• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.67-73
• /
• 2019

In this study, to optimize the production and utilization of biogas for organic waste resources, the precision monitoring of on-site facilities and the energy balance by facility were analyzed, and the solutions for field problems were investigated, and the design and operation guidelines for pretreatment facilities and generators were presented. Gas pre-treatment is required to solve frequent failures and efficiency degradation in operation of high quality refining facilities, and processing processes such as desulfurization, dehumidification, deoxidization, dust treatment, volatile organic compounds, etc. Since these processes are substances that are also eliminated from the high-quality process, quantitative guidelines are not presented in the gas pretreatment process, but are suggested to operate during the processing process as a qualitative guideline. In particular, dust, siloxane, and volatile organic compounds are the main cause of frequent failure of high-quality processes if they are not removed from the gas pretreatment process. Design of the biogas high-quality process. The operation guidelines provide quality standards [Methane content (including propane) of 95% or more] with 90% or more utilization of the total gas generation, two systems, and a margin of 10% or more. It also proposed installing gas equalization tank, installing thermal automatic control system for controlling equalization of auxiliary fuel, installing dehumidification device at the back of high quality for removing moisture generated in the process of gas compression, installing heat-resisting facilities to prevent freezing of facilities in winter and reducing efficiency, and installing membrane facilities in particular.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.455-472
• /
• 2018

It is important to study how to manage dry storage casks of spent nuclear fuels (SNF), because wet storage spaces for SNF will shortly be at full capacity in the Republic of Korea. The US has operated a dry storage cask system for several decades, and has carried out significant studies into how to successfully manage dry storage cask for SNF. This type of expertise and experience is currently lacking in the Republic of Korea. The degradation of dry casks is an important issue that must be considered. In particular, chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking (CISCC) is known to lead to the release of radioisotopes from canisters. The U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Electric Power Research Institute have undertaken research into the CISCC mechanism. In addition, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) has extensively researched CISCC and how to manage it in dry storage canisters. In this review paper, the probabilistic model proposed by the SNL is analyzed and, based on this model, US-based CISCC research is reviewed in detail. This paper will inform the management of dry cask storage of SNF from light water reactors in austenite stainless steel canisters in the Republic of Korea.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.69-77
• /
• 2011

While increased use of energy and fossil fuel in the recent years could worsen air quality and climate change, only few studies have been conducted on estimation of greenhouse gas emissions and characterization of emission types by sectors and regions in Korea. In this study, greenhouse gases emissions based on resions(Si, Gun, Gu) and emitted sectors(industry, transport, cemmercial and institutional, residential, waste, agriculture, others) were investigated using GHG-CAPSS(Greenhouse GasClean Air Policy Support System) developed to support to national and regional greenhouse gases reduction strategies. GHG-CAPSS follows IPCC(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Guideline methodology to categorize the emission sources and estimation of greenhouse gases using bottom-up approach. Estimated total greenhouse gases emissions were 588,011 thousand tons as $CO_2$ equivalent. Industry(50.1%) sector exhibited the highest portion followed by transport(17.6%), commercial and institutional(12.6%), residential(12.6%), waste(2.6%), agriculture(2.5%). Based on regional estimation, Gyeonggi(14.9%) demonstrated the highest emitted greenhouse gases among big cities followed by Jeonnam(12.4%), Gyeongbuk(11.0%), Ulsan(9.2%) and Seoul(8.9%).

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.590-596
• /
• 2019

Uses of fossil fuels like coal and oil increases with industrial development, and problems like abnormal climate come up as greenhouse gas increases. Accordingly, studies are actively conducted on eco-friendly renewable energy as a replacement for the main resources, and especially, wood pellets with high thermal efficiency are in the limelight as an alternative fuel in thermal power stations and gas boilers. However, despite a constant increase in their usage, few studies are conducted on their risks like fire and spontaneous combustion. Thus, this study found the auto-ignition temperature and critical ignition temperature of wood pellets with a change in flow rate in a thermostatic bath, using a sample vessel with 20 cm in length, 20 cm in height and 14 cm in thickness to predict their ignition characteristics. Consequently, at the flow rate of 0 NL/min, as the core temperature of the sample increased to higher than the ambient temperature, they ignited at $153^{\circ}C$, when the critical ignition temperature was $152.5^{\circ}C$. At the flow rates of 0.5 NL/min and 1.0 NL/min, it was $149.5^{\circ}C$, and at the flow rate of 1.5 NL/min, it was $147.5^{\circ}C$. Consequently, at the same storage, the more the flow rate, the lower the critical ignition temperature became.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.358-364
• /
• 2019

To improve the optical characteristics and antifouling of anti-reflective coating (AR) films, various AR coating films were prepared by varying the mixing ratio of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS)/base and methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS)/acid hybrid solution. Prepared AR coating films were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, contact angle analyzer, atomic force microscope (AFM), FT-IR and pencil scratch hardness test. In an AR coating film that prepared from the hybrid solution with a 10 wt% MTMS/acid solution, the glass substrate showed an excellent optical property (97.2% transmittance), good antifouling ($121^{\circ}$ water contact angle and $90^{\circ}\;CH_2I_2$ contact angle) and moderate mechanical strength (pencil hardness of 4 H). In particular, it is considered that the good antifouling was due to the well dispersion of the methyl group ($-CH_3$), derived from a small amount of MTMS/acid solution in the hybrid solution, on the substrate surface. From results of the pencil hardness test, the mechanical strength of AR coating film was improved as the content of MTMS/acid solution increased.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.107-120
• /
• 2019

The decommissioning of one nuclear power plant in a multi-unit nuclear power plant (multi-unit NPP) site may pose radiation exposure risk to decommissioning workers. Thus, it is essentially required to evaluate the exposure dose of decommissioning workers of operating multi-unit NPPs nearby. The ENDOS program is a dose evaluation code developed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). As two sub-programs of ENDOS, ENDOS-ATM to anticipate atmospheric transport and ENDOS-G to calculate exposure dose by gaseous radioactive effluents are used in this study. As a result, the annual maximum individual dose for decommissioning workers is estimated to be $2.31{\times}10^{-3}mSv{\cdot}y^{-1}$, which is insignificant compared with the effective dose limit of $1mSv{\cdot}y^{-1}$ for the public. Although it is revealed that the exposure dose of operating multi-unit NPPs does not result in a significant impact on decommissioning workers, closer examination of the effect of additional exposure due to actual demolition work is required. The calculation method of this study is expected to be utilized in the future for planned decommissioning projects in Korea. Because domestic NPPs are located in multi-unit sites, similar situations may occur.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.59-73
• /
• 2019

A decontamination technology for radioactive liquid wastes was newly developed and hypothetically applied to the liquid waste management system (LWMS) of the nuclear power plant (NPP) to evaluate its decontamination efficacy for the purpose of the fundamental reduction of spent resins. The basic principle of the developed technology is to convert major radionuclide ions in the liquid wastes into inorganic crystal minerals via chemical or biological techniques. In a laboratory batch experiment, the biological method selectively removed more than 80% of cesium within 24 hours, and the chemical method removed more than 95% of cesium. Other major nuclides (Co, Ni, Fe, Cr, Mn, Eu), which are commonly present in nuclear radioactive liquid wastes, were effectively scavenged by more than 99%. We have designed a module including the new technology that could be hypothetically installed between the reverse osmosis (R/O) package and the organic ion-exchange resin in the LWMS of the APR1400 reactor. From a technical evaluation for the virtual installation, we found that more than 90% of major radionuclides in the radioactive liquid wastes were selectively removed, resulting in a large volume reduction of spent resins. This means that if the new technology is commercialized in the future, it could possibly provide drastic cost reduction and significant extension of the life of resins in the management of spent resins, consequently leading to delay the saturation time of the Wolsong repository.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2021

