• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.9 s.89
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• pp.1284-1289
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• 2007

The Biological Activated Carbon (BAC) process in the water treatments represents a kind of biofiltration process which capabilities of bacteria to remove organic matters are maximized. It enables to eliminate organic matters and effectively reduce microbial regrowth potentials. As attached bacteria employ natural organic matter as a substrate, they are significantly dependent on indigenous microorganisms. In this study, characteristics of bacterial community by culturable and unculturable Methods have been conducted in a pilot plant using SAC in water treatment process at the downstream of the Nakdong River. Based on the results, HPC and bacterial- production for coal-based activated carbon material were $1.20{\sim}56.2{\times}l0^7$ cfu/g and $1.2{\sim}3.7\;mgC/m^{3}h$, respectively, in the SAC process. The highest level of attached bacteria biomass and organic carbon removal efficiency was found in the coal-based activated carbon. The genera Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium, Alcaligenes, Acilzetobacter, and Spingomonas were identified for each activated carbon material. Pseudomonas vesicularis was the dominant species in the coconut- and coal-based materials, where as Pseudomonas cepacia was the dominant species in the wood-based material. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) observation of the activated carbon surface also found the widespread distribution of rod form and coccus. The community of attached bacteria was investigated by performing Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis. a group was dominant in coal, wood and coccunt-based materials, ${\alpha},\;{\beta}\;and\;{\gamma}$ group ranged from 27.0 ${\sim}$ 43.0%, 7.1 ${\sim}$ 22.0%, 11.3 ${\sim}$ 28.6%, respectively. These results suggest that a group bacterial community appears to be regulated removal efficiency of organic material in water treatment process.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1280-1286
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• 2006

Three different virgin activated carbons made of each coal(Calgon), coconut(Samchully) and wood(Picabiol) based activated carbon(AC) were tested for an adsorption performance of 1,4-dioxane in a continuous adsorption column. Breakthrough behavior was Investigated that the breakthrough points of coal, coconut and wood based AC were observed as 3600 bed volumn(BV), 1440 BV and 144 BV respectively. Adsorption capacity(X/M) of coal, coconut and wood based AC was observed. The reported results of adsorption capacity showed that coal based AC was highest(578.9 ${\mu}g/g$), coconut based AC was intermediate(142.3 ${\mu}g/g$) and wood based AC was lowest(7.4 ${\mu}g/g$) due to increasing specific surface area. Moreover, carbon usage rates(CURs) for coal, coconut and wood based AC had been shown as 0.48 g/day, 1.41 g/day and 6.9 g/day respectively. The constant characteristic of the system, k of coal based AC was found to be 91.5 and k of coconut based AC was found to be 17.9. Removal efficiencies of 1,4-dioxane with different ozonation dosages(2 and 5 mg/L) for 20 min ozonation had been shown 38% and 87% respectively. There was no observation for biological removal of 1.4-dioxane by attached micro-organisms when used(3.1 years and over 5 years) biological activated carbon(BAC) without pretreatment of oxidation were employed. When a combination of ozonation(2 mg/L and 5 mg/L) and BAC process for $10{\sim}30$ min was applied, removal efficiency for 1,4-dioxine increased only $2{\sim}6%$ compared to only applying ozonation. Therefore removal efficiency of BAC process prior to using oxidation was proven to negligible. Consequently, the results presented in this paper provide a better insight into the adsorption performance of 1,4-dioxane. This observation suggests that using virgin activated carbon made of coal is the best selection for removal of 1,4-dioxane in the water treatment for an advanced treatment. It is clear from this research that longer EBCT for ozonation or higher ozone concentration are more effective operation methods for removal of 1,4-dioxane than longer EBCT in the BAC process.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.28-40
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• 2004

Box experiments were performed to evaluate the removal efficiency of SVE (soil vapor extraction) for gasoline in soil. An activated carbon sorption tower and a biofilter were operated as post-treatment processes to remove VOCs extracted from extraction wells of SVE. An acrylic resin box (65 cm${\times}$20 cm${\times}$30 cm) was used to make artificial soil layers and two injection wells and one extraction well were built for SVE process in the box. Gases from extraction wells flew into the activated carbon sorption tower or the biofilter. Gasoline concentrations of VOCs emitted from the extraction well were compared with those after post treatments. More than 92% of initial gasoline mass in soil were removed by SVE within few days, suggesting that SVE is very available to remove VOCs from contaminated soils. To treat VOCs from extraction wells of SVE, an activated carbon sorption tower and a biofilter were attached to SVE process and their gasoline removal efficiencies were measured. These post treatment systems lowered gasoline concentrations to below 1.0 ppm within few days. Average remediation efficiency was 98% of gasoline for the activated carbon sorption tower and 84.1% for the biofilter. The maximum removal capacity of a biofilter was 10.7 g/L/hr, which was ten times higher than general biofilter removal capacity. Results from the study suggest that the activated carbon sorption tower and the biofilter would be available for the post treatment process to remove VOCs generated from SVE process.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.345-351
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• 2008

