• Clean Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

The adoption of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a vehicle fuel is a common phenomenon as it is accelerating worldwide. Increasing number of CNG driven vehicles around the world has jumped up from one million in 1996 to five million in 2006. CNG as a vehicle fuel is very popular to the end users because of its clean-burning properties and cost effective solution compared to other alternative fuels like diesel and gasoline. The use of CNG as a fuel reduces vehicular emission that is consisted of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), oxides of nitrogen ($NO_x$), carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) etc. This research highlights the characteristics of CNG vehicles, CNG arrangement in the vehicles, CNG fueling procedures and most importantly the environmental and economic factors that are highly considered as cost effective solution for the flexibility of using CNG in the automobiles.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2009

A material database has been developed for VOCs and formaldehyde emitted from building materials in this study. New classification system has been made by correlating the classification methods used in Korean Air Cleaning and Environmental Protection Agency. The developed databases include emission rates of TVOC, 5VOC and formaldehyde emitted from each building material. In addition, the databases can be used as an input variable to estimate indoor air quality (IAQ) using computer simulation since they also contain chemical component and general imformation. Box plot was used to do statistical analysis for emission rates of formaldehyde and TVOCs from different types of building materials. Also we confirmed the building materials worsening IAQ by categorizing the emission characteristic of different types of pollutants.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.1B
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• pp.137-147
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• 2008

Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) has been extensively used to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the vadoze zone. In order to investigate the removal mechanism during SVE operation, laboratory modeling experiments were carried out and tailing effect could be observed in later stage of the experiment. Tailing effect means that removal rate of contaminants gets significantly to decrease in later stage of SVE operation. Also, mathematical model simulating the tailing effect was used, which considers rate-limited diffusion in a water film during mass transfer among gas, liquid, and solid phases. Measurement data obtained through the experiment was used as input data of the numerical analyses. Sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the effect of each parameter on required time to reach final target concentration. Finally, it was found that the concentration in the soil phase decreased significantly with a liquid and gas diffusion coefficient larger, actual path length shorter, and water saturation smaller.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.605-617
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• 2015

The ultimate goal of this research is to develop a botanical biofiltration system that combines a green interior, biofiltering, and automatic irrigation to purify indoor air pollutants according to indoor space and the size of biofilter. This study was performed to compare the stability of air flow characteristics and removal efficiency (RE) of fine dust within a wall-typed (vertical) botanical biofilter depending on humidifying cycle and to investigate RE of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by the biofilter. The biofilter used in this experiment was designed as an integral form of water metering pump, water tank, blower, humidifier, and multi-level planting space in order to be suitable for indoor space utilization. As a result, relative humidity, air temperature, and soil moisture content (SMC) within the biofilter showed stable values regardless of three different humidifying cycles operated by the metering pump. In particular, SMCs were consistently maintained in the range of 27.1-29.7% during all humidifying cycles; moreover, a humidifying cycle of operating for 15 min and pausing for 45 min showed the best horizontal linear regression (y = 0.0008x + 29.09) on SMC ($29.0{\pm}0.2%$) during 120 hour. REs for number of fine dust (PM10) and ultra-fine dust (PM2.5) particles passed through the biofilter were in the range of 82.7-89.7% and 65.4-73.0%, respectively. RE for weight of PM10 passed through the biofilter was in the range of 58.1-78.9%, depending on humidifying cycle. REs of xylene, ethyl benzene, total VOCs (TVOCs), and toluene passed through the biofilter were in the range of 71.3-75.5%, while REs of benzene and formaldehyde (HCHO) passed through the biofilter were 39.7% and 44.9%, respectively. Hence, it was confirmed that the wall-typed botanical biofilter suitable for indoor plants was very effective for indoor air purification.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_1
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• pp.563-576
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• 2023

In this study nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), formaldehyde (HCHO) from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), OMI/ Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) tropospheric column ozone (TCO), and Airkorea ground-based O₃ data were analyzed to examine the photochemical reaction relationship between tropospheric ozone and its precursors nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). As a result of analyzing the trend of long-term changes from 2006 to 2020 using OMI satellite data, TCO showed an increasing trend, NO₂ steadily decreased, and HCHO continued to increase in Northeast Asia. In addition, formaldehyde nitrogen dioxide ratio (FNR; HCHO/NO₂ ratio), an indicator of ozone sensitivity, is gradually increasing, which means that the VOC-limited regime is decreasing. This study conducted a sensitivity analysis of ozone generation using TROPOMI FNR and ground-based ozone (O₃) over the recent years (2019~2022) to identify the possible cause for the continuous increase of ozone in Korea. Similar to the previous studies, VOC-limited and transitional regimes appeared in megacities, and VOC-limited regimes also appeared in areas where major power plants were located. In VOC-limited regimes, in other words, areas where NOx is excessively saturated, the reduction in NOx emissions may have weakened the ozone titration and thus led to the increase of ozone. Therefore, VOC emissions should be reduced in the short term rather than NOx emissions to reduce ozone concentrations under the VOC-limited regime.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.187-201
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• 1996

This study was to evaluate the efficiency of diffusive monitor using activated carbon fiber(ACF, KF-1500) in measuring airborne organic solvents. The following characteristics were identified and studied as critical to the performance of diffusive monitor; recovery, sampling rate, face velocity, reverse diffusion and storage stability. For the evaluation of the performance of this monitor, MIBK, PCE, toluene were used as organic solvents. In the sampling rate experiments, eight kinds of solvents (n-hexane, MEK, DIBK, MCF, TCE, CB, xylene, cumene) as well as the above solvents were used. The results were as follows: 1. The desorption efficiencies(DE's) of ACF diffusive monitor ranged from 83 % to 101 %. In contrast, those of coconut shell charcoal ranged from 78 % to 102 %. Especially, the DE's of ACF for the polar solvents such as MEK were superior to those of charcoal. 2. Experimental sampling rates on ACF were average 42ml/min(37-46ml/min) for 11 organic solvents at $24{\pm}2^{\circ}C$, $50{\pm}5%RH$. However ideal sampling rates(DA/L) were 33 % higher than experimental sampling rates. 3. The initial response(15~16 min) of the testing monitor was 2 times higher than the actual concentration determined by the reference methods at $24{\pm}2^{\circ}C$, $8{\pm}5%RH$ and $80{\pm}5%RH$. Within 1 hours, the curve reached a linear horizontal line at low humidity condition. But sampling efficiencies decreased with respect to time at high humidity condition. And sampling efficiencies were higher at high humidity condition than low humidity condition for MIBK. 4. At very low velocity (less than 0.02 m/sec), the concentration of ACF diffusive monitor were poorly estimated. But ACF diffusive monitor were not affected at higher velocity(0.2 m/sec-0.6 m/sec). 5. There was no significant reverse diffusion when the ACF monitors were exposed to clean air for 2 hours after being exposed for 2 hours at the level of 1 TLV. 6. There was no significant sample loss during 3 weeks of storage at room temperature and 5 weeks of storage at refrigeration.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.1001-1010
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate the concentration levels of particle materials ($PM_{10}$, asbestos), gas materials ($CO_2$, CO, $NO_2$, HCHO, Rn, VOCs) and total suspended colony (TSC), and the correlations among these materials in indoor air quality of 54 multiple-use facilities and 15 public-use facilities of Gwangju. The highest mean concentration of $PM_{10}$ was $69.2\;{\mu}g/m^3$ at indoor parking place, followed by childcare facilities, large commercial building and subway station building. The highest mean concentration of CO was 2.7 ppm at indoor parking place and that of $CO_2$ was 604.1 ppm at medical service facilities. The highest mean concentration of $NO_2$ was 0.036 ppm at indoor parking place. The geomean concentration of HCHO was $3.6\;{\mu}g/m^3$ in all facilities and the highest was $631.8\;{\mu}g/m^3$ at art gallery. The geomean concentration of VOCs (5 species) was $24.14\;{\mu}g/m^3$ in all facilities and toluene was the highest material of $15.30\;{\mu}g/m^3$, followed by xylene, ethylbenzene, benzene and styrene. The highest mean concentration of TSC was $625.3\;CFU/m^3$ at jjimjilbang, followed by childcare facilities, medical service facilities and large commercial building. The highest of asbestos was 0.0072 each/cc at childcare facilities and that of radon was 1.41 pCi/L at art gallery. PM10 showed positive correlations to TSC with $R^2\0.5332$ by lognormal equation at childcare facilities. CO2 showed positive correlations to CO at childcare facilities and indoor parking place. Lognormal equation fitted to the VOCs data more than normal equation in all facilities.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.48-59
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• 2023

Ground-level ozone affects human health and plant growth. Ozone is produced by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from anthropogenic and biogenic sources. In this study, two different land cover and emission factor datasets were input to the MEGAN v2.1 emission model to examine how these parameters contribute to the biogenic emissions and ozone production. Four input sensitivity scenarios (A, B, C and D) were generated from land cover and vegetation emission factors combination. The effects of BVOCs emissions by scenario were also investigated. From air quality modeling result using CAMx, maximum 1 hour ozone concentrations were estimated 62 ppb, 60 ppb, 68 ppb, 65 ppb, 55 ppb for scenarios A, B, C, D and E, respectively. For maximum 8 hour ozone concentration, 57 ppb, 56 ppb, 63 ppb, 60 ppb, and 53 ppb were estimated by scenario. The minimum difference by land cover was up to 25 ppb and by emission factor that was up to 35 ppb. From the modeling performance evaluation using ground ozone measurement over the six regions (East Seoul, West Seoul, Incheon, Namyangju, Wonju, and Daegu), the model performed well in terms of the correlation coefficient (0.6 to 0.82). For the 4 urban regions (East Seoul, West Seoul, Incheon, and Namyangju), ozone simulations were not quite sensitive to the change of BVOC emissions. For rural regions (Wonju and Daegu) , however, BVOC emission affected ozone concentration much more than previously mentioned regions, especially in case of scenario C. This implies the importance of biogenic emissions on ozone production over the sub-urban to rural regions.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.576-587
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• 2020

Objectives: This study calculated local residents exposures to VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) released into the atmosphere using the CalTOX model and carried out uncertainty analysis and sensitivity analysis. The model validity was analyzed by comparing the predicted and the actual atmospheric concentrations. Methods: Uncertainty was parsed by conducting a Monte Carlo simulation. Sensitivity was dissected with the regression (coefficients) method. The model validity was analyzed by applying r² (coefficient of determination), RMSE (root mean square error), and the Nash-Sutcliffe EI (efficiency index) formula. Results: Among the concentrations in the atmosphere in this study, benzene was the highest and the lifetime average daily dose of benzene and the average daily dose of xylene were high. In terms of the sensitivity analysis outcome, the source term to air, exposure time, indoors resting (ETri), exposure time, outdoors at home (ETao), yearly average wind speed (v_w), contaminated area in ㎡ (Area), active breathing rate (BRa), resting breathing rate (BRr), exposure time, and active indoors (ETai) were elicited as input variables having great influence upon this model. In consequence of inspecting the validity of the model, r² appeared to be a value close to 1 and RMSE appeared to be a value close to 0, but EI indicated unacceptable model efficiency. To supplement this value, the regression formula was derived for benzene with y=0.002+15.48x, ethylbenzene with y ≡ 0.001+57.240x, styrene with y=0.000+42.249x, toluene with y=0.004+91.588x, and xylene with y=0.000+0.007x. Conclusions: In consequence of inspecting the validity of the model, r² appeared to be a value close to 1 and RMSE appeared to be a value close to 0, but EI indicated unacceptable model efficiency. This will be able to be used as base data for securing the accuracy and reliability of the model.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.381-389
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• 2009

Confined spaces are inherently dangerous workplace and many fatal and nonfatal accidents have been reported. Even though these accidents occur in various kinds of confined spaces, there has rarely been reported on the health hazard agent, i.e., the types of gases and their concentration ranges. Therefore in this study, we evaluated several toxic and asphyxiating gas concentrations in various confined spaces. We surveyed 57 manholes, 3 sewage treatment plants, 2 yellow radish manufacturing companies and 7 barges to measure the concentrations of oxygen($O_2$), hydrogen sulfide($H_2S$), carbon monoxide(CO), ammonia($NH_3$). Lower Explosion Limits(LEL) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Those four types of confined spaces occupies 56% of accidents during last 9 years in Korea. In 57 manholes, the concentration varied according to the types of manholes; rainfall and sewage, and by location; residential and industrial areas. Sewage manhole in industrial area was evaluated as the most hazardous than other types of manhole like rainfall manholes, residential sewage manholes. The highest $H_2S$ concentration and the lowest $O_2$ concentration at sewage manhole in industrial area were 300 ppm, 8.7% respectively. In 3 sewage treatment plants, $H_2S$ and $NH_3$ concentrations were reached up to the 500 ppm and 200 ppm respectively. Two yellow radish manufacturing companies showed the concentrations of 316 ppm, 505.2 ppm, 90 ppm and 15.7% for $H_2S$, CO, VOCs and $O_2$, respectively. Seven barges showed 15.9%~20.9% oxygen concentration. Gas species and concentration ranges varied by the types and location of confined spaces; CO, $H_2S$, $O_2$ could be hazardous in manhole, especially manhole connected to sewage plants. CO, $H_2S$, LEL, $O_2$, $NH_3$ should be controlled in sludge silo and sluge pumping confined spaces in sewage treatment plant. The activity of lifting out radish from the storage tank was evaluated more hazardous rather than the other activities in yellow radish manufacturing industry. The employers must conduct the survey to identify all possible confined spaces in their local workplace prior to performing the tasks. At the national level to reduce the accidents in the confined spaces, we suggest that systemic approach and active education program including possible hazards, standard operation procedures, ventilation plan, and personal protective equipment in confined spaces should be implemented.