• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.19-26
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• 2023

Hydrogen, a clean energy source free of COx emissions, is poised to replace fossil fuels, with its usage on the rise. Despite its high energy content per unit mass, hydrogen faces limitations in storage and transportation due to its low storage density and challenges in long-term storage. In contrast, ammonia offers a high storage capacity per unit volume and is relatively easy to liquefy, making it an attractive option for storing and transporting large volumes of hydrogen. While NH₃ decomposition is an endothermic reaction, achieving excellent low-temperature catalytic activity is essential for process efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The study examined the effects of different zeolite types (5A, NaY, ZSM5) on NH₃ decomposition activity, considering differences in pore structure, cations, and Si/Al-ratio. Notably, the 5A zeolite facilitated the high dispersion of Ni across the surface, inside pores, and within the structure. Its low Si/Al ratio contributed to abundant acidity, enhancing ammonia adsorption. Additionally, the presence of Na and Ca cations in the support created medium basic sites that improved N₂ desorption rates. As a result, among the prepared catalysts, the 15 wt%Ni/5A catalyst exhibited the highest NH₃ conversion and a high H₂ formation rate of 23.5 mmol/g_cat·min (30,000 mL/g_cat·h, 600 ℃). This performance was attributed to the strong metal-support interaction and the enhancement of N₂ desorption rates through the presence of medium basic sites.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.432-440
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• 2015

Biochar, a by-product from pyrolysis of biomass, is a promising option to mitigate climate change by increasing soil carbon sequestration. This material is also considered to have potential to remediate a soil with heavy metal pollution by increasing the soil's adsorptive capacity. This study conducted the assessment of two biochars considering the climate change mitigation potential and heavy metal removal capacity at the same time. Two kinds of biochars (BC_Ch, TW_Ch) were prepared by pyrolyzing the biomass of burcucumber (BC_Bm) and tea waste (TW_Bm). The soils polluted with Pb were mixed with biochars or biomass and incubated for 60 d. During the incubation, $CO_2$, $CH_4$, and $N_2O$ were regularly measured and the soil before and after incubation was analyzed for chemical and biological parameters including the acetate extractable Pb. The results showed that only the BC_Ch treatment significantly reduced the amount of Pb after 60 d incubation. During the incubation, the $CO_2$ and $N_2O$ emissions from the BC_Ch and TW_Ch were decreased by 24% and 34% compared to the BC_Bm and TW_Bm, respectively. The $CH_4$ emissions were not significantly affected by biochar treatments. We calculated the GWP considering the production of amendment materials, application to the soils, removal of Pb, and soil carbon storage. The BC_Ch treatment had the most negative value because it had the higher Pb adsorption and soil carbon sequestration. Our results imply that if we apply biochar made from burcucumber, we could expect the pollution reduction and climate change mitigation at the same time.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.215-224
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• 2017

Arsenic (As) is known to be the most toxic element and frequently detected in groundwater environment. Inorganic As exists as arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] in reduced and oxidized environments, respectively. It has been reported that the toxicity of arsenite is much higher than that of arsenate and furthermore arsenite shows relatively higher mobility in aqueous environments. For this reason, there have been numerous researches on the process for oxidation of arsenite to arsenate to reduce the toxicity of arsenic. In particular, photooxidation has been considered to be simple, economical, and efficient to attain such goal. This study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of naturally-occurring goethite as a photocatalyst to substitute for $TiO_2$ which has been mostly used in the photooxidation processes so far. In addition, the effects of several factors on the overall performance of arsenite photocatalytic oxidation process were evaluated. The results show that the efficiency of the process was affected by total concentration of dissolved cations rather than by the kind of those cations and also the relatively higher pH conditions seemed to be more favorable to the process. In the case of coexistence of arsenite and arsenate, the removal tendency by adsorption onto goethite appeared to be different between arsenite and arsenate due to their different affinities with goethite, but any effect on the photocatalytic oxidation of arsenite was not observed. In terms of effect of humic acid on the process, it is likely that the higher concentration of humic acid reduced the overall performance of the arsenite photocatalytic oxidation as a result of competing interaction of activated oxygen species, such as hydroxyl and superoxide radicals, with arsenite and humic acid. In addition, it is revealed that the injection of oxygen gas improved the process because oxygen contributes to arsenite oxidation as an electron acceptor. Based on the results of the study, consequently, the photocatalytic oxidation of aqueous arsenite using goethite seems to be greatly feasible with the optimization of process.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.165-173
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• 2013

To establishment of PT Program for Indoor air quality field that manufacture of confidential development PTMs (proficiency testing materials) and examined of proficiency testing evaluation included sampling process whether or not that is valid. Confirmation of homogeneity and stability of PTMs prepared. PTMs were confirmed to be homogeneous enough to be used as proficiency testing materials since withinbottle homogeneities of the RMs were lower than 0.3 times of targeted standard deviation of proficiency testing. The result of this study showed that the Robust RSD of proficiency testing for VOCs (volatile organic compounds) appeared 23~43% in concentration of 50~320 ${\mu}g/m^3$ for Method A(Distribution by adsorption in Tenax-tube of VOCs), but less 13~42% in concentration of 200~1200 ${\mu}g/m^3$, 16~31% in concentration of 100~450 ${\mu}g/m^3$ for Method B (distribution by VOCs of gas phase in 10L Tedalr bag), C (directly sampling of cylinder with high pressure) respectively. The result of this study showed that method C with sampling is most adequate to the proficiency testing for VOCs in indoor air.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.38-45
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• 2022

CuCl₂-loaded V₂O₅-WO₃/TiO₂ catalyst showed excellent activity in the catalytic oxidation of elemental mercury to oxidized mercury even under SCR condition in the presence of NH₃, which is well known to significantly inhibit the oxidation activity of elemental mercury by HCl. Moreover, it was confirmed that, when SO₂ was present in the reaction gas together with HCl, excellent elemental mercury oxidation activity was maintained even though CuCl₂ supported on the catalyst surface was converted to CuSO₄. This is thought to be because not only HCl but also the SO₄ component generated on the catalyst surface promotes the oxidation of elemental mercury. However, in the presence of SO₂, the total mercury balance before and after the catalytic reaction was not matched, especially as the concentration of SO₂ increased. In order to understand the cause of this, further studies are needed to investigate the effect of SO₂ in the SnCl₂ aqueous solution employed for mercury species analysis and the effect of sulfate ions generated on elemental mercury oxidation. It was confirmed that SO₂ also promotes NO_x removal activity, which is thought to be because the increase in acid sites by SO₄ generated on the catalyst surface by SO₂ facilitates NH₃ adsorption. The composition change and structure of the components present on the catalyst surface under various reaction conditions were measured by XRD and XRF. These measurement results were presented as a rational explanation for the results that SO₂ enhances the oxidation activity of elemental mercury and the NO_x removal activity in this catalyst system.