• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.264-269
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• 2001

Large amounts of orange juice are produced in Japan every yea.. Accompanied by the production of orange juice, large amount of juice residues are also generated in nearly the same amounts with juice. Although, at present, some of these residues are marketed as a feed for cattle after drying and mixing with lime, the marketing price is lower than its production cost and the difference is paid by the consumers as a part of the price of orange juice. In the present work, we developed new innovative use of orange juice residue, a biomass waste, as adsorption gel for removing toxic heavy metals such as lead. arsenic, selenium and so on as well as radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium from environments. The major components of orange juice residue are cellulose. hemicellulose and pectin, which are converted into pectic. acid, an acidic polysaccharide, by means of saponification with concentrated sodium hydroxide solution. In the previous work, we found that crosslinked pectic acid gel strongly an selectively adsorbs lead over other metals such as zinc an copper. On the other hand. it is well known that polysaccharides such as cellulose can be easily phosphorylated and that phosphorylated polysaccharides have high affinity to uranium and thorium as well as some trivalent metals such as ferric iron and aluminum. Taking account of the noticeable characteristics of these polysaccharides, 2 types of adsorption gels were prepared from orange juice residue: one is the gel which was prepared by saponificating the residue followed by crosslinking with epichlorohydrin and another is that prepared by crosslinking the residue followed by phosphorylation. The former gel exhibited excellent adsorptive separation behavior for lead away from zinc owing to high content of pectic acid while the latter gel exhibited that for uranium and thorium. Both types of adsorption gels exhibited high affinity to ferric iron, which enables selective and strong adsorption for some toxic oxo-anions of arsenic (V and III), . selenium and so on via iron loaded on these gels. These results demonstrate that biomass wastes such as orange juice residue can be effectively utilized fer the purpose of removing toxic heavy or radioactive metals existing in trace or small amounts in environments.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.4 s.173
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• pp.451-462
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• 2005

In order to examine the extent of environmental contamination at abandoned Samsanjeil Cu mines in Kosung-kun, Kyeongsangnam-do, we have investigated the contaminations and mobility of toxic trace elements from mine wastes including about 280,000 tonnages of tailings by chemical experiments (total extraction, partial extraction by 0.1N HCI and sequential extraction procedure). Total concentrations of trace elements showed that Cu, As, Co, Zn, Pb, and Cd concentrations in tailings were 14.0, 3.6, 3.1, 2.1, 2.1 and 1.6 times greater than those in background soil, respectively. From the proportion of metals bound to the exchangeable and carbonate fractions, the comparative mobility of metals decrease in order of $Zn(29.0\%)>Cu(12.3\%)Pb(9.6\%)>Cd(3.0\%)>As=Co(0.0\%)$. Based on the concentrations, chemical speciations of tailings, waste rock and nearby soil, it was revealed that Cu and Zn were the most possible elements to contaminate the surrounding environment in Samsanjeil mine area. In addition, the tailings had total trace metal concentrations below Dutch guideline values except Cu, and they might not affect adverse impact on environment.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.523-525
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• 2001

Curdlan is one biopolymer composed of ${\beta}$1,3-glucan and dissolved in a alkali solution but formed salt under neutral or acid condition. It was produced by Agrobactrium species and the separation process is necessary to make pure curdlan from the culture broth. The pH swing separation method was as feasible separation process using solubility changes with the pH difference. however, this method requires a lot of acid and alkali solution also produces a lot of waste. Therefore, an efficient process which could save energy and minimize toxic waste was developed. A density gradient separation process was developed in this research. High density sucrose solution was used as a separation agent. Curdlan was separated from the culture broth when the density of the sucrose solution was 1.15 g/L. Since the curdlan was produced on the surface of cell wall. the pre-treatment of culture broth was necessary. Curdlan recovery yield was increased up to 83% with the homogenization of the culture broth and further increased up to 87% with the treatment of alkai-acid solution.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.268-277
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• 2012

The thermal decomposition characteristic of waste PVC wires has been studied by using TGA and fixed-bed reactor. The experimental conditions of decomposition temperatures, air flow rates and weight ratio of CaO/PVC were considered in this work. To verify the effectiveness of CaO addition to remove HCl and toxic gases generated from thermal decomposition of PVC wire, the gaseous products obtained from the thermal decomposition of PVC were analyzed by GC/MS(Gas Chromatograph and Mass Spectrometry). To investigate the effect of CaO in thermal decomposition of PVC, liquid products were also analyzed by GC/MS. And the effect of decomposition temperature, air flow rate and CaO/ PVC weight ratio on the yield of liquid, gas and residue fraction have been also studied. From this work, it was found that the removal amount of HCl generated from thermal decomposition of PVC increased with increase of CaO addition.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.76-80
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• 2015

Mobile phone has become one of the essential items in our daily life. In Korea, it is estimated that more than 20 million cell phones are discarded each year due to advancement in technology, thus creating disposal and environmental pollution. In order to conserve the resources, their proper recycling is essential as it contains both valuable and toxic metals. The economics of the recycling will depend on the amount and value of the metals. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the composition of the metals present in the different cell phones. In the present study, a report is presented on the variation of metal content per year of waste mobile phones. A review has been made for the mobile phones manufactured during the period 2000-2009 and metal content of the printed circuit boards (PCBs) by analyzing their metals. An example of the precious metal palladium and of the heavy metal lead shows the decreasing trend.

