• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.233-241
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• 2022

Biodiesel is a non-polluting and non-toxic energy source that can replace conventional diesel. However, the higher production cost and raw material scarcity became challenges that obstruct the commercialization of biodiesel production. In the current investigation, fried cooking oil is used for biodiesel production in a hydrodynamic cavitation reactor, thus enhancing raw material availability and helping better waste oil disposal. However, due to the cavitation effect inside the reactor, the hydrodynamic cavitation reactor can give biodiesel yield above 98%. Thus, the use of orifice plates (having a different number of holes for cavitation) in the reactor shows more than 90% biodiesel yield within 10 mins of a time interval. The effects of rising temperature at different molar ratios are also investigated. The five-hole plate achieves the highest yield for a 4.5:1 molar ratio at 65℃. And the similar result is predicted by the response surface methodology model; however, the optimized yield is obtained at 60℃. The investigation will help understand the effect of hydrodynamic cavitation on biodiesel yield at different molar ratios and elevated temperatures.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.93-108
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• 2013

This study is aimed to prepare the effective detail survey methods(Phase II) of abandoned metal mines through the contamination assessment for mine types and facilities in the abandoned metal mine areas. The study sites of 12 abandoned mines are located in Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do and those were chosen among 310 sites that the Phase II survey was conducted from 2007 to 2009 after considering the results of Phase I for abandoned mines scattered all over the country. 12 study sites were classified into four types; Type I sites only have pit mouth. Type II sites have pit mouth and mine-waste field. Type III sites have pit mouth and tailing sorting field. Type IV sites have pit mouth, tailing sorting field and concentrator(s). In forest land, paddy soil and farm land of Type I, As and Cd were showed average concentration, and Cu and Pb were high on the pit mouth area in one mines where the pit mouth was developed within 500 m. In the mines of Type II, Cu and Pb were showed average concentration too, but As and Cd were slightly high in pit mouth and mine-waste field. The mines of Type III which had grinding particle process through physical separation milling or hitting showed similar tendency with Type II. However, mines of Type IV pit mouth, mine-waste field and showed various results depending on defining the contamination sources. For example, if contamination source was pit mouth, the mixed results of Type I, II, II were showed. In tailing sorting field which was regarded as the most important source and having high mobility, however, if there were no facilities or it was difficult to access directly, field sampling was missed occasionally during phase I and phase II survey. For that reason, the assessment for tailing sorting field is missed and it leads to completely different results. In the areas of Type I mines, the concentration of heavy metals exceeded precautionary standards of soil contamination or not within 1,000 meters of pit mouth. Nickel(Ni) was the largest factor of the heavy metal contamination in this type. The heavy metals except Arsenic(As) were shown high levels of concentration in Type II areas, where pit mouth and mine-waste field were operated for making powder in upriver region; therefore, to the areas in the vicinity of midstream and downstream, the high content of heavy metals were shown. The tendency of high level of heavy metals and toxic materials contained in flotation agent used during sorting process were found in soil around sorting and tailing field. In the abandoned-pit-mouth area, drygrinding area and tailing sorting field area, the content of Cupper(Cu) and Zinc(Zn) were higher than other areas. Also, the contaminated area were larger than mine reclamation area(2,000 m) and the location of tailing sorting field was one of the important factors to estimate contaminated area.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.641-647
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• 2014

In this study, sludge waste which has a difficulty in treating it was used to manufacture a fiber type of biosorbent. To solve the problems such as the release of organic pollutants and the difficulty in separating solid from treated water, entrapment method using Ca-alginate was used to immobilize sludge waste. Considering ease of manufacture as well as improvement of adsorptive ability, the biosorbent was manufactured in the form of fiber type. Optimum immobilization condition for minimizing the amount of alginate used and maximizing the performance of biosorbent was determined to be 10 g/L alginate concentration, 40 g/L sludge concentration, and 0.3-0.4 mm fiber diameter. The maximum Cd(II) uptake of the biosorbent was 60.73 mg/g. Pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model adequately described the dynamic and equilibrium behaviors of Cd(II) biosorption onto the biosorbent, respectively. In conclusion, sludge waste generated from wastewater treatment process is a cheap raw material for the manufacture of biosorbent which can be used to remove toxic heavy metals from industrial wastewaters efficiently.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.223-232
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• 1998

