• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.16-34
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• 2021

Water supplies are decreasing in comparison to increasing clean water demands. Using nanofiltration is one of the most effective and economical methods to meet the need for clean water. Common methods for desalination are reverse osmosis and nanofiltration. However, pristine membranes lack the essential features which are, stability, economic efficiency, antibacterial and antifouling performances. To enhance the properties of the pristine membranes, graphene oxide (GO) is a promising and widely researched material for thin film composites (TFC) membrane due to their characteristics that help improve the hydrophilicity and anti-fouling properties. Modification of the membrane can be done on different layers. The thin film composite membranes are composed of three different layers, the top filtering active thin polyamide (PA) layer, supporting porous layer, and supporting fabric. Forward osmosis (FO) process is yet another energy efficient desalination process, but its efficiency is affected due to biofouling. Incorporation of GO enhance antibacterial properties leading to reduction of biofilm formation on the membrane surface. Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is an excellent process to generate clean energy from sea water and the biofouling of membrane is reduced by introduction of GO into the active layer of the TFC membrane. Different modifications on the membranes are being researched, each modification with its own advantages and disadvantages. In this review, modifications of nanofiltration membranes and their composites, characterization, and performances are discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2009

Biofouling in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination process causes many problems such as flux decline, biodegradation of membrane, increased cleaning time, and increased energy consumption and operational cost. Therefore biofouling is considered as the most critical problem in system operation. To control biofouling in early stage, detection of the most problematic bacteria causing biofouling is required. In this study, six model bacteria were chosen; Bacillus sp., Flavobacterium sp., Mycobacterium sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Rhodobacter sp. based on report in the literature and phylogenetic analysis of seawater intake and fouled RO membrane. The adhesion to RO membrane, the high pressure resistance, and the hydrophobicity of the six model bacteria were examined to find out their fouling potential. Rhodobacter sp. and Mycobacterium sp. were found to attach very well to RO membrane surface compared to others used in this study. The test of hydrophobicity revealed that the bacteria which have high hydrophobicity or similar contact angle with RO membrane ($63^{\circ}$ of contact angle) easily attached to RO membrane surface. P. aeruginosa which is highly hydrophilic ($23.07^{\circ}$ of contact angle) showed the least adhesion characteristic among six model bacteria. After applying a pressure of 800 psi to the sample, Rhodobacter sp. was found to show the highest reduction rate; with 59-73% of the cells removed from the membrane under pressure. P. fluorescens on the other hand analyzed as the most pressure resistant bacteria among six model bacteria. The difference between reduction rates using direct counting and plate counting indicates that the viability of each model bacteria was affected significantly from the high pressure. Most cells subjected to high pressure were unable to form colonies even thought they maintained their structural integrity.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.327-340
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• 2017

This article reviews the papers published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering during 2016. It is intended to understand the status of current research in the areas of heating, cooling, ventilation, sanitation, and indoor environments of buildings and plant facilities. Conclusions are as follows. (1) The research works on the thermal and fluid engineering have been reviewed as groups of flow, heat and mass transfer, the reduction of pollutant exhaust gas, cooling and heating, the renewable energy system and the flow around buildings. CFD schemes were used more for all research areas. (2) Research works on heat transfer area have been reviewed in the categories of heat transfer characteristics, pool boiling and condensing heat transfer and industrial heat exchangers. Researches on heat transfer characteristics included the results of the long-term performance variation of the plate-type enthalpy exchange element made of paper, design optimization of an extruded-type cooling structure for reducing the weight of LED street lights, and hot plate welding of thermoplastic elastomer packing. In the area of pool boiling and condensing, the heat transfer characteristics of a finned-tube heat exchanger in a PCM (phase change material) thermal energy storage system, influence of flow boiling heat transfer on fouling phenomenon in nanofluids, and PCM at the simultaneous charging and discharging condition were studied. In the area of industrial heat exchangers, one-dimensional flow network model and porous-media model, and R245fa in a plate-shell heat exchanger were studied. (3) Various studies were published in the categories of refrigeration cycle, alternative refrigeration/energy system, system control. In the refrigeration cycle category, subjects include mobile cold storage heat exchanger, compressor reliability, indirect refrigeration system with $CO_2$ as secondary fluid, heat pump for fuel-cell vehicle, heat recovery from hybrid drier and heat exchangers with two-port and flat tubes. In the alternative refrigeration/energy system category, subjects include membrane module for dehumidification refrigeration, desiccant-assisted low-temperature drying, regenerative evaporative cooler and ejector-assisted multi-stage evaporation. In the system control category, subjects include multi-refrigeration system control, emergency cooling of data center and variable-speed compressor control. (4) In building mechanical system research fields, fifteenth studies were reported for achieving effective design of the mechanical systems, and also for maximizing the energy efficiency of buildings. The topics of the studies included energy performance, HVAC system, ventilation, renewable energies, etc. Proposed designs, performance tests using numerical methods and experiments provide useful information and key data which could be help for improving the energy efficiency of the buildings. (5) The field of architectural environment was mostly focused on indoor environment and building energy. The main researches of indoor environment were related to the analyses of indoor thermal environments controlled by portable cooler, the effects of outdoor wind pressure in airflow at high-rise buildings, window air tightness related to the filling piece shapes, stack effect in core type's office building and the development of a movable drawer-type light shelf with adjustable depth of the reflector. The subjects of building energy were worked on the energy consumption analysis in office building, the prediction of exit air temperature of horizontal geothermal heat exchanger, LS-SVM based modeling of hot water supply load for district heating system, the energy saving effect of ERV system using night purge control method and the effect of strengthened insulation level to the building heating and cooling load.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1298-1304
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• 2005

