• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.665-674
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• 2015

The final goal of this research is to develop a botanical biofiltration system, which combines green interior, biofiltering, and automatic irrigation, which can purify indoor air pollutants according to indoor space and the size of biofilter. The biofilter used in this experiment was designed as an integral form of water metering pump, water tank, blower, humidifier, and multi-level planting space in order to be more suitable for indoor space utilization. This study was performed to compare indoor air quality between the space adjacent to a botanical biofilter and the space away from the biofilter (control) without generation of artificial indoor air pollutants, and to evaluate plant growth depending on multiple floors within the biofilter. Each concentration of indoor air pollutants such as TVOCs, monoxide, and dioxide in the space treated with the biofilter was lower than that of control. Dracaena sanderiana ‘Vitoria’ and Epipremnum aureum ‘N Joy’ also showed normal growth responses regardless of multiple floors within the biofilter. Hence, it was confirmed that the wall-typed botanical biofilter suitable for indoor plants was effective for indoor air purification.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2021

Fluorination was carried out to improve the adsorption performance of pitch-based activated carbon fibers (ACFs) onto acetic acid. Both plasma and direct gas fluorination were used for fluorination, and the acetic acid gas adsorption performance of fluorinated ACFs was investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is analyzed to determine the surface characteristics of ACFs, and the pore characteristics were analyzed by 77 K nitrogen adsorption. An adsorption performance was measured through gas chromatography, and it was confirmed that the breakthrough time of plasma fluorinated sample was 790 min and that the breakthrough time was delayed compared to that of using untreated one of 650 min. However, the breakthrough time of direct gas fluorinated sample was 390 min, indicating that the adsorption performance was inhibited. The plasma fluorinated ACFs showed an increase in the adsorption performance due to an electrostatic attraction between the acetic acid gas (CH3COOH) with the fluorine group introduced to the surface without changing its specific surface area. On the other hand, the specific surface area of the direct gas fluorinated ACFs decreased significantly up to 55%, and the physical adsorption effect on the acetic acid gas also reduced.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.468-475
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• 2005

Biofilters packed with various materials have emerged as a sustainable technology for the treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); however, problems including low performance and clogging are commonly encountered. Recently, a bioactive foam reactor (BFR) using surfactants has been suggested to ensure efficient and stable VOCs removal performance. This study was mainly conducted to investigate the feasibility of BFRs using toluene as a model compound. Prior to bioreactor studies, a series of bottle tests were used to select a suitable surfactant for the BFR application. Experimental results of the batch bottle tests indicated that TritonX-100 was the most appropriate one among the surfactants tested, since it showed a minimal effect on the toluene biodegradation rate while the other surfactants lowered the toluene biodegradation rate significantly. Using the selected surfactant, the BFR performance was determined by changing operating parameters including gas residence time and toluene loading. As the gas residence time increased from 0.5 minutes to 2 minutes, the toluene removal efficiency increased from approximately 50% to 80%. In addition, an increase of the toluene loading from $38\;g/m^3/hr$ to $454\;g/m^3/hr$ resulted in a decrease of toluene removal efficiency from approximately 70% to 20%. The BFR had a maximum elimination capacity of $108\;g/m^3/hr$ for toluene, which was much higher than those generally reported in the literature. The high toluene-elimination performance indicates that the BFR be a potential alternative to the conventional, packed-type biofilters. However, the limitation of toluene solubilization and foam stability at either high or low gas flow rate are still problems to be challenged.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.35-43
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• 2005

