The nuclide management process for reducing the environmental burden being developed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute is performed in molten salts, resulting in contaminated salt wastes containing fission products such as Cs, Sr, Ba, and rare-earth nuclides. In addition, the spent fuel of a molten salt reactor (MSR) contains a variety of fission products, and a purification process may be required for the reuse of the salt and the separation and disposal of the fission products in the spent nuclear fuel. The melt-crystallization method is a technique used for the purification and separation of chemicals or metals based on the different melting points of the different substances. In a recent study, our group developed a reactive-crystallization method using Li2CO3 precipitation agent to precipitate metal corrosion from the reactor through a chlorination reaction by HCl and Cl2, which may occur in chloride molten salt, and successfully precipitated the metal precipitate and purified and recovered LiCl salt. In this study, reactive-crystallization method has been established for removing fission products and corrosive materials. Using the reactive crystallization method, white LiCl-KCl salt that was not discolored by metal corrosion was recovered through the crystallization plates, and fission products and metal elements were shown to be suppressed to several ppm in the purified salt. Consequently, high-purity salts were recovered with high nuclide and corrosive separation efficiencies. The reactive crystallization procedure can also be applied to other salt waste systems, such as MSR nuclear fuel treatment and molten salt chemistry for the elimination of corrosive substances.

During nuclear waste vitrification, loss of sodium (Na) and boron (B) occurs, as these elements are highly volatile at high temperatures, which causes fluctuations in composition and consequently affects the properties of the glass products. In this study, we investigated the volatilization behaviors of Na and B from a simulated high-level waste glass as functions of heating temperature and dwelling duration. Based on the data obtained regarding the composition of Na and B and the structure of the glass, a hypothetical model was proposed to explain the volatilization behaviors of Na and B from a structural viewpoint. As the loss of Na and B during vitrification, the crystallization of the glass occurred. Thus, the crystallization behavior of the simulated waste glass upon composition deviation was studied.

In this study, crystallization was effectively suppressed in Al-based metallic glasses (Al-MGs) during pulverization by cryo-milling by applying an extremely low processing temperature and using a surfactant. Before Al-MGs can be used as an additive in Ag paste for solar cells, the particle sizes of the Al-MGs must be reduced by milling. However, during the ball milling process crystallization of the Al-MG is a problem. Once the Al-MG is crystallized, they no longer exhibit glass-like behavior, such as thermoplastic deformation, which is critical to decrease the electrical resistance of the Ag electrode. The main reason for crystallization during the ball milling process is the heat generated by collisions between the particles and the balls, or between the particles. Once the heat reaches the crystallization temperature of the Al-MGs, they start crystallization. Another reason for the crystallization is agglomeration of the particles. If the initially fed particles become severely agglomerated, they coalesce instead of being pulverized during the milling. The coalesced particles experience more collisions and finally crystallize. In this study, the heat generated during milling was suppressed by using cryo-milling with liquid-nitrogen, which was regularly fed into the milling jar. Also, the MG powders were dispersed using a surfactant before milling, so that the problem of agglomeration was resolved. Cryo-milling with the surfactant led to D50 = 10 um after 6 h milling, and we finally achieved a specific contact resistance of 0.22 mΩcm2 and electrical resistivity of 2.81 μΩcm using the milled MG particles.

A method to effectively scavenge highly mobile radioiodide into a solid material was developed. Under an anaerobic condition, as copper(II) was strongly associated with bicarbonate (HCO3 −) in solution, malachite quickly formed, and then it was gradually transformed to a compact crystal of CuI (marshite) attracting iodide. The formation of CuI crystal was principally led by the spontaneous Cu-I redox reaction centering around the copper phase over the presence of sulfate (SO4 2−). The transformed CuI crystal was poorly soluble in water. Interestingly, this redox-induced iodide crystallization was rather promoted over the existence of anionic competitors (e.g., HCO3 − and SO4 2−). Unlike the conventional methods, these competing anions positively behaved in our system by supporting that the initial malachite was more apt to be reactive to largely attract highly mobile I−. Under practical environments, such a selective I− uptake and fixation into a crystalline form will be a promising way to effectively remove I− in a great capacity.

