• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.109-114
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• 2020

This work presents the results of laboratory scale tests of the CARBOFLUOREX (CARBOnate FLUORide EXtraction) process - a novel technology for the recovery of U and Pu from the solid fluorides residue (fluorination ash) of Fluoride Volatility Method (FVM) reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). To study the oxidative leaching of U from the fluorination ash (FA) by Na₂CO₃ or Na₂CO₃-H₂O₂ solutions followed by solvent extraction by methyltrioctylammonium carbonate in toluene and purification of U from the fission products (FPs) impurities we used a surrogate of FA consisting of UF₄ or UO₂F₂, and FPs fluorides with stable isotopes of Ce, Zr, Sr, Ba, Cs, Fe, Cr, Ni, La, Nd, Pr, Sm. Purification factors of U from impurities at the solvent extraction refining stage reached the values of 10⁴-10⁵, and up to 10⁶ upon the completion of the processing cycle. Obtained results showed a high efficiency of the CARBOFLUOREX process for recovery and separating of U from FPs contained in FA, which allows completing of the FVM cycle with recovery of U and Pu from hardly processed FA.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.253-257
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• 2021

This work demonstrates the use of baromembrane method based on reverse osmosis (RO) process. The method is realized on mobile complex, which allows to concentrate and determine ultra-low activity of radionuclides in water cooling ponds of Russian nuclear fuel cycle enterprises. The existence level of radionuclide background creates difficult conditions for identification the contribution of liquid discharges enterprise, as standard monitoring methods have a very high detection level for radionuclides. Traditional methods for determining the background radionuclides concentrations require the selection of at least 500 liters (l) of water, followed by their evaporation to form a dry residue. This procedure with RO membranes requires at least 5 days. It is possible to reduce the time and energy spent on evaporation of hundreds of water liters by pre-concentrating radionuclides in a smaller sample volume with baromembrane method. This approach allows preliminary concentration of water samples from 500 l volume till 20 l volume during several hours. This approach is universal for the concentration of dissolved salts of any heavy metals, other organic compounds and allows the preparation of water countable samples in much shorter time compared to the traditional evaporation method.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.481-487
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• 2023

Concerning the apprehensions about naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) residues, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its member nations have acknowledged the imperative to ensure the radiation safety of NORM industries. Residues with elevated radioactivity concentrations are predominantly produced during NORM processing, in the form of scale and sludge, referred to as technically enhanced NORM (TENORM). Substantial quantities of TENORM residues have been released externally due to the dismantling of NORM processing factories. These residues become concentrated and fixed in scale inside scrap pipes. To assess the radioactivity of scales in pipes of various shapes, a Monte Carlo simulation was employed to determine dose rates corresponding to the action level in TENORM regulations for different pipe diameters and thicknesses. Onsite gamma spectrometry was conducted on a scrap iron pipe from the titanium dioxide manufacturing factory. The measured dose rate on the pipe enabled the estimation of NORM concentration in the pipe scale onsite. The derived action level in dose rate can be applied in the NORM regulation procedure for on-site judgments.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.96-105
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• 2016

This study investigated thermal properties and activation energy ($E_a$) of torrefied oak wood powders treated with various torrefaction times (0, 5, 7.5, 10 min) by using non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis at heating rates of 10, 20, $40^{\circ}C/min$ to check the feasibility of rapidly torrefied oak wood powders as a fuel. As the torrefaction time increases, onset of thermal decomposition temperature, lignin content, and the amount of final residue of torrefied oak wood powders were accordingly increased with reduced hemicellulose content. $E_a$ was determined by using Friedman and Kissinger models and respective R-square values were over 0.9 meaning very good availability of calculated $E_a$ values. The $E_a$ values of the samples were decreased with the increase of torrefaction time and the lowest $E_a$ value ob served in the torrefied oak wood powders treated for 7.5 min showed high feasibility of rapidly torrefied oak wood powder as a biomass-solid refuse fuel.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.40-46
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• 2014

Through the study of the basic characteristics of cow manure and the characteristics of carbonization residue, carbonization degree, conversion rate, kinetic reactions, and activation energy for cow manure were examined. Since the heating value of cow manure was very low, it was converted to carbonization residue as a fuel with heating value of 4,300 kcal/kg by carbonization processes. Conversion rate was increased rapidly up to 10 minutes of the initial reaction stage and was increased with increasing temperature. The carbonization of cow manure could be described by the 1st order reaction. Frequency factor(A) of reaction rate for cow manure was evaluated to be $1.34{\times}10^{-2}min^{-1}$, the activation energy was estimated to be 5,196.4 cal/mol. As carbonization temperature increased from $250^{\circ}C$ to $400^{\circ}C$, the kinetic reaction was increased from $0.2107min^{-1}$ to $0.0679min^{-1}$. From the result of the carbonization for cow manure, it can be determined that the optimal conditions of the carbonization process were 20 minutes in carbonization time and $350^{\circ}C$ for carbonization temperature.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.63-73
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• 2015

This study was carried out to evaluate the change of heating value of cow manure by applying pre-treatment process. Three types of treatment precess; Composting, Dry anaerobic digestion and Physical compression were applied as a pre-treatment method. Composting and anaerobic digestion of cow manure were cause of caloric value reduction of the cow manure. The heating value of cured compost was 5% lower than that of initial composting material. The heating value of dry anaerobic digestion residue was 25.7% lower than that of fresh cow manure. By physical compression of cow manure, heating value and VS/TS ratio (Volatile solids/Total solids ratio) of compressed cow manure were higher than that of fresh cow manure. On the other hand, heating value and VS/TS ratio of leachate generated by compression process were lower than those of fresh cow manure.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1403-1412
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• 2013

