• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.123-138
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• 1997

Electroosmotic tests were performed on saturated marine clay specimens contaminated with lead to investigate the efficiency of the electrokinetic technique for removal of heavy metals from the cohesive soils. For this purpose, testing program included variable conditions such as the concentration of lead (500, 5, 000, 50, 000mg/kg), the level of electrical current (10, 50, 100 mA), operating duration (5, 15, 30days), and the application of three dirtferent chemicals for enhancement in efficiency. The pH of inflow and outflow, electroosmotic flow and electrical conductivity during the test, and the pH and the concentration of lead across the specimen after the test are presented. Test results came to the conclusion that the electrokinetic technique was very effective to remove heavy metals such as lead from the contaminated cohesive soil. Adding ecetic acid at the cathod to dissolve the procipitates of lead hydroxide as found to be effective for the enhancement of the efficiency in remediation.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.75-81
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• 2012

In this study, remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil was attempted by the electrokinetic process equipped with fixed or swappable electrode. Copper was more effectively removed with EDTA than citric acid. Zinc was much more removed than copper with both detergents. When electrokinetic with fixed electrode and detergents were applied to the contaminated soil, copper was removed about 28.52%~35.25% and zinc was removed about 63.44%~71.48%. When electrokinetics with swappable electrode and detergents were applied to the contaminated soil, the pseudo-first order reaction constants was higher about 16~50% than with fixed electrode in the case of zinc. It is conclusive that electrokinetics with swappable electrode could be an effective method for the remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.41-44
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• 2006

The objective of this study was to evaluate the stabilization of As and heavy metals in tailings from the Samkwang Au-Ag mine with $Ca(OH)_2$. In order to evaluate the stabilization ability of As and heavy metals in the tailings, column test was implemented with various conditions as 1) particle size of $Ca(OH)_2$, 2) mixing method and 3) flow rate of eluents during 60 days. The results showed that addition with 5% of $Ca(OH)_2$ in 1kg of the tailings had the most effective ability of stabilization up to 95%. In addition, stabilization ability of As and heavy metals in tailings was enhanced using a fine powder of $Ca(OH)_2$. Therefore, stabilization technology can be used as a remediation of As and heavy metals in mine wastes including tailings and a nearby soils from abandoned metal mines.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.35-44
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• 2014

In this study, the bio-phytoremediation and phytoremediation technologies were applied to the soils contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and heavy metals to evaluate the remediation efficacy from May 2012 to December 2013. Poplar (Populus bonatii Levl.) and Sun Hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) were selected and planted in phytoremediation practice. These plants were also utilized in the bio-phytoremediation practice, with the addition of earthworm (Eisenia fetida) and petroleum-degrading bacteria (Pseudomonos sp. NKNU01). Furthermore, physiological characteristics, such as photosynthesis rate and maximal photochemical yield, of all testing plants were also measured in order to assess their health conditions and tolerance levels in adverse environment. After 20 months of remedial practice, the results showed that bio-phytoremediation practice had a higher rate of TPH removal efficacy at 30-60 cm depth soil than that of phytoremediation. However, inconsistent results were discovered while analyzing the soil at 100 cm depth. The study also showed that the removal efficiency of heavy metals was lower than that of TPH after remediation treatment. The results from test field tissue sample analysis revealed that more Zinc than Chromium was absorbed and accumulated by the tested plants. Plant height measurements of Poplar and Sun Hemp showed that there were insignificant differences of growth between the plants in remediation plots and those in the control plot. Physiological data of Poplar also suggested it has higher tolerance level toward the contaminated soils. These results indicated that the two testing plants were healthy and suitable for this remediation study.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.25-39
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• 2003

Risk and exposure assessment for subsurface environment is very important for both aspects of health and environmental protection as well as making decision of remedial goal for engineering activities. Exposure due to hazardous chemicals in the subsurface environment is essential to assess risk lev121 to individual person, especially from soil and groundwater environmental media. In this paper, the status of soil and groundwater contamination is presented to discuss on the problem for environmental risk assessment. The methodologies of fate and exposure models are also discussed by conducting the case studies of exposure assessment for heavy metals, organic compounds, and dioxin compounds. In addition, the structure of exposure models and available data for model calculation are examined to make clear more realistic exposure scenarios and the application to the practical environmental issues. Three kinds of advanced remediation techniques for soil and groundwater contamination are described in this paper, The most practical method for VOCs is the bio-remediation technique in which biological process due to consortium of microorganisms can be applied. For more effective remediation of soil contaminated by heavy metals we have adopted the soil flushing technique and clean-up system using electro-kinetic method. We have also developed the advanced techniques of geo-melting method for soil contaminated by DXNs and PCB compounds. These techniques are planed to introduce and to apply for a lot of contaminated sites in Japan.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.137-146
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• 2018

