• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.235-250
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• 2014

The impacts of membrane degradation due to chlorine attack on the rejection of inorganic salts and trace organic contaminants by nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were investigated in this study. The rejection of trace contaminants was examined at environmentally relevant concentrations. Changes in the membrane surface morphology were observed as a result of chlorine exposure. A small increase in rejection was consistently observed with all four membranes selected in this study after being exposed to a low concentration of hypochlorite (100 ppm). In contrast, a higher concentration of hypochlorite (i.e., 2000 ppm) could be detrimental to the membrane separation capacity. Membranes with severe chlorine impact showed a considerable decrease in rejection over filtration time, possibly due to rearrangement of the polyamide chains under the influence of chlorine degradation and filtration pressure. The reported results indicate that loose NF membranes are more sensitive to chlorine exposure than RO membranes. The impact of hypochlorite exposure (both positive and negative) on rejection is dependent on the strength of the hypochlorite solution and is more significant for the neutral carbamazepine compound than the negatively charged sulfamethoxazole.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.33-40
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• 2017

In typical remediation practices, separate washing systems have to be applied to clean up the soils contaminated with both oil and heavy metals. In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of successive two-stage soil washing in removal of mixed-contaminants from soil matrix. Two-stage soil washing experiments were conducted using different combinations of chemical agent: 1) persulfate oxidation, followed by organic acid washing, and 2) Fenton oxidation, followed by inorganic acid washing. Persulfate oxidation-organic acid washing efficiently removed both organic and inorganic contaminants to meet the regulatory soil quality standard. The average removal rates of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), Cu, Pb, and Zn were 88.9%, 82.2%, 77.5%, and 66.3% respectively, (S/L 1:10, reaction time 1 h, persulfate 0.5 M, persulfate:activator 3:1, citric acid 2 M). Fenton oxidation-inorganic acid washing also gave satisfactory performances to give 89%, 80.9%, 87.1%, and 67.7% removal of TPH, Cu, Pb, and Zn, respectively (S/L 1:10, reaction time 1 hr, hydrogen peroxide 0.3 M, hydrogen peroxide:activator 5:1, inorganic acid 1 M).

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.228-234
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to predict environmental distribution of anthracene, benzene, benzo[a]pyrene, 1-methylphenanthrene and phenanthrene in a four phase biopile system - air, water, soil and non aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) phase using level I fugacity model. Soil samples used for this study were collected from three sites in the United Kingdom which were historically contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. The level I fugacities (f) for the five contaminants were markedly different, however, the fugacities of each contaminant in three soil samples did not show significant difference. NAPL and soil were the dominant phases for all five contaminants. Results of this study indicated that difference in percentage of organic carbon strongly influenced the partitioning behavior of the cntaminants. The presence of benzene calls for an urgent need for risk-based management of air and water phase. Whereas insignificant amount of chemicals leached in the water phase for other organic contaminants showing greatly reduced potential of groundwater contamination. Furthermore, this study helped us to confirm the association of risk critical contaminants with the residual saturation in treated soils. They also can be used to emphasize the importance of accounting for the partitioning behavior of both NAPL and soil phases in the process of the risk assessment of the sites contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.144-152
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• 2003

Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of pore water contamination on the treatment effect of sandy soil which was solidified by Portland cement. In the experiments, setting time of hydraulic cement that was mixed with contaminated mixing water was measured using Vicat equipment and observed the tendency of setting process with the kind of contaminants, organic or inorganic components. It was shown that organic contaminants of the mixing water affect largely on the initial setting process of hydraulic cement and inorganics, expecially heavy metals, did not affect on the initial setting process, otherwise it was appeared that setting time of the sandy soil that was contaminated with inorganic components was apparently faster than the sandy soil that did not include inorganic components even though organic concentrations was relatively low level (COD=200∼300) in the mixing water. The results of unconfined compression strength test (UCST) were well consistent with the results of Vicat equipment test.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.34-43
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• 2010

The fate of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) in ground water is highly affected by the distribution and property of the carbonaceous materials (CMs) in subsurface sediments. CMs in soils consist of organic matters (e.g., cellulose, fulvic acid, humic acid, humin, etc.) and black carbon such as char, soot, etc. The distribution and property of CMs are governed by source materials and geological evolution (e.g., diagenesis, catagenesis, etc.) of them. In this study, the distribution and property of CMs in subsurface sediments near the Imjin river in the Republic of Korea and HOC sorption property to the subsurface sediments were investigated. The organic carbon contents of sand and clay/silt layers were about 0.35% and 1.37%, respectively. The carbon contents of condensed form of CMs were about 0.13% and 0.45%, respectively. The existence of black carbon was observed using scanning electron microscopes with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The specific surface areas (SSA) of CMs in heavy fraction(HFrCM) measured with N2 were $35-46m^2/g$. However, SSAs of those HFrCM mineral fraction was only $1.6-4.3m^2/g$. The results of thermogravimetric analysis show that the mass loss of HFrCM was significant at $50-200^{\circ}C$ and $350-600^{\circ}C$ due to the degradation of soft form and condensed form of CMs, respectively. The trichloroethylene (TCE) sorption capacities of sand and clay/silt layers were similar to each other, and these values were also similar to oxidzed layer of glacially deposited subsurface sediments of the Chanute Air Force Base (AFB) in Rantoul, Illinois. However, these were 7-8 times lower than TCE sorption capacity of reduced layer of the Chanute AFB sediments. For accurate prediction of the fate of hydrophobic organic contaminants in subsurface sediments, continuous studies on the development of characterization methods for CMs are required.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.755-764
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• 2000

