국립 부경대학교

A research team in Civil Engineering leads Advanced Water Treatment Technologies

Proffesor. Kim Su-Han

△ A research team led by Prof. Kim Su-Han of Pukyong National University is posing for a commemorative photo in his laboratory. Prof. Kim Su-Han and Dr. Jeon Jong-Min from left to right and Kim Dong-Geun and Jo Jae-Young, graduate students, from the top left.

A research team at Pukyong National University (President Jang Young-Soo) is drawing public attention for developing a carbon-neutral non-powered membrane filtration water purifying technology.

This technology, developed by Professor Kim's research team of the Department of Civil Engineering at Pukyong National University, uses the altitude difference of the filtration plant to pass water through the membrane while flowing from top to bottom so that it can purify water without an electric power supply.

Membrane filtration water treatment technology, which filters out fine substances by passing water through a fiber filter, can respond stably to sudden changes in water quality and has the advantage of removing viruses, bacteria, and pathogenic microorganisms that are difficult to remove with sand filtration.

In Korea, membrane filtration water treatment technology started to be introduced in 2009, but it was difficult to expand and apply this technology due to the high energy and cost of operation of the water purification system.

The research team of Pukyong National University has been researching since December 2019 with support from the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water). The team has recently completed the development of the non-powered membrane filtration water treatment technology and has succeeded in verifying it to the practical stage of demonstration applicable to the scale of a water purification plant.

This technology was selected as one of the 14 best projects for 2021 at the K-water Tech Conference recently held by the Korea Water Resources Corporation and gained recognition by winning the K-water Award given by the president.

Professor Kim Su-Han from Pukyong National University said, "The method of purifying without power using the difference in altitude is a simple technique discovered through a change of perception like the 'Egg of Columbus', but it is the first time in this field that it has succeeded in verifying the demonstration stage," he added, "Starting with the joint application for a patent with the Korea Water Resources Corporation, we plan to continue to cooperate in introducing this technology to water purification plants."