• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.205-225
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• 2021

Due to the large-scale production and use of synthetic chemicals in industralized countries, various chemicals are found in the aquatic environment, which are often termed as micropollutants. Effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as one of the major sources of these micropollutants. In this article, the current status of occurrence and removal of micropollutants in WWTPs and their management policies and options in domestic and foregin countries were critically reviewed. A large number of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and industrial chemicals are found in WWTPs' influent, and are only partially removed by current biological wastewater treatment processes. As a result, some micropollutants are present in WWTPs' effluents, which can negatively affect receiving water quality or drinking water source. To better understand and assess the potential risk of micropollutants, a systematic monitoring framework including advanced analytical tools such as high resolution mass spectrometry and bioanalytical methods is needed. Some Western European countries are taking proactive approach to controlling the micropollutants by upgrading WWTP with enahnced effluent treatment processes. While this enahnced WWTP effluent treatment appears to be a viable option for controlling micropollutant, its implementation requires careful consideration of the technical, economical, political, and cultural issues of all stakeholders.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.15-20
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• 2012

Processing of organic waste is converted to anaerobic digestion for environmental friendly and sustainable energy recovery and reduction of sludge. In this study, ECOPAD (ECOdays' Plug-flow Anaerobic Digster)design for a high solids content and high organic matter content were used to investigate an applicability and efficiency of food waste treatment and poultry wastewater treatment. Case-by-case analysis of treatment efficiency of ECOPAD using food waste of city "P" and city "S". Volatile Solids basis organic removal efficiency of city "P" and city "S" was 84% and 88% respectively. And, the content of methane (P City: 70%, S City: 71%) was measured similarly. In the case of poultry waste bio-gas production was measured to $1.6Nm^3/kg$-VSrem, and methane content was measured to 69%.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2008

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the variation of the molecular size distribution by granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption. GAC adsorption was assessed by using the rapid small-scale column test (RSSCT) and high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) was used to analyze the molecular size distribution (MSD) in the effluent of GAC column. RSSCT study suggested that GAC adsorption exhibited excellent interrelationship between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) breakthrough and MSD as function of bed volumes passed. After GAC treatment, the nonadsorbable fraction which was about 25percents of influent DOC corresponded to the hydrophilic (HPI) natural organic carbon (NOM) of NOM fractions and was composed entirely of <300 molecular weight (MW) in the HPSEC at the initial stage of the RSSCT operation. The dominant MW fraction in the source water was 1,000~5,000daltons. At the bed volumes 2,500, MW <500 of GAC treated water was risen rather than it of source water. After the bed volumes 7,300 of operation, the MW 1,000~3,000 fraction was closed to about 80percents of DOC found in the GAC influent. The Number-average molecular weight (Mn) value determined using HPSEC for the effluent of GAC column was gently increased as DOC breakthrough progress. The quotient p(Mw/Mn) can be used to estimate the degree of polydispersity was shown greatest value for the GAC effluent at the initial stage of the RSSCT operation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.464-469
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• 2005

In the nonwoven fabric filter bioreactor (NFBR), both the construction and the operation costs could be saved because a high concentration of microorganism can be maintained in the reactor as in the membrane bioreactor. However, the NFBR process has been investigated only under aerobic and/or anoxic conditions, In this research, a basic anaerobic treatment experiment was performed at $35^{\circ}C$ by feeding an airtight NFBR with a concentrated synthetic organic wastewater. The organic loading rate (OLR) of the NFBR was increased stepwise from $0.25kg\;COD/m^3-day$ to $0.77kg\;COD/m^3-day$ by gradually decreasing the hydraulic retention time from 20 days to 13 days. The results of the research showed that the best COD removal efficiency achieved at the OLR of $0.67kg\;COD/m^3-day$ with a value of 99.3%. The methane content of the produced gas was highest with a value of 61.2% at the OLR of $0.33g\;COD/m^3-day$. The highest methane production rate was $0.89g\;COD/m^3-day$ at the same OLR. The operation was terminated at the OLR of $0.77kg\;COD/m^3-day$ because of the deterioration in COD removal efficiency, gas production rate, and the methane content of the gas. Further researches are recommended for the NFBR to be employed for anaerobic treatment of organic wastewaters.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.259-265
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• 2008

