• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.19-27
• /
• 2014

Mg hydride has a high hydrogen capacity (7.6%), at high temperature, and is a lightweight and low cost material, thus it a promising hydrogen storage material. However, its high operation temperature and very slow reaction kinetics are obstacles to practical application. In order to overcome these disadvantages of Mg hydride, graphene powder was added to it. The addition of graphene has been shown to reduce the operating temperature of dehydrogenation. Moreover, in this report the environmental aspects of $MgH_x$-Graphene composites are investigated by means of the environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) method. $MgH_x$-Graphene mixture was prepared by hydrogen induced mechanical alloy (HIMA). The synthesized powder was characterized by XRD(X-ray Diffraction). The hydrogenation behaviors were evaluated by using a Sievert's type automatic PCT apparatus. Such evaluation of Materials also conducted in the LCA. From the result of P-C-T(Pressure-Composition-Temperature) curves, the $MgH_x$-3wt.% graphene composite was evaluated as having a 5.86wt.% maximum hydrogen storage capacity, at 523K. From absorption kinetic testing, the $MgH_x$-7wt.% graphene composite was evaluated as having a maximum 6.94wt.%/ms hydrogen absorption rate, at 573K. Environment evaluation results for the $MgH_x$-graphene composites and other materials indicated environmental impact from the electric power used and from the materials themselves.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.98 no.4
• /
• pp.426-434
• /
• 2009

This study was carried out to derive the most optimal production process for the wood fuels(chip and pellet), by collecting cost data on each procedure through the life cycle assessment approach, and to compare between the profitability and efficiency, from the view points of producers and consumers, irrespectively. The costs accounted in this analysis were based on the opportunity cost. The results show that wood chips are cheaper than wood pellets in production costs. In respect to the process with the lowest production cost, while wood chips should be to crush collected residues into pieces on the spot for merchandizing, wood pellets need to be transported to manufactory for pelletizing. The study findings also include that the profits, which is estimated by subtracting expenses from gained sale revenue, were a bit higher for wood chips than wood pellets. Additionally, the price ratio of wood pellets to wood chips for getting the same caloric value appears to be 1.27. Despite of economic benefits of processing wood chips, there are several problems in practice. For producers, there is a possible increase in not only transportation cost for conveying crushers to the dispersed places, but storage cost due to the lack of the marketplaces in the immediate surroundings. For consumers, on the other hand, there are some challenging issues, such as bulky storage facility requirement, additional labor for fuel supplement, frequent ashes disposal, and decomposition in summer and freezing in winter caused by wood chips' own moisture.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.228-236
• /
• 2020

Korea has an economy based on manufacturing industrial fields, which produce high amounts of hazardous wastes, in spite of few landfill candidates, and a significant concern for fine airborne particulates; therefore, traditional waste management is difficult to apply in this country. Moreover, waste collection and accumulation have recently been intensified by the waste import prohibitions or regulations in developing nations, the universalization of delivery services in Korea, and the global COVID-19 crisis. This study thus presents a domestic waste management strategy that aims to address the recent issues on waste. The contents of the strategy as the main results of the study include the (1) improvement of the compatibility of the classification codes between the domestic hazardous waste and the international ones such as those of the Basel Convention; (2) consideration of the mixed hazard indices to represent toxicity from low-content components such as rare earth metals often contained in electrical and electronic equipment waste; (3) management application based on risks throughout the life cycles of waste; (4) establishment of detailed material flow information of waste by integrating the Albaro system, Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) system, and online trade databases; (5) real-time monitoring and prediction of the waste movement or discharge using positional sensors and geographic information systems, among others; and (6) selection and implementation of optimal treatment or recycling practices through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and clean technologies.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.46 no.6
• /
• pp.502-509
• /
• 2013

To estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, we established inventory of conventional rice cultivation from farmers in Gunsan and Iksan, Jeonbuk province in 2011~2012. This study was to calculate carbon footprint and to analyse the major factor of GHGs. We carried out a sensitivity analysis using the analyzed main factors of GHGs and estimated the mitigation potential of GHGs. Also we tried to suggest agricultural methods to reduce GHGs that farmers of this case study can apply. Carbon footprint of rice production unit of 1 kg was 2.21 kg $CO_2.-eq.kg^{-1}$. Although amount of $CO_2$ emissions is largest among GHGs, methane had the highest contribution of carbon footprint on rice production system after methane was converted to carbon dioxide equivalent ($CO_2$-eq.) multiplied by the global warming potential (GWP). Source of $CO_2$ in the cultivation of rice farming is incomplete combustion of fossil fuels used by agricultural machinery. Most of the $CH_4$ emitted during rice cultivation and major factor of $CH_4$ emission is flooded paddy field in anaerobic condition. Most of the $N_2O$ emitted from rice cultivation process and major sources of $N_2O$ emission is application of fertilizer such as compound fertilizer, urea, orgainc fertilizer, etc. As a result of sensitivity analysis due to the variation in energy consumption, diesel had the highest sensitivity among the energies inputs. If diesel consumption is reduced by 10%, it could be estimated that $CO_2$ potential reduction is about 2.5%. When application rate of compound fertilizer reduces by 10%, the potential reduction is calculated to be approximately 1% for $CO_2$ and approximately 1.8% for $N_2O$. When drainage duration is decreased until 10 days, methane emissions is reduced by approximately 4.5%. That is to say drainage days, tillage, and reducing diesel consumption were the main sources having the largest effect of GHG reduction due to changing amount of inputs. Accordingly, proposed methods to decrease GHG emissions were no-tillage, midsummer drainage, etc.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.1215-1224
• /
• 2013

Great efforts have been made worldwide to reduce the Green House Gas (GHG) emission following the "Kyoto Protocol" declared during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1997. Many industries have restructured to meet the standard set by the Protocol. However, no clear guidance has been established for the purpose of reducing the GHG emission in construction industry. In addition, no significant effort has been made to conserve the energy during construction activities. For more effective energy saving in construction industry, it is essential to collect data about energy consumption, quantity of environmental emissions and costs. However, most studies on sustainable construction have been concentrated on the use of equipment, maintenance and repair works during construction due to the difficulties of collecting such data. This study suggests a method to select the most environmentally friendly equipment combination for earthwork with comparing environmental loads and costs using the database of Life Cycle Inventory in the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and Ministry of Environment of Korea.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.47-54
• /
• 2021

Palladium present in colloidal-type plated spent catalyst solution that is used in electroless plating process has not been recovered but discharged as wastewater so far. Recyclig of paladium in colloidal-type plated spent catalyst solution is achieved with this study. This study presents the estimation of resource consumption and GHG emissions during the recycling and disposal of palladium in the plated spent catalyst solution using life cycle assessment. The reduction of resources and GHG are also estimated. Based on the palladium amount of 1 kg during disposal, the GHG emission amount was estimated to be 9.67E+03 kgCO₂eq., and the amount of resource consumption was 3.94E+01 kgSb-eq. However, GHG emission was 1.96E+03 kgCO₂eq., and the amount of resource consumption was 1.54E+01 kgSb-eq. during recycling. Considering the major substances affecting GHG emissions and amount of resource consumption, CO₂ was found to significantly affect GHG emissions, accounting for 91.42% in disposal and 98.37% in recycling. The major substance affecting the amount of resource consumption was hard coal, which accounted for 40.63% in disposal and 60.73% in recycling. Upon recycling 1 kg palladium, 8,967.17 kgCO₂eq. of greenhouse gas emission was reduced, while the resource consumption was reduced to 10.10 kg Sb-eq. In addition, the direct palladium resource reduction rate due to palladium recycling was 50%.