• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.14-19
• /
• 1997

Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the effects of pH and salt level on the soil sorption equilibrium of pentachlorophenol (PCP) which is hydrophobic and ionogenic. Experimental results indicated that the sorption equilibrium constant (Kp) of PCP increased with decreasing pH. A quantitative sorption model involving linear isotherms was estabilished to predict the pH effect on the PCP sorption equilibrium over the pH range from 3 to 8. The model prediction was in good agreement with the experimental data. Also, the Kp increased with salt concentration over the entire pH range. At added salt levels less than 0.1M, increase in Kp was larger than when the added levels were higher than 0.1M. Salt might increase the PCP sorption by inducing 'salting out-effect' or by forming deprotonated PCP-cation ion pairs such as PCP$\^$-/K$\^$＋/. Taking the pH range (5-8) and the salt content (up to 50 g/L) in the groundwater of Metropolitan landfill sites into consideration, the results indicated that the retardation factor of PCP in this area might range from 3 to 550 depending upon pH and salt content.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.101-109
• /
• 2022

The mobility and transport of radioactive cesium are crucial factors to consider for the safety assessment of high-level radioactive waste disposal sites in granite. The retardation of radionuclides in the fractured crystalline rock is mainly controlled by the hydrochemical condition of groundwater and surface reactions with minerals present in the fractures. This paper reports the experimental results of cesium sorption to the Wonju Granite, a typical Mesozoic granite in Korea, performed in an anaerobic chamber that mimics the anoxic environment of a deep disposal site. We measured the rates and amounts of cesium (¹³³Cs) removed by crushed granite samples in different electrolyte (NaCl, KCl, and CaCl₂) solutions and a synthetic groundwater solution, with variations in the initial cesium concentration (10^-5, 5×10^-6, 10^-6, 5×10^-7 M). The cesium sorption kinetic and isotherm data were successfully simulated by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (r²= 0.99) and the Freundlich isotherm model (r²= 0.99), respectively. The sorption distribution coefficient of granite increased almost linearly with increasing biotite content in granite samples, indicating that biotite is an effective cesium scavenger. The cesium removal was minimal in KCl solution compared to that in NaCl or CaCl₂ solution, regardless of the ionic strength and initial cesium concentration that we examined, showing that K⁺ is the most competitive ion against cesium in sorption to granite. Because it is the main source mineral of K⁺ in fracture fluids, biotite may also hinder the sorption of cesium, which warrants further research.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.373-379
• /
• 2009

Cesium carbonate was used as an adsorbent to capture carbon dioxide from gaseous stream of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and moisture in a fixed-bed to obtain the breakthrough data of $CO_2$. The deactivation model in the non-catalytic heterogeneous reaction systems is used to analyze the sorption kinetics among carbon dioxide, carbonate, and moisture using the experimental breakthrough data. The experimental breakthrough data are fitted very well to the deactivation model than the adsorption isotherm models in the literature.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.36 no.11
• /
• pp.771-780
• /
• 2014

In this study, the various organic supports (i.e., silicone, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, epoxy, and, butadiene rubber) with great sorption capacity of organic contaminants were chosen to develop nano-ZnO/organic composites (NZOCs) and to prevent the detachment of nano-ZnO particles. The water resistance of the developed NZOCs were evaluated, and the feasibility of the developed NZOCs were investigated by evaluating the removal efficiency of 1,1,2-trichloroethylene (TCE) in the aqueous phase. Based on the results from water-resistance experiments, long-term water treatment usage of all NZOCs was found to be feasible. According to the FE-SEM, EDX, and imaging analysis, nano-ZnO/butadiene rubber composite (NZBC) with various sizes and types of porosity and crack was measured to be coated with relatively homogeneously-distributed nano-ZnO particles whereas nano-ZnO/silicone composite (NZSC), nano-ZnO/ABS composite (NZAC), and nano-ZnO/epoxy composite (NZEC) with poorly-developed porosity and crack were measured to be coated with relatively heterogeneously-distributed nano-ZnO particles. The sorption capacity of NZBC was close to 60% relative to the initial concentration, and this result was mainly attributed to the amorphous structure of NZBC, hence the hydrophobic partitioning of TCE to the amorphous structure of NZBC intensively occurred. The removal efficiency of TCE in aqueous phase using NZBC was close to 99% relative to the initial concentration, and the removal efficiency of TCE was improved as the amount of NZBC increased. These results stemmed from the synergistic mechanisms with great sorption capability of butadiene rubber and superior photocatalytic activities of nano-ZnO. Finally, the removal efficiency of TCE in aqueous phase using NZBC was well represented by linear model ($R^2{\geq}0.936$), and the $K_{app}$ values of NZBC were from 2.64 to 3.85 times greater than those of $K_{photolysis}$, indicating that butadiene rubber was found to be the suitable organic supporting materials with enhanced sorption capacity and without inhibition of photocatalytic activities of nano-ZnO.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.155-161
• /
• 2012

