• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.671-678
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• 2021

Effects of nitric acid treatment of an activated carbon and impregnation of metal chlorides on the activated carbon were investigated to improve ammonia adsorption performance. It was confirmed that functional groups such as hydroxyl and carboxyl groups were introduced onto a surface of the activated carbon with nitric acid treatment. Then, each metal chloride (NiCl₂, MgCl₂, CuCl₂, MnCl₂ or CoCl₂) was impregnated onto the surface-modified activated carbon using an ultrasonic impregnation method. The physicochemical properties and ammonia adsorption performance of various impregnated activated carbons were observed. Metal chlorides were well dispersed by sonication and evenly distributed on the surface of the activated carbon. Despite the reduced specific surface area and pore volume, the surface-modified activated carbon impregnated with metal chlorides exhibited excellent ammonia adsorption performance. In particular, HNO₃-NiCl₂ AC prepared by impregnating NiCl₂ showed the best ammonia adsorption capacity of 3.736 mmol·g^-1, which was improved by about 57 times compared to that of an untreated activated carbon (0.066 mmol·g^-1).

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.68-74
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• 2021

This study investigated formaldehyde (HCHO) removal by preparing porous supports using domestic low-grade silica coated with Co-ZSM5 and Cu-ZSM5 as the catalysts. First, the sample of the raw material for the support contained 90% silica with quartz crystal phase, which was confirmed as low-grade silica. According to Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analyses, the catalysts, Co-ZSM5 and Cu-ZSM5, were successfully coated on the surface of the porous silica supports. During the removal test of HCHO using the prepared Co-ZSM5 and Cu-ZSM5 coated beads, depending on the reaction temperature, the Co-ZSM5 coated beads exhibited higher removal efficiencies (>97%) than the Cu-ZSM5 beads at 200 ℃. The higher efficiency of the Co-ZSM5 coating may be attributed to its superior surface activity properties (BET surface area and pore volume) that lead to the favorable HCHO decomposition. Therefore, Co-ZSM5 was determined to be the suitable catalyst for removing HCHO as a coating on a porous support fabricated using domestic low-grade silica.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.460-465
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• 2019

In this study, the optimization of active materials and the preparation of particulate adsorbents for the application of metal oxide-based adsorbents for the treatment of $H_2S$, an air pollutant and odorant, occurred in various industrial facilities were investigated. The adsorbents were prepared by using $TiO_2$, which has a high physicochemical stability and relatively high specific surface area among metal oxides and also by different kinds and contents of active materials. The correlation between the physicochemical property and adsorption performance of the adsorbents confirmed that the adsorbent containing KI, which is a typical alkali metal among the active metals, showed the highest adsorption performance. The relationship between the contents and the adsorption performance was non-proportional, but a volcano plot. From XRD, SEM and BET analyses, it was confirmed that the active material was exposed to the surface above a certain amount and also the adsorption performance was the best when the specific surface area and pore volume were $40{\sim}100m^2/g$ and $0.1{\sim}0.3cm^3/g$, respectively. For practical application, the adsorbent was granulated or coated on a ceramic support. It was also confirmed that the adsorbent showed high adsorption performance when the adsorbent was coated on the ceramic rather than that of the granulated support.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.262-279
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• 2019

In the engineering barriers of high-level radioactive waste disposal, gases could be generated through a number of processes. If the gas production rate exceeds the gas diffusion rate, the pressure of the gas increases and gases could migrate through the bentonite buffer. Because people and the environment can be exposed to radioactivity, it is very important to clarify gas migration in terms of long-term integrity of the engineered barrier system. In particular, it is necessary to identify the hydro-mechanical mechanism for the dilation flow, which is a very important gas flow phenomenon only in medium containing large amounts of clay materials such as bentonite buffer, and to develop and validate new numerical approach for the quantitative evaluation of the gas migration phenomenon. Therefore, in this study, we developed a two-phase flow model considering the mechanical damage model in order to simulate the gas migration in the engineered barrier system, and validated with 1D gas flow modelling through saturated bentonite under constant volume boundary conditions. As a result of numerical analysis, the rapid increase in pore water pressure, stress, and gas outflow could be simulated when the dilation flow was occurred.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.296-303
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• 2021

