• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.83-90
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• 2020

The Graphite Isotope Ratio Method (GIRM) can verify non-proliferation of nuclear weapon by estimating the total plutonium production in a graphite-moderated reactor. Using the reactor, plutonium is generated and accumulated through the ²³⁸U neutron capture reaction, and impurities in the graphite are converted to nuclides due to the nuclear reaction. Therefore, the amount of plutonium production and concentration of the impurities are correlated. However, the plutonium production cannot be predicted using only the absolute concentration of the impurities. It can only be predicted when the initial concentration of the impurities is obtained because the concentration, at a certain time, depends on it. Nevertheless, the ratios of the isotopes in an element are known regardless of the impurity of an element in the graphite moderator. Thus, the correlation between the isotope ratio and amount of plutonium produced helps predict plutonium production in a graphite-moderated reactor. Boron, Lithium, Chlorine, Titanium, and Uranium are known as indicator elements in the GIRM. To assess whether the correlation between the indicator isotope and amount of plutonium produced is independent of the initial concentration of the impurities, four different impurity compositions of graphite were used. ¹⁰B/¹¹B, ³⁶Cl/³⁵Cl, ⁴⁸Ti/⁴⁹Ti, and ²³⁵U/²³⁸U had a consistent correlation with the cumulative plutonium production, regardless of the initial impurity concentration of the graphite, because these isotopes were not generated through the nuclear reaction of other elements. On the other hand, the correlation between ⁶Li/⁷Li and plutonium production depended on the initial concentration of the impurities in graphite. Although ⁷Li can be produced through the neutron capture reaction of ⁶Li, the (n, α) reaction of ¹⁰B was the major source of ⁷Li. Therefore, the initial concentration of ¹⁰B affected the production of ⁷Li, making Li unsuitable as an indicator element for the GIRM.

• Clean Technology
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• v.13 no.1 s.36
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• pp.54-63
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• 2007

Even traces of CO in the hydrogen-rich feed gas to proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) poison the platinum anode electrode and dramatically decrease the power output. In this work, a variety of catalytic materials consisting of $Cu/Ce_xZr_{1-x}O_2$, (x = 0.0-1.0) were synthesised, characterized and tested for CO oxidation and preferential oxidation of CO (PROX). These catalysts prepared by hydrothermal and deposition-precipitation methods. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, XRF, SEM, BET, $N_2O$ titration and oxygen storage capacity (OSC) measurement. The effects of composition of the support and degree of excess oxygen were investigated fur activity and $CO_2$ selectivity with different temperatures. The composition of the support markedly influenced the PROX activity. Among the various $Cu/Ce_xZr_{1-x}O_2$ catalysts having different composition, $Cu/Ce_{0.9}Zr_{0.1}O_2$ and $Cu/Ce_{0.7}Zr_{0.3}O_2$ showed the highest activities (>99%) and selectivities (ca.50%) in the temperature range of $150{\sim}160^{\circ}C$. It was found that by using of $Ce_xZr_{1-x}O_2$ mixed oxide support which possesses a high oxygen storage capacity, oxidation-reduction activity of Cu-based catalyst was improved, which resulted in the increase of catalytic activity and selectivity of CO oxidation in excess $H_2$ environments.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.975-984
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• 2018

Fast pyrolysis bio-oil has unfavorable properties that restrict its use in many applications. Among the main issues are high acidity, instability, and water and oxygen content, which give rise to corrosiveness, polymerization during storage, and a low heating value. Esterification and azeotropic water removal can improve all of these properties. A 500 g of Quercus mongollica which grounded 0.8~1.4 mm was processed into bio-oil via fast pyrolysis for 2 seconds at $550^{\circ}C$. The esterification consists of treating pyrolysis oil with a high boiling alcohol like n-butanol at $70^{\circ}C$ under reduced pressure (100 hPa). All products are analyzed for water mass fraction, viscosity, higher heating value, pH, FT-IR and GC/MS. The water mass fraction can be reduced by 91.4 % (from 31.5 % to below 2.7 %), the viscosity by 65.8 % (from 36.5 to 12.5 cP) and the higher heating value can be increased by 96.8 % (from 3,918 to 7,712 kcal/kg), the pH by 1.3 (from 2.7 to 4.0). FT-IR and GC/MS analysis indicated that labile acids, aldehydes, ketones and lower alcohols were transformed to stable target products. Using this approach, the water content of the pyrolysis oil is reduced significantly. These improvements should allow the utilization of upgraded pyrolysis liquids in standard boilers and as fuel in CHP (Combined heat and power) plants.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2004

