• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.214-222
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• 2012

Several acidogenesis batch tests, and BMP (Biochemical Methane Potential) with food waste leachate was tested at various organic loading rates (OLRs) on the mesophilic ($35^{\circ}C$) and thermophilic ($55^{\circ}C$) conditions. In acidogenesis batch test, VS removal efficiencies were 27.3% and 30.6% at $35^{\circ}C$ and $55^{\circ}C$, respectively. Removal efficiency of VS at $55^{\circ}C$ was higher than that at $35^{\circ}C$. With decrease in VS, SCOD increased as reaction time increased. Solubilization efficiency of VS were 27.4% and 33.4% at each reaction temperature within 4 days acid fermentation. Methane yield were 461 and 413 $mLCH_4/gVS$ at mesophilic and thermophilic BMP test, respectively. SCOD solubilizations in the themophilic acid fermenter showed 8~17% higher than those in the mesophilic fermenter. COD removal efficiency showed higher in the mesophilic acid fermenter at low organic loading rate. While at high organic loading rate, it was higher in the thermophilic acid fermenter. VS removal efficiency was higher at the mesophilic temperature, however, it decreased at OLR higher than 6 kg $COD/m^3{\cdot}day$. On the contrary, VS removal efficiency did not decrease but maintain at thermophilic temperature. The amount of methane gas generated from mesophilic methanogenesis digester was 12.6, 21.6, 27.4 L/day at OLR of 4, 5, 6 $COD/m^3{\cdot}day$, respectively. The amount of methane gas generated from themophilic methanogenesis digester was 14.3, 20.6, 25.2 L/day at each OLR, respectively, which is about 15~20 L/day lower than those generated at mesophilic digester.

• Environmental Sciences Bulletin of The Korean Environmental Sciences Society
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.125-136
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• 1997

Digestion of a municipal wastewater sludge by the anaerobic sequencing batch reactor(ASBR) was investigated to evaluate the performance of the ASBR process at a critical condition of high-solids-content feed. The reactors were operated at an HRT of 10 days with an equivalent loading rate of 0.8-1.5 gVS/L/d at $35^{\circ}C.$ The main conclusions drawn from this study were as follows: 1. Digestion of a municipal wastewater sludge was possible using the ASBR in spite of high concentration of settleable solids in the sludge. The ASBRS with 3- and 4-day cycle period showed almost identical high digestion performances. 2. No adverse effect on digestion stability was observed in the ASBRS in spite of withdrawal and replenishment of $30\%\;or\;40\%$ of liquid contents. A conventional anaerobic digester could be easily converted to the ASBR without any stability problem. 3. Flotation thickening occurred in thicken step of the ASBRS throughout steady state, and floating bed volume at the end of thicken period occupied about $70\%$ of the working volume of the reactor. Efficiency of flotation thickening in the ASBRS could be comparable to that of additional gravity thickening of a completely mixed digester. 4. Solids were accumulated rapidly in the ASBR during start-up period. Solids concentrations in the ASBRS were 2.6 times higher than that in the completely mixed control reactor at steady state. Dehydrogenase activity had a strong correlation with the solids concentration. Dehydrogenase activity of the digested sludge in the ASBR was 2.9 times higher than that of the sludge in the control reactor, and about 25 times higher than that of the subnatant in the ASBR. 5. Remarkable increase in equivalent gas production of $52\%$ was observed at the ASBRS compared with the control reactor in spite of similar Quality of clarified effluent from the ASBRS and control reactor. The increase in gas production from the ASBRS was believed to be combined results of accumulation of microorganisms, higher driving force applied, and additional long-term degradation of organics continuously accumulated.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.754-760
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• 2010

