• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.517-524
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• 2022

Every year, millions of waste tires are discarded across the world. Storage of waste tires presents many problems such as fire threats, epidemics, and non-economic factors. Furthermore, the disintegration process of waste tires is not economical or practical due to its time-consuming, and disposal requirements. In this study, half-section waste tires (HSWTs) were integrated with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes under different relative density conditions. The main aim of the study was to reduce the deformation values of embedded HDPE pipes in sandy soil and to evaluate the soil-pipe interaction. In comprehensive laboratory tests, half-section waste tires were integrated in two different ways: in the middle of the pipeline and along the pipeline. Accordingly, it was concluded that the effectiveness of waste tires reduces the deformation and bending moment values in the critical regions of pipes. As a result of reinforcement in the mid-point of the pipe defined as the most critical region, 52% and 36% less deformation was observed in the crown and springlines of the pipe, respectively. In addition, the bending moment values for the same critical section were determined to be 40% less in the crown and 28% less in the springline regions of the pipe.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.814-818
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• 1997

The chemical waste treatment, APEG (alkali/polyethylene glycol) process has been shown to be effective for the dechlorination of PCBs in transformer oil. Considerable amount of PCBs, however, still remains in the waste exceeding the 25-50 ppm limit set by regulatory agency. A new thermal regeneration technology has been developed in our laboratory for disposal of hazardous organic wastes. Due to the limited oxidation of carbon surface through the reverse movement of flame front to oxidant flow, this technology was termed counterflow oxidative system (COS). Specially, the oxidant flow in the COS process is a principal parameter which determines the optimum conditions regarding acceptable removal and destruction efficiency of adsorbed organic wastes at minimal carbon loss. The COS process, under optimum conditions, was found to be very effective and the removal and destruction efficiency of 99.99% or better was obtained for residual PCBs in the waste while bulk (≥90%) of carbon was recovered. Any toxic formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzo furans (PCDFs) were not detected in the regenerated carbon and impinger traps. The results of surface area measurement showed that the adsorptive property of regenerated carbon is mostly reclaimed during the COS process.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.87-92
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• 2011

This paper introduces the policy and regulations on very low level waste (VLLW) management in China. Given the important decommissioning and site restoration program of the old facility, it is considered necessary to create a new disposal facility dedicated to VLLW. Many general design principles are in common with to the disposal facility for low and intermediate level waste (LILW), namely the isolation of the waste by means of a multibarrier system, but using bentonite and/or high density polyethylene membranes instead of the generalized use of concrete barriers. The design of the facility is consistent with the design of disposal facilities for hazardous waste. The engineering design of two VLLW disposal facilities is introduced.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.759-771
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• 2004

This study analyzed concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced from incineration of plastic wastes at $600^{\circ}C$. The plastic wastes used in this study included polyethyleneterephthlate (PETE), high density polyethylene (HOPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low density polyethylene (LOPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and other. Plastic wastes were heated from room temperature upto $600^{\circ}C$ providing the compressed air inside of a small-scale electric furnace for 90 minutes and then they were oxidized (incinerated) for 60 minutes at $600^{\circ}C$ maintaining the same air supply. VOCs emitted from the incineration process were sampled using an air sampling pump and Tedlar air bags for 150 minutes and then the components and concentrations of the VOCs were analyzed by a GC-MS. The most prominent chemical structure of the VOCs obtained from the incineration process of the HOPE, LOPE and PP, which include ethylene groups in their main chains, was identified as aliphatic hydrocarbons such as 1-hexene. However, aromatics such as benzene were major chemical structure from the incineration of PETE, PVC and PS which include benzene rings in their main chains. This study estimated the total VOC production from the incineration of the plastic wastes based on the real plastic waste production and the emission factors. 64% and 27% of the total VOC emissions consisted of aliphatic hydrocarbons and aromatics, respectively, which have double bonds within their molecular structure and thus a high ground level ozone formation potential.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2023

