• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.265-276
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• 2017

Heavy metals leaching from closed mines have been causing severe environmental problems in nearby soil ecosystems. Mine reclamation in Korea has been recently implemented based on the heavy metal immobilization (a.k.a., stabilization). Since the immobilization temporarily fixes the heavy metals to the soil matrix, the potential risk of heavy metal leaching still exists. Therefore the appropriate monitoring and the related policies are required to safeguard the soils, where all the cultivations occur. The current monitoring methods are based on either heavy metal concentration or simple toxicity test. Those methods, however, are fragmented and hence it is difficult to evaluate the site in an integrated manner. In this study, as the integrated approach, ecological functional state evaluation with a multivariate statistical tool was employed targeting physiochemical soil properties, heavy metal concentrations, microbial enzymatic activity, and arsenic respiratory reductase gene quantity. Total 60 soil samples obtained from three mines (Pungjeong, Jeomdong, Seosung) were analyzed. As a result, the stabilized layer soil and lower layer soil have shown the similar pattern in Pungjeong mine. In contrast, Jeomdong and Seosung mine have shown the similarity between the stabilized layer soil and the cover layer soil, indicating the possible contamination of the cover layer soil.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.619-630
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• 2015

This study was conducted to propose the methodology of human risk assessment specialized to domestic mine areas and to quantify the human risk of heavy metal (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) contamination around two abandoned metal mines. To attain the goals, we established a relevant exposure scenario, including 7 exposure pathways and extracted a variety of exposure factors reflecting the characteristics of inhabitants around abandoned metal mine areas. Finally, carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were compared between two areas, exposure pathways, heavy metal contaminants, and receptors. The total excess carcinogenic risks of two mine areas of concern were calculated to be larger than the acceptable carcinogenic risk ($1{\times}10^{-6}$), indicating those two areas are not safe for carcinogenic hazard. In addition, the hazard indices of two areas were computed to be higher than unit risk (1), suggesting that the areas of concern have non-carcinogenic risk. Ingestion of crop and intake of groundwater were evaluated to be main exposure pathways contributing to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks within the areas. Also, the results show that carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic hazards were mostly attributed to As and As, Cd, and Pb, respectively.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.288-296
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• 2013

In this study, a total of 13 mines were finally selected as study subjects and field measurements were conducted. Thereafter, calculations of thermodynamic natural ventilation were attempted using spread sheets and solutions for natural ventilation of mine types with multiple vertical shafts were obtained. Based on the results, natural ventilation of each mine was quantified. In addition, changes in natural ventilation energy (NVE) and natural ventilation pressure (NVP) were estimated assuming mine deepening and the resultant values were applied to mine conditions to observe changes in flow rates. Natural ventilation pressure in domestic mines is generally calculated to be in a range of 5 Pa~300 Pa. Although NVP increases as the depth increases, resistance also increases. Therefore, as the depth increases, flow rates show a tendency of converging on a certain value because of the relationship between NVP and mine resistance. Natural ventilation using shafts with depth differences is effective up to depths of 200~300 m. However, flow rate change rates resulting from NVP are small at depths deeper than approximately 200~300 m. Therefore, if a mine is deepened over 300 m, NVP will become insufficient and thus additional pressure obtained through mechanical ventilation will be necessary.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.12-25
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• 2017

In local underground mines heavily depending on the natural ventilation, ducted fan auxiliary ventilation system is strongly recommended instead of the total mine ventilation system requiring large capital and operating costs. Optimizing the installation of ducted fans in series in long large-opening mines is required to assure the economy and efficiency of the ventilation system. The two most critical design parameters for optimization are the wall separation distance and gap length between adjoining ducts. This study aims at deriving the optimal values for those two parameters concerning the economic and environmental aspects through the extensive CFD analysis, which minimizes pressure loss, leakage and entrainment of the contaminated air in the gap space. The ranges of the wall separation distance and gap length for study are selected by taking into consideration the existing recommendations and guidelines. The ultimate goal is to optimize the auxiliary ventilation system using ducted fans in series to provide a reliable and efficient solution to maintain clean and safe workplace environment in local long underground mines.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.537-546
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• 2020

Oil and natural gas reserves have been recognised abundantly in clayey rich rock formations in deep costal reservoirs. It is necessary to understand the sedimentary history of those reservoir rocks to well explore these natural resources. This work designs a group of laboratory experiments to mimic the physical process of the sedimentary clay-rich rock formation. It presents characterisation results of the physical properties of the artificial clayey rocks synthesized from illite clay, quartz sand and brine water by high-pressure consolidation tests. Special focus is given on the effects of illite clay content and high-stress consolidation on the physical properties. Multi-step loaded consolidation experiments were carried out with stress up to 35 MPa on mixtures constituting of the illite clay, quartz sand and brine water with five initial illite clay contents (w=85%, 70%, 55%, 40% and 25%). Compressibility and void ratio were characterised throughout the physical compaction process of the mixtures constituting of five illite clay contents and their water permeability was measured as well. Results show that the applied stress induces a great reduction of clayey rock void ratio. Illite clay contents has a significant influence on the compressibility, void ratio and the permeability of the physically synthesized clayey rocks. There is a critical illite clay content w=70% that induces the minimum void ratio in the physically synthesised clayey rocks. The SEM study indicates, in the high-pressure synthesised clayey rocks with high illite clay contents, the illite clay minerals are located in layers and serve as the material matrix, and the quartz minerals fill in the inter-mineral pores or are embedded in the illite clay matrix. The arrangements of the minerals in microscale originate the structural anisotropy of the high-pressure synthesised clayey rock. The test findings can give an intuitive physical understanding of the deep-buried clayey rock basins in energy reservoirs.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.787-798
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• 2005

The objectives of this study were to assess extraction kinetics of heavy metals with extraction times and to assess extraction efficiencies of heavy metals with concentrations and kinds of washing solutions. Target materials were obtained from disused metal mines. Washing solutions were water, HCl(0.1, 0.3, 1.0 N), EDTA(0.01, 0.05, 0.1 M), and sodium dodecyl sulfate(SDS, 0.1. 0.5, 1.0%). Extraction efficiencies of heavy metals by water and SDS were below 1%, and extraction efficiencies of Zn and Cd were higher than those of Pb and Cu. As results, water and SDS were not effective in extracting heavy metals from mine tailings as washing solution, but extraction efficiencies of Pb and Cu with SDS solution increased as extraction time increased. Extraction kinetics of heavy metals with HCl and EDTA were faster than those with water and SDS. The majority of heavy metals were extracted within 6 hours, and extraction kinetics was almost independent of the solution concentration. Extraction kinetics of heavy metals after 6 hours was slow, but extraction kinetics was dependent on the solution concentration. Also, as concentrations of HCl and EDTA solution were stronger, heavy metals were extracted rapidly and extraction efficiencies were increased. The extraction efficiency was high in order of Cd>Pb>Zn>Cu in using 1.0 N HCl, and Pb>Cd>Zn>Cu in using 0.1 M EDTA. Consequently, extraction effectiveness was highest for Pb in using HCl, and for Pb and Cd in using EDTA with concentration increase. Extraction time of over 6 hours was not effective in extracting heavy metals.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.480-507
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• 2019

This paper aims at optimizing the auxiliary ventilation system in large-opening limestone mines with unducted fans. An extensive CFD and also site study were carried out for optimization at the blind entries. The fan location, operating mode, and layout are the parameters for optimization. Since the jet stream discharged from the auxiliary fan is flowing faster than 15 m/s in most of the cases, the stream collides with floor, sides or roof and even with the jet stream generated from the other fan placed upstream. Then, it is likely to lose a large portion of its inertial force and then its ventilation efficiency drops considerably. Therefore, the optimal fan installation interval is defined in this study as an interval that maximizes the uninterrupted flowing distance of the jet stream, while the cross-sectional installation location can be optimized to minimize the energy loss due to possible collision with the entry sides. Consequently, the optimization of the fan location will improve ventilation efficiency and subsequently the energy cost. A number of different three-dimensional computational domains representing a full-scale underground space were developed for the CFD study. The velocity profiles and the CO concentrations were studied to design and optimize the auxiliary ventilation system without duct and at the same time mine site experiments were carried out for comparison purposes. The ultimate goal is to optimize the auxiliary ventilation system without tubing to provide a reliable, low-cost and efficient solution to maintain the clean and safe work environment in local large-opening underground limestone mines.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.38-58
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• 2018

