• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.58-64
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• 2014

Management of organic waste such as livestock manure has been considered as very important issue in terms of the environment. The anaerobic digestion of livestock manure become more attractive treatment method and has been widely applied. In this work, the properties of the residue after the anaerobic digestion of livestock manure was evaluated for providing the basic data to develop new application. The lignin and the ash contents of the residue were much higher than those of other biomass such as wood. The components of the residue were also analyzed with SEM-EDS and Elemental Analyzer. The addition of the residue into the handsheet paper resulted in the higher bulk and he higher air permeability with the loss of the strength properties. The water holding capacity of the handsheet were increased until the 40 % addition of the residue.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.24-29
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: In recent years, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have emerged as a promising technology for recovering renewable energy from waste biomass, especially wastewater. In this study, the possibility of bioelectricity generation in two chambered mediator-less microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was successfully demonstrated using fermentable and non-fermentable substrates. METHODS AND RESULTS: Two different electron acceptors have been tested in the cathode chamber for the effects of reducing agent on the power generation in MFCs. The average voltages of $0.26{\pm}0.014$ V and $0.36{\pm}0.02$ V were achieved with acetate using oxygen and potassium ferricyanide as reducing agent, respectively. Similarly, with glucose the average voltages of $0.256{\pm}0.05$ V and $0.340{\pm}0.04$ V were obtained using oxygen and ferricyanide, respectively. Using potassium ferricyanide as the reducing agent, the power output increases by 39 and 43% with acetate and glucose, respectively, as compared to the dissolved oxygen. Slightly higher coulombic efficiency (CE%) was obtained in acetate as compared to MFCs operated with glucose. The maximum power densities of 124 mW/$m^2$ and 204 mW/$m^2$ were obtained using dissolved oxygen and $K_3Fe(CN)_6$, respectively. CONCLUSION(s): This study demonstrates that power generation from the MFCs can be influenced significantly by the different types of catholyte. Relatively higher CE was obtained with $K_3Fe(CN)_6$. Thus, application of $K_3Fe(CN)_6$ as the catholyte can be vital for scaling uppower generation from the MFCs forreal time applications.

• Clean Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.171-179
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• 2005

Biodiesel is synthesized by transesterification of vegetable or animal oils with alcohols. Since it has similar characteristic with diesel fuel, it can be used as a fuel by mixing with diesel fuel. Moreover, it is advantageous that biodiesel can reduce air pollution emitted from fuel combustion and is produced from sustainable energy, biomass. Recently, many researchers have investigated biodiesel synthesis using supercritical methanol since it is economical due to shorter reaction time and simple separation/purification process, compared with conventional alkali- or acid-catalyzed process. By the development of biodiesel production process from waste edible oil using supercritical methanol, it can be expected to utilize potential energy resources, reduce carbon dioxide emission, and improve environmental conditions.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.19-19
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• 2014

Pleurotus ostreatus, P. eryngii, and Flammulina velutipes are major edible mushrooms that account for over 89% of total mushroom production in Korea. Recently, Agrocybe cylindracea, Hypsizygus marmoreus, and Hericium erinaceu are increasingly being cultivated in mushroom farms. In Korea, the production of edible mushrooms was estimated to be 614,224 ton in 2013. Generally, about 5 kg of mushroom substrate is needed to produce 1 kg of mushroom, and consequently about 25 million tons of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) is produced each year in Korea. Because this massive amount of SMC is unsuitable for reuse in mushroom production, it is either used as garden fertilizer or deposited in landfills, which pollutes the environment. It is reasonably assumed that SMS includes different secondary metabolites and extracellular enzymes produced from mycelia on substrate. Three major groups of enzymes such as cellulases, xylanases, and lignin degrading enzymes are involved in breaking down mushroom substrates. Cellulase and xylanase have been used as the industrial enzymes involving the saccharification of biomass to produce biofuel. In addition, lignin degrading enzymes such as laccases have been used to decolorize the industrial synthetic dyes and remove environmental pollutions such as phenolic compounds. Basidiomycetes produce a large number of biologically active compounds that show antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, cytotoxic or hallucinogenic activities. However, most previous researches have focused on therapeutics and less on the control of plant diseases. SMS can be considered as an easily available source of active compounds to protect plants from fungal and bacterial infections, helping alleviate the waste disposal problem in the mushroom industry and creating an environmentally friendly method to reduce plant pathogens. We describe extraction of lignocellulytic enzymes and antimicrobial substance from SMSs of different edible mushrooms and their potential applications.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.925-934
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• 2010

