass out normally. When kidneys fail, the blood is cleansed during hemodialysis. Urea passes through a porous membrane to a dialysate bath to lower its concentration in the blood. The blind are able to read by scanning the Optacon with their fingertips. A camera scans letters and converts them to an array of vibrating pins. The deaf are able to hear using a cochlear implant. A microphone detects sound and divides it into frequency bands. 22 electrodes within the cochlea stimulate the acoustic the acoustic nerve to provide sound patterns. For those who have lost muscle function in the limbs, researchers are implanting electrodes to stimulate the muscle. Sensors in the legs and arms feed back signals to a computer that coordinates the stimulators to provide limb motion. For those with high spinal cord injury, a puff and sip switch can control a computer and permit the disabled person operate the computer and communicate with the outside world.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.69-76
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• 2008

Three failure cases of CNG composite vessels were reported since after January 2005. The 1st and 2nd accidents were indebted to vessel defect and installation mistake. The 3rd was caused by gas leak at pipe connections. In this paper various aspects were studied based on information of the three failure analysis, which must be improved for better safety of the CNG bus system. Overpressure region caused by vessel explosion was theoretically predicted and also assessed by PHAST program. Explosion of 120 l vessel under 20 MPa is equivalent to 1.2 kg TNT explosion. The predicted value by PHAST was more serious than theoretical one. However, actual consequence of explosion was much less than both of the predicted consequences. Since the CNG vessel was designed by the performance based design methodology, it is difficult to verify whether the required process and tests were properly conducted or not after production. If material toughness is not enough, the vessel should be weak in brittle fracture at early in the morning of winter season since the metal temperature can be lower than the transition temperature. If autofrettage pressure is not correct, fatigue failure due to tensile stress during repeated charging is possible. One positive aspect is that fire did not ocurred after vessel failure. This may be indebted to fast diffusion of natural gas which hindered starting fire.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.31-37
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• 2021

To prevent accidents due to the cavities and loosened layers formed due to water leakage from the deteriorated buried pipes, evaluation of the changes in water contents around the buried pipes is required. As a method to evaluate the water contents of the soils, time domain reflectometry (TDR) system can be adopted. However, slender electrodes used in standard TDR probe may be damaged when buried in the ground. Thus, in this study, buried type TDR module was developed for the evaluation of the water contents with maintaining required shape of the electrodes in the ground. The TDR module is composed of three electrodes connected to the core conductor and outer conductor and a casing to prevent deformation and maintain alignment of the electrodes in the ground. For the verification of TDR waveforms measured using the TDR module, comparative analysis was conducted with the TDR waveforms measured using the standard TDR probe, and the relationship between the volumetric water content of the soils and the travel time of the guided electromagnetic wave was constructed. In addition, a model test was conducted to test the applicability of the buried type TDR module, and the experimental result shows that the TDR module clearly evaluates the changes in volumetric water contents due to the leakage from the modeled buried pipe. Therefore, the buried type TDR module may be effectively used for the health monitoring of the buried pipe and the evaluation of the water contents around the pipes buried in the urban pavements.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.307-319
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• 2009

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology has been regarded as one of the most possible and practical option to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) and consequently to mitigate the climate change. Korean government also have started a 10-year R&D project on $CO_2$ storage in sea-bed geological structure including gas field and deep saline aquifer since 2005. Various relevant researches are carried out to cover the initial survey of suitable geological structure storage site, monitoring of the stored $CO_2$ behavior, basic design of $CO_2$ transport and storage process and the risk assessment and management related to $CO_2$ leakage from engineered and geological processes. Leakage of $CO_2$ to the marine environment can change the chemistry of seawater including the pH and carbonate composition and also influence adversely on the diverse living organisms in ecosystems. Recently, IMO (International Maritime Organization) have developed the risk assessment and management framework for the $CO_2$ sequestration in sub-seabed geological structures (CS-SSGS) and considered the sequestration as a waste management option to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This framework for CS-SSGS aims to provide generic guidance to the Contracting Parties to the London Convention and Protocol, in order to characterize the risks to the marine environment from CS-SSGS on a site-specific basis and also to collect the necessary information to develop a management strategy to address uncertainties and any residual risks. The environmental risk assessment (ERA) plan for $CO_2$ storage work should include site selection and characterization, exposure assessment with probable leak scenario, risk assessment from direct and in-direct impact to the living organisms and risk management strategy. Domestic trial of the $CO_2$ capture and sequestration in to the marine geologic formation also should be accomplished through risk management with specified ERA approaches based on the IMO framework. The risk assessment procedure for $CO_2$ marine storage should contain the following components; 1) prediction of leakage probabilities with the reliable leakage scenarios from both engineered and geological part, 2) understanding on physio-chemical fate of $CO_2$ in marine environment especially for the candidate sites, 3) exposure assessment methods for various receptors in marine environments, 4) database production on the toxic effect of $CO_2$ to the ecologically and economically important species, and finally 5) development of surveillance procedures on the environmental changes with adequate monitoring techniques.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_3
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• pp.1817-1826
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• 2022

After the hydrogen fluoride leak in Gumi in 2012, the government has been systemizing the disaster management system, such as responding to and managing chemical accidents. In particular, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) is in charge of evacuation of residents following chemical accidents based on the Framework Act on Management of Disaster and Safety. In this study, an application plan was presented to support and utilize the decision-making support for evacuation of residents after a chemical accident using the chemical accident investigation equipment of the National Disaster Management Research Institute (NDMI). In the equipment operation system for scientific information collection due to chemical accidents, the roles and purpose of use of long/short distance measurement equipment were presented according to regular and emergency situations. Using the data acquired through long/short distance measurement equipment, it can be used as basic data for resident evacuation decision-making by monitoring whether chemicals are detected in an emergency and managing data on detected substances by company in a regular situation. As a result of measuring chemical substances in order to verify on-site usability by equipment only for the regular operation system, it was confirmed that real-time detection of chemical substances is possible with long distance measuring equipment. In addition, it was confirmed that it was necessary to check the measurable distance and range of the equipment in the future. In the case of short distance measurement equipment, hydrocarbon-based substances were mainly detected, and it was confirmed that it was measured at a higher level in Ulsan-Mipo National Industrial Complex than in Onsan National Industrial Complex. It is expected that it can be used as basic data to support decision-making in the event of chemical accidents through continuous data construction in the future.