• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• 제31권6호
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• pp.623-646
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• 2021

As the demand for electric power increases with acceleration of electrification at home and abroad, the needs for coal-fired electrical power plant are accordingly increased. However, these coal-fired electrical power plants induce also many environmental problems such as increase of air pollutants, increase of possibility of land contamination by reclamation of coal ash, even though these power plants have a good economical efficiency. In case of a by-product of coal-fired electrical power plants, only 70% of them are recycled and the remaining 30% of by-product are fully buried in surrounding ground. Consequently, this study deals with coal ash backfilling mechanism in abandoned mine openings for the purposes of increasing the coal ash recycling rate as well as securing the mine area stability. In order to analyze the backfill and ground reinforcement by interaction between rock mass and backfills, the copying samples of discontinuous surface with different roughnesses were produced for bond strength tests and direct shear tests. And statistical analysis was also conducted to decide the characteristics of bond and shear behavior with joint roughness and their curing day. Numerical simulations were also analyzed for examining the effect of interface behavior on ground stability.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제83권3호
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• pp.305-326
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• 2022

To realize the recycling utilization of waste concrete and alleviate the shortage of resources, 11 specimens of steel reinforced recycled concrete (SRRC) filled circular steel tube columns were designed and manufactured in this study, and the cyclic loading tests on the specimens of columns were also carried out respectively. The hysteretic curves, skeleton curves and performance indicators of columns were obtained and analysed in detail. Besides, the finite element model of columns was established through OpenSees software, which considered the adverse effect of recycled coarse aggregate (RA) replacement rates and the constraint effect of circular steel tube on internal RAC. The numerical calculation curves of columns are in good agreement with the experimental curves, which shows that the numerical model is relatively reasonable. On this basis, a series of nonlinear parameters analysis on the hysteretic behaviors of columns were also investigated. The results are as follows: When the replacement rates of RA increases from 0 to 100%, the peak loads of columns decreases by 7.78% and the ductility decreases slightly. With the increase of axial compression ratio, the bearing capacity of columns increases first and then decreases, but the ductility of columns decreases rapidly. Increasing the wall thickness of circular steel tube is very profitable to improve the bearing capacity and ductility of columns. When the section steel ratio increases from 5.54% to 9.99%, although the bearing capacity of columns is improved, it has no obvious contribution to improve the ductility of columns. With the decrease of shear span ratio, the bearing capacity of columns increases obviously, but the ductility decreases, and the failure mode of columns develops into brittle shear failure. Therefore, in the engineering design of columns, the situation of small shear span ratio (i.e., short columns) should be avoided as far as possible. Based on this, the calculation model on the skeleton curves of columns was established by the theoretical analysis and fitting method, so as to determine the main characteristic points in the model. The effectiveness of skeleton curve model is verified by comparing with the test skeleton curves.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.71-77
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• 2022

To increase biomass utilization, rice husk-based activated carbon (RHAC) followed by nitrogen plasma surface treatment was prepared and the electric double-layer capacitor performance was investigated. Through nitrogen plasma surface treatment, up to 2.17% of nitrogen was introduced to the surface of RHAC, and in particular the sample reacted for 5 min with nitrogen plasma showed dominant formation of pyrrolic/pyridine N functional groups. In addition, mesopores were formed on the RHAC material by the removal of silica, and the surface roughness of the carbon material increased by nitrogen plasma surface treatment, resulting in the formation of many micropores. As a result of cyclic voltammetry measurement, at a scan rate of 5 mV/s, the specific capacitance of the RHAC treated with nitrogen plasma increased up to 200 F/g, showing an 80.2% improvement compared to that of using untreated RHAC (111 F/g). This is attributed to the synergetic effect of the introduction of pyrrolic/pyridine-based nitrogen functional groups and the increase of the micropore volume on the surface of the carbon material. This study has a positive effect on the environment in terms of recycling waste resources and using plasma surface treatment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권9호
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• pp.3250-3259
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• 2022

