Lee Jung-mi, intern at Gwangju Eco-Friendly Energy Research Center

The main character of the 11th story is intern Lee Jung-mi, who co-authored the paper within 5% of the JCR.

Development of bioprocess for corncob-derived levulinic acid production. Joon-Pyo Lee, Jeongmi Lee, and Kyoungseon Min. Bioresource Technology (IF 11.889, JCR<5%), 371 (2023): 128628

Please introduce yourself and introduce excellent papers.

Hello, I'm Lee Jung-mi, an intern at the Gwangju Eco-Friendly Energy Research Center since September last year.  

In a statistical optimization study of the production process of levulinic acid derived from agricultural waste, I was in charge of reactor operation and HPCL analysis of reaction products, and was named in 「Development of bioprocess for corncob-derived levulinic acid production.」 published in 『Bioresource Technology』 in March this year. Levulinic acid is one of the important biomass-derived intermediate raw materials selected by DOE in the U.S. and can be used in various end products such as biofuels, (biodegradable) biopolymers, and biopharmaceuticals. The above paper contains statistical optimization of the process of producing lebulic acid, the final oxide form of cellulose and hemicellulose, from the agricultural waste, the corn sludge.

Is there a reason why you started related research?

It was new to manufacture bio-air oil using agricultural waste, and I wanted to learn by participating in the experiment of optimizing the production of levulinic acid, which was part of the research.

Was there any difficulty in writing your thesis?

I was in charge of analyzing the amount of levulinic acid produced with HPLC after the corn acid treatment experiment according to the reaction conditions. If the results that appear to be HPLC are not good, I feel heavy, and I had a hard time finding what I made mistakes and missed during the experiment, such as driving a reactor. Also, I had no experience in laboratory life when I was an undergraduate, so it was my first time doing everything from one to ten and I had to learn. But now I've adapted well and feel rewarded.

How did you come to Korea Institute of Energy Technology?

I applied for an internship at the Gwangju Center of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology with the active recommendation of a friend who has field training experience.

Is there anything memorable during your time as a researcher at the Gwangju Center?

There is a dog that lives almost in the Gwangju Center and often visits the center. I often see dogs in the research center, but they pass by because they are afraid of people The actions I saw were cute, so I drew a lot of attention. I think the cute images of dogs like Gwangju Center mascots will be memorable even after I quit my job.

Is there anything you want to do in the future or any research you want to do?

Based on experimental experience, I want to apply for a quality control job, and I want to challenge the field of production process control because I majored in chemical engineering.