The purpose of this study was to effectively purify U-contaminated soil-washing effluent using a precipitation/distillation process, reuse the purified water, and self-dispose of the generated solid. The U ions in the effluent were easily removed as sediments by neutralization, and the metal sediments and suspended soils were flocculated–precipitated by polyacrylamide (PAM). The precipitate generated through the flocculation–precipitation process was completely separated into solid–liquid phases by membrane filtration (pore size < 45 μm), and Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions remaining in the effluent were removed by distillation. Even if neutralized or distilled effluent was reused for soil washing, soil decontamination performance was maintained. PAM, an organic component of the filter cake, was successfully removed by thermal decomposition without loss of metal deposits including U. The uranium concentration of the residual solids after distillation is confirmed to be less than 1 Bq·g−1, so it is expected that the self-disposal of the residual solids is possible. Therefore, the treatment method of U-contaminated soil-washing effluent using the precipitation/distillation process presented in this study can be used to effectively treat the washing waste of U-contaminated soil and self-dispose of the generated solids.

Liquid scintillation cocktail is liquid waste, which consists of an organic solvent, scintillator, surfactant, and radionuclide. Large volumes of liquid scintillation waste are generated each year, and both the organic compound and radionuclide content can negatively affect on the health and the environment. Therefore, the liquid scintillation waste should be treated in an appropriate way. In this study, to facilitate the treatment of liquid scintillation waste, the sulfate-radical advanced oxidation process (SR-AOP) was performed for the mineralization of liquid scintillator waste. In SR-AOP, highly reactive sulfate radicals, which react more selectively and efficiently with organic compounds, are produced in situ by cleaving the peroxide bond in the persulfate molecule. For the experiment, 100 times diluted ULTIMA GOLD-LLT (initial TOC=699,800 ppm) was used as a liquid scintillation waste. The TOC removal efficiency of liquid scintillation waste by the OXONE (potassium peroxymonosulfate, PMS, 2KHSO5+KHSO4+K2SO4) and sodium persulfate (PS) with varying dosages (4–12 mM) was tested, and the effects of Co2+ and Cu2+ catalysts were compared at a range of pHs (3, 7, and 9). The experimental results demonstrated that 91% TOC removal of ULTIMA GOLD-LLT could be achieved for SR-AOP at initial pH=9, Co2+=1.2 mM (catalyst), PMS=4.8 mM (oxidant) for 60 min reaction. Compared to traditional Fenton AOP which is effective only at low pH, PMS based SR-AOP with Co2+ catalyst is effective at wide range of pHs and less dependent on the treatment efficiency of the operational pH. Therefore, it can be useful for the mineralization of liquid scintillation waste which is difficult to treat with a general treatment method due to the mixture of various organic compounds.

Water treatment process simulator is the tool for predicting sequential changes of water quality in a train of unit processes. This predicts the changes through governing equations that represent physicochemical performance of each unit processes with an initial and boundary conditions. Since there is no operational data for the design of a water treatment facility, there is no choice but to predict the performance of the facility by assuming initial and boundary conditions in virtual reality. Therefore, a simulator that can be applied in the design stage of a water treatment facility has no choice but to be built as a numerical analysis model of a deductive technique. In this study, we had conducted basic research on governing equations, inter-process data-flow, and simulator algorithms for the development of simulators. Lastly, this study will contribute to design engineering tool development research in the future by establishing the water treatment theory so that it can be programmed in a virtual world and suggesting a method for digital transformation of the water treatment process.

In this study, an AISI 316 L alloy was manufactured using a selective laser melting (SLM) process. The tensile and impact toughness properties of the SLM AISI 316 L alloy were examined. In addition, stress relieving heat treatment (650oC / 2 h) was performed on the as-built SLM alloy to investigate the effects of heat treatment on the mechanical properties. In the as-built SLM AISI 316 L alloy, cellular dendrite and molten pool structures were observed. Although the molten pool did not disappear following heat treatment, EBSD KAM analytical results confirmed that the fractions of the low- and high-angle boundaries decreased and increased, respectively. As the heat treatment was performed, the yield strength decreased, but the tensile strength and elongation increased only slightly. Impact toughness results revealed that the impact energy increased by 33.5% when heat treatment was applied. The deformation behavior of the SLM AISI 316 L alloy was also examined in relation to the microstructure through analyses of the tensile and impact fracture surfaces.

Recently, various researches have been studied, such as water treatment, water reuse, and seawater desalination using CDI (Capacitive deionization) technology. Also, applications like MCDI (Membrane capacitive deionization), FCDI (Flow-capacitive deionization), and hybrid CDI have been actively studied. This study tried to investigate various factors by an experiment on the TDS (Total dissolved solids) removal characteristics using MCDI module in aqueous solution. As a result of the TDS concentration of feed water from 500 to 2,000 mg/L, the MCDI cell broke through faster when the higher TDS concentration. In the case of TDS concentration according to the various flow rate, 100 mL/min was stable. In addition, there was no significant difference in the desorption efficiency according to the TDS concentration and method of backwash water used for desorption. As a result of using concentrated water for desorption, stable adsorption efficiency was shown. In the case of the MCDI module, the ions of the bulk solution which is escaped from the MCDI cell to the spacer during the desorption process are more important than the concentration of ions during desorption. Therefore, the MCDI process can get a larger amount of treated water than the CDI process. Also, prepare a plan that can be operated insensitive to the TDS concentration of backwash water for desorption.

A 1,000 m3/d DAF(dissolved air flotation) pilot plant was installed to evaluate the performance of the floating process using the Nakdong River. Efficiency of various DAF operations under different conditions, such as hydraulic loading rate, coagulant concentration was evaluated in the current research. The operation conditions were evaluated, based on the removal or turbidity, TOC(total organic carbon), THMFP(trihalomethane formation potential), Mn(manganese), and Al(aluminum). Also, particle size analysis of treated water by DAF was performed to examine the characteristics of particles existing in the treated water. The turbidity removal was higher than 90%, and it could be operated at 0.5 NTU or less, which is suitable for the drinking water quality standard. Turbidity, TOC, and THMFP resulted in stable water quality when replacing the coagulant from alum to PAC(poly aluminum chloride). A 100% removal of Chl-a was recorded during the summer period of the DAF operations. Mn removal was not as effective as where the removal did not satisfy the water quality standards for the majority of the operation period. Hydraulic loading of 10 m/h, and coagulant concentrations of 40 mg/L was determined to be the optimal operating conditions for turbidity and TOC removal. When the coagulant concentration increases, the Al concentration of the DAF treated water also increases, so coagulant injection control is required according to the raw water quality. Particle size distribution results indicated that particles larger than 25 μm showed higher removal rates than smaller particles. The total particel count in the treated water was 2,214.7 counts/ml under the operation conditions of 10 m/h of hydraulic loading rate and coagulant concentrations of 60 mg/L.

To remove phosphorus from the effluent of public wastewater treatment facilities, hundreds of enhanced phosphorus treatment processes have been introduced nationwide. However, these processes have a few problems including excessive maintenance cost and sludge production caused by inappropriate coagulant injection. Therefore, the optimal decision of coagulant dosage and automatic control of coagulant injection are essential. To overcome the drawbacks of conventional phosphorus removal processes, the integrated sedimentation and dissolved air flotation(SeDAF) process has been developed and a demonstration plant(capacity: 100 m3/d) has also been installed. In this study, various jar-tests(sedimentation and / or sedimentation·flotation) and multiple regression analyses have been performed. Particularly, we have highlighted the decision–making algorithms of optimal coagulant dosage to improve the applicability of the SeDAF process. As a result, the sedimentation jar-test could be a simple and reliable method for the decision of appropriate coagulant dosage in field condition of the SeDAF process. And, we have found that the SeDAF process can save 30 – 40% of coagulant dosage compared with conventional sedimentation processes to achieve total phosphorus (T-P) concentration below 0.2 mg/L of treated water, and it can also reduce same portion of sludge production.

In this study, a pilot-scale (3 m3/day) membrane distillation (MD) process was operated to treat digestate produced from anaerobic digestion of livestock wastewater. In order to evaluate the performance and energy cost of MD process, it was compared with the pilot scale (10 m3/day) reverse osmosis (RO) process, expected competitive process, under same feed condition. As results, MD process shows stable permeate flux (average 10.1 L/m2/hr) until 150 hours, whereas permeate flux of RO process was decreased from 5.3 to 1.5 L/m2/hr within 24 hours. In the case of removal of COD, TN, and TP, MD process shows a high removal rate (98.7, 93.7, and 99% respectively) stably until 150 hours. However, in the case of RO process, removal rate was decreased from 91.6 to 69.5% in COD and from 93.7 to 76.0% in TP during 100 hours of operation. Removal rate of TN in RO process was fluctuated in the range of 34.5-62.9% (average 44.6%) during the operation. As a result of energy cost analysis, MD process using waste heat for heating the feed shows 18% lower cost compare with RO process. Thus, overall efficiency of the MD process is higher then that of the RO process in terms of permeate flux, removal rate of salts, and operating cost (in the case of using waste heat) in treating the anaerobic digestate of livestock wastewater.