Fe-impregnated activated carbon(Fe-AC) was prepared by Fe(III) loading on activated carbon(AC) in various preparation pH. In order to evaluate the stability of Fe-AC, dissolution of iron from Fe-AC in acidic conditions was measured. In addition, batch experiments were conducted to monitor the removal efficiency of copper by Fe-AC. Results of stability test for Fe-AC showed that the amount of extracted iron increased with contact time but decreased with increasing solution pH. The dissolved amount of iron gradually increased at solution pH 2 and finally 13% of the total iron loaded on activated carbon was extracted after 12 hr. However dissolution of iron was negligible over solution pH 3. Removal of Cu(II) by Fe-AC was greatly affected by solution pH and was decreased as solution pH increased as well as initial Cu(II) concentration decreased. Surface complexation modeling was performed by considering inner-sphere complexation reaction and using the diffuse layer model with MINTEQA2 program.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.1163-1170
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• 2005

The microbial adsorption characteristics of two different media for biological treatment were studied using attached diverse microbes onto activated carbon and ceramic. The results in the experiments of the characteristics of physical adhesion on two different media with addition of high and low concentrated substrate in the culture were observed that the efficient of adhesion onto F-400 activated carbon was higher over that of ceramic due to the surface area of media. The irradiation treatment by ultrasonication with 400 W power and 3 min retention time on the media without addition substrate conditions and subsequent mixing throughly the culture showed the highest efficiency of cell detachment on the media. Three different microbes, P. ovalis, A calcoaceticus, and B. subtillis were used for the study of the characteristics of microbial adhesion on the media. p ovalis showed the highest adhesion capability while B. subtillis showed the lowest capability adhesion onto media either addition of substrate in the culture. The mixed bacterial culture showed $10\%$ lower removal efficiency of DOC in the low concentrated substrate culture compared to the single pure culture. Whileas, it did not show significant difference between two cultures at high concentrated substrate. It was also observed same population density of microorganism by counting of microbes adhered to microbial media with an ultrasound treatment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1255-1261
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• 2008

In this study, The effects of three different biological activated carbon (BAC) materials (each coal, coconut and wood based activated carbons), empty bed contact time (EBCT) and water temperature on the removal of haloacetic acid (HAA) 5 species in BAC filters were investigated. Experiments were conducted at three water temperatures (5, 10 and 20$^{\circ}C$) and four EBCTs (5, 10, 15 and 20 min). The results indicated that coal based BAC retained more attached bacterial biomass on the surface of the activated carbon than the other BAC, increasing EBCT or increasing water temperature increased the HAA 5 species removal in BAC columns. To achieve an HAA removal efficiency 50% or higher in a BAC filter, the authors suggest 10 min EBCT or longer for 5$^{\circ}C$ waters and 5 min EBCT for waters at 10$^{\circ}C$ or higher. The kinetic analysis suggested a first-order reaction model for HAA 5 species removal at various water temperatures (5, 10 and 20$^{\circ}C$). The pseudo-first-order reaction rate constants and half-lives were also calculated for HAA removal at 5, 10 and 20$^{\circ}C$. The pseudo-first-order reaction rate constants and half-lives were also calculated for HAA 5 species removal at 5$\sim$ 20$^{\circ}C$. The half-lives of HAA 5 species ranging from 0.75 to 18.58 min could be used to assist water utilities in designing and operating BAC filters for HAA removal.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.195-203
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• 2012

