최근 신재생에너지의무화제도(RPS: Renewable Portfolio Standard)대상 신재생에너지 항목에 발전소 온배수가 신재생에너지공급인증서(REC:Renewable Energy Certificate)의 수열에너지(가중치 1.5)로 추가되어 온배수 열원에 대한 가치가 높아졌다. 본 연구에서는 고탁도지역 온배수의 직접적인 활용을 위한 방안으로 히트펌프시스템 내 탁도저감장치를 도입하여 열교환기에 가해지는 오염물질의 저감 효과를 확인해보기 위해 한 달 동안 실증테스트를 실시하였다. 실험결과 탁도 저감효과가 80 % 이상으로 고탁도 지역의 온배수 활용을 위한 방안으로 탁도저감장치의 적용가능성을 확인 할 수 있었다. 또한 탁도저감시스템에 따른 열교환기의 오염도 저감 효과를 검증하기 위해 30일간 운전한 열교환기를 해체하여 분석해본 결과 탁도저감시스템을 거친 열교환기보다 그렇지 않은 열교환기의 오염정도가 높은 것을 확인하였다. 열교환기에 유입된 오염물질(스케일)을 분석해본 결과 주로 SiO2, Na(Si3Al)O8, CaCO3, NaCl 성분의 광물이 검출되었는데 이는 높은 탁도로 인해 해양퇴적토가 열교환기에 유입된 것으로 분석되었다. 그 외에도 소량이지만 TiO2, MnO, Cr2O3가 검출되었다. 이는 열교환기를 세척할 때 열교환기 재료로부터 기인한 중금속이 소량 용출된 것으로 판단된다.

The sewage and wastewater (SAW) are a well-known major source of eutrophication and greentide in freshwaters and also a potential source of thermal pollution; however, there were few approaches to thermal effluent of SAW in Korea. This study was performed to understand the behavioral dynamics of the thermal effluents and their effects on the water quality of the connected streams during winter season, considering domestic sewage, industrial wastewater and hot spring wastewater from December 2015 to February 2016. Sampling stations were selected the upstream, the outlet of SAW, and the downstream in each connected stream, and the water temperature change was monitored toward the downstream from the discharging point of SAW. The temperature effect and its range of SAW on the stream were dependent not only on the effluent temperature and quantity but also on the local air temperature, water temperature and stream discharge. The SAW effects on the stream water temperature were observed with temperature increase by 2.1~5.8℃ in the range of 1.0 to 5.5 km downstream. Temperature effect was the greatest in the hot spring wastewater despite of small amount of effluent. The SAW was not only related to temperature but also to the increase of organic matter and nutrients in the connected stream. The industrial wastewater effluent was discharged with high concentration of nitrogen, while the hot spring wastewater was high in both phosphorus and nitrogen. The difference between these cases was due to with and without chemical T-P treatment in the industrial and the hot spring wastewater, respectively. The chlorophyll-a content of the attached algae was high at the outlet of SAW and the downstream reach, mostly in eutrophic level. These ecological results were presumably due to the high water temperature and phosphorus concentration in the stream brought by the thermal effluents of SAW. These results suggest that high temperature of the SAW needs to be emphasized when evaluating its effects on the stream water quality (water temperature, fertility) through a systematized spatial and temporal investigation.

Thermal effluent of the hot spring has long been a field of interest in the relationship between temperature gradient and freshwater algae in geology, limnology and aquatic ecology throughout the world. On the other hand, many artificial hot springs have been developed in Korea, but the research on them has not been still active. This study was performed every month from December 2015 to September 2016, to elucidate the spatiotemporal effects of thermal wastewater effluent (TWE) on the ecosystem of benthic algal assemblage in four stations (BSU (upstream), HSW (hot spring wastewater outlet), BSD1~2 (downstream)) of the upstream reach of the Buso Stream, a tributary located in the Hantan River basin. During the survey, the influencing distance of temperature on TWE was <1.0 km, and it was the main source of N·P nutrients at the same time. The effects of TWE were dominant at low temperature and dry season (December~March), but it was weak at high temperature and wet season (July~September), reflecting some seasonal characteristics. Under these circumstances, the attached algal communities were identified to 59 genera and 143 species. Of these, the major phylum included 21 genera 83 species of diatoms (58.0%), 9 genera 21 species of blue-green algae (14.7%) and 25 genera 32 species of green algae (22.4%), respectively. The spatiotemporal distribution of them was closely related to water temperature (5℃ and 15℃) and current (0.2 m s-1 and 0.8 m s-1). In the basic environment maintaining a high water temperature throughout the year round, the flora favoring high affinity to PO4 in the water body or preferring stream habitat of abundant NO3-PO4 was dominant. As a result, when compared with the outcomes of previous algal ecology studies conducted in Korea, the Buso Stream was evaluated as a serious polluted state due to persistent excess nutrient supply and high thermal pollution throughout the year round by TWE. It can be regarded as a dynamic ecosystem in which homogeneity (Summer~Autumn) and heterogeneity (Winter~Spring) are repeated between upstream and downstream.

Understanding effects of thermal pollution and acidification has long been a concern of aquatic ecologists, but it remains largely unknown in Korea. This study was performed to elucidate the effects of thermal wastewater effluent (TWE) and acid rain on water quality and attached algae in a small mountain stream, the Buso Stream, a tributary located in the Hantan River basin. A total of five study sites were selected in the upstream area including the inflowing point of hot-spring wastewater (HSW), one upstream site (BSU), and three sites below thermal effluent merged into the stream (1 m, 10 m and 300 m for BSD1, BSD2, and BSD3, respectively). Field surveys and laboratory analyses were carried out every month from December 2015 to September 2016. Water temperature ranged 1.7~28.8°C with a mean of 15.0°C among all sites. Due to the effect of thermal effluent, water temperature at HSW site was sustained at high level during the study period from 17.5°C (January) to 28.8°C (September) with a mean of 24.2±3.7°C, which was significantly higher than other sites. Thermal wastewater effluent also brought in high concentration of nutrients (N, P). The effect of TWE was particularly apparent during dry season and low temperature period (December~March). Temperature effect of TWE did not last toward downstream, while nutrient effect seemed to maintain in longer distance. pH ranged 5.1~8.4 with a mean of 6.9 among all sites during the study period. The pH decrease was attributed to seasonal acid rain and snow fall, and their effects was identified by acidophilic diatoms dominated mainly by Eunotia pectinalis and Tabellaria flocculosa during March and August. These findings indicated that water quality and periphyton assemblages in the upstream region of Buso Stream were affected by thermal pollution, eutrophication, and acidification, and their confounding effects were seasonally variable.

The metal plating industry produces a large amount of wastewater generally containing heavy metals with various chemical compounds; as such, treating the wastewater is both an environmental and an economic challenge. A vacuum evaporation system has been developed to effectively reduce the volume of plating wastewater. However, the gas stream discharged from the distillation unit of the evaporator is often contaminated with high concentrations of odorous compounds such as ammonia and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS). In this study, a non-thermal plasma process operated in wet conditions was applied to remove the odorous compounds, and it showed high removal efficiencies of greater than 99% for ammonia and 95% for DMDS. However, the gas flowrate more substantially affected the efficiency of ammonia removal than the efficiency of DMDS removal, because the higher the gas flowrate, the shorter the contact time between the odorous compound and the mist particles in the wet plasma reactor. The analyses of the maximum removal capacity indicated that the wet non-thermal plasma system was effective for treating the odorous compounds at a loading rate of less than 20 mg/m3/min even though the lowest amount of electrical power was applied. Therefore, the wet-type non-thermal plasma system is expected alleviate to effectively abate the odor problem of the vacuum evaporator used in the treatment of plating wastewater.

온천배수에 의한 주변 식물상의 변화를 구명하기 위하여 고창 석정온천, 전주 죽림온천, 익산 왕궁온천을 대상으로 1997년부터 1998년까지 10회에 걸쳐서 조사하였다. 계절별 온배수에 의한 주변 식물종의 출현은 외부기온이 비교적 낮은 계절에 대조구보다 실험구에서 더 많은 종이 나타났다. 피도가 높은 종은 계절에 따라 바뀌지만 대조구와 실험구에서 차이가 없었다. 온배수에 의한 식물 엽면적의 계절별 변화는 대체로 2월, 4월, 10월에는 대조구값이 오염지역