A new approach to the use of rice straw as a difficult-to-recycle agricultural waste was proposed. Potassium aluminosilicate was obtained by spark plasma sintering as an effective material for subsequent immobilization of ¹³⁷Cs into a solid-state matrix. The sorption properties of potassium aluminosilicate to ¹³⁷Cs from aqueous solutions were studied. The effect of the synthesis temperature on the phase composition, microstructure, and rate of cesium leaching from samples obtained at 800-1000 ℃ and a pressure of 25 MPa was investigated. It was shown that the positive dynamics of compaction was characteristic of glass ceramics throughout the sintering. Glass ceramics RS-(K,Cs)AlSi₃O₈ obtained by the SPS method at 1000 ℃ for 5 min was characterized by a high density of ~2.62 g/cm³, Vickers hardness ~ 2.1 GPa, compressive strength ~231.3 MPa and the rate of cesium ions leaching of ~1.37 × 10^-7 g cm^-2·day^-1. The proposed approach makes it possible to safe dispose of rice straw and reduce emissions into the atmosphere of microdisperse amorphous silica, which is formed during its combustion and causes respiratory diseases, including cancer. In addition, the obtained is perspective to solve the problem of recycling long-lived ¹³⁷Cs radionuclides formed during the operation of nuclear power plants into solid-state matrices.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.431-439
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• 2022

In this study, Neutralized red mud(LRM+S) at a pH of 6-8 was prepared by adding sulfuric acid to liquefied red mud(LRM) at a pH of 10~12. After adding LRM and LRM+S to the cement paste, the hydration heat, compressive strength, and hydration products were examined. The observed accumulated hydration heat revealed that the calorific value of the cement paste with LRM was low and its and peak was delayed when compared with that of plain cement paste(referred to as Plain), whereas the calorific value of the cement paste with LRM+S was similar to that of Plain. At the age of 28 days, the compressive strength of the cement paste with 20% LRM was 55% of the strength of Plain. Using X-ray diffraction, it was determined that the cement paste with 20% LRM exhibited a Ca(OH)₂ peak after 3 days, whereas the cement paste with 20% LRM+S and Plain exhibited a Ca(OH)₂ peak after an hour. Thus, the strength degradation of cementitious materials was improved by adding neutralized red mud prepared by adjusting the pH of highly alkaline LRM with sulfuric acid.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.10-21
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• 2022

In the South Korea, 47% of abandoned mines are suffering from the mining hazards such as the mine drainage (MD), the mine tailings and the waste rocks. Among them the mine drainage which has a low pH and the high concentration of heavy metals can directly contaminate rivers or soil and cause serious damages to human health. The natural/artificial treatment facilities by using neutralizers and coagulants for the mine drainage have been operated in domestic and most of heavy metals in mind drainage are precipitated and removed in the form of metal hydroxide, alumino-silicate or carbonate, generating a large amount of mine drainage treated sludge ('MDS' hereafter) by-product. The MDS has a large surface area and many functional groups, showing high efficiency on the fixation of heavy metals. The purpose of this study is to develop a ingenious heavy metal stabilizer that can effectively stabilize arsenic (As) and heavy metals in soil by recycling the MDS (two types of MDS: the acid mine drainage treated sludge (MMDS) and the coal mine drainage treated sludge (CMDS)). Various analyses, toxicity evaluations, and leaching reduction batch experiments were performed to identify the characteristics of MDS as the stabilizer for soils contaminated with As and heavy metals. As a result of batch experiments, the Pb stabilization efficiency of both of MDSs for soil A was higher than 90% and their Zn stabilization efficiencies were higher than 70%. In the case of soil B and C, which were contaminated with As, their As stabilization efficiencies were higher than 80%. Experimental results suggested that both of MDSs could be successfully applied for the As and heavy metal contaminated soil as the soil stabilizer, because of their low unit price and high stabilization efficiency for As and hevry metals.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.11-18
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• 2023

As the use of lithium-ion secondary batteries is rapidly increasing due to the rapid growth of the electric vehicle market, the disposal and recycling of spent batteries after use has been raised as a serious problem. Since stored energy must be removed in order to recycle the spent batteries, an effective discharging process is required. In this study, graphite and NCM622 were used as active materials to manufacture coin-type half cells and full cells, and the electrochemical behavior occurring during overdischarge was analyzed. When the positive and negative electrodes are overdischarged respectively using a half-cell, a conversion reaction in which transition metal oxide is reduced to metal occurs first in the positive electrode, and a side reaction in which Cu, the current collector, is corroded following decomposition of the SEI film occurs in the negative electrode. In addition, a side reaction during overdischarge is difficult to occur because a large polarization at the initial stage is required. When the full cell is overdischarged, the cell reaches 0 V and the overdischarge ends with almost no side reaction due to this large polarization. However, if the full cell whose capacity is degraded due to the cycle is overdischarged, corrosion of the Cu current collector occurs in the negative electrode. Therefore, cycled cell requires an appropriate treatment process because its electrochemical behavior during overdischarge is different from that of a fresh cell.

