• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.61-65
• /
• 2001

In this study, a BTX degrading microbial consortium was obtained from the activated sludges of a BTX releasing sewage water and city sewage water treatment plant. The MY microbial consortium was developed for benzene and toluene degradation, whereas the MA microbial consortium was developed for xylene isomers. The major microorganism of the MA consortium was identified as Rhodococcus ruber DSM 43338T, whereas that of the MY consortium was Rhodococcus sp. In terms of the degradation of a single component, the removal rate of benzene was fastest and decreased in order; toluene, o-xylene, p-xylene and m-xylene. For degradation of mixed BTX, most BTX were degraded within 108 hours and the degradation rate showed either stimulatory or inhibitory effects depending on the composition. MA and MY microbial consortium obtained in this study may be used effectively to remove BTX biologically.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2003.04a
• /
• pp.382-385
• /
• 2003

Organic solvent tolerant bacterium, designated as strain BCNU 106 is a gram negative, rod-shaped aerobe and grows on benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) as a sole carbon source. According to 16S rDNA analysis and fatty acid analysis, strain BCNU 106 showed highest similarity to Pseudomonas syringae var. savastanoi (Pseudomonas savastanoi). Strain BCNU 106 was able to utilize toluene, ethylbenzene, both o-, m-, p-xylene , m-cresol and o-cresol. The degradation of o-, m-, p-xylene by strain BCNU 106 is particularly important, since o-xylene is a compound of considerable environmental interest, owing to its recalcitrance; and very few microorganism have been reported to utilize both o-, m-, p-xylene as a sole carbon source.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.279-287
• /
• 2023

Fine dust emitted from coal combustion is classified into filterable particulate matter (FPM) and condensable particulate matter (CPM). CPM is difficult to control with existing air pollution control devices, so research is being conducted to understand the characteristics of CPM. Components constituting condensable particulate matter (CPM) are divided into inorganic and organic components. There are many quantitative analysis results for the ionic components, which account for a significant proportion of the CPM inorganic components, but little is known about the organic components. Thus, there is a need for a quantitative analysis of CPM organic components. In this study, aromatic hydrocarbons (toluene, ethyl benzene, m,p-xylene, and o-xylene) and n-alkanes with 10 to 30 carbon atoms were quantitatively analyzed to understand the organic components of CPM emitted from a lab-scale coal combustor. Of the aromatic hydrocarbons, toluene accounted for 1.03% of the CPM organic components. On the other hand, the contents of ethyl benzene, m,p-xylene, and o-xylene showed low values of 0.11%, 0.18%, and 0.51% on average, respectively. Among the n-alkanes, triacontane (C₃₀) showed a high content of 2.64% and decane (C₁₀) showed a content of 2.05%. The next highest contents were shown with dodecane (C₁₂), tetradecane (C₁₄), and heptacosane (C₂₇), all of which were higher than that of toluene. The n-alkane substances that had detectable concentrations showed higher contents than ethyl benzene, m,p-xylene, and o-xylene except for tetracosane (C₂₄).

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.375-383
• /
• 2000

A mixed culture isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil was enriched on toluene as a sole carbon and energy source, and degradation characteristics of BTEX(Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylenes) was observed. In the single-substrate experiments, all the BTEX compounds were degraded, and it was degraded as following orders; toluene, benzene, ethylbenzene, and p-xylene. In the degradation experiments of BTEX mixtures, the degradation rate was decreased compared to that in the single substrate experiment and ethylbenzene was degraded faster than benzene. In the experiments of binary-mixtures, various substrate interactions such as inhibition, stimulation, and non-interaction were observed, and ethylbenzene was shown to be most potent inhibitor of BTEX degradation. In the degradation characteristic studies of xylene isomers, m-xylene and p-xylene were degraded as carbon sources, and it was stimulated in the presence of either benzene or toluene. However, degradation of o-xylene was enhanced only in the presence of benzene.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.147-152
• /
• 2009

In this study, the applicability of alginate-immobilized Pseudomonas putida mt-2 KG1206 on the environments, contaminated with toluene analogs was conducted. Genetically engineered strain KG1206 produces light by direct (m-toluate, benzoate) and indirect (toluene, xylenes) inducers. The protocol for the alginate-immobilization was determined in terms of the cell to alginate ratio, solution, proper number of alginate beads, and other conditions. Maximum bioluminescences of five chemicals by immobilized strain were generally observed in following orders: m-toluate > p-xylene > toluene > o-xylene > m-xylene. In relationship between bioluminescence activity and inducer reduction, initial m-toluate (5 mM) in solution was removed approximately 48% of initial at 5 h exposure, showing continuous decrease of inducer chemical in solution. These results of study with alginate-immobilized beads would be useful, especially, for biomonitoring of contaminated environments with specific compounds, such as petroleum hydrocarbon compounds including toluene analogs.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.1-14
• /
• 2005