Bioslurping combines the three remedial approaches of bioventing, vacuum-enhanced free-product recovery, and soil vapor extraction. Bioslurping is less effective in tight (low-permeability) soils. The greatest limitation to air permeability is excessive soil moisture. Optimum soil moisture is very soil-specific. Too much moisture can reduce air permeability of the soil and decrease its oxygen transfer capability. Too little moisture will inhibit microbial activity. So Modified Fenton reaction as chemical treatment which can overcome the weakness of Bioslurping was experimented for simultaneous treatment. Although the diesel removal efficiency of SVE process increased in proportion to applied vacuum pressure, SVE process was difficulty to remediation quickly semi- or non-volatile compounds absorbed soil strongly. And SVE process had variation of efficiency with distance from the extraction well and depth a air flow form of hemisphere centering around the well. Below 0.1 % hydrogen peroxide shows the potential of using hydrogen peroxide as oxygen source but the co-oxidation of chemical and biological treatment was impossible because of the low efficiency of Modified Fenton reaction at 0.1 % (wt) hydrogen peroxide. NTA was more efficiency than EDTA as chelating agent and diesel removal efficiency of Modified Fenton reaction increased in proportion to hydrogen peroxide concentration. Hexadecane as typical aliphatic compound was removed less than Toluene as aromatic compound because of its structural stability in Modified Fenton reaction. What minimum 10% hydrogen peroxide concentration has good remediation efficiency of diesel contaminated groundwater may show the potential use of Modified Fenton reaction after bioslurping treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.74-80
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• 2015

To assess environmental characteristics of the aquaculture area in Tongyeong, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), dissolved inorganic phosphorous (DIP) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), and acid volatile sulfur (AVS) were measured in seawater and sediment samples collected from 10 locations of Tongyeong coastal area from July to December in 2013. The quality of the seawater may be affected by seasonal variation rather than the distance from fish farm. However, sediment was contrary to seawater; the distance from fish farm may be a main factor to affect COD and AVS in sediment than season and other parameters. It is expected that contaminated organic sediments of fishery located in semi-closed bay are rapidly dispersed into surrounding waters due to fast current.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1281-1293
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• 2019

The rhizosphere is the active zone where plant roots communicate with the soil microbiome, each responding to the other's signals. The soil microbiome within the rhizosphere that is beneficial to plant growth and productivity is known as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). PGPR take part in many pivotal plant processes, including plant growth, development, immunity, and productivity, by influencing acquisition and utilization of nutrient molecules, regulation of phytohormone biosynthesis, signaling, and response, and resistance to biotic- and abiotic-stresses. PGPR also produce secondary compounds and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that elicit plant growth. Moreover, plant roots exude attractants that cause PGPR to aggregate in the rhizosphere zone for colonization, improving soil properties and protecting plants against pathogenic factors. The interactions between PGPR and plant roots in rhizosphere are essential and interdependent. Many studies have reported that PGPR function in multiple ways under the same or diverse conditions, directly and indirectly. This review focuses on the roles and strategies of PGPR in enhancing nutrient acquisition by nutrient fixation/solubilization/mineralization, inducing plant growth regulators/phytohormones, and promoting growth and development of root and shoot by affecting cell division, elongation, and differentiation. We also summarize the current knowledge of the effects of PGPR and the soil microbiota on plants.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2005

This research was investigated the applicability of the biofiltration technology for the removal of volatile organic carbons (VOCs) produced from the bioremediation of oil contaminated soil. Diesel was used as surrogate for oil and, two types of biofilter systems made of ceramic and polymer media were compared for the removal efficiencies of diesel VOCs at different inlet concentrations and space velocity (SV) conditions. During the first 30-d operation, the removal efficiencies of the biofilter packed with polymer and the biofilter packed with ceramic were investigated at constant SV of $153\;h^{-1}$ When inlet concentrations of diesel VOCs were below 10 ppmv, the average removal efficiencies of the polymer biofilter and the ceramic biofilter were average $67\%\;and\;75\%$, respectively. When the inlet concentration increased to 30 ppmv, the VOC removal efficiency in the polymer biofilter was $80\%$, while the average removal efficiency in the ceramic biofilter was $60\%. Effect of the inlet concentration and SV on the removal efficiency of total diesel VOCs was investigated. As SV increased from $153\;h^{-1}$ to $204\;h^{-1}$ and $306\;h^{-1}$, the removal efficiency of total diesel VOCs was decreased gradually. The average removal efficiency of the biofilter packed with polymer carrier was decreased from $82\%\;to\;80\%\;and\;77\%$. The biofilter packed with polymer carrier showed that the removal efficiency of benzene and toluene were maintained within the range of $81\%\~86\%$. In contrast, for the biofilter packed with ceramic carrier, when SV increased from $153\;h^{-1}$ to $204\;h^{-1}$ and $306\;h^{-1}$, the removal efficiency of benzene decreased from $87\%\;to79\%\;and\;74\% . respectively. The removal efficiency of toluene decreased from $80\%\;to\;77\%\;and\;76\%$ at SV of $153\;h^{-1},\;204\;h^{-1}\;and\;306\;h^{-1}$, and $306\;h^{-1}$, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.41-50
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• 2022

