• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2013

To improve the energy efficiency of conventional thermal treatment, soil remediation with microwave has been studied. In this study, the remediation efficiency of contaminated soil with semi-volatile organic contaminants were evaluated with microwave oven and several additives such as water, formic acid, iron powder, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, and activated carbon. For the experiment, loamy sand and sandy loam collected from Imjin river flood plain were intentionally contaminated with hexachlorobenzene and phenanthrene, respectively. The contaminated soils were treated with microwave facility and the mass removals of organic contaminants from soils were evaluated. Among additives that were added to increase the remediation efficiency, activated carbon and NaOH solution were more effective than water, iron powder, and formic acid. When 10 g of hexachlorobenzene (142.4 mg/kg-soil) or phenanthrene (2,138.8 mg/kg-soil) contaminated soil that mixed with 0.5 g iron powder, 0.5 g activated carbon and 1 ml 6.25 M NaOH solution were treated with microwave for 3 minutes, more than 95% of contaminants were removed. The degradation of hexachlorobenzene during microwave treatments with additives was confirmed by the detection of pentachlorobenzene and tetrachlorobenzene. Naphthalene and phenol were also detected as degradation products of phenanthrene during microwave treatment with additives. The results showed that adding a suitable amount of additives for microwave treatments fairly increased the efficiency of removing semi-volatile soil organic contaminants.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.23-30
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• 2001

Column tests were carried out to examine the effect of surfactant solution conditions on the surfactant-enhanced remediation of soil columns contaminated by toluene. The conditioned parameters of the surfactant solution for the column tests were concentration, pH, temperature and flow rate. The test results revealed that an optimum condition was achieved for 4% (v/v) of concentration, 10 of pH, $20^{\circ}C$ of temperature and 4 mL/min of flow rate respectively. The removal of 95% of toluene was obtained when optimal conditions of each surfactant solution parameter were simultaneously met. This was a marked improvement and removal efficiency increased by 6-19% compared to that with unadjusted conditions. The optimum range of these parameters may be useful for a surfactant-based remediation in the aquifer contaminated by toluene.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.17-22
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• 2008

The feasibility of acid-enhanced electrokinetic remediation on zinc and nickel-contaminated soil was investigated in the laboratory. Simple extraction efficiency using 1M HCl was 24% for Zn and 9% for Ni, as a result, the acid washing is not effective to remove Zn and Ni from the soil. The effiencey of normal electrokinetic treatment during 28 days was less than simple soil washing. Catholyte circulation with a strong acid enhanced dramatically the removal of Zn and Ni and pretreatment of soil with acid increased more the removal. Based on the result, acid-enhanced electrokinetic remediation is effective to remove Zn and Ni from the contaminated soil.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2013

The landfarming treatment for the remediation of the petroleum contaminated soil at the returned U.S. Military bases was investigated in this study. Specifically, the bioaugmentation performance using various commercially available petroleum-degrading bacteria was evaluated and the directions for enhancing the performance of the landfarming treatment were suggested. The environmental factors of the soils at the returned U.S. Military bases chosen for remediation indicate that the landfarming treatment can be used as the remediation technique; however, the addition of nitrogen or phosphorus is required. The lab-scale landfarming treatment tests using the model soil and the site soil showed that the degradation efficiency was greater with the model soil than the site soil and that the treatment performance was not affected by the number of bacteria present in the soil in the range of $10^6-10^{12}$ CFU/g. These results suggest that the successful landfarming treatment depends on the petroleum degradability of bacteria used and the environmental conditions during the treatment rather than the number of petroleum-degrading bacteria used.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.70-86
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• 2003

Despite its usability, TCE has been managed as a hazardous material due to the toxicity and many contamination cases were surveyed in some developed countries. U.S.EPA(Kram et al., 2001) suggested DNAPL characterization methods and approaches based on survey experiences at several sites. However, Korea has not the least assessment of contamination and trial of remediation, although there are a lot of doubtable areas where ground water would be contaminated with TCE. In this study, we try to assess the volume and extent of ground water contamination with TCE and delineate the contamination source zones in an industrial area. Ground water in this area flows through fractures and the contaminant TCE has the properties of high volatility, high density and low partitioning to soil material. Thus, we applied a variety of technical approaches to identify the contamination status; documentary, hydrogeochemical, hydrogeological and geological surveys. In addition, additional survey was performed based on the interim findings, which showed that ground water contamination was limited to the relatively small area with high concentrations to the deep place. The contamination source zone is estimated to be the asphalt test institute where a great deal of TCE has been used to analyze the amount of asphalt soluble in TCE since 1984. Based on the contamination characterization and a myriad of documents about ground water remediation, appropriate site remediation management options will be recommended later. This study is now under way and this paper was focused on describing the technical approaches used to achieve the goals of this study.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.17-28
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• 2010

