• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.354-359
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• 2006

This study examined the capacity of immobilized bacteria to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons. A mixture of hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial strains was immobilized in alginate and incubated in crude oil-contaminated artificial seawater (ASW). Analysis of hydrocarbon residues following a 30-day incubation period demonstrated that the biodegradation capacity of the microorganisms was not compromised by the immobilization. Removal of n-alkanes was similar in immobilized cells and control cells. To test reusability, the immobilized bacteria were incubated for sequential increments of 30 days. No decline in biodegradation capacity of the immobilized consortium of bacterial cells was noted over its repeated use. We conclude that immobilized hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria represent a promising application in the bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated areas.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.51-61
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• 2011

Germination tests were conducted to determine the practical concentration levels at which plants can reproduce naturally during the phytoremediation of soils contaminated with a high concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals. The effects of humic acids on plant growth and soil physicochemical properties were also investigated. The results show that phytoremediation can be applied in soils contaminated by multiple contaminants at the former soil contamination potential level of Korean soil quality standards considering successful natural reproduction. It was observed that germination rates of Helianthus annuus and Festuca arundinacea were high after all treatments, and transplantation was more appropriate for Phragmites communis in phytoremediation. Humic acids had a positive effect on the growth of both aboveground and belowground biomass of herbaceous plants. Growth inhibition by multiple contaminants is more severe in the case of aboveground biomass. Germination and growth tests suggest that Helianthus annuus is a suitable phytoremediation plant for soils contaminated with a high concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals. The addition of humic acids also caused changes in the physicochemical properties of contaminated soils. An increase in the carbon and nitrogen content due to the addition of humic acids and a correlation between cation exchange capacity(CEC) and the organic matter content were observed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.330-337
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• 2006

Resistivity cone penetrometer test (RCPT) can be employed at a relatively low cost for delineation of subsurface contamination in situ, and then be supplemented with a minimum confirmatory sampling and laboratory testing program. While the resistivity measurement have potential to investigate the subsurface contamination, resistivity measurements alone will lead to some degree of ambiguity in the results. In this study, capacitance measurement was incorporated into the RCPT to overcome the ambiguity inherent in electrical resistivity measurements for delineating the subsurface contamination. This study is focused on verifying the applicability of resistivity and capacitance measurements on CPT module to provide information on contaminated subsurface by heavy metal and petroleum hydrocarbon. Laboratory model tests were performed to evaluate the sensitivity of the measured resistivity and relative capacitance on the water content and different types of contaminants. Test results show that simultaneous measurement of electrical resistivity and capacitance can give more reliable information on subsurface contamination.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.487-496
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to create soil contamination maps using QGIS (Quantum Geographic Information System) and suggest selection methods for soil pollution sources for preferential investigation in a soil contamination survey. Method: Data from soil contamination surveys over five years in Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea (2013-2017) were used for making soil contamination maps and analyzing the density of survey points. By analyzing points exceeding the concern level of soil contamination, soil pollutant sources for priority management were identified and selection methods for preferred survey points were suggested through a study of the model area. Results: A soil contamination survey was conducted at 1,478 points over five years, with the largest number of surveys conducted in industrial complex and factory areas. Soil contamination maps for copper, zinc, nickel, lead, arsenic, fluoride, and total petroleum hydrocarbons were made, and most of the survey points were found to be below concern level 1 for soil contamination. The density of the survey points is similar to that of densely populated areas and factory areas. The analysis results of points exceeding the criteria showed that soil pollutant sources for priority management were areas where ore and scrap metals were used and stored, traffic-related facilities areas, industrial complex and factory areas, and areas associated with waste and recycling. According to the study of the model area, the preferred survey points were traffic-related facilities with 15 years or more since their construction and factories with a score of 10 or more for soil contamination risk. Conclusion: Soil contamination surveys should use GIS for even regional distribution of survey points and for the effective selection of preferred survey points. This study may be used as guidelines to select points for a soil contamination survey.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.11 no.8
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• pp.25-32
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• 2010

