• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.58-64
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• 2013

This study proposed a low temperature hydrothermal carbonization to treat and recycle sewage sludge and determined the optimal conditions for the biochar production. The physical and chemical properties of biochar were analyzed and its sorption capacity for heavy metals was evaluated. To produce biochar, 50 g of sewage sludge was heated at 220, 230, and $240^{\circ}C$ for 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 10 hours in a reactor. The optimal conditions to produce biochar was $230^{\circ}C$ and 8 hours. Sorption capacity tests were conducted for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni). Among them, lead was shown the highest heavy metal adsorption efficiency of biochar, followed by copper, cadmium, zinc, and nickel, but arsenic was hardly adsorbed overall.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.47-53
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• 2012

In this study, the adsorption of $Cu^{2+}$ and $Cd^{2+}$ from aqueous solution on the biochar derived from used coffee grounds at different pyrolysis temperatures has been investigated as a potential low-cost treatment method for heavy metal-containing waters. Three biochar samples prepared by heating coffee sludge at temperature of $300^{\circ}C$ (B300), $500^{\circ}C$ (B500), and $700^{\circ}C$ (B700) were tested for the adsorption capacity and kinetics of Cd and Cu. Also the influencing factor of heavy metal removal by ion exchange in terms of cation exchange capacity (CEC) of each biochar was measured. Adsorption of Ca and Cu by biochar produced at higher pyrolysis temperature showed higher adsorption capacity but the optimal pyrolysis temperature based on performance and economy was known as $500^{\circ}C$. Sorption of Cu and Cd by biochar followed a Langmuir model at pH 6~6.5, attributing mainly to surface sorption. The biochar was more effective in Cu and Cd sorption than activated carbon (AC), with BC 500 being the most effective, which indicates that sorption of Cd and Cu by coffee sludge biochar is partly influenced by chemical sorption on surface functional group as well as physical sorption.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.277-284
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• 2014

Biochar application to soil is widely known to have effects of climate change mitigation and soil quality improvement. However, effects of biochar on soil ecosystem are not always positive and some biochars are reported to contain toxic materials which might influence soil ecosystem. In this context, this study aims to investigate behavioral changes of earthworms(Eisenia fetida, Eisenia andrei) in response to different application rates of biochar to artificial soil. Treatment included two types of biochars made from rice husk (RH_Char) and wastewater sludge (SL_Char) with 1% and 10% application rates, respectively. Avoidance test revealed that earthworms did not avoid SL_Char treatments at 1% and 10%, while they rather moved to the RH_Char treatments probably due to higher labile carbon content(Hot water extractable carbon) of the RH_Char. The HWC content of RH_Char was 4 times higher than that of the SL_Char. Results of reproduction test showed that the survival rates, number of juveniles and number of cocoons were not influenced by biochar application except for the treatment of SL_Char at 10% rate. In the SL_Char 10% treatment, fatality was approximately 3.3 times as high as the control and the number of cocoons was 1.3 times higher in the same treatment than the control, indicating that earthworms were under environmental stress. The possible explanation for the stress condition was related to higher Cd, Ni, Cr, and As contents in the SL_Char. Overall results imply that biochar application at low rate might not change earthworms' behavior for the short term, while the reproduction behavior might be negatively influenced under the high application rate.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 2019.10a
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• pp.134-134
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• 2019

Utilization of organic waste as a renewable energy source is promising for sustainability and mitigation of climate change. Pyrolysis converts organic waste to gas, oil, and biochar by incomplete biomass combustion. Biochar is widely used as a soil conditioner and adsorbent. Biochar adsorbs/desorbs metals and ions depending on the soil environment and condition to act as a nutrient buffer in soils. Biochar is also regarded as a carbon storage by fixation of organic carbon. Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) are strictly controlled in many wastewater treatment plants because it causes eutrophication in water bodies. P and N is removed by biological and chemical methods in wastewater treatment plants and transferred to sludge for disposal. On the other hand, P is an irreplaceable essential element for all living organisms and its resource (phosphate rock) is estimated about 100 years of economical mining. Therefore, P and N recovery from waste and wastewater is a critical issue for sustainable human society. For the purpose, intensive researches have been carried out to remove and recover P and N from waste and wastewater. Previous studies have shown that biochars can adsorb and desorbed phosphates implying that biochars could be a complementary fertilizer. However, most of the conventional biochar have limited capacity to adsorb phosphates and nitrate. Recent studies have focused on biochar impregnated with metal salts to improve phosphates and nitrate adsorption by synthesizing biochars with novel structures and surface properties. Metal salts and metal oxides have been used for the surface modification of biochars. If P removal is the only concern, P adsorption kinetics and capacity are the only important factors. If both of P and N removal and the application of recovery are concerned, however, P and N desorption characteristics and bioavailability are also critical factors to be considered. Most of the researches on impregnated biochars have focused on P removal efficiency and kinetics. In this study, coffee waste is thermally treated to produce biochar and it was impregnated with Mg/Al to enhance phosphates and nitrate adsorption/desorption and P bioavailability to increase its value as a fertilizer. Kinetics of phosphates and nitrate adsorption/desorption and bioavailability analysis were carried out to estimate its potential as a P and N removal adsorbent in wasewater and a fertilizer in soil.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.197-203
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• 2018

