• Clean Technology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2019

Bamboo is an evergreen perennial plant, and it is known as one of the most productive and fastest-growing plants in the world. It grows quickly in moderate climates with only moderate water and fertilizer. Traditionally in Asia, bamboo is used for building materials, as a food source, and as versatile raw materials. Bamboo as a biomass feedstock can be transformed to prepare activated carbon using the thermal treatment of pyrolysis. The effect of process variables such as carbonization temperature, activation temperature, activation time, the amount of steam, and the mixing ratio of phosphoric acid and bamboo were systematically investigated to optimize the preparation conditions. Steam activation was proceeded after carbonization with a vapor flow rate of $0.8{\sim}1.8mL-H_2O\;g-char^{-1}\;h^{-1}$ and activation time of 1 ~ 3 h at $700{\sim}900^{\circ}C$. Carbon yield and surface area reached 2.04 ~ 20.59 wt% and $499.17{\sim}1074.04m^2\;g^{-1}$, respectively, with a steam flow rate of $1.4mL-H_2O\;g-char^{-1}\;h^{-1}$ for 2 h. Also, the carbon yield and surface area were 24.67 wt% and $1389.59m^2\;g^{-1}$, respectively, when the bamboo and phosphoric acid were mixed in a 1:1 weight ratio ($700^{\circ}C$, 2 h, $1.4mL-H_2O\;g-char^{-1}\;h^{-1}$). The adsorption of methylene blue into the bamboo activated carbon was studied based on pseudo first order and second order kinetics models. The adsorption kinetics were found to follow the pseudo second order model, which is governed by chemisorption.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.38-45
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• 2019

Recycling of drained nutrient solution in hydroponic cultivation of horticultural crops is important in the conservation of the water resources, reduction of production costs and prevention of environmental contamination. Objective of this research was to obtain the fundamental data for the development of a recirculation system of hydroponic solution in semi-forcing cultivation of 'Bonus' tomato. To achieve the objective, tomato plants were cultivated for 110 days and the contents of inorganic elements in plant, supplied and drained nutrient solution were analyzed when crop growth were in the flowering stage of 2nd to 8th fruiting nodes. The T-N content of the plants based on above-ground tissue were 4.1% at the flowering stage of 2nd fruiting nodes (just after transplanting), and gradually get lowered to 3.9% at the flowering stage of 8th fruiting nodes. The tissue P contents were also high in very early stage of growth and development and were maintained to similar contents in the flowering stage of 3rd to 7th fruiting nodes, but were lowed in 8th node stages. The tissue Ca, Mg and Na contents in early growth stages were lower than late growth stages and the contents showed tendencies to rise as plants grew. The concentration differences of supplied nutrient solution and drained solution in $NO_3-N$, P, K, Ca, and Mg were not significant until 5 weeks after transplanting, but the concentration of those elements in drained solution rose gradually and maintained higher than those in supplied solution. The concentrations of B, Fe, and Na in drained solution were slightly higher in the early stages of growth and development and were significantly higher in the mid to late stages of growth than those in supplied solution. The above results would be used as a fundamental data for the correction in the inorganic element concentrations of drained solution for semi-forcing hydroponic cultivation of tomato.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.223-230
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• 2019

The calcination of oyster shells have been studied as the possible substitute for the limestone used as an absorbent of $SO_2$ gas. However, since pure shells can not be used in calcination process, some impurities are contained and the changes in the characteristics of the calcination products are expected. In this study, the surface characteristics of the calcination products are investigated by mineralogical analysis according to the contents of NaCl, which can be derived from sea water, and sediments on the surface of the shell as impurities. The marine sediments on the shells were mainly composed of quartz, albite, calcite, small amounts of amphibole and clay minerals such as ilite, chlorite and smectite. After calcination of oyster shells mixed with 0.2-4.0 wt% sediments at $900^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours, regardless of the dehydration, dehydroxylation, and phase change of these minerals at the lower temperature than this experiment, no noticeable changes were observed on the specific surface area of the calcined product. However, when mixed with 0.1 to 2.0 wt% NaCl, the specific surface area generally increases as compared with the shell sample before calcination. The specific surface area increases with increasing amount of salt, and then decreases again. This is closely related to the changes of surface morphology. As the amount of NaCl increases, the morphology of the surface is similar to that of gel. It changes into a slightly angular, smaller particle and again looks like gel with increasing amount of NaCl. Our results show that NaCl affects morphological changes probably caused by melting of some oyster shells, but may have different effects on the specific surface area of calcination product depending on the NaCl contents.

• Clean Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.223-230
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• 2019

This research was performed to evaluate the characteristics of food waste from 5 areas in Gangwon Province, Korea and to predict the $CH_4$ gas production rate. Food wastes were sampled in July and September, 2017. The amount of methane gas generation was evaluated through the biochemical methane potential (BMP) test and a calculation method using chemical composition. Average bulk density and pH of the food wastes were in the range of $0.758{\sim}0.850g\;cm^{-3}$ and 4.29 ~ 4.75, respectively. By physical composition, vegetables were the highest with 56.43 ~ 72.81% with fruits recording 5.31 ~ 8.95%, cereals 1.60 ~ 18.73%, fish and meat 4.47 ~ 12.11%, and filtrate 1.76 ~ 3.64%. The average water content was 69.30 ~ 75.87%, and VS and ash content were 22.50 ~ 27.98% and 1.63 ~ 2.48%, respectively. In addition, $BOD_5$, $COD_{Cr}$, and $COD_{Mn}$ were in the ranges of $17,690.3{\sim}33,154.9mg\;L^{-1}$, $106,212.3{\sim}128,695.5mg\;L^{-1}$, and $51,266.1{\sim}63,426.3mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. The NaCl content ranged from 0.81 to 1.17%. The results of elemental analysis showed that the contents of C, H, O, N, and S were 44.87 ~ 48.1%, 7.12 ~ 7.57%, 40.13 ~ 43.78%, 3.22 ~ 4.14%, and 0.00 ~ 0.02%, respectively. In a comparison of the methane production yield per VS mass of food waste, there was no significant difference between the cumulative amount (${0.303{\sim}0.354m_{CH4}}^3\;{kg_{VS}}^{-1}$) by the BMP test and the theoretical amount (${0.294{\sim}0.352m_{CH4}}^3\;{kg_{VS}}^{-1}$) calculated by chemical composition.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.151-162
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• 2021

The recent trend of using ornamental grasses as essential landscaping plants has become more prominent, while the demands for today's gardens are to solve the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and urban ecosystem services. Nowadays, the interest in ornamental grasses in South Korea is dramatically increasing, as is the number of available species and varieties. To find the better use of ornamental grasses in urban green spaces, more research should be conducted to understand the current state of ornamental grasses and their characteristics in South Korea. and a practical way of applying ornamental grasses to urban gardens should be devised. For that purpose, this research carried out a survey on the current state of ornamental grasses distributed in the landscaping plants market in South Korea. The grasses were analyzed according to the growing conditions, including habitats, ecological, and horticultural growth characteristics. As a result, 40 genera, 104 species, and 264 taxa of ornamental grasses were verified to be distributed in the market for garden plants in South Korea in August 2021. Poaceae and Cyperaceae are 69.7% and 28.4% among them, respectively. Juncaceae and Typhaceae are of little importance. No Restionaceae is supplied yet. Most of the Poaceae ornamental grasses prefer sunny open land, but others from various habitats are used too. The majority of the Cyperaceae ornamental grasses originate from woodlands, woodland edges, water's edges, and marshes. The market supplies fourteen genera of cool-season and sixteen genera of warm-season grasses. According to life-types of grasses, thirty-eight species are evergreens or semi-evergreens. Thirty-four species are deciduous. Seven species are summer-dormant. According to the growth habits of the grasses, thirty-three species are runners and fifty-one species are clumpers. There are fifteen taxa of ornamental grasses recently selected that have become native grasses.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.667-675
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• 2020

An Alum-sludge based adsorbent (ASBA) was synthesized by the hydrothermal treatment of alum sludge obtained from settling basin in water treatment plant. ASBA was applied to remove fluoride and arsenic in artificially-contaminated aqueous solutions and mine drainage. The mineralogical crystal structure, composition, and specific surface area of ASBA were identified. The result revealed that ASBA has irregular pores and a specific surface area of 87.25 ㎡ g-1 on its surface, which is advantageous for quick and facile adsorption. The main mineral components of the adsorbent were found to be quartz(SiO2), montmorillonite((Al,Mg)2Si4O10(OH)2·4H2O) and albite(NaAlSi3O8). The effects of pH, reaction time, initial concentration, and temperature on removal of fluoride and arsenic were examined. The results of the experiments showed that, the adsorbed amount of fluoride and arsenic gradually decreased with increasing pH. Based on the results of kinetic and isotherm experiments, the maximum adsorption capacity of fluoride and arsenic were 7.6 and 5.6 mg g-1, respectively. Developed models of fluoride and arsenic were suitable for the Langmuir and Freundlich models. Moreover, As for fluoride and arsenic, the increase rate of adsorption concentration decreased after 8 and 12 hr, respectively, after the start of the reaction. Also, the thermodynamic data showed that the amount of fluoride and arsenic adsorbed onto ASBA increased with increasing temperature from 25℃ to 35℃, indicating that the adsorption was endothermic and non-spontaneous reaction. As a result of regeneration experiments, ASBA can be regenerated by 1N of NaOH. In the actual mine drainage experiment, it was found that it has relatively high removal rates of 77% and 69%. The experimental results show ASBA is effective as an adsorbent for removal fluoride and arsenic from mine drainage, which has a small flow rate and acid/neutral pH environment.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.248-256
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• 2021