A dynamic biofilter model was suggested to integrate the effect of biofilter-medium adsorption capacity on the removal efficiency of volatile organic compound (VOC) contained in waste air. In particular, the suggested biofilter model is composed of four components such as biofilm, gas phase, sorption volume and adsorption phase and is capable of predicting the unsteady behavior of biofilter-operation. The process-lumping model previously suggested was limited in the application for the treatment of waste air since it was derived under the assumption that the adsorbed amount of VOC equilibrated with biofilter-media would be proportional to the concentration of dissolved VOC in the sorption volume of biofilter-media. Therefore a Freundlich adsorption isotherm was integrated into a robust biofilter process-lumping model applicable to a wide range of VOC concentration. The values of model parameters related to biofilter-medium adsorption were obtained from the dynamic adsorption column experiments in the preceding article and literature survey. Furthermore a separate biofilter experiment was conducted to treat waste air containing ethanol and the experimental result was compared with the model predictions with various values of Thiele modulus (${\phi}$). The obtained value of Thiele modulus (${\phi}$) was close to 0.03.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.755-764
• /
• 2000

Fate and transport of hydrophobic organic contaminants can be influenced by naturally-existing humic substances and surfactants applied to wash polluted soils in the subsurface environment. The objective of this paper is to study the solubility enhancement of four PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) and p,p'-DDT in humic acid and surfactant solutions. As the number of aromatic ring is increased, the extent of solubility enhancement of PAHs by humic acid increased. Although the hydrophobicity of p,p'-DDT was the largest among five organic compounds used, the extent of solubility enhancement of p,p'-DDT by humic acid was lower than that of pyrene. In case of anionic surfactants, the extent of the increased solubility of five organic compounds by SDS and SDDBS was increased linearly, but the extent of the increased solubility of p,p'-DDT by MADS-12 was lower than that of perylene.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.24-31
• /
• 2004

A cold mix asphalt (CMA) treatment process was proposed as a tool to recycle soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. Experimental studies were conducted to characterize performances of the CMA process in treating soils contaminated with diesel or diesel compounds. From the screening experiments, it was found that performances of five types of asphalt emulsions that contained a cationic or an anionic or a nonionic surfactant were not substantially different. In consideration of higher affinity for soils and higher sorption coefficients obtained, an emulsion containing Lauryl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride (LDBAC) was selected as a promising asphalt emulsion for treating diesel-contaminated soils. When the asphalt emulsion LDBAC was applied to treat three compounds that originated from diesel, the removal efficiencies obtained in the order of decreasing efficiencies were as follows: docosane > pentadecane > undecane. Leaching experiments on the specimen formulated by the emulsion LDBAC found that the selected treatment method could treat soils with diesel concentrations as high as 10,000 mg/kg. Leaching of the diesel from the specimen was controlled by diffusion for the first four days and then leaching rate diminished substantially. The latter behavior was characterized as depletion, which represents that the contaminant released amounts to more than $50\%$ of the total amount of the contaminant that can be leached. The amounts of three diesel compounds leached from the specimen in the order of decreasing amount were undecane, pentadecane, and docosane. The curing of the soil contaminated with pentadecane was relatively slow.