• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.985-993
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• 2014

For the field application of dielectric barrier discharge plasma reactor, a multi-plasma reactor was investigated for the inactivation of microorganisms in sewage. We also considered the possibility of degradation of non-biodegradable matter ($UV_{254}$) and total organic carbon (TOC) in sewage. The multi-plasma reactor in this study was divided into high voltage neon transformers, gas supply unit and three plasma modules (consist of discharge, ground electrode and quartz dielectric tube). The experimental results showed that the inactivation of microorganisms with treated water type ranked in the following order: distilled water > synthetic sewage effluent >> real sewage effluent. The dissolved various components in the real sewage effluent highly influenced the performance of the inactivation of microorganisms. After continuous plasma treatment for 10 min at 180 V, residual microorganisms appeared below 2 log and $UV_{254}$ absorbance (showing a non-biodegradable substance in water) and TOC removal rate were 27.5% and 8.5%, respectively. Therefore, when the sewage effluent is treated with plasma, it can be expected the inactivation of microorganisms and additional improvement of water quality. It was observed that the $NH_4{^+}$-N and $PO{_4}^{3-}$-P concentrations of sewage was kept at the constant plasma discharging for 30 min. On the other hand, $NO_3{^-}$-N concentration was increased with proceeding of the plasma discharge.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2020

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) have become an environmental havoc in last few decades with reported cases of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs), lethal effects over aquatic organisms, interference in natural decomposition of organic matter, reduced diversity of microbial communities in different environmental compartments, inhibition of growth of microbes resulting in reduced rate of nutrient cycling, hormonal imbalance in exposed organisms etc. Owing to their potential towards bioaccumulation and persistent nature, these compounds have longer residence time and activity in environment. The conventional technologies of wastewater treatment have got poor efficiency towards removal/degradation of PhACs and therefore, modern techniques with efficient, cost-effective and environment-friendly operation need to be explored. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) like Photocatalysis, Fenton oxidation, Ozonation etc. are some of the promising, viable and sustainable options for degradation of PhACs. Although energy/chemical or both are essentially required for AOPs, these methods target complete degradation/mineralization of persistent pollutants resulting in no residual toxicity. Considering the high efficiency towards degradation, non-toxic nature, universal viability and acceptability, AOPs have become a promising option for effective treatment of chemicals with persistent nature.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.61-69
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• 2002

Oship stream is located nearby south eastern coasts. This study was performed to find out waters quality modeling and then to predict water quality of Oship stream. Based on survey data, BOD, T-N, T-P calibration and verification result were in good agreement with measured value within mean coefficient variance(MSE) value, which were 13.9%, 9.0%, 26.5% and 19.5%, 12.0%, 16.5%, respectively. Sectional water quality predictions of the main stream of Oship stream are executed on the basis of the following cases 1) with sewage treatment of Dogye-eup 2) reduction of mine wastewater treatment of 80% in th basin. As a result, BOD, T-P improvement rates at down stream of Oship stream, case 1) were appeared 12.2%, 22.2%, case 2) maximum sulfate ion and conductivity reduction removal rate of Oship stream were 58%, 68%. The main pollution sources of Oship-stream were almost domestic wastewater and mine wastewater discharged from Dogye-eup which located in uppers stream. The large effects will appear after the construction of Dogye sewage water treatment plant which remove the organic matter and nutrients in these sewage water. The waste water from mine can not easily to treat for characteristics of effluence and economic problems. However, to achieve the goal of water quality in Oship-stream water system, treatments of those are necessary.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.372-379
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• 1994

Timber harvesting impacts on soil microbial populations and respiration rates were examined in naturally regenerating trembling aspen(Populus tremuloides Michx.) stands on two contrasting soils, an Omega loamy sand (sandy mixed, frigid Typic Udipsamment) and an Ontonagon clay loam (very fine, mixed Glossic Eutroboralf). Five timber harvesting disturbances were simulated during winter of 1990 and spring of 1991, including commercial whole-tree harvesting(CWH), winter logging trail+CWH, logging slash removal+CWH(LSR), forest floor removal+LSR(FFR), and spring compaction+FFR. Regardless of soil types, total soil respiration rates of each stand decreased slightly or remained the same after harvesting while microbial population increased progressively during the first two years following harvesting. Microbial populations increased more rapidly and constantly at the sandy site than at the clayey site, which may indicate that the soil physical and chemical conditions changed more drastically for microbial activity following timber harvesting at the sandy site than at the clayey site. However, two kinds of treatment applications-three levels of organic matter removal and two levels of compaction-did not result in significant differences in microbial population or total soil respiration rate at each site during the first two post-harvest years. Total soil respiration of the aspen stands, sum of root respiration and microbial respiration, was a poor index for the microbial activity in this study because aspen kept an active root system for the successive root-sprouts even after harvesting, which resulted in a large portion of root respiration in total respiration.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.62-69
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• 2005

Removal of 4-chlorophenol (4CP) by natural manganese dioxide (NMD) catalyzed reaction was investigated in this study. Tests were also carried out to evaluate the effects of pH and natural organic matter (NOM) on the degradative oxidation of 4CP. Experimental results proved that NMD was effective for the removal of 4CP. Extensive kinetic analysis suggests that overall oxidation of 4CP by NMD is second-order reaction, the first-order with respect to 4CP, and the first-order with respect to NMD, respectively. Also, 4CP oxidation rates on the Mn-oxide surfaces were highly dependent upon experimental conditions such as pH, initial concentration of 4CP or NMD, and existence of humic acid. As pH increased above PZC of NMD, the reaction rate of 4CP was decreased, due to the low affinity of 4CP on NMD at high pH. At pH lower than PZC of NMD, reaction rate of 4CP was also decreased. It was considered that humic acid was involved in the oxidative coupling reaction of 4CP by NMD, resulting in the enhanced degradation rate of 4CP. This study proved that natural manganese oxide can be effectively applied for the removal of chlorophenols in aqueous phase.

• Clean Technology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.345-356
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• 2017

The composting is a biological process that converts organic matter into useful resources such as fertilizers. It is a continuous transition of microbial communities to adapt changes in organic matter and environmental conditions (carbonation rate, temperature, humidity, oxygen supply, pH, etc.). Most of the composting plants are located in the proximity of the residential areas. It is a general scenario where government authorities receive complaints from the local residents due to release of odor from the composting, and has become a social problem in Korea. Identification of dominant microorganisms, understanding change in microbial communities and augmentation of specific microorganism for composting is vital to enhance the efficiency of composting, quality of the compost produced, and reduction of odor. In this paper, we suggest the optimum operation conditions and methods for compost depot to reduce odor generation. The selection of the appropriate microorganisms and their rapid increase in population are effective to promote composting. The optimal growth conditions of bacteria such as aeration (oxygen), temperature, and humidity were standardized to maximize composting through microbial degradation. The use of porous minerals and moisture control has significantly improved odor removal. Recent technologies to reduce odor from the composting environment and improved composting processes are also presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.66-69
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• 2002

In this work, cost effective venting is considered by comparing flow rates of 5$m\ell$/min, 10$m\ell$/min, and 20$m\ell$/min. Studies were performed on a soil artificially contaminated with diesel oil (the initial TPH(Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon) concentration of 7098mg/kg), and nutrient condition was C:N:P rate of 100:10:1. The soil has a sandy texture with pH of 6.8, 2.16 ~2.38% organic matter, a total porosity of 47~52% and field capacity 16.2~ 17.2%. The column experiments was made of glass column of 60cm length and 10cm I.D. at controlled temperature of 2$0^{\circ}C$($\pm$2.5$^{\circ}C$). The efficiency of continuous flow rate of 5, 10 and 20$m\ell$/min resulted in separately 61.3%, 58.1%, and 55% reduction of initial TPH concentration(7098mg/kg). Hydrocarbon utilizing microbial count and dehydrogenase activity in air flow of 5$m\ell$/min were higher than those of the others. The first order degradation rate of n-alkanes ranging from C10 to C28 was higher than that of pristane and phytane as isoprenoids. The $C_{17}$/pristane and $C_{18}$phytane ratios for monitoring the degree of biodegradation were useful only during the early stages of oil degradation. Degradation contributed from about 89% to 93% of TPH removal. Volatilization loss of diesel oil in contaminated soil was about 7% to 11%, which was significantly small compared to degradation.n.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.23-33
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• 2017

In this study, water and organic treatment efficiency and operating characteristics (temperature, salinity effect) were evaluated when food waste with high water content was treated by Bio-dying method. In addition, the optimum conditions for producing pellets for evaluating the decomposition products as SRF(Solid Refuse Fuel) after Bio-drying and evaluating the use value of SRF as a solid fuel were analyzed. As a result, the temperature, $CO_2$ concentration, organic matter removal rate and weight reduction rate according to the daily dose were about 86% and 68% at the input of 2.4 kg/day. The optimal food waste input was estimated to be 2.4 kg/day. As a result of the pellet molding and produce, Pellets can be produced within 10~25% of raw material water content. It was judged that the water content of 25%, which showed the best quality results in terms of external shape maintenance and strength. The high calorific value of SRF of decomposition products after Bio-drying was more than 3,500 kcal/kg.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2007

In this study, thermalpretreatment was used to solubilize organic matter contained in sewage sludge before acid fermentation. By thermal pretreatment, solubilization of particulate CODcr, carbohydrate and protein increased. By thermal treatment at $120^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes, CODcr solubilization efficiency of the primary sludge reached 8.3%. Meanwhile, for the secondary sludge, CODcr solubilization efficiency reached 16.5% because of high solubilization ratio of protein under the same pretreatment conditon. The results of anaerobic biodegradability test showed that both VFAs conversion ratio and hydrolysis rate of organic compounds in sewage sludge were improved by thermal pretreatment. Meanwhile, the optimum thermal pretreatment condition was varied with composition of organic compounds in sludge. In this study, the optimun thermal pretreatment condition of the primary sludge, containing high concentration of carbohydrate, was $80^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, for the secondary sludge, mainly composed of protein, the sludge treated at $120^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes showed the effective organic removal and VFAs production.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.318-324
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• 2017

We evaluated geosmin and MIB biodegradation and adsorption mechanism of biological activated carbon (BAC) and anthracite biofilter. In steady state of BAC process, the geosmin and MIB were completely removed at the 30 min empty bed contact time (EBCT) even though low water temperature ($9^{\circ}C$) in which the activity of attached bacteria decreased. When the water temperature was $26^{\circ}C$, the microbial biomass and activity were higher at the upper layer of the biofilm than at $9^{\circ}C$, and the microbial biomass and activity decreased as the depth was deeper. This is because when the water temperature is high, the biodegradable organic matter (BOM) removal rate in the upper layer is high and the BOM amount that can't be supplied to the lower layer. The Removal rate of geosmin and MIB by BAC process did not show a significant difference compare to activity-inhibited BAC by treated with azide and the biofilter also removed the geosmin and MIB by biological action. It means geosmin and MIB could be removed by competitive relationship between adsorption and biodegradation.