A total of 120 samples corresponding to 12 categories of dried processed fishery products distributed in Gyeonggi-do were examined for radioactivity contamination (¹³¹I, ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs) and heavy metals (lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury). One natural radioactive material, ⁴⁰K, was detected in all products, while the artificial radioactive materials ¹³¹I, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs were not detected at above MDA (minimum detectable activity) values. The detection ranges of heavy metals converted by biological basis were found as follows: Pb (N.D.-0.332 mg/kg), Cd (N.D.-2.941 mg/kg), As (0.371-15.007 mg/kg), Hg (0.0005-0.0621 mg/kg). Heavy metals were detected within standard levels when there was an acceptable standard, but the arsenic content was high in most products, although none of the products had a permitted level of arsenic. In the case of dried processed fishery products, there are products that are consumed by restoring moisture to its original state, but there are also many products that are consumed directly in the dry state, so it will be necessary to set permitted levels for heavy metals considering this situation in the future. In addition, Japan has decided to release contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, so there is high public concern about radioactivity contamination of food, including fishery products. Therefore, continuous monitoring of various food items will be necessary to ease consumers' anxiety.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.19-28
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• 2019

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of nutrient solution strength and duration of nutrient starvation on the growth and development of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) 'Maehyang' and 'Sulhyang' at the flowering stage. Cuttings of runner plants were stuck on November 23th, 2017 and were covered with a layer of black plastic film to block light from penetrating and keep the relative humidity high. The black plastic film was removed after 16 days and rooted plants were cultivated for one month with irrigation of water. The Yamazaki nutrient solution with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.85 or 3.71 dS·m-1 (1x or 2x ionic strength, respectively) and pH 5.55 was fed to plants after either 0 (control), 1, 3 or 5 weeks of nutrient starvation to the end of experiment. Plant height in both cultivars decreased gradually with the increase in duration of nutritional starvation. The earlier the nutritional starvation started, the smaller the shoot fresh weight of 'Maehyang'. Hence the greatest shoot fresh weight was obtained in the control which was supplied with the nutrient solution continuously. Shoot fresh weight of 'Sulhyang' was the greatest in 1x ionic strength and one week of nutrient starvation before planting. Although number of flowers on the first flower cluster of 'Maehyang' and 'Sulhyang' showed no significant differences, 'Maehyang' had the greatest number of flowers in the 2x ionic strength solution and one week of nutrient starvation before planting, while 'Sulhyang' had that in the 1x ionic strength treatment. These results suggest that it is considered effective to supply a nutrient solution at a low concentration for a short period of time for increasing the number of flower differentiated on the first flower cluster in both cultivars.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.97-109
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• 2022

This study focused on the physicochemical effects of bottom ash dissolved precipitation on the soil and groundwater environment. The iced column and percolation experiments showed that most of the bottom ash particles were drained as the ash-dissolved solution, while the charcoal powder was filtered through the soil. Ion species of Al, As, Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, Fe, Mn, Ca, K, Si, F, NO₃, SO₄ were analyzed from the eluates collected during the 24 h column test. In the charcoal powder eluates, a high concentration of K was detected at the beginning of the reaction, but it decreased with time. The concentrations of Al and Ca were observed to increase with time, although they existed in trace amount. In the bottom ash eluates, the concentrations of Ca and SO₄ decreased by 30 mg·L^-1 and 67 mg·L^-1, respectively, over 24 h. It is regarded that the infiltration patterns of the bottom ash and biochar in the unsaturated zone were different owing to their particle sizes and solvent properties. It is expected that a significant amount of the bottom ash will mix with the precipitation and percolate below the water table, especially in the case of thin and highly permeable unsaturated zone. The biochar was filtered through the unsaturated zone. The biochar did not dissolve in the groundwater, although it reached the saturation zone. For these reasons, it is considered that the direct contamination by the bottom ash and biochar are unlikely to occur.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.149-158
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• 2022

This study aimed to investigate pesticide residues in 160 stalk and stem vegetables marketed in Northern Gyeonggi-do. The QuEChERS method using GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS was employed to analyze the residues of 341 pesticides in the samples. The maximum or lower than the residue limit was recorded in 75 samples (46.9%), while 4 samples (2.5%) exceeded the maximum residue limit (MRL). Thirty-nine kinds of residual pesticides were detected including fungicides (14), insecticides (22), herbicides (2), and plant growth regulator (1). Carbendazim and pendimethalin were the most frequelntly detected pesticides. Fenitrothion, procymidone, and diazinon exceeded MRL in garlic chives, and Welsh onion. This indicated that these vegetables along with water celery should be constantly monitored.