• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.129-138
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• 1999

Chlorinated aromatic compounds are one of the largest groups of environmental pollutants as a result of world-wide distribution by using them as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, solvents, hydraulic and heat transfer fluids, plasticizers, and intermediates for chemical synthesis. Because of their toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation, the compounds contaminated ubiquitously in the biosphere has attracted public concerns in terms of serious influences to wild lives and a human being, such as carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and disturbance in endocrine systems. The biological recalcitrance of the compounds is caused by the number, type, and position of the chlorine substituents as well as by their aromatic structures. In general, the carbon-halogen bonds increase the recalcitrance by increasing electronegativity of the substituent, so that the dechlorination of the compounds is focused as an important mechanism for biodegradation of chlorinated aromatics, along with the cleavage of aromatic rings. The removal of the chlorine substituents has been known as a key step for degradation of chlorinated aromatic compounds under aerobic condition. This can occur as an initial step via oxygenolytic, reductive, and hydrolytic mechanisms. The studies on the biochemistry and genetics about microbial dechlorination give us the potential informations for microbial degradation of xenobiotics contaminated in natural microcosms. Such investigations might provide biotechnological approaches to solve the environmental contamination, such as designing effective bioremediation systems using genetically engineered microorganisms.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.444-450
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• 2011

Perchlorate ($ClO_4^-$) is a contaminant found in surface water and soil/ground water. Autotrophic perchlorate-reducing bacteria (PRB) use hydrogen gas ($H_2$) as an electron donor to remove perchlorate. Since iron corrosion can produce $H_2$, feasibility of autotrophic perchlorate-removal using zero-valent iron (ZVI) was examined in this study using activated sludge that is easily available from a wastewater treatment plant. Batch test showed that activated sludge microorganisms could successfully degrade perchlorate in the presence of ZVI. The perchlorate biodegradation was confirmed by molar yield of $Cl^-$ as perchlorate was degraded. Scanning electron microscope revealed that rod-shaped microorganisms on the surface of iron particles used for the autotrophic perchlorate-removal, suggesting that iron particles could serve as supporting media for the formation of biofilm as well. DGGE analyses revealed that microbial profile of the inoculum (activated sludge) was different from that of biofilm sample obtained from the ZVI-added enrichment culture used for $ClO_4^-$-degradation. A major band of the biofilm sample was most closely related to the class Clostridia.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.132-139
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• 2002

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of aging and soil texture on composting of diesel-contaminated soil. The soils used for this study were silt loam and sand. Target contaminant, diesel oil, was spiked at 10,000mgTPH/kg of dry soil. Aging times of diesel-contaminated soils were 15days and 60days, respectively. Fresh diesel-contaminated soil was also investigated. Moisture content was controlled to 70% of soil field capacity. Mix ratio of soil to sludge was 1:0.3 as wet weight basis. Temperature was maintained at $20^{\circ}C$ Volatilization loss of TPH was below 2% of initial concentration. n-Alkanes lost by volatilization were mainly by the compounds of C10 to C17. Diesel in contaminated soil was mainly removed by biodegradation mechanism. First order degradation rate constant of TPH in sandy soil was ranged from 0.081 to 0.094/day, which is higher than that in silt loam(0.056-0.061/day). From fresh to 60day-aged soils, there was little difference of TPH biodegradation rate between the soils. Carbon recovery ranged from 0.61 to 0.89. TPH degradation rate was highly correlated with $CO_2$ production rate.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.468-475
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• 2005

Biofilters packed with various materials have emerged as a sustainable technology for the treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); however, problems including low performance and clogging are commonly encountered. Recently, a bioactive foam reactor (BFR) using surfactants has been suggested to ensure efficient and stable VOCs removal performance. This study was mainly conducted to investigate the feasibility of BFRs using toluene as a model compound. Prior to bioreactor studies, a series of bottle tests were used to select a suitable surfactant for the BFR application. Experimental results of the batch bottle tests indicated that TritonX-100 was the most appropriate one among the surfactants tested, since it showed a minimal effect on the toluene biodegradation rate while the other surfactants lowered the toluene biodegradation rate significantly. Using the selected surfactant, the BFR performance was determined by changing operating parameters including gas residence time and toluene loading. As the gas residence time increased from 0.5 minutes to 2 minutes, the toluene removal efficiency increased from approximately 50% to 80%. In addition, an increase of the toluene loading from $38\;g/m^3/hr$ to $454\;g/m^3/hr$ resulted in a decrease of toluene removal efficiency from approximately 70% to 20%. The BFR had a maximum elimination capacity of $108\;g/m^3/hr$ for toluene, which was much higher than those generally reported in the literature. The high toluene-elimination performance indicates that the BFR be a potential alternative to the conventional, packed-type biofilters. However, the limitation of toluene solubilization and foam stability at either high or low gas flow rate are still problems to be challenged.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.927-932
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• 2009

Toxic and recalcitrant organic pollutants in wastewaters can be effectively treated when advanced oxidation and biodegradation are combined, ideally with intimate coupling, in which both processes occur simultaneously in the same system. One means to achieve intimate coupling is to coat nanoscale $TiO_2$ on the outside of macroporous biofilm carriers. This study investigated the kinetics of photocatalysis with $TiO_2$-coated porous carriers. The carriers were made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and coated with $TiO_2$ using a low-temperature sol-gel process. The $TiO_2$-coated carriers catalyzed the oxidation of methylene blue (MB) effectively under irradiation of UV light. The overall reaction rate with adsorption and photolysis saturated at high MB concentration, and approached the adsorption rate, which was first order for all MB concent rations. This result indicates that adsorbed MB may have slowed photocatalysis by blocking active sites for photocatalysis. The overall kinetics could be described by a quasi-Langmuir model. The estimated maximum specific (per unit mass of $TiO_2$) transformation rate of MB by the $TiO_2$-coated carriers was four times larger than that obtained from slurry-$TiO_2$ reactors. This observation demonstrated that the $TiO_2$ present as a coating on the carriers maintained high efficiency for transforming recalcitrant organic matter via photocatalysis. These findings serve as a foundation for advancement of an intimate coupling of photocatalysis to biodegradation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.909-918
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• 2009

As a part of dissolved organic matter, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) or biodegradable DOC (BDOC) fraction in particular is one of important issues in water treatment. Due to role as a nutrient source for bacteria, BDOC, therefore, may cause regrowth problems in water distribution system. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the possibility to minimize the concentration of BDOC in advance water treatment process. DOC in water is fractionized into four fractions such as AnBDOC (adsorbable and non-biodegradable DOC) which possesses adsorption properties but no biodegradation ability; nABDOC (biodegradable and non-adsorbable DOC) which has biodegradation properties but no adsorption ability; ABDOC (adsorbable and biodegradable DOC) which has adsorption properties and biodegradable characteristic; and non-removal DOC (nAnBDOC) which do not have either adsorbability or biodegradability. BAC process was effective for adsorbable DOC (AnBDOC+ABDOC) removal. However, in some cases, the removal ratio of adsorbable DOC was not sufficient. BDOC removal rate is very low or irremovable. Thus, for the control of residual DOC, it is necessary to change the operation condition by BAC process. From the analysis results of DOC fractions, water treatment processes appeared to be effective because it could grasp a remarkable amount of biodegradable, adsorbable and non-removal DOC. The concentration of AOX in non-prechlorination process was reduced from 7.1 ${\mu}g$/L to 0.51 ${\mu}g$/L in BAC process followed by ozonation.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.555-564
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the bioresorbability of Calcium Polyphosphate added with $Na_2O$ and chitosan. Though calcium phosphate ceramics meet some of the needs for bone replacement, they have some limitation of unresorbability and fibrous encapsulation without direct bone apposition during bone remodelling. To solve these problem, we developed a new ceramic, calcium polyphosphate(CPP), and report the biologic response to CPP in extraction sites of beagle dog. Porous CPP granules were prepared by condensation of anhydrous $Ca(H_2PO_4)_2$ to form non-crystalline $Ca(PO_3)_2$. CPP granules added with $Na_2O$ and chitosan were implanted in extraction sockets and histologic observation were performed at 12 weeks later. Histologic observation at 12 weeks revealed that CPP matrix were mingled with and directly apposed to new bone without any intervention of fibrous connective tissue. CPP granules added with chitosan were well adatped without any adverse tissue reaction and resorbed slowly and spontaneously. CPP granules added with $Na_2O$ and chitosan show multinucleated giant cells and osteoblast-like cells around grafted material and newly formed bone. This result revealed that CPP, regardless of its additive component, had a high affinity for bone and had been resorbed slowly. From this results, it was suggested that CPP is promising ceramic as a bone substitute and addition of $Na_2O$ and chitosan help biodegradation. In further study , it will be determined which concentration of $Na_2O$ help biodegradation and the other additive components increase the degradation rate.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.185-188
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• 2008

