This study developed and tested a pilot-scale biowindow for simultaneous removal of odor and methane from landfills. The test was conducted in a sanitary landfill site during the summer season (July and August). The average temperature inside the biowindow was 5°C higher than the average air temperature, rising to 37–48oC when the outdoor temperature was very hot. The complex odor removal rate (based on the dilution-to-threshold value) in the biowindow during the summer was 91.3- 98.8% (with an average of 96.2±4.2%). The average concentration of hydrogen sulfide was 3,024.9±805.8 ppb, and its concentration was found to be the highest among 22 odorous compounds. The removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan were 89.1% and 83.2%, respectively. The removal of dimethyl sulfide was 17.7%, and no ammonia removal was observed. Additionally, the removal efficiencies of toluene and xylene were 85.2% and 72.5%, respectively. Although the initial methane removal was low (24.9%), the methane removal performance improved to 53.7–75.6% after the 11th day of operation. These results demonstrate that the odor and methane removal performance of the pilot-scale biowindow was relatively stable even when the internal temperature of the biowindow rose above 40oC in the summer. Since the main microorganisms responsible for decomposing odor and methane are replaced by thermotolerant or thermophilic microorganisms, and high community diversity is maintained, odor and methane in the biowindow could be stably removed even under high-temperature conditions.

Municipal landfill leachate (MLL) contamination in surface water is a critical global issue due to the high concentration of toxic organics and recalcitrants. The biological treatment of MLL is ineffective due to an elevated concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen, which restricts the production of the recalcitrant degrading laccase enzyme. In this context, integrating an external laccase-anchored carbon catalyst (LACC) matrix system with the microbial system could be an efficient strategy to overcome the drawbacks of conventional biological MLL treatment technologies. In the present study, the LACC matrix was synthesized by utilizing nanoporous activated carbon (NAC) functionalized ethylene diamine (EDA) and glutaraldehyde (GA) (GA/EDA/NAC) matrix for the anchoring of laccase. The maximum anchoring capacity of laccase onto GA/EDA/ NAC was achieved to be 139.65 U/g GA/EDA/NAC at the optimized anchoring time, 60 min; pH, 5; temperature, 30 °C, and mass of GA/EDA/NAC, 300 mg and was confirmed by Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses. Further, the mechanistic study revealed the involvement of covalent bonding in the anchoring of laccase onto the functionalized surface of the GA/EDA/NAC matrix. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics of laccase anchoring onto the GA/EDA/NAC matrix were performed to evaluate its field-level application. Subsequently, the sequential microbial system (I-stage bacterial treatment followed by II-stage fungal treatment) and III-stage LACC matrix system could effectively reduce the COD by 94.2% and phenol by 92.36%. Furthermore, the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometry (GC–MS) and FT-IR analyses confirmed the effective degradation of organic compounds and recalcitrants by the integrated microbial and LACC matrix system. The study suggested that the application of the LACC matrix system has resulted in the complete treatment of real-time MLL by overcoming the negative interference of elevated ammoniacal nitrogen concentration. Thus, the integrated microbial and LACC matrix approach could be considered to effectively treat the MLL without any secondary pollution generation.

The nuclear facilities at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) have generated a variety of organic liquid radwaste and radiation levels are also varied. At KAERI, the organic liquid radwaste has been stored at Radioactive Waste Treatment Facility (RWTF) temporarily due to the absence of the recognized treatment technique while inorganic liquid radwaste can be treated by evaporation, bituminization, and solar evaporation process. The organic liquid radioactive waste such as spent oil, cutting oil, acetone, ethanol, etc. was generated from the nuclear facilities at KAERI. Among the organic liquid radioactive wastes, spent oil is particularly significant. According to the nuclear safety act, radioactive waste can be cleared by incineration and landfilling if it meets the criteria of less than 10 μSv/h for individual dose and 1 person – Sv/y for collective dose. Dose assessment was performed on some organic liquid radioactive waste with a very low possibility of radioactive contamination stored in RWTF at KAERI. As a result, it was confirmed that some wastes met the regulatory clearance standards. Based on this, it was approved by the regulatory body, and this became the first case in Korea and KAERI for permission for regulatory clearance of organic liquid radioactive waste by landfill after incineration.