Generally speaking, there are two widely used methods of Nitrogen removal from waste water: 1) nitrification using autotrophic microorganisms, and 2) denitrification using heterotrophic microorganisms. The C/N ratio is an important factor of the denitrification process. In this case, if methanol is added to increase the lacking organic matter, a high economic cost is incurred and methanol is left in the processed water. In an effort to fix these issues, autotrophic denitrification through the use of Hydrogen, Iron and Sulfur is being studied, and among those Sulfur is cheaper and carries out denitrification effectively, and therefore is being studied the most. In this study, after cultivating T. denitrificans, the presence of T. denitrificans was determined and the effectiveness of denitirification via T. denitrificans was studied. In order to find out about the inhibition of T. denitrificans from the loading of organic matter, this shows that the greater the loading of organic matter, the more the denitrification ability of T. denitrificans is hindered. In order to research the hindrance of T. denitrificans resulting from the loading of $NO_3{^-}-N$, these results show that concentrations less than 100mg/L per 100mL of gel volume do not hinder T. denitrificans. In order to research the optimization of denitrification resulting from T. denitrificans, three 500mL samples of Sulfur granules were prepared: 1) one with only T. denitrificans attached (Mode I), 2) one with both T. denitrificans and active sludge attached (Mode II), and 3) one with only active sludge attached (Mode III). The results showed that autotrophic denitrification using S from Mode I was the most active.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.395-399
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• 2014

Operation characteristics of the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) process with electro-flotation (EF) as a solid liquid separation method (EF-SBR) were investigated. EF-SBR process showed excellent solid-liquid separation performance which enabled to separate biosolids from liquid phase within 30 min and to extend cyclic reaction time. Although influent organic loading rate was increased stepwise from 5 to 15 g COD/day, food to microorganisms (F/M) ratio could be maintained about 0.3 g COD/g VSS/day in EF-SBR because biomass concentration could be easily controlled at desired level by EF. However, it was impossible to increase biomass concentration at the same level in control SBR (C-SBR) process because solid-liquid separation by gravity settling showed a limitation at higher mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration with 60 min of settling time. Total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) removal efficiency of EF-SBR process was not decreased although influent organic loading rate became 3 times higher than initial value. However, it was seriously deteriorated in C-SBR process after increasing the rate over 10 g COD/day, which was accounted for insufficient organic removal by relatively higher food to microorganisms (F/M) ratio as well as biosolids wash-out by a limitation of gravity sedimentation.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.53-64
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• 2020

A 2㎥/d combined wastewater treatment pilot plant containing the multi-stage vertical stacking type nitrification reactor was installed and operated for more than 1 year under the operating conditions of the short-circuit nitrogen process (pH 8, DO 1mg/L and Internal return rate 4Q from nitrification to denitrification reactor). For economically the combination treatment of food wastewater and the leachate from a landfill, the optimal combination ratio was operated by adjusting the food wastewater with the minimum oil content to 5-25% of the total throughput. The main treatment efficiency of the three-phase centrifugal separator which was introduced to effectively separate solids and oil from the food wastewater was about 52% of SS from 116,000mg/L to 55,700mg/L, and about 48% of normal hexane (NH) from 53,200mg to 27,800 mg/L. During the operational period, the average removal efficiency in the combined wastewater treatment process of BOD was 99.3%, CODcr 94.2%, CODmn 90%, SS 70.1%, T-N 85.8%, and T-P 99.2%. The average concentrations of BOD, CODcr, T-N, and T-P of the treated water were all satisfied with the discharge quality standard for landfill leachate ("Na" region), and SS was satisfied after applying the membrane process. On-site leachate had a relatively high nitrite nitrogen content in the combined wastewater due to intermittent aeration of the equalization tanks and different monthly discharges. Nevertheless nitrite nitrogen was accumulated, denitrification from nitrite nitrogen was observed rather than denitrification after complete nitrification. The average input of anti-forming chemical during the operation period is about 2L/d, which seems to be economical compared to the input of methanol required to treat the same wastewater.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.244-248
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• 2007

The treatment of a model wastewater containing high concentration, 10 $g/{\ell}$, of phenol in an integrated wet oxidation-aerobic biological treatment was investigated. Partial wet oxidation under mild operating conditions was capable of converting the original phenol to biodegradable organic acids such as maleic acid, formic acid and acetic acid, the solution of which was subjected to the subsequent aerobic biological treatment. The wet oxidation was carried out at 150$^{\circ}C$ and 200$^{\circ}C$ and the initial pH of 1 to 12. The high temperature of 200$^{\circ}C$ and the acidic initial condition in the wet oxidation led to effluents of which biodegradability was higher in the subsequent biological oxidation process, as assessed by chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal. Homogeneous catalyst of $CuSO_4$ was also used for increasing the oxidation rate in the wet oxidation at 150$^{\circ}C$ and initial pH of 3.0. However, the pretreatment with the catalytic wet oxidation resulted in effluents which were less biodegradable in the aerobic biological process compared to those out of the non-catalytic wet oxidation at the same operating conditions.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2021

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) can be classified as a type of self-immobilized microbial aggregates measuring more than 0.2 mm. It offers the option to simultaneously remove COD, N, and P that occur in different zones inside a granule. Also, AGS is characterized by high precipitability, treatability with high organic loading, and high tolerance to low temperature. In this study, a sequencing batch reactor inoculated with AGS (AGS-SBR) is a new advanced wastewater treatment process that was proven to grow AGS with integrated nutrient removal and low C/N ratio. A pilot plant, AGS-SBR with a capacity of 225 ㎥/d was installed at an S sewage treatment plant in Gyeonggi-do. The results of the operation showed that the water quality of the effluent indicated that the value of BOD5 was 1.5 mg/L, CODMn was 11.4 mg/L, SS was 6.2 mg/L, T-N was 13.2 mg/L, and T-P was 0.197 mg/L, and all of these values reliably satisfied an effluent standard (I Area). In winter, the T-N treatment efficiency at a lower temperature of less than 11℃ also showed reliability to meet the effluent standard of the I Area (20 mg/L or less). Analysis of microbial community in AGS showed a higher preponderance of beneficial microorganisms involved in denitrification and phosphorus accumulation compared with activated sludge. The power consumption and sludge disposal cost were reduced by 34.7% and 54.9%, respectively, compared to the domestic SBR type sewage treatment plant with a processing capacity of 1,000 ㎥/d or less.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.599-607
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• 2000

In this research, ${NH_4}^+-N$ and ${PO_4}^{3-}-P$ in wastewater were removed by crystallization. Nitrogen and phosphate have been regarded as key nutrients in the eutrophication of rivers and lakes. Struvite, $MgNH_4PO_4{\cdot}6H_2O$, is insoluble in alkaline solutions. Fertilizer industry wastewater contains organic and nitrogen concentration of 330 mg/L and 550 mg/L, respectively. Nitrogen in this wastewater cannot be treated by conventional biological treatment without physicochemical pretreatment, because nitrogen concentration is relatively high compared to organic concentration. Magnesium ions used in this study were from bittern and commercial magnesium salts of $MgCl_2$ and $Mg(OH)_2$. Bittern obtained as a by-product of seasalt manufacture contains $8,000mg\;Ca^{2+}/L$ and $32,000mg\;Mg^{2+}/L$. Optimum initial pH was 10.5~11.0 and the reaction was complete or done in 2 min. Nitrogen removal efficiency using bittern, $MgCl_2 $ and $Mg(OH)_2$ (as source of $Mg^{2+}$) was 71 %, 81% and 83%. respectively. Phosphate removal efficiency was 99%, 98% and 93%, respectively. Therefore, bittern, $MgCl_2$ and $Mg(OH)_2$ can be efficiently used as $Mg^{2+}$ source for crystallization of nitrogen and phosphate. However, bittern is economically favorable $Mg^{2+}$ source for removing nitrogen and phosphate in wastewater.