• KSBB Journal
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.238-245
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• 1996

Microbial desulfurization characterlstics of a bituminous coal have been determined by using Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. The effects of process variables (such as coal pulp density, particle size and addition of surfactants) on pyrite removal have been investigated in both shake and airlift-bioreactor culture experiments. In shake experiments, pyrite could be removed over 78% for pulp densifies below 20% (w/v) and removed below 40% for pulp densities over 30% (w/v) in 8 days. Pyrite removal decreased with increasing pulp densities, and it also decreased sharply with increasing particle sizes. In airlift bioreactor experiments, pyrite at 50% (w/v) pulp density could be removed about 50%. Its value is much higher than 15% at the same pulp density in a shake experiment. With addition of surfactants, pyrite removal was enhanced in shake experiments significantly, whereas it was slightly decreased in an airlift bioreactor experiment.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.4 s.46
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• pp.267-276
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• 2005

The study is to determine the feasibility of activated red mud as an anti-red tide material. The red mud, a byproduct of Bayer process for the production of alumina from bauxite, contained hematite, boehmite, calcite, sodalite, quartz, zircon, anatase and an unknown phase. In the adsorption study of the red mud, its adsorption efficiencies for heavy elements were close to $100\%$ except $92\%$ In As. These results seem to be attributed by the high adsorption ability of iron oxides for heavy elements. As a result of leaching tests with the red mud at various pHs (pH $1\∼13$), the high leaching efficiencies for As, Cu and Zn at low pHs (at acidic condition) were obtained. It indicated that removal efficiency of heavy elements could be excellent in acidic treatment of red mud. The activated red mud, red mud reacted with acid, contained hematite, boehmite and so on, and desorption of heavy metals from the activated red mud increased with increasing temperature. The grain of the activated red mud was tens nm in size. The removal efficiency for 5 types of plankton was generally in inverse proportion to pH, especially to final pH. Of five plankton types, Prorocentrum minimum and Alexandrium tamarense promptly were removed more than $90\%$ as soon as the activated red mud was sprayed and $100\%$ after 30 minutes. These results indicated that the activated red mud seems to be a promising anti-red tide material.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 2015

This study examined remediation of soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other persistent organic pollutants by using subcritical water. Our results showed that removal efficiency of PCBs from soil and treatment temperature were linearly proportional under subcritical conditions. The removal efficiency as increased as reacting period increased. PCBs contaminating fine particles in soil were less effectively removed than those in entire contaminated soil. Reaction of the zero-valent iron and PCBs under subcritical condition produced dechlorinated product, where most of the PCBs were oxidised while little remained as dechlorinated. Other organic pollutants, such as TPH, BTEX, TCE/PCE, and chlorpyrifos, were removed by more than 90% at $300^{\circ}C$. Considering removal efficiency and identification of by-products, we suggest that subcritical water treatment may be effectively applied to soils contaminated with various persistent organic pollutants.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.2B
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• pp.187-192
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• 2011

Nitrate nitrogen is common contaminant in groundwater aquifers, its concentration is regulated many countries below 10 mg/L as N (As per WHO standards) in drinking water. An attempt was made to get optimal results for the treatment of nitrate nitrogen in groundwater by conducting various experiments by changing the experimental conditions for ZVI bipolar packed bed electrolytic cell. From the experimental results it is evident that the nitrate nitrogen removal is more effective when the reactor conditions are maintained in acidic range but when the acidic environment changes to alkaline due to the hydroxide formed during the process of ammonia nitrogen there by increasing the pH reducing the hydrogen ions required for reduction which leads to low effectiveness of the system. In the ZVI bipolar packed bed electrolytic cell, the packing ratio of 0.5~1:1 was found to be most effective for the treatment of nitrate nitrogen because ZVI particles are isolated and individual particle act like small electrode with low packing ratio. It is seen that formation of precipitate and acceleration of clogging incrementally for packing ratio more than 2:1, decreasing the nitrate nitrogen removal rate. When the voltage is increased it is seen that kinetics and current also increases but at the same time more electric power is consumed. In this experiment, the optimum voltage was determined to be 50V. At that time, nitrate nitrogen was removed by 94.9%.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2010

