• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.133-148
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• 2015

The number of used oil refining companies has been increased and it causes shortage of the volume of used oil per recycling company. In addition, the number of used oil collecting companies has been increased and it caused excessive competition among companies with excessive costs. Companies use not only proper used oil but also low quality used oil because of shortage of supply. It is the reason of environmental pollution. Also excessive competition brings high cost of refined oil and it becomes a burden on the consumer. Therefore, the recycling improvement plans of used oil is needed because of these causes. First of all, importing used oil from the developed countries of OECD is the one of solution to secure a used oil supply. However, imported used oil should meet the international quality standards and it is examined twice by international authority institute such as K-petro in both exporting and importing countries. Second, the cost would be reduced with the relaxation on regulations of used oil refinement. However, regulation to sediment and water should be separated. Sediment should be kept within 2% and water should be kept within 5%. It is the way to relax the regulations of used oil refinement with preventing environmental pollutions. Finally, the standard of used oil for heater should be regulated strictly. To prevent pollutions, used oil for heater is limited to high quality waste lubricating oil. Also the air pollution prevention device has to be installed on heater.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.97-102
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• 2007

An environmental survey from three abandoned metal mine areas was undertaken on to assess the risk of adverse health effects on human exposure to heavy metals influenced by past mining activities. Tailings contained high concentrations of heavy metals may have a impact on soils and waters around the tailing piles. In order to perform the human risk assessment, chemical analysis data of soils, rice grains and waters for As, Cd, Cu and Pb have been used. The HQ values for heavy metals via the rice consumption were significantly higher compared with other exposure pathways in all metal mine areas. The resulting HI values in three mine areas were higher than 9.0, and their toxic risk due to rice ingestion was strong in these mine areas. The cancer risk of being exposed to As by the rice consumption from the A, B and C mine areas was $5.1\;{\times}\;10^{-3}$, $6.8\;{\times}\;10^{-3}$ and $3.1\;{\times}\;10^{-3}$, respectively. The As cancer risk via the exposure pathway of rice ingestion from these mine areas exceeds the acceptable risk of 1 in 10,000 set for regulatory purposes. Thus, the daily intakes of rice by the local residents from these mine areas can pose a potential health threat if exposed by long-term As exposure.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.425-452
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• 1990

A tentative hydrogeologic and hydrodispersive study was carried out to evaluate the groundwater pollution potential at a selected site by utilizing empirical assessment methodologies in an advanced stage of quantitative computer aided assessment. The upper most aquifer is defind as saturated overburden and weathered zone including the upper part of highly fractured rock. Representative hydraulic conductivity and storativity of the uppermost aquifer are estimated at 2.88 E-6 m/s and 0.09, respectively. Also calculated Darcian and average linear velocity of groundwater along the major pathway are 0.011 m/d and 0.12 m/d with average hydraulic gradient of 4.6% in the site. The results of empirical assessment methodologies indicate that 1) DRASTIC depicts that the site is situated on non-sensitive and non-vulnerable area. 2) Legrand numerical rating system shows that the probability of contamination and degree of acceptability are classed to "Maybe-Improbable, and Probable Acceptable and Marginally Unacceptable" with situation grade of "B". 3)Waste soil-site interaction matrix assessment categorizes that the study site is located on "Class-8 Site".

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.4 s.173
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• pp.451-462
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• 2005

In order to examine the extent of environmental contamination at abandoned Samsanjeil Cu mines in Kosung-kun, Kyeongsangnam-do, we have investigated the contaminations and mobility of toxic trace elements from mine wastes including about 280,000 tonnages of tailings by chemical experiments (total extraction, partial extraction by 0.1N HCI and sequential extraction procedure). Total concentrations of trace elements showed that Cu, As, Co, Zn, Pb, and Cd concentrations in tailings were 14.0, 3.6, 3.1, 2.1, 2.1 and 1.6 times greater than those in background soil, respectively. From the proportion of metals bound to the exchangeable and carbonate fractions, the comparative mobility of metals decrease in order of $Zn(29.0\%)>Cu(12.3\%)Pb(9.6\%)>Cd(3.0\%)>As=Co(0.0\%)$. Based on the concentrations, chemical speciations of tailings, waste rock and nearby soil, it was revealed that Cu and Zn were the most possible elements to contaminate the surrounding environment in Samsanjeil mine area. In addition, the tailings had total trace metal concentrations below Dutch guideline values except Cu, and they might not affect adverse impact on environment.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.233-243
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• 2021

Photovoltaic panels are hazardous electronic waste that has heavy metal as one of the hazardous components. Each year, hazardous electronic waste is increasing worldwide and every heavy rainfall exposes the photovoltaic panel to become the source of heavy metal soil contamination. the development needs a monitoring technology for this hazardous exposure. this research use relationships between SAR temporal baseline and coherence of Sentinel-1 satellite to detected photovoltaic panel. Also, the photovoltaic plant detection tested using the difference between that photovoltaic panel and the other difference surface of coherence. The author tested the photovoltaic panel and its environment to calculate differences in coherence relationships. As a result of the experiment, the coherence of the photovoltaic panel, which is assumed to be a permanent scatterer, shows a bias that is biased toward a median value of 0.53 with a distribution of 0.50 to 0.65. Therefore, further research is needed to improve errors that may occur during processing. Additionally, the author found that the change detection using a temporal baseline is possible as the rate of reduction of coherence of photovoltaic panels differs from those of artificial objects such as buildings. This result could be an efficient way to continuously monitor regardless of weather conditions, which was a limitation of the existing optical satellite image-based photovoltaic panel detection research and to understand the spatial distribution in situations such as photovoltaic panel loss.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.429-432
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• 2011