Ethanol fuel production from lignocellulosic biomass is emerging as one of the most important technologies for sustainable development. To use this biomass, it is necessary to circumvent the physical and chemical barriers presented by the cohesive combination of the main biomass components, which hinders the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose into fermentable sugars. This study evaluated the hydrolytic capacity of enzymes produced by yeasts, isolated from the soils of the Brazilian Cerrado biome (savannah) and the Amazon region, on sugarcane bagasse pre-treated with $H_2SO_4$. Among the 103 and 214 yeast isolates from the Minas Gerais Cerrado and the Amazon regions, 18 (17.47%) and 11 (5.14%) isolates, respectively, were cellulase-producing. Cryptococcus laurentii was prevalent and produced significant ${\beta}$-glucosidase levels, which were higher than the endo- and exoglucanase activities. In natura sugarcane bagasse was pre-treated with 2% $H_2SO_4$ for 30 min at $150^{\circ}C$. Subsequently, the obtained fibrous residue was subjected to hydrolysis using the Cryptococcus laurentii yeast enzyme extract for 72 h. This enzyme extract promoted the conversion of approximately 32% of the cellulose, of which 2.4% was glucose, after the enzymatic hydrolysis reaction, suggesting that C. laurentii is a good ${\beta}$-glucosidase producer. The results presented in this study highlight the importance of isolating microbial strains that produce enzymes of biotechnological interest, given their extensive application in biofuel production.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.76-86
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• 2018

Using the CAPSS emissions data, we analysed changes and reasons in the annual air pollutant emission trends from 1999 to 2014. The CO emissions in the metropolitan area decreased steadily since 2001, when the latest model year of automobiles and high efficiency fuel were applied. However, other regions have not changed significantly in annual emissions. $NO_x$ emissions continued to increase since 2003, and unchanged after the decline in 2007. $SO_x$ emissions are steadily declining due to the supply of low sulfur oil. The $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ emissions were repeatedly affected by the influence of motor vehicles activities in the metropolitan area. In Gangwon and Chungcheong Provinces, emissions are increasing according to the use of coal in the manufacturing sector. And VOC and $NH_3$ emissions are increasing steadily every year. The major CO emission sources was automobiles in the metropolitan area. However, agricultural residue burning was the biggest CO sources in the Chungchong, Honam and Yeongnam Provinces. The major sources of $NO_x$ emissions differ from region to region. In the Metropolitan area, Honam and Yeongnam region, the truck was the largest emitter of $NO_x$. However, the cement kiln was the largest producer of $NO_x$ in Gangwon region, and the power plant is the largest emitter in Chungcheong Provinces.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.143-152
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• 2013

No-till farming system has been extensively studied all over the world as the effective method for maintaining the soil fertility. The general advantages of this system have been well known for reducing the labor, fuel, machinery, and irrigation cost as well as for increasing the soil quality through soil aggregation, water infiltration, microbial population and etc. Recently, it becomes more popular with the increase of interest on sustainable agriculture, especially because of its higher carbon sequestration potential compared to conventional tillage. Crop residue management should be essentially included to look forward to achieving the positive effect on reduction of greenhouse gas. Nonetheless, there are also negative opinions on effect of no-till farming system. For example, some researchers reported that soil physical properties were not improved by no-till under certain soil and climatic conditions. This means no-till farming systems were strongly affected by the soil characters and climatic conditions. Therefore, the researches to meet the specific-regional characters are greatly needed in order for no-till farming system to successfully settle in Korea. The objective of the review article is to present the future direction and perspective on no-till farming system in Korea. For this purpose, we summarized the results of domestic and foreign researches about no-till farming system until now. Specifically, the chapter on foreign research consisted of four parts: positive and negative effects, the effect in paddy soil, and latest research direction (2012-2013) of no-till farming systems. Whereas, review for domestic researches was divided into two main parts: paddy and upland soils. In the final chapter, the priorities for the optimum conservation tillage in Korea were discussed and proposed through the previous researches.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Fire Science and Engineering Conference
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• 1997.11a
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• pp.146-153
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• 1997

An experimental study was performed of natural-convection downward smolder spread across a sawdust bed peripherally enclosed with an insulating container, to examine the effect of the open- ing condition at the top end on downward smolder spread. Experiments were conducted by using relatively coarse sawdust and 25-cm-long cylindrical container The variations of temperature profiles along the bed axis with time were determined far different opening conditions and were com-pared with those in smolder spread from open top to open bottom. It was shown that the smolder zone initiated from open top toward closed bottom penetrates the bed with keeping high peak temperature like the case of open top to open bottom spread, although mean spread rate is smaller. This indicates that the downward smolder zone can be sustained stably if sufficient air or oxygen Is supplied from the back of it by natural convection even if upward draft entering from the bottom of the bed is absent. When the top end was partially closed by mounting a cover after stable smolder spread had begun from open top toward open bottom, the temperature at the peak decreased more than 200 K and the smolder zone became to spread with thickening residue. In this case, the shape of temperature profiles continuously changed or decayed until end-effect at the open bottom end enhanced the reaction. The temperature at the shrunk peak, free from the end-effect, was almost identical with the temperature at the exothermic oxidative-degradation zone in smolder spread from open top to open bottom. from these results, it can be inferred for natural-convection downward smolder spread that the oxidation reaction of the char is very sensitive to the oxygen supply by natural convection in the space above the smolder zone, and that the top end opening condition strongly alters the completeness of reactions, structure, and behavior of the smolder zone.