• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.535-543
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• 2019

Building on/with expansive soils with no treatment brings complications. Compacted expansive soils specifically fall short in satisfying the minimum requirements for transport embankment infrastructures, requiring the adoption of hauled virgin mineral aggregates or a sustainable alternative. Use of hauled aggregates comes at a high carbon and economical cost. On average, every 9m high embankment built with quarried/hauled soils cost $12600MJ.m^{-2}$ Embodied Energy (EE). A prospect of using mixed cutting-arising expansive soils with industrial/domestic wastes can reduce the carbon cost and ease the pressure on landfills. The widespread use of recycled materials has been extensively limited due to concerns over their long-term performance, generally low shear strength and stiffness. In this contribution, hydromechanical properties of a waste tyre sand-sized rubber (a mixture of polybutadiene, polyisoprene, elastomers, and styrene-butadiene) and expansive silt is studied, allowing the short- and long-term behaviour of optimum compacted composites to be better established. The inclusion of tyre shred substantially decreased the swelling potential/pressure and modestly lowered the compression index. Silt-Tyre powder replacement lowered the bulk density, allowing construction of lighter reinforced earth structures. The shear strength and stiffness decreased on addition of tyre powder, yet the contribution of matric suction to the shear strength remained constant for tyre shred contents up to 20%. Reinforced soils adopted a ductile post-peak plastic behaviour with enhanced failure strain, offering the opportunity to build more flexible subgrades as recommended for expansive soils. Residual water content and tyre shred content are directly correlated; tyre-reinforced silt showed a greater capacity of water storage (than natural silts) and hence a sustainable solution to waterlogging and surficial flooding particularly in urban settings. Crushed fine tyre shred mixed with expansive silts/sands at 15 to 20 wt% appear to offer the maximum reduction in swelling-shrinking properties at minimum cracking, strength loss and enhanced compressibility expenses.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.403-418
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• 2007

The objective of this research was to characterize the fate and transport of Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater in the Daejeon industrial area. Five subsidiary monitoring wells were newly installed and two existing wells were utilized for the investigation and the reduction process of Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater of the Daejeon(Mun-pyeong) national groundwater monitoring station. The Cr(VI) concentrations at the shallow aquifer well of the station were in the range of 3.2-4.5 mg/L indicating continuous contamination. However, Cr was not detected at the deep bedrock well and the other monitoring wells except MPH-1 and 3. The Cr(VI) concentrations of MPH-1 and MPH-3 were below the drinking water guideline value (0.05 mg/L). Therefore, the plume of the Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater was predicted to be confined within the narrow boundary around the station. The soluble/exchangeable Cr(VI) concentrations were below the detection limit in all core and slime samples taken from the five newly installed wells. Although the exact source of contamination was not directly detected in the study area, the spatial Cr(VI) distribution in groundwater and characteristics of the core samples indicated that the source and the dispersion range were confined within the 100 m area from the monitoring station. The contamination might be induced from the unlined landfill of industrial wastes which was observed during the installation of an subsidiary monitoring well. For the evaluation of the natural attenuation of Cr(VI), available reduction capacities of Cr(VI) with an initial concentration of 5 mg/L were measured in soil and aquifer materials. Dark-gray clay layer samples have high capacities of Cr(VI) reduction ranging from 58 to 64%, which is obviously related to organic carbon contents of the samples. The analysis of reduction capacities implied that the soil and aquifer materials controlled the dispersion of Cr(VI) contamination in this area. However, some possibilities of dispersion by the preferential flow cannot be excluded due to the limited numbers of monitoring wells. We suggest the removal of Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater by periodical pumping, and the continuous groundwater quality monitoring for evaluation of the Cr(VI) dispersion should be followed in the study area.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.2 s.171
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• pp.187-196
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• 2005

Structural sites which cations can occupy in garnet structure are centers of the tetrahedron, octahedron, and distorted cube sharing edges with the tetrahedron and octahedron. Among them, the size of cation occuping at tetrahedral site (the center of tetrahedron) is closely related with the size of a unit cell of garnet. Accordingly, garnet containing iron with relative large ionic radii in tetrahedral site can be considered as a promising matrix for the immobilization of the elements with large ionic radii, such as actinides in radioactive wastes. We synthesized several garnets with the batch composition of $Ca_{1.5}GdCe_{0.5}ZrFeFe_3O_{12}$, and studied their properties and phase relations under various conditions. Mixed samples were fabricated in a pellet form under a pressure of $200{\~}400{\cal}kg/{\cal}cm^2$ and were sintered in the temperature range of $1100\~1400^{\circ}C$ in air and under oxygen atmospheres. Phase identification and chemical analysis of synthesized samples were conducted by XRD and SEM/EDS. In results, garnet was obtained as the main phase at $1300^{\circ}C$, an optimum condition in this system, even though some minor phases like perovskite and unknown phase were included. The compositions of garnet and perovskite synthesized from the batch composition of $Ca_{1.5}GdCe_{0.5}ZrFeFe_3O_{12}$ were ranged $[Ca_{l.2-1.8}Gd_{0.9-1.4}Ce_{0.3-0.5}]^{VIII}[Zr_{0.8-1.3}Fe_{0.7-1.2}]^{VI}[Fe_{2.9-3.1}]^{IV}O_{12}$ and $Ca_{0.1-0.5}Gd_{0.0-0.8}Ce_{0.1-0.5}\;Zr_{0.0-0.2}Fe_{0.9-1.1}O_3$, respectively. Ca content was exceeded and Ce content was depleted in the 8-coordinated site, comparing to the initial batch composition. This phenomena was closely related to the content of Zr and Fe in the 6-coordinated site.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.121-131
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• 2009

