• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.73-77
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• 2016

Flow and dynamic rheological properties of thickened waters prepared with commercial food thickeners were investigated at different pH levels (3, 4, 5, 6, and 7). The commercial xanthan gum (XG)-based thickener (thickener A) and starch-based thickener (thickener B), which have been commonly used in a domestic hospital and nursing home for patients with swallowing difficulty (dysphagia) in Korea, were selected in this study. Thickened samples with both thickeners at different pH levels showed high shear-thinning flow behaviors (n=0.08~0.22). Thickened samples at pH 3 showed higher n values and lower consistency index (K) values when compared to those at other pH levels. The K values of thickener A increased with an increase in pH level, while the n values decreased, showing that the flow properties greatly depended on pH. There were no noticeable changes in the K values of thickener B between pH 4 and 7. At pH 3, the thickened water with thickener A showed a higher storage modulus (G') value, while that with thickener B showed a lower G'. These rheological parameters exhibited differences in rheological behaviors between XG-based and starch-based thickeners, indicating that the rheological properties of thickened waters appear to be greatly influenced by the acidic condition and the type of food thickener. Appropriately selecting a commercial food thickener seems to be greatly important for the preparation of thickened acidic fluids with desirable rheological properties for safe swallowing.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2024

Thickened beverages or swallowing aid jelly (SAJ), commonly used as tablet-swallowing aids for dysphagic patients, may influence the disintegration of orally administered tablets. With this in mind, we evaluated the disintegration times of therapeutic tablets immersed in thickened beverages or SAJ compared to immersion in ones without them. Thickened beverages and SAJs were prepared with various beverages (water, orange juice, and milk) using food thickeners and SAJ powders marketed in Korea. The tablet disintegration times were the same in thickened beverages and SAJs, and there was no statistically significant difference associated with the thickness levels of the thickened beverages. The disintegration times of Tylenol immersed in orange juice or milk were slightly higher compared to those immersed in water. Moreover, there was no difference in disintegration time when using the thickened beverages and SAJs. The disintegration times of Aspirin were similar in all of the thickened beverages or SAJs, and there were no differences between non-immersed and immersed tablets. These results demonstrate that the disintegration of Tylenol and Aspirin is not greatly affected by immersion in any of the thickened beverages and SAJs.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.677-684
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• 2006

Electro-flotation(EF), a novel sludge thickening method, could improve the dewaterability of activated sludge. The gas(microbubbles) generated during EF decreased the solid-liquid separation time below 1/5 of the time required for gravity sedimentation. In addition, over 90% of the sludge volume reduction could be achieved by EF although the settling characteristics of the sludge was very poor. The SRF(specific resistance to filtration) of the thickened sludge by EF was much lower than that of the sludge thickened by gravity sedimentation. The SRF of the thickened sludge decreased exponentially with increase of gas generation rate of the EF system. Gas generation rate could be controlled by varying the current density of the electrode. Degasing of the microbubbles by vigorous mixing of the thickened sludge layer deteriorated the dewaterability of the sludge. Therefore, it is obvious that the gas bubbles entrapped in the thickened sludge play a key role in the observed dewaterability improvement.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 1993

Anaerobic Digestion of thickened septage was investigated in this study. Thickening could reduce the volume of septage to be treated to about 40% with 12hr HRT. The VS and BOD removal efficiencies were respectively 28 to 45%, and 75% when digested the thickened septage with 30 day HRT Or $1.4kgVS/m^3/d$. The BOD removal efficiency could be increased to about 90% with subsequent settling tank with about 6 hours HRT. The gas production rate was 0.22 to $0.35m^3gas/kgVSadd$($0.75m^3gas/kgVSrm$), or $1.32m^3gas/kgBOD_{rm}$. In addition, the supernatant of thickener could be returned to the aeration tank treating domestic sewage. In this case, a BOD loading rate of 0.5 to $0.7kgBOD/m^3/d$ or 0.5kgBOD/kgMLVSS/d was proposed for 80% BOD reduction.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.137-142
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• 2015

Rheological properties of thickened fluids used for consumption by people with dysphagia (swallowing difficulty) are very sensitive to several factors, such as thickener type, temperature, pH, sugar, protein, and NaCl. In this study, steady and dynamic rheological properties of thickened water samples mixed with five commercial xanthan gum-based food thickeners (A~E) were studied in the presence of NaCl at different concentrations (0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9%, and 1.2%). The magnitudes of apparent viscosity (${\eta}_{a,50}$), consistency index (K), yield stress (${\sigma}_{oc}$), and dynamic moduli (G' and G") showed significant differences in rheological behaviors between thickened samples with various NaCl concentrations. Dynamic moduli values of all thickened samples, except for samples with thickener C, were much higher than those of the control (0% NaCl). All rheological parameter values (K, G', and G") in a thickener A were much higher than those in other thickeners. These results suggest that rheological properties of thickened samples containing NaCl are strongly affected by xanthan gum-NaCl interaction and depended on the type of thickener.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.467-473
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• 2011

Objectives: Wastewater treatment plants typically produce a large volume of waste sludge. In this study, the conditioning and dewatering properties of a digested and thickened sludge from an industrial wastewater treatment plant were investigated in order to improve the dewaterbility of the sludge. Methods: Jar-tests and Buchner funnel tests were carried out to assess the conditioning and dewatering properties of a waste sludge. TTF (Time to Filter Test) and SRF (Specific Resistance to Filtration) were adopted as the indices of sludge dewaterbility. Results: The valuation indices influencing the dewaterbility of the waste sludge, including TTF, SRF, water contents, VS/TS ratio and turbidity, were measured. The TTF and SRF of the digested and thickened sludge were decreased to 40 sec, $3.43{\times}10^{12}$ m/kg, and 39 sec, $1.09{\times}10^{12}$ m/kg, respectively. Conclusions: The conditioner composed of natural inorganic materials turned out to be effective in the reduction of sludge water contents.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.384-388
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• 1977

Clay-polymer thickened greases were made by dispersing bentone-polyethylene and bentone-atactic polypropylene into mineral oil at an adequate temperature, and the physical properties such as wear and water washout characteristics, oxidation and shear stabilities, and dropping point of the greases were tested. Even if the greases failed to meet some properties, it was found that those greases can be used for some special purposes, by observing and comparing the properties with those of clay-metallic soap thickened greases that were made in this experiment.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.764-767
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• 2009

For a more effectively designed gravity thickener, thickening experiments were conducted for residuals produced by a ceramic membrane water treatment plant (WTP). Two kinds of residuals, one from backwashing (BW) and the other from chemically enhanced backