• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.181-190
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• 2023

Wastewater purification is one of the most important techniques for controlling environmental pollution and fulfilling the demand for freshwater supply. Various technologies, such as different types of distillations and reverse osmosis processes, need higher energy input. Capacitive deionization (CDI) is an alternative method in which power consumption is deficient and works on the supercapacitor principle. Research is going on to improve the electrode materials to improve the efficiency of the process. A reverse electrodialysis (RED) is the most commonly used desalination technology and osmotic power generator. Among many studies conducted to enhance the efficiency of RED, MXene, as an ion exchange membrane (IEM) and 2D nanofluidic channels in IEM, is rising as a promising way to improve the physical and electrochemical properties of RED. It is used alone and other polymeric materials are mixed with MXene to enhance the performance of the membrane further. The maximum desalination performances of MXene with preconditioning, Ti₃C₂T_x, Nafion, and hetero-structures were respectively measured, proving the potential of MXene for a promising material in the desalination industry. In terms of osmotic power generating via RED, adopting MXene as asymmetric nanofluidic ion channels in IEM significantly improved the maximum osmotic output power density, most of them surpassing the commercialization benchmark, 5 Wm^-2. By connecting the number of unit cells, the output voltage reaches the point where it can directly power the electronic devices without any intermediate aid. The studies around MXene have significantly increased in recent years, yet there is more to be revealed about the application of MXene in the membrane and osmotic power-generating industry. This review discusses the electrodialysis process based on MXene composite membrane.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.413-420
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• 2019

Pretreatment system of desalination process using seawater reverse osmosis(SWRO) membrane is the most critical step in order to prevent membrane fouling. One of the methods is coagulation-UF membrane process. Coagulation-UF membrane systems have been shown to be very efficient in removing turbidity and non-soluble and colloidal organics contained in the source water for SWRO pretreatment. Ferric salt coagulants are commonly applied in coagulation-UF process for pretreatment of SWRO process. But aluminum salts have not been applied in coagulation-UF pretreatment of SWRO process due to the SWRO membrane fouling by residual aluminum. This study was carried out to see the effect of residual matal salt on SWRO membrane followed by coagulation-UF pretreatment process. Experimental results showed that increased residual aluminum salts by coagulation-UF pretreatment process by using alum lead to the decreased SWRO membrane salt rejection and flux. As the salt rejection and flux of SWRO membrane decreased, the concentration of silica and residual aluminum decreased. However, when adjusting coagulation pH for coagulation-UF pretreatment process, the residual aluminum salt concentration was decreased and SWRO membrane flux was increased.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.351-357
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• 2022

A conventional seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) and a forward osmosis (FO) and reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid process to produce 1,000 m³/d of fresh water, were designed and compared in terms of carbon emission. When FO was adapted for the osmotic dilution, the required pressure for RO decreases, and thus energy consumption decreases. The decrease in carbon emission by decreased energy consumption (up to -0.73 kgCO₂/m³ using coal as the energy source) was compared with the increase in carbon emission by the FO system (+0.16 kgCO₂/m³), which is a function of various factors such as the number of FO modules and energy consumption. The comparison revealed that the FO-RO process causes less carbon emission compared with the SWRO process when the energy sources are coal and oil. However, if energy sources with low carbon emission such as solar, wind, and nuclear energy are selected, the carbon emission of the FO-RO process becomes higher than that of the SWRO process. This implies that the type of energy source is a key factor to determine the necessity of the FO-RO process from the aspect of carbon emission.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.624-629
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• 2013

The relation between performance maintenance conditions and those cost efficiency was studied to choose an optimum operating condition in the seawater desalination pretreatment system. A hollow fiber microfiltration module, which was developed with domestic technology, was tested with the various operating conditions such as chemically enhanced backwash cycles and design dosages of a cleaning chemical. Transmembrane pressure was measured to investigate membrane fouling status and cleaning degree. In addition, economic analysis was performed to compare water production costs by the operation condition. As a result, The operation mode III, chemically enhanced backwash at once a day with 100 mg/L of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) was selected. The concurrent evaluation between membrane filtration performance and its economic analysis will be suitable to choose an efficient optimum condition.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.190-199
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• 2020

The utilization of multiple water sources becomes important due to the master plan for development of water supply released by Ministry of Environment, Korea in 2018. In this study, therefore, the analysis of comprehensive effect in blending applicable water sources in Daesan where 100,000 ㎥/d seawater desalination plant will be constructed for industrial use was performed. The increase in mixing ratio of other water sources with seawater reduced salinity up to 50%, but negatively impacted the turbid and organic matter. Lab-scale reverse osmosis performance test also found that membrane fouling was exacerbated in blended water condition. The simulation results of reverse osmosis indicated 39% energy saving on average is expected at the one-to-one blending ratio, however, long-term performance test at the pilot-scale plant is highly required to evaluate the inclusive impact of mixing seawater and other water sources.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.149-157
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• 2023

