• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.28-39
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• 2016

Struvite (MgNH₄PO₄ ⋅ 6H₂O) and hydroxyapatite (HAP, Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂) precipitation in urine-separating toilets (NoMix toilets) causes severe maintenance problems and also reduce the phosphate and calcium content. Application of urine separating technique and extraction of by-products from human urine is a cost effective technique in waste water treatment. In this study, we extract urine calcite from human urine by batch scale method, using urease producing microbes to trigger the precipitation and calcite formation process. Extracted urine calcite (calcining at 800℃) is a potential adsorbent for removal of heavy metal(loid)s like (Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺ and As³⁺) along with additional leaching analysis of total nitrogen (T-N), phosphate (T-P) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The transformations of calcite during synthesis were confirm by characterization using XRD, SEM-EDAX and FT-IR techniques. In additional, the phosphate leaching potential and adsorbate (nitrate) efficiency in aqueous solution was investigated using the calcinedurine calcite. The results indicate that the calcite was effectively remove heavy metal(loid)s lead up to 96.8%. In addition, the adsorption capacity (q_e) of calcite was calculated and it was found to be 203.64 Pb, 110.96 Cd, 96.02 Zn, 104.2 As, 149.54 Cu and 162.68 Ni mg/g, respectively. Hence, we suggest that the calcite obtain from the human urine will be a suitable absorbent for heavy metal(loid)s removal from aqueous solution.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.996-1004
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• 2020

Various genetically engineered microorganisms have been developed for the removal of heavy metal contaminants. Metal biosorption by whole-cell biosorbents can be enhanced by overproduction of metal-binding proteins/peptides in the cytoplasm or on the cell surface. However, few studies have compared the biosorption capacity of whole cells expressing intracellular or surface-displayed metal-adsorbing proteins. In this study, several constructs were prepared for expressing intracellular and surface-displayed Ochrobactrum tritici 5bvl1 ChrB in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) cells. E. coli cells expressing surface-displayed ChrB removed more Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions than cells with cytoplasmic ChrB under the same conditions. However, intracellular ChrB was less susceptible to variation in extracellular conditions (pH and ionic strength), and more effectively removed Cr(VI) from industrial wastewater than the surface-displayed ChrB at low pH (<3). An adsorption-desorption experiment demonstrated that compared with intracellular accumulation, cell-surface adsorption is reversible, which allows easy desorption of the adsorbed metal ions and regeneration of the bioadsorbent. In addition, an intrinsic ChrB protein fluorescence assay suggested that pH and salinity may influence the Cr(VI) adsorption capacity of ChrB-expressing E. coli cells by modulating the ChrB protein conformation. Although the characteristics of ChrB may not be universal for all metal-binding proteins, our study provides new insights into different engineering strategies for whole-cell biosorbents for removing heavy metals from industrial effluents.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.341-347
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• 2008

The feasibility of commercializing the hydrothermal synthesis of Na-A type zeolite from siliceous mudstone has been conducted using a 50-liter bench-scale autoclave and the application of the zeolite as an environmental remediation agent. Siliceous mudstone, which is widely distributed around the Pohang area, was adopted as a precursor. The siliceous mudstone is favorable for the synthesis of zeolite because it contains 70.7% $SiO_2$ and 10.0% $Al_2O_3$, which are major ingredient of zeolite formation. The synthesis of zeolite was carried out under the following conditions that had been obtained from the previous laboratory-scale tests: 10hr reaction time, $80^{\circ}C$ reaction temperature, $Na_2O/SiO_2$ ratio = 0.6, $SiO_2/Al_2O_3$ ratio = 2.0 and $H_2O/Na_2O$ ratio= 98.6. The crystallinity and morphology of the zeolite formed were similar to those obtained from the laboratory-scale tests. The recovery and cation exchange ion capacity were 95% and 215 cmol/kg, respectively, which are slightly higher than those obtained in laboratory scale tests. To examine the feasibility of the zeolite as an environmental remediation agent, experiments for heavy metal adsorption to zeolite were conducted. Its removal efficiencies of heavy metals in simulated waste solutions decreased in the following sequences: Pb > Cd > Cu = Zn > Mn. In a solution of 1500 mg/L total impurity metals, the removal efficiencies for these impurity metals were near completion (> 99%) except for Mn whose efficiency was 98%. Therefore, the synthetic Na-A type zeolite was proven to be a strong absorbent effective for removing heavy metals.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.100-109
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• 2012

