• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.343-350
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• 2008

The fate of two cyclic ethers, THF(Tetrahydrofuran) and 1,4-Dioxane, in conventional biological wastewater treatment plants was investigated using sequential activated sludge process. Removal efficiency of THF were about 86% in average, which was greater than that of 1,4-Dioxane, 30%. However, it was not clear whether the removal of cyclic ethers in biological system was caused by microbial activity or not. Thus treatability tests were conducted by batch experiments. The effects of mixing, aeration and the addition of activated sludge on the removal of cyclic ethers were investigated in batch experiments. THF was totally removed by mixing and aeration in 24 hours while removal ratio of 1,4-Dioxane was at most 30% for the same period. This results could be ascribed to the differences in Henry's law constants between the two chemicals. In addition, biological degradation including biosorption was not obviously observed in these batch tests.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.698-701
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• 2000

To prevent surface and underground water pollution, wastewater treatment is essential. Four bench-scale activated sludge units (10 L operational volumes) were operated at 5, 10 and $20^{\circ}C$ for evaluation of treatment efficiencies with typical wastewater from swine housing. The units were set for a 24-hour cycle. As compared to the conventional process, high removal efficiencies for organic substances, nitrogen and phosphorus in swine wastewater were obtained simultaneously with an intermittent aeration process (lAP). The NOx-N produced during an aeration period was immediately reduced to nitrogen gas (e.g. $N_2$ or $N_2O$) in the subsequent non-aeration periods, and nitrification in aeration periods occurred smoothly. Under these conditions, phosphorus removal occurred with the release of phosphorus during the non-aeration periods followed by the excess uptake of phosphorus in the activated sludge during aeration periods. It was confirmed that the lAP had a better ability to remove pollutants under both low temperatures and high nitrogen loading conditions than the ordinary method did. In addition to that, the total emission of $N_2O$ from lAP was reduced to approximately 1/50 of the conventional process for the same loading. By adopting an adequate aeration programme for individual swine wastewater treatment, this system will provide a promising means for nitrogen and phosphorus control without pH control or addition of methanol.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.55-68
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• 2020

Because of the intensified environmental problems such as climate change and resource depletion, sewage treatment technology focused on energy management has recently attracted attention. The conversion of primary sludge from the primary sedimentation tank and excessive sludge from the secondary sedimentation tank into biogas is the key to energy-positive sewage treatment. In particular, the primary sedimentation tanks recover enriched biodegradable organic matter and anaerobic digestion process produces methane from the organic wastes for energy production. Such technologies for minimizing oxygen demand are leading the innovation regarding sewage treatment plants. However, sewage treatment facilities in Korea lack core technology and operational know-how. Actually, the energy potential of sewage is higher than sewage treatment energy consumption in the sewage treatment, but current processes are not adequately efficient in energy recovery. To improve this, it is possible to apply chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT), high-rate activated sludge (HRAS), and anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) to the primary sedimentation tank. To maximize the methane production of sewage treatment plants, organic wastes such as food waste and livestock manure can be digested. Additionally, mechanical pretreatment, thermal hydrolysis, and chemical pretreatment would enhance the methane conversion of organic waste. Power generation systems based on internal combustion engines are susceptible to heat source losses, requiring breakthrough energy conversion systems such as fuel cells. To realize the energy positive sewage treatment plant, primary organic matter recovery from sewage, biogas pretreatment, and co-digestion should be optimized in the energy management system based on the knowledge-based operation.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2021

Due to the negative impacts of microplastics (MPs) on the ecosystem, the investigation of its occurrence and its treatment from sewage and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have received a lot of attention in the recent years. Most MPs are precipitated and removed with the sludge during the treatment process. Proper sludge management is immensely necessary to avoid MP exposure in the environment. However, the domestic research on this aspect is limited. This study reviews appropriate sludge management approaches to decrease environmental MP exposure. This can be achieved through investigating sludge generation and treatment, regulation laws and government policy trends with an emphasis on WWTPs. The ratio of sludge in sewage treatment plants has been observed to be highest in recycling followed by incineration and landfills. Recycling is the highest in fuel followed by construction materials and composting. For WWTPs, the highest ratio is in recycling followed by fuel and landfills, and recycling is confirmed in the following order: incineration > after composting > after solidification > earthworm breeding. Treatment approaches that can increase the exposure of MPs to the ecosystem are considered to be used in landfills and agricultural fields. However, this method is not appropriate given the insufficient capacity of domestic landfills and the sufficient supply of existing chemical and animal manure fertilizers. Instead, it would be rational in terms of environmental preservation to expand the use of fuel and energy in connection with the new and renewable energy policy, and to actively seek the use of sub-materials for construction materials. In order to secure the basic data for the effectiveness of future planning and revision of related laws, it is required to perform an in-depth investigation of the sludge supply and demand status along with the environmental and economic effects.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.77-86
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• 2001

