• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.50-57
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• 2016

According to the urban gas business legislation, cathodic protection systems should be applied for buried steel gas pipelines to prevent corrosion. In advanced countries including United States, the criteria for Cathodic Protection Potential is at least -850mV with respect to a saturated copper/copper sulfate electrode(CSE) when the CP applied, and the IR drops must be considered for valid interpretation. However, the IR drop through the pipe to soil boundary has been neglected in Korea. According to KGS code, a reference electrode must be placed in proximity to gas pipelines possible when measuring the CP potential. In this study, we have installed several solid reference electrodes around the buried pipeline(1.2m depth), lower surface(0.5m depth), and the surface individually in order to measure the CP potentials through the each reference electrode and find out the IR drops according to the location of each reference electrode. We have found the IR drop is the greatest when measuring the CP potential through the electrode placed on the ground and the IR drop is the smallest through the electrode installed near pipeline. Therefore, we have suggested the solid reference electrode should be installed as close as possible to buried pipeline in order to measure the correct CP potential without IR drop. We have also suggested the amendment of CP criteria considering IR drop.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2020

This study was conducted to suggest the new grassland grade system on evaluating the grassland status. The grassland status has been evaluated based on the forage yield (good, fair and poor) by municipal authorities. The grassland grades by current system were 19 good, 11 fair and 11 poor among the 41 grassland farms from 6 provinces. This evaluation result differed greatly from the result of actual measurement of forage yields which showed all poor. The big difference was resulted from failing the reflection of the various characteristics, such as different seasonal growth and harvest frequency. Furthermore, the lack of consistent examining date and method added the inaccuracy of current grassland grade system. The new grassland grade system based on the grassland vegetation ratio (grass, weed and bare soil) was initially designed into 6-grade system (1st; 100~80%, 2nd; 79~60%, 3rd; 59~40%, 4th; 39~20%; 5th; 19~1% and 6th; 0% on the basis of grasses proportion), but later was changed into 4-grade system (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades are 70% or more, 50% or more, 50% or less, and 0% of forage proportion, respectively) after reflecting the opinion of grassland farms and municipal authorities. Re-evaluation on the grassland status using the 4-grade system resulted in the total 80% consisted of 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade which means most grasslands needs the partial reseeding or the rehabilitation of entire grassland. Pictures and schematic diagrams depicting the 4-grade system were presented to improve the objectivity of evaluation. The optimal time for assessing grassland status is fall when plant height 20~30 cm. Conclusively, the 4-grade system is an efficient method for all non-professionals including grassland farms or municipal authorities in assessing the grassland status. To apply this system to the field, the institutional arrangements such as amendment of grassland act should take place in advance.