• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.271-279
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• 2010

We conducted a quantitative human health risk assessment with respect to inhalation of heavy metals for residents of housing developments in "new towns" where an incinerator will be operated within the area scheduled for construction thereof. To assess potential human health risk we calculated the amount of heavy metals emitted from the incinerator, and then forecasted the potential health impact on adjoining areas where new housing is to be developed (i.e. "new towns") at different altitudes by a using SCREEN-3 model. We assessed Cancer Risk (CR) caused by known carcinogens using the Inhalation Unit Risk criteria developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Notably, we assessed risk by determining concentrations of heavy metals on a floor by floor basis, as apartment buildings are to be constructed near the incinerator according to a pre-devised plan. Results indicated that cancer risk for most carcinogens exceeded US EPA standards for the highest locations at each collection point. This result indicates that construction of high buildings in areas adjoining incinerators is undesirable, and that measures to lower carcinogens are needed. The results of this study, which assessed health risk from exposure to heavy metals emitted from a nearby incinerator, can be useful in land use planning with respect to the location of housing developments in new towns, as well as the heights of any buildings constructed. Furthermore, the methodology deployed herein with respect to risk assessment can be helpful for policy makers and the general public in the event of conflicts regarding incinerator projects in the future. The results herein may also be of merit in determining priorities when establishing harm reduction measures for carcinogens at incinerators. However, the study does contain several limitations. The SCREEN-3 model, a kind of screening model that provides conservative results, can provide higher forecasted concentrations of air pollutants than other models. Moreover, although the incinerator in question is set to be a thermoselect type, domestic data for emissions from these incinerators is not available, and assumptions were based on a stoker type incinerator. Insufficient domestic data likewise compelled the use of data of USA, resulting in possible errors in results. Continued research will thus be required to develop systematic methodologies that address the foregoing factors and produce more reliable outcomes.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.149-170
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• 2012

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, Durban 2011, ended on December 12, 2011, 36 hours over its schedule, delivering the Durban Package, which consisted of, inter alia, the extension of the period for Kyoto Protocol term and the launch of Ad-hoc working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action. Despite the positive progress made in Durban, the future of post-2012 climate regime still seems cloudy. Before the Durban conference, some of Annex I countries with emissions reduction commitment under the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period openly declared their intention not to participate in the second one, reducing the effectiveness of Durban agreement. Parties to the conference have a long list of difficult issues disturbing the materialization of the new legal agreement in 2020 such as level of mitigation targets of individual countries and legal nature of their commitment. Given this uncertainty, the Korean government should reinforce its domestic climate policies rather than settling in the fact that it remains as a non-Annex I county party under the Durban Agreement due to the extension of the Kyoto Protocol period. Domestically, it needs to continue to raise the public awareness for rigorous climate policies to transit its economy to low carbon pathway which reduces the country's dependency on fossil fuel in the long term. It is also important to implement cost effective climate policies to cope with domestic resistance and international competitiveness. Internationally, its priority would be working for trust-building in the on-going negotiation meetings to encourage meaningful participation of all parties.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.177-190
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• 2013

Air pollution trends in Japan between 1970 and 2012 were analyzed, and the impact of air pollution countermeasures was evaluated. Concentrations of CO decreased from 1970 to 2012, and in 2012, the Japanese environmental quality standard (EQS) for CO was satisfied. Concentrations of $SO_2$ dropped markedly in the 1970s, owing to use of desulfurization technologies and low-sulfur heavy oil. Major reductions in the sulfur content of diesel fuel in the 1990s resulted in further decreases of $SO_2$ levels. In 2012, the EQS for $SO_2$ was satisfied at most air quality monitoring stations. Concentrations of $NO_2$ decreased from 1970 to 1985, but increased from 1985 to 1995. After 1995, $NO_2$ concentrations decreased, especially after 2006. In 2012, the EQS for $NO_2$ was satisfied at most air quality monitoring stations, except those alongside roads. The annual mean for the daily maximum concentrations of photochemical oxidants (OX) increased from 1980 to 2010, but after 2006, the $98^{th}$ percentile values of the OX concentrations decreased. In 2012, the EQS for OX was not satisfied at most air quality monitoring stations. Non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) concentrations generally decreased from 1976 to 2012. In 2011, NMHC concentrations near roads and in the general environment were nearly the same. The concentration of suspended particulate matter (SPM) generally decreased. In 2011, the EQS for SPM was satisfied at 69.2% of ambient air monitoring stations, and 72.9% of roadside air-monitoring stations. Impacts from mineral dust from continental Asia were especially pronounced in the western part of Japan in spring, and year-round variation was large. The concentration of $PM_{2.5}$ generally decreased, but the EQS for $PM_{2.5}$ is still not satisfied. The air pollution trends were closely synchronized with promulgation of regulations designed to limit pollutant emissions. Trans-boundary OX and $PM_{2.5}$ has become a big issue which contains global warming chemical species such as ozone and black carbon (so called SLCP: Short Lived Climate Pollutants). Cobeneficial reduction approach for these pollutants will be important to improve both in regional and global atmospheric environmental conditions.

• Plant Journal
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.39-47
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• 2018

In this research, when the output of the standard coal-fired thermal power plant operating continuously at the rated output of 500 MW is changed to operate at 300 to 500 MW, the amount of sulfur oxide produced and the amount of sulfur oxide in the absorption tower of desulfurization equipment and proposed an extra liquid to gas ratio improvement inversely proportional to the output. In order to calibrate the combustion efficiency at low power, the ratio of sulfur oxides relative to the amount of combustion gas is increased as the excess air ratio is increased. When the concentration of sulfur oxide at the inlet of the desulfurization absorber was changed from 300 to 500 ppm along with the output fluctuation. The liquid to gas ratio of limestone slurry and combustion gas was changed from 10.99 to 16.27. Therefore, if the concentration of sulfur oxides with output of 300 MW is x, The following correlation equation is recommended for the minimum required flow rate of slurry for the reduction of surplus energy due to the increase of the liquid weight at low load. $y1[m^3/sec]=0.11x+3.74$

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2019

In order to solve the global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, $CO_2$ capture technology was developed by applying oxy-fuel combustion. But there has been such a problem that its economic efficiency is low due to the high price of oxygen gases. ASU is known to be most suitable method to produce large quantity of oxygen, to reduce the oxygen production cost, the efficiency of ASU need to be improved. To improve the efficiency of ASU, exergy analysis can be used. The exergy analysis provides the information of used energy in the process, the location and size of exergy destruction. In this study, the exergy analysis was used for process developing and optimization of large scale ASU. The process simulation of ASU was conducted, the results were used to calculate the exergy. As a result, to reduce the exergy loss in the cold box of ASU, a lower operating pressure process was suggested. It was confirmed the importance of heat leak and heat loss reduction of cold box. Also, the unit process of ASU which requires thermal integration was confirmed.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.119-126
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• 2012

Portland cement production-1.5billion tonnes yearly worldwide-contributes substantially to global atmospheric pollution(7% of total of $CO_2$ emissions). Attempts to increase the utilization of fly ash, by-products from thermal power plant to partially replace the cement in concrete are gathering momentum. But most of fly ash is currently dumped in landfills, thus creating a threat to the environment. Many researches on alkali-activated concrete that does not need the presence of cement as a binder have been carried out recently. Instead, the sources of material such as fly ash, that are rich in Silicon(Si) and Aluminium(Al), are activated by alkaline liquids to produce the binder. Hence concrete with no cement is effect reduction of $CO_2$ gas. In this study, we investigated the influence of the compressive strength of mortar on alkaline activator and curing condition in oder to develop cementless fly ash based alkali-activated concrete. In view of the results, we found out that it was possible for us to make alkali-activated mortar with 70MPa at the age of 28days by using alkaline activator manufactured as 1:1 the mass ratio of 9M NaOH and sodium silicate and applying the atmospheric curing after high temperature at $60^{\circ}C$ for 48hours.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.118-128
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• 2016

