• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.168-181
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• 2024

Constructed wetlands (CWs) deliver a range of ecosystem services, including the removal of contaminants, sequestration and storage of carbon, and enhancement of biodiversity. These services are facilitated through hydrological and ecological processes such as infiltration, adsorption, water retention, and evapotranspiration by plants and microorganisms. This study investigated the correlations between microbial populations, soil physicochemical properties, and treatment efficiency in a horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF CW) treating runoff from roads and parking lots. The methods employed included storm event monitoring, water quality analysis, soil sampling, soil quality parameter analysis, and microbial analysis. The facility achieved its highest pollutant removal efficiencies during the warm season (>15℃), with rates ranging from 33% to 74% for TSS, COD, TN, TP, and specific heavy metals including Fe, Zn, and Cd. Meanwhile, the highest removal efficiency was 35% for TOC during the cold season (≤15℃). These high removal rates can be attributed to sedimentation, adsorption, precipitation, plant uptake, and microbial transformations within the CW. Soil analysis revealed that the soil from HSSF CW had a soil organic carbon content 3.3 times higher than that of soil collected from a nearby landscape. Stoichiometric ratios of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in the inflow and outflow were recorded as C:N:P of 120:1.5:1 and 135.2:0.4:1, respectively, indicating an extremely low proportion of N and P compared to C, which may challenge microbial remediation efficiency. Additionally, microbial analyses indicated that the warm season was more conducive to microorganism growth, with higher abundance, richness, diversity, homogeneity, and evenness of the microbial community, as manifested in the biodiversity indices, compared to the cold season. Pollutants in stormwater runoff entering the HSSF CW fostered microbial growth, particularly for dominant phyla such as Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, which have shown moderate to strong correlations with specific soil properties and changes in influent-effluent concentrations of water quality parameters.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.123-136
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• 2010

In order to remediate heavy metal contaminated Nong island, Maehyang-ri shooting range soils through the batch reactor scale washing were evaluated. The experiment texture soil of N3 in the Nong island at north side incline was (g)mS containing 12.9% gravel, 47.0% sand, 35.1% silt and 5.0% clay. And the N3 soil area was contaminated with Cd($22.5\pm1.9$ ppm), Cu($35.5\pm4.0$ ppm), Pb($1,279.0\pm5.1$ ppm) and Zn($403.4\pm9.8$ ppm). The EDTA(ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid, $C_{10}H_{16}N_2O_8$) in the N3 soil was observed as most effective extractants among the 5 extractants(citric acid, EDTA, phosphoric acid, potassium phosphate and oxalic acid) tested. And chemical partitioning of heavy metals after washing N3 soil with EDTA was evaluated. Removal efficiency of residual fractions was higher than that of non-residual fractions. To choose EDTA extractant which is the most effective in soil washing technology using batch reactor process cleaning Pb and Zn contaminated sits; Pb and Zn removal rates were investigated 92.4%, 94.0% removal(1,000 mM, soil:solution=5, $20^{\circ}C$, 24 hour shaking, pH=2, 200 RPM), respectively. The results of the batch test showed that the removal efficiency curve was logarithmic in soil was removal. Thus, EDTA washing process can be applied to remediate the Pb and Zn contaminated soil used in this study.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.121-135
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• 2012

Soil dispersion and heavy metal leaching with two heavy metal-contaminated soils were studied to derive the optimal dispersion condition in the course of developing the remedial technology using magnetic separation. The dispersion solutions of pyrophosphate, hexametaphosphate, orthophosphate and sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) at 1 - 200 mM and the pH of solutions was adjusted to be 9 - 12 with NaOH. The clay content of suspension as an indicator of dispersion rate and the heavy metal concentration of the solution were tested at the different pHs and concentrations of the dispersion solution during the experiment. The dispersion rate increased with increasing the pH and dispersion agent concentration of the solution. The dispersion efficiency of the agents showed as follows: pyrophosphate > hexametaphosphate > SDS > orthophosphate. Arsenic leaching was sharply increased at 50 mM of phosphates and 100 mM of SDS. The adsorption of $OH^-$, phosphates and dodecysulfate on the surface of Fe- and Mn-oxides and soil organic matter and the broken edge of clay mineral might decrease the surface charge and might increase the repulsion force among soil particles. The competition between arsenic and $OH^-$, phosphates and dodecylsulfate for the adsorption site of soil particles might induce the arsenic leaching. The dispersion and heavy metal leaching data indicate that pH 11 and 10 mM pyrophosphate is the optimum dispersion solution for maximizing dispersion and minimizing heavy metal leaching.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.14-22
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• 2006

