• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.166-178
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• 2024

Objectives: The 12 occupational exposure limits(OELs) for chromium and its compounds in Korea were set by applying the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Values (TLVs). However, this is significantly different from the TLVs after the existing TLVs were integrated and withdrawn in 2018, so it is necessary to review the revision. Methods: Various documents related to chromium OELs were reviewed, including the ACGIH TLV Documentations for chromium and its compounds. A field survey was conducted targeting workplaces handling chromium and its compounds. Based on this, a revised OELs were proposed and a socio-economic evaluation was conducted. Results: The OELs for chromium compounds in Korea was first enacted in 2002, and in 2007, the OELs for chromium (hexavalent) compounds (insoluble) was lowered from 0.05 mg/m³ to 0.01 mg/m³. In 2008, the OELs for strontium chromate was newly established as 0.0005 mg/m³, and in 2018, the OELs for calcium chromate was newly established as 0.001 mg/m³. Total chromium and hexavalent chromium were measured for each of 6 samples at 2 welding sites, 4 plating sites, and 2 spray coating sites. When omparing the average of the results measured by ICP, a total chromium analysis method, and the analysis results by IC, a hexavalent chromium analysis method, only workplace 4 was the same, and total chromium was evaluated more, and total chromium was evaluated at 0.0004 to 0.0027 mg/m³. And hexavalent chromium was evaluated as non-detection ~ 0.0014 mg/m³. Amendment ①: The exposure standard for hexavalent chromium is not divided into water soluble, insoluble, chromium ore processing, and other hexavalent chromium compounds, and is integrated into 0.01 mg/m³, which is the level of chromium (hexavalent) compound (insoluble)., OELs for chromium (metal) and chromium (trivalent) compounds are integrated into chromium (trivalent) compounds, and the exposure level is maintained. Amendment ②: As in the amendment ①, the OELs are integrated, but the level is lowered to 0.005 mg/m³, which is the OELs of OSHA, and there is a grace period of 4 years. Amendment ③: As in the amendment ①, the OELs are integrated, but the level is lowered to 0.0002 mg/m³, which is the exposure standard of ACGIH, and there is a grace period of 5 years. Conclusions: Amendment ①: The change in the OELs is insignificant, so the cost required is small, and the benefit/cost ratio is greater than 1, so there is no problem in applying the amendment. Amendment ②: In all scenarios except chromium 6(insoluble), the benefit/cost ratio is greater than 1, so it is thought that there will be no major problem in applying the amendment. Amendment ③: Since the benefit/cost ratio is less than 1 in all scenarios, it is thought that the total social benefit that can be obtained when applying the amendment is not large.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.756-762
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• 2013

The economical feasibility was conducted to find the adequate method to treat the dredged sediments from agricultural reservoirs in a pilot project that had been operated to improve the quality of water and benthic environments by dredging of contaminated sediments. For benefit/cost (B/C) analysis, the net expenses were considered as the costs of project, and the benefits were calculated from the saving of waste-treatment cost through reuse of dredged sediment, the saving of construction cost of settling pond, and the values of retained water by dredging. Although the economic feasibility depended on the sites of operation, the average B/C value of the pilot project was estimated as 1.32, indicating this project is economically feasible. Depending on the treatment methods, the B/C values were in the order of the methods of coagulating sedimentation, machinery dewatering, stabilization through exothermic reaction, and soil improvement and stabilization. The machinery dewatering method is estimated as the most adequate one to treat the dredged sediments because of the minimum riskiness of secondary pollution, the recyclability, and its economic feasibility.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.815-825
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• 2017

Visibility of lane marking is impaired at night or in the rain, which thereby threatens traffic safety. Recently, various studies and technologies have been developed to improve lane marking visibility, such as the extension of lane marking life expectancy (up to 1.5 times), improvement of lane marking equipment productivity, improvement of lane marking visibility by applying phosphorescent material mixed paint. Cost-benefit analysis was performed with considering various benefit items that can be expected. About 45% of traffic accidents would be prevented by improving lane marking visibility. Additionally, accident reduction benefit and traffic congestion reduction benefit were calculated as much as 246 billion KRW per year and 12 billion KRW per year, respectively, by reducing repaint cycle due to enhanced durability. 45 billion KRW per year is expected to reduced with improved lane detection performance of autonomous vehicle. Meanwhile, total increased cost when introducing phosphorescent material mixed paint to 91,195km of nationwide road is identified as 1922 billion KRW per year. However, economic feasibility could not be secured with 0.16 of cost-benefit ratio when applied to the road network as a whole. In case of "Accident Hot Spot" analyzing section window (400m), one or more fatality or two or more injured (one or more injured in case of less than 2 lanes per direction) per year were caused by pavement marking related accident, economic feasibility was secured. In detail, 3.91 of cost-benefit ratio is estimated with comparison of the installation cost for 5,697 of accident hot spot and accident reduction benefit. Some limitations and future research agenda have also been discussed.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.93-102
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• 1997

Acid rain below pH 5.6 is responsible for 40% of annual precipitation in Korea and it is more serious especially in major cites. Because of that, it is urgent to make measures to reduce the emission of $SO_2$, one of the major air pollutants causing acid rain. The national total emission of $SO_2$ in 1994 was estimated as 1.6 million tons. The $SO_2$ emission in 2020, is expected to increase up to 3.2 million tons, about 2 times that of 1994 under Business-As-Usual scenario. We could take various $SO_2$ reduction measures such as installing desulfurization facilities, the supply of low-sulfur oil and clean fuel(LNG), energy savings, upgrading of production process. However, it is necessary to check the economic feasibility and the attainability to reduction target with a dynamic optimization mode, "Global 2100 Model". The cost-benefit analyses for the measures using the revised "Global 2100 Model" clearly revealed that the desulfurization facilities should be introduced to reduce the $SO_2$ concentration to 0.01 ppm with fuel substitution. If the introduction of desulfurization facilities is delayed, We can not attain the goal of Ministry of Environment before the year of 2012, even in the case that almost all the fuels would be substituted with LNG.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.593-606
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• 2015