This study was performed to evaluate the characteristics of the competition between two electron acceptors, perchlorate and nitrate, with Citrobacter Amalonaticus strain JB101. In addition, the applicability of membrane bioreactor(MBR) for perchlorate removal was evaluated. The maximum growth rate of strain JB101 on perchlorate and nitrate are 0.27 and 0.58 $hr^{-1}$, and maximum substrate utilization rates were 35.1 mg $ClO_4^-/g$ protein-day and 45.6 mg $NO_3^-/g$ protein-day, respectively. Nitrate was a competitive inhibitor for perchlorate, and strain JB101 prefer nitrate to perchlorate as electron acceptor. Complete removal of perchlorate could be achieved up to the surface leading rate of 4.6 g $ClO_4^-/m^2-day$ with the MBR fed with 20 mg $ClO_4^-/L$(HCMBR). When 5 mg/L of nitrate was added to the same influent, perchlorate removal efficiency decreased to 96.5%, while nitrate was completely removed. For the MBR fed with 0.7 mg/L of perchlorate (LCMBR), the maximum perchlorate removal efficiency was 100% up to the loading rate of 0.23 g $ClO_4^-/m^2-day$. Membrane fouling was found to be a problem at high leading rate for both MBRs. The acetate consumption ratio per perchlorate was $13.7{\sim}51.7\;e^-eq./e^-eq.$ in LCMBR, while the value was $2.5{\sim}3.6\;e^-eq./e^-eq.$ in HCMBR. This difference could be related to the acetate consumption with oxygen as electron acceptor. Therefore, the amount of acetate addition must be determined considering the concentrations of other electron acceptors in the influent.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.193-199
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• 2023

Biomass has been used to secure renewable energy certificates (REC) in domestic and overseas coal-fired power plants. In recent years, biofuel has been diversified from traditional wood pellets to non-woody biomass. Non-woody biomass has a higher content of alkaline metals such as K and Na than wood-based biomass, resulting in a lower melting point and an increase in slagging on boiler tubes, which reduces boiler efficiency. This study analyzed the effect of kaolin, an additive commonly used to increase melting points, on biomass co-firing to coal through thermochemical equilibrium calculations. In a previous experiment on biomass co-firing to coal conducted at 80 kW_th, it was interpreted that the use of kaolin actually increased the amount of fouling. In this study, analysis showed that when kaolin was added, aluminosilicate compounds were generated due to Al₂O₃, which is abundant in coal, and mullite was formed. Thus, it was confirmed that the amount of slag increased when more kaolin was used. Further analysis was conducted by increasing the biomass co-firing rate from 0% to 100% at 10% intervals, and the results showed non-linear liquid slag generation. As a result, it was found that the least amount of liquid slag was generated when the biomass co-firing rate was between 50 and 60%. The phase diagram analysis showed that high melting point compounds such as leucite and feldspar were most abundantly generated under these conditions.