Studies were conducted to select the candidate buffer material for a high-level waste (HLW) repository in Korea. This paper presents the hydraulic properties, the swelling properties, the thermal properties, and the mechanical properties as well as the radionuclide release-retarding capacity of Kyungju bentonite as part of those studies. Experimental results showed that the hydraulic conductivities of the compacted bentonite were very low and less than $10^{-11}$m/s. The values decreased with increasing the dry density of the compacted bentonite. The swelling pressures were in the range of 0.66 MPa to 14.4 ㎫ and they increased with increasing the dry density. The thermal conductivities were in the range of 0.80 ㎉/m $h^{\circ}C$ to 1.52 ㎉/m $h^{\circ}C$. The unconfined compressive strength, Young's modulus and Poison's ratio showed the range of 0.55 ㎫ to 8.83 ㎫, 59 ㎫ to 1275 ㎫, and 0.05 to 0.20, respectively, when the dry densities of the compacted bentonite were 1.4 Ms/㎥ to 1.8 Mg/㎥. The diffusion coefficients in the compacted bentonite were measured under an oxidizing condition. The values were $1.7{\times}10^{-10}$m^2$/s to 3.4{\times}10^{-10}$m^2$/s for electrically neutral tritium (H-3), 8.6{\times}10^{-14}$m^2$/s to 1.3{\times}10^{-12}$m^2$/s for cations (Cs, Sr, Ni), 1.2{\times}10^{-11}$m^2$/s to 9.5{\times}10^{-11}$m^2$/s for anions (I, Tc), and 3.0{\times}10^{-14} $m^2$/s to 1.8{\times}10^{-13}$m^2$/s $for actinides (U, Am), when tile dry densities were in the range of 1.2 Mg/㎥ to 1.8 Mg/㎥. The obtained results will be used in assessing the barrier properties of Kyungju bentonite as a buffer material of a repository in Korea.n Korea.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.365-371
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• 2013

The organic acids, fuel oil contents and antioxidant activities of Yakju with the addition of rice varieties were investigated. The rice cultivars that were used in this study were Ilmi rice, Hopyung rice, Hopum rice, Hanarum rice, Anda rice and Indica rice. The study results are as follows: the pH values of Ilmi Yakju and Hanarum Yakju were 4.14 and 4.07, respectively, and those of the other Yakjus, 3.92~3.98. The total titratable acid content of the Yakju for which Indica rice was imported from Thailand was highest among the samples. The reducing sugars content of the Yakju for which Indica rice was used was higher than that of the other samples. The ethanol content of the Hanarum Yakju was higher than that of the other Yakjus, and the lowest ethanol content was found for the Indica Yakju. The major organic acid component of the Yakju was lactic acid. The total organic acid content was highest in the Indica rice Yakju. The amounts of the following main fusel oils were highest, in the following order: 2-butyl alcohol, 2-pentanol, N-propyl alcohol, acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, methyl alcohol and 2-methyl-1-propyl alcohol. The DPPH free radical scavenging activity of the Indica rice Yakju was much higher than that of the Ilmi rice Yakju and the Hanarum rice Yakju. Also, the SOD activity of the Indica rice Yakju was strongest among all the samples. The total polyphenol content of the Indica rice Yakju was the highest among all the samples.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.271-278
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• 2004

This paper shows our experiment is performed to understand the exposure tendency of $^{137}Cs$ according to the height of area and also, to supplement it by considering chemical characters of $^{137}Cs$ exposed to the soil. The samples we use for this experiment are from the general flat area of Yeonggwang county where it has NPPs, the high places of Keumjung & Bulgap mountains, and Naejan mountain where it is quite far from the NPPs. The data from this experiment show that the exposure of $^{137}Cs$ is not harmful since its range is around 252 Bq/kg-dry in most of sampled soils such as from the general flat area, the high place of Keumjung mountain where is 2 km away from the NPPs, the other high place of Bulgap mountain where is about 20 km away from the NPPs, and Naejan mountain where it is far from the NPPs. Not like the general flat area, however, the data show that the higher the area is the more $^{137}Cs$ is exposed. That is, at the top of mountains, the more $^{137}Cs$ is exposed compared to at the bottom area. It is almost $2{\~}6$ times more than the general flat area of Yeonggwang county where it has NPPs. The data also show that the spread of $^{137}Cs$ is deeply related to the geographical(the height of area, rainfall, etc..) factors and chemical factors of soils. As the geographical factors, there are far more chances to be exposed of $^{137}Cs$ at the high area of mountains through the air compared to at lower area and therefore, we can get more high-leveled readings of $^{137}Cs$ at the high area while it is low-leveled ones at the general flat area even if both of them have the same soil conditions. Regarding the chemical factors of soil, it is clarified that the CEC is the key factor. The CEC means the capability of sticking $^{137}Cs$ accumulated into the soil. Hence, the more CEC it has the more high-leveled readings of $^{137}Cs$ we get under the same geographical condition.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.135-152
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• 1983

