• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.10
• /
• pp.1833-1841
• /
• 2000

Microelectrode probe was made and applied to the biofilm in the biological treatment process as the state-of-art technology in order to actually measure the biofilm thickness, ionic concentration gradient, and material transport, etc. instead of classical theoretical approach. The working microelectrode, one of the main components of microelectrode probe, was easily contaminated and broken when determining the differences in the ionic concentrations through the measurement of biofilm's EMF (electromotive force). As a demonstration, two microelectrode probes were constructed in our lab for the measurement of the pH and $NO_3{^-}$ concentration in denitrifying biofilm. The microelectrode probe through the inner biofilm ($350{\mu}m$ from the surface of biofilm) showed that the pH was increased from pH 8 in the bulk solution to pH 8.3, on the other hand, the $NO_3{^-}$ concentration was decreased from 30 fig N/L in the bulk solution to 4 fig N/L.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.646-653
• /
• 2011

The combined system of sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) and membrane SBR (MSBR) was operated with sewage to evaluate the COD utilization for biological nutrient removal (BNR). The SBBR was operated for nitrification reactor, while denitrifying PAO (dPAO) was cultivated in MSBR with anaerobic-anoxic operation. In the SBBR and MSBR system, the enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) was successfully achieved with higher N removal. The COD utilization in combined SBBR-MSBR system was significantly reduced compared to ordinary BNR (up to 3.1 g SCOD/g (N+P) and 1.6 g SCOD/g (N+P) with different C/N/P ratio). The results suggest that a dPAO process could effectively reduce carbon energy (=COD) requirement. The combination of oxic-SBBR and anaerobic-anoxic MSBR for dPAO utilization could be an attractive alternative to upgrade the process performance in weak sewage.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.12 no.7
• /
• pp.791-799
• /
• 2003

This study was carried out to get more operational characteristics of the sequencing batch biofilm reactors with media volume/reactor volume ratio of 15 %, 25 % and 35 %. Experiments were conducted to find the effects of the media packing ratio on organic matters and nutrients removal. Three laboratory scale reactors were fed with synthetic wastewater. During studies, the operation mode was fixed. The organic removal efficiency didn't show large difference among three reactor of different packing media ratios. However, from the study results, the optimum packing media ratios for biological nutrient removal was shown as 25%. The denitrifying PAOs could take up and store phosphate using nitrate as electron acceptor.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.698-703
• /
• 1999

For the nitrate removal in recirculating aquaculture system, a denitrifying bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens, was isolated from municipal sewage and the cells were immobilized in modified-polyvinly alchol (PVA) gel beads. The immobilized cells in both the fixed-and fluidized-bed reactors showed 98% of denitrification efficiency with 6hr HRT, and the removal efficiency of total organic carbon (TOC) was above 90%. Form scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation, it was known that biofilm formed in fixed-bed reactor was thicker than that formed in fluidized-bed reactor as operation time passed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.455-460
• /
• 2005

A pilot-scale sulfur particle autotrophic denitrification (SPAD) process for the treatment of municipal wastewater was operated for 10 months at Shihwa, Korea, and higher than $90\%\;NO^{-}_{3}-N$ removal efficiency was observed. Plate counting showed that the lower part of the denitrifying column reactor had the most autotrophic denitrifiers. The biofilm thickness formed on sulfur particles from the SPAD reactor was approximately $25-30\;{\mu}m$, measured by DAPI (4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining. The presence of bacteria inside the highly porous sulfur particle was also monitored by SEM observation of the internal surfaces of broken sulfur particles. Biofilm extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) analysis showed that the ratio of carbohydrate to protein decreased with the reactor heights at which biofilm-formed sulfur particles were obtained.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.1221-1228
• /
• 2005

Carbon electrode was applied to a wastewater treatment system as biofilm media. The spatial distribution of heterotrophic bacteria in aerobic wastewater biofilm grown on carbon electrode was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and biomass measurement. Five volts of electric oxidation and reduction potential were charged to the carbon anode and cathode of the bioelectrochemical system, respectively, but were not charged to electrodes of a conventional system. To correlate the biofilm architecture of bacterial populations with their activity, the bacterial treatment efficiency of organic carbons was measured in the bioelectrochemical system and compared with that in the conventional system. In the SEM image, the biofilm on the anodic medium of the bioelectrochemical system looked intact and active; however, that on the carbon medium of the conventional system appeared to be shrinking or damaging. In the AFM image, the thickness of biofilm formed on the carbon medium was about two times of those on the anodic medium. The bacterial treatment efficiency of organic carbons in the bioelectrochemical system was about 1.5 times higher than that in the conventional system. Some denitrifying bacteria can metabolically oxidize $H_{2}$, coupled to reduction of $NO_{3}^{-}\;to\;N_{2}$. $H_{2}$ was produced from the cathode in the bioelectrochemical system by electrolysis of water but was not so in the conventional system. The denitrification efficiency was less than $22\%$ in the conventional system and more than $77\%$ in the bioelectrochemical system. From these results, we found that the electrochemical coupling reactions between aerobic and anaerobic reactors may be a useful tool for improvement of wastewater treatment and denitrification efficiency, without special manipulations such as bacterial growth condition control, C/N ratio (the ratio of carbon to nitrogen) control, MLSS returning, or biofilm refreshing.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.283-293
• /
• 2005