APR 1400 액체방사성폐기물관리계통 효율성 증가와 계통의 성능 개선을 위한 방안으로 핵종 이온 광물화 처리기술을 적용 하는 것을 고려하였다. 핵종 이온 광물화 처리기술은 현재까지 발전소에 실제적으로 적용되진 않았지만 원자력발전소의 액 체방사성폐기물에 존재하는 다양한 핵종 이온을 최소 95% 이상 선택적으로 제거 가능 하다는 것을 실험적으로 증명한 바 있다. 본 논문은 핵종 이온 광물화 처리기술의 제염율을 반영하여 기존 설계에 적용 가능성을 확인하였으며, 기존 설계를 개선할 수 있는 방안을 마련하였다. 핵종 이온 광물화 처리기술의 제염 특성과 기존의 액체방사성폐기물관리계통 설계 및 운전 경험을 고려하여 최적의 적용 위치를 결정하였다. 원자력발전 운영에 따라 발생하는 액체방사성물질이 수집되는 수집탱크에 핵종 이온 광물화 처리기술을 적용하는 것이 기존 설계의 영향이 가장 적을 것이며, 개선 효과도 가장 큰 것으로 해석되었다. 핵종 이온 광물화 처리기술이 현재의 APR 1400 발전소 또는 신규 원전에 적용될 경우 액체방사성폐기물관리계통의 운전 효율성 증가와 계통의 성능 개선이 기대된다.

Phosphorus is a vital resource for sustaining agriculture and nutrition, but a limited non-renewable resource. Thus, the recovery of phosphorus from waste activated sludge(WAS) was attempted by microwave heating and magnesium ammonium phosphorus(MAP) crystallization. Polyphosphate-accumulating organisms(PAOs) in WAS release phosphate from the cell when they are exposed to high temperature environments. Microwave heating caused phosphorus and ammonia to release from WAS. The amount was increased with increasing temperature, showing that 88.5% of polyphosphate present in the cells were released in the form of phosphate at 80oC. A similar result was also observed in the release of ammonia. On the other hand, both phosphorus and ammonia were crystallized with magnesium, and then was harvested as MAP. Phosphorus recovery rate reached almost 97.8%, but the ammonia was about 13.4%. These results cleary indicate that phosphorus could be recovered from WAS using a physiological trait of PAOs. Heavy metal analyses also show that the MAP crystal is useful and safe as a phosphorus fertilizer.

과거 모자이크 기법은 바닥에 천을 깔고 타일을 수작업으로 붙여 제작하였다. 하지만 최근 기술의 발달로 데이터 저장 방식이 아날로그에서 디지털로 발전하여 컴퓨터를 통한 이미지 표현과 변환이 가능해지며 모자이크의 표현 기법 또한 다양하게 발전하고, 디지털로의 예술표현 방식으로도 사용 되어지며 공학 분야에서도 그 제작 과정에 대한 연구들이 다양하다. 본 논문에서 제안하는 기법은 나선형으로 실시간 퍼져나가는 결정화(Crystallization)모자이크로 타일요소는 3D석영(Crystal)을 사용 한다. 기존 연구들은 대체로 이미지를 좀 더 세밀하게 묘사하기 위함이 연구 목적의 주를 이루고 있지만 본 기법은 시도되지 않았던 나선 드로잉과 결정화를 접목하고 3D 공간에서의 새로운 모자이크 방식을 시도 한다. 또한 제안하는 기법의 대한 검증과 이를 기반으로 게임으로의 발전방향에 대해 모색한다. 본 기법을 바탕으로 제작된 작품 ‘Spiral Crystallization Photo’ 는 MWU Award`18에 서 Top27에 선정되었으며 Unite Seoul 2018에서 전시 되었다.

One of the major sources causing eutrophication and algal blooms of lakes or streams is phosphorus which comes from point and nonpoint pollution sources. HAP (hydroxyapatite) crystallization using granular alkaline materials can achieve the decrease of phosphorus load from wastewater treatment plants and nonpoint pollution control facilities. In order to induce HAP crystal formation, continuous supply of calcium and hydroxyl ions is required. In this research, considering HAP crystallization, several types of lime-based granular alkaline materials were prepared, and the elution characteristics of calcium and hydroxyl ions of each were analyzed. Also, column tests were performed to verify phosphorus removal efficiencies of granular alkaline materials. Material_1 (gypsum+cement mixed material) achieved the highest pH values in the column tests consistently, also, Material_2 (gypsum+slag mixed material) and Material_3 (calcined limestone material) achieved over pH 9.0 for 240 hours (10 days) and proved the efficiencies of long-term ion supplier for HAP crystallization. In the column tests using Material_3, considerable pH increase and phosphorus removal were carried out according to each linear velocity and filtration depth. T-P removal efficiencies were 87.0, 84.0, 68.0% and those of PO4-P 100.0, 97.0, 80.0% for linear velocity of 1.0, 2.5, 5.0 m/hr respectively. Based on the column test results, the applicability of phosphorus removal processes for small-scale wastewater treatment plants and nonpoint pollution control facilities was found out.