• Clean Technology
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.200-216
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• 2023

Ginkgo leaves are considered waste biomass and can cause problems due to the strong insecticidal actions of ginkgolide A, B, C, and J and bilobalide. However, Ginkgo leaf biomass has high organic matter content that can be converted into fuels and chemicals if suitable technologies can be developed. In this study, the effect of pyrolysis temperature, minimum fluidized velocity, and Ginkgo leaf size on product yields and product properties were systematically analyzed. Fast pyrolysis was conducted in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor at 400 to 550℃ using silica sand as a bed material. The yield of pyrolysis liquids ranged from 33.66 to 40.01 wt%. The CO₂ and CO contents were relatively high compared to light hydrocarbon gases because of decarboxylation and decarbonylation during pyrolysis. The CO content increased with the pyrolysis temperature while the CO₂ content decreased. When the experiment was conducted at 450℃ with a 3.0×U_mf fluidized velocity and a 0.43 to 0.71 mm particle size, the yield was 40.01 wt% and there was a heating value of 30.17 MJ/kg, respectively. The production of various phenol compounds and benzene derivatives in the bio-oil, which contains the high value products, was identified using GC-MS. This study demonstrated that fast pyrolysis is very robust and can be used for converting Ginkgo leaves into fuels and thus has the potential of becoming a method for waste recycling.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.87-95
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• 2023

Recently, redevelopment of the original downtown area is underway, the necessity of construction in adjacent location is increasing. However, excavations in dense urban areas are prone to ground problems due to various causes, so it is necessary to use materials and methods that can minimize such problems. As a general earth retaining method, various methods such as diaphragm wall and CIP method are applied using cement. However, since a large amount of cement is used for the installation of earth retaining method, it is necessary to conduct research on the development of new cement substitute materials to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, we utilized the hardening reaction of blast furnace slag powder, desulfurized gypsum and high calcium fly ash by alkali activation and applied it to the SCW method. As a result, it was analyzed that the compressive strength of solidified soil using development solidification material was 96.2 ~ 106.3% of OPC at 28 days of curing. In addition, the strength increment ratio was 2.06 for sandy soil and 2.41 for clayey soil, which was higher than 1.85 of OPC. It seems an advantageous in terms of long-term strength. In addition, from the environmental point of view, it was analyzed that there is no elution of heavy metals and that greenhouse gas emissions can be dramatically reduced. Therefore, if further studies are conducted, it can be applied to the SCW method.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.426-433
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• 2023

Capacitor performance was considered using coffee grounds-based activated carbon produced through oil extraction and KOH activation to increase the utilization of boiwaste. Oil extraction from coffee grounds was performed by solvent extraction using n-Hexane and isopropyl alcohol solvents. The AC_CG-Hexane/IPA produced by KOH activation after oil extraction increased the specific surface area by up to 16% and the average pore size by up to 2.54 nm compared to AC_CG produced only by KOH activation without oil extraction. In addition, the pyrrolic/pyridinic N functional group of the prepared activated carbon increased with the extraction of oil from coffee grounds. In the cyclic voltage-current method measurement experiment, the specific capacitance of AC_CG-Hexane/IPA at a voltage scanning speed of 10 mV/s is 133 F/g, which is 33% improved compared to the amorphous capacity of AC_CG (100 F/g). The results show improved electrochemical properties by improving the size and specific surface area of the mesopores of activated carbon by removing components from coffee grounds oil and synergistic effects by increasing electrical conductivity with pyrrolic/pyridinic N functional groups. In this study, the recycling method and application of coffee grounds, a bio-waste, is presented, and it is considered to be one of the efficient methods that can be utilized as an electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.