• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2016

The bottom of dikes must be kept impermeable to control hazardous chemicals spilled from storage tanks. Currently, insufficient related chemical control laws lead to a possibility to spread through the bottom. Generally, due to the high cost of installation and periodical maintenance, many businesses prefer to install the bottom with general concrete. But, since the impermeability of concrete is dependent on the kind of materials and chemical reaction, all concrete cannot be considered as impermeable material. Thus, it is necessary to make the installation standards of the dike bottom clear in order to avoid the argument over the impermeability and prevent the chemical accident. This study has suggested the standards of impermeable concrete by conducting 7-day exposure test to crude oil with the pilot dikes. The results have showed that the standards have the better impermeable performance compared with the germany standard, which have been penetrated at the maximum penetration depth of 1.9 cm. This study is expected to contribute to both the risk reduction of penetrating into the bottom and the cost reduction of spending to make the bottom of dikes impermeable.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.289-302
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• 2014

This paper aims to evaluate the indirect economic damages to anglers of the marine recreational charter caused by marine pollution associated with the Herbei Spirit vessel, which spilled 12,547 kl of crude oil in Taean coastal areas in December 2007. In order to evaluate the indirect cost to anglers of the charter fishing, consumer surplus for charter fishing is estimated using a Poisson model (PM), a negative binomial model (NBM), a truncated Poisson model (TPM), and a truncated negative binomial model (TNBM), which account for the characteristics of count data (non-negative discrete data), for individual travel cost method (ITCM). Because of over-dispersion problem in PM and TPM, NBM and TNBM are considered to be more appropriate statistically. All parameters such as income, fishing careers, travel cost and catch that are estimated are statistically significant and theoretically valid. Based on TNBM results, consumer surplus per trip and per person was estimated to be 277 thousand won, total consumer surplus per person and per year about 2.3 million won, and the marginal effect of consumer surplus on % changes in catch rate is about 33 thousand won. The consumer surplus was converted into total indirect economic damages for aggregation which are evaluated to be 125 billion won, reflecting the number of anglers and damage rate.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.185-192
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• 1999

A phenanthrene-degrading bacterium was isolated from an oil-spilled intertidal sediment sample and identified as Sphingomonas sp. KH3-2. The strain degraded polycyclic aromatic compounds such naphthalene, fluorene, biphenyl, and dibenzothiophene. When strain KH3-2 was cultured for 28 days at 25C, a total of 500 ppm of phenanthrene was degrated with a concomitant production of biomass and Folin-Ciocalteau reactive aromatic intermediates. Analysis of intermediates during phenanthrene degradation using high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry indicated that Sphingomonas sp. KH3-2 primarily degrades phenanthrene to 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (1H2NA) and further metabolizes 1H2NA through the degradation pathway of naphthalene.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1599-1606
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• 2011

To evaluate the effects of microorganism agents on oil biodegradation, treatability and microcosm studies were conducted. Petroleum oil degrading bacteria were isolated from enriched cultures of oil-contaminated sediment samples using a mineral salts medium (MSM) containing 0.5% Arabian heavy crude oil as the sole carbon source. After a 5 day-incubation period using MSM, mixed microorganisms of three species (strains BS1, BS2 and BS4) degraded 48.4% of aliphatic hydrocarbons and 30.5% of aromatic hydrocarbons. Treatability and microcosm tests were performed in the three different treatment conditions (AO: Arabian heavy crude oil, AO+IN: Arabian heavy crude oil+inorganic nutrient, AO+IN+MM: Arabian heavy crude oil+inorganic nutrient+mixed microorganism agents). Among these, significantly enhanced biodegradation of aliphatic hydrocarbons were observed in AO+IN and AO+IN+MM conditions, without showing any different biodegradation rates in either condition. However, the degradation rates of aromatic hydrocarbons in an AO+IN+MM condition were increased by 50% in the treatability test and by 13% in the microcosm test compared to those in an AO+IN condition. Taken together, it can be concluded that mixed microorganism agents enhance the biodegradation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in laboratory, a treatability test, and a microcosm test. This agent could especially be a useful tool in the application of bioremediation for removal of aromatic hydrocarbons.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.731-736
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• 2021

Oil fences effectively prevent the spread of oil spilled in the sea, thereby reducing the damage to the marine environment. However, the fence is damaged by oil and structures at the accident site and is discarded. When incinerated disposal method for discarded fences, fine dust, and harmful materials are generated. Moreover, as a part of the damaged fence is dumped into the sea, it may cause secondary environmental pollution, such as microplastics. Therefore, in this study, durability was measured using the most common solid foam type oil fences. As a result, the reduction rate of after five days of contact was 13 % in seawater and 3 % in oil, affected by temperature changes. Thus, the durability of the fence should be improved because it is exposed to seawater and oil and affected by wind, light, and waves depending on the weather conditions. Therefore, we suggest a method to improve the oil fence inspection to strengthen the durability of the fence's fabric part.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.113-118
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• 2021