The distribution characteristics of heavy metals for surface sediments in east oceanic dumping area (EDA) and west oceanic dumping area (WDA) are evaluated by grain sizes, minerals, sedimentation rates and compositions of heavy metals. The mean grain sizes in EDA and WDA range from $7.95{\Phi}$ to $8.51{\Phi}$ and $7.42{\Phi}$ to $8.15{\Phi}$, respectively. These are mostly belonging to the M (mud) type. Minerals in the surface sediments consist of illite with chlorite, smectite, and kaolinite. Sedimentation rates estimated by $^{210}Pb$ method in EDA and WDA are 1.11 mm/yr$\sim$1.73 mm/yr and 1.87 mm/yr, respectively. According to the interrelationship, concentrations of Ni, Cu, Cr, and Zn are closely associated with mean grain size, Al, and Fe, whereas concentrations of Cd and Pb are poorly associated with ones. The enrichment factors of these elements are higher than 1.5, suggesting that the concentrations of Cd and Pb in the surface sediments are affected by anthropogenic sources. The $I_{geo}$-class numbers of Cd and Pb in the surface sediments are mostly classified in 2 to 4, showing moderate to strongly polluted. These numbers in EDA are higher than that of WDA, and the highest number is 4, indicative of the strongly polluted class. Our results show that the disposed wastes at EDA include mineralogical wastes, dredged materials from sewage disposals, and sludges from constructions having materials of WDA. The annual amount of oceanic dumping in EDA is double than that in WDA.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.737-760
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• 2022

For the geological disposal of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW), an understanding of deep subsurface environment is essential through geological, hydrogeological, geochemical, and geotechnical investigations. Although South Korea plans the geological disposal of HLW, only a few studies have been conducted for characterizing the geochemistry of deep subsurface environment. To guide the hydrogeochemical research for selecting suitable repository sites, this study overviewed the status and trends in hydrogeochemical characterization of deep groundwater for the deep geological disposal of HLW in developed countries. As a result of examining the selection process of geological disposal sites in 8 countries including USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden, France, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland, the following geochemical parameters were needed for the geochemical characterization of deep subsurface environment: major and minor elements and isotopes (e.g., ³⁴S and ¹⁸O of SO₄^2-, ¹³C and ¹⁴C of DIC, ²H and ¹⁸O of water) of both groundwater and pore water (in aquitard), fracture-filling minerals, organic materials, colloids, and oxidation-reduction indicators (e.g., Eh, Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺, H₂S/SO₄^2-, NH₄⁺/NO₃^-). A suitable repository was selected based on the integrated interpretation of these geochemical data from deep subsurface. In South Korea, hydrochemical types and evolutionary patterns of deep groundwater were identified using artificial neural networks (e.g., Self-Organizing Map), and the impact of shallow groundwater mixing was evaluated based on multivariate statistics (e.g., M3 modeling). The relationship between fracture-filling minerals and groundwater chemistry also has been investigated through a reaction-path modeling. However, these previous studies in South Korea had been conducted without some important geochemical data including isotopes, oxidationreduction indicators and DOC, mainly due to the lack of available data. Therefore, a detailed geochemical investigation is required over the country to collect these hydrochemical data to select a geological disposal site based on scientific evidence.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2007

The effect of aluminium addition to MCM-41 on product yield and carbon number distribution was investigated in the catalytic cracking of a polymer mixture, LDPE, LLDPE, and EVA copolymer, with a composition similar to that found in real agricultural film wastes. Al-MCM-41 catalyst synthesized by post-synthetic grafting method (Al-MCM-41-P) as well as Al-MCM-41 catalyst synthesized by direct sol-gel (Al-MCM-41-D). The catalytic cracking of polymer mixture was carried out in vapor phase contact as well as in liquid phase contact. The amount of acid sites increased with aluminium addition by post method as well as direct method, which was seemed to be due to Lewis acid sites. In liquid phase catalytic cracking, the yield of light hydrocarbon fraction increased with aluminium addition. The effect of aluminium addition on production of $C_5-C_{12}$ hydrocarbons over Al-MCM-41-P catalysts was greater than that over Al-MCM-41-D catalysts. In the case of vapor phase catalytic cracking, the effect of aluminium addition was smaller than that of liquid phase catalytic cracking. The selectivity to $C_{13}-C_{32}$ hydrocarbons was smaller in vapor phase catalytic cracking.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.59-68
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• 1998

