• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.37-48
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• 2014

Lab scale rhizofiltration by using four plants was performed to investigate the uranium removal efficiency from groundwater. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L.), radish sprouts (Raphanus sativus L.) and buttercup (Oenanthe javanica) were cultivated during 3 weeks in the phytotron. Glass jar ($12cm{\times}12cm{\times}8cm$ for each), containing 350 ml of the artificially uranium contaminated solution was used for 72 hours of the rhizofiltration. In experiments with different initial uranium concentration ($18.00{\mu}g/L$, $31.00{\mu}g/L$, $84.00{\mu}g/L$ and $116.00{\mu}g/L$) in solution, more than 70% of the initial uranium were removed by using lettuce, Chinese cabbage and radish sprouts and the residual uranium concentration in solution maintained lower than USEPA water tolerance limit ($30{\mu}g/L$). From the rhizofiltration experiments at various pH conditions, the highest uranium removal for all four plants was acquired at pH 3 in solution. Rhizofiltration experiments testing two field samples of groundwaters having high uranium concentrations ($86.00{\mu}g/L$ and $173.00{\mu}g/L$) were duplicated and more than 83% of the initial uranium were removed from the groundwater within 72 hours of rhizofiltration by using radish sprouts, which, suggests that the rhizofiltration can be a useful process to remediate uranium contaminated groundwater in the field. After the rhizofiltration experiment, the SEM and EDS analyses for the root surface of the radish sprouts were conducted, suggesting that the main mechanism of the rhizofiltration for the removal of uranium from groundwater would be surface precipitation on the root surface of the plant.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.525-530
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• 2013

This study investigated the continuous cooling transformation, microstructure, and mechanical properties of highstrength low-alloy steels containing B and Cu. Continuous cooling transformation diagrams under non-deformed and deformed conditions were constructed by means of dilatometry, metallographic methods, and hardness data. Based on the continuous cooling transformation behaviors, six kinds of steel specimens with different B and Cu contents were fabricated by a thermomechanical control process comprising controlled rolling and accelerated cooling. Then, tensile and Charpy impact tests were conducted to examine the correlation of the microstructure with mechanical properties. Deformation in the austenite region promoted the formation of quasi-polygonal ferrite and granular bainite with a significant increase in transformation start temperatures. The mechanical test results indicate that the B-added steel specimens had higher strength and lower upper-shelf energy than the B-free steel specimens without deterioration in low-temperature toughness because their microstructures were mostly composed of lower bainite and lath martensite with a small amount of degenerate upper bainite. On the other hand, the increase of Cu content from 0.5 wt.% to 1.5 wt.% noticeably increased yield and tensile strengths by 100 MPa without loss of ductility, which may be attributed to the enhanced solid solution hardening and precipitation hardening resulting from veryfine Cu precipitates formed during accelerated cooling.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2015

Soluble silica generated from acid leaching process is very difficult to filter and deceases the purity of products, and thus becomes one of hot issues in hydrometallurgy. This paper reviewed the dissolution and reactivities of silicates in acid solution, and the methods for treatment of soluble silica. Removal of silica with alkaline pre-treatment, crystallization to $SiO_2$ and precipitation behaviour of silica with coagulation under acid conditions were briefly described.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.445-449
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• 2012

We investigate the effects of redox reaction on preparation of high purity ${\alpha}$-alumina from selectively ground aluminum dross. Preparation procedure of the ${\alpha}$-alumina from the aluminum dross has four steps: i) selective crushing and grinding, ii) leaching process, iii) redox reaction, and iv) precipitation reaction under controlled pH. Aluminum dross supplied from a smelter was ground to separate metallic aluminum. After the separation, the recovered particles were treated with hydrochloric acid(HCl) to leach aluminum as aluminum chloride solution. Then, the aluminum chloride solution was applied to a redox reaction with hydrogen peroxide($H_2O_2$). The pH value of the solution was controlled by addition of ammonia to obtain aluminum hydroxide and to remove other impurities. Then, the obtained aluminum hydroxide was dried at $60^{\circ}C$ and heat-treated at $1300^{\circ}C$ to form ${\alpha}$-alumina. Aluminum dross was found to contain a complex mixture of aluminum metal, aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, and spinel compounds. Regardless of introduction of the redox reaction, both of the sintered products are composed mainly of ${\alpha}$-alumina. There were fewer impurities in the solution subject to the redox reaction than there were in the solution that was not subject to the redox reaction. The impurities were precipitated by pH control with ammonia solution, and then removed. We can obtain aluminum hydroxide with high purity through control of pH after the redox reaction. Thus, pH control brings a synthesis of ${\alpha}$-alumina with fewer impurities after the redox reaction. Consequently, high purity ${\alpha}$-alumina from aluminum dross can be fabricated through the process by redox reaction.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.29-37
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• 2017

Nuclear fuel cladding tube is fabricated by pilgering and annealing process. In order to remove impurity and oxygen layer on the surface, pickling process is carried out. When Zirconium(Zr) is dissolved and saturated in acid solution during the pickling process, all the waste acid including Zr is disposed. Therefore, $BaF_2$ is added into the waste acid to extract Zr and $Ba_2ZrF_8$ is subsequently formed. To recycle Zr by electrowinning process, $Ba_2ZrF_8$ is used as electrolyte, but it has high melting point ($1053^{\circ}C$). $ZrF_4$ should be added into $Ba_2ZrF_8$ to decrease the melting point. In this paper, it was investigated that $Ba_2ZrF_8$ was separated to $BaF_2$ and $ZrF_4$ by vacuum distillation. Firstly, $BaF_2$ with different particle size ($1{\mu}m$, $35{\mu}m$, $110{\mu}m$) was added into the waste acid and the respective precipitation property was estimated. $BaF_2$ obtained by vacuum distillation was shattered by ball-milling with different time. The precipitation efficiency was compared with $1{\mu}m$ of ${BaF_2}^{\prime}s$ one, which was not used as precipitation agent.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.96-102
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• 2022

