90Sr is considered a hazardous radionuclide due to its long half-life of 28.8 years, radiotoxicity, and potential to bioaccumulate in various organisms. In the environment, strontium typically exists as divalent cation Sr2+ or in different complexes, depending on the environmental physical and chemical factors. Despite its mobility, Sr2+ transport remains affected by adsorption from solid phases, such as soil and sediments. This research aimed to investigate the efficiency of a magnetic flocculant (MNP/IF) in separating suspended soil and Sr2+ from a soil suspension. MNP/IF was prepared via the electrostatic interaction between magnetite particles and an inorganic flocculant (IF) composed of CaCO3 and Na2SO4. Analysis of the physical properties of MNP/IF confirmed that MNP/IF was successfully imparted with magnetism and had excellent adsorption capacity for Sr2+. The optimal MNP/IF dosage for the sedimentation of suspended soil was determined to be 0.3 g/g (mass ratio of flocculant to soil). The lower the pH, the more favorable the flocculation-sedimentation process of the suspended soil by MNP/IF, since Ca2+ and Mg2+, which are the most common strong flocculators, were further eluted from IF under acidic conditions. Besides, MNP/IF exhibited outstanding removal performance for Sr2+, with maximum adsorption capacities of 163.6 mg/g observed during the flocculation-sedimentation reaction of suspended soil. The adsorption of Sr2+ exhibited consistency with the Langmuir model and followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. These findings suggest that MNP/IF can be used for the simultaneous removal of suspended soil particles and Sr2+ from a radioactive soil suspension.

The ballasted flocculation effects of the mill scale and magnetite on activated sludge were investigated. Both ballasted flocculants (BF) could remarkably improve the sludge settleability in terms of zone settling velocity (ZSV) and sludge volume index (SVI). With the BF dosage of 0.2 to 2.0 g-BF/g-SS, the magnetite particles showed better efficiency on improving settling behavior of activated sludge than the mill scale due to higher surface area and hydrophobic property. The efficiency of SVI30 with magnetite injection was 2.5 to 11.3% higher than mill scale injection and that of the ZSV appreciated from 23.7% to 44.4% for magnetite injection. Averaged floc size of the BF sludge with magnetite dosage (0.5 g-BF/g-SS) was 2.3 times higher than that of the control sludge. Dewaterability of the sludge was also greatly improved by addition of the BF. The specific resistance to filtration (SRF) was reduced exponentially with increasing the dosage of BF. However, the BF’s particle size effect on the SRF looks to be marginal. Consequently, for improving the dewaterability, the BF played a physical role to remove the pore water of the biological flocs by intrusive attachment and a chemical role to induce aggregation of the flocs by charge neutralization.

This study executed evaluation of drying characteristics based on the polymer injection rate (8%, 10% and 12%) and the drying method[NIF(near-infrared ray). According to this study analyzed VS, VS/TS, and calorific value compared with ‘the auxiliary fuel standard of the thermoelectric power plant and the combined heat & power plant’. The results are as follows. In the case of NIR, the VS was slightly changed at the early stage of the material preheating period and the constant drying rate period with low moisture evaporation. But VS reduction was shown higher as moisture was dried. In the case of non-digested sludge with high VS content, the VS reduction rate by drying was shown lower than that of digested sludge. As the flocculant injection rate increased, the VS loss due th drying was found to be small. Also, the higher the flocculant injection rate was the longer the drying time. Especially, in the case of the NIR drying equipment, as the moisture content of sewage sludge decreased(moisture content 20∼40%), the loss of net VS also showed a tendency to increase sharply. It is shown that the high calorific value according to the drying time of the non-digested sludge was changed from 590 ㎉/㎏ to 3,005 ㎉/㎏ and from 539 ㎉/㎏ to 2,796 ㎉/㎏.

With the incorporation of hydrogen peroxide(H2O2) and NaLS as an initiator and emulsifier, acrylic acid monomer was graft copolymerized with sodium alginate prepared from alginic acid, and then the grafted copolymer was confirmed through IR spectrometer. When the amounts of acrylic acid increased the grafting also showed increasing trend. While the contents of hydrogen peroxide was varied in the aqueous sodium alginate solution, the grafting efficiency decreased gradually as the amounts of initiator increased.

Poly(DADM) was synthesized for the drinking water treatment. Poly(DADM) was produced by the free radical polymerization of diallyldimethylammonium chloride(DADM) monomer and its properties were characterized. The effects of monomer concentration, initiator concentration and reaction time on synthesis of poly(DADM) were investigated. Poly(DADM) flocculant was applied to Nak-dong river water to examine its efficiency in reducing turbidity. The synthesized poly(DADM) was effective as flocculant for drinking water treatment. The addition of 1 ㎎/L.of poly(DADM) flocculant caused the reduction of 50 % PAC(polyaluminium chloride).

Polyamine was synthesized for the drinking water treatment. Polyamine was produced by the two step polycondensation of dimethylamine(DMA) and epichlorohydrin(EPI) and its properties were characterized. The effects of mole ratio of [DMA]/[EPI], reaction temperature and reaction time on synthesis of polyamine were investigated. Polyamine flocculant was applied to Nak-dong river raw water to examine its efficiency in reducing turbidity. The synthesized polyamine was effective as flocculant for drinking water treatment. The addition of 1 ㎎/L of polyamine flocculant caused the reduction of 50% PAC (polyaluminium chloride).