• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.478-489
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• 2020

This study presents an analysis of infrasonic signals from two accidental explosions in Gwangyang city, Jeonnam Province, Korea, on December 24, 2019, recorded at 12 infrasound stations located 151-435 km away. Infrasound propagation refracted at an altitude of ~40 km owing to higher stratospheric wind in the NNW direction, resulting in favorable detection at stations in that direction. However, tropospheric phases were observed at stations located in the NE and E directions from the explosion site because of the strong west wind jet formed at ~10 km. The transmission losses on the propagation path were calculated using the effective sound velocity structure and parabolic equation modeling. Based on the losses, the observed signal amplitudes were corrected, and overpressures were estimated at the reference distance. From the overpressures, the source energy was evaluated through the overpressure-explosive charge relationship. The two explosions were found to have energies equivalent to 14 and 65 kg TNT, respectively. At the first explosion, a flying fragment forced by an explosive shock wave was observed in the air. The energy causing the flying fragment was estimated to be equivalent to 49 kg or less of TNT, obtained from the relationship between the fragment motion and overpressure. Our infrasound propagation modeling is available to constrain the source energy for remote explosions. To enhance the confidence in energy estimations, further studies are required to reflect the uncertainty of the atmospheric structure models on the estimations and to verify the relationships by various ground truth explosions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.10
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• pp.575-580
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• 2017

Chlorinated hydrocarbons (TCE and PCE), petroleum hydrocarbons (BTEX, PAHs, and TPH), and explosive compounds (TNT, RDX, and HMX) have been detected in underground water countrywide. The overall objective of this study is to evaluate sono-catalytic degradation coupled with the use of PUV in order to understand the fate and transport of a representative selection of non-biodegradable contaminants (i.e., TCE, PCE, BTEX, PAHs, TPH, TNT, RDX, and HMX) in groundwater. Both ultraviolet (UV) and ultrasound (US) systems are used in degrading of organic contaminants and they can thus be applicable simultaneously as an UV/US hybrid system in attempts further to increase the degradation efficiency. Results indicate that synergistic effect of UV/US hybrid system is closely correlated to the enhancement of sono-chemical reactivity with the UV-US interaction of increasing the formation rate of OH by providing additional $H_2O_2$ production through the pyrolysis of water molecules during UV/US hybrid irradiation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.153-160
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• 2005

There have been large areas of soil contaminated with high levels of explosives. For this experimental work, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was tested as a representative explosive contaminant of concern in both aqueous and soil samples and its removal was evaluated using three different chemical treatment methods: 1) the classical Fenton reaction which utilizes hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) and soluble iron at pH less than 3; 2) a modified Fenton reaction which utilizes chelating agents, $H_2O_2$, and soluble iron at pH 7; and 3) a Fenton-like process which utilizes iron minerals instead of soluble iron and $H_2O_2$, generating a hydroxyl radical. Using classic Fenton reaction, 93% of TNT was removed in 20 h at pH 3 (soil spiked with 300 mg/L of TNT, 3% $H_2O_2$ and 1mM Fe(III)), whereas 21% removed at pH 7. The modified Fenton reaction, using nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), oxalate, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), acetate and citrate as representative chelating agents, was tested with 3% $H_2O_2$ at pH 7 for 24 h. Results showed the TNT removal in the order of NTA, EDTA, oxalate, citrate and acetate, with the removal efficiency of 87%, 71%, 64%, 46%, and 37%, respectively, suggesting NTA as the most effective chelating agent. The Fenton-like reaction was performed with water contaminated with 100 mg/L TNT and soil contaminated with 300 mg/L TNT, respectively, using 3% $H_2O_2$ and such iron minerals as goethite, magnetite, and hematite. In the goethite-water system, 33% of TNT was removed at pH 3 whereas 28% removed at pH 7. In the magnetite-water system, 40% of TNT was removed at pH 3 whereas 36% removed at pH 7. In the hematite-water system, 40% of TNT was removed at pH 3 whereas 34% removed at pH 7. For further experiments combining the modified Fenton reaction with the Fenton-like reaction, NTA, EDTA, and oxalate were selected with the natural iron minerals, magnetite and hematite at pH 7, based on the results from the modified Fenton reaction. As results, in case magnetite was used, 79%, 59%, and 14% of TNT was removed when NTA, oxalate, and EDTA used, respectively, whereas 73%, 25%, and 19% removed in case of hematite, when NTA, oxalate, and EDTA used, respectively.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.417-443
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• 2020