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) was synthesized from calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) reacting with phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) in aqueous solution. HAp powders were synthesized from extremely high concentration of precursor solutions over 3 M of Ca(OH)₂ aqueous suspension using modified process parameters such as phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) pouring rate, aging time and post ball milling process. Regardless of phosphoric acid pouring rate, the DCPD (dicalcium phosphate dihydrate) was formed at room temperature and when heated above 700℃, β-TCP (tricalcium phosphate) was synthesized and the amount reached its maximum at 900℃. When the synthesized powder was sintered at 1150℃, β-TCP, a high temperature impurity phase, remained. The single HAp phase without DCPD was obtained from post ball-milled precipitates followed by 3 day aging. For the ball-milled precipitates even without the aging process, the desired single HAp phase without β-TCP could be obtained by heat treatment above 500℃. The post ball milling process provided a convenient route for HAp synthesis.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2002

Characteristics of Amberlite IRN 77, a cation exchange resin, and the mechanisms of its adsorption equilibria with Co(II), Ni(II), Cr(III) and Fe(III) ions were investigated for the application of the demineralizing process in the primary coolant system of a pressurized water reactor (PWR). The optimum dosage of the resin for removal of the dissolved metal ions at $200mgL^{-1}$ was 0.6 g for 100 mL solution. Most of each metal ion was adsorbed onto the resin in an hour from the start of the reaction. Each metal adsorption onto the resin could be well represented by Langmuir isotherms. However, in the case of Fe(III) adsorption, continuous formation of Fe-oxide or -hydroxide and its subsequent precipitation inhibited the completion of the equilibrium between the metal and the adsorbent Cobalt(II) and Ni(II), which have an equivalent electrovalence, were adsorbed to the resin with a similar adsorption amount when they coexisted in the solution. However, Cr(III) added to the solution competitively replaced Co(II) and Ni(II) which were already adsorbed onto the resin, resulting in desorption of these metals into the solution. The result was likely due to a higher adsorption affinity of Cr(III) than Co(II) and Ni(II). This implies that the interactively competitive adsorption of multi-cations onto the resin should be fully considered for an efficient operation of the demineralizing ion exchange process in the primary coolant system.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2023

The accumulation of spent carbide (YG8), not only pollutes the environment but also causes waste of tungsten, cobalt and other rare metal resources. To better address this issue, we proposed a combined electrochemical separation process of low-temperature aqueous solution and high-temperature molten salt for tungsten and cobalt. H₂WO₄ was obtained from spent carbide in an aqueous solution, and we calcined it to obtain WO₃, which was used as a raw material to obtain tungsten by using molten salt electrodeposition. The influence of the current efficiency and the electrochemical behavior of the discharge precipitation of W(VI) were also studied. The calcination results showed that the morphology of WO₃ was regular and there were no other impurities. The maximum current efficiency of 82.91% was achieved in a series of electrodeposition experiments. According to XRD and SEM analysis, the recovered product was high purity tungsten, which belongs to the simple cubic crystal system. In the W(VI) reduction mechanism experiments, the electrochemical process of W(VI) in NaCl-Na₂WO₄-WO₃ molten salt was investigated using linear scanning voltammetry (LSV) and chronoamperometry in a three-electrode system. The LSV showed that W(VI) was reduced at the cathode in two steps and the electrode reaction was controlled by diffusion. The fitting results of chronoamperometry showed that the nucleation mechanism of W(VI) was an instantaneous nucleation mode, and the diffusion coefficient was 7.379×10^-10 cm²·s^-1.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.53-60
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• 2014

In order to separate Indium and Tin from spent indium tin oxide (ITO) sludge, direct hydrochloric acid leaching and thermal reduction followed by HCl leaching were applied. In case of direct leaching of spent ITO, leaching rate of In and Sn was 18.5% and 19.95%, respectively. Whereas, in case of thermal hydrogen treatment of ITO sludge at different temperatures such as $700^{\circ}C$, $800^{\circ}C$, $900^{\circ}C$ and $1100^{\circ}C$, followed by HCl leaching, we obtained the result of more than 97% leaching rate of Sn. Specially, thermal treatment at $800^{\circ}C$ showed the highest leaching rate of 98.2% of Sn. Precipitation method was used for separation and recovery of Sn from leached mixed solution. If the solution pH were adjusted 2.0, 99.69% of Sn precipitated and 10.3% of In was precipitated. This confirmed the possibility of separation of Sn and In from leached solution by precipitation method.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.63-71
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• 2011

A large volume of uranium electrokinetic leachate has been generated during the electrokinetic decontamination to remove uranium from contaminated soil. The treatment technology for the reuse of the uranium leachate was developed. The concentration of uranium in the generated uranium leachate was 180 ppm and concentrations of Mg(II), K(I), Fe(II), and Al(III) ions ranged from 20 ppm to 1,210 ppm. The treatment process for uranium leachate consisted mainly of mixing and cohesion, precipitation, concentration, and filtration. In order to obtain the pH=11 of a precipitate solution, the calcium hydroxide needs to be 3.0g/100ml and the sodium hydroxide needed to be 2.7g/100ml. The results of several precipitation experiments showed that a mixture of NaOH+0.2g alum+0.15g magnetite was an optimal precipitant for filtration. The average particle size of precipitate with NaOH+alum+0.15g magnetite was $600\;{\mu}m$. Because the total value of metal concentrations in supernatant at pH=9 was the smallest, sodium hydroxide should be added with 0.2g alum and 0.15g magnetite for pH=9 of leachate.