• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1561-1572
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• 2022

Plastic pollution has been recognized as a serious environmental problem, and microbial degradation of plastics is a potential, environmentally friendly solution to this. Here, we analyzed and compared microbial communities on waste plastic films (WPFs) buried for long periods at four landfill sites with those in nearby soils to identify microbes with the potential to degrade plastics. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy spectra of these WPFs showed that most were polyethylene and had signs of oxidation, such as carbon-carbon double bonds, carbon-oxygen single bonds, or hydrogen-oxygen single bonds, but the presence of carbonyl groups was rare. The species richness and diversity of the bacterial and fungal communities on the films were generally lower than those in nearby soils. Principal coordinate analysis of the bacterial and fungal communities showed that their overall structures were determined by their geographical locations; however, the microbial communities on the films were generally different from those in the soils. For the pulled data from the four landfill sites, the relative abundances of Bradyrhizobiaceae, Pseudarthrobacter, Myxococcales, Sphingomonas, and Spartobacteria were higher on films than in soils at the bacterial genus level. At the species level, operational taxonomic units classified as Bradyrhizobiaceae and Pseudarthrobacter in bacteria and Mortierella in fungi were enriched on the films. PICRUSt analysis showed that the predicted functions related to amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism and xenobiotic degradation were more abundant on films than in soils. These results suggest that specific microbial groups were enriched on the WPFs and may be involved in plastic degradation.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.131-141
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• 2004

The recycling of waste XLPE(crosslinked polyethylene), which is a major source of scraps from high voltage power transmission cables, has been discussed. The waste XLPE scraps were ground into fine powder with various sizes from less than $100{\mu}m$ up to about $1000{\mu}m$ using two types of tailor-made pulverizers. The compounds were prepared in a modular intermeshing co-rotating twin screw extruder at various conditions such as different compositions, types and powder sizes of waste XLPE, screw configurations and various polymer matrices (LDPE, HDPE, PP, PS). The mechanical and rheological properties and the fracture surface or the compounds were investigated. It was found that an improved impact strength was obtained from the compound with white XLPE powder pulverized from the scraps without outer/inner semi-conductive layers. Generally, the impact strength increases with the content of XLPE but decreases with the size of XLPE. Especially for LDPE, the extrusion was possible up to 80 wt% loading of XLPE. Also, the impact strength increases with the number of kneading disc blocks in the given screw configurations. The melt viscosity of the compounds increases with increasing XLPE loading. However, the higher shear thinning behavior of the compounds at common shear rates implies proper processibility of the compounds. In addition, the impact strength for other polymer matrices used increases with XLPE and it is noticeable that the impact strength of PS/XLPE (80/20 wt%) compound was improved twice that of pure PS.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.3 no.4 s.10
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• pp.105-116
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• 2001

This study was performed to evaluate the characteristics of waste foundry sand (WFS) and the asphalt mixture made of a foundry waste sand. To estimate the applicability of WFS, chemical and physical properties were measured by XRF(X-ray fluorescent), and SEM(Scanning electronic microfilm). To improve the stripping resistance of WFS asphalt mixture, anti-stripping agents (a hydrated lime and a liquid anti-stripping agent) were used. To improve tensile properties and durability of WFS asphalt concrete mixture, LDPE(low-density polyethylene) was used as an asphalt modifier Marshall mix design, indirect tensile strength, tensile strength ratio(TSR) after freezing and thawing, moisture susceptibility and wheel tracking tests were carried out to evaluate performance of WFS asphalt concrete. Comparing with conventional asphalt concrete, WFS asphalt concretes showed similar or the better qualify in mechanical properties, and satisfied all specification limits. Therefore, it Is concluded that waste foundry sand can be recycled as an asphalt pavement material.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.4137-4141
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• 2021

As NPPs continue to operate, liquid waste continues to be generated, and containers are needed to store and transport them at low cost and high capacity. To transport and store liquid phase very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW), a container is designed by considering related regulations. The design was constructed based on the existing container design, which easily transports and stores liquid waste. The radiation shielding calculation was performed according to the composition change of barium sulfate (BaSO₄) using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) without mixing the additional BaSO₄, represented the maximum dose of 1.03 mSv/hr (<2 mSv/hr) and 0.048 mSv/hr (<0.1 mSv/hr) at the surface of the inner container and at 2 m away from the surface, respectively, for a 10 Bq/g of ⁶⁰Co source. It was confirmed that the dose from the inner container with the VLLW content satisfied the domestic dose standard both on the surface of the container and 2 m from the surface. Although it satisfies the dose standard without adding BaSO₄, a shielding material, the inner container was designed with BaSO₄ added to increase radiation safety.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.250-257
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• 2018