The objective of this study is to investigate the applicability of a Cu-supported honeycomb catalyst as a catalyst for decomposition of a low toxic liquid propellant based on ammonium dinitramide (ADN). A mixture of copper, lanthanum, and alumina was supported on the honeycomb support by wash coating to prepare a Cu-La-Al/honeycomb catalyst. We elucidated that the effect of metal loading on the physicochemical properties of Cu-La-Al/honeycomb catalyst and catalytic performance in decomposition of the ADN-based liquid propellant. As the number of wash coatings increased, the amount of active metal Cu was increased to 4.1 wt%. The BET surface area of the Cu-La-Al/honeycomb catalyst was in the range of 3.1~4.1 ㎡/g. The micropores were hardly present in Cu-La-Al/honeycomb catalysts, however, the mesopores and macropores were well developed. The Cu (2.7 wt%)-La-Al/honeycomb catalyst exhibited the highest activity in the decomposition of the ADN-based liquid propellant, which is attributed to the largest surface area, the largest pore volume, and the well-developed mesopores and macropores.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.221-242
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• 2021

A numerical study of the performance assesment of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes in improved Korean reference disposal system (KRS⁺) for high-level radioactive waste is conducted using TOUGH2-MP/FLAC3D simulator. Decay heat from high-level radioactive waste increases the temperature of the repository, and it decreases as decay heat is reduced. The maximum temperature of the repository is below a maximum temperature criterion of 100℃. Saturation of bentonite buffer adjacent to the canister is initially reduced due to pore water evaporation induced by temperature increase. Bentonite buffer is saturated 250 years after the disposal of high-level radioactive waste by inflow of groundwater from the surrounding rock mass. Initial saturation of rock mass decreases as groundwater in rock mass is moved to bentnonite buffer by suction, but rock mass is saturated after inflow of groundwater from the far-field area. Stress changes at rock mass are compared to the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and the spalling strength in order to investigate the potential rock failure by thermal stress and swelling pressure. Additional simulations are conducted with the reduced spacing of deposition holes. The maximum temperature of bentonite buffer exceeds 100℃ as deposition hole spacing is smaller than 5.5 m. However, temperature of about 56.1% volume of bentonite buffer is below 90℃. The methodology of numerical modeling used in this study can be applied to the performance assessment of coupled THM processes for high-level radioactive waste repositories with various input parameters and geological conditions such as site-specific stress models and geothermal gradients.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.282-288
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• 2022

Facial masks have become indispensable in daily life to prevent infection and spread through respiratory droplets in the era of the corona pandemic. To understand how effective two different types of masks (i.e., KF-94 mask and dental mask) are in blocking respiratory droplets, i) we preferentially analyze wettability characteristics (e.g., contact angle and contact angle hysteresis) of filters consisting of each mask, and ii) subsequently observe the dynamic behaviors of microdroplets impacting at high velocities on the filter surfaces. Different wetting properties (i.e., hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity) are found to exhibit depending on the constituent materials and pore sizes of each filter. In addition, the pneumatic conditions for stably and uniformly dispensing microdroplets with a certain volume and impacting behaviors associated with the impacting velocity and filter type change are systematically explored. Three distinctive dynamics (i.e., no penetration, capture, and penetration) after droplet impacting are observed depending on the type of filter constituting the masks and droplet impact velocity. The present experimental results not only provide very useful information in designing of face masks for prevention of transmission of infectious respiratory diseases, but also are helpful for academic researches on droplet impacts on various porous surfaces.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2022