• Clean Technology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.251-256
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• 2007

Several studies regarding depolymerization of polycarbonate waste to get the essential monomer, bisphenol A, have been reported in recent years. However, those methods have some environmental safety problems of using highly toxic organic solvents as well as product separation problem due to the use of alkali catalyst. In this study, we proposed the combination of glycolysis and methanolysis to depolymerize the polycarbonate waste. Glycolysis reaction reached at the reaction equilibrium after about 180 minat 473.15K and dissolution of the polycarbonate was found to be a rate controlling step of the reaction. The yield of BPA was improved with the aid of combination of glycolysis and methanolysis. The methanolysis was carried out at a temperature range of $303.15K{\sim}363.15K$ and MeOH/PC molar ratio $0.5{\sim}3$. The yield of BPA had a maximum at 1.0 MeOH/PC molar ratio and increased with the reaction temperature.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2020

Lead is a highly toxic heavy metal that causes serious health problems. Nonetheless, it is increasingly being used for industrial applications and is often discharged into the environment without adequate purification. In this study, Pb(II) was removed by powdered waste sludge (PWS) based on the biosorption mechanism. Different PWSs were collected from a submerged moving media intermittent aeration reactor (SMMIAR) and modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) processes. The contents of extracellular polymeric substances were similar, but the surface area of MLE-PWS (2.07 ㎡/g) was higher than that of SMMIAR-PWS (0.82 ㎡/g); this is expected to be the main parameter determining Pb(II) biosorption capacity. The Bacillaceae family was dominant in both PWSs and may serve as the major responsible bacterial group for Pb(II) biosorption. Pb(II) biosorption using PWS was evaluated for reaction time, salinity effect, and isotherm equilibrium. For all experiments, MLE-PWS showed higher removal efficiency. At a fixed initial Pb(II) concentration of 20 mg/L and a reaction time of 180 minutes, the biosorption capacities (q_e) for SMMIAR- and MLE-PWSs were 2.86 and 3.07 mg/g, respectively. Pb(II) biosorption using PWS was rapid; over 80% of the maximum biosorption capacity was achieved within 10 minutes. Interestingly, MLE-PWS showed enhanced Pb(II) biosorption with salinity values of up to 30 g NaCl/L. Linear regression of the Freundlich isotherm revealed high regression coefficients (R² > 0.968). The fundamental Pb(II) biosorption capacity, represented by the K_F value, was consistently higher for MLE-PWS than SMMIAR-PWS.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2001

Populus euramericana and Betula platyphylla var. japonica have been identified as possible species for use for phytoremediation of landfills. To identify the capacity of waste leachate absorption in Populus euramericana and Betula platyphylla var, japonica, four different treatments were applied to these seedlings: leachate solution (100% leachate), 50% dilution (50% leachate: 50% water, v/v) and 25% dilution (25% leachate: 75% water, v/v) were applied to these two species. After the experiment, concentrations of heavy metals in tree biomass were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma emission spectrometer (ICP). These two species can take up the hazardous parts of the leachate such as heavy metals. Especially, these species showed good absorption capacity of Al, Cr, and Fe elements. The result of this study suggested that these two species can take up the toxic materials through their roots and transport them to stems or leaves.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.520-528
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• 2007

A practical and efficient disposal of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in waste transformer oil by a chemical dechlorination process has been reported. The transformer oil containing commercial PCB mixtures (Aroclor 1242, 1254 and 1260) was treated by the required amounts of PEG 600 (polyethylene glycol 600), potassium hydroxide (KOH) and aluminum (Al), along with different reaction temperatures and times. The reaction of PEG with PCBs under basic condition produces arylpolyglycols, the products of nucleophilic aromatic substitution. The relative efficiencies of PCB treatment process were assessed in terms of destruction and removal efficiency (DRE, %). Under the experimental conditions of PEG600/KOH/Al/100 oC/2hr, average DRE of PCBs was approximately 78%, showing completely removal of PCBs containing 7-9 chlorines on two rings of biphenyl which appear later than PCB no. 183 (2,2',3,4,4',5',6-heptaCB) in retention time of GC/ECD. However, when increasing the reaction temperature and time to 150 oC and 240 min, average DRE of PCBs including the most toxic PCBs (PCB no. 77, 105, 118, 123 and 169) in PCB family reached 99.99% or better, with the exception of PCB no. 5 and 8 (2,3-diCB and 2,4'-diCB). In studying the reaction of PEG with PCBs, it confirmed that the process led to less chlorinated PCBs through a stepwise process with the successive elimination of chlorines. The process also permits complete recovery of treated transformer oil through simple segregating procedures.

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.367-374
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• 2014

Several experiments have been done to investigate the removal of hydrogen sulfide ($H_2S$) synthetic gas from biogas streams by means of chemical absorption and chemical reaction with 0.1-1 M Fe/EDTA solution. The roles of Fe/EDTA were studied to enhance the removal efficiency of hydrogen sulfide because of oxidizing by chelate. The motivation of this investigation is first to explore the feasibility of enhancing the toxic gas treatment in the biogas facility. The biogas purification strategy affords many advantages. For instance, the process can be performed under mild environmental conditions and at low temperature, and it removes hydrogen sulfide selectively. The end product of separation is elemental sulfur, which is a stable material that can be easily disposed with minor potential for further pollution. As the Fe-EDTA concentration increased, the conversion rate of hydrogen sulfide increased because of the high stability of Fe-EDTA complex. pH as an important environmental factor was 9.0 for the stability of chemical complex in the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide.