| Title |
Development of a Sustainable Disinfection Technology using Induction-Heated Blast Furnace Slag and Green Tea Extract |
| Authors |
김현중(Hyunjung Kim) ; 김이중(Ijung Kim) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.15681/KSWE.2025.41.4.276 |
| Keywords |
Blast furnace slag; Catechin; Disinfection; Green tea extract; Induction heating |
| Abstract |
In response to the growing demand for resource circularity and environmentally sustainable practices, there is increasing interest across various sectors in developing innovative technologies that both ensure environmental protection and facilitate the reuse of recyclable materials. This study explored a novel disinfection method using blast furnace slag (BFS) and a natural antimicrobial agent derived from green tea leaves. Induction heating was applied to water contaminated with Escherichia coli (E. coli) and containing varying amounts of BFS (0?10 g). When more than 8 g of BFS was used, nearly complete inactivation of E. coli was achieved within 10 minutes, with the temperature rising from 22.1°C to 40.1°C. BFS demonstrated consistent disinfection performance over multiple cycles without significant degradation, indicating its potential for repeated use in practical applications. The antimicrobial effect of green tea extract, attributed to its catechin content, was confirmed through a disk diffusion test, which showed an inhibition zone of 0.52 mm at a catechin concentration of 0.06 g/mL. Additionally, batch experiments revealed that the combined application of green tea extract and saponin resulted in a 2.3 log removal (99.49%) of E. coli within 5 hours. These findings underscore the potential of utilizing recyclable industrial residues and plant-derived antimicrobial compounds to develop effective and sustainable disinfection technologies, thereby contributing to environmental protection and circular resource utilization. |