Three typical biological solid wastes, namely, animal manure, garbage, and sewage sludge, were compared with regard to the composting process and the changes in microbial community structure. The effects of different bulking agents such as rice straw, vermiculite, sawdust, and waste paper were compared in manure compost. The differences in the microbial community were characterized by the quinone profile method. The highest mass reduction was found in garbage composting (56.8%), compared with manure and sludge (25% and 20.2%, respectively). A quinone content of $305.2\;{\mu}mol/kg$ was observed in the late stage of garbage composting, although the diversity index of the quinone profile was 9.7, lower than that in manure composting. The predominant quinone species was found to be MK-7, which corresponds to Gram-positive bacteria with a low G+C content, such as Bacillus. The predominance of MK-7 was especially found in the garbage and sludge composting process, and the increase in quinones with partially saturated long side-chains was shown in the late composting process of manure, which corresponded to the proliferation of Actinobacteria. The effects of different bulking agents on the composting process was much smaller than the effects of different raw materials. High organic matter content in the raw materials resulted in a higher microbial biomass and activity, which was connected to the high mass reduction rate.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.147-156
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• 1995

Restoration of ecosystems degraded by heavy metal pollution can be accomplished by soil amendment and selection and utilization of plants tolerant to heavy metals. Two former zinc mine sites, Sambo Mine in Hwasung, Kyonggi-do and the Second Yonhwa Mine in Samchuk, Kangwon-do, were selected for collection of plant samples and for determination of heavy metal tolerant species. Dominant species on mine waste deposits in Hwasung site were Panicum bisulcatum and Echinoch/oa crus-galli, while those in Samchuk site were Aster yomena, Setaria viridis, Artemisia lavandulaefolia and Oenothera odorata. Mean contents of zinc, lead and cadmium in Hwasung soil were 103, 117 and 1 ppm, respectively, while those in Samchuk soil were 23, 6 and 4 ppm, respectively, Zinc contents were higher in Echinochloa crus-galli from Hwasung and in Artemisia lavandulaefolia from Samchuk, while lead contents were higher in Panicum bisulcatum and Echinochloa crus-galli from Hwasung and Lactuca sonchiJolia and Pinus densiJolia from Samchuk. Plant species with higher cadmium contents were Panicum bisulcatum and Lactuca sonchiJolia. Comparison of metal contents between roots and shoots showed that Echinochloa crus-galli was a zinc accumulator, while Panicum bisulcatum, Persicaria hydroPiPer, Pinus densiJlora and Lactuca sonchiJolia were zinc excluders. In addition, Panicum bisulcatum and Persicaria hydroPiPer were proved to be lead excluders. When both heavy metal contents in plant tissues and biomass of individual plants are considered, it can be concluded that Echinochloa crus-galli and Panicum bisulcatum from Hwasung and Artemisia lavandulaefolia and Aster yomena are heavy metal absorbing plants. The effect of heavy metals on seed germination showed that Artemisia princeps var. orientalis had higher germination rates, but no significant difference in concomitant decrease of germination rates among the species investigated were found by increasing heavy metal contents.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.452-459
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• 2010

