• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.385-389
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• 2012

In this study, torrefaction of mixed softwood chips under anoxic condition was performed to improve energy density and maintain consistent quality of biomass. Characteristics of torrefied biomass depending on reaction time (30 min) and temperature (240, 260,$280^{\circ}C$) were investigated. Torrefaction of mixed softwood chips significantly improved the heating value compared to that of untreated biomass. As the torrefaction temperature was increased, the carbon content of torrefied biomass increased from 46.55 to 55.73%, while its hydrogen and oxygen contents decreased from 6.00 to 5.87% and from 30.55 to 27.21%, respectively. Most of hemicelluloses and volatile compounds were removed during torrefaction. The highest heating value was 5132 kcal/kg when torrefaction was performed at$280^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. It implied that the heating value increased by 13% compared to that of original biomass. However, the condition of effective torrefaction was at $240^{\circ}C$ for 30 min when weight loss and energy yield was considered.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.310-317
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: The salt in soil interrupts crop growth. Therefore, water resources are used to remove any salt found in the soil. However, water resources have been reduced by global warming; thus, a new study is required into reducing the salt in soil. Recently, the bottom ash (BA) of a biomass power plant was found to be similar to biochar. Hence, it can be used to remove heavy metals and wastewater through the adsorption characteristics of BA. The objective of this study was to evaluate the improvement effects on crop growth in saline soil containing the BA from biomass power plants. METHODS AND RESULTS: The effect on crop growth in the saline soil supplemented with BA was studied with the crop-planted pots, which were packed by reclaimed greenhouse soils collected from Byolyang, Suncheon. The BA application level was 25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 kg/10a (referred as BA25, BA50, BA100, BA200, and BA400, respectively). The BA increased the fresh weights of the leaf and root, while nitrogen uptake increased by approximately 24-102% and 54-77%, respectively for the lead and root. The phosphorous uptake increased by 38%, although only in the leaf of the lettuce. In the case of soil, BA increased water content, pH, EC, CEC, and NH₄⁺ and the SAR of the soil decreased by 5-15%. The bottom ash increased the contents of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, and fixed the amount of Na⁺. CONCLUSION(S): It was confirmed the bottom ash of a biomass power plant, based on wood pellets, improved crop growth, and increased the nutrient uptake of crops in saline soil. In addition, bottom ash, which has a wide range of porosity and high values of pH and EC, improved properties of the saline soil. However, the BA has a large amount of B, As, and heavy metals. Finally, it may require a study on the safety and contamination of heavy metals contained in the bottom ash, which would be applied in soil for a long time.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.573-577
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• 2015

There are difficulties in removing wood tar wastewater coming from the power plants that use wood-based fuels due to its intermittent occurrences and severe changes in the amount and concentration. This study investigated the treatment characteristics through physicochemical treatment, an improved method from the existing ones using bag filters and activated carbons to treat wood tar wastewater. In the case of chemical properties of wood tar wastewater, the content of phenols was found to be more than two times higher than that of guaiacols and carbohydrates. Installation is done to ensure that NaOH and PAC are injected automatically according to the change of pH, and then pH, turbidity and SS of the final treated water were examined. The results were 5.9, 12.6 NTU and 15.1 mg/L respectively, which confirmed the possibility of the treated water as circulation water of power plants. In the physical treatment process using a conventional bag filter, removal efficiency of chemicals was about 20%, but the treatment efficiency was improved to show chemical removal efficiency of about 80% through flocculation and sedimentation.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.86-94
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• 2011

Pyrolytic lignin was obtained from biooil produced with yellow poplar wood. Fast pyrolysis was performed under various temperature ranges and residence times using fluidized bed type reactor. Several analytical methods were adopted to characterize the structure of pyrolytic lignin as well as the effect of pyrolysis temperature and residence time on the modification of the lignin. The yield of pyrolytic lignin increased as increasing pyrolysis temperature and decreasing residence time of pyrolysis products. The molecular weight of pyrolytic lignin determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was approximately 1,200 mol/g, which was approximately a tenth of milled wood lignin (MWL) purified from the same woody biomass. Based on analytical data, demethoxylation and side chain cleavage reaction were dominantly occurred during fast pyrolysis.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2014

When processing the biomass by Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), a slow pyrolysis process, it produces bio-gas, biooil, and biochar. Among these end products, biochar is known for isolating or storing carbon and being used as a soil amendment. In this study, the characteristics of biochar generated by HTC at $250^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, and 20 hours with synthetic food wastes and wood wastes were analyzed for potential uses in soil contaminated with heavy metals. The yield of biochar (weight %) increased when the ratio of wood wastes increased and showed a decreasing tendency as reaction time increased. Elemental analysis of biochar based on various conditions showed a maximum of 70% carbon (C) content. The carbon content showed an increasing tendency with the increase of wood wastes. Iodine adsorption test was peformed to determine the optimum reaction condition, which was 15% wood waste for mixing ratio and 2 hours for reaction time. Using biochar generated at the optimum condition, its capability of adsorbing heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni) was evaluated. It was concluded that lead (Pb) was removed efficiently while zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni) were hardly adsorbed by biochar.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2012

Densified fuels from biomass are widely used in North America and Europe as a regenerable and clean bioenergy. In this study, the fuel characteristics and densification characteristics of Japanese larch and Hyunsasi poplar were studied using a piston-type briquetting machine. The effects of pressure, pressure holding time, species, and particle size on briquette characteristics were studied. At room temperature, the highly densified briquettes of Japanese larch and Hyunsasi poplar can be produced at a compression pressure of 110~170 MPa. The produced briquettes have densities between 0.66 and 0.94 g/$cm^3$ after 28 days of storage at room temperature. The optimum pressure holding time was found to be 12 seconds. There is a linear increase in pressure with increase in density. The densities of briquettes from Japanese larch were higher than those of briquettes from Hyunsasi poplar. Also, the coarser particle size resulted in higher densities in briquettes than the finer particle size.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.82-88
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• 2000

The objective of this study was to determine if wood vinegar of Quercus mongolica Fisch has herbicidal activity. Growth of plants, such as barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-gulli P. Beauv), quackgrass (Agropyron smithii RYDB), canola (Brassica napus L.), velvetleaf (Abutilon avicennae), indian jointvetch (Aeschynomene indica), and common sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) grown on agar batch treated with 0.01% wood vinegar were similar to that of plant without wood vinegar. The growth of such plants, however, reduced at $0.1{\sim}1%$ concentrations, and inhibited totally at >5% concentration. In greenhouse study, soil-applied wood vinegar did not inhibit tile growth of canola, barnyard grass, large crabgrass, and Abutilon avicennae even at the highest concentration, 80L $80L^{-1}\;10a^{-1}$, while foliar-applied wood vinegar did inhibit the growth of plants at higher than 40L $80L^{-1}\;10a^{-1}$. Growth of canola, barnyard grass, large crabgrass, and Abutilon avicennae treated with wood vinegar (80L $80L^{-1}\;10a^{-1}$) was reduced by 71, 46, 24, and 47%, respectively. In field experiment conducted at Chunchon and Taebeck, biomass of weeds treated with wood vinegar at less than 40L $80L^{-1}\;10a^{-1}$ were close to that of weeds treated without wood vinegar, while biomass of weeds at 80L $80L^{-1}\;10a^{-1}$ was reduced by 34-36%, compared to that of control, at both sites. However, the herbicidal activity of wood vinegar was much lower than that of glyphosate. Results in this study show that wood vinegar of Quercus mongolica Fisch has herbicidal activity, although the herbicidal activity was lower than that of glyphosate, a commercial herbicide.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.44-54
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• 2018

Heat and mass balance process modeling has been conducted for a coal-firing power plant to be used as a testbed facility for development of various plant systems and equipment. As the material and design of the boiler tube bundle and fuel conversion to the biomass have become major concerns, the process modeling is required to incorporate those features in its calculation. The simulation cases for two different generation load show the satisfying results compared to the operational data from the actual system. Based on the established process conditions, the hypothetical case using wood pellet has also been simulated. Additional calculations for the tube bundle has been conducted regarding the changes in the tube material and design.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2001

Improvement of water quality and Investigation of bacterial characteristics have been conducted in a pilot plant using biological activated carbon (BAC) in water treatment process at the downstream of the Nakdong River. Most of water control parameters were highly improved after passing through BAC. Approximately 54% of dissolved organic carbon was removed in coal-based BAC process. Bacterial biomass and bacterial production appeared $9.8{\times}10^8 CFU/g and 7.1mg-C/m^3$.hr in coal-based BAC, respectively. Predominant bacteria species grown in BAC were identified as Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium, Alcaligenes, Acinetobacter and Aeromonas species. Particularly Pseudomonas vesicularis was dominant in both coal-based and coconut-based BACs, while Pseudomonas cepacia was dominant in wood-based BAC.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.253-266
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• 2020

This study selected three types of agglomerated wood charcoal (Agglomerated wood charcoal with charcoal powder, Carbonized wood briquette, Ignition-type of perforated charcoal) that are in circulation in Korea among fuel-type wood products and analyzed the fuel characteristics, harmful substance content, and emissions of air pollutants generated by combustion. The first results showed that charcoal-grilled carbon, which is the raw material of charcoal, produced higher CO than saw-billed carbon. The second result is that the emission standards of air pollutants generated by the combustion of molded wood coal are not up to the emission standards of nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides in the entire product, compared with the emission criteria of the atmospheric environment preservation method (based on 2019, carbon monoxide: 200 ppm, nitrogen oxides, 150 ppm sulfur oxides: 100 ppm), but the carbon dioxide moulding and carbon dioxide levels were not up. Based on the analysis of combustion gas generated during combustion derived from this study, future research is needed for comparing with the emission standards of pellets, which are wood products for fuel, among the existing biomass burning standards and for reducing carbon monoxide generated during incomplete combustion of agglomerated wood charcoal.