Recently, research on carbon adsorbents has been active as an interest in improving the environment such as indoor and outdoor air quality. Considering that causative substances deteriorate the air quality are basically volatile organic compounds, it is important to improve the hydrophobicity of the carbon materials for better removal efficiency. This study presents a method for improving hydrophobicity of carbon and a measurement of the hydrophobicity. Generally, methods of improving the hydrophobicity of carbon materials are heat treatment, acid/alkali treatment, coating and immersion with hydrophobic materials. However, it collapses the pore structure and reduces the adsorption capacity. Therefore, this study briefly introduce not only the general method for improving carbon materials' hydrophobicity but also the method for converting the precursor of the material is briefly introduced. Futhermore, this study introduces a analytical technique used to determine hydrophobic modification or not, and aims to enhance the understanding of carbon materials.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.85-102
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• 1993

This study was conducted to achieve develop organic sludge recycling technology as sludge make a prey of earthworm. Therefore sludge treatment and recycling technology is an important field by which this research project to solve landfill site and reduction treatment expense using vermicomposting treatment process on the waste sludge from the biological wastewater treatment plant. In experimental results on the optimum conditions of vermicomposting of nightsoil treatment sludge, survival rates were observed 98.3% in temperature of $10-15^{\circ}C$, 75% in pH 5.8-7.5 and 100% in density of $1/79.8cm^3$, respectively. Liveweight changes of earthworm were increased 266% in temperature of $10-15^{\circ}C$, 227% in pH 5.8-7.5 and 325 % in density $1\;cap./79.8cm^3$, respectively. Casting production rate were generated 0.06 g/cap./day in temperature $20-25^{\circ}C$, 0.065 g/cap./day in pH 5.8-7.5 and 0.1 g/cap./day in density $1\;cap./79.8cm^3$, respectively. Cocoon production numbers were observed 3.8 ea. /cap.in $10-15^{\circ}C$, 2.95 ea./cap.in pH 5.8-7.5 and 3.16 ea./cap. in $1\;cap./79.8cm^3$ during 6 weeks, respectively. pH was droped by 6.2 to 5.7, volatile solids was decreased by 2.9%, $NH_3-N$ were also reduced by $6.984{\mu}g/g$ to $0.991{\mu}g/g$. $NO_3-N$, however, were increased by $3.213{\mu}g/g$ to $7.706{\mu}g/g$. Fecal coliforms and pathogenic bacteria are analyzed by microbiological method to assess public health safety of casting. Number of fecal coliform groups were reduced 88.6-99.1% (Avg. 95.7%) approximately. And pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, Shiegella and Vibrio, were not isolated from the earthworm cast.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.737-742
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• 1999

This study was conducted for the two purposes; one was removal of dissolved humic acid, the well-known precursor of trihalomethanes (THMs), by physicochemical treatment processes such as ozone oxidation, coagulation and activated carbon adsorption. The other was qualitative identification of by-products in chlorination of the dissolved humic acid. When ozone oxidation was applied to remove the dissolved humic acid, pH was abruptly decreased. It was indicated that humic acid was not perfectly converted to $CO_2$ and $H_2O$, but to low fatty acid. In coagulation process, the coagulant was polyaluminumchloride which was widely used for drinking water treatment in recent years. With the dosage of 160 mg/L, total organic carbon(TOC), $COD_{Cr}$ and color were removed with 23%, 24% and 5% respectively. Color was effectively removed by ozone oxidation process, which was the first order reaction, with the reaction rate constant of $0.067min^{-1}$. In activated carbon adsorption process, preozonation process could remove more effectively the dissolved humic acid than that without preozonation. When the dissolved humic acid and sodium hydrochloride were reacted with 1 mg-NaOCl/mg-TOC, only trihalomethanes were detected.