A possible rapid biodegradation of abandoned livestock was tested by using the dead pig and chicken. The dead pig (36kg) was completely decomposed after 23 days of placement in the open field during June 2007. When the door of a cage in which a dead chicken (3.4kg) was placed was opened, a lot of flies were attracted to the chicken and layed eggs on the chicken. As the result the chicken was decomposed down to 0.6kg after 6 days of placement in the open field, On the other hand when the door was closed, the decomposition was very slow. The chicken weighed 3.0kg even after 6 days. An experiment conducted during October 2007 showed that decomposition speed depended on the number of inoculated flies. When 50 pairs of Lucilia sericata flies were inoculated to 3.2kg chicken, it was decomposed down to 1.0kg after 22 days in the field. However, when 200 female and 100 male flies were inoculated, the 3.4kg chicken was decomposed to 0.8kg after 11 days in the field. A 10,858 pupae (371.2g) was produced from the latter chicken. These pupae may possibly be used as a feed for fish and fowl. From these results it is considered that further research is needed to commercialize the blow flies for the rapid decomposition of an abandoned livestock of diverse size under diverse environment.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.7 s.80
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• pp.1158-1163
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• 2006

Bisphenol A (BPA), 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane, has been widely used as a monomer for production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics, and final products of BPA include adhesives, protective coatings, paints, optical lens, building materials, compact disks and other electrical parts. Since BPA is a toxic chemical to elicit acute cell cytotoxicity and chronic endocrine disrupting activity, the degradation of BPA has been focused during last decades. To overcome the problem of photo-, and chemical-degradation of BPA, in this study, a bacterium that is able to biodegrade BPA, was isolated. The bacterium, isolated froln the soil of plastic factory, was identified as Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (strain BP-2) based on physiological and 16S rDNA sequencing analysis. A. calcoaceticus BP-2 was able to grow in the presence of $1140{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}$ BPA. Biodegradation experiments showed that BP-2 mineralized BPA via 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and 4-hydroxyacetophenone, and average degradation rate was $53.3{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}\;day^{-1}$ under optimal conditions (pH 7 and $30^{\circ}C$). In high density resting cell $(3.5g-dcw.1^{-1})$ experiments, the maximal degradation rate was increased to $89.7{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}\;h^{-1}$. Our results suggest that BP-2 has high potential as a catalyst for practical BPA bioremediation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.991-1000
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• 2000

Methanotrophic consortium utilizing methane as the primary carbon source and secreting soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) was immobilized on celite R-635 to continuously treat a wastewater containing trichloroethylene (TCE). With influent 2 ppm of TCE. 80.4 and 84.5% of TCE was degraded in 6 and 20 hour of hydraulic retention time (HRT). respectively. and the removal efficiency of TCE was increased with an increase in HRT in methanotrophic consortium biofilm reactor (MCBR). With influent 5 ppm of TCE and 10 hour of HRT. average efficiency of TCE removal was decreased in initial stage. but gradually increased to 81%. TCE was degraded to 88.5 and 96.5% with 10 and 15 hour of HRT. respectively. when methane was supplied alternately with continuous oxygen supply at influent 5 ppm of TCE. The efficiency of TCE degradation was decreased probably because oxidation reaction of methane was proceeded slowly on MMO. when high concentration of methane was supplied with depletion of oxygen. As results of the pilot-scale study. biodegradation of TCE by MCBR system might be feasible at full-scale operation.