Removal rates of $PO_4-P$ and TP in a free water surface wetland system were investigated. The system was established in 2008 on a floodplain in the middle reach of the Gwangju Stream flowing through Gwangju City. Its dimensions were 46 meters in length and 5 meters in width. Two year old Typha angustifloria L. growing in pots were planted on half of the area and Zizania latifolia Turcz on the other half in 2008. Stream water was funneled into the wetlands by gravity flow, and its effluent was discharged back into the stream. The influent volume was controlled by valves and water depth was adjusted by wires. Volume and water quality of inflow and outflow were analyzed from January to December in 2010. Inflow into the system averaged approximately $710m^3/day$ and hydraulic residence time was about 1.5 hours. Average influent and effluent $PO_4-P$ concentration were 0.144 and 0.103mg/L, respectively, and $PO_4-P$ abatement amounted to 28.6%. Influent and effluent TP concentration averaged 0.333 and 0.262mg/L, respectively, and TP retention reached to 20.7%.$PO_4-P$ removal rate(%) during plant growing season(31.448) was significantly high(p<0.001) when compared with that during plant non-growing season(25.829). TP abatement rate(%) during plant growing season(27.230) was also significantly high(p<0.001) when compared with that of the non-growing season(14.856). Major phosphorous removals in the system resulted from adsorption of phosphorous in the litter-soil layers; sedimentation of particulate phosphorous and Ca, Al, Fe bounded phosphates; and absorption of phosphorous by emergent plants. The adsorption and sedimentation occurred throughout the year, however, the absorption took place during plant growing season. This resulted in higher removals of $PO_4-P$ and TP during plant growing season.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1186-1191
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• 2006

Removal efficiency of As(III) through oxidation and adsorption in column reactors was investigated at different ratios of manganese-coated sand(MCS) and iron-coated sand(ICS) : MCS-alone, ICS-alone and both of ICS and MCS. The breakthrough of arsenic immediately occurred from a column reactor with MCS-alone. However, most of the arsenic present in the effluent was identified as As(V) due to the oxidation of As(III) by MCS. While five-times delayed breakthrough of arsenic was observed from a column reactor with ICS-alone. At a complete breakthrough of arsenic, the removed As(III) was 36.1 mg with 1 kg ICS. To find an optimum ratio of ICS and MCS in the column packed with both ICS and MCS, the removal efficiency of As(III) was investigated at three different ratios of ICS/MCS with a fixed amount of ICS. The breakthrough time of arsenic was quite similar in the different ratios ICS/MCS. However, much slower breakthrough of arsenic was observed as the ratio of ICS/MCS decreased. As the ratio of ICS/MCS decreased the concentration of As(III) in the effluent decreased and then showed below 50 ppb at an equal amount of ICS and MCS, suggesting more efficient oxidation of As(III) by greater amount of MCS. When a complete breakthrough of arsenic occurred, the removed total arsenic with an equal amount of ICS and MCS was 68.5 mg with 1 kg of filter material.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1347-1352
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• 2005

[ $H_2S$ ] removal reaction using $Li_2ZrO_3/honeycomb$ has been carried out in a fixed bed reactor for the cleaning of syngas from the waste gasifier. $Li_2ZrO_3$ was synthesised using reagent-grade $Li_3CO_3$ and $ZrO_2$ with suitable amount of ethanol in a 1:1 ratio. And then $Li_2ZrO_3$ were calcined in air at $850{\sim}1000^{\circ}C$ for 14 h. The optimum condition of $H_2S$ removal reaction is around 20 wt% $Li_2ZrO_3$/honeycomb at 300 mL/min and $700^{\circ}C$. At this condition, removal amount of $H_2S$ was about 0.337 $g^{H_2S}/g^{sorbent}$. Addition of $K_2CO_3$, $Na_2CO_3$, NaCl and LiCl in the $Li_2ZrO_3$ remarkably improves the $H_2S$ removal capacity of modified $Li_2ZrO_3$/honeycomb up to 23%. Analyses of $Li_2ZrO_3/honeycomb$ sorbent by SEM and XRD showed that $Li_2ZrO_3$ was uniformly impregnated into honeycomb up to considerable amounts. Furthermore, the physicochemical properties of the sorbent did not vary much up to $1000^{\circ}C$.