As construction and expansion of wastewater treatment works is continuing, generation of sludge is increasing. Bur most sludge is not used appropriately but disposed by landfill dumping to sea. Furthermore direct landfilling of sludge cake containing moisture content over 75% has been legally prohibited since 2001 that's enforcement will be more strict in 2003. Such a situation means nowadays recycling of organic waste such as sludge and food waste is necessary. Composting is one of recycling methods commonly and used as an effective means of stabilizing organic waste and then compost can be used as fertilizer. However fertilizer law management which include standard of compost products and other fertilizers applied all sludge products indiscriminiately and was not flexible. So MOE has graded organic composts according to land applications to improve recycle of organic wastes. The classified organic compost which contains low contaminants has been possible to use as various purpose. This study enalyzed 30 samples which were raw materials for compost and compost products management well and to estimate the quality of compost products. Heavy metals were measured in Raw materials and OM/N, NaCl and VS were tested in compost products as well as heavy metals. As a result, approximate 10% of raw materials was not suitable to the grade A and 6.7% over the grade B of the regulation on raw materials for compost. In the case of 30 produced compost propducts approximate, 57% of composts was not compatible with the grade A and B of the regulation on composting product. The qualities of compost products were worse than raw materials, because the compost products have more regulation item raw materials have.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2019.11a
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• pp.124-125
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• 2019

The use of road cutters in the maintenance of obsolete underground facilities maintains polluting dust, cutting sludge, etc, polluting the air environment, soil, and water, causing civil complaints caused by noise, and consequently interrupting work. Therefore, it is time for eco-friendly pavement cutting technology for fugitive dust and cutting sludge emission management and noise management. This study was based on research by the development of eco-friendly pavement cutting technology in urban areas. In this study, the current state of existing road cutters is investigated and the patented technology analysis of road cutters is conducted to derive the design elements of eco-friendly pavement cutting technology.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.299-307
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• 2011

This study was carried out to obtain the basic data for selecting the cultivatable bioenergy crops through application of solidified sewage sludge in reclaimed lands. The experimental plots consisted of the mixing with solidified sewage sludge plot (SS50), the covering with solidified sewage sludge plot (SS100), and the original reclaimed land plot (ORL) on reclaimed land for the intended landfill in Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation (SLC). The growth of energy crops (Geodae-Uksae 1, Miscanthus sacchariflorus, and Phragmites australis) were investigated from May to October, 2010 in each experimental plot. The soil from ORL showed higher salinity with high contents of exchangeable $Na^+$ cation than that of SS50 and SS100. Soil properties on reclaimed land used in this study must be improved by increasing the buffering capacity of saline with the treatment of solidified sewage sludge due to the fact that the contents of organic matter (OM) in both of SS50 and SS100 were higher than that of the ORL. Thus the growth of energy crops cultivated in the solidified sewage sludge plots were better than in ORL. Geodae-Uksae 1 which showed an excellent adaptability on reclaimed land treated with the solidified sewage sludge has considerably higher biomass than those of other energy crops (M. sacchariflorus and P. australis). This study suggested that Geodae-Uksae 1 is the most suitable biomass feedstock crop for bioenergy productions, and the solidified sewage sludge may be possible to utilize as a soil cover materials for cultivation of bioenergy crops in reclaimed land.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.2-4
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• 1998