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a plastic material commonly applied to beverage packaging used in everyday life. Owing to PET's versatility and ease of use, its consumption has continuously increased, resulting in considerable waste generation. Several physical and chemical recycling processes have been developed to address this problem. Recently, biological upcycling is being actively studied and has come to be regarded as a powerful technology for overcoming the economic issues associated with conventional recycling methods. For upcycling, PET should be degraded into small molecules, such as terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol, which are utilized as substrates for bioconversion, through various degradation processes, including gasification, pyrolysis, and chemical/biological depolymerization. Furthermore, biological upcycling methods have been applied to biosynthesize value-added chemicals, such as adipic acid, muconic acid, catechol, vanillin, and glycolic acid. In this review, we introduce and discuss various degradation methods that yield substrates for bioconversion and biological upcycling processes to produce value-added biochemicals. These technologies encourage a circular economy, which reduces the amount of waste released into the environment.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2021

Waste vinyl generated from household waste has been used as a solid refuse fuel (SRF) due to the presence of impurities such as soil, metal, and glass; however, the amount of SRF used has been decreasing owing to recent environmental problems, thereby necessitating the need for recycling. In this study, the mixed recycled raw material produced from household waste vinyl and polyethylene (PE) single recycled raw material produced from agricultural waste vinyl were examined. Raw material analysis revealed that waste vinyl was mainly composed of polyethylene, and approximately 2% of ash remained in the mixed recycled raw material, whereas no ash was found in the PE single recycled raw material. In addition, the analysis of tensile strength according to the mixing ratio of the two recycled raw materials revealed that the highest tensile strength was approximately 16 MPa under the heat treatment temperature of 200 ℃, compression pressure of 30 MPa, and a mixing ratio of 3:7 (mixed:PE single). In addition, the highest bending strength was approximately 39 MPa under the heat treatment temperature of 200 ℃, compression pressure of 30 MPa, and a mixing ratio of 3:7 (mixed:PE single). Therefore, the possibility of recycling waste vinyl was suggested by investigating the change in strength characteristics according to the mixing ratio of the recycled raw materials.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.514-521
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• 2004

Waste heat recovery system was studied numerically and experimentally. Heat exchanger system was designed specially to obtain the optimum heat exchanging performance. Brushwood biomass was used for the present experimental study. Two biomass heat recovery systems were designed and developed. Polyethylene helical pipe line of 0.03 m (inner diameter) was installed to recover the heat of biomass dump. The fermentation process of biomass dump was maintained for 12 weeks. The inner average temperature of biomass was about 51$^{\circ}C$ for both hot exchanger systems. The current heat recovery system could recover up to 6 ㎉/kg of energy.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.75-80
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• 2012

Gasification is a therm-chemical conversion process to convert various solid fuels into gaseous fuels under limited supply of oxygen in high temperature environment. Considering current availability of biomass resources in this country, the gasification is more attractive than any other technologies in that the process can accept various combustible solid fuels including plastic wastes. Mixed fuels of biomass and polyethylene pellets were used in gasification experiments in this study in order to assess their potential for synthesis gas production. The results showed that higher reaction temperatures were observed in mixed fuel compared to woodchip experiments. In addition, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and methane concentrations were increased in the synthesis gas. Heating values of the synthesis gas were also higher than those from woodchip gasification. There are hundred thousand tons of agricultural plastic wastes generated in Korea every year. Co-gasification of biomass and agricultural plastic waste would provide affordable gaseous fuels in rural society.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.50-56
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• 2013

Recycled plastic composites of ABS/PE (50/50 and 20/80) and ABS/GF (90/10) were fabricated from plastic components of waste LCDs and effects of PE composition on elongation of ABS/PE composites were investigated. Increased PE contents improved elongation of the composite from 2.4% to 13%, which was attributed to increased crystalline behavior of the ABS/PE composite afforded by ductile PE fraction: SEM fractographs showed some sign of plastic deformation of PE matrix before ductile fracture of the composites.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.87-90
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• 2011

Copyrolysis of biomass/plastic mixture was carried out from room temperature to $600^{\circ}C$ with varing the heating rates of 10, 20, and $30^{\circ}C/min$ using a thermogravimetric analyzer. Waste wood chip (WWC) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) were selected as a biomass and plastic, respectively. Individual pyrolysis temperature ranges were $430{\sim}550^{\circ}C$ and $230{\sim}600^{\circ}C$ for LLDPE and WWC, respectively. For the copyrolysis of WWC and LLDPE, the decomposition temperature range of WWC was not varied, while the decomposition temperature range of LLDEP was increased to a higher temperature. The results imply that the interaction might occur between LLDEP and WWC during copyolyis of LLDPE and WWC.