• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.48-55
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• 2015

A variety of safety issues were investigated for chemical reactors using a toluene solvent in case of a fire at small to middle scale chemical plants. The issues covered the operation of pressure-relieving valves and the subsequent discharges of the toluene to the atmosphere either directly or through an absorber, which represent the current practice at most small chemical plants. It was shown that the safety valve on the reactor may not operate within about twenty minutes after an external fire breaks out, but, once relieved, the toluene vapor released directly to the atmosphere may form a large explosion range on the ground. It was also shown that if the discharge is routed to an existing absorber used for the scrubbing of volatile organic compounds or dusts, the column may not operate normally due to excessive pressure drops or flooding, resulting in the hazardous release of toluene vapors. This study proposed two ways of alleviating these risks. The first is to ruduce the discharge itself from the safety valve by using adequate insulation and protection covers on the reactor and then introduce it into the circulation water at the bottom of the absorber through a dip linet pipe equipped with a ring-shaped sparger. This will enhance the condensation of toluene vapors with the reduced effluent vapors treated in the packing layers above. The second is to install a separate quench drum to condense the routed toluene vapors more effectively than the existing absorber.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.850-855
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• 2009

Keratin is an important protein used in wound healing and tissue recovery. In this study, keratin was modified chemically with iodoacetic acid (IAA) to enhance its solubility in organic solvent. Poly(hydroxybutylate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and modified keratin were dissolved in hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) and electrospun to produce nanofibrous mats. The resulting mats were surface-characterized by ATR-FTIR, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). The pure m-keratin mat was cross-linked with glutaraldehyde vapor to make it insoluble in water. The biodegradation test in vitro showed that the mats could be biodegraded by PHB depolymerase and trypsin aqueous solution. The results of the cell adhesion experiment showed that the NIH 3T3 cells adhered more to the PHBV/m-keratin nanofibrous mats than the PHBV film. The BrdU assay showed that the keratin and PHBV/m-keratin nanofibrous mats could accelerate the proliferation of fibroblast cells compared to the PHBV nanofibrous mats.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.898-907
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• 1994

The solvent extraction of an inorganic trace mercury in sea water samples was studied using zinc diethyldithiocabamate $Zn(DDC)_2$ as chelating agent. The $Zn(DDC)_2$ which maintained the stability of DDC- in the acidic aqueous solution in the course of extraction was synthesized from NaDDC and $ZnSO_4$ in this laboratory. The trace of mercury(Ⅱ) was extracted at pH 3.0 from 100 ml of sea water into 10ml of chloroform containing 0.05 M $Zn(DDC)_2$ by shaking for 5 minutes. And from the organic phase, the $Hg(DDC)_2$ was back-extracted into 10ml of 1 to 1 mixed acid of each 3% (v/v) nitric acid and hydrochloric acid by shaking for 25 minutes. The mercury back-extracted was determined by a cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The trace mercury(Ⅱ) was so successfully extracted that this procedure could be applied to its determination in the sea water. That is, the recoveries of mercury in two kinds of samples into which as given amount of Hg(Ⅱ) was spiked were 90.0% and 93.3%, respectively.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.257-266
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• 2013

The main purpose of this study is to develop a commercial scale of pervaporative process equipped with hollow fiber membrane modules, being able to effectually purify organic solvent at high temperature well over its boiling point under high vapor pressure. Three constituent technologies have been developed; 1) to fabricate braid-reinforced hollow fiber membrane stable in high pressure and high temperature application, 2) to design and fabricate a commercial scale of hollow fiber membrane module, and 3) to design and fabricate a pilot scale of pervaporation equipment system. The developed hollow fiber membrane possesses a membrane performance superior to the membrane of Sulzer (Germany) which is the most-well known for pervaporation process, and the membrane module equips hollow fiber membranes of $4.6m^2$ and the pervaporation system can treat organic liquid at 200 L/h, which is based on the dehydration of 95 wt% isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Since the membrane module is designed to flow in and pass through the inside of individual hollow fiber membrane, not to involve both the formation of feed's dead volume observed in flat-sheet membrane module and the channeling of feed occurring inside hollow fiber bundle which lower membrane performance seriously, it showed excellent separation efficiency. In particular, the module is inexpensive and has less heat loss into its surrounding, in compared with flat-sheet membrane module. In addition, permeant can be removed effectively from the outer surface of hollow fiber membrane because the applied vacuum is conveyed uniformly through space between fibers into respective fiber, even into one in the middle of the hollow fiber bundle in which the space between fibers is uniform in distance. Since the hollow fiber membrane pervaporation system is the first one ever developed in the world, our own unique proprietary technology can be secured, preoccupying technical superiority in export competitive challenges.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.684-689
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• 2012

Poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) microspheres is one of the widely-used polymeric materials for the bio-field application and the electric materials. For the synthesis of PAA microspheres, the polymerization technique using surfactants is applied. After the synthesis, the purification and separation processes are required for the removal of surfactant. When general organic solvents were used, many problems, such as huge amount of waste solvent, additional separation processes, and the possibility of residual media, were occurred. Thus, High-pressure Soxhlet extraction using liquid $CO_2$ was developed to solve these problems. In this study, High-pressure Soxhlet extraction of the synthesized PAA microspheres using liquid $CO_2$ was conducted for the removal of Monasil PCA which is used for the dispersion polymerization of acrylic acid in compressed liquid Dimethyl ether (DME). The morphology of the extracted PAA particles was checked by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and the residual concentration of Monasil PCA was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES). For studying the effect of the solvent effect, Soxhlet extraction was conducted using n-hexane, liquid DME, and liquid $CO_2$. In case of n-hexane, some extracted PAA microspheres were produced. However, deformation was also occurred due to the high thermal energy of n-hexane vapor. Liquid DME could not remove Monasil PCA. When using liquid $CO_2$, the extracted PAA microspheres which were free for the residual solvent were produced without deformation. For finding the optimum operating condition, high-pressure Soxhlet extraction was conducted for 8 hours with changing the temperature of reboiler and condenser. When the extractor temperature is $19.6{\pm}0.2^{\circ}C$ and the pressure is $51.5{\pm}0.5$ bar, the best removal efficiency was obtained.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.390-397
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• 2010

Residual solvents in foods are defined as organic volatile chemicals used or produced in manufacturing of extracts or additives, or functional foods. The solvents are not completely eliminated by practical manufacturing techniques and they also may become contaminated by solvents from packing, transportation or storage in warehouses. Because residual solvents have no nutritional value but may be hazardous to human health, there is a need to remove them from the final products or reduce their amounts to below acceptable levels. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate an analytical method for the screening of residual solvents in health functional foods. Furthermore, the aim of this study was to constitute a reasonable management system based on the current state of the market and case studies of foreign countries. Eleven volatile solvents such as MeOH, EtOH, trichloroethylene and hexane were separated depending on their column properties, temp. and time using Gas Chromatography (GC). After determining the GC conditions, a sample preparation method using HSS (Head Space Sampling) was developed. From the results, a method for analyzing residual solvents in health functional foods was developed considering matrix effect and interference from the sample obtained from the solution of solvents-free health functional foods spiked with 11 standards solutions. Validation test using the developed GC/HSS/MS (Mass Spectrometry) method was followed by tests for precision, accuracy, recovery, linearity and adequate sensitivity. Finally, examination of 104 samples grouped in suits was performed by the developed HSS/GC/MS for screening the solvents. The 11 solvents were isolated from health functional foods based on vapor pressure difference, and followed by separation within 15 minutes in a single run. The limt of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), recovery and coefficient of variation (C.V.) of these compounds determined by the HSS/GC/MS were found to be 0.1 pg/mL, 0.1-125 pg/g, 51.0-104.6%, and less than 15%, respectively. Using the developed HSS/GC/MS method, residual solvent from 16 out of 104 health functional products were detected as a EtOH. This method therefore seems t o be a valuable extension ofanalytical method for the identification of residual solvents in health functional food.