Biochar is the carbon solid produced through the pyrolysis of a biomass from organic sources such as agricultural waste, animal manure, and sludge under limited or anaerobic conditions. Biochar has the effect of reducing greenhouse gases through the carbon sequestration method; additionally, biochar is known to function as a soil amendment. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the application of biochar on the growth characteristics of Chinese cabbage at Chungnam National University in Daejeon, Korea. The Chinese cabbage was grown for 50 days in a glasshouse in pots. A pruning branch was used to produce the bead and pellet forms of biochar through pyrolysis. The biochar was added to the soil at 0, 2, and 5% by weight. The Chinese cabbage with the 2% treatment of the bead form of biochar had the highest fresh weight ($149.43{\pm}15.92g\;plant^{-1}$) which was increased by 10% compared to the control ($136.91{\pm}31.46g\;plant^{-1}$). Moreover, for the 5% treatment of the bead form of biochar ($60.91{\pm}9.82g\;plant^{-1}$), the growth decreased by 57% compared to the control. As the content of the bead form of biochar increased, the shoot dry weight, leaf number, leaf length and lead width that appeared decreased. An increase in the total organic matter, Avail. $P_2O_5$, Ex. cation and EC was observed when the biochar content was increased. Our results support the application of 2% biochar in the bead form for increased growth of Chinese cabbage.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2022

This work examined the effect of mixing transition metal-based additives [FeCl₃, Fe-containing paper mill sludge (PMS), CoCl₂·H₂O, ZrO₂, and α-Fe₂O₃] on the thermochemical conversion of coffee waste (CW) in carbon dioxide-assisted pyrolysis process. Compared to the generation amounts of syngas (0.7 mole% H₂ & 3.0 mole% CO) at 700℃ from single pyrolysis of CW, co-pyrolysis in the presence of Fe- or Zr-based additives resulted in the enhanced production of syngas, with the measured concentrations of H₂ and CO ranging 1.1-3.4 mole% and 4.6-13.2 mole% at the same temperature, respectively. In addition, α-Fe₂O₃ biochar possessed the adsorption capacity of As(V) (19.3 mg g^-1) comparable to that of ZrO₂-biochar (21.2 mg g^-1). In conclusion, solid-type Fe-based additive can be highly considered as an efficient catalyst to simultaneously produce syngas (H₂ & CO) as fuel energy resource and metal-biochar as sorbent.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.19-30
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• 2019

Objective of this study was to develop an organic fertilizer utilizing domestic livestock horn meal and to investigate the application effect of rice and eggplant. The possibility of utilization of livestock horn meal as an organic resource to replace imported expeller cake fertilizer was examined. In order to select domestic organic resources with high nitrogen content, 8 kinds of organic matter such as chicken manure, fish meal, soybean meal, sesame meal, perilla meal, blood meal, livestock horn meal, and beer sludge were analyzed and organic resources with high nitrogen content were selected. In addition, the conditions for the production of organic fertilizers that can be used in organic agriculture were established by mixing of the rice husk biochar and the rice bran as the supplements with the raw materials for mixing ratios. The content of total nitrogen (T-N) in the livestock horn meal was 12.0 %, which was the next low in 13.5 % blood meal. The content of total nitrogen was 5.9 ~ 7.9 % in fish meal and oil cakes. Total nitrogen content of non-antibiotic chicken manure for organic farming was 3 % and nitrogen content in beer sludge was 3.5 %. Organic fertilizer was produced by using biochar, rice bran as a main ingredient of non-antibiotic chicken manure, livestock horn meal and beer sludge. Compared to nitrogen content (4.0 to 4.2 %) of imported expeller cake fertilizer (ECF), the nitrogen content of organic fertilizer utilizing domestic livestock horn meal is as high as 7.5 %. The developed organic fertilizer is met as Zn 400 mg/kg, Cu 120 mg/kg the quality of organic agricultural materials such as or less. To investigate the effect of fertilizer application on the crops, prototypes of developed organic fertilizer were used for the experiment under selected conditions. As a result of application the developed organic livestock horn meal fertilizer (LHMF) for cultivation of the rice and eggplant, the application quantity of the developed organic LHMF 100 % was decreased by 40 % compared to that of the mixed expeller cake fertilizer (MECF). The application of LHMF, which refers to the application rate corresponding to the nitrogen fertilization recommended by the soil test, was reduced by 40% compared to the application rate of MECF, but the same results were obtained in crop growth and yield. The selection of a new high concentration nitrogen source utilizing domestic organic resources and the development of organic fertilizer is the starting point of the research for substitution of imported ECF using domestic local resources at the present time that the spread of eco-friendly agriculture is becoming increasingly important. If it is expanded in the future, it is expected to contribute to the stable production of eco-friendly agricultural products.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.21-33
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to determine the order of priority for the use of amendments, matching the optimal amendment to the specific site in Korea. This decision-making process must prioritize the stabilization and economic efficiency of amendment for heavy metals and metalloid based on domestic site contamination scenarios. For this study, total 5 domestic heavy metal contaminated sites were selected based on different pollution scenarios and 13 amendments, which were previously studied as the soil stabilizer. Batch extraction experiments were performed to quantify the stabilization efficiency for 8 heavy metals (including As and Hg) for 5 soil samples, representing 5 different pollution scenarios. For each amendment, the analyses using XRD and XRF to identify their properties, the toxicity characteristics leaching procedure (TCLP) test, and the synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) test were also conducted to evaluate the leaching safety in applied site. From results of batch experiments, the amendments showing > 20% extraction lowering efficiency for each heavy metal (metalloid) was selected and the top 5 ranked amendments were determined at different amount of amendment and on different extraction time conditions. For each amendment, the total number of times ranked in the top 5 was counted, prioritizing the feasible amendment for specific domestic contaminated sites in Korea. Mine drainage treatment sludge, iron oxide, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, calcite, iron sulfide, biochar showed high extraction decreasing efficiency for heavy metals in descending order. When the economic efficiency for these amendments was analyzed, mine drainage treatment sludge, limestone, steel making slag, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide were determined as the priority amendment for the Korean field application in descending order.