• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.667-675
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• 2020

An Alum-sludge based adsorbent (ASBA) was synthesized by the hydrothermal treatment of alum sludge obtained from settling basin in water treatment plant. ASBA was applied to remove fluoride and arsenic in artificially-contaminated aqueous solutions and mine drainage. The mineralogical crystal structure, composition, and specific surface area of ASBA were identified. The result revealed that ASBA has irregular pores and a specific surface area of 87.25 ㎡ g-1 on its surface, which is advantageous for quick and facile adsorption. The main mineral components of the adsorbent were found to be quartz(SiO2), montmorillonite((Al,Mg)2Si4O10(OH)2·4H2O) and albite(NaAlSi3O8). The effects of pH, reaction time, initial concentration, and temperature on removal of fluoride and arsenic were examined. The results of the experiments showed that, the adsorbed amount of fluoride and arsenic gradually decreased with increasing pH. Based on the results of kinetic and isotherm experiments, the maximum adsorption capacity of fluoride and arsenic were 7.6 and 5.6 mg g-1, respectively. Developed models of fluoride and arsenic were suitable for the Langmuir and Freundlich models. Moreover, As for fluoride and arsenic, the increase rate of adsorption concentration decreased after 8 and 12 hr, respectively, after the start of the reaction. Also, the thermodynamic data showed that the amount of fluoride and arsenic adsorbed onto ASBA increased with increasing temperature from 25℃ to 35℃, indicating that the adsorption was endothermic and non-spontaneous reaction. As a result of regeneration experiments, ASBA can be regenerated by 1N of NaOH. In the actual mine drainage experiment, it was found that it has relatively high removal rates of 77% and 69%. The experimental results show ASBA is effective as an adsorbent for removal fluoride and arsenic from mine drainage, which has a small flow rate and acid/neutral pH environment.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.79-105
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• 2023

Due to unprecedented extreme weather events such as global warming and climate change, many parts of the world suffer from severe pain, and economic losses are also snowballing. In order to address these problems, 'The Paris Agreement' was signed in 2016, and an intergovernmental consultative body was formed to keep the average temperature rise of the Earth below 1.5℃. Korea also declared 'Carbon Neutrality in 2050' to prevent climate catastrophe. In particular, it was found that the increase in temperature caused by greenhouse gas emissions hurts the environment and society as a whole, as well as the export-dependent economy of Korea. In addition, as the diversification of transportation types is accelerating, the change in means of choice is also increasing. As the development paradigm in the low-growth era changes to urban regeneration, interest in idle railway sites is rising due to reduced demand for routes, improvement of alignment, and relocation of urban railways. Meanwhile, it is possible to partially achieve the solar power generation goal of 'Renewable Energy 3020' by utilizing already developed but idle railway sites and take advantage of being free from environmental damage and resident acceptance issues surrounding the location; but the actual use and plan for these solar power facilities are still lacking. Therefore, in this study, using the big data provided by the Korea National Railway and the Renewable Energy Cloud Platform, we develop an algorithm to discover and analyze suitable idle sites where solar power generation facilities can be installed and identify potentially applicable areas considering conditions desired by users. By searching and deriving these idle but relevant sites, it is intended to devise a plan to save enormous costs for facilities or expansion in the early stages of development. This study uses various cluster analyses to develop an optimal algorithm that can derive solar power plant locations on idle railway sites and, as a result, suggests 202 'actively recommended areas.' These results would help decision-makers make rational decisions from the viewpoint of simultaneously considering the economy and the environment.

• Plant Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.58-65
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• 2023

In this study, to increase the methane content of biogas supplied from Nanji Water Regeneration Center and to purify impurities, a three-stage membrane purification process was designed and installed to demonstrate operation. The methane concentration of biomethane produced in the 2 Nm3/h purification process was set to three cases: 95%, 96.5%, and 98%, and the membrane area ratio of the membrane was 1:1, 1:2, 1:1:1, The optimum conditions for the membrane area of the separator were derived by changing to five of 1:2:1 and 1:2:2. 3 stage separation membrane process of 30 Nm3/h was installed to reflect the optimum condition of 2 Nm3/h, and biomethane production of 98% or more of methane concentration was demonstrated. As a result of the operation of the 2 Nm³/h refining device, the methane recovery rate at the 98% methane concentration was 95.6% when the membrane area ratio was 1:1 as the result of the two-stage operation of the separator, and the recovery rate of methane at 1:2 was increased to 96.8%. The methane recovery rate of the membrane three-stage operation was highest at 96.8% when the membrane area ratio was operated at 1:2:1. The carbon dioxide removal rate was 16.4 to 96.4% and the 2:2 to 95.7% film area ratio in the two-step process. In the three-step process, the film area ratio was 1:2:1 to 95.4%, and the two-step process showed higher results than the three-step process. In the 30 Nm3/h scale biogas purification demonstration operation, the methane concentration after purification was 98%, the recovery rate of methane was 97.1%, the removal rate of carbon dioxide was 95.7%, and hydrogen sulfide, the cause of corrosion, was not detected, and the membrane area ratio was 1:2:1 demonstration operation, biomethane production with a methane concentration of 98% or higher was possible.