• Clean Technology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2010

In this paper, 4 bundle modules of PVDF hollow fiber membrane from Woori Tech company (Korea) were manufactured in a treatment capacity of 10 ton/day. A membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant was installed at Sooyoung Wastewater Treatment Plant in Busan. An alternating aeration process was selected to avoid the concentration profile of suspended solid (SS) in the MBR. For stable operation, raw wastewater with mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS) of about 1,000 ppm, which was in-flowed from the aeration tank of the wastewater treatment plant, was fed and filtered through the pilot plant. Subsequently the pilot plant were washed three times with washing water: once with ethanol solution, once with a solution of 5% NaOCl, and finally with washing water. After the chemical washing, the remaining water in the MBR was fed into the pilot plant. As a result, the SS removal efficiency was found to be more than 99.9%. The amount of filtrate with the aeration tank influent decreased by 16%, compared with that from the initial conditions, giving rise to 30% increase in the suction pressure. These results were used to set up continuous operation conditions. The results from the continuous operation with influent MLSS of 1,900 mg/L showed that the SS removal efficiency was about 99.99% and that the amount of filtrate and the suction pressure were $42{\sim}52L/m^2$ and 16~20 cmHg, respectively, indicating stable operation of the pilot plant. However, for the reuse of wastewater, methods need to be sought to avoid growth of algae which affects the SS removal efficiency at inlet and outlet of the permeate tank.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.1233-1239
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• 2016

This study aimed to evaluate changes in the TN and TP removal efficiencies, depending on whether or not a settling process is applied, in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) process with a membrane bioreactor (MBR). Nutrient removal was considered in terms of developing an advanced water treatment system for ships in accordance with water quality standards set forth by 227(64). For these purposes, the TN and TP concentrations in the inflow and outflow water were measured to calculate the TN and TP removal efficiencies, depending on whether or not a settling process was used. Water discharged from a bathroom, which was constructed for the experiment, was used as the raw water. The experiment that included a settling process was conducted twice, and the operating conditions were: aeration for 90 min, settling for 30 min, agitation for 15 min, and settling for 15 min for one experiment; and aeration for 150 min, settling for 45 min, agitation for 15 min, and settling for 15 min in the other. Operating conditions for the experiment that did not include a settling process were: aeration for 180 min and agitation for 60 min. The concentration of the mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) in the reactor was 3,500 mg/L, while the aeration rate was 121 L/min and the water production rate was 1.5 L/min. For the two experiments where a settling process was applied, the average TN removal efficiencies were 44.39% and 41.05%, and the average TP removal efficiencies were 47.85% and 46.04%. For the experiment in which a settling process was not applied, the average TN removal efficiency was 65.51%, and the average TP removal efficiency was 52.51%. Although the final nutrient levels did not satisfy the water quality standards of MEPC 227(64), the TN and TP removal efficiencies were higher when a settling process was not applied.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.121-131
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• 2018

Domestic sewage treatment plants (STPs) consume about 0.5 % of total electric energy produced annually, which is equivalent to 207.7 billion Korean won per year. To minimize the energy consumption and as a way of mitigating the depletion of energy sources, the sewage treatment strategy should be improved to the level of "energy positive". The core processes for the energy positive sewage treatment include A-stage for energy recovery and B-stage for energy-efficient nitrogen removal. The integrated process is known as the A/B-process. In A-stage, chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) or high rate activated sludge (HRAS) processes can be utilized by modifying the primary settling in the first stage of sewage treatment. CEPT utilizes chemical coagulation and flocculation, while HRAS applies returned activated sludge for the efficient recovery of organic contents. The two processes showed organic recovery efficiencies ranging from 60 to 70 %. At a given recovery efficiency of 80 %, 17.3 % of energy potential ($1,398kJ/m^3$) is recovered through the anaerobic digestion and combustion of methane. Besides, anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) can recover 85% of organic contents and generate $1,580kJ/m^3$ from the sewage. The recovered energy is equal to the amount of energy consumption by sewage treatment equipped with anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX)-based B-stage, $810{\sim}1,620kJ/m^3$. Therefore, it is possible to upgrade STPs as efficient as energy neutral. However, additional novel technologies, such as, fuel cell and co-digestion, should be applied to achieve "energy positive" sewage treatment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2014