This paper presents a novel concept of healing some of the damages in wind turbine blades (WTBs) such as cracks and delamination. This is achieved through an inherent functioning autonomous repairing system. Such wind turbine blades have the benefit of reduced maintenance cost and increased operational period. Previous techniques of developing autonomous healing systems uses hollow glass fibres (HGFs) to deliver repairing fluids to damaged sites. HGFs have been reported with some limitations like, failure to fracture, which undermines their further usage. The self-healing technique described in this paper represents an advancement in the engineering of the delivery mechanism of a self-healing system. It is analogous to the HGF system but without the HGFs, which are replaced by multiple hollow channels created within the composite, inherently in the FRP matrix at fabrication. An in-house fabricated NACA 4412 WTB incorporating this array of network hollow channels was damaged in flexure and then autonomously repaired using the vascular channels. The blade was re-tested under flexure to ascertain the efficiency of the recovered mechanical properties.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.69-79
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• 2014

Coastal wetlands are among the most productive biomes in the Earth. The economic values include the direct use of a coastal wetland's ecosystem services, such as food, raw materials, recreation, and tourism. Other values comprise the indirect use of a coastal wetland's ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, waste-water treatment, and erosion prevention. In particular, Suncheon Bay is recently attracting attention as the most successful case of the preservation and restoration. This study applies Travel Cost Method (TCM) to estimate the economic value by drawing the demand curve for trips to Suncheon Bay. The TCM is an approach used for economic valuation of non-market goods and services. Based on the results of TCM, this study shows that the economic benefit from recreational uses of the site adds up to \174.7 billion per year. It is also significant in the sense that monetary information is suggested to help local policy makers evaluate the realistic values of coastal wetlands.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.51-54
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• 2010

Fly ash is used in concrete to improve the fresh and hardened properties of concrete, including workability, initial hydration temperature, ultimate strength and durability. A primary limitation on the use of large quantities of fly ash in blended cement concrete is its slow rate of strength gain. Prior studies investigated the effects of grinding fly ash and fly ash fineness on the performance of concrete containing fly ash. This study aims to discover the sources of those effects, to verify the compressive strength behavior of concrete made with raw and processed Class C fly ash, and to investigate the properties of fly ash particles at the microscopic level. Concrete cylinder test results indicate that grinding fly ash can significantly benefit the early age strength as well as the ultimate strength of concrete with ground fly ash. Therefore, it is demonstrated that grinding fly ash increases its reactivity. Scanning Electron Microscopy was then used to investigate the physical effects of the grinding process on the fly ash particles in order to identify the mechanism by which grinding leads to improved concrete properties.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.435-451
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• 2014

This paper attempts to evaluate an environmental regulation program which enforces installation of filtering equipment to reduce major air pollutants from used diesel vehicles. A real option model is presented to incorporate fuel cost uncertainty and irreversibility of emission-reducing investment. A finite-life option based on finite difference method is developed to consider the limited life expectancy of used vehicles. After taking into account social benefits from emission reduction and costs from decreasing fuel efficiency after the adoption of filtering technology, the result finds overall positive performance of the Pollution Reduction Program. However, the result suggests that the Program be designed to be more specific to vehicle types to improve program performance.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.109-118
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• 2012

Ahead of the second basic plan which starts in 2015, tasks needed to improve air quality and encourage green growth in the Seoul Metropolitan Area have been investigated. To date, many research findings indicate that climate change is ongoing and continues to accelerate in the Northeast Asia due to several factors, including unparalleled anthropogenic air emissions from China. An intensive field study is proposed that would target the Seoul Metropolitan Area and would be conducted in collaboration with the international scientific community. While focused on environmental issues in Korea, this study would also benefit the international community by providing insights that can be applied to address similar problems around the world. In addition to the basic plan's emphasis on improving air quality, there is a need to promote green growth through environment-friendly development. It is proposed that green growth be interpreted as a comprehensive concept, targeting all environmental pollution, rather than being limited to low-carbon goals. It is further proposed that the success of environment-friendly development be measured in terms of risk reduction, energy and resources conservation, economic benefits, and employment expansion.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.91-99
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• 2017

The objective of this work was to develop efficient synergistic inhibitor combinations comprising sodium nitrite ($NaNO_2$) and an inhibitor-blend code named (SN-50), keeping in view of their application in industrial cooling water systems. The electrochemical characteristics of the carbon steel working electrode in simulated cooling water (SCW), without and with the addition of different combinations of the inhibitors, were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), open circuit potential (OCP). The electrode surface changes were followed by visual characterization methods. It was demonstrated in this study that all the combinations of the inhibitors exhibited synergistic benefit and higher inhibition efficiencies than did either of the individual inhibitors. The addition of SN-50 inhibitor to the SCW shifted the OCP to more anodic values and increased the polarization resistance ($R_p$) values of carbon steel at all applied concentrations. The higher the applied sodium nitrite concentration (in the protection concentration range), the higher the obtained $R_p$ values and the inhibition efficiency improved by increasing the inhibitor concentration.