• Clean Technology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.345-356
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• 2017

The composting is a biological process that converts organic matter into useful resources such as fertilizers. It is a continuous transition of microbial communities to adapt changes in organic matter and environmental conditions (carbonation rate, temperature, humidity, oxygen supply, pH, etc.). Most of the composting plants are located in the proximity of the residential areas. It is a general scenario where government authorities receive complaints from the local residents due to release of odor from the composting, and has become a social problem in Korea. Identification of dominant microorganisms, understanding change in microbial communities and augmentation of specific microorganism for composting is vital to enhance the efficiency of composting, quality of the compost produced, and reduction of odor. In this paper, we suggest the optimum operation conditions and methods for compost depot to reduce odor generation. The selection of the appropriate microorganisms and their rapid increase in population are effective to promote composting. The optimal growth conditions of bacteria such as aeration (oxygen), temperature, and humidity were standardized to maximize composting through microbial degradation. The use of porous minerals and moisture control has significantly improved odor removal. Recent technologies to reduce odor from the composting environment and improved composting processes are also presented.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.40-52
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• 2022

This study analyzed the amount of carbon dioxide reduction and economic benefits of detailed processes of CO₂ 6,000 tons plant facilities with mineral carbonation technology using carbon dioxide and coal materials emitted from domestic circulating fluidized bed combustion power plants. Coal ash reacted with carbon dioxide through carbon mineralization facilities is produced as a complex carbonate and used as a construction material, accompanied by a greenhouse gas reduction. In addition, it is possible to generate profits from the sales of complex carbonates and carbon credits produced in the process. The actual carbon dioxide reduction per ton of complex carbonate production was calculated as 45.8 kgCO₂eq, and the annual carbon dioxide reduction was calculated as 805.3 tonCO₂, and the benefit-cost ratio (B/C Ratio) is 1.04, the internal rate return (IRR) is 10.65 % and the net present value (NPV) is KRW 24,713,465 won, which is considered economical. Carbon mineralization technology is one of the best solutions to reduce carbon dioxide considering future carbon dioxide reduction and economic potential.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.95-101
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• 2023

An experiment was conducted to produce vaterite-type precipitated calcium carbonate from waste oyster shells in order to use them as recyclable resources. Calcined oyster shells containing calcium oxide as their main component were prepared at a temperature of 800℃ for 24 h. The oyster shells were dissolved in nitric acid or hydrochloric acid solution to make 0.1 M calcium nitrate or calcium chloride aqueous solution, and a carbonation reaction was performed using a 0.1 M sodium carbonate aqueous solution under various experimental conditions, which included varying the amount of aspatic acid additive, the amount of NH₄OH added, the reaction time, the reaction temperature, the stirring speed, and the type of dissolved acid. The XRD, SEM, and size distributions were analyzed and the vaterite content was calculated. Spherical precipitated calcium carbonate with a vaterite content of 95.9% was synthesized by adding 0.1 mol aspatic acid/1 mol CaO and 2 cm³ of NH₄OH, and reacting for 1 h at 25℃ while stirring at 600 rpm. The average particle diameter was found to be 12.11 ㎛. Calcium carbonate contatining high vaterite is used as high value added calcium carbonate for medical, food, inke additiver, etc.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.17 no.3 s.87
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• pp.411-418
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• 2005

Polymer-modified mortar and concrete are prepared by mixing either a polymer or monomer in a dispersed, or liquid form with fresh cement mortar and concrete mixtures, and subsequently curing, and if necessary, the monomer contained in the mortar or concrete is polymerized in situ. Although polymers and monomers in any form such as latexes, water-soluble polymers, liquid resins, and monomers are used in cement composites such as mortar and concrete, it is very important that both cement hydration and polymer phase formation proceed well the yield a monolithic matrix phase with a network structure in which the hydrated cement phase and polymer phase interpenetrate. In the polymer-modified mortar and concrete structures, aggregates are bound by such a co-matrix phase, resulting in the superior properties of polymer-modified mortar and concrete compared to conventional mortar and concrete. The purpose of this study is to obtain the necessary basic data to develope appropriate latexes as cement modifiers, and to clarify the effects of the monomer ratios and amount of emulsifier on the properties of the polymer-modified mortars using methyl methacrylate-butyl acrylate(MMA/BA) and methyl methacrylate-ethyl acrylate(MMA/EA) latexes. The results of this study are as follows, the water absorption, chloride ion penetration depth and carbonation depth of MMA/BA-modified mortar are lowest. However, they are greatly affected by the polymer-cement ratio rather than the bound MMA content and type of polymer.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.253-260
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• 2017

As global warming became a worldwide issue, a significant effort has been made on the development of technology related to $CO_2$ capture and storage. Geologic sequestration of $CO_2$ is one of those technologies for safe disposal of $CO_2$. Geologic sequestration stores $CO_2$ in the form of supercritical fluid into the underground site surrounded by solid rock, and concrete is used for prevention of $CO_2$ leakage into the atmosphere. In such case, concrete may experience severe damage by attack of supercritical $CO_2$, and especially in contact with underground water, very aggressive form of carbonation can occur. In this work, to prevent such deterioration in concrete, calcium phosphates were added to the portland cement to produce hydroxyapatite, one of the most stable mineral in the world. Temperature rise, viscosity, set and stiffening, and strength development of cement paste incorporating three different types of calcium phosphates were investigated. According to the results, it was found that the addition of calcium phosphate increased apparent viscosity, but decreased maximum temperature rise and 28 day compressive strength. It was found that monocalcium phosphate was found to be inappropriate for portland cement based material. Applicability of dicalcium and tricalcium phosphates for portland cement needs to be evaluated with further investigation, including the long term compressive strength development.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.77-91
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• 2006

Domestic practices in shotcrete use have developed in many respects even now, but it still has issues about material, construction, quality standard and so on. In overseas, the construction using high strength shotcrete with $39.2{\sim}58.8 MPa$ of compressive strength is becoming common based on the shotcrete technology of high strength and durability. However, domestic shotcrete design strength is low at around 20.6 MPa of compressive strength and a long term durability is also insufficient. In this paper, field tests using high-quality additives and accelerators were performed to obtain the improvement of shotcrete strength and EFNARC standard was used to evaluate the field test results. In addition, deterioration test combined with the freezing-thawing and carbonation was also performed in order to investigate a long-term durability of high-strength shotcrete. As a result of the field test, the promotion ratio of early strength was $90{\sim}97%$ in case of using alkali-free accelerators. And the compressive strength of the shotcrete using Micro-silica fume was $45.2{\sim}55.8MPa$ and flexible strength was $5.01{\sim}6.66MPa$, so the promotion ratio of strength was $37{\sim}79%$ and $17{\sim}61%$ respectively. The promotion effect of strength by silica fine additives ratio of $7.5{\sim}10%$ for cement mass was much superior to the other cases. It was especially examined that using Micro-silica fume reduced deterioration due to mixed steel fiber and improved a long-term durability of shotcrete.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.267-275
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• 2018

The purposes of this study were to analyze the mineralogical characteristics of slaked lime used for wall repair of traditional buildings in Bagan, Myanmar and to evaluate the physical properties of lime plaster produced by the same method as Bagan region. In the X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis of the Myanmar slaked lime, portlandite ($Ca(OH)_2$) and brucite ($Mg(OH)_2$) were detected as main constituent minerals, and a carbonate rock mainly composed of dolomite ($CaMg(CO_3)_2$) minerals may be used as a raw material to make slaked lime. The field-emission scanning electron microscope analysis showed that the Myanmar slaked lime was composed of irregularly shaped crystals of $0.5{\mu}m$ or larger and a small amount of $0.1{\mu}m$ of plate - like crystals. The size and uniformity of crystals in Myanmar lime is different from that of Korea slaked lime. This may be attributed to the effect of the mineral composition and the lime hydration method of Myanmar, which produces slurry by immersing the burnt lime in excess water for a long period of time. The compressive strength of the lime plaster in Myanmar resulted in a mean value of $1.13N/mm^2$ for the specimens cured for 28 days. The strength of the specimens with Bale juice was $1.03N/mm^2$, respectively. The lime is an air setting material that exhibits strength through long carbonation process. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate physical properties according to curing period through long-term curing over 28 days in the future.