It is essential to decrease energy consumption and excess sludge to economically operate sewage treatment plant. This becomes more important along with a ban on sea dumping and exhaustion of resource. Therefore, many researchers have been study on energy consumption reduction and strategies for minimization of excess sludge production from the activated sludge process. The aeration cost account for a high proportion of maintenance cost because sufficient air is necessary to keep nitrifying bacteria activity of which the oxygen affinity is inferior to that of heterotrophic bacteria. Also, additional costs are incurred to stabilize excess sludge and decrease the volume of sludge. There were anoxic, aerobic, membrane, deairation and concentration zone in this MBR process. Continuous aeration was provided to prevent membrane fouling in membrane zone and intermittent aeration was provided in aerobic zone through ammonia sensor. So, there was the minimum oxygen to remove $NH_4-N$ below limited quantity that could be eliminated in membrane zone. As the result of this control, energy consumption of aeration system declined by between 10.4 % and 19.1 %. Besides, we could maintain high MLSS concentration in concentration zone and this induced the microorganisms to be in starved condition. Consequentially, the amount of excess sludge decrease by about 15 %.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.196-203
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• 2002

A novel process for urokinase purification was studied using p-aminobenzamidine as the ligand and sepharose 4B as the matrix. The adsorption, washing, and elution conditions were optimized by an unusual method. An adsorption buffer containing 2.5 M NaCl and $1\%$ Tween 80 facilitated the adsorption of urokinase on the affinity media and prevented contaminants from binding to the p-aminobenzamidine affinity gel. It was found that $5\%$ Tween 80 removed most of the contaminants from the affinity column. A 0.2 M glycine elution buffer containing 0.5 M NaCl (pH 3.0) was found to have a strong elution ability with a high recovery and purity of urokinase. A crude urokinase material of231 IU/mg protein from human urine was purified to 124,300 IU/mg protein with a purification factor of 538 and yield of $86.7\%$. As a result, a high purity urokinase was obtained with only a single affinity chromatography step. The purification process was successfully scaled-up to a 2-1 chromatography column. The resulting urokinase eluate could be directly lyophilized, thereby complying with Chinese pharmacopoeia (1995 version) standards.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.183-187
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• 2008

Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are a family of proteins that mediate angiogenesis. $VEGF_{165}$ is a VEGF-A isoform and has been extensively studied owing to its potential use in therapeutic angiogenesis. This study established Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells overexpressing recombinant human $VEGF_{165}$ $(rhVEGF_{165})$ protein. The production rate of the established CHO cells was over 80mg/l of $rhVEGF_{165}$ protein from a 7-day batch culture process using a 7.5-l bioreactor with a 5-l working volume and serum-free medium. The $rhVEGF_{165}$ protein was purified to homogeneity from the culture supernatant using a two-step chromatographic procedure that resulted in a 48% recovery rate. The purified $rhVEGF_{165}$ protein was a glycosylated homodimeric protein with a higher molecular weight (MW) than the protein expressed from insect cells, suggesting that the glycosylation of the $rhVEGF_{165}$ protein in CHO cells differed from that in insect cells. The purified $rhVEGF_{165}$ protein in this study was functionally active with a half-maximal effective concentration of 3.8ng/ml and specific activity of $2.5{\times}10^5U/mg$.