The ventilation system plays a crucial role in underground mine safety. The main objective of the ventilation system is to supply sufficient air to dilute the contaminated air at working places and consequently provide tenable environment during the normal operation, while it also should be capable of controlling the fire propagation and facilitate rescue conditions in case of fire in mines. In this study, a smoke control fan was developed for the auxiliary ventilation as well as the fire smoke exhaust. It works as a free-standing auxiliary fan without tubing to dilute or exhaust the contaminated air from the working places. At the same time, it can be employed to extract the fire smoke. This paper aims to examine the smoke control efficiency of the fan when combined with the current ventilation system in mines. A series of the site experiments and numerical simulations were made to evaluate the fan performance in blind entry development sites. The tracer gas method with SF6 was applied to investigate the contaminant behavior at the study sites. The results of the site study at a large-opening limestone mine were compared with the CFD analysis results with respect to the airflow pattern and the gas concentration. This study shows that in blind development entry, the most polluted and risky place, the smoke fan can exhaust toxic gases or fire smoke effectively if it is properly combined with an additional common auxiliary fan. The venturi effect for smoke exhaust from the blind entry was also observed by the numerical analysis. The overall smoke control efficiency was found to be dependent on the fan location and operating method.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2014

Objectives: The purposes of this study are to investigate workers' exposures to respirable particles generated in taconite mines and to compare two metric methods for mass concentrations using direct-reading instruments. Methods: Air monitorings were conducted at six mines where subjects have been exposed primarily to particulate matters in crushing, concentrating, and pelletizing processes. Air samples were collected during 4 hours of the entire work shift for similarly exposure groups(SEGs) of nine jobs(N=37). Following instruments were employed to evaluate the workplace: a nanoparticle aerosol monitor(particle size range; 10-1000 nm, unit: ${\mu}m^2/cc$, Model 9000, TSI Inc.); DustTrak air monitors($PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$, unit: $mg/m^3$, Model 8520, TSI Inc.); a condensation particle counter(size range; 20-1000 nm, unit: #/cc, P-Trak 8525, TSI Inc.); and an optical particle counter(particle number by size range $0.3-25{\mu}m$, unit: #/cc, Aerotrak 9306, TSI Inc.). Results: The highest airborne concentration among SEGs was for furnace operator followed by pelletizing maintenance workers in number of particle and surface area, but not in mass concentrations. The geometric means of $PM_{2.5}$ by the DustTrak and the Ptrak/Aerotrak were $0.04{\mu}m$(GSD 2.52) and $0.07{\mu}m$(GSD 2.60), respectively. Also, the geometric means of RPM by the DustTrak and the Ptrak/Aerotrak were $0.16{\mu}m$(GSD 2.24) and $0.32{\mu}m$(GSD 3.24), respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient for DustTrak $PM_{2.5}$ and Ptrak/Aerotrak $PM_{2.5}$ was 0.56, and that of DustTrak RPM and Ptrak/Aerotrak RPM was 0.65, indicating a moderate positive association between the two sampling methods. Surface area and number concentration were highly correlated($R^2$ = 0.80), while $PM_{2.5}$ and RPM were also statistically correlated each other($R^2$ = 0.79). Conclusions: The results suggest that it is possible to measure airborne particulates by mass concentrations or particle number concentrations using real-time instruments instead of using the DustTrak Aerosol monitor that monitor mass concentrations only.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.165-178
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• 2013

This study is for the genetic differences of two closed asbestos mines from Jeongjeon and Ocheon areas in Boryoung, Chungnam. They are mined asbestos for past several decades. Host rocks are serpentinites for Jeongjeon mine and dolomites for Ocheon mine. Asbestos samples and their host rocks are collected from the field trips and examined with microscopes and FESEM, and analysed with XRD and EDX to confirm for the type and/or compositions of the minerals. The asbestos occur as layers, cracks and fractures assummed as a pathway of the hydrothermal water, but show different characteristics. The serpentinites from the Jeongjeon mine contain chrysotile, tremolite and actinolite asbestos. Non-asbestos minerals including tremolite and actinolite were also found. The chrysotiles occur as a cross fiber or slip fiber at veins and along cracks of several mm to cm thickness. Tremolite and actinolite asbestos occur along cracks and fractures of several cm to ten cm thickness. It suggests that the asbestos from Jeongjeon area were formed by the reactions between serpentinite and hydrothermal water. The dolomites of the Ocheon mine only contain tremolite and actinolite asbestos. The asbestos occur along layers, cracks and fractures, suggestive of asbestos from Ocheon area formed by the reactions between dolomite and hydrothermal waters influxed along layers, cracks and fractures. Overall results suggest that two asbestos mines showing different host rocks are located in a Boryoung area. They show a different type of asbestos minerals, reflecting variety of petrogeneses.