• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to investigate the relationship between exposure of Korean workers to petrochemicals in the refinery/petrochemical industry and lymphohematopoietic cancers. Methods: The cohort consisted of 8,866 male workers who had worked from the 1960s to 2007 at one refinery and six petrochemical companies located in a refinery/petrochemical complex in Korea that produce benzene or use benzene as a raw material. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated for 1992-2007 and 1997-2005 based on the death rate and cancer incidence rate of the Korean male population according to job title (production, maintenance, laboratory, and office workers). Results: The overall mortality and most cause-specific mortalities were lower among these workers than those of the general Korean population. Increased SMRs were observed for leukemia (4/1.45; SMR 2.77, 95% CI: 0.75-7.09) and lymphohematopoietic cancers (5/2.51; SMR 2, 95% CI: 0.65-4.66) in production workers, and increased SIRs were also observed in leukemia (3/1.34; SIR 2.24, 95% CI: 0.46-6.54) and lymphohematopoietic cancers (5/3.39; SIR 1.47, 95% CI: 0.48-3.44) in production workers, but the results were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results showed a potential relationship between leukemia and lymphohematopoietic cancers and exposure to benzene in refinery/petrochemical complex workers. This study yielded limited results due to a short observational period; therefore, a follow-up study must be performed to elucidate the relationship between petrochemical exposure and cancer rates.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.95-100
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• 2018

Background: Respiratory protection equipment (RPE) is the last resort to control exposure to workplace air pollutants. A comprehensive respiratory protection program (RPP) ensures that RPE is selected, used, and cared properly. Therefore, RPP must be well integrated into the occupational health and safety requirements. In this study, we evaluated the implementation of RPP in Iranian petrochemical industries to identify the required solutions to improve the current status of respiratory protection. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 24 petrochemical industries in Iran. The survey instrument was a checklist extracted from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration respiratory protection standard. An index, Respiratory Protection Program Index (RPPI), was developed and weighted by analytic hierarchy process to determine the compliance rate (CR) of provided respiratory protection measures with the RPP standard. Data analysis was performed using Excel 2010. Results: The most important element of RPP, according to experts, was respiratory hazard evaluation. The average value of RPPI in the petrochemical plants was $49{\pm}15%$. The highest and lowest of CR among RPP elements were RPE selection and medical evaluation, respectively. Conclusion: None of studied petrochemical industries implemented RPP completely. This can lead to employees' overexposure to hazardous workplace air contaminants. Increasing awareness of employees and employers through training is suggested by this study to improve such conditions.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.119-125
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• 2009

Corrosion assessment has a number of uses but the use considered here is as a precursor to Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) planning. Systematic methods consisting of technical modules of RBI program were used to assess the effect of specific corrosion mechanism on the probability of failure in equipments of petrochemical plants. Especially in part of the damage and corrosion assessment, screening step involved evaluating the combinations of process conditions and construction materials for each equipment item in order to determine which damage mechanisms are potentially active. For general internal corrosion, either API 510 or API 570 was applied as the damage rate in the calculation to determine the remaining life and inspection frequency. In some cases, a measured rate of corrosion may not be available. The technical modules of RBI program employ default values for corrosion, typically derived from published data or from experience with similar processes, for use until inspection results are available. This paper describes the case study of corrosion and damage assessment by using RBI methodology in petrochemical plant. Specifically, this paper reports the methodology and the results of its application to the petrochemical units using the $KGS-RBI^{TM}$ program, developed by the Korea Gas Safety Corporation to suit Korean situation in conformity with API 581 Codes.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.1160-1164
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• 2013

The solid super acid catalyst $SO{_4}^{2-}$/$ZrO_2$ was prepared by impregnation method using $ZrO_2$ as the catalyst support. Catalyst forming was taken into consideration in order to separate catalyst from the mixture of cellulose acetate propionate (CAP). $Al_2O_3$ and sesbania gum powder were selected as binding agent and auxiliary agent respectively. The catalytic properties were evaluated through esterification of cellulose with acetic anhydride, propionic anhydride and characterized by XRD, FTIR and $NH_3$-TPD. In this paper, the effects of concentration of $H_2SO_4$ impregnated, calcination temperature, esterification temperature and esterification time on the yield, acyl content and viscosity of CAP were investigated. The results showed that $SO{_4}^{2-}/ZrO_2$ successfully catalyzed CAP synthesis over catalysts impregnated in 0.75 mol/L $H_2SO_4$ and calcined at $500^{\circ}C$. The yield, acetyl content and propionyl content of CAP reached the maximum value of 105.3%, 29.9% and 25.8% reacted at $50^{\circ}C$ for 8 h.

• Nano
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.1850139.1-1850139.10
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• 2018

$Co_3O_4$ nanocrystals have been synthesized via an ordinary one-step calcination of a cobalt-based 2D coordination polymer [Co(tfbdc)(4,4'-bpy)$(H_2O)_2$]. As an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the obtained $Co_3O_4$ nanocrystals exhibit high reversible capacity, excellent cyclic stability and better rate capability. The reversible capacity of the $Co_3O_4$ nanocrystals maintains $713mA\;h\;g^{-1}$ after 50 cycles at a current density of $50mA\;g^{-1}$. Our results confirm that searching for metal oxides nanomaterials used as anode materials of lithium ion batteries via the calcinations of 2D coordination polymer is a new route.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.113-113
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.177-177
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• 2003

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.189-189
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.78.2-79
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• 2002

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.262-266
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• 1992

A number of tin-containing elastomers are produced commercially by Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (KKPC) under the Kosyn Sol tradename. The effect of mastication of commercial and laboratory polymerized S-SBR has, been investigated using chemical mixer(ML-500), NMR, GPC and Mooney viscometer. Mastication of polymers containings coupling bonds is affected by the amount of stearic acid, the temperature of mixing and the time length of mixing.