Laboratory column experiment for simultaneous removal of Cd and Cr(VI) were conducted using newly developed material of Fe-loaded zeolite having both reduction ability and sorption capacity. The solution containing Cd and Cr(VI) was injected into the column and the breakthrough curves (BTCs) for the contaminants were observed at the effluent port. Cd breakthrough was not initialized until Cr(VI) breakthrough was completed. Therefore it could be concluded that overall efficiency of Fe-loaded zeolite should be determined by the reactivity for Cr(VI). The relative concentration of Cr(VI) BTC increased to the unit value while initial breakthrough was delayed and the propagation of breakthrough was slowed. In order to quantitatively describe the shape of Cr(VI) BTC, new parameters of ${\alpha}\;and\;{\beta}$ designated to be shape parameters, were defined and applied in contaminant transport concentration. These parameters were employed to represent the degree of initial breakthrough delay and the degree of breakthrough propagation, respectively. As initial contaminant concentration increased, ${\alpha}$ decreased, which indicated the delay of BTC's initiation. And as initial contaminant flow rate increased, ${\beta}$ decreased, which represented the faster propagation of the BTC. From these results, Fe-loaded zeolite was found to be an effective reactive material for PRBs against heavy metals having different ionic forms in groundwater. And it could be expected that as groundwater flows faster, the propagation of breakthrough would be faster and as contaminant concentration is higher, the initial point of breakthrough would appear earlier.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.441-450
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• 2016

A pilot scale biostimulation experiment was performed under field conditions to degrade organic pollutants and PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds) in contaminated coastal sediment. During the experiment, the seawater temperature around the sediment varied from $16.5^{\circ}C$ to $21^{\circ}C$, while the sediment pH was stable at 8.4-8.5. The experiment was conducted over a one year period with a control group and a sample group with a applied biostimulant composed of acetate, sulfate, and nitrate. Chemical oxygen demand decreased 39% in the control group and 79% in the sample group. Volatile solids were reduced from 15 to 7 g/kg in the control group and 2.5 g/kg in the sample group. Out of the 2-, 3- ,4- ,5-, and 6-rings of the 16 vital PAHs, the compound including naphthalene (2-ring), took 2 months to degrade completely, while the degradation efficiency was 55.6% in the control group during the same period. In the case of the 3-ring and 4-ring PAHs, complete degradation in the sample and 46% - 100% degradation in control was observed after one year of the experiment. The 5-ring and 6-ring PAHs were degraded to about 77%-100% in the sample group and 26%-87% in the control group during the one year of the experiment. The study results show that biostimulation is a very effective method to improve the degradation rate of organic pollutants and PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds) in contaminated coastal sediment.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.153-160
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• 2005