POGO is a dynamic axial instability phenomenon that occurs in liquid-propelled rockets. As the natural frequencies of the fuselage and those of the propellant supply system become closer, the entire system will become unstable. To predict POGO, the propellant (oxidant and fuel) tank in the first stage is modeled as a shell element, and the remaining components, the engine and the upper part, are modeled as mass-spring, and structural analysis is performed. The transmission line model is used to predict the pressure and flow perturbation of the propellant supply system. In this paper, the closed-loop transfer function is constructed by integrating the fuselage structure and fluid modeling as described above. The pogo suppressor consists of a branch pipe and an accumulator that absorbs pressure fluctuations in a passive manner and is located in the middle of the propellant supply system. The design parameters for its design optimization to suppress the decay phenomenon are set as the diameter, length of the branch pipe, and accumulator. Multiple-objective function optimization is performed by setting the energy minimization of the closed loop transfer function in terms of to the mass of the pogo suppressor and that of the propellant as the objective function.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.190-197
• /
• 2021

Kraft lignin is a by-product of the pulp and paper industry, obtained as a black liquor after the extraction of cellulose from wood through the Kraft pulping process. Right now, kraft lignin is utilized as a low-grade boiler fuel to provide heat and power but can be converted into high-calorific biofuels or high-value chemicals once the efficient catalytic depolymerization process is developed. In this work, the multi-functional catalyst of Ru-Mg-Al-oxide, which contains hydrogenation metals, acid, and base sites for the effective depolymerization of kraft lignin are prepared, and its lignin depolymerization efficiency is evaluated. In order to understand the role of different active sites in the lignin depolymerization, the three different catalysts of MgO, Mg-Al-oxide, and Ru-Mg-Al-oxide were synthesized, and their lignin depolymerization activity was compared in terms of the yield and the average molecular weight of bio-oil, as well as the yield of phenolic monomers contained in the bio-oil. Among the catalysts tested, the Ru-Mg-Al-oxide catalyst exhibited the highest yield of bio-oil and phenolic monomers due to the synergy between active sites. Furthermore, in order to maximize the extent of lignin depolymerization over the Ru-Mg-Al-oxide, the effects of reaction conditions (i.e., temperature, time, and catalyst loading amount) on the lignin depolymerization were investigated. Overall, the highest bio-oil yield of 72% and the 3.5 times higher yield of phenolic monomers than that without a catalyst were successfully achieved at 350 ℃ and 10% catalyst loading after 4 h reaction time.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.31 no.5
• /
• pp.520-526
• /
• 2021

Microbial protein is one of the sources of protein in the rumen and can also be the source of glutamate production. Glutamic acid is used as fuel in the metabolic reaction in the body and the synthesis of all proteins for muscle and other cell components, and it is essential for proper immune function. Moreover, it is used as a surfactant, buffer, chelating agent, flavor enhancer, and culture medium, as well as in agriculture for such things as growth supplements. Glutamic acid is a substrate in the bioproduction of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). This review provides insights into the role of glutamic acid and glutamic acid-producing microorganisms that contain the glutamate decarboxylase gene. These glutamic acid-producing microorganisms could be used in producing GABA, which has been known to regulate body temperature, increase DM intake and milk production, and improve milk composition. Most of these glutamic acid and GABA-producing microorganisms are lactic acid-producing bacteria (LAB), such as the Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, and Streptococcus species. Through GABA synthesis, succinate can be produced. With the help of succinate dehydrogenase, propionate, and other metabolites can be produced from succinate. Furthermore, clostridia, such as Clostridium tetanomorphum and anaerobic micrococci, ferment glutamate and form acetate and butyrate during fermentation. Propionate and other metabolites can provide energy through conversion to blood glucose in the liver that is needed for the mammary system to produce lactose and live weight gain. Hence, health status and growth rates in ruminants can be improved through the use of these glutamic acid and/or GABA-producing microorganisms.