Uranium deposits from an electrorefining process contain about 30% salt. In order to recover pure uranium and transform it into an ingot, the salts have to be removed from the uranium deposits. Major process variables for the salt distillation process of the uranium deposits are hold temperature and vacuum pressure. Effects of the variables on the salt removal efficiency were studied in the previous study[1]. By applying the Hertz-Langmuir relation to the salt evaporation of the uranium deposits, the evaporation coefficients were obtained at the various conditions. The operational conditions for achieving above 99% salt removal were deduced. The salt distilled uranium deposits tend to form the eutectic melt with iron, nickel, chromium for structural material of salt evaporator. In this study, we investigated the hold temperature limitation in order to prevent the formation of the eutetic melt between urnaium and other metals. The reactions between the uranium metal and stainless steel were tested at various conditions. And for enhancing the evaporation rate of the salt and the efficient recovery of the distilled salt, the thermal analysis of the salt distiller was conducted by using commercial CFX software. From the thermal analysis, the effect of Ar gas flow on the evaporation of the salt was studied.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.564-570
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• 2007

This study investigated the treatment of liquid waste containing highly concentrated iron(III)-ethylenediaminetetraaceticacid (Fe(III)-EDTA) of 70,000 mg/L by an underwater electrical discharge process using low voltage and high current. When AC voltage is applied to the discharging electrode with the other electrode grounded, the temperature of the liquid waste around the discharging electrode rapidly increases, and at the same time, hydrogen and oxygen gases are formed at the electrode as a result of electrochemical reactions. Ultimately, gases formed by vaporization of water and electrochemical reactions cover the electrode. Since the liquid waste is electrically conductive, it elongates the ground electrode up to the border of the gas layer, where electrical discharge occurs. Without hydrogen peroxide, electrical discharge was able to remove about 50% of Fe(III)-EDTA. As the concentration of hydrogen peroxide added increased, the removal efficiency of Fe(III)-EDTA increased. When the molar ratio of hydrogen peroxide to the initial Fe(III)-EDTA was higher than 24.7, more than 80 g of Fe(III)-EDTA was removed with an energy of 1 kWh. A comparison between tungsten and steel electrodes showed that electrode material did not affect the Fe(III)-EDTA removal. In the present underwater electrical discharge process, the removal of Fe(III)-EDTA was completed within 30 min at molar ratios of hydrogen peroxide to the initial Fe(III)-EDTA higher than 24.7.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2021

Corrosion is the degradation of metals by reaction with the environment. It is difficult to completely remove. Corrosion proceeds rapidly after the protective barrier is destroyed, and several reactions occur that alter the composition and properties of the metal surface and local environments, such as diffusion of metal cations into the matrix, the formation of oxides, and local pH changes. The study of corrosion of steel and iron is of theoretical and practical interest and is receiving considerable attention. Acid solutions, which are widely used in industrial pickling, acid descaling, cleaning and acidification of oil wells, require the use of corrosion inhibitors to suppress corrosion attacks on metallic materials. Physical removal of rust requires expensive special equipment, and chemical removal of it can cause corrosion or shorten the life of the metal. In this study, an eco-friendly rust cleaner was developed using cosmetics and food materials by applying the concept of perm reducing agent and chelate, and applied to remove rust from industrial and hot water pipes and various industrial devices. As a result, it was found that rust cleaners remove rust more effectively and safely compared to conventional treatment methods. At the same time, the rust removal efficiency was 1.75 to 2.5 times better for industrial piping and 1.56 to 2.2 times better for boiler hot water than conventional methods.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.680-687
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• 1999