수도권에 위치한 S매립장 내 3개의 매립장을 대상으로 매립가스 배출 및 주요 경로별 표면 발산과 관련된 분석을 하였다. 전체 매립가스 발생비율 10.9%인 LS1이 총 표면발산 비중은 49.4%를 차지하고 있었다. 3개 매립장에서의 메탄의 총 표면발산은 13.6 Nm3/min로서, LS1 8.4 Nm3/min (61.7%), LS2 4.0 Nm3/min(29.4%), LS3 1.2 Nm3/min(8.9%)이고, 발산경로별로는 상부 7.3 Nm3/min (53.2%), 사면 6.4 Nm3/min(46.7%), 다이크 0.02 Nm3/min(0.1%)이었다. 3개 매립장의 주요 배출경로 별 산화율은 다이크가 87.5%로 가장 크고, 상부 72.3%, 사면 71.8% 순이었다. 메탄을 기준으로 표면발 산 기여율은 매립장 별로 LS1이 전체의 61.7%로 가장 컸다. 주요 배출경로별로는 LS1의 사면이 전체의 41.7%, LS2의 상부 24.4%, LS1의 상부 20.0%로서 S매립장의 전체 메탄 표면발산량의 86.1%를 차지함 에 따라 향후 집중적인 관리가 필요할 것으로 판단되었다.

The present study focuses on the adsorption of organic matter mainly COD from pretreated landfill leachate of Lamdeng Khunou Solid Waste Management Plant, Manipur, India through the employment of H3PO4 treated activated carbon derived from Parkia speciosa (Petai) pods (PPAC). The adsorbent was analyzed for morphological and surface characterization by various methods including, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDAX), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and pH at zero point charges ( pHZPC). The impacts of adsorption processes such as initial pH, temperature, equilibrium time and dose of adsorbent were considered to evaluate the performance of PPAC. At 20 °C, PPAC showed maximum COD removal of 93% within 90 min contact time, at optimum pH 2. Adsorption kinetic was able to explain by Lagergren’s pseudo-second-order equation and intraparticular diffusion models suggesting the combined behavior of both the physical and chemical adsorption of COD on PPAC. Through thermodynamics and isotherm studies, the adsorption of COD on PPAC is revealed to be exothermic with maximum monolayer coverage of 200 mg COD/g PPAC. The performance of the PPAC adsorbent is also compared with other existing reported adsorbents for treating leachate.

Decommissioning of a nuclear power plant (NPP) generate large amounts of various types of wastes. In accordance with the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission Notice of Korea (No. 2020- 6), they are classified as High Level Waste (HLW), Intermediate Level Waste (ILW), Low Level Waste (LLW), Very Low Level Waste (VLLW) and Exempt Waste (EW) according to specific activities. More than 90% of the wastes are at exempt level, mostly metal and concrete wastes with low radioactivity, of which the concentrations of nuclides is less than the allowable concentration of self-disposal. The self-disposal or recycling of these wastes is widely used worldwide. More than 10,000 drums, based on 200 L drum, are expected to be produced in the decommissioning process of a unit of nuclear power plant. Due to the limited storage capacity of the intermediate & low level waste disposal facility in Gyeongju, recycling and self-disposal of EW are actively recommended in Korea. A variety of scenarios were proposed for recycling and self-disposal of decommissioning metal/ concrete wastes, and a computational program called REDISA was developed to perform the dose evaluation for each recycling and self-disposal scenario. The REDISA computer program can calculate external and internal exposure doses by simulating the exposure pathways from waste generation, thru transport, processing, manufacture, to the final destination of recycling or self-disposal. In this study, the self-disposal scenario was only considered for the dose evaluation. Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the exposure doses of the radioactive waste disposal sites. However, there have been few researches on dose evaluation for self-disposal landfills. In particular, the dose evaluation is important not only during the operation period, but also for a long period after the facility is closed. To this end, we developed a conceptual model for dose evaluation for post-closure scenarios of the self-disposal landfill of decommissioning metal/concrete wastes with reference to the methodology of IAEA-TECDOC-1380. The model incorporates three exposure pathways, including external exposure from contaminated soil, internal exposure by inhalation, and internal exposure by ingestion of water and food grown in contaminated soil. The duration of the dose evaluation is set to 100,000 years after the closure of landfill facility. Co-60 was selected as dominant nuclide, and dose evaluation was performed based on unit specific activity of 1 Bq/g. Exposure doses shall be verified for their application in accordance with the annual dose limit of 10 Sv/yr for self-disposal. As a result, the post-closure scenario of selfdisposal landfills have shown negligible effects on public health, which means that the exposures doses from transportation and operational processes should be considered more carefully for selfdisposal of decommissioning metal/concrete wastes.

