• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.304-311
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• 2012

Chlorinated ethylenes such as perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) are widely used as industrial solvents and degreasing agents. Because of improper handling, these highly toxic chlorinated ethylenes have been often detected from contaminated soils and groundwater. Biological PCE dechlorination activities were tested in bacterial cultures inoculated with 10 different environmental samples from sediments, sludges, soils, and groundwater. Of these, the sediment using culture (SE 2) was selected and used for establishing an efficient PCE dechlorinating enrichment culture since it showed the highest activity of dechlorination. The cathode chamber of bioelectrochemical system (BES) was inoculated with the enrichment culture and the system with a cathode polarized at -500 mV (Vs Ag/AgCl) was operated under fed-batch mode. PCE was dechlorinated to ethylene via TCE, cis-dichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride. Microbial community analysis with polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) showed that the microbial community in the enrichment culture was significantly changed during the bio-electrochemical PCE dechlorination in the BES. The communities of suspended-growth bacteria and attached-growth bacteria on the cathode surface are also quite different from each other, indicating that there were some differences in their mechanisms receiving electrons from electrode for PCE dechlorination. Further detailed research to investigate electron transfer mechanism would make the bioelctrochemical dechlorination technique greatly useful for bioremediation of soil and groundwater contaminated with chlorinated ethylenes.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.27-41
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• 2017

This study dealt with the characteristics and the interrelations of hydrogeological parameters such as hydraulic conductivity, dispersivity and effective porosity of unconsolidated sediments for providing the basic data necessary for the planning of the management and preservation of groundwater quality in the Nakdong River Delta of Busan City, Korea. Groundwater quality in this area has been deteriorated due to seawater intrusion, agricultural fertilizer and pesticide, industrial wastewater, and contaminated river water. The physical properties (grain size distribution, sediment type, sorting) and aquifer parameters (hydraulic conductivity, effective porosity, longitudinal dispersivity) were determined from grain size analysis, laboratory permeability test and column tracer test. Among 36 samples, there were 18 Sand (S), 7 Gravelly Sand (gS), 5 Silty Sand (zS), 5 Muddy Sand (mS), and 1 Sandy Silt (sZ). Hydraulic conductivity was determined through a falling head test, and ranged from $9.2{\times}10^{-5}$ to $2.9{\times}10^{-2}cm/sec$ (0.08 to 25.6 m/day). From breakthrough curves, dispersivity was calculated to be 0.35~3.92 cm. Also, effective porosity and average linear velocity were obtained through the column tracer test, and their values were 0.04~0.46 and 1.06E-04~6.49E-02 cm/sec, respectively. Statistical methods were used to understand the interrelations among aquifer parameters of hydraulic conductivity, effective porosity and dispersivity. The relation between dispersivity and hydraulic conductivity or effective porosity considered the sample length, because dispersivity was affected by experimental scale. The relations between dispersivity and hydraulic conductivity or effective porosity were all in inverse proportion for all long and short samples. The reason was because dispersivity was in inverse proportion to the groundwater velocity in case of steady hydrodynamic dispersion coefficient, and groundwater velocity was in proportion to the hydraulic conductivity or effective porosity. This study also elucidated that longitudinal dispersivity was dependent on the scale of column tracer test, and all hydrogeological parameters were low to high values due to the sand quantity of sediments. It is expected that the hydrogeological parameter data of sediments will be very useful for the planning of groundwater management and preservation in the Nakdong River Delta of Busan City, Korea.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.41-53
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• 2019

Recently, the damage caused by climate change has been distinguished in the world. The Korean Peninsula is also suffering from drought, so it is necessary to study the vulnerability assessment to identify and predict the state of the irrigation facility, which is a irrigation facility. As the damage caused by drought is occurring in the Korean peninsula, it is necessary to study the vulnerability assessment to know the condition of the irrigation facility, and to predict it. The target areas were Yeongdong-gun, Cheonan-si, Mungyeong-si, Geochang-gun, Muju-gun, and Yeonggwang-gun. The survey items were selected as positive impacts survey items, including precipitation, groundwater level, and pumping capacity per groundwater well. The negative impacts were selected as the cultivation acreage, Number of days without rain, and the ratio of private underground wells. The survey method was investigated by various methods such as "weather data portal", "groundwater level status information", "agricultural drought management system", "groundwater survey yearbook". The results of vulnerability assessment were expressed by the score by conducting survey and standardization. As a result, Yeonggwang-gun showed normal vulnerability, and other areas showed "vulnerable" or "very vulnerable".

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.599-612
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• 2015

The development of renewable energy technologies that can replace fossil fuels is environmentally important; however, such technologies must be economically feasible. Economic analyses are important for assessing new projects such as geothermal heating-cooling systems, given their large initial costs. This study analyzed the economics and carbon dioxide emissions of: a SCW (standing column well), a vertical closed loop boiler, a gas boiler, and an oil boiler. Life cycle cost analysis showed that the SCW geothermal heating-cooling system had the highest economic feasibility, as it had the highest cost saving and also the lowest carbon dioxide emissions. Overall, it appears that geothermal systems can save money when applied to large-scale controlled agriculture complexes and reclaimed land.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.295-306
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• 2009