Fate and transport of hydrophobic organic contaminants can be influenced by naturally-existing humic substances and surfactants applied to wash polluted soils in the subsurface environment. The objective of this paper is to study the solubility enhancement of four PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) and p,p'-DDT in humic acid and surfactant solutions. As the number of aromatic ring is increased, the extent of solubility enhancement of PAHs by humic acid increased. Although the hydrophobicity of p,p'-DDT was the largest among five organic compounds used, the extent of solubility enhancement of p,p'-DDT by humic acid was lower than that of pyrene. In case of anionic surfactants, the extent of the increased solubility of five organic compounds by SDS and SDDBS was increased linearly, but the extent of the increased solubility of p,p'-DDT by MADS-12 was lower than that of perylene.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.171-184
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• 2016

In order to assess the level of contamination and identify the priority contaminants in the Busan coast, intensive sediment sampling was conducted and persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals were analyzed. The Sediment Quality Index (SQI) was derived based on the contaminant data by comparing with Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs) established in Korea, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand. Toxic contaminants were found to be widely distributed across the coast. Among organic contaminants, PAHs showed the highest concentration, followed by butyltins, nonylphenols, PBDEs, DDTs, PCBs, HCHs and CHLs. Heavy metals were also abundantly detected with the highest concentration of Zn followed by Cu > Cr > Pb > Ni > As > Cd > Hg. Compared to organic contaminants, most heavy metals, except for Cu and Hg, were homogeneously distributed along the coast in a good relationship with total organic carbon of sediment particles. In general, the concentrations of organic compounds and heavy metals were highest at the inner part of harbor areas with a tendency to decline from inside areas to the outside, indicating the high loading of pollutants from harbors. A high exceedance for low-SQGs and high-SQGs was found for TBT, p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, Cu and Zn. The SQI scores calculated from low-SQGs and high-SQGs were in the range of 18-100 and 54-100, respectively. The inner part of Busan Harbor, Dadaepo Harbor, and Gamcheon Harbor were observed as being regions of concern. Overall, TBT, Cu, and p,p'-DDT were the chemicals most frequently exceeding SQGs and influencing SQI scores.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 1997

The UV/O$_{3}$ dry cleaning has been well known in removing organic molecules. The UV/O$_{3}$ dry cleaning method was performed to clean the Si wafer surfaces and contact holes contaminated by organic molecules such as residual PR. During the cleaning process, the Si surfaces were analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscope (AFM) and ellipsometer. When the UV/O$_{3}$ dry cleaning at 200'C was performed for 3 minutes, the residual photoresist was almost removed on Si wafer surfaces, but Si surfaces were oxidized. For UV/O$_{3}$ application of contact hole cleaning, the contact string were formed using the equipment of ISRC (Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center). Before Al deposition, UV/O$_{3}$ (at 200.deg. C) dry cleaning was performed for 3 minutes. After metal annealing, the specific contact resistivity was measured. Because UV/O$_{3}$ dry cleaning removed organic contaminants in contact holes, the specific contact resistivity decreased. Each contact hole size was different, but the specific contact resistivities were all much the same. Thus, it is expected that the UV/O$_{3}$ dry cleaning method will be useful method of removal of the organic contaminants at smaller contact hole cleaning.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.101-119
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• 2021

Korea's National Treasure No. 229, the Jagyeongnu (clepsydra) of Changgyeonggung Palace, is a scientific and cultural property representing the pinnacle of science and technology in the Joseon Dynasty. Currently, only the large, mid-sie, and small Pasuhos (bronze jars) remain. During a nearly two-year conservation project by the Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center (CHCSC) that began in 2018, conservators identified the contaminants on the surface of the water clock's components. It turned out that the contaminants had been caused by the exposure of squalane and silicone oil, used in an earlier preservation treatment, to the elements. The CHCSC conducted experiments to determine the most effective method to remove the contaminants. First, the conservators tried using an organic solvent, a poultice, and the application of toluene and bentonite, which yielded excellent reactivity and significant color difference changes (𝚫E). However, the reactivity was insufficiently effective to warrant the health hazards to the conservators and the environment (toluene is toxic). Although organic solvents required considerably more effort, time, and human resources, the conservators confirmed that their use achieved a true color difference variation (𝚫E) that was within the same range as the toxic hydrocarbon. Thus, they confirmed that using an organic surfactant was the best method for removing the contaminants.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.471-484
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• 2019

The complex combination of organic contaminants in the wastewater made water treatment challenging; hence, organic matter in water bodies is usually measured in terms of organic carbon. Since it is important to identify the types of compounds when deciding suitable treatment methods, this study implemented a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the organic matter content in an actual graywater sample from Ulsan, Republic of Korea using mass spectroscopy (MS). The graywater was treated using adsorption to remove the organic contaminants. Using orbitrap MS, the organic matter content between an untreated graywater and the treated effluent were compared which yielded a significant formula count difference for the samples. It was revealed that CHON formula has the highest removal count. Isotherm studies found that the Freundlich equation was the best fit with a coefficient of determination ($R^2$) of 0.9705 indicating a heterogenous GAC surface with a multilayer characteristic. Kinetics experiments fit the pseudo-second order equation with an $R^2$ of 0.9998 implying that chemisorption is the rate-determining step between the organic compounds and GAC at rate constant of $52.53g/mg{\cdot}h$. At low temperatures, the reaction between GAC and organic compounds were found to be spontaneous and exothermic. The conditions for optimization were set to achieve a maximum DOC and TN removal which yielded removal percentages of 94.59% and 80.75% for the DOC and TN, respectively. The optimum parameter values are the following: pH 6.3, 2.46 g of GAC for every 30 mL of graywater sample, 23.39 hrs contact time and $38.6^{\circ}C$.