The decommissioning of a nuclear power plant generates large amounts of radioactive waste, which is of several types. Radioactive concrete powder is classified as low-level waste, which can be disposed of in a landfill. However, its safe disposal in a landfill requires that it be immobilized by solidification using cement. Herein, a safety assessment on the disposal of solidified radioactive concrete powder waste in a conceptual landfill site is performed using RESRAD. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses of certain selected input parameters are conducted to investigate their impact on exposure doses. The exposure doses are estimated, and the relative impact of each pathway on them during the disposal of this waste is assessed. The results of this study can be used to obtain information for designing a landfill site for the safe disposal of low-level radioactive waste generated from the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant.

국내 3단계 매립형 처분시설은 2018년도 한국원자력환경공단의 중^저준위 방폐물관리시행계획에 의하면 주로 원전 해체 현장에서 발생하는 극저준위방폐물을 수용하기 위해 2019년 4월부터 2026년 2월까지 총 104,000드럼(2개 트렌치)을 수용 하기 위해 건설이 계획 중이다(총 2,246억원 투입). 이후 총 5개 트렌치에 260,000드럼이 총 34,076 m2의 면적에 단계적으로 수용되며 따라서 현재 한국원자력환경공단은 관련 인수기준을 마련 중에 있다. 극저준위방폐물 처분시설 인수기준의 경우 프랑스, 스페인 등이 전용 처분시설을 운영하면서 자국의 인수기준을 합리적으로 잘 준용하고 있으나 본 논문에서는 해체방 폐물의 처분에 가장 경험이 많은 미국의 처분시설을 고려하여 국내 매립형 처분시설에 우선적으로 반영되어야 할 사항이 있는지 분석하였고 이를 통하여 경주내 3단계 매립형 처분시설의 인수기준 마련에 도움이 되고자 하였다.

A pilot-scale biocover was installed at a sanitary landfill for municipal waste, and the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by the biocover was evaluated for a long period of 550 days. The biocover (2.5 m W × 5 m L × 1 m H) was constructed with the mixture of soil, perlite, earthworm cast and compost (6:2:1:1, v/v). The total VOCs concentration of the inlet gas into the biocover was 820.3 ppb~7,217.9 ppb, and the total VOCs concentration of the outlet gas from the surface of the biocover was 12.6 ppb~1,270.1 ppb. The average removal efficiency of total VOCs was 87.6 ± 11.0% (60.5% for minimum and 98.5% for maximum). Toluene concentration was the highest among the inlet VOCs, followed by ethylbenzene, m, p-xylene and o-xylene. These aromatic VOCs accounted for more than 50% of the total VOCs concentration. Other than these aromatic VOCs, hexane, cyclohexane, heptane, benzene, and acetone were major VOCs among the inlet VOCs. Compared with the VOC profiles in the inlet gas, the relative contribution of dichloromethane to the outlet VOCs emitted from the biocover layer increased from 0.1% to 15.3%. The average removal efficiencies of BTEX in the biocover were over 84% during the operation period of 550 days. The average removal efficiencies of hexane, cyclohexane and heptane in the biocover were 86.0 ± 18.9%, 85.4 ± 20.4% and 97.1 ± 4.0%, respectively. The removal efficiency of VOCs in the biocover decreased not only when the ambient temperature had fallen below 5oC, but also when the ambient temperature had risen above 23oC. Information on the VOCs removal characteristics of the biocover installed in the landfill field can be useful for commercializing the biocover technology for the treatment of VOCs.

Seasonal emission characteristics of odors and methane were investigated throughout the period of 17 months in which the emission status of odors and methane from soil cover layers in a sanitary landfill was measured. Complex odor emitted from soil cover layers fluctuated largely at the range of 7~20,800 OU (Odor Unit) in odor dilution ratio, and the median and average values were 2,080 and 4,203 OU, respectively. The intensity of complex odor showed higher values in the spring (5,663 ± 4,033 OU) and winter (6,056 ± 8,372 OU) than in the summer (1,698 ± 3,676 OU) and fall (1,761 ± 451 OU). Based on average concentrations, the compounds with high contribution values for the sum of the odor quotient (SOQ) were hydrogen sulfide (46.1%), methyl mercaptan (26.4%), and dimethyl sulfide (16.8%). This result shows that sulfur compounds were the main odor-causing compounds in the target landfill. The flux of complex odor was 0.17~70.36 OU·m−2·min−1 (Median 0.47, Average 5.40), and the flux of hydrogen sulfide was 0~114.70 μg·m−2·min−1 (Median 0.13, Average 5.91). The methane flux was 0.59~312.70 mg-CH4·m−2·min−1 (Median 25.61, Average 47.99). The methane concentrations emitted at the soil cover layers showed the highest values of 1.0~62.5% (Median 33.0, Average 21.1) in the spring, and the lowest values of 0.1~11.7% (Median 2.3, Average 3.7) in the winter. The methane concentrations in the summer and fall were similar with the average of 17.9% (range of 0.2-44.2%) and 12.5% (range of 2.2-42.5%), respectively. The emission data of odors and methane from soil cover layers can be utilized to establish management policy and apply mitigation technologies for the control of odor and greenhouse gases emitted in landfills.