There have been large areas of soil contaminated with high levels of explosives. For this experimental work, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was tested as a representative explosive contaminant of concern in both aqueous and soil samples and its removal was evaluated using three different chemical treatment methods: 1) the classical Fenton reaction which utilizes hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) and soluble iron at pH less than 3; 2) a modified Fenton reaction which utilizes chelating agents, $H_2O_2$, and soluble iron at pH 7; and 3) a Fenton-like process which utilizes iron minerals instead of soluble iron and $H_2O_2$, generating a hydroxyl radical. Using classic Fenton reaction, 93% of TNT was removed in 20 h at pH 3 (soil spiked with 300 mg/L of TNT, 3% $H_2O_2$ and 1mM Fe(III)), whereas 21% removed at pH 7. The modified Fenton reaction, using nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), oxalate, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), acetate and citrate as representative chelating agents, was tested with 3% $H_2O_2$ at pH 7 for 24 h. Results showed the TNT removal in the order of NTA, EDTA, oxalate, citrate and acetate, with the removal efficiency of 87%, 71%, 64%, 46%, and 37%, respectively, suggesting NTA as the most effective chelating agent. The Fenton-like reaction was performed with water contaminated with 100 mg/L TNT and soil contaminated with 300 mg/L TNT, respectively, using 3% $H_2O_2$ and such iron minerals as goethite, magnetite, and hematite. In the goethite-water system, 33% of TNT was removed at pH 3 whereas 28% removed at pH 7. In the magnetite-water system, 40% of TNT was removed at pH 3 whereas 36% removed at pH 7. In the hematite-water system, 40% of TNT was removed at pH 3 whereas 34% removed at pH 7. For further experiments combining the modified Fenton reaction with the Fenton-like reaction, NTA, EDTA, and oxalate were selected with the natural iron minerals, magnetite and hematite at pH 7, based on the results from the modified Fenton reaction. As results, in case magnetite was used, 79%, 59%, and 14% of TNT was removed when NTA, oxalate, and EDTA used, respectively, whereas 73%, 25%, and 19% removed in case of hematite, when NTA, oxalate, and EDTA used, respectively.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.3 s.172
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• pp.273-284
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• 2005

Coagulation and precipitation process by using lime$(Ca(OH)_2)$ and calcium carbonate $(CaCO_3)$ were applied to remove heavy metals from groundwater in laboratory scale. From results of batch tests, by the addition of $0.3\;wt.\%$ lime, more than $90\%$ of As and Mn were removed and $70-80\%$ of Cd and Zn were removed by using $0.5\;wt.\%$ of lime. Removal efficiency of Pb almost reached $100\%$ with only $0.1\;wt.\%$ of calcium carbonate and more than $93\%$ of Cd were removed by the addition of $0.1\;wt.\%$of calcium carbonate. Pilot scale column experiments were performed to remove heavy metals in the separation process of precipitated Hoc to supernatant after the coagulation/ precipitation. For lime as a coagulant, more than $99\%$of As were removed from artificial groundwater and removal efficiencies of Cd, Mn, and Zn were over $80\%$. By using calcium carbonate, more than $95\%$ of Cd and Pb were removed in column experiment. Fe and Mn contaminated groundwater taken from a real landfill site, Ulsan was used for the column experiment and more than $99\%$ of Fe and Mn were removed by the addition of $1\;wt.\%$ lime in column experiment, suggesting that the coagulation/precipitation process by using lime and calcium carbonate have a great possibility to remove heavy metals from contaminated groundwater.

• FLOWER RESEARCH JOURNAL
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate the efficiency of water quality remediation and the inorganic ion removal characteristics by floating plant; water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L.) in a batch reactor. Water lettuce can be used to remove N and P and other inorganic nutrients, by consuming them in the form of plant nutrient. The highest nutrient absorption of water lettuce was $112.5meL^{-1}\;N$ in Sonneveld-2S, $56.6meL^{-1}\;N$ in Sonneveld-1S, $31.8meL^{-1}\;N$ in sewage and P value was also the highest in Sonneveld-2S as $15.6meL^{-1}$ and in sewage as $5.0meL^{-1}$. These results indicated that using water lettuce held some promise in the context of purification of eutrophication. Also water lettuce had a preference for absorption N. Under Sonneveld-2S treatment, nitrogen percentage was the highest in plant tissue due to the highest concentration of nitrogen and removal by water lettuce. Under sewage, percentage of total N in both plant parts was high. Both above and underground parts, P percentage was less than N. It might be due to the fact that the absorption amount of P was less than N by water lettuce. It meaned that the ability of N removal by water lettuce was higher than that of P, relatively. In summary, these results show that the use of this plant was a viable option.