• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.157-165
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• 2012

This experimental study was performed to obtain thermal energy from the combustion of synthetic gas, produced by the pyrolysis of insulating oil containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in a high temperature and high pressure reactor. The average synthetic gas generated was $59.67Am^3/hr$ via the steady state gasification of insulating oil waste (20 kg/hr) with average concentrations (standard deviation) of $CO_2$, CO, and $H_2$ in the synthetic gas of $38.63{\pm}3.11%$, $35.18{\pm}1.93%$, and $28.42{\pm}1.68%$, respectively. The concentrations of the PCBs in the transformer insulating oil and synthetic gas after its gasification, and the concentrations of the dioxins that could be produced from the incomplete degradation of PCBs were measured. It was revealed that the PCBs in the insulating oil were composed of the series from tetrachlorobiphenyl to octachlorobiphenyl. However, only the #49, #44, #52, and #47/75/48 congeners were detected from the synthetic gas after gasification of the insulating oil and in the flue gas from the combustor. In conclusion, the experimental conditions suggested in this study were very useful for the appropriate treatment of insulating oil containing PCBs. Also, fuel gas containing CO and $H_2$ can be obtained from the pyrolysis of insulating oil containing PCBs.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.245-251
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• 2015

The main objective of this study is to recovery valuable metals with metal particle size distributions in waste cell phone PCBs(Printed Circuit Boards) by means of pulverization and nitric acid process. The particle size classifier also was evaluated by specific metal contents. The PCBs were pulverized by a fine pulverizer. The particle sizes were classified by 5 different sizes which were PcS1(0.2 mm below), PcS2(0.20~0.51 mm), PcS3(0.51~1.09 mm), PcS4(1.09~2.00 mm) and PcS5(2.00 mm above). Non-magnetic metals in the grinding particles were separated by a hand magnetic. And then, Cu, Co and Ni were separated by 3M nitric acid. Particle diameter of PCBs were 0.388~0.402 mm after the fine pulverizer. The sorting coefficient were 0.403~0.481. The highest metal content in PcS1. And the bigger particle diameter, the lower the valuable metals exist. The recovery rate of the valuable metals increases in smaller particle diameter with same leaching conditions. For further work, it could improve to recovery of the valuable metals effectively by means of individual treatment, multistage leaching and different leaching solvents.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.471-479
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• 2009

This study was performed to improve the analytical methods and re-establish the regulatory standard of PCBs-containing solid wastes for sufficient management in which has been concerned internationally. To do this, the sampling, pre-treatment and quantification methods which were used in USA and Japan were discussed. It was thought properly that new standard of PCBs-containing solid wastes was established through correlation with PCBs concentration of transformer oil. The surface wipe sampling was selected in the nonporous materials and cutting sampling in the porous materials. In the absence of transformer oils, electrical equipment is PCB-contaminated if it has PCBs at ${\geq}0.4{\mu}g/100cm^2$ as measured by a wipe test of a nonporous surface and if it has at 0.04 mg/L as measured by cutting test of a porous material. Also, new analytical methods for PCBs containing solid waste were proposed.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.395-400
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• 2011

This study has been carried out in order to effectively manage three groups of unregulated hazardous organic substances (PCDD/DFs, PAHs, PCBs) in South Korea. The investigated substances have been analyzed according to the test methods for hazardous substances in specified wastes provided by the National Institute of Environmental Research, Korea. Total contents of the organic compounds have been determined for hazardous wastes from three major industrial categories (paint, iron removal, steelmaking), such as waste organic solvent, waste paint or dust. By investigating the waste samples for 7 PAHs using GC/MSD, Naphthalene has been detected (N.D~1631.33 mg/kg). The highest Naphthalene concentration, which exceeded the korean marine dumping waste standard, was found in waste organic solvents and waste paints. Although a content analysis of 7 PCB isomers has been conducted, none of these compounds was detected. The analysis of PCDD/DFs has revealed that all samples meet the criterion for low POP content defined in the technical guidelines developed under the Basel Convention. The PCDD/DFs content in dust samples deriving from 10 manufacturing processes (billet, bloom) was determined to be in the range of N.D~5.66 ng I-TEQ/g waste.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.22-28
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• 2024

Waste PCBs contain a large amount of valuable resources, including copper, and technology to recover them is constantly being developed. Generally, to recycle waste PCBs, a physical pretreatment process such as shredding and crushing is required. However, during this stage, the loss rate of metals is high and the sorting efficiency is low, indicating a need for a more efficient recycling pretreatment process. In this study, a high-temperature milling process, which simultaneously employs heat treatment and ball milling, was utilized to efficiently recover copper from waste PCBs. An experiment was conducted at 350 ℃ with milling time, milling speed, and the weight of the balls as variables. The results showed a copper recovery rate of over 90% under the conditions of a ball weight of 500 g, a milling speed of 70 RPM, and a milling time of 5 hours. The purity of the recovered copper was approximately 93%, and through post-processing after the high-temperature milling process, the feasibility of reusing the recovered copper as a high-purity material was confirmed.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.206-215
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• 2005