Emergency medical service is an important part of the health care delivery system, and the optimal allocation of resources and their efficient utilization are essentially demanded. Since these conditions are the prerequisite to prompt treatment which, in turn, will be crucial for life saving and in reducing the undesirable sequelae of the event. This study, taking the hyperbaric chamber for carbon monoxide poisoning as an example, is to develop a stochastic approach for solving the problems of optimal allocation of such emergency medical facility in Korea. The hyperbaric chamber, in Korea, is used almost exclusively for the treatment of acute carbon monoxide poisoning, most of which occur at home, since the coal briquette is used as domestic fuel by 69.6 per cent of the Korean population. The annual incidence rate of the comatous and fatal carbon monoxide poisoning is estimated at 45.5 per 10,000 of coal briquette-using population. It offers a serious public health problem and occupies a large portion of the emergency outpatients, especially in the winter season. The requirement of hyperbaric chambers can be calculated by setting the level of the annual queueing rate, which is here defined as the proportion of the annual number of the queued patients among the annual number of the total patients. The rate is determined by the size of the coal briquette-using population which generate a certain number of carbon monoxide poisoning patients in terms of the annual incidence rate, and the number of hyperbaric chambers per hospital to which the patients are sent, assuming that there is no referral of the patients among hospitals. The queueing occurs due to the conflicting events of the 'arrival' of the patients and the 'service' of the hyperbaric chambers. Here, we can assume that the length of the service time of hyperbaric chambers is fixed at sixty minutes, and the service discipline is based on 'first come, first served'. The arrival pattern of the carbon monoxide poisoning is relatively unique, because it usually occurs while the people are in bed. Diurnal variation of the carbon monoxide poisoning can hardly be formulated mathematically, so empirical cumulative distribution of the probability of the hourly arrival of the patients was used for Monte Carlo simulation to calculate the probability of queueing by the number of the patients per day, for the cases of one, two or three hyperbaric chambers assumed to be available per hospital. Incidence of the carbon monoxide poisoning also has strong seasonal variation, because of the four distinctive seasons in Korea. So the number of the patients per day could not be assumed to be distributed according to the Poisson distribution. Testing the fitness of various distributions of rare event, it turned out to be that the daily distribution of the carbon monoxide poisoning fits well to the Polya-Eggenberger distribution. With this model, we could forecast the number of the poisonings per day by the size of the coal-briquette using population. By combining the probability of queueing by the number of patients per day, and the probability of the number of patients per day in a year, we can estimate the number of the queued patients and the number of the patients in a year by the number of hyperbaric chamber per hospital and by the size of coal briquette-using population. Setting 5 per cent as the annual queueing rate, the required number of hyperbaric chambers was calculated for each province and for the whole country, in the cases of 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent of the treatment rate which stand for the rate of the patients treated by hyperbaric chamber among the patients who are to be treated. Findings of the study were as follows. 1. Probability of the number of patients per day follows Polya-Eggenberger distribution. $$P(X=\gamma)=\frac{\Pi\limits_{k=1}^\gamma[m+(K-1)\times10.86]}{\gamma!}\times11.86^{-{(\frac{m}{10.86}+\gamma)}}$$ when$${\gamma}=1,2,...,n$$$$P(X=0)=11.86^{-(m/10.86)}$$ when $${\gamma}=0$$ Hourly arrival pattern of the patients turned out to be bimodal, the large peak was observed in $7 : 00{\sim}8 : 00$ a.m., and the small peak in $11 : 00{\sim}12 : 00$ p.m. 2. In the cases of only one or two hyperbaric chambers installed per hospital, the annual queueing rate will be at the level of more than 5 per cent. Only in case of three chambers, however, the rate will reach 5 per cent when the average number of the patients per day is 0.481. 3. According to the results above, a hospital equipped with three hyperbaric chambers will be able to serve 166,485, 83,242, 55,495 and 41,620 of population, when the treatmet rate are 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent. 4. The required number of hyperbaric chambers are estimated at 483, 963, 1,441 and 1,923 when the treatment rate are taken as 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent. Therefore, the shortage are respectively turned out to be 312, 791. 1,270 and 1,752. The author believes that the methodology developed in this study will also be applicable to the problems of resource allocation for the other kinds of the emergency medical facilities.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.205-215
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• 2010

Geothermal heat pump system (GHPS) is an energy-efficient technology that use the relatively constant and renewable energy stored in the earth to provide heating and cooling. With the aim of using GHPS as a heating source, it's possibilities of application in farrowing house were examined by measuring environmental assessment and sow's performance. A total of 96 sows were assigned to 2 pig housings (GHPS and conventional housing) with 48 for four weeks in winter season. During the experimental period, indoor maximum temperature in GHPS-housing was measured up to $26.7^{\circ}C$, average temperature could maintain $21.2^{\circ}C$. The mean value of dust levels and $CO_2$, $NH_3$ and $H_2S$ gas emissions were decreased in GHPS-housing compare with those of conventional housing. Litter size, birth weight, parity and weaning weight did not differ between housings. However, feed intake of sow in GHPS-housing was lower than that of conventional housing. In energy consumption for heating, electric power consumption increased in GHPS-housing than the conventional housing, a 2,250 kwh increase, whereas there is no fuel usage for heater in GHPS-housing. Amount of ground water circulated for heating in cold weather for earth heat exchanger was 8.4-12.9 ton per day. In conclusion, GHPS may have environmental benefits and effectiveness of heating in farrowing housing and affect the performance in sows.