In this study, a Long Path Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy system (K-JIST LP-DOAS) has been used to simultaneously measure atmospheric monoaromatic hydrocarbons and other trace compounds. The validity of the K-JIST LP-DOAS for measuring atmospheric monoaromatic hydrocarbons was tested during a field campaign between 12 February and 14 March 2003 at an urban site in Seoul, Korea through inter-comparative measurements against a collocated on-line Gas Chromatography (GC) system. The concentrations of benzene, toluene, p-xylene, and m-xylene were measured with the K-JIST LP-DOAS system in the UV region (239～302 nm) over a 740 m beam path. For the other trace compounds, a longer spectral range (299～362 nm) was used. In order to remove the interference of atmospheric abundant species (such as oxygen, sulfur dioxide and ozone), two oxygen optical density spectra obtained at two pathlengths, 697 and 1133m, and reference spectra of sulfur dioxide and ozone were incorporated in the fitting procedure. The mean concentrations measured by our LP-DOAS during the measurement period were 0.77 ($\pm$0.38) ppbv for benzene, 3.68 ($\pm$1.90) ppbv for toluene, 0.41 ($\pm$0.19) ppbv for p-xylene, 0.54 ($\pm$0.24) ppbv for m-xylene. The concentration data of benzene, toluene, p-xylene and m-xylene obtained by our LP-DOAS were found to be in relatively good correlations with those of the online GC system. Pearson's coefficients in the observed concentrations between LP-DOAS and on-line GC were 0.84 for benzene, 0.83 for toluene and 0.65 for m,p-xylene. This study suggests that the LP-DOAS system can be used to provide reliable information on both the mixing ratios and temporal distribution characteristics of monoaromatic hydrocarbons in the urban air.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.389-393
• /
• 2013

The purpose of this study is to investigate the biodegradation characteristics of the xylene by BTEX-degrading bacteria, Pseudomonas putida BJ10, isolated from oil-contaminated soil and bio-degradation pathway of the xylene. The removal efficiencies of o, m, p-xylene in mineral salts medium (MSM) by P. putida BJ10 were 94, 90 and 98%, respectively for 24 hours. It shows clear difference compared with the control groups which were below 3%. The removal efficiencies of BTEX by P. putida BJ10 in gasoline-contaminated soil were 66% for 9 days. They were clearly distinguished from the control groups (control and sterilized soil) which were 32 and 8%. 3-methylcatechol and o-toluic acid were detected after 6 and 24 hours during the o-xylene biodegradation pathway. Therefore, we confirmed o-toluic acid as the final metabolite. And intermediate-products were somewhat different with previously published studies of the transformation pathway from o-xylene to 3-methylcatechol.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.17 no.11
• /
• pp.1195-1201
• /
• 2008

Enhancing with non-metallic elemental nitrogen(N) is one of several methods that have been proposed to modify the electronic properties of bulk titanium dioxide($TiO_2$), in order to make $TiO_2$ effective under visible-light irradiation. Accordingly, current study evaluated the feasibility of applying visible-light-induced $TiO_2$ enhanced with N element to cleanse aromatic compounds, focusing on xylene isomers at indoor air quality(IAQ) levels. The N-enhanced $TiO_2$ was prepared by applying two popular processes, and they were coated by applying two well-known methods. For three o-, m-, and p-xylene, the two coating methods exhibited different photocatalytic oxidation(PCO) efficiencies. Similarly, the two N-doping processes showed different PCO efficiencies. For all three stream flow rates(SFRs), the degradation efficiencies were similar between o-xylene and m,p-xylene. The degradation efficiencies of all target compounds increased as the SFR decreased. The degradation efficiencies determined via a PCO system with N-enhanced visible-light induced $TiO_2$ was somewhat lower than that with ultraviolet(UV)-light induced unmodified $TiO_2$, which was reported by previous studies. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that PCO efficiencies increased up to 94% for o-xylene and 97% for the m,p-xylene under lower SFR(0.5 L $min^{-1}$). Consequently, it is suggested that with appropriate SFR conditions, the visible-light-assisted photocatalytic systems could also become important tools for improving IAQ.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.31-35
• /
• 2000

A suitable packing material for biofiltration of monoaromatic solvent vapors was selected among various types of packing materials such as peat, bark chips, vermiculite, and Hydroballs. A previously isolated strain, Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes BTXO2, which could utilize toluene, m-and p-xylene as carbon and energy sources was used as a biofilter inoculum. Four glass biofilters (6 cm dia. x 60 cm) were individually packed with each of the packing materials and solvent vapors were passed through the columns. During three weeks of peat biofilter operation, average removal efficiencies of toluene, m-and p-xylene were 90.4%, 95.3%, and 82.1%, respectively. With the other packings, the efficiencies were in the range of 10.1 to 58.6％ which were significantly lower than those of the peat biofilter. The peat biofilter was continually operated for approximately nine months and the biofilter sustained its degradation activity during the operation period with minimal maintenance. At steady state, average removal rates of toluene, m- and p-xylene vapors were estimated as 14.2, 5.5, and 8.1 g m$\^$-3/ packing h$\^$-1/, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.70-75
• /
• 2008

The values of the AIT(Autoignition temperature) for fire and explosion protection are normally the lowest reported. The minimum autoignition temperature behavior(MAITB) of flammable liquid mixtures is exhibited when the AIT of mixture is below the AIT of the individual components. The MAITB is an interesting experimental features, which can be significant from the perspective of industrial safety. In this study, the AITs of m-xylene+n-butyric acid and ethylbenzene+n-butanol systems were measured using ASTM E659-78 apparatus. The AITs of m-xylene, n-butyric acid, ethylbenzene and n-butanol which constituted two binary systems were $587^{\circ}C$, $510^{\circ}C$, $475^{\circ}C$ and $340^{\circ}C$ respectively. The m-xylene+n-butyric acid system is exhibited MAITB at 0.3 mole fraction of m-xylene, and its minimum autoignition temperature was $460^{\circ}C$.