As the interest on the air-pollution is gradually rising up at home and abroad, automotive and fuel researchers have been working on the exhaust emission reduction from vehicles through a lot of approaches, which consist of new engine design, innovative after-treatment systems, using clean (eco-friendly alternative) fuels and fuel quality improvement. This research has brought forward two main issues : exhaust emission and PM (particulate matter) particle emissions of gasoline vehicle. Exhaust emission and PM particle of automotive had many problem that cause of ambient pollution, health effects. In addition, researcher studied the environment problems of the MTBE contained in the fuel as oxygenate additives. The researchers have many data about the health effects of ingestion of MTBE. However, the data support the conclusion that MTBE is a potential human carcinogen at high doses. Based on the oxygenated fuel additive types (MTBE, Bio-ETBE, Bio-ethanol, Bio-butanol), this paper discussed the influence of oxygen contents on gasoline fuel properties and evaporative emission characteristics. Also, this paper assessed the acceleration and power performance of gasoline vehicle for the fuel property.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.9-15
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• 2016

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) are often used as fuel for vehicles because they are clean alternative gas fuels. CNG, as a low-carbon fuel, can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. LPG is often used as fuel for taxis because the performance is almost the same as that of gasoline but the price is lower. In the present study, the exhaust gas and the particle number (PN) of particulate matter, which is a recent environmental issue, were compared between LPG and CNG for the same vehicle. A chassis dynamometer was used to conduct the test according to the Federal Test Procedure (FTP)-75 and Worldwide harmonized Light-duty vehicle Test Procedure (WLTC) modes. The PN values of discharged particles having sizes of 5 nm or larger and 23 nm or larger were measured using two condensation particle counters (CPC). The ratio of carbon dioxide was high in the exhaust gas from the LPG vehicle; the ratio of methane was high in the exhaust gas from the CNG vehicle. The PN values of the emitted particles from the two fuels were similar. The PN values of particles having sizes of 23 nm or smaller were high in the high-speed WLTC mode.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.631-636
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• 2002

Lethality of high intensity light pulse on the pre-determined microbial populations has been investigated. Prior to the treatment, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Pediococcus pentosaceus were cultivated separately onto the surface of Lactobacilli MRS agar. Pre-determined microbial populations were applied to the test media and these sample were exposed to high intense light source with an exposure time ranging from 1 to $2500\;{\mu}s$. Results showed that at least 200 light pulses of $1\;{\mu}s$ duration were required to reduce L. Plantarum cells by 90% at 25 kV, the greater the number of light pulses, the larger the reduction in viable cell numbers. Viable cells of L. plantarum and the others were reduced by more than 5 and 6 log cycles at the upper exposure level of $750\;{\mu}s$, respectively. These study shows that pulsed light emissions can significantly reduce populations of lactic acid bacteria on exposed surface with exposure times. Killing efficiency for L. plantarum significantly increased with decreasing the distance between the lamp and the surface of samples.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.43-56
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• 2019

Irrigated and flooded rice paddy contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that affect climate. This in turn affects the supply and reliability of the water needed for rice production. This dynamic makes current rice production methods foreseeably less sustainable over time while having other undesirable effects. Intermittent irrigation by a means of the system of rice intensification (SRI) and alternate wetting and drying (AWD) methods was reviewed to reduce global warming potential (GWP) from 29% to 90% depending on site-specific characteristics from flooded rice paddy and analyzed to be a promising option for enhancing the productivity of water as well, an increasingly constraining resource. Additional benefits associated with the SRI/AWD can be less arsenic in the grain and less degradation of water quality in the run-off from rice paddies. Adoption and expansion of intermittent irrigation of SRI/AWD may require costly public and private investments in irrigation infrastructure that can precisely make irrigation control, and the involvement and upgrading of water management agencies and farmer organizations to enhance management capabilities. Private and public collaboration as a means of earning carbon credit under the clean-development mechanism (CDM) with SRI/AWD for industries to meet as a part of their GHG emission quota as well as a social contribution and publicity program could contribute to adopt intermittent irrigation and rural investment and development. Also, inclusion of SRI and AWD in programs designed under CDM and/or in official development assistance (ODA) projects could contribute to climate-change mitigation and help to achieve UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).