The Okmyong Waste Landfill which is one of major industrial waste landfills in Korea has been used for 10 years since January, 1988. The groundwater in range of 2∼3 km from the landfill is a little acidic and has high concentrations of EC, NO$_3$, and SO$_4$ because of acidic rain in Pohang. The groundwater pattern in Piper's trilinear diagram belongs to Ca-SO$_4$and Na-SO$_4$types, but Ca-SO$_4$type is more predominant. The groundwater of five monitoring wells at the landfill area is a litle alkaline and has high concentrations of TS, COD, Na, Cl, SO$_4$, Alkalinity and F because of the effect of the leachates. They also have high heavy metals of Mn, Zn, Pb, Cr and Ni but toxic organic compounds are not detected. Their groundwater pattern is Na-SO$_4$type and distinguished from the groundwater pattern Na-Cl types of the Nanjido and the Seokdae Municipal Waste Landfills. The range of groundwater contamination which is validated up to now is about 120m west from the entrance of the Okmyong Waste Landfill. To prevent the dispersion of the leachates to the outside, cutoff walls should be constructed at the boundary of the landfill. Several pumping wells should also be developed at the landfill so that the contaminated groundwater can be pumped and treated at a leachate-treatment plant in the landfill.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.19-24
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• 2007

Reefs are the marine structure that can give resting, inhabiting, feeding and nursing spaces for a variety of fishes. Usually artificial reefs are made of cement and steels respectively in Japan as well as in Korea. However since resources deficiency has been getting serious, other materials are taken into consideration for the basic bodies of artificial reefs. About 300 thousand tons of waste agricultural plastic films are generated every yew in Korea, but no effective recycling techniques have been developed. In this sense, artificial reefs made of waste agricultural plastic films are the most representative symbol of the recycled products in the Resource Recycling Era. In particular, since these reefs could be made of the semi-cleaned waste agricultural plastic films that still contain high portion of soil, it is very environmentally friendly not only in manufacturing process but also in using under water. Furthermore they have some evident advantages as follows; 1) high fish swarming effect 2) good initial attachment of the marine growths 3) extremely low corrosion to brine 4) easy adjustment of the gravity 5) economical manufacture, transportation and jettison 6) excellent safety to ecosystem caused by lower elution of toxic substances 7) good recyclable property after application and so on.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.87-98
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• 2002

This study was conducted to determine nutritional values of different sources of food residues(FR) released in autumn and to compare them with nutrient requirements on NRC standard feeding system of swine. Hospital or cafeteria FR contained more cooked rice and side dishes residues and less vegetable residues and fruit peel, resulting in higher energy and lower fiber contents, compared to apartment complex FR, which had opposite patterns to these results. Chemical composition between hospital and cafeteria FR was almost similar. Salt(NaCl) content was more than 9 folds of NRC swine requirement, but much lower than the maximum tolerant level. Essenial and non-essential amino acids profile was similar among FR sources. Hospital or cafeteria FR protein had a similar pepsin digestibility to soybean meal protein. Apartment complex FR protein, however, had a much lower pepsin digestibility. When NRC nutrient requirements are considered, FR in swine diets could satisfy requirements of protein and all the essential amino acids, 75${\sim}$111% of digestible or metabolizable energy, and most of the major and minor minerals. All the FR contained extremely low levels of toxic heavy metals, indicating that they are completely safe from these toxic substances. It was concluded that hospital or cafeteria FR could be a nutritionally excellent and balanced feed source for swine.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.1479-1490
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• 2021

Objective: Our recent findings confirmed the effectiveness of sodium metabisulfite (SMB) in controlling the growth of undesirable microorganisms in fruit and vegetable discards (FVD); however, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are susceptible to its antibacterial effects. Two series of experiments were conducted to enable the survivability of LAB during silage fermentation of a total mixed ration (TMR) containing SMB-treated FVD. Methods: In Exp. 1, the objective was to isolate a strain of LAB tolerable to the toxic effect of SMB. In Exp. 2, the SMB load was minimized through its partial replacement with a chemical mixture (CM) based on sodium benzoate (57%), potassium sorbate (29%), and sodium nitrite (14%). FVD was treated with SMB + CM (2 g each/kg biomass) and added to the TMR at varying levels (0%, 10%, or 20%), with or without KU18 inoculation. Results: The KU18 was screened as a presumptive LAB strain showing superior tolerance to SMB in broth medium, and was identified at the molecular level using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis as Lactobacillus plantarum. Inoculation of KU18 in TMR containing SMB was not successful for the LAB development, biomass acidification, and organoleptic properties of the resultant silage. In Exp. 2, based on the effectiveness and economic considerations, an equal proportion of SMB and CM (2 g each/kg FVD) was selected as the optimal loads for the subsequent silage fermentation experiment. Slight differences were determined in LAB development, biomass acidification, and sensorial characteristics among the experimental silages, suggesting the low toxicity of the preservatives on LAB growth. Conclusion: Although KU18 strain was not able to efficiently develop in silage mass containing SMB-treated FVD, the partial substitution of SMB load with the CM effectively alleviated the toxic effect of SMB and allowed LAB development during the fermentation of SMB + CM-treated FVD in TMR.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.21-25
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• 2011