• Clean Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2004

Due to the low biodegradability of dyes, conventional biological wastewater treatment systems are inefficient in treating textile wastewater. In this study, white rot fungus, Trametes versicolor KCTC 16781, were investigated for the decolorization of Reactive black 5 solutions. This fungus was able to degrade the dye solutions by the ligninolytic enzymes (laccase and MnP) produced. The enzyme activity remained constant until the end of reaction. The combined process of biological treatment and ceramic membrane showed better efficiency for decolorization and TOC removal than each single process.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.200-208
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• 2005

In this study, a new submerged membrane bioreactor process packed with granular sulfur (MBR-GS) was operated to identify the biological nitrogen removal behaviors with plating wastewater containing high-strength $NO_3{^-}$ concentration. The continuous denitrification was carried out at $20^{\circ}C$ with various nitrogen loading rates using synthetic wastewater, which composed of $NO_3{^-}$ and $HCO_3{^-}$, but also actual plating wastewater, which was collected from the effluent of the H metal plating company. As a result, high-rate denitrification in the range of $0.8kg\;NO_3{^-}-N/m^3\;day$ was accomplished at nitrogen loading rate of $0.9kg\;NO_3{^-}-N/m^3\;day$ using synthetic wastewater. Also, higher-rate denitrification with actual plating wastewater was achieved up to $0.91kg\;NO_3{^-}-N/m^3\;day$ at the loading rate of $1.11kg\;NO_3{^-}-N/m^3\;day$. Additionally, continuous filtration was possible during up to 30 days without chemical cleaning in the range of 20 cmHg of transmembrane pressure. On the basis of the proposed stoichiometry, ${SO_4}^{2-}$ production could be estimated efficiently, while observed alkalinity consumption was somewhat lower than theoretical value. Consequently, a new process, MBR-GS is capable of high-rate autotrophic denitrification by compulsive flux and expected to be utilized as an alternative of renovation techniques for nitrogen removal from not only plating wastewater but also municipal wastewater with low C/N ratio.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.393-403
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• 2021

Enzymes are important class of catalyst for biotransformation. Stability and reusability of enzymes during the catalysis process is a key issue. Activity of enzyme can be enhanced by its immobilization on a suitable substrate by creation of specific microenvironment. A variety of membranes has been used as substrate due to the biocompatibility and simpler method to tune hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity property of the membrane surface. In this review, polymer membranes including cellulose, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyethersulfone (PES) are introduced and discussed in detail. Biodegradation of organic contaminants by immobilized enzyme is an environmental friendly process to reduce the contamination of environment in pharmaceutical company and textile industries. The controlled hydrolysis of oil can be performed in enzyme immobilized membrane bioreactor (EMBR), resulting in reducing carbon emission and reduced environmental pollution. Bioethanol and biodiesel are considered alternative fossil fuels that can be prepared in EMBR.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.379-388
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• 2006

Two mesophilic trickling bed bioreactors filled with two different types of media, hydrophilic- and hydrophobic-cubes, were designed and conducted for hydrogen production under the anaerobic fermentation of sucrose. Each bioreactor consisted of the column packed with polymeric cubes and inoculated with heat-treated sludge obtained from anaerobic digestion tank. A defined medium containing sucrose was fed by the different hydraulic retention time(HRT), and recycle rate. Hydrogen concentrations in gas-phase were constant, averaging 40% of biogas throughout the operation. Hydrogen production rate was increased till $10.5\;L{\cdot}h^{-1}{\cdot}L^{-1}$ of bioreactor when influent sucrose concentrations and recycle rates were varied. At the same time, the hydrogen production rate with hydrophobic media application was higher than its hydrophilic media application. No methane was detected when the reactor was under a normal operation. The major fermentation by-products in the liquid effluent of the both trickling biofilters were acetate, butyrate and lactate. In order to run in the long term operation of both reactor filled with hydrophilic and hydrophobic media, biofilm accumulation on hydrophilic media and biogas produced should be controlled through some process such as periodical backwashing or gas-purging. Four sample were collected from each reactor on the opposite hydrogen production rate, and their bacterial communities were compared by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of PCR products generated using bacterial 16s rRNA gene primers (8f and 926r). It was expressed a marked difference in bacterial communities of both reactors. The trickling bed bioreactor with hydrophobic media demonstrates the feasibility of the process to produce hydrogen gas. A likely application of this reactor technology can be hydrogen gas recovery from pre-treatment of high carbohydrate-containing wastewaters.