We developed new composites by combining the solid waste from Low-Density Polyethylene in the form of plastic bag (PB) and biomass from rice husk (RH),in the form of $(RH)_x(PB)_{1-x}$ (x = (1, 0.9, 0.7, 0.5)), as alternative fuels for electrical energy sources, and for providing the best solution to reduce environmental pollution. Elemental compositions were obtained by using proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and the thermal characteristics were obtained from thermogravimetric analysis. The compositions of carbon and hydrogen from the ultimate analysis show significant increases of 20-30% with increasing PB in the composite. The activation energy for RH is 101.22 kJ/mol; for x = 0.9 and 0.7, this increases by 4 and 6 magnitude, respectively, and for x = 0.5, shows remarkable increase to 165.30 kJ/mol. The range of temperature of about $480-660^{\circ}C$ is required for combustion of the composites $(RH)_x(PB)_{1-x}$ (x = (1, 0.9, 0.7, 0.5)) to perform the complete combustion process and produce high energy. In addition, the calorific value was determined by using bomb calorimetry, and shows value for RH of 13.44 MJ/kg, which increases about 30-40% with increasing PB content, indicating that PB has a strong effect of increasing the energy realized to generate electricity.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.425-432
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• 2021

In this paper, We produced supporting for ginseng cultivation facilities as a material recycling product of CPW(Complex Plastic Wastes, CPW) from households. And we analyzed the characteristics of material recycling products according to the amount of r-LDPE(Recycled low density polyethylene, r-LDPE) used. As a result, as the amount of recycled LDPE used increa sed, the tensile strength a nd elonga tion of ma teria l recycled products using CPW increa sed, but a sh decrea sed. When the recycled r-LDPE usage is 5% or more, the physical properties of the material recycling product using CPW stably satisfy the quality standard (GRM 3093-2021) of supporting for ginseng cultivation facilities.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.384-388
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• 2016

Background: For a verification of newly-developed neutron absorbers, one of guidelines on the qualification and acceptance of neutron absorbers is the neutron attenuation test. However, this approach can cause a problem for the qualifications that it cannot distinguish how the neutron attenuates from materials. Materials and Methods: In this study, an estimation method of neutron absorption performances for materials is proposed to detect both direct penetration and back-scattering neutrons. For the verification of the proposed method, MCNP simulations with the experimental system designed in this study were pursued using the polyethylene, iron, normal glass and the vitrified form. Results and Discussion: The results show that it can easily test neutron absorption ability using single absorber model. Also, from simulation results of single absorber and double absorbers model, it is verified that the proposed method can evaluate not only the direct thermal neutrons passing through materials, but also the scattered neutrons reflected to the materials. Therefore, the neutron absorption performances can be accurately estimated using the proposed method comparing with the conventional neutron attenuation test. Conclusion: It is expected that the proposed method can contribute to increase the reliability of the performance of neutron absorbers.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.16 no.2 s.76
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• pp.48-55
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• 2007

A low-priced catalyst for pyrolysis of LDPE has been synthesized. Fly ash, which is waste material generated from coal-fired power plants was used as silica and alumna sources for solid acid catalyst. Amorphous silica-alumina catalysts (FSAs) were pre-pared by dissolution of silica and alumina from fly ash, followed by co-precipitation of the dissoluted ions. A series of LDPE pyrolysis were carried out in a thermogravimetric analyzer to investigate the effects of synthesis conditions such as NaOH/fly ash weight ratio and activation time one catalytic performance of FSAs. The physical properties of FSAs were examined and related to their catalytic performances. FSA(1.2-8) synthesized with NaOH/fly ash weight ratio of 1.2 and the activation time of 8 hours showed the best catalytic performance. The catalytic performance of FSA(1.2-8) was comparable with that of commercial catalysts and it was concluded that the FSA could be a good candidate for catalytic use in the recycling of waste polyolefins.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2008

In order to transport spent resin in a high integrated container made of high density polyethylene, a method for determining transportation grade by radioactivity analysis was developed. Ratios of radioisotopes in spent resin were derived from radioactivity analysis on spent resin. Associated curie-to-dose factors were determined to estimate radioisotope inventory from surface dose rates of spent resin. From the results, Activity limit of type A package was derived to be 1.19 TBq for HIC, and the corresponding surface dose rate was found to be 124.2 mSv/h.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.318-323
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• 2011

To recycle the waste tire rubber powder, rubber powder composite for waterproof sheet was prepared, and analyzed the effect of the kind of resin and the amount of crosslinking agent on the mechanical property of the composites. The elongation-at-break of the PE composite increased more than 3 times as EPDM was added into rubber composites. As the content of the crosslinking agent increased, the tensile strength of composite increased as well. When recycled polypropylene was used, the increase in composite's tensile strength was more than 3 times. Therefore to use the recycled PP in composite is more effective rather than PP in term mechanical properties.