This study was carried out not only to evaluate optimal operating condition to increase biogas production, but also to estimate feasibility of renewable energy from anaerobic digester of sewage sludge. Semi- continuous Fed and Mixed Reactors (SCFMRs) were operated in various condition to quantify the reactor variables. The result of SCFMR operation showed that the biogas productivity and total volatile solids (TVS) removal of total solids (TS) 4% reactor at hydraulic retention time (HRT) 20 days with Organic Loading Rate (OLR) of $1.45kg/m^3-d$ were $0.39m^3/m^3-d$ and 26.7%, respectively which was two times higher than that of TS 2.5% reactor. Consequently the daily biogas production of $20,000m^3$ would be possible from the total volume of $52,000m^3$ of anaerobic digesters of the municipal wastewater treatment plant in D city. In feasibility study for the Biogas utilization, combined heat and power system (CHP) and CNG gasification were examined. In case of CHP, the withdrawal period of capital cost for gas-engine (GE) and micro gas-turbine (MGT) were 7.7 years and 9.1 years respectively. biogas utilization as Clean Natural Gas (CNG) shows lower capital cost and higher profit than that of CHP system. CNG gasificaion after biogas purification is likely the best alternative for Biogas utilization which have more economic potential than CHP system. The withdrawal period of capital cost appeared to be 2.3 years.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.229-234
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• 2008

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has started the nation's first biogas-microturbine project in the city of Gongju as an effort to encourage the utilization of wasted biogas containing useful energy source in the form of $CH_4$. The goal of the project is to set up the biogas microturbine co-generation system for utilizing biogas as an energy source and improving the economics of the wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater treatment processes were investigated in depth to find improvement possibility. Changes in internal recirculation ratio and pre-treatment degree are needed to optimize plant operation and biogas production. Biogas pre-treatment system satisfies Capstone's fuel condition requirement with the test result of 99.9% and 90.2% of hydrogen sulphide and ammonia is removal performance. Installation of microturbine and manufacture of heat exchanger to warm anaerobic digester has been done successfully. Expected economic profit produced by the system is coming from energy saving including electricity 115,871kWh/year and heat contained in exhaust gas 579GJ/year.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.14-17
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• 2002

To increase the efficiency of a two-stage anaerobic wastewater digestion system, various polymers were added to the methanogenic reactor as supports. The addition of polyurethane addition (6%, w/v) to the methanogenic reactor facilitated the organic loading rate (2-day Hydraulic Retention Time), higher than that of the conventional methanogenic reactor (6-day HRT). During the operation of the polyurethane-added reactor, a significant decrease in the organic mass in the effluent (COD 5-6 kg/l) was achieved, compared to that of the conventional reactor (COD 15-20 kg/l). The methane gas production rate also improved about 3-fold in the polyurethane-added reactor. More biomass was found to accumulate in the polyurethane-liquid phase (volatile solid, 26-28kg) than in the free-liquid phase (volatile solid, 5- 7 kg/l) after 90 days of operation. A scaled-up experiment with a polyurethane-added 2.5-1 reactor confirmed the previous results, and no adverse effects such as plugging or channeling due to decreased efficiency was observed even after 4 months of operation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Resources Recycling Conference
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• 2001.05b
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• pp.129-132
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• 2001

The purpose of this research was to understand possibility of foodwaste treatment by hybrid anaerobic reactor(HAR). The Possibility of methane utility and applicability of hybrid reactor system using foodwaste as substrate was investigated. The maximum loading rate and optimized operational conditions were determined. Hybrid anaerobic reactor was filled with packing material 50% of its total volume between the tube and the outer surface. The packing material used was randomly packed open-pore synthesis activated ceramic(SAC) media as support media for microbial attachment, growth, and chemical stability protected bacteria from effect of organic acid accumulation. In this research, although foodwaste has high concentrations C $l^{[-10]}$ and S $O_{4}$$^{2-}$ concentration the possibility of foodwaste anaerobic treatment was when foodwaste is treated by anaerobic digestion, this study focused on the possibility using C $H_4$ gas made under the anaerobic treatment as an alternative energy source. Other objective of this research is to study struvite formation and crystal forms in anaerobic digester. HAR is used to investigate phosphate crystallization without the addition of chemicals.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.40-49
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• 1997