The feasibility of applications of the char obtained from a gasification process of municipal-waste refuse derived fuel (RDF) as an auxiliary fuel was evaluated by combustion experiments. The higher heating value of the RDF char was 3000~4000 kcal/kg and its chlorine content was below the standard requirement demonstrating its potential as an auxiliary fuel. In the combustion exhaust gas, the maximum $NO_x$ and $SO_2$ concentrations were 240 ppm and 223 ppm, respectively. If an aftertreatment is applied, it is possible to control their concentrations low enough to meet the air pollutant emission standard. The HCl concentration was relatively high indicating that a care should be taken for HCl emission from the combustion of RDF. Based on the temperature distribution within the reactor, the concentration change of $O_2$ and $CO_2$, and the amount and the loss on ignition of solid residue, it was inferred that the combustion reaction was the most reliable when the excess air ratio of 1.3 was used.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.95-109
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• 2023

In light of the world grappling with diverse environmental issues due to climate change, the prominence of the 'pre-cycling' movement has grown. This movement strives to curtail or eliminate waste generation even before product purchases, garnering more attention than conventional eco-friendly practices. Consequently, this study employs experiments to delve into effective message strategies for promoting pre-cycling behaviors, which serve as preventive measures against the escalating environmental challenges posed by worsening waste problems. This study investigated the effects of message framing and temporal distance on pre-cycling behavioral intention. In terms of message frame, suggestive messages increased pre-cycling behavioral intention more than coercive messages, and temporal distance had no direct effect on pre-cycling behavioral intention. Assertive messages were associated with higher pre-cycling behavioral intentions when the target was interpreted as near future and suggestive messages were interpreted as distant future. Although temporal distance did not directly affect pre-cycling behavioral intention, it positively influenced consumers' pro-environmental behavioral intention by reducing their antipathy toward assertive messages. The implications of this study extend to the realm of management, offering insights into steering consumer behavior in response to pro-environmental messages.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.231-247
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• 2024

In the field of high-level radioactive waste disposal targeting deep rock environments, hydraulic characteristic information serves as the most important key factor in selecting relevant disposal sites, detailed design of disposal facilities, derivation of optimal construction plans, and safety evaluation during operation. Since various rock types are mixed and distributed in a small area in Korea, it is important to conduct preliminary work to analyze the hydrogeological characteristics of rock aquifers for various rock types and compile the resulting data into a database. In this paper, we obtained hydraulic conductivity data, which is the most representative field hydraulic characteristic of a high-depth volcanic bedrock aquifer, and also analyzed and evaluated the field data. To acquire field data, we used a high-performance hydraulic testing system developed in-house and applied standardized test methods and investigation procedures. In the process of hydraulic characteristic data analysis, hydraulic conductivity values were obtained for each depth, and the pattern of groundwater flow through permeable rock joints located in the test section was also evaluated. It is expected that the series of data acquisition methods, procedures, and analysis results proposed in this report can be used to build a database of hydraulic characteristics data for high-depth rock aquifers in Korea. In addition, it is expected that it will play a role in improving technical know-how to be applied to research on hydraulic characteristic according to various bedrock types in the future.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.5-14
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• 2024

A study approached the development of a process for efficiently recycling discarded cigarette butts, reported as a major source of microplastic pollution in aquatic environments. Cigarette butts were sorted to extract filters, and cellulose acetate, the raw material of the filters, was extracted to a high degree of purity. The sorting of filters from cigarette butts was conducted through both wet and dry processes, each with optimized sorting conditions. Wet stirring sorting considered factors such as solid-liquid ratio, stirring speed, and stirring temperature. The highest efficiency of wet stirring sorting, at 46.21%, was observed with a solid-liquid ratio of 1:45, stirring speed of 200 rpm, and stirring temperature of 50℃. Dry wind power sorting took into account moisture content and residence time. The filter sorting efficiency reached its peak at 57.10% with a moisture content of 20% and a residence time of 5 minutes. There was no significant difference in the recovery rate of cellulose acetate between the two sorting processes. Dry wind power sorting was deemed a more advantageous process in terms of energy and environmental considerations within the scope of this study.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2024

The present study was aimed to evaluate the removal of the trace pollutants (heavy metals and microplastics) in the sewage treatment plant by using the jellyfish Extract at Immunity reaction (JEI) of Aurelia coerulea. The experiment was conducted on two different scales: the lab scale using a Jar-tester and the Pilot system scale equipped with two newly developed devices in the laboratory, the active tube connection mixed system and the concentration integrated separation device. Compared to anionic polymers currently used in the field, JEI showed similar or higher efficiency to remove the trace pollutants. When JEI was added to the effluent through the Pilot system, the combination of JEI and the trace pollutants was maximized through two mixing processes, and as a result, the removal rate of the trace pollutants was greatly improved. Based on these results, we propose the present technology as an alternative to removing trace pollutants that can reduce ecosystem risk and minimize the generation of inorganic waste, away from the existing method.