Soil washing is one of the most frequently used remediation technologies for heavy metal-contaminated soils. Inorganic and organic acids and chelating agents that can enhance the removal of heavy metals from contaminated soils have been employed as soil washing agents. However, the toxicity, low removal efficiency and high cost of these chemicals limit their use. Given that humic substance (HS) can effectively chelate heavy metals, the development of an eco-friendly, performance-efficient and cost-effective soil washing agent using a nano-scale chelator composed of HS was examined in this study. Copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) were selected as target heavy metals. In soil washing experiments, HS concentration, pH, soil:washing solution ratio and extraction time were evaluated with regard to washing efficiency and the chelation effect. The highest removal rates by soil washing (69% for Cu and 56% for Pb) were achieved at an HS concentration of 1,000 mg/L and soil:washing solution ratio of 1:25. Washing with HS was found to be effective when the pH value was higher than 8, which can be attributed to the increased chelation effect between HS and heavy metals at the high pH range. In contrast, the washing efficiency decreased markedly in the low pH range due to HS precipitation. The chelation capacities for Cu and Pb in the aqueous phase were determined to be 0.547mmol-Cu/g-HS and 0.192mmol-Pb/g-HS, respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.399-422
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• 2020

Remediating soils contaminated with heavy metals due to urbanization and industrialization is very important not only for human health but also for ecosystem sustainability. Of the available remediation technologies for heavy metal-contaminated soils, phytoremediation is a relatively low-cost environment-friendly technology which preserves biodiversity and soil fertility. The application of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) during the phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated soils can enhance plant growth against heavy metal toxicity and increase heavy metal removal efficiency. In this study, the sources of heavy metals that have adverse effects on microorganisms, plants, and humans, and the plant growth-promoting traits of PGPB are addressed and the research trends of PGPB-assisted phytoremediation over the last 10 years are summarized. In addition, the effects of environmental factors and PGPB inoculation methods on the performance of PGPB-assisted phytoremediation are discussed. For the innovation of PGPB-assisted phytoremediation, it is necessary to understand the behavior of PGPB and the interactions among plant, PGPB, and indigenous microorganisms in the field.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2012

As topographic characteristics of Korea where 64 % of the national land area is forest and only 17 % is being used as farmland, remediation of farmland contaminated by heavy metals is a considerably important issue. In this study, as an alternative of practically and effectively remediating farmland which was abandoned as its crop plants exceeded maximum residue limit of heavy metals due to mining impact, applicability of stabilization method was examined through the pilot-scale field experiment. Three plots ($L{\times}W{\times}D=3m{\times}2m{\times}0.3m$) were installed at the selected farmland and in plot 1, only soil of the selected farmland was applied, in pilot 2, soil of the selected farmland plus 3 % limestone (w/w) was applied and in pilot 3, soil of the selected farmland plus 3 % limestone was applied and then uncontaminated soil was covered thereon (0.3 m). After that, seeds of radish, Korean cabbage and soybean of which characteristics of edible portions are different were sowed on each plot and cultivated. Afterwards, at a proper harvesting time (app. 80 days later), crop plants and soil were collected and phytoavailability (0.11 M HOAc extractable) of heavy metals in soil and accumulated concentration of heavy metal in edible portion of crop plants were examined. As a result, it was revealed that phytoavailability of heavy metals in soil added with limestone (plot 2) was clearly reduced compared with plot 1 (untreated) and owing to this treatment, accumulated concentration of heavy metals in edible portion of crops was also clearly reduced compared with plot 1. While radish cultivated in plot 1 had exceeded maximum residue limit of agricultural products, in particular, plot 2 using limestone had shown concentration lower than maximum residue limit and this plot had shown little difference with 3 plot where crop was cultivated in uncontaminated soil cover. Therefore, it was considered that for abandoned farmland like the selected farmland, reducing mobility and phytoavailability of heavy metals and reducing crop uptake through stabilization method would be an effective and practical alternative for producing safe agricultural products on a sustained basis.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.66-74
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• 2016

Environmental pollution from abandoned metal mines has been awarded as serious problem and many techniques have been applied to remediate pollutants. Main objective of this research was to evaluate efficiency of heavy metal sorption capacity of spent mushroom media (SMM) in aqueous and soil matrix. Laboratory batch experiment was conducted and 4 different heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn) were evaluated. In aqueous phase, all 4 heavy metals showed high reduction efficiency ranged from 60-99% and Pb showed the highest sorption efficiency. In case of soil phase, much lower sorption efficiency was observed compared to aqueous phase. The highest reduction efficiency was observed in Cd (average of 38%). With scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive detector (SED-EDS) analysis, we confirmed sorption of heavy metals at the surface of SMM. Overall, SMM can be used as sorption materials for heavy metals in both aqueous and soil matrix and more research should be conducted to increase sorption efficiency of SMM in soil.

• 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).