Characteristics of sulfur-based autotrophic denitrification in a semi-continuous type reactor and the kinetic parameters were studied. Enriched autotrophic denitrifying culture was used for the reactor operation. Biomass growth on sulfur particles and in the liquid medium was monitored using the DAPI staining method. From the result of ion concentration changes and the biomass growth, maximum specific growth rate, ${\mu}_{max}$, and the half velocity constant, $K_M$, were estimated as $0.61\;d^{-1}$ and 3.66 mg/L, respectively. Growth yield coefficient, Y values for electron acceptor and donor were found as 0.49 gVSS/g N and 0.16 gVSS/g S. The biomass showed specific denitrification rate, ranging 0.86-1.13 gN/g VSS-d. A half-order equation was found to best simulate the denitrification process in the packed bed reactor operated in the semi-continuous mode.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.253-261
• /
• 2007

Molecular and cultivation techniques were used to characterize the bacterial communities of biobead reactor biofilms in a sewage treatment plant to which an Aerated Up-Flow Biobead process was applied. With this biobead process, the monthly average values of various chemical parameters in the effluent were generally kept under the regulation limits of the effluent quality of the sewage treatment plant during the operation period. Most probable number (MPN) analysis revealed that the population of denitrifying bacteria was abundant in the biobead #1 reactor, denitrifying and nitrifying bacteria coexisted in the biobead #2 reactor, and nitrifying bacteria prevailed over denitrifying bacteria in the biobead #3 reactor. The results of the MPN test suggested that the biobead #2 reactor was a transition zone leading to acclimated nitrifying biofilms in the biobead #3 reactor. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA sequences cloned from biofilms showed that the biobead #1 reactor, which received a high organic loading rate, had much diverse microorganisms, whereas the biobead #2 and #3 reactors were dominated by the members of Proteobacteria. DGGE analysis with the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene supported the observation from the MPN test that the biofilms of September were fully developed and specialized for nitrification in the biobead reactor #3. All of the DNA sequences of the amoA DGGE bands were very similar to the sequence of the amoA gene of Nitrosomonas species, the presence of which is typical in the biological aerated filters. The results of this study showed that organic and inorganic nutrients were efficiently removed by both denitrifying microbial populations in the anaerobic tank and heterotrophic and nitrifying bacterial biofilms well-formed in the three functional biobead reactors in the Aerated Up-Flow Biobead process.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.642-649
• /
• 2007

The effectiveness of add-on tertiary treatment processes for the polishing of the effluent of a biological nutrient removal (BNR) system from a modified $A^2/O$ process has been examined under the field condition with pilot-scale plants. The add-on treatment processes of 1) combined biofilm anoxic reactor and sand filtration, and 2) two-stage denitrification filter had been operated with various operating conditions. The experimental results indicated that two-stage denitrification filter could produced a better polished tertiary effluent. Filtration rate of $150m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$ for the 2-stage denitrifying filter could decrease the nitrate removal probably due to shorter detention time that caused insufficient reaction for denitrification. Two stage denitrification filter operated with M/N ratio of 3.0 and filtration rate of $100m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$ produced the tertiary effluent with nitrate and SS concentraitons of 2.8 mg/L and 2.3 mg/L, respectively. When the operating temperature reduced $30^{\circ}C$ to $18^{\circ}C$, $NO_3{^-}-N$ removal efficiency decreased from 73% to 68%.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.47 no.1
• /
• pp.56-65
• /
• 2011

Culture-independent microscopic observations and 16S rDNA analyses were applied to describe the bacterial community inherent to the biofilm structure of the RABC (Rotating Activated Bacillus Contactors) process for swine butchery wastewater treatment. The ratios of Gram-positive bacterial counts to total bacterial counts of the RABC process were significantly increased in the last aeration tank as well as returned sludge, while those of the existing A2O (Anaerobic-Anoxic-Oxic) process maintained constant from aeration tanks to returned sludge. Totally nine phyla were recovered by 16S rDNA analysis, two of which were major groups: the Proteobacteria (64.1%) and the Actinobacteria (18.4%). The third major group was the endospore-forming Firmicutes (5.4%). The remaining six minor groups are the Bacteroidetes (3.3%), the Chlorobi (2.2%), the Nitrospirae (1.1%), the Chlorofleix (1.1%), the Acidobacteria (1.1%), and the Fusobacteria (1.1%). The ratio of endospore-forming bacteria was 19.4%, which was composed of the members of the Firmicutes phylum (5.4%) and the Intrasporangiaceae family (14.0%) of the Actinobacteria phylum. Nitrifying and denitrifying related- and phosphorus accumulating related-sequences were composed of 6.5% and 5.4% of total community, respectively, these could mean the high capacity of the RABC process to remove odor compounds and reduce eutrophication by efficient removing inorganic nutrients.