The risk assessment of groundwater and soil in Sasang industrial complex in Busan Metropolitan City was carried out in order to estimate risks to human health and the environment. The carcinogenic risk (CR) of receptors to soil and air was not identified. However, the CRs for TCE and PCE were 6.7E-6 and 1.0E-5, respectively. Hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) did not appear through air exposure pathways. Yet the HQ and HI of soil were 3.4E-5 and 5E-5, respectively, and lower than the critical value (1.0). On the contrary, HQ and HI with respect to groundwater were calculated as 0.7 (not hazardous) and 1.4 (hazardous). The constituent reduction factor (CRF) for TCE in the study area was determined as 2.5, and thus remediation work is demanded. As a result of sensitivity analysis for 18 exposure factors, eight exposure factors (life time of carcinogens, age, body weight, exposure duration, exposure frequency, dermal exposure frequency, water ingestion rate, and soil ingestion rate) varied with the variation of risk.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.389-398
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• 2013

Studies of the thermal properties of various rock types obtained from several locations in Korea have revealed significant differences in thermal conductivities in the thermal response test (TRT), which has been applied to the design of a ground-source heat pump system. In the present study, we aimed to compare the thermal conductivities of the samples with those obtained by TRT. The thermal conductivities of soil and rock samples were 1.32W/m-K and 2.88 W/m-K, respectively. In comparison, the measured TRT value for thermal conductivity was 3.13W/m-K, which is 10% higher than that of the rock samples. We consider that this difference may be due to groundwater flow because abundant groundwater is present in the study area and has a hydraulic conductivity of 0.01. It is natural to consider that the object of TRT is to calculate the original thermal conductivity of the ground, following the line source theory. Therefore, we conclude that the TRT applied to a domestic standing column type well is not suitable for a line source theory. To solve these problems, values of thermal conductivity measured directly from samples should be used in the design of ground-source heat pump systems.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.445-453
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• 2007

The purposes of this study lie on understanding characteristic water-rock interaction mechanisms of groundwater in the Geochang, Hapcheon, and Changryeong areas and establishing correlation between geological factors and groundwater chemistry by statistical tools. Based on the statistical results from the relationship between rock types and groundwater chemistry, fluorine is correlated with Fe and Al in the diorite area, whereas it is correlated with Cl and $NO_3-N$ in the andesite area. Hardness, total solids, and $SO_4$ show that they are closely related to each other in all rock types, especially with highest relationship in sedimentary rocks. Although it is generally acknowledged that TDS increases with depths of aquifer due to the long term water-rock interaction, no remarkable relationship between well depth and water chemistry is found in this study. It appears that hydrogeological system in the study area may be complex or the path of water-rock interaction is inconsistent with well depth.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.550-556
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• 2016

Groundwater heat pump (GWHP) systems must consider phenomena such as clogging to improve system efficiency and maintenance. In this study, we evaluated the prokaryotic diversity in a boring slime sample obtained at a depth of 10 m, which represented an undisturbed sample not affected by aquifer drawdown. Bacteria belonging to the phyla Proteobacteria (20.8%), Acidobacteria (18.8%), Chloroflexi (16.9%), and Firmicutes (10.2%) were found. Additionally, 144 species were identified as belonging to the genus Koribacter. Archaeal phyla were detected including Thaumarchaeota (42.8%), Crenarchaeota (36.9%), and Euryarchaeota (17.4%) and the class level comprised the miscellaneous Crenarchaeota group (MCG), Finnish forest soil type B (FFSB), and Thermoplasmata, which collectively accounted for approximately 69.4% of the detected Archaea. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were analyzed to reveal 3,565 bacterial and 836 archaeal OTUs, with abundances of 7.81 and 6.68, and richnesses of 5.96E-4 and 2.86E-3, respectively. The distribution of the groundwater microbial community in the study area showed a higher proportion of non-classified or unidentified groups compared to typical communities in surface water and air. In addition, 135 (approx. 1.9%) reads were assigned to a bacterial candidate associated with clogging.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.60 no.6
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• pp.33-42
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• 2018

This study evaluated the vulnerability of irrigation water supplied to the crops. The target areas were selected as Dangjin-si, Yesan-gun, and Cheongyang-gun. The survey items of the climate exposure were annual precipitation and rainless days. The sensitivity survey items were cultivation area, groundwater level, evapotranspiration and groundwater consumption. The survey items of the adaptability were Number of groundwater well and Water supply ratio. The survey methods for these items were investigated in a variety of ways, including "National Climate Data Service System", "Korean Statistical Information Service", "National ground water monitoring network in korea annual report" and "Chungcheongnam-do Statistical Yearbook", "HOMWRS". Vulnerability assessment results were rated within the range of 0~100 points. The first grade was rated 0-25, the second grade 26-50, the third grade 51-75, and the fourth grade 76-100. And the lower the score, the lower the vulnerability. As a result, Cheongyang-gun showed a high vulnerability of over 50 points, Dangjin-si showed a low vulnerability rating of 31.20 points and a Yesan-gun of 36.00 points.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.39-46
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• 2013

Recently, there have been various researches on the cost reduction and savings during the construction activities with the development of automation and computerized information system. Considering the cost savings during the construction, the development of the geological and geotechnical information system with high practical use becomes very important since the geologic and geotechnical data are required for the design of the various structures. Currently, the geological and geotechnical data are collected and distributed as a geological/geotechnical map or engineering geology map and map with other specific purpose through geoinfo system at Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Korea Mineral Resources GIS at Korea Mineral Resources Corporation, Geotechnical Information Portal System at Korea Institute of Construction Technology, Geotechnical Information System at the City of Seoul and the Ocean Data Integration Material System at Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Administration. Furthermore, the information on the groundwater is monitored and collected via Integrated Ground Water Information Service at Korea Water Resources Corporation and Rural Groundwater net at Korea Rural Community Corporation. Therefore, in this study, the contents of the geological and geotechnical data collected from the above mentioned government organization are compared and the DB and distribution system with higher utilization are suggested based on the comparisons with those from other countries such as United States of America, Japan and Germany.