The hydrogen reduction behavior of molybdenum oxides was studied using a horizontal-tube reactor. Reduction was carried out in two stages: MoO₃ → MoO₂ and MoO₂ → Mo. In the first stage, a mixed gas composed of 30 vol% H₂ and 70 vol% Ar was selected for the MoO₃ reduction because of its highly exothermic reaction. The temperature ranged from 550 to 600 ℃, and the residence time ranged from 30 to 150 min. In the second step, pure H₂ gas was used for the MoO₂ reduction, and the temperature and residence time ranges were 700-750 ℃ and 30-150 min, respectively. The hydrogen reduction behavior of molybdenum oxides was found to be somewhat different between the two stages. For the first stage, a temperature dependence of the reaction rate was observed, and the best curve fittings were obtained with a surface reaction control mechanism, despite the presence of intermediate oxides under the conditions of this study. Based on this mechanism, the activation energy and pre-exponential were calculated as 85.0 kJ/mol and 9.18 × 10⁷, respectively. In addition, the pore size within a particle increases with the temperature and residence time. In the second stage, a temperature dependence of the reaction rate was also observed; however, the surface reaction control mechanism fit only the early part, which can be ascribed to the degradation of the oxide crystals by a volume change as the MoO₂ → Mo phase transformation proceeded in the later part.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.49-62
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• 2022

The magnesium and iron-based layered double hydroxide (Mg-Fe LDH) was synthesized by the co-precipitation process and the bead type LDH (BLDH, 5~6 mm in diameter) was manufactured by using the Mg-Fe LDH and the starch as a binder. To evaluate the feasibility of the BLDH as the As stabilizer in the soil, various experiments were performed and the As stabilization efficiency of the BLDH was compared to that of powdered type LDH (PLDH, <149 ㎛ in diameter). For the As sorption batch experiment, the As sorption efficiency of both of the PLDH and the BLDH showed higher than 99%. For the stabilization experiment with soil, the As extraction reducing efficiency of the PLDH was higher than 87%, and for the BLDH, it was higher than 80%, suggesting that the BLDH has similar the feasibility of As stabilization for the contaminated soil, compared to the PLDH. From the continuous column experiments, when more than 7% BLDH was added into the soil, the As stabilization efficiency of the column maintained at over 91% for 7 pore volume flushing (simulating about 21 months of rainfall) and slowly decreased down to 64% after that time (to 36 months) under the non-equilibrium conditions. Results suggested that more than 7% of BLDH added in As-contaminated soil could be enough to stabilize As in soil for a long time. The main As fixation mechanisms on the LDH were also identified through the X-ray fluorescence (XRF), the X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analyses. Results showed that the LDH has enough of an external surface adsorption capacity and an anion exchange capability at the interlayer spaces. Results of SEM/EDS and BET analyses also supported that the Mg-Fe LDH used in this study has sufficient porous structures and outer surfaces to fix the As. The reduction of carbonate (CO₃^2-) and sulfate (SO₄^2-) anions in the LDH after the reaction between As and the LDH was observed through the FT-IR, the XRF, and the XRD analyses, suggesting that the exchange of some of these anions with the arsenate (H₂AsO₄^- or HAsO₄^2-) occurs at the LDH interlayers during the stabilization process in soil.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.279-288
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• 2007

We have studied a method for the preparation of $ACF/TiO_2$ composites involving the penetrationof titanium n-butoxide (TNB) solution into activated carbon fiber. It was focused on the characterization of $TiO_2$ formed in prorous carbon was which increased with surface functional groups by hydrochloric acid treatment. The conversion of TNB to $TiO_2$ for the acid treatment effect must be important for the preparationof $ACF/TiO_2$ composites. From the characterization of surface properties, both the BET surface area and the total pore volume decreased as the distribution of $TiO_2$ on the activated carbon fiber surfaces after acid treatments.The changes in XRD pattern showed the typical anatase type on $ACF/TiO_2$ composite for the sample named FT, FT1 and FT2 treated with 0.05, 0.1 and 0.5 M, respectively. However, XRD patern of FT3 treated with 0.5M showed mixed amatase-rutile structure. According to the results of SEM micrographs, the titanium complexe particles were irregularly distributed around carbon. And some large clusters were found when an amount of acid treatment increased. The EDX results of $ACF/TiO_2$ composites showed the presence of C, O and P with strong Ti peaks. Finally, the excellent photocatalytic activity of the $ACF/TiO_2$ composites between relative concentration($c/c_o$) of MB (methylene blue) and UV irradiation time could be attributed to the both effects between photocatalysis of the formation of titania complexes and adsorptivity of the activated carbon fiber.