The recent development of electro-optic devices and anticorrosion media has led to the necessity to investigate infrared optical systems with solid-solid interfaces of materials that often have the characteristic of amorphousness. One of the most promising classes of materials for those purposes seems to be the chalcogenide glasses. Chalcogenide glasses, based on the Ge-Sb-Se system, have drawn a great deal of attention because of their use in preparing optical lenses and transparent fibers in the range of 3~12 um. In this study, amorphous Ge-Sb-Se chalcogenide for application in an infrared optical product design and manufacture was prepared by a standard melt-quenching technique. The results of the structural, optical and surface roughness analysis of high purity Ge-Sb-Se chalcogenide glasses are reported after various annealing processes.

Recently, pollution problem in coastal water has become more serious and pollution including red tide serves as a main reason for reduction of fishes resources. Particularly, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are the most serious pollutants. Normally, biological wastewater treatment process is used in removing such nutrients. However, it is difficult to adopt the biological wastewater treatment process to a small-scale fish processing factory in case of using seawater as wash water. Thus, removing nutrients through struvite crystallization is investigated in this study for treating shrimp processing wastewater. Experiments were conducted by varying molar ratio of Mg2+:NH4-N:PO4-P from 1:1:1 to 2:1:1. It can be concluded that optimum molar ratio is 1:1:1. Struvite crystallization process is compared with chemical coagulation process using PAC and struvite crystallization process is proven as the more effective process in removing nutrients from wastewater. In view of results obtained from these experiments, struvite crystallization process is a promising method in removing nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater; however, not so good in removing organics. Thus, struvite crystallization process is suitable as the pre-treatment process in treating shrimp processing wastewater and additional biological process is needed to remove organics.

Ni(OH)2 hollow spheres have been prepared by solvent displacement crystallization using a micro-injection device, and the effect of process parameters such as concentration and the relative ratio of the injection speed of the precursor solution, which is an aqueous solution of NiSO4·6H2O, to isopropyl alcohol of displacement solvent have been investigated. The crystal phases after NaOH treatment are in the β-phase for all process parameters. A higher concentration of NiSO4·6H2O aqueous solution is injected by a micro-injection device and bigger Ni(OH)2 hollow spheres with a narrower particle size distribution are formed. The crystallinity and hardness of the as-obtained powder are so poor that hydrothermal treatment of the as-obtained Ni(OH)2 at 120oC for 24 h in distilled water is performed in order to greatly improve the crystallinity. It is thought that a relative ratio of the injection speed of NiSO4·6H2O to that of isopropyl alcohol of at least more than 1 is preferable to synthesize Ni(OH)2 hollow spheres. It is confirmed that this solution- based process is very effective in synthesizing ceramic hollow spheres by simple adjustment of the process parameters such as the concentration and the injection speed.

We have investigated the crystallization mechanism of the lithium disilicate (Li2O-2SiO2, LSO) glass particles with different sizes by isothermal and non-isothermal processes. The LSO glass was fabricated by rapid quenching of melt. X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry measurements were performed. Different crystallization models of Johnson- Mehl-Avrami, modified Ozawa and Arrhenius were adopted to analyze the thermal measurements. The activation energy E and the Avrami exponent n, which describe a crystallization mechanism, were obtained for three different glass particle sizes. Values of E and n for the glass particle with size under 45 μm, 75~106 μm, and 125~150 μm, were 2.28 eV, 2.21 eV, 2.19 eV, and ~1.5 for the isothermal process, respectively. Those values for the non-isothermal process were 2.4 eV, 2.3 eV, 2.2 eV, and ~1.3, for the isothermal process, respectively. The obtained values of the crystallization parameters indicate that the crystallization occurs through the decreasing nucleation rate with a diffusion controlled growth, irrespective to the particle sizes. It is also concluded that the smaller glass particles require the higher heat absorption to be crystallized.

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA)-containing salt was prepared by crystallization of a mixture of salt water from deep sea and fermentation broth by lactic acid bacteria that contained GABA converted from glutamic acid. Salt from deep sea water has a lower sodium content but higher calcium, potassium and magnesium contents than commercial salt. Instead of monosodium glutamate (MSG), glutamic acid was used for solving the residual MSG problem. Fermentation by a lactic acid bacterium converted 90% of added glutamic acid (5%, w/v) to GABA, and continuous production of colorless fermentation broth containing more than 3% (w/v) GABA was achieved by using an activated carbon. Mixtures of salt water and fermentation broths with various GABA concentrations were co-crystallized and the GABA content was analyzed. This analysis showed that more than 90% of GABA from broth was adsorbed to salt. The appearance and surface of this prepared GABA-containing salt were examined with an image analyzer and scanning electron microscope. No difference was found with commercial sun-dried salt and no separated particles were detected, which indicates that the co-crystallization process used is suitable for the production of GABAcontaining salt.