Contamination of soil and groundwater by the compounds of hydrocarbon petroleum has been widely accepted as the main cause that harms the environments and health. To remove those pollutants, absorbing clothes, activated carbons, or oil-water separation devices with the gravity method are employed for treatment. However, those materials and devices cannot remove the emulsion pollutants despite of their efficiency for removing free products. Therefore, we investigated the problems which occur during the groundwater treatment for the highly concentrated suspended solid particles, which can be resulted from excavation, and to propose methods to remove TPH(Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon). After coagulation experiment with high molecular polymers, the concentration of SS(Suspended Solids) and COD(Chemical Oxygen Demand) turned to satisfy the groundwater quality criteria within 5 minutes while the concentration of TPH failed to meet the water quality standard of effluent. Consequently, the water quality criteria for effluent could not be met by single DAF(Dissolved Air Flotation) process. However all water quality criteria could be satisfied after 20 minutes when coagulation reactions are carried out simultaneously in the DAF reactor.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.191-196
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• 2018

Bunker C is used in heavy-lift ships, furnaces, and boilers for generating heat, and power. Bunker C has only four regulations for quality standards and is rarely inspected in Korea. For these reasons, other oils such as used lubricant oil are commonly blended with Bunker C. This illegal mixture of fuel can damage the boilers, engines and affect the environment adversely. In this study, we investigate the fuel properties and perform atomic analysis of illegal Bunker C blended with used lube oil. The test results show that higher quantities of used lube oil in Bunker C have higher flash points, total acid numbers, copper corruption, solid contamination, and metal components. Further, increasing quantities of used lube oil in Bunker C cause lower viscosity, sulfur, and V content. However, adequate sample (approximately 1 L) is needed to evaluate presence of adulterants in Bunker C, we attempted the SIMDIST analysis. In the SIMDIST chromatogram, the used engine oils are detected for longer retention times than Bunker C owing to the high boiling point. We also quantitatively analyzed the lube oil content using SIMDIST.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.148-151
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• 2003

Soil washing was applied as a supplementary step of soil remediation at a petroleum oil contaminated site. A soil washing system was designed, assembled, and operated at the site. A field screening method with PetroFlagTM was adopted at the site to find the exact boundary of contaminated area as soil excavation progressed and to verify the concentration of treated soil. The system operation showed the cleanup efficiency of 90% at the compatible cost compared to other methods.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.275-280
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• 2011

Automotive wheel bearing grease helps to reduce stresses and prevent wear of wheel bearings. But it is easily contaminated by water and other contaminants. In this study, we investigated the property change of automotive wheel bearing grease under water contamination. The result showed that some properties such as dropping point, work penetration and oxidation stability were not influenced by water content. However, most of properties such as work stability, water washout characteristics, leakage tendency, oil separation, evaporation loss and rust protection became worse after water was added. This is thought that added water makes the interaction weak between thickener and base oil of grease.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.664-668
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• 2016

The contamination in soil, underground water and river environment became serious due to illegal waste dumping. In this study, our research group analyzed the oil species of illegally disposed oils from J City. After pretreating the mixture of oil, water and solid phases to obtain homogeneous phase components, the physical property analysis, atom analysis, and gas chromatography were performed. From the results showing 11.8% of oxygen content, $-6^{\circ}C$ of pour point and chromatogram pattern. the contaminated oil was identified as a vegetable one. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was also performed in order to know what kind of vegetable oil was, and the ratio of LLO, OOL and POL was found to be high indicating that the disposed oil is majorly the used soybean oil with some vegetable oil mixtures. This study can be used for identifying contaminators for oils from the illegal waste dumping.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.37-48
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• 2022

Accurate analysis of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil is an important prerequisite for proper source tracking of contamination. Identification of petroleum compounds is commonly carried out by peak pattern matching in gas chromatography. However, this method has several technical limitations, especially when the soils underwent biological, physical and chemical transformation. For instance, it is very difficult to distinguish jet fuel (JP-8) from kerosene because JP-8 is derivatized from secondary reaction between chemical agents (e.g. anti-oxidants, antifreezer and so on) and kerosene. In this study, an alternative method to separately analyze JP-8 and kerosene in the petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil was proposed. Qualitative analyses were performed for representative phenolic antioxidants [2,6-di-tert-butyl phenol (2,6-DTBP), 2,4-di-tert- butylphenol(2,4-DTBP), 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methyl phenol (2,6-DTBMP)] using a two dimensional gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (2D GC×GC-TOF-MS). This qualitative analysis of antioxidants in soil would be a useful complementary tool for the peak pattern matching method to identify JP-8 contamination in soil.