Tunnels have been an integral part of human civilization. Due to complexity in its design and structure, the stability of underground structures under extreme loading conditions has utmost importance. Increased terrorism and geo-political conflicts have forced the engineers and researchers to study the response of underground structures, especially tunnels under blast loading. The present study has been carried out to seek the response of tunnel structures under blast load using the finite element technique. The tunnel has been considered in quartzite rock of northern India. The Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model has been adopted for the elastoplastic behaviour of rock. The rock model surrounding the tunnel has dimensions of 30 m x 30 m x 35 m. Both unlined and lined (concrete) tunnel has been studied. Concrete Damage Plasticity model has been considered for the concrete lining. Four different parameters (i.e., tunnel diameter, liners thickness, overburden depth and mass of explosive) have been varied to observe the behaviour under different condition. To carry out blast analysis, Coupled-Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) modelling has been adopted for modelling of TNT (Trinitrotoluene) and enclosed air. JWL (Jones-Wilkins-Lee) model has been considered for TNT explosive modelling. The paper concludes that deformations in lined tunnels follow a logarithmic pattern while in unlined tunnels an exponential pattern has been observed. The stability of the tunnel has increased with an increase in overburden depth in both lined and unlined tunnels. Furthermore, the tunnel lining thickness also has a significant effect on the stability of the tunnel, but in smaller diameter tunnel, the increase in tunnel lining thickness has not much significance. The deformations in the rock tunnel have been decreased with an increase in the diameter of the tunnel.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.319-328
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• 2017

The identification of explosive residues on specimens obtained from an explosion event is a crucial factor for assessing the cause of the explosion. In order to detect the components of explosives, the explosive residues deposited on surfaces are commonly extracted using swabbing materials pre-wetted with an organic solvent. The residues are then analyzed with analytical instruments such as LC/MS and CE/MS. Most conventionally used swabbing media such as cotton swabs or cotton tip swabs seem unsuitable for extracting explosive residues from the surface of a large area of clothes because the swabbing materials tend to be damaged easily, and because only a relatively small amount of explosives is collected. To overcome these problems, we have introduced a novel wiper ($215{\times}210mm$, single layer, Yuhan-Kimberly, Republic of Korea) as a swabbing material to recover representative organic explosives, namely, TNT, RDX, tetryl, HMX, PETN, and NG, from a large area of clothes. Different sides of the wiper, which was folded in half five times, was used to swab the surface of a clothing. We compared this novel wiper with a cotton swab and a cotton tip swab in terms of the recovery efficiency for the aforementioned organic explosives by pre-wetting with methanol, acetone, and acetonitrile, respectively. We identified that this novel wiper collected a significantly higher amount of organic explosive residues than a cotton swab or a cotton tip swab when using methanol as an extracting solvent.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.3659-3664
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• 2013

Eight representative explosives (ammonium perchlorate (AP), ammonium nitrate (AN), trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), cyclonite (RDX), cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine (HMX), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), and hexanitrostilbene (HNS)) were comprehensively analyzed with an ion trap mass spectrometer in negative ion mode using direct infusion electrospray ionization. MS/MS experiments were performed to generate fragment ions from the major parent ion of each explosive. Explosives in salt forms such as AP or AN provided cluster parent ions with their own anions. Explosives with an aromatic ring were observed as either $[M-H]^-$ for TNT and DNT or $[M]^{{\cdot}-}$ for HNS, while explosives without an aromatic ring such as RDX, HMX, and PETN were detected as an adduct ion with a formate anion, i.e., $[M+HCOO]^-$. These findings provide a guideline for the rapid and accurate detection of explosives once portable MS instruments become more readily available.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.828-832
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• 2013

In this paper, numerical analysis was performed about whether the flash fire of loaded shells breaks out in the virtual combat vehicle according to sorts of the kinetic energy ammunition as the preceding research for vulnerability analysis inside the combat system by an external threaty ammunition. In this simulation, Autodyn program was used and the Lee-Tarver ignition and growth model was used to determine the flash fire outbreak. In this study, the kinetic energy ammunition was set of type A and type B in two kinds and the loaded shells was set of COMPB, TNT, PBX9404 and ANB. As a result, TNT and PBX9404 have much higher flash fire probability than COMPB in high explosive, ANB has very low flash fire probability.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.19-27
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• 2015

Permissible soil concentrations for explosives (i.e., TNT and RDX) and heavy metals (i.e., Cu, Zn, Pb, and As) heve been derived from human risk and ecotoxicity, respectively. For TNT and RDX, human risk based-permissible soil concentrations were determined as 460 mg-TNT/kg-soil and 260 mg-RDX/kg-soil. Ecotoxicity based-permissible soil concentrations for Cu and Zn were determined from species sensitivity distribution (SSD) and uncertainty factor of 1 to 5, yielding 18.0-40.0 mg-Cu/kg-soil and 46.0-100 mg-Zn/kg-soil. For Pb and As, ecotoxicity data were not enough to establish SSD so that a deterministic method was used, generating 13.8-30.8 mg-Pb/kg-soil and 2.10-4.60 mg-As/kg-soil. It is worth noting that the methodology used to derive permissible concentrations in soil can differ depending on ecotoxicity data availability and socio-economic situations, which results in different permissible concentrations. The permissible concentrations presented in this study have been derived from conservative assumptions for exposure parameters, and thus should be considered as soil standards. In the light of remediation and pollution management of a site of interest, the site-specific and receptor-specific permissible soil concentrations should be derived considering potential receptors, current and future land use, background concentrations, and socio-economic consultation.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.160-172
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• 2022

The design regulations for simple explosive storage in Korea only stipulate standards for the materials and thickness of the wall of the structure because the amount of explosives that can be stored is small. There is concern about secondary damage during an internal explosion in a simple storage facility, and it is necessary to reexamine the current standards. The numerical analysis for the TNT 15 kg explosion inside the simple storage was carried out by setting the factors using the robust experimental design method. The displacement of the structure generated under the same time condition was analyzed, and the contribution was evaluated. The contribution of concrete thickness was the highest, and the contribution of concrete strength and rebar arrangement was lower than that of concrete thickness. The reinforcement diameter contributed extremely little to the displacement. The structural standards of the simple storage that are currently applied are insufficient on blast resistance, and it is necessary to present new design standards. Therefore, the design factor to be applied later analysis and actual experiments were taken into consideration. For the design variables, the thickness of the concrete was 15 cm considering the displacement, the concrete strength was selected as general concrete considering the inlet discharge pressure, the factor with the lowest average displacement was selected for the reinforcement arrangement and the diameter of the reinforcement, the factor with the smallest level was selected in consideration of economic feasibility because the difference in displacement was low.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.78-84
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• 2013

This study was conducted in order to evaluate the removal process for long-term contamination sources including chlorinated hydrocarbons (TCE and PCE) and explosive compounds (TNT, RDX, and HMX) in underground water using a pulsed-UV system. Crystallized cells containing the contaminants were placed 10, 20, and 40 cm away from a lamp that emits pulsed-UV rays in order to examine how the removal efficiency is influenced by the distance between the source of the light and the compounds. Chlorinated hydrocarbons were completely removed in 30 minutes with a distance of 10 cm, while PCE was completely removed even with a distance of 20 cm. In the case of explosive compounds, removal efficiencies slightly varied depending on the compounds. The majority of the compounds were perfectly removed with a contact time of 10 minutes. In particular, for RDX, the results showed that complete removal was obtained within one minute, regardless of the distance from the UV source. The amount of light energy is in inverse proportion to the distance, and thus the energy reaching the compounds severely diminishes as the distance increases. Therefore, the removal efficiency decreased with increasing distance in the system.