In this study, The effects of three different biological activated carbon (BAC) materials (each coal, coconut and wood based activated carbons) and anthracite, empty bed contact time (EBCT) and water temperature on the removal of MK, HHCB and AHTN in BAC filters were investigated. Experiments were conducted at three water temperatures (5, 15 and $25^{\circ}C$) and four EBCTs (5, 10, 15 and 20 min). The results indicated that coal based BAC retained more attached bacterial biomass on the surface of the activated carbon than the other BAC, increasing EBCT or increasing water temperature increased the synthetic musk compounds (SMCs) removal in BAC columns. The kinetic analysis suggested a first-order reaction model for MK, HHCB and AHTN removal at various water temperatures (5, 15 and $25^{\circ}C$). The pseudo-first-order biodegradation rate constants and half-lives were also calculated for MK, HHCB and AHTN removal at 5, 15 and $25^{\circ}C$. The pseudo-first-order biodegradation rate constants and half-lives of MK, HHCB and AHTN ranging from 0.0082 $min^{-1}$ to 0.4452 $min^{-1}$ and from 1.56 min to 84.51 min could be used to assist water utilities in designing and operating BAC filters for SMCs removal.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.310-316
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• 2006

In this study, activated carbon in a powder form was used to remove dissolved ammonia which causes a fouling smell in water. Since the adsorption capacity of common powder activated carbon is not high enough, we prepared powder activated carbon deposited on an acid solution to enhance the adsorption capacity. The acid-impregnated activated carbon was applied on the surface of porous fibril support ($10{\sim}50{\mu}m$) by which adsorption and separation processes take place simultaneously by varying effective pressure. As the result, the ammonia removal efficiency is above 60% in the mixing process which is 10~15% higher than general powder activated carbon. From the result of an experiment on the pure permeable test of a dynamic membrane, its transmittance is 400~700 LMH (liter per hour), indicating that the prepared membrane works as a microfiltration membrane. Therefore, it is expected that the membrane prepared in this way would improve the efficiency of water treatment than conventional membranes.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1995.10a
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• pp.41-42
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• 1995

기존의 정수처리 공정은 응집-침전-급속여과처리를 주로 사용하면서 생물 활성탄처리-오존처리 등을 거치는 공정으로 이루어져 왔다. 그러나 응집제의 투여시 최적 응집제량, 최적 응집제 투여위치, 교반시간, pH 조절 등 번거러운 test가 선행 되어야 하며 처리수에 남아있는 응집제에 의해 2차 오염을 일으켜 침전조의 부지 면적에 따른 대형화등을 초래할 단점이 있다. 따라서 최근에는 이러한 단점을 보완하고 장치의 간소함, 높은 효율의 유지에 따른 후처리 공정의 부하감소 및 운전 조건 인자등의 감소라는 경제적 효과를 기대할 수 있는 막분리공정이 도입되었다. 그러나 분리막 처리공정의 경우 원수에 다량 포함되어 있는 콜로이드 입자들에 의한 flux의 감소 및 fouling 현상으로 인한 막의 수명감소, 처리수량의 감소 및 최적 설계 및 운전 방법등의 새로운 공정에 대한 많은 자료의 확보가 필요하다. 따라서 본 연구는 기존의 정수처리 공정에 있어서 전처리 부분에 해당하는 응집-침전-급속여과처리 공정을 분리막 공정으로 대체 하였을 때 분리막의 재질 및 module의 차이에 따른 처리 능력을 비교하고 각 단위 공정들에 의한 flux 변화, 각 공정별 수질분석, 회복율, 회수율 등을 검토하여 최적 조건의 공정을 확립하여 후처리 공정의 효율을 극대화 하는데 있다.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.989-996
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• 2009

In this study, the effects of biofilter media type (three different activated carbons and anthracite), empty bed contact time (EBCT) and temperature on the removal of four aldehyde species (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, glyoxal and methylglyoxal) in BAC filters were investigated. Experiments were conducted at three water temperature (5, 15 and $25^{\circ}C$) and four EBCTs (5, 10, 15, and 20 min). The experimental results indicated that the coal based BAC retained more bacterial biomass on the surface of the activated carbon than the other BACs, and increasing EBCT or increasing water temperature also increased the four aldehyde species removal in BAC filters. To achieve above 80% of removal efficiency for four aldehyde species in a BAC filter, above 15 min EBCT at $5^{\circ}C$ and 10 min EBCT at above $15^{\circ}C$ were required. The kinetic analysis indicated a first-order reaction rate for the biodegradation of four aldehyde species at various water temperatures. Data obtained from the BAC filters at various temperatures were also used to evaluate pseudo first-order rate constants for four aldehyde species. The half-lives evaluated for formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, glyoxal and methylglyoxal in the coal-based BAC ranging from 0.89 to 3.19 min, from 0.75 to 3.35 min, from 2.16 to 4.72 min and from 1.49 to 3.86 min, respectively, could be used to assist water utilities in designing and operating BAC filters.