This study was performed to evaluate characteristics of illegally dumped wastes in the riversides of Nakdong river found during dredging of Nakdong river. Precise classification of the wastes found in the riversides is essential to proper treatment of the wastes. We tried to determine whether these wastes contained toxic compounds and stabilized. Wastes were found at 27 sampling points out of 159 segments investigated and these wastes were not classified as toxic wastes. In addition, clay soils were found at 60 sampling points, and these soils were not classified as wastes. Thus, these soils are thought to be recycled as construction materials. Some samples were not stabilized, which means biodegradation was still progressed in these areas.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.201-209
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• 2016

Theoretical maximum methane yield of glucose at STP (1 atm, $0^{\circ}C$) is 0.35 L $CH_4/g$ COD. However, most researched actual methane yields of anaerobic digester (AD) on lab scale is lower than theoretical ones. A wide range of them have been reported according to experiments methods and types of organic matters. Recent year, a MET (Microbial electrochemical technology) is a promising technology for producing sustainable bio energies from AD via rapid degradation of high concentration organic wastes, VFAs (Volatile Fatty Acids), toxic materials and non-degradable organic matters with electrochemical reactions. In this study, methane yields of food waste leachate and sewage waste sludge were evaluated by using BMP (Biochemical Methane Potential) and continuous AD tests. As the results, methane production volume from the anaerobic digester equipped with MET (AD + MET) was higher than conventional AD in the ratio of 2 to 3 times. The actual methane yields from all experiments were lower than those of theoretical value of glucose. The methane yield, however, from the AD + MET occurred similar to the theoretical one. Moreover, biogas compositions of AD and AD + MET were similar. Consequently, methane production from anaerobic digester with MET increased from the result of higher organic removal efficiency, while, further researches should be required for investigating methane production mechanisms in the anaerobic digester with MET.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 1996

Although the Dongjin Au-Ag-Cu mine had been abandoned since about forty years ago, the results of this study on the dispersion patterns and contamination level of heavy metals in the hydrologic system flowing via the waste rump show that the environmental impacts from the mine wastes are still significant. The stream water in the vicinity of the waste rump is severely acidified (pH 3.8 to 4.4) and highly enriched in various dissolved heavy metals. The heavy metal contents of the stream water and stream sediments are systematically attenuated with increasing distance from the mine area. However, it is worth to note that continuous attenuation of heavy metal contents in both media were reenriched in downstream area more than 800 m apart from the mine because it can be acted as a secondary source of heavy metal pollution. The heavy metals, especially Cd, Cu and Zn of polluted downstream sediments mainly occur in Fe-Mn oxides and organic materials, which indicates that these elements are the main pollutants from the waste rump of the Dongjin mine. The heavy metal contents of crops, such as sesame, perilla, red Pepper and brown rice, collected from the polluted farm land in the downstream area are lower than those of land plants from stream sides, but significantly higher in Cd, Cr, Cu and Zn than those from the unpolluted farm land. Especially, almost all of the crops in polluted farm land have been severly contaminated by Cd (>0.4 ppm). On the other hand, the heavy metal contents of the crops collected from refreshed farm land by means of a soil addition method shows significantly lowered level comparing with those of polluted area, which indicates that a soil addition method was effective for the refreshment of polluted farm land by toxic metallic pollutants. Wormwoods from this area showed very high contents in a11 the heavy metals even in unpolluted area (Cd > 1 ppm, Cr > 1 ppm, Cu > 11 ppm, Pb> 4 ppm, Zn > 55 ppm), indicating that a special caution must be payed when one takes ingest them.