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have shown promise in various applications, including molecular separation, dye separation, gas separation, filtration, and desalination. Integrating COFs into membranes enhances permeability, selectivity, and stability, improving separation processes. Combining COFs with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) creates nanocomposite membranes with high permeability and stability, ideal for dye separation. Incorporating COFs into polyamide (PA) membranes improves permeability and selectivity through a synthetic interfacial strategy. Three-dimensional COF fillers in mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) enhance CO₂/CH₄ separation, making them suitable for biogas upgrading. All-nanoporous composite (ANC) membranes, which combine COFs and metal-organic framework (MOF) membranes, overcome permeance-selectivity trade-offs, significantly improving gas permeance. Computational simulations using hypothetical COFs (hypoCOFs) demonstrate superior CO₂ selectivity and working capacity relevant for CO₂ separation and H₂ purification. COFs integrated into thin-film composite (TFC) and polysulfonamide (PSA) membranes enhance rejection performance for organic contaminants, salt contaminants, and heavy metal ions, improving separation capabilities. TpPa-SO₃H/PAN covalent organic framework membranes (COFMs) exhibited superior desalination performance compared to traditional polyamide membranes by utilizing charged groups to enable efficient desalination through electrostatic repulsion, suggesting their potential for ionic and molecular separations. These findings highlight COFs' potential in membrane technology for enhanced separation processes by improving permeability, selectivity, and stability. In this review, COF applied for the separation process is discussed.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.141-147
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• 2010

The objective of this study was to assess the biofouling characteristics of the Bacillus biofilm formed on reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. For the study, a sporogenic Bacillus sp. was isolated from the seawater intake to a RO process, with two distinct sets of experiments performed to grow the Bacillus biofilm on the RO membrane using a lab-scale crossflow membrane test unit. Two operational feds were used, 9 L sterile-filtered seawater and 109 Bacillus cells, with flow rates of 1 L/min, and a constant 800 psi-pressure and pH 7.6. From the results, the membrane with more fouling, in which the observed permeate flux decreased to 33% of its initial value, showed about 10 and 100 times greater extracellular polymeric substances and spoOA genes expressions, respectively, than the those of the less fouled membrane (flux declined to 20% of its initial value). Interestingly; however, the number of culturable Bacillus sp. in the more fouled membrane was about 10 times less than that of the less fouled membrane. This indicated that while the number of Bacillus had less relevance with respect to the extent of biofouling, the activation of the genes of interest, which is initiative of biofilm development, had a more positive effect on biofouling than the mass of an individual Bacillus bacterium.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.74-79
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• 2016

The effects of scale formation of hardness material caused by electrode reactions on the desalination performance of the membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) were investigated. During the repeated adsorption and desorption process for the influent containing $Ca^{2+}$ ion, changes in effluent concentration and cell potential with respect to the number of adsorption were analyzed. It was found that $OH^-$ generation at the cathode was initiated at about 0.8 V or more of cell potential. In addition, the scale of $Ca(OH)_2$ was formed on the surface of cathode carbon electrode by combining adsorbed $Ca^{2+}$ ions and $OH^-$ ions generated from electrode reaction. As the scale was forming, the electrical resistance of carbon electrode was increasing, which resulted in the decrease of the adsorption amount. In the case of the operation at 1.5 V cell potential, the adsorption was reduced to 58% of the initial adsorption amount due to the scale formation.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2012

This study was performed to produce basic data for silty reclaimed tidal lands and to develop techniques of environmentally-friendly utilization in agricultural system. We chose the two sites in Saemangeum reclaimed tidal lands, one (Site I) has been treated with cultivating green manure and conducting the desalinization process through submergence since April, 2007 and the other (Site II) has been under natural condition without artificial treatment. In situ and ex situ physic-chemical properties were determined and comparisons were made for soil profiles examined at these two sites in April 2009. Surface soil of Site I had lower EC and higher field saturated hydraulic conductivity than those of Site II, uncultivated land. Especially, exchangeable sodium content was lowest in Site I Ap1 layer than in other layers. This is probably due to flooding desalination and green manure cultivation. Besides, Ap1 and A2 layers of soil profile in Site I showed brighter soil color and more root observation than those of Site II. This is probably due to green manure cultivation. By the large, for high cash upland crops and intensive agricultural use of silty reclaimed tidal land, site-specific soil ripening such as flooding desalination and green manure cultivation could be useful.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.261-272
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• 2013

Algae boom (Red tide) in south coastal area of Korea has been appeared several times during a decade. If algae boom appears in the desalination plant, media filter and UF filter are clogged quickly, and the plant should be shutdown. In general, Algae can be removed from water by flotation better than by sedimentation, because of the low density of algal cell. The purpose of this study conducts the CFD simulation of DAF flotation basin to apply the design of the dissolved air flotation with ball filter in the Test Bed for SWRO desalination plant. In this study, Eulerian-Eulerian multiphase model was applied to simulate the behavior of air bubbles and seawater. Density difference model and gravity were used. But de-sludge process and mass transfer between air bubbles and seawater were ignored. Main parameter is hydraulic loading rate which is varied from 20 m/hr to 27.5 m/hr. Geometry of flotation basin were changed to improve the DAF performance. According to the result of this study, the increase of hydraulic loading rate causes that the flow in the separation basin is widely affected and the concentration of air is increased. The flow pattern in the contact zone of flotation basin is greatly affected by the location of nozzle header. When the nozzle header was installed not the bottom of the contact zone but the above, the opportunity of contact between influent and recycle flow was increased.