To understand the role of shelf sediment in phosphorus biogeochemical cycle, we carried out sequential sediment extraction (SEDEX) of P and porewater analysis on 14 core samples collected in the South Sea of Korea, SEDEX classified P-pools into 5 phases and results are grouped into two categories: reactive P (loosely sorbed-P and Fe bound-P) and refractory P (detrital inorganic-p, authigenic mineral-P and organic-P). Total P concentrations are decreased with sediment depth in all samples as a result of dissolution to porewater. Reactive P comprises about $20\~50\%$ of total P, and iron bound-P is the major form consisting $70\~80\%$ of reactive P-pool. Iron bound-P decreases sharply with depth. Depth profiles of dissolved P concentration in porewater show mirror image of iron bound-P, revealing the role of FeOOH as a regulator of reactive P supply to overlying water column. Authigenic mineral-P consists less than $5\%$ of total P, thus removal of reactive P by converting into refractory P seems inefficient in shelf sediment. This implies that continental shelf sediment sequesters P temporarily rather than permanently. Results show local variation. Nakdong estuary receiving large amount of terrigenous input shows the highest concentration of total P and reactive P. Here iron oxyhydroxides at the surface sediment control the water column flux of P from sediment. Although total P content at the surface is comparable (500$\~$600 ${\mu}g{\cdot}g^{-1}$) between the South Sea and East China Sea, the former contains more iron bound-P and less derital inorganic-P than the latter. Reasons for the difference seem due in part to particle texture, and to biological productivity which depends roughly on the distance from land.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

This research was performed to assess a Fenton-like oxidation using naturally present iron in the field to treat remained oils throughout silty clay residues which finally resided even after a series of soil washing process. Biodegradability was thus tested for reaction products to investigate a possible treatment of the Fenton-like oxidation coupled with a biological treatment process. For those purposes, two types of field soil samples (e.g., dewatered cake after conditioning with a polymer and not-dewatered residue) were tested to remove TPH by adding the various concentration of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$). Moreover the biodegradability of treated samples was observed based on the ratio of $BOD_5/COD_{Cr}$ after Fenton-like oxidation. The Highest removal of TPH was at 1% of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) when hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) was continuously injected for a period of time rather than that of spot introduction with the same amount of it. For the dewatered cake, TPH was effectively treated when the ratio of solid and water was mixed at 1 : 2. Employing cooking oil could increase solubility of TPH due to enhanced surface-active escalating TPH desorption from silty clay. Nonetheless, the biodegradability was decreased as long as the oxidation duration being extended regardless of operational conditions. It was therefore proved that Fenton-like oxidation using $H_2O_2$ and natural iron minerals was able to remove adsorbed oils in silty clay but the removal efficiency of TPH was low. And if a biological treatment process followed after Fenton-like oxidation, microorganisms would need enough time for acclimation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2010

Acid mine drainage (AMD) from abandoned mine sites typically has low pH and contains high level of various heavy metals, aggravating ground- and surface water qualities and neighboring environments. This study investigated removal of heavy metals in a biological treatment system, mainly focusing on the removal by adsorption on a substrate material. Bench-scale batch experiments were performed with a mushroom compost to evaluate the adsorption characteristics of heavy metals leached out from a mine tailing sample and the role of SRB in the overall removal process. In addition, adsorption experiments were perform using an artificial AMD sample containing $Cd^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Pb^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ to assess adsorption capacity of the mushroom compost. The results indicated Mn leached out from mine tailing was not subject to microbial stabilization or adsorption onto mushroom compost while microbially mediated stabilization played an important role in the removal of Zn. Fe leaching significantly increased in the presence of microbes as compared to autoclaved samples, and this was attributed to dissolution of Fe minerals in the mine tailing in a response to the depletion of $Fe^{3+}$ by iron reduction bacteria. Measurement of oxidation reduction potential (ORP) and pH indicated the reactive mixture maintained reducing condition and moderate pH during the reaction. The results of the adsorption experiments involving artificial AMD sample indicated adsorption removal efficiency was greater than 90% at pH 6 condition, but it decreased at pH 3 condition.