As a preliminary survey to improve efficiency of well-based permeable reactive barrier system for groundwater remediation, this site-scale study was carried to identify the flowpaths and controlling factors of plume at a remediation site in Suwon City, Korea. A total of 22 monitoring wells were installed as a grid system in the $4m{\times}4m$ square area by 1-m interval. For the groundwater characterization, various tests were performed including water-level monitoring, water sampling & analysis, pumping and slug tests, and tracer tests. The aquifer appeared to be unconfined with hydraulic conductivities (K) ranging from $2.6{\times}10^{-4}cm/s$ to $9.5{\times}10^{-3}cm/s$. The average linear velocity of groundwater was estimated to be $2.94{\times}10^{-6}m/s$, and the longitudinal dispersivity of a conservative tracer to be $5.94{\times}10^{-7}m^2/s$. Groundwater plume moves preferentially through the high-K zones, and the relatively high ion concentrations along the low-K zones implying deterred groundwater flow. Consequently, the spatial variation of hydraulic conductivity caused by aquifer heterogeneity and anisotropy appears to be the most important factor to maximize the effect of plume treatment system for application of in-situ groundwater remediation techniques.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.75-95
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: Increase of heavy metals in agricultural ecosystem has become a social issue nationwide as it is related to public health. This review was performed to find out more systematic and integrated future researches on heavy metals using up to date articles published in the Korean journals related to agricultural environment. METHODS AND RESULTS: Researches on heavy metals in agricultural soils and plant uptake were categorized by the establishment of criteria, analytical methods, monitoring, management of source, characteristics and behavior in soil, plant uptake, bioavailability affecting physico -chemical properties in soil, risk assessment and soil remediation. In the early 1990s, the monitoring for heavy metals in soil has been widely performed. Accumulation of heavy metals in contaminated soil and availability to plants has also attracted interests to study the soil remediation using various physico-chemical methods. The phytoavailability and phytotoxicity of heavy metals have been mainly studied to assess the safety of agro-products using risk assessment techniques in the 2000s. CONCLUSION: Future direction of research on heavy metal in agricultural environment must be carried out by ensuring food safety and sustainability. A steady survey and proper management for polluted regions should be continued. Law and regulation must be modified systematically. Furthermore, studies should expand on mitigation of heavy metal uptake by crops and remediation of polluted fields.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.36-43
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• 2012

Various methods are used to remediate soil contaminated with heavy metals or petroleum. In recent years, harsh physical and chemical remediation methods are being used to increase remediation efficiency, however, such processes could affect soil properties and degrade the ecological functions of the soil. Effects of soil washing, thermal desorption, and land farming, which are the most frequently used remediation methods, on the physicochemical properties of remediated soil were investigated in this study. For soils smaller than 2 mm, the soil texture were changed from sandy clay loam to sandy loam because of the decrease in the clay content after soil washing, and from loamy sand to sandy loam because of the decrease in the sand content and increase in silt content during thermal desorption, however, the soil texture remained unchanged after land farming process. The water-holding capacity, organic matter content, and total nitrogen concentration of the tested soil decreased after soil washing. A change in soil color and an increase in the available phosphate concentration were observed after thermal desorption. Exchangeable cations, total nitrogen, and available phosphate concentration were found to decrease after land farming; these components were probably used by microorganisms during as well as after the land farming process because microbial processes remain active even after land farming. A study of these changes can provide information useful for the reuse of remediated soil. However, it is insufficient to assess only soil physicochemical properties from the viewpoint of the reuse of remediated soil. Potential risks and ecological functions of remediated soil should also be considered to realize sustainable soil use.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2012

This study reports a surfactant-enhanced in-situ remediation treatment at a test site which is located in a hilly terrain. The leakage oils from a storage tank situated on the top of the hill contaminated soils and groundwater in the lower elevation. Sixteen vertical injection wells (11 m deep) were installed at the top of the hill to introduce 0.1-0.5 vol.% of non-ionic Tween-80 surfactant. The contaminated area that required remediation treatment was about $1,650\;m^2$. Two cycles of injecting surfactant solution followed by water were repeated over approximately 7.5 months: first cycle with 0.5 month of surfactant injection followed by 3 months of water injection, and second cycle with 1 month of surfactant followed by 3 months of water injection. The seasonal fluctuation in groundwater table was also considered in the selection of periods for surfactant and water injection. The results showed that the initial Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration of 1,041 mg/kg (maximum 3,605 mg/kg) was reduced significantly down to 76.6 mg/kg in average. After 2nd surfactant injection process finished, average TPH concentration of soils was reduced to 7.5% compared to initial concentration. Also, average BTEX concentration of soils was reduced to 10.8%. This resultes show that the surfactant enhanced in-situ remediation processes can be applicable to LNAPL contaminated site in field scale.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.13-17
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• 2014

Subcritical water acts like an organic solvent at elevated temperature in terms of its physicochemical properties. Taking into account this advantage, the remediation experiments of benzo[a]pyrene contaminated soil (8.45 mg/kg of initial concentration) were conducted using subcritical water extraction apparatus. The effect of operating factors on the removal efficiency was studied at the varying the conditions of the water temperature ranging $200{\sim}300^{\circ}C$, extraction time 30~90 min, and flow rate 0.3~2.0 mL/min. 12 g of benzo[a]pyrene contaminated soil was inserted into the extraction cell and placed into the reactor and then the subcritical water was driven through the cell. In this study, the removal efficiency of benzo[a]pyrene was increased from 55.1 to 98.1% when the temperature increased from 200 to $300^{\circ}C$. The removal efficiency was decreased from 97.0 to 77.0% when the flow rate increased from 0.3 to 2.0 mL/min, suggesting that the extraction is limited by intra-particle diffusion. The 30 min reaction time was determined as an effective treatment time at $250^{\circ}C$. Based on the results, the optimum condition for the remediation of benzo[a]pyrene contaminated soil was suggested to be $250^{\circ}C$, 30 min, and 0.3 mL/min.