Gravity, magnetic and VLF surveys were carried out to investigate the dimension, nature and stability of the waste materials filled in the Seokdae landfill, Pusan. The Seokdae landfill, which is located in a former valley, was used as a dump for mainly domestic-type waste materials for 6 years from 1987. The landfill site is classfied into A, B, C and D areas according to the sequence of dumping period. The Bouguer gravity anomaly map shows maximum variation of 3.1 mgals on the landfill and its general appearance has close relation with the thickness of waste filled. The local variation of anomaly, however, reflect the degree of compactness of waste materials which may be affected by the nature of waste and dumping time. In the case of area A, where dumping process was terminated at the very last stage, most part show negative anomaly compared to other areas. We think that the composition of the waste materials in the area A is high in leftover food and paper trash and they are still in uncompacted condition. In area B, the general trend of variation of gravity anomaly is appeared to be high anomaly in northern part and decrease to the southern part. This is well matched with the prelandfill topography of the landfill site. The southern part of area B is located in the center of valley and its present surface is comparatively rugged, which may be due to the differential settlement of deep burried waste. The thickness of waste in area C is relatively thin, but the gravity anomaly appears to be low. Considering the present condition of surface, it can be inferred that low density wastes such as leftover food were mainly filled in this area. Area D, as in the case of area B, shows gravity anomaly that has close relation with the prelandfill topography. Magnetic data show the variation of total field intensity varies in the range of 46600~51000 nT, and reach maximum anomaly of 4400 nT. The overall pattern of magnetic anomaly well reflects the distribution of magnetic materials in the landfill. The result of VLF survey reveals several low resistivity zones, which may serve as underground passages for contaminant flow, in the area C located near the small Village.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 1997

For an effective use of fish by-products from the skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) canning manufactures, the changes of chemical properties of skipjark tuna viscera silage by the processing method during storage were investigated. The acid treated skipjack tuna viscera silage (ASS) were higher in the contents of moisture, lipid, protein and mineral but lower in the contents of carbohydrate and polyunsaturated fatty acids than those of fermented skipjack tuna viscera silage (FSS) by L. bulgaricus, KCTC 3188 and L. plantarum, KCTC 1048. Especially, the contents of total n-3 fatty acids in FSS increased remarkably during storage. The dominant amino acids in ASS and FSS were glutamic acid (Glu), aspartic acid (Asp), leucine (Leu), glycine (Gly) and alanine (Ala). And the contents of tryptophan (Trp) decreased by $30\%$ in ASS and $5\%$ in FSS in comparision with that of raw skipjack tuna viscera after 42 days of storage. The concentration of vitamin $B_1\;and\;B_2$ in FSS increased gradually during storage but the concentration of vitamin $B_2$ in ASS decreased. In the organoleptic evaluation, ASS gave a grayish brown color and a fishy odor. On the other hand, FSS had reddish brown color and sour taste by the production of lactic arid during storage.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.43-49
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• 2011

This study calculated the three indices of Korea's resource productivity (and raw material productivity), material circulation rate and decoupling factor to evaluate the sustainability of domestic economic activities and resource consumption and examine the extent of dematerialization. Korea's resource productivity improved 22% from 1.32 million KRW/ton in 2000 to 1.61 million KRW/ton in 2007, with the annual average growth of resource productivity during the period standing at 2.88%. Raw material inputs accounted for 73-76% of domestic material consumption (DMC); raw material productivity for the year 2007 was 2.11 million KRW/ton, growing 3% on annual average from 2000 through 2007. The wastes released are circulated into the economic system through recycling and energization. Korea's material circulation went up from 10.9% in 2000 to 15.6% in 2007, growing by an annual average of 5.3% during the period. The rate of change in year-on-year growth, however, was found to be on the gradual decrease. This study also showed that Korea's economic activities were decoupled with its resource consumption as the country heads toward dematerialization through sustainable resource management.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.17-24
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• 2016

This study aims at evaluating environmental impacts on recycling process of used small household appliances. The recycling process mainly consists of manual dismantling, crushing and various sorting processes to effectively recover valuable resources and to minimize environmental impact. In this study, life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is applied to analyze major environmental parameters such as GWP, ADP, POCP, EP, etc. One of the major impact categories on the weight basis in the recycling process is global warming (GWP) 57.1%, next to ADP 35.4% and POCP 4.8%, respectively. As a result of environmental impact on recovery of valuable resources/ton, the GWP of plastics for ABS is highest (33.7%) compared to ferrous metals (9.4%). The effects of environmental and economical benefit are also analyzed to compare with the amount of virgin materials to be recycled by recycled materials. In addition, recycled materials are also more economical in comparison to virgin materials due to the environmental avoiding effect by recycling. In conclusion, the key environmental issues related to the recycling of e-wastes are analyzed and therefore, the effective recycling process will contribute to mitigate global warming potential in the near future.