• Clean Technology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.311-315
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• 2019

The cation extraction and impurity separation were studied in order to investigate the recyclability of a slag produced from the steel refinery industry. Two types of slag (Slag-A, B) were collected and characterized in this study. The initial characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) confirmed the existence of various kinds of ions in the slag such as Ca²⁺ (30 ~ 40%), Fe³⁺ (20 ~ 30%), Si⁴⁺ (15%), Al³⁺ (10%), Mn²⁺ (7%), and Mg²⁺ (3 ~ 5%). Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) analysis on the extracted slag using 2 M HCl as a solvent indicated that a higher concentration of Ca²⁺ was extracted as the S/L ratio was increased. The Ca²⁺ extraction concentration were found to be 8,940 mg L^-1 (Slag-A) and 10,690 (Slag-B) mg L^-1 when the S/L ratio for Ca²⁺ extraction was 0.1. However, the extract was strongly acidic ( < pH 1) at 0.1 S/L. Also the other ions (impurities) were extracted simultaneously in addition to Ca²⁺. To increase the purity of Ca²⁺ in order to transform the slag to a high value resource, a pH-swing was conducted. The impurities tended to precipitate at higher rate as the pH was increased. Notably, the Ca²⁺ rapidly precipitated above a certain pH and at a pH of 10.5, while the selectivity of Ca²⁺ was over 99%. It is expected that the aqueous solution in which high contents of Ca²⁺ was selectively dissolved in this study would be suitable for the carbonation process for reducing CO₂ and for the production of calcium carbonate.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.311-330
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• 2023

Development of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technique is becoming increasingly important as a method to mitigate the strengthening effects of global warming, generated from the unprecedented increase in released anthropogenic CO₂. In the recent years, the characteristics of basaltic rocks (i.e., large volume, high reactivity and surplus of cation components) have been recognized to be potentially favorable in facilitation of CCS; based on this, research on utilization of basaltic formations for underground CO₂ storage is currently ongoing in various fields. This study investigated the feasibility of underground storage of CO₂ in basalt, based on the examination of the CO₂ storage mechanisms in subsurface, assessment of basalt characteristics, and review of the global research on basaltic CO₂ storage. The global research examined were classified into experimental/modeling/field demonstration, based on the methods utilized. Experimental conditions used in research demonstrated temperatures ranging from 20 to 250 ℃, pressure ranging from 0.1 to 30 MPa, and the rock-fluid reaction time ranging from several hours to four years. Modeling research on basalt involved construction of models similar to the potential storage sites, with examination of changes in fluid dynamics and geochemical factors before and after CO₂-fluid injection. The investigation demonstrated that basalt has large potential for CO₂ storage, along with capacity for rapid mineralization reactions; these factors lessens the environmental constraints (i.e., temperature, pressure, and geological structures) generally required for CO₂ storage. The success of major field demonstration projects, the CarbFix project and the Wallula project, indicate that basalt is promising geological formation to facilitate CCS. However, usage of basalt as storage formation requires additional conditions which must be carefully considered - mineralization mechanism can vary significantly depending on factors such as the basalt composition and injection zone properties: for instance, precipitation of carbonate and silicate minerals can reduce the injectivity into the formation. In addition, there is a risk of polluting the subsurface environment due to the combination of pressure increase and induced rock-CO₂-fluid reactions upon injection. As dissolution of CO₂ into fluids is required prior to injection, monitoring techniques different from conventional methods are needed. Hence, in order to facilitate efficient and stable underground storage of CO₂ in basalt, it is necessary to select a suitable storage formation, accumulate various database of the field, and conduct systematic research utilizing experiments/modeling/field studies to develop comprehensive understanding of the potential storage site.