• Clean Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2006

The effectiveness of inorganic oxides (DT-30), anionic exchange resin (DT-60) and carbon absorbent (DT-80, DT-90) on the equilibrium and continuous separation characteristics and removal of cobalt, cesium and iodide ion in the waste water was investigated. As a result, DT-30, DT-80 or DT-90, and DT-60 showed excellent separation properties on the cesium, cobalt and iodide respectively. In the equilibrium experiment, the adsorption amount of cesium for DT-30 increased with temperature, but increasd largely with pH. In case of DT-80, adsorption of cobalt was depended on pH but was not influenced by temperature. In the continuous system by passing a heavy metal ion solution through the ion exchange tower, DT-30, DT-90 and DT-60 showed good separation characteristic for cesium, cobalt and iodide respectively. In this case, separation characterization of DT-30 on the cesium and of DT-60 on the iodide were better than that of DT-90 on the cobalt. From the experiment on the effect of impurities on the ion exchange characteristics, impurities such as surfactant and oil did not influence the efficiency of DT-90. In the mean while, ion separation capacity of DT-30 were decreased largely by impurities such as surfactant and oil. Also, surfactant had a strong influence on the effectiveness of DT-60. Accordingly, it turned out to be very important thing that impurities should be removed in the preprocessing stage.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.154-159
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• 1999

EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), a chelating agent is most widely used in industrial applications, especially for cleaning of metals in water, frequently prohibits metal removal from water in conventional water treatment technologies. It could be easier to remove aqueous metal ions by the breakdown of DETA complexed bonds first. This study investigated the availability of $TiO_2$ photo-catalysis for the aqueous phase oxidation of Cu(II)-EDTA, under an aerobic condition at $20^{\circ}C$ with $TiO_2$ (Degussa P-25) and 1.79mM of Cu(II)-EDTA. When $TiO_2$ loading was 2.0 g/L, the photo-catalytic oxidation of Cu(II)-EDTA was maximal. The tendency of EDTA adsorption onto the catalyst surface was affected by $TiO_2$ surface charge, and the oxidation rate of Cu(II)-EDTA by photo-catalysis was shown to be dependent upon the tendency of EDTA adsorption before photo-irradiation.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.35-43
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• 2011

Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRB) method is an economical method that does not require any other methods to be operated once it is installed as it controls of groundwater flow in the barrier, which is inserted a reactive material on the way of pollutant. The major dominant element of PRB is a reactive material in the reactive wall, and such factors as purification efficiency and used time based on the chemical and physical features in between the reactant and pollutant. High purification efficiency can be expected when a rational design that is synthetically considered in features of packing density, operation period, and adsorption reactant of pollutant. A column test was conducted for an application test using CFW as its adsorption reactant in order to remove copper($Cu^{2+}$) in the PRB system. The CFW was used for the reactant and selected inflow speed, density and thickness of PRB as its necessary factors for design of PRB. As a result of the experiment, the removal efficiency decreased as operating time of PRB increased and the efficiency linearly increased upon the length. Therefore, it is confirmed that the thickness of reactive materials in PRB system can be designed using the proposed formula considering purification time and density of CFW.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.392-400
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• 2004

This research uses the $TiO_2$/UV process to verify the most suitable condition and possibility to dispose dyeing wastewater that contains pigment and a large amount of pollutants. For this, this research has enforced experiments that compare photo adsorption, photolysis, and photo catalyst oxidation reaction, and also evaluated and analyzed the change of pH and $TiO_2$ dosage, irradiation rates of ultraviolet rays and the dosage change and injection method of $H_2O_2$. According to the results of the dyeing wastewater experiment of storehouse catalyst that uses the new form of $TiO_2$, the photo catalyst oxidation reaction proved to be more effective than photo adsorption and photolysis; 35%, 21% in the case of $TCOD_{cr}$ and 39%, 28% in the case of chromaticity. Taking into consideration the reaction time, amount of photo catalyst reaction and irradiation amount of ultraviolet rays, the decomposition efficiency of pH change proved to be most effective at pH 4. On the whole, the acidity area proved to be effective in dyeing water exclusion than neutral and alkalinity areas. Having evaluated the influence of $TiO_2$ dosage, not only does the decomposition efficiency continuously improve as the $TiO_2$ dosage increases but the shielding effect does not occur also when the $TiO_2$ is at a fixed state. The influence of ultraviolet irradiation amount concluded in the result that as the ultraviolet irradiation amount increases the decomposition efficiency continually increased, but in the case of chromaticity when the irradiation amount was higher than 37.8mW/cm2 the removal efficiency is slowed remarkably. The influence of $H_2O_2$ dosage evaluation reached the results that although the decomposition efficiency increases with the increase of $H_2O_2$ dosage, when above 150mg (total dosage: 1200mg) $H_2O_2$ consumes OH radical itself and reduces the decomposition efficiency. Also in the case of the $H_2O_2$ injection method rather than injecting in the whole amount of $H_2O_2$ (1200mg) needed at the beginning all at once, injecting divided quantities of $H_2O_2$ whenever the electric current density falls below 10mgfl reduces the wases of OH radical due to an excess of $H_2O_2$ and in tum heightens the decomposition efficiency.