In Korea, naked barley and tapioca are main raw materials for the production of fermentation ethyl alcohol, and one million drums bf 95% fermentation ethyl alcohol is produced per year by use of them. Stillage of alcoholic fermentation is mostly digested by methane fermentation process, and methane gas occured if methane fermentation process is recovered and mixed with fuel to decrease 25-30% for total fuel used in factories. In the anaerobic digestion process of naked barley stillage, supplement of nutrients is necessary to slove the problems caused by inhibitory materials contained if stillage and deficiency of nutrients. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine why the anaerobic digesters using the naked barley distillery wastewater have shown the poor digestability frequently and how to control it. As the poor digestion was supposed to be occurred by the lack of iron as trace nutrient, the experiments were carried out to find out the optimum dosage and the way of addition of iron and to assess the quantitative evaluation of the type of iron in digesters. Initially, bottle test as batch digesters and lab-scaled continuous flow digesters were used in order to determine the digestion characteristics with tapioca and naked barley distillery wastewater. According to the results of batch tests, the poor digestion was caused by volatile fatty acids and could be improved by adding of calcium. The activity of the methanogenic bacteria were increased remarkably when the iron was added to the digester in the form of mixture with substrates.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.342-349
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• 2017

Polylactic acid (PLA) has been highlighted as an alternative renewable polymer for the replacement of petroleum-based plastic materials, and is considered to be biodegradable. On the other hand, the biodegradation of PLA by terminal degraders, such as microorganisms, requires a lengthy period in the natural environment, and its mechanism is not completely understood. PLA biodegradation studies have been conducted using mainly undefined mixed cultures, but only a few bacterial strains have been isolated and examined. For further characterization of PLA biodegradation, in this study, the PLA-degrading bacteria from digester sludge were isolated and identified using a polymer film-based screening method. The enrichment of sludge on PLA granules was conducted with the serial transference of a subculture into fresh media for 40 days, and the attached biofilm was inoculated on a PLA film on an agar plate. 3D optical microscopy showed that the isolates physically degraded the PLA film due to bacterial degradation. 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified the microbial colonies to be Pseudomonas sp. MYK1 and Bacillus sp. MYK2. The two isolates exhibited significantly higher specific gas production rates from PLA biodegradation compared with that of the initial sludge inoculum.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.128-136
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• 2021

It is generally known that a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) consumes immense energy even if it can produce energy. With an aim to increase the energy independence rate of WWTP from 3.5% in 2010 to 50% in 2030, the Korean government has invested enormous research funds. In this study, cost-effective operating alternatives were investigated by analyzing the energy efficiency and economic feasibility for biogas and power generation using new and renewable energy. Based on the US EPA Energy Conservation Measures and Korea ESCO projects, energy production and independence rate were also analyzed. The main energy consumption equipment in WWTP is the blower for aeration, discharge pump for effluent, and pump for influent. Considering the processes of WWTP, the specific energy consumption rate of the process using media and MBR was the lowest (0.549 kWh/㎥) and the highest (1.427 kWh/㎥), respectively. Energy-saving by enhancing anaerobic digester efficiency was turned out to be efficient when in conjunction with stable wastewater treatment. The result of economic analysis (B/C ratio) was 2.5 for digestive gas power generation, 0.86 for small hydropower, 0.49 for solar energy, and 0.15 for wind energy, respectively. Furthermore, it was observed that the energy independence rate could be enhanced by installing energy production facilities such as solar and small hydropower and reducing energy consumption via the replacement of high-efficiency operating.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.95-103
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• 2018

As a guideline for desulfurization and dehumidification pretreatment facility for optimizing utilization of biogas, the $H_2S$ concentration is set at 150 % which can be treated with iron salts, dehumidification is the optimum value for generator operation, and the relative humidity applied at the utilization of biogas in EU is set at 60 %. We have set up the generator facility guidelines to optimize utilization of biogas. The appropriate amount of biogas should be at least 90 % of the total gas generation, and the capacity of generator facility should be set at 20~30 %. In order to equalize the pressure of the incoming gas the generator, a gas equalization tank should be installed and the generator room average temperature should be kept at $45^{\circ}C$ or less. Since the gas is not produced at a certain methane concentration in the digester, the efficiency is lowered. Therefore, it is required to install an air fuel ratio control system according to the change in methane concentration. Therefore, it is necessary to compensate for the disadvantages of biogasification facilities of organic waste resources and optimize utilization of biogas and improve operation of facilities. This study was conducted to optimize biogas utilization of type of organic waste(containing sewage sludge and food waste, animal manure), investigate the facilities problem and propose design, operation guidelines such as pre-treatment facilities and generators.