• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1976-1982
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• 2007

In the current studies, we characterized the degradation of a hot mixture of benzene and toluene (BT) gases by a thermophilic biofilter using polyurethane as a packing material and high-temperature compost as a microbial source. We also examined the effect of supplementing the biofilter with yeast extract (YE). We found that YE substantially enhanced microbial activity in the thermophilic biofilter. The degrading activity of the biofilter supplied with YE was stable during long-term operation (approximately 100 d) without accumulating excess biomass. The maximum elimination capacity ($1,650\;g{\cdot} m^{-3}{\cdot} h^{-1}$) in the biofilter supplemented with YE was 3.5 times higher than that in the biofilter without YE ($470\;g{\cdot} m^{-3}{\cdot} h^{-1}$). At similar retention times, the capacity to eliminate BT for the YE-supplemented biofilter was higher than for previously reported mesophilic biofilters. Thus, thermophilic biofiltration can be used to degrade hydrophobic compounds such as a BT mixture. Finally, 168 rDNA polymerase chain reaction-DGGE (PCR-DGGE) fingerprinting revealed that the thermophilic bacteria in the biofilter included Rubrobacter sp. and Mycobacterium sp.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.732-739
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• 2010

Two combined autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) and biofilter (BF) systems were operated to treat the piggery wastewater and the ammonia offgas. Experimental results indicated that the organic removal efficiency of ATAD-2, operated with oxygen, was higher than that of ATAD-1, operated with air. The concentration of ammonia in ATAD-2 offgas was higher compared to ATAD-1 offgas, but the total amount of ammonia produced from ATAD-2 was less than that from ATAD-1 due to the lower oxygen flowrate. The ammonia gas produced from both ATAD reactors was successfully removed by the BF. The BF-1, connected with ATAD-1, removed 93% of ammonia at the loading rate of $9.4g\;NH_3-N/m^3/hr$. The BF-2, connected with ATAD-2, removed 95% of ammonia gas at the loading rate of $8.1g\;NH_3-N/m^3/hr$. As the nitrification process continued, pH value of recirculating solution continuously decreased due to the accumulation of nitrate. When the ammonia loading rate was less than $22.7g\;NH_3-N/m^3/h$, the proper replacing cycle of recirculating solution was in the range of 10 to 11 days. Almost 90% of total mass of nitrogen fed into the each BF was confirmed from the mass balance on nitrogen.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.176-176
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• 2003