• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.630-638
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• 2019

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 310 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. In this study, an N₂O-reducing consortium was obtained by enrichment culture using advanced treatment sludge as the inoculum. The dominant bacteria in the consortium were Sulfurovum (17.95%), Geobacter (14.63%), Rectinema (11.45%), and Chlorobium (8.24%). The consortium displayed optimal N₂O reducing activity when acetate was supplied as the carbon source at a carbon/nitrogen ratio (mol·mol^-1) of 6.3. The N₂O reduction rate increased with increasing N₂O concentration at less than 3,000 ppm. Kinetic analysis revealed that the maximum N₂O reduction rate of the consortium was 163.9 ㎍-N·g-VSS^-1·h^-1. Genes present in the consortium included nosZ (reduction of nitrous oxide to N₂), narG (reduction of nitrate to nitrite), nirK (reduction of nitrite to nitric oxide), and norB (reduction of nitric oxide to nitrous oxide). These results indicate that the N₂O-reducing consortium is a promising bioresource that can be used in denitrification and N₂O mitigation.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.185-192
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• 2008

We have studied effect of water treatment sludge (WTS) on trace metals of sorghum hybrid (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench). In the present report it was for cadmium (Cd) content on background correction (BGC) mode with an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The four treatments were Control, Compost, Alum + nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (NPK), Compost + NPK. In the analysis, burner height of the atomic absorption spectrophotometer was adjusted to three levels; 3 mm, 6 mm, 9 mm. As a conclusion, 3 mm and 6 mm burner height conditions were better than 9 mm height for Cd analysis. And the conditions for widening the range, the mean, and the standard deviation (SD) values of observed absorbances as well as the condition for lessening the mean of observed background values are necessary for getting the better measuring of Cd. At the present experiment, 6 mm burner height condition is the best among the three burner heights.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.948-954
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• 2008

Membrane bioreactor(MBR) processes have been widely applied to wastewater treatment for last decades due to its excellent capability of solid-liquid separation. However, membrane fouling was considered as a limiting factor in wide application of the MBR process. Excess aeration into membrane surface is a common way to control membrane fouling in most MBR. However, the excessively supplied air is easily dissipated in the reactor, which results in consuming energy and thus, it should be modified for effective control of membrane fouling. In this study, cylindrical tube was introduced to MBR in order to use the supplied air effectively. Membrane fibers were immersed into the cylindrical tube. This makes the supplied air non-dissipated in the reactor so that membrane fouling could be controlled economically. Two different air supplying method was employed and compared each other; nozzle and porous diffuser which were located just beneath the membrane module. Transmembrane pressure(TMP) was monitored as a function of airflow rate, flux, and ratio of the tube area and cross-sectioned area of membrane fibers(A$_m$/A$_t$). Flow rate of air and liquid was regulated to obtain slug flow in the cylindrical tube. With the same flow of air supply, nozzle was more effective for controlling membrane fouling than porous diffuser. Accumulation of sludge was observed in the tube with the nozzle, if the air was not suppled sufficiently. Reduction of membrane fouling was dependent upon the ratio, A$_m$/A$_t$. For diffuser, membrane fouling was minimized when A$_m$/A$_t$ was 0.27, but 0.55 for nozzle.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.469-482
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• 2018

This research has developed the criteria and index for systematically and objectively assessing the quality of river water by fixing the various factors that affect Gyeongin ARA waterway's water quality through analysis with the Delphi Technique and analytic hierarchy program (AHP) Method. Based on the results, the highest criteria are, in order of importance, physical and environmental factors 28%, administrative factors 26%, natural fixed factors 26% and finally, cultural and social factors 20%. The three dimensions of the criteria show that for the internal physical and environmental factors, the most important are the loss of self-purification capacity, and the external factors are Gulpocheon and the sludge deposit due to Gyulhweon-weir the bridge. The facility factor in management was affected by the coagulation and waste water disposal facilities. The problem for the policy and institutional factors was seen in the regulatory area. The aquatic ecology/ point pollution source for the natural fixed factors show that it is due to the polluted water of Gulpo-cheon and the living environment/ non-point pollution source is shown through the inflow water from other rivers. Cultural and social factors show that the economical causes were due to the cargo and passenger flight operations and the external factors of having a lack of sewage treatment equipment have an importance effect. In order to estimate the order of priority through logical evidence and objectivity, future research must be continued on the evaluation indexes to measure the specific methodology and technique needed to improve the Gyeongin ARA Waterway.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.523-533
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• 2000

A two-phase anaerobic reactor with submerged membrane system was developed for increasing acidogen concentration and methane recovery. The membrane used was mixed esters of cellulose of $0.5{\mu}m$ pore size and $0.8m^2$ of effective surface area. The methanogenic reactor comprised of UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket) and AF (Anaerobic Filter). COD removal efficiency was 70~80% and the methane content in the biogas increased up to 90% for the submerged membrane system in the anaerobic reactor. As the cake resistance of membrane caused a serious problem, stainless steal prefilters (40, 53, $63{\mu}m$) and air backwashing methods were applied to minimize the cake resistance effectively. Among the tested prefilters. the $63{\mu}m$ prefilter showed the best performance for reduction of cake resistance and a successful long-tern operation. By cleaning with alkali first and acidic solution later. the permeate flux decreased by long term operation was recovered to 89% of that with a new membrane.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2016

In this study, mesophilic anaerobic digestion of source separated food waste was carried out by leachate recirculation system and methane gas was produced. Two systems - system A and B were fabricated and placed within water bath to maintain $36^{\circ}C$. Each system was comprised of an anaerobic bioreactor and a leachate tank. Leachate in bioreactor was separated through the screen located at 30 mm above the bottom and a pump was installed to transfer collected leachate to the leachate tank. Everyday, 2.5 L of the leachate was pumped from the bioreactor to the leachate tank for 30 min and transferred leachate was pumped back to the top of the bioreactor for 30min, sequentially. Source separated food waste used for this experiment was washed by water before transferring to the laboratory. Transferred food waste was warmed to $36^{\circ}C$ before being fed to bioreactors. System A was fed to 49.1 g VS (Volatile Solids) and System B was fed to 54.0 g VS at every two weeks, respectively. $NH_4{^+}-N$ and salinity were monitored to see the inhibition toward anaerobic bioreaction and it was found that concentrations of these materials were not high enough to affect the bioreaction. Although the food waste was fed biweekly for 112 days and 140 days at system A and B, respectively, there was no sludge withdrawal from each system. Average methane productions rates were 0.439 L $CH_4/g$ VS and 0.368 L $CH_4/g$ VS for system A and B, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.302-308
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• 2005

Nitrate is one of common contaminants frequently found in the bank filtrate. Biological autotrophic denitrification into permeable reactive barrier(PRB) system to reduce nitrate concentration in bank filtrate was implanted. The objectives of research are to investigate effect of inoculation, to evaluate alternative alkalinity sources, and to determine effect of hydraulic characteristics, such as retention time, flow rate on the performance of semi-pilot PRB system. Semi-pilot scale biological PRB system was installed using elemental sulfur and limestone/oyster shell as reactive materials near Nakdong River in Kyoungnam province, Korea. Nitrate concentration in bank filtrate was reduced by indigenous microorganisms in oyster shell as welt as by inoculating microorganisms isolated from the sludge of an anaerobic digester in a wastewater treatment plant. Oyster shell as well as limestone can be used as an alkalinity source. However, oyster shell resulted in suspended solids of effluent. As the flow rate in the system increased from 66 to 132 mL/min and accordingly the residence time decreased from 15 to 7.5 hours, nitrate concentration in effluent increased and nitrate removal efficiencies decreased from 75 to 58% at the fixed thickness of 80 cm of PRB.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.1319-1330
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• 2000

Activated carbons prepared by chemical activation of organic waste sludges with $ZnCl_2$ and $K_2S$ have been studied in terms of their pore development and adsorptivity. Pore development of the carbons prepared from organic waste sludges was characterized by the nitrogen adsorption at 77K. The $ZnCl_2$-activated carbon produced by chemical activation with zinc chloride exhibited type I isotherm characteristics according to the BDDT classification, suggesting the presence of micropores formed by activation process. The isotherms of the commercial powdered activated carbon and $K_2S$-activated carbon reveal a hysteresis similar to that of type IV in BDDT classification, indicating the formation of mesopores. This result implies that the major pores of $K_2S$-activated carbon are composed of meso and micropores, and a macropores are minor. The adsorptive capacities of metal on the $K_2S$-activated carbon prepared from organic waste sludges were found to be superior to those on a commercial granular activated carbon. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms yield a fairly good fit to the adsorption data, indicating a monolayer adsorption of metals onto $K_2S$-activated carbon. The adsorptive capacity of the $K_2S$-activated carbon was superior to $ZnCl_2$-activated carbon for $PO_4$-P, and vice versa for $NO_3$-N. From the results of the studies reported here, it can be concluded that activated carbons with adsorptivity superior to commercial granular activated carbons can be produced from organic waste sludge using a two-step carbonization/activation procedure with zinc chloride or potassium sulfide as the activating agents.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.332-339
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• 2015

Nitrogen removal is one of the most important issues about wastewater treatment because nitrogen is a primary pollutant caused various problems such as eutrophication. We developed a CANON microbial community by using AOB and ANAMMOX bacteria as seeding sources. When 100 mg-N/L of influent ammonium was supplied, the DO above 0.4 mg/L showed a very low TN removal efficiency while the DO of 0.3 mg/L showed TN removal efficiency as high as 71.3%. When the influent ammonium concentration was reduced to 50 mg/L, TN removal efficiency drastically deceased. However, TN removal efficiency was recovered to above 70% after 14 day operation when the influent nitrogen concentration was changed again from 50 mg-N/L to 100 mg-N/L. According to the operating temperature from $37{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ to $20{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, TN removal efficiency also rapidly decreased but gradually increased again up to $70.0{\pm}2.6$%. The analysis of PCR-DGGE showed no substantial difference in microbial community structures under different operational conditions. This suggests that if CANON sludge is once successfully developed from a mixture of AOB and ANAMMOX bacteria, the microbial community can be stably maintained regardless of the changes in operational conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Resources Recycling Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.34-46
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• 2005

For treating a huge amount of plastic waste with the environment problem, pyrolysis of plastic waste into alternative fuel oil is one of important issue in recycling methods. This study was introduced over the trend of generation of plastic waste, pyrolysis technology in domestic and foreign countries, basic technology in pyrolysis process and new technology of pyrolysis developed in KIER (Korea Institute of Energy Research). The characteristics of process developed in KIER are the continuous loading treatment of mixed plastic waste with an automatic control system, the minimization of wax production by circulation pyrolysis system in non-catalytic reactor, the reuse of gas produced and the oil recovery from sludge generated in pyrolysis plant, which have greatly the advantage economically and environmetally. The experiment result data in 300 ton/yr pilot plant showed about 81 wt% liquid yield for 3 days continuous reaction time, and also the boiling point distribution of light oil (LO) and heavy oil (HO) produced in distillation tower was a little higher than that of commercial gasoline and diesel, respectively.