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were commercially produced as complex mixtures beginning in 1929. The PCBs manufactured commercially are known by a variety of trade names including; Aroclor (USA), Phenoclor (France), Kaneclor (Japan), Sovol (USSR) and so on. PCBs are a class of 209 congeners that were widely used in a wide variety of applications, including dielectric fluid in transformers and large capacitors; heat transfer fluids; hydraulic fluids; lubricating and cutting oils; and as additives in pesticides, paints, adhesives, sealants, and plastics. The quantification methods of peak matching and coefficient comparison were compared using the Aroclor 1242, 1248, 1254, 1260 standards. Also, six transformer oils were analyzed as a main source of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) emission into the environment. The transformer oils contained the pure and mixed of Aroclor 1242, Aroclor 1254, and Aroclor 1260. The analytical results using two quantification methods showed the little difference between the measured results.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2013

Electronic products such as appliances, computers, and cellular phones have printed circuit boards (PCBs) in common and the PCBs in the waste electronic products contain valuable metals and organic resins. In Korea, recovery and recycling of the organic resins as well as the valuable metallics from the wastes are required indeed as the most of resources are being imported from abroad. In this article, the patents and papers for the recycling of organic residues from the waste PCBs were collected and analyzed. The open patents of USA (US), European Union (EP), Japan (JP), and Korea (KR) and SCI journals from 1979 to 2012 were investigated. The patents and journals were collected using key-words and filtered by the definition of the technology. The patents and journals were analyzed by the years, countries, companies, and technologies and the technical trends were discussed in this paper. It is showed sluggish relatively activity of published papers and patent applications for polymer manufacturing technology in local and abroad.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.95-101
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• 1985

Water samples collected monthly between November 1982 and October 1983 from seven reserviors and a river in the periphery of Suwon, Korea were subjected to gas chromatographic analysis for PCBs and organochlorine insecticide residues. PCBs were positively detected in the most samples. The average residue levels of PCBs were found in the range of 0.009${\sim}$0.5 ppb while those of organochlorine insecticides were in the range of "not detected"${\sim}$0.008 ppb. The ratio of average residue levels of PCBs to those of total DDT was found to vary with sampling sites. The highest ratio of 500 was found in the water samples of Han River and the lowest in water of Won-chun Reservior. Both industrial and urban waste appear to be responsible for PCBs in the irrigation waters.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2008

In the present study, the concentration levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs) in the environments in Korea are estimated based on some measured data in Korea, in comparison with the data from the other countries. Even though PCBs were banned as electrical fluids in 1970s in Korea, PCBs are still detected in the environment. PCBs levels in Korea are greatly lower than those in other countries, which are gradually decreased as well. However, the measured data are not sufficient in both numbers and quality, to estimate the average PCBs levels in Korea. The regulation limit on polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs) is 2mg/kg (ppm), which is too low compared to 50 ppm of many other countries including U.S. With this strict regulation, there are many problems expected, for example, in the analysis of PCBs in the transformers using in the field as well as the safe treatment of PCBs. The risk assessment on the PCBs in the environment is surely necessary prior to the change in the limit. Also the PCBs concentration monitoring in the environmental media (i.e. air, water, soil and sediment) and exposure assessment will be essential for the accurate risk assessment. If the PCB-waste guideline maintain as 2 ppm after 10 years, the excess cancer risk of PCBs exposure by ambient air, drinking water and soil was $10^{-8}$. But if the guideline mitigate as 50 ppm after 10 years, the cancer risk was increased by $10^{-7}$. The ecological risk quotient by regulation change was not exceed '1'.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.247-254
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• 2010

This study was carried out to produce Reference Materials (RMs) for Proficiency Testing (PT) of PCBs in waste analytical laboratories. Two RMs were prepared from used transformer oil samples and PCB free transformer oil by spiking PCBs standard solutions. The spiked PCB RMs were homogenized by mixing and settling up to 90 days. Homogenized concentration of PCBs with Arochlor 1254 (6 ppm), 1254:1260 (1:1) (5 ppm) were observed in 60 days stationary phase but Arochlor 1260 (3.5 mg/L) were observed in 90 days stationary phase. One-way ANOVA test were carried out and showed that the RMs were suitably homogenized, which can be used for proficiency testing. The Relative Standard Deviations (RSDs) of analytical results were 3.51~5.01% for the PCBs RMs in 10 replicates. The expanded uncertainty of PCBs analytical procedure were 0.26~0.49.