This study is aimed to investigate changes of combustion characteristics and heat efficiency when syngas from gasification process using low-rank fuel such as waste and/or biomass is applied partially to an industrial boiler. An experimental study on syngas co-combustion was performed in a 0.7 MW (1 ton steam/hr) water tube boiler using heavy oil as a main fuel. Three kinds of syngas were used as an alternative fuel: mixture gas of pure carbon monoxide and hydrogen, syngas of low calorific value generated from an air-blown gasification process, and syngas of high calorific value produced from an oxygen-blown gasification process. Effects of co-combustion ratio (0~20%) for each syngas on flue gas composition were investigated through syngas injection through the nozzles installed in the side wall of the boiler and measuring $O_2$, $CO_2$, CO and NOx concentrations in the flue gas. When syngas co-combustion was applied, injected syngas was observed to be burned completely and NOx concentration was decreased because nitrogen-containing-heavy oil was partially replaced by the syngas. However, heat efficiency of the boiler was observed to be decreased due to inert compounds in the syngas and the more significant decrease was found when syngas of lower calorific value was used. However, the decrease of the efficiency was under 10% of the heat replacement by syngas.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.250-257
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• 2018

We developed new composites by combining the solid waste from Low-Density Polyethylene in the form of plastic bag (PB) and biomass from rice husk (RH),in the form of $(RH)_x(PB)_{1-x}$ (x = (1, 0.9, 0.7, 0.5)), as alternative fuels for electrical energy sources, and for providing the best solution to reduce environmental pollution. Elemental compositions were obtained by using proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and the thermal characteristics were obtained from thermogravimetric analysis. The compositions of carbon and hydrogen from the ultimate analysis show significant increases of 20-30% with increasing PB in the composite. The activation energy for RH is 101.22 kJ/mol; for x = 0.9 and 0.7, this increases by 4 and 6 magnitude, respectively, and for x = 0.5, shows remarkable increase to 165.30 kJ/mol. The range of temperature of about $480-660^{\circ}C$ is required for combustion of the composites $(RH)_x(PB)_{1-x}$ (x = (1, 0.9, 0.7, 0.5)) to perform the complete combustion process and produce high energy. In addition, the calorific value was determined by using bomb calorimetry, and shows value for RH of 13.44 MJ/kg, which increases about 30-40% with increasing PB content, indicating that PB has a strong effect of increasing the energy realized to generate electricity.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.3351-3356
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• 2014

Recently, Importance of studying based on biomass materials have increased due to the concern about plastic waste problems. Cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) is a potential alternative to petroleum-based plastics because of its biodegradable property. Poly(ethylene-co-isosorbide terephthalate) (PEIT) is bio-based plastic, produced by isosorbide monomer. In this study, CAB/PEIT blends were prepared by solution blending to improve thermal stability of CAB. CAB and PEIT were dissolved in chloroform, and then precipitated in ethanol. To evaluate the compatibility of CAB/PEIT blends, the morphology and glass transition behaviors were analyzed by FE-SEM and DMA, respectively. TGA results revealed the improved thermal stabilities of the PEIT-rich and 50:50 compositions. No new or changed crystal structures were observed in the XRD result. Finally, CAB/PEIT solution blends showed good compatibility in overall compositions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.1045-1059
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• 2021

Various abiotic stressors like drought, salinity, temperature, and heavy metals are major environmental stresses that affect agricultural productivity and crop yields all over the world. Continuous changes in climatic conditions put selective pressure on the microbial ecosystem to produce exopolysaccharides. Apart from soil aggregation, exopolysaccharide (EPS) production also helps in increasing water permeability, nutrient uptake by roots, soil stability, soil fertility, plant biomass, chlorophyll content, root and shoot length, and surface area of leaves while also helping maintain metabolic and physiological activities during drought stress. EPS-producing microbes can impart salt tolerance to plants by binding to sodium ions in the soil and preventing these ions from reaching the stem, thereby decreasing sodium absorption from the soil and increasing nutrient uptake by the roots. Biofilm formation in high-salinity soils increases cell viability, enhances soil fertility, and promotes plant growth and development. The third environmental stressor is presence of heavy metals in the soil due to improper industrial waste disposal practices that are toxic for plants. EPS production by soil bacteria can result in the biomineralization of metal ions, thereby imparting metal stress tolerance to plants. Finally, high temperatures can also affect agricultural productivity by decreasing plant metabolism, seedling growth, and seed germination. The present review discusses the role of exopolysaccharide-producing plant growth-promoting bacteria in modulating plant growth and development in plants and alleviating extreme abiotic stress condition. The review suggests exploring the potential of EPS-producing bacteria for multiple abiotic stress management strategies.