• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.6B
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• pp.689-694
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• 2006

The system performance of a bioactive foam reactor (BFR), that consists of a foam column using a surfactant and a biodegradation basin containing suspended bacteria, was investigated for the treatment of gaseous toluene or a mixture of four volatile organic compounds (VOCs, benzene, toluene, p-xylene, and styrene). Overall, the BFR achieved stable VOC removal efficiencies, indicating that it can be used as a potential alternative over conventional packed-bed biofilters. Furthermore, a dynamic loading test showed that relatively constant removal was maintained at the elevated loading due to a high mass transfer rate in the foam column. However, as the inlet concentration of VOCs increased, a portion of the VOCs mass-transferred to the liquid phase was stripped out from the biodegradation basin, resulting in a decrease in the overall removal efficiency. In the BFR, the removal efficiency of the individual VOC was mainly determined depending on the biodegradation rate (styrene > toluene > benzene > p-xylene), rather than the mass transfer rate. Consequently, increases in the microbial activity and the volume of the basin could improve the overall performance of the BFR system. Further investigation on microbial activity and community dynamics is required for the BFR when subjected to high loadings of VOC mixtures.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.304.1-304.1
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• 2016

We have investigated the effect of plasma nitridation of atomic layer deposited-Al2O3 films of monocrystalline Si wafers and the thermal properties of nitridated Al2O3 films. Nitridation was performed on Al2O3 to form aluminum oxynitride (AlON) using NH3 plasma treatment in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and it was conducted at temperature of $400^{\circ}C$ with various plasma power condition. After nitridation, we performed firing and forming gas annealing (FGA). For each step, we have observed the minority carrier lifetime and the implied Voc by using quasi-Steady-State photoconductance (QSSPC). We confirmed a tendency to increase the minority carrier lifetime and the implied Voc after the nitridation. On the other hand, the minority carrier lifetime and the implied Voc was decreased after Firing and forming gas annealing (FGA). To get more information, we studied properties of the plasma treated Al2O3 films by using Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS).

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.83-93
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• 1999

ASPEN PLUS, a steady-state simulator, was used in this study for predicting emissions of VOCs and tracing the fate of all compounds in biodegradation processes. Mathematical models for the processes such as volatilization, reaction and clarification were adopted from literatures. Unlike most previous simulations that various pollutants were considered as a single component, COD or BOD, four components of water, biomass, VOCs and COD were included in this simulation. Sensitivity analysis of several physical parameters on the performance of the WWTP was conducted. Model predictions of VOCs emissions agreed well with the plant data. The simulator could provide design conditions for a future WWTP as well as monitoring/control regimes to an existing WWTP.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.363-376
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• 2003

In this study, the fugitive emission characteristics of airborne volatile organic compounds from different source categories were evaluated with respect to the concentrations measured in the vicinity of the sources. A total of 22 different sources were investigated, including gasoline storage and filling stations, painting spray booth, laundry, printing officer, textile industries, and a number of environmental sanitary facilities such as landfill, wastewater treatment and incineration plants. The target VOCs included 83 individual compounds, which were determined by adsorption sampling and thermal desorption coupled with GC/MS analysis. Overall, the aliphatic compounds appeared to be the most abundant class of compounds in terms of their concentrations, followed by aromatic, and halogenated hydrocarbons. As a single compound, however, toluene was the most abundant one, explaining 11% of the total VOC concentrations as an average of all the dataset. Among source categories, petroleum associated sources such as gasoline storage/filling stations, and laundry factory were identified as the most significant sources of aliphatic hydrocarbons, while aromatic VOCs were dominantly emitted from the sources handling organic solvents, such as painting booth, printing offices, and textile dyeing processes. However. there was no apparent pattern in terms of the contributions of eath group to the total VOCs concentrations in environmental sanitary facilities. It was also found that the activated carbon adsorption tower installed for the VOC emission control in some facilities do not show any effective performances, which may result in the increased VOC levels in the ambient atmosphere.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1028-1033
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• 2009

In this study, the dynamics of living cells (LC) and dead cells (DC) in a laboratory-scale biofilm membrane bioreactor for waste gas treatment was examined. Toluene was used as a model pollutant. The bacterial cells were enumerated as fluoromicroscopic counts during a 140 operating day period using BacLight nucleic acid staining in combination with epifluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CSLM). Overall, five different phases could be distinguished during the biofilm development: (A) cell attachment, (B) pollutant limitation, (C) biofilm establishment and colonization, (D) colonized biofilm, and (E) biofilm erosion. The bioreactor was operated under different conditions by applying different pollutant concentrations. An optimum toluene removal of 89% was observed at a loading rate of 14.4 kg $m^{-3}d^{-1}$. A direct correlation between the biodegradation rate of the reactor and the dynamics of biofilm development could be demonstrated. This study shows the first description of biofilm development during gaseous toluene degradation in MBR.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.1035-1041
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• 2002

The adhesion characteristics of adsorbent during impregnation of Y-type and ZSM-5type zeolites into ceramic paper were analyzed, as the amount of silica sol in slurry for impregnation was varied. 31 wt% of zeolite particle, which is useful for VOC adsorption, was evenly dispersed and adhered on ceramic paper and original crystal structure of the zeolite remained unchanged even after binder application and heat treatment. Surface area of the impregnated ceramic paper was decreased compared with that of zeolite powder. And it was found to be attributed to the reduction of volume of mesopore while the volume of micropore under $20{\AA}$ was unchanged. Zeolite-impregnated honeycomb cylinder, whose diameter and length were 10 cm and 40 cm, respectively, was subjected to adsorption/desorption test with respect to toluene, MEK, cyclohexanone. All of the VOC's were removed by adsorption with efficiency higher than 97% and from the static adsorption test, $42 Nm^3/h$ of 300 ppmv-VOC-laden air was calculated be treated continuously, when the honeycomb was used in an adsorptive rotor system.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.155-161
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• 2012

A dynamic biofilter model was suggested to integrate the effect of biofilter-medium adsorption capacity on the removal efficiency of volatile organic compound (VOC) contained in waste air. In particular, the suggested biofilter model is composed of four components such as biofilm, gas phase, sorption volume and adsorption phase and is capable of predicting the unsteady behavior of biofilter-operation. The process-lumping model previously suggested was limited in the application for the treatment of waste air since it was derived under the assumption that the adsorbed amount of VOC equilibrated with biofilter-media would be proportional to the concentration of dissolved VOC in the sorption volume of biofilter-media. Therefore a Freundlich adsorption isotherm was integrated into a robust biofilter process-lumping model applicable to a wide range of VOC concentration. The values of model parameters related to biofilter-medium adsorption were obtained from the dynamic adsorption column experiments in the preceding article and literature survey. Furthermore a separate biofilter experiment was conducted to treat waste air containing ethanol and the experimental result was compared with the model predictions with various values of Thiele modulus (${\phi}$). The obtained value of Thiele modulus (${\phi}$) was close to 0.03.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.131-137
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• 2022

The semiconductor process currently emits various by-products and unused gases. Emissions containing pollutants are generally classified into categories such as organic, acid, alkali, thermal, and cabinet exhaust. They are discharged after treatment in an atmospheric prevention facility suitable for each exhaust type. The main components of organic exhaust are volatile organic compounds (VOC), which is a generic term for oxygen-containing hydrocarbons, sulfur-containing hydrocarbons, and volatile hydrocarbons, while the main components of alkali exhaust include ammonia and tetramethylammonium hydroxide. The purpose of this study was to determine the combustion characteristics and analyze the NO_X reduction rate by maintaining a direct combustion and temperature to process organic and alkaline exhaust gases simultaneously. Acetone, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), and propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (PGMEA) were used as VOCs and ammonia was used as an alkali exhaust material. Independent and VOC-ammonia mixture combustion tests were conducted for each material. The combustion tests for the VOCs confirmed that complete combustion occurred at an equivalence ratio of 1.4. In the ammonia combustion test, the NO_X concentration decreased at a lower equivalence ratio. In the co-combustion of VOC and ammonia, NO was dominant in the NO_X emission while NO₂ was detected at approximately 10 ppm. Overall, the concentration of nitrogen oxide decreased due to the activation of the oxidation reaction as the reaction temperature increased. On the other hand, the concentration of carbon dioxide increased. Flameless combustion with an electric heat source achieved successful combustion of VOC and ammonia. This technology is expected to have advantages in cost and compactness compared to existing organic and alkaline treatment systems applied separately.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.52-60
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• 2007

Plant can detoxify the effect of the volatile organic compounds (VOC) such as formaldehyde and toluene, however, mechanisms of VOC detoxification are largely unknown in plant system. This study was performed to investigate phenotypic changes of Arabidopsis seedlings upon treatment of either formalin or toluene. Formalin treatment up to twenty four hours didn't cause any significant phenotypic damages on the leaf surface of 27 DAG Arabidopsis seedlings. However, the protein profile of formalin-treated seedlings was significantly different from that of mock control. Using automated electrophoresis system, the molecular weight of each formaldehyde-responsive protein (FRP) was predicted and its formaldehyde-dependent expression was confirmed at transcription level by quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis. Four FRPs isolated in this study are the novel proteins with unknown functions but highly homologous to the stress-related proteins.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.143-149
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to propose a management method to maintain the pleasant indoor air quality of the dental clinic by measuring and analyzing the indoor air quality of the dental clinic. The measurement was conducted in two rooms, a lobby where many residents stay in the reception room for waiting for medical treatment, and a VIP room where treatment activities are mainly performed. Measurement items are Temperature, Humidity, $CO_2$, CO, $NO_2$, $CH_2O$, VOC, $PM_{10}$ and measurement were taken on April 27, 2018. As a result of analyzing the temperature and humidity of the dental clinic, it was analyzed that the average indoor temperature was maintained at $25^{\circ}C$ and the humidity was kept at around 50%, maintaining proper indoor temperature and humidity environment. $CO_2$ was 855ppm in the VIP Room, which satisfied the maintenance standard. In the case of the lobby, it was analyzed to be 1,160ppm, which exceeded the maintenance standard and it is judged that the carbon dioxide generated by the respiration of the people staying in the lobby is the main reason. The mean concentration of formaldehyde in the VIP room was analyzed as $436{\mu}g/m^3$, exceeding the maintenance standard, and $2,100{\mu}g/m^3$ for the VOC exceeded the recommended standard. It was analyzed that the concentration was relatively higher due to the use of disinfectant and other drugs. The mean concentration of PM-10 in the lobby was analyzed as $65{\mu}g/m^3$ and it was analyzed that it satisfied the maintenance standard. To maintain a pleasant indoor air quality in a dental clinic it is necessary to minimize the effects of formaldehyde, VOC, $CO_2$ in the VIP rooms and lobby. For this purpose, the entire ventilation system and air purification system of the dental clinic should be installed. In case of the VIP room, local exhaust ventilation should be installed and workers should wear personal protective equipment.