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has confirmed a global limit of 0.5 % for sulfur in fuel oil used on board ships with effect from January 1, 2020. Among various alternatives to respond to these regulations on sulfur content in fuel oil, such as LNG ships, SOx scrubbers, and very-low-sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO). VLSFO is preferred owing to its low investment costs. As more ships are expected to use VLSFO, VLSFO spills are expected to increase. In particular, when the seawater temperature is below the pour point of VLSFO, VLSFO solidifies when it is spilled, which makes controlling spills difficult. In this study, six types of VLSFO produced in Korea and one type of high-sulfur fuel oil (MF380) were compared in terms of the dispersibility of dispersants according to the seawater temperature conditions. The results confirmed that the six type of VLSFO did not satisfy the domestic standards for dispersant rate (60 % or more for 0.5 min, 20 % or more for 10 min). Morever, the dispersant rate of the six types of VLSFO was low compared with that of the high-sulfur fuel oil. The results of this study are expected to be used to set the direction of dispersant control in the case of VLSFO spills.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2024

Approximately 250 marine oil spill accidents have occurred in Korea, with profound impact on local communities and the environment. The restoration process necessitates significant resources and costs to return affected areas to their pre-accident state. In accordance with the polluter pays principle, compensation is demanded from polluter, as stipulated in both international conventions and national laws. Consequently, investigations are conducted to determine civil and criminal liability. As the importance of investigation actors in oil spill accidents increases, standards such as CEN 15522-2 and ASTM D 3248 are employed to determine the similarity between the spilled oil and the oil of the suspected ship. Among these standards, CEN 15522-2, the most actively used European standard, underwent its third revision and is now known as EN 15522-2, as of 2023. This study used EN 15522-2 to analyze samples from marine oil spill accidents that occurred in Korea. The results indicated that, considering the characteristics of domestic spills where light fuel oil spills account for more than 40%, the application of EN 15522-2, which includes low-boiling point substances such as Adamantanes, was confirmed to be highly effective.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.94-101
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• 1994

This paper describes a short-term prediction model for the movement of an oil slick in shallow waters. Under the assumption that the initial movement of the oil slick is governed by spreading and advection, the model has been developed and applied to Kyungki-Bay near Incheon Harbor. The initial spreading is estimated by using an empirical formula. The depth-averaged momentum equations are solved numerically for the volume transport velocities, in which the $M_2$ tide is the main driving source. A staggered grid system is adopted fur spatial discretization and the half-time method is implemented for time marching. The numerical result is visualized with the help of animation and thus the contaminated area is displayed on a monitor in time sequence. The input data are the time, the location and the volume of spill accident as well as environmental data such as md and $M_2$ tide.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.353-359
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• 2013

The objectives of this study were to investigate effectiveness of the Compressed Air Jet (CAJ) System for cleaning up shorelines contaminated with crude oils and to examine effects of the system on total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removal and microbial community changes before and after remediation of the oil-contaminated shorelines. These data will lead to better understanding of optimized remediation process. About 66% of TPH reduction was observed when the contaminated site was treated with the CAJ System 2, 3, 4, and 5 times. This treatment system was more efficient than the seawater pumping system under similar treatment conditions (by 40%). By the way, little oil degrader communities were observed despite a potential function of the air jet system to stimulate aerobic oil degraders. The apparent low population density of the oil degraders might be as a result of low concentration of TPH as a carbon source and limiting nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. It was proposed that the CAJ System would contribute significantly to removal of residual oils on the shorelines in combination with addition of these limiting nutrients.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.243-252
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• 2016

In cases of water pollution accidents, accurate prediction for arrival time and concentration of contaminants in a river is essential to take proper measures and minimize their impact on downstream water intake facilities. It is critical to fully understand the behavior characteristics of contaminants on river surface, especially in case of oil spill accidents. Therefore, in this study, the effects of main parameters of advection and diffusion of contaminants were analyzed and validated by comparing the results of Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT) simulation of Environmental Fluid Dynamic Code (EFDC) model with those of Global Position System (GPS)-equipped drifter experiment. Prevention scenario modeling was accomplished by taking cases of movable weir operation into account. The simulated water level and flow velocity fluctuations agreed well with observations. There was no significant difference in the speed of surface particle movement between 5 and 10 layer modeling. Therefore, 5 layer modeling could be chosen to reduce computational time. It was found that full three dimensional modeling simulated wind effects on surface particle movements more sensitively than depth-averaged two dimensional modeling. The diffusion range of particles was linearly proportional to horizontal diffusivity by sensitivity analysis. Horizontal diffusivity estimated from the results of GPS-equipped drifter experiment was 0.096 m²/sec, which was considered to be valid for applying the LPT module in this area. Finally, the scenario analysis results showed that particle movements could be stagnant when discharge from the upstream weir was reduced, implying the possibility of securing time for mitigation actions such as oil boom installation and wiping oil contaminants. The outcomes of this study can help improve the prediction accuracy of particle tracking simulation to establish the most suitable mitigation plan considering the combination of movable weir operation.