This study is carried out to compare ingredients and antioxidant activity of Bokryeong, Poria cocos wolf, cultivated in the landfill and facility. Comparisons of the composition of the landfill and facility Bokryeong were conducted in the first and second year. As a result, there was no statistically significant difference in all four components (oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen). In the second year, GC-MS analysis was carried out using the extracts containing ginseng epidermis, using the samples taken from the Gangwon-do area in the first year and the second year. As a result, 1,3-Dihydroxyacetone dimer, 2-Furancarboxaldehyde, and Acetaldehyde were detected in the landfill Bokryeong. 2-Furancarboxaldehyde and Acetaldehyde contents were higher in facility Bokryeng. In biological activity assay, The anti-inflammatory of the landfill Bokryeng and facility Bokryeng were compared by using Raw 267.4 cell lines. As a result, it was confirmed that both of them had anti-inflammatory, but no difference was found.

In order to reduce odor and methane emission from the landfill, open biocovers and a closed biofilter were applied to the landfill site. Three biocovers and the biofilter are suitable for relatively small-sized landfills with facilities that cannot resource methane into recovery due to small volumes of methane emission. Biocover-1 consists only of the soil of the landfill site while biocover-2 is mixed with the earthworm casts and artificial soil (perlite). The biofilter formed a bio-layer by adding mixed food waste compost as packing material of biocover-2. The removal efficiency decreased over time on biocover-1. However, biocover-2 and the biofilter showed stable odor removal efficiency. The rates of methane removal efficiency were in order of biofilter (94.9%)>, biocover-1(42.3%)>, and biocover-2 (37.0%). The methane removal efficiency over time in biocover-1 was gradually decreased. However, drastic efficiency decline was observed in biocover-2 due to the hardening process. As a result of overturning the surface soil where the hardening process was observed, methane removal efficiency increased again. The biofilter showed stable methane removal efficiency without degradation. The estimate methane oxidation rate in biocover- 1 was an average of 10.4%. Biocover-2 showed an efficiency of 46.3% after 25 days of forming biocover. However, due to hardening process efficiency dropped to 4.6%. After overturn of the surface soil, the rate subsequently increased to 17.9%, with an evaluated average of 12.5%.

In this study, we investigated influent and effluent water pollutants in 53 Public Sewage Treatment Works (PSTWs) where industrial wastewater or landfill leachate is combined four times for two years from 2014 to 2015. Also, we analyzed the characteristics of heavy metals and volatile organic carbons at influent and effluent of these PSTWs caused by sewage treatment combined with industrial wastewater or landfill leachate. As a result, six heavy metals such as barium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel and zinc, and four volatile organic carbons (VOCs) including phenols, di(2-)ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), formaldehyde and toluene were observed above detection limits in most of PSTWs. Also, it was revealed that six heavy metals such as hexavalent chromium, mercury, cadmium, chromium, nickel and selenium, and four VOCs including 1,1-dichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, naphthalene, and epichlorohydrin were observed more frequently according to precipitation. As a result of reviewing the monitoring data on “Water Quality Monitoring Networks” in lower watersheds of PSTWs, both heavy metals and VOCs were below detection limits, indicating that the effluent water had little influence on the watershed. Nevertheless for the better management of influent and effluent pollutants in PSTWs, it is necessary to establish the advanced management plans for water pollutants in PSTWs, which include a list of priority substances management, monitoring plans, and guidelines for industrial wastewater and landfill leachate combined in PSTWs.

The validity of landfill gas models is an important problem considering that they are frequently used for landfill-site-related policy making and energy recovery planning. In this study, the Monte Carlo method was applied to an landfill gas generation model in order to enhance conformity. Results show that the relative mean deviation between measured data and modeled results (MD) decreased from 19.8% to 11.7% after applying the uncertainty range of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to the methane-generation potential and reaction constants. Additionally, when let reaction constant adjust derived errors from all other modeling components, such as model logic, gauging waste, and measured methane data, MD decreased to 6.6% and the disparity in total methane generation quantity to 2.1%.