Proliferation of Nocardia amarae cells in activated sludge has often been associated with the generation of nuisance foams. Despite intense research activities in recent years to examine the causes and control of Nocardia foaming in activated sludge, the foaming continued to persist throughout the activated sludge treatment plants in United States. In addition to causing various operational problems to treatment processes, the presence of Nocardia may have secondary effects on the fate of heavy metals that are not well known. For example, for treatment plants facing more stringent metal removal requirements, potential metal removal by Nocardia cells in foaming activated sludge would be a welcome secondary effect. In contrast, with new viosolid disposal regulations in place (Code o( Federal Regulation No. 503), higher concentration of metals in biosolids from foaming activated sludge could create management problems. The goal of this research was to investigate the metal sorption property of Nocardia amarae cells grown in batch reactors and in chemostat reactors. Specific surface area and metal sorption characteristics of N. amarae cells harvested at various growth stages were compared. Three metals examined in this study were copper, cadmium and nickel. Nocardia amarae strain (SRWTP isolate) used in this study was obtained from the University of California at Berkeley. The pure culture was grown in 4L batch reactor containing mineral salt medium with sodium acetate as the sole carbon source. In order to quantify the sorption of heavy metal ions to N amarae cell surfaces, cells from the batch reactor were harvested, washed, and suspended in 30mL centrifuge tubes. Metal sorption studies were conducted at pH 7.0 and ionlc strength of 10-2M. The sorption Isotherm showed that the cells harvested from the stationary and endogenous growth phase exhibited significantly higher metal sorption capacity than the cells from the exponential phase. The sequence of preferential uptake of metals by N. amarae cells was Cu>Cd>Ni. The specific surFace area of Nocardia cells was determined by a dye adsorption method. N.amarae cells growing at ewponential phase had significantly less specific surface area than that of stationary phase, indicating that the lower metal sorption capacity of Nocardia cells growing at exponential phase may be due to the lower specific surface area. The growth conditions of Nocardia cells in continuous culture affect their cell surface properties, thereby governing the adsorption capacity of heavy metal. The comparison of dye sorption isotherms for Nocardia cells growing at various growth rates revealed that the cell surface area increased with increasing sludge age, indicating that the cell surface area is highly dependent on the steady-state growth rate. The highest specific surface area of 199m21g was obtained from N.amarae cell harvested at 0.33 day-1 of growth rate. This result suggests that growth condition not only alters the structure of Nocardia cell wall but also affects the surface area, thus yielding more binding sites of metal removal. After reaching the steady-state condition at dilution rate, metal adsorption isotherms were used to determine the equilibrium distributions of metals between aqueous and Nocardia cell surfaces. The metal sorption capacity of Nocardia biomass harvested from 0.33 day-1 of growth rate was significantly higher than that of cells harvested from 0.5- and 1-day-1 operation, indicatng that N.amarae cells with a lower growth rate have higher sorpion capacity. This result was in close agreement with the trend observed from the batch study. To evaluate the effect of Nocardia cells on the metal binding capacity of activated sludge, specific surface area and metal sorption capacity of the mixture of Nocardia pure cultures and activated sludge biomass were determined by a series of batch experiments. The higher levels of Nocardia cells in the Nocardia-activated sludge samples resulted in the higher specific surface area, explaining the higher metal sorption sites by the mixed luquor samples containing greater amounts on Nocardia cells. The effect of Nocardia cells on the metal sorption capacity of activated sludge was evaluated by spiking an activated sludge sample with various amounts of pre culture Nocardia cells. The results of the Langmuir isotherm model fitted to the metal sorption by various mixtures of Nocardia and activated sludge indicated that the mixture containing higher Nocardia levels had higher metal adsorption capacity than the mixture containing lower Nocardia levels. At Nocardia levels above 100mg/g VSS, the metal sorption capacity of activate sludge increased proportionally with the amount of Noeardia cells present in the mixed liquor, indicating that the presence of Nocardia may increase the viosorption capacity of activated sludge.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.549-553
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• 2014

Variation of sewage sludge interface height and flow rate by rainfall were applied to the actual public sewage treatment plant, and the efficiency of sewage treatment was evaluated by measuring $BOD_5$, $COD_{Mn}$, SS, T-N, and T-P. When both flow and interfacial height are increased, the treatment efficiencies in terms of the five water pollutants are decreased. Among them SS is the most critical pollutant in rainfall. When 0.5 Q inflow was applied, the efficiencies were 74.2% at the sludge interface height of 0.5 m, 76.4% at 1.0 m, 70.2% at 1.5 m, and 60.7% at 2.0 m. When 1.0 Q inflow was applied, the efficiencies were 71.7% at the sludge interface height of 0.5 m, 71.9% at 1.0 m, 46.4% at 1.5 m, and -38.0% at 2.0 m. Operation at 2.0 Q~2.0 m and 3.0 Q~1.0 m above the sludge rising phenomenon occurred causing adverse effects on the public bodies. If the flow rate increases, the processing efficiency is reduced from 74.2% to 17.3%, even though the sludge interface height was maintained at 0.5 m, so that the inflow adjustment was most important during rainfall, and the interface height of 1.0 m should be maintained to minimize the adverse effect on public water system.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2007

Application of sludge wastes into the field may help soil fertility with physical, chemical and biological properties. Efficient use of sludge waste, however, requires an individual assessment of the waste products. A lot of experiment into the organic waste-treated soils has been done for decade. However, studies have not been carried out on the assessment of agricultural soil by Basidiomycota. This study was assessed the influence of sludge application on soil healthy in agricultural upland soils. The organic wastes selected for long-term application experiment in this study were municipal sewage sludge (MSS), industrial sewage sludge (ISS), leather processing sludge (LS), alcohol fermentation processing sludge (FS), and pig manure compost (PMC). To develop the soil healthy assesment method, soil samples were diluted by 20X with distilled water. After shaking at 200rpm for 30 minutes, the shaked sample was mixed on PDA(Potato Dextrose Agar). And sterilized at $121^{\circ}C$ for 20 minutes. Coriolus hirsutus (MKACC 50560) was inoculated on petri-dish including PDA mixed sample. After the media was incubated at $25^{\circ}C$ for five days, the mycelial growth of C. hirsutus was measured. When the mycelial growth on sample media was compared with growth on media contained PDA only, well grown media contained sample soil was assesed as healthy soil. The results suggest that the simple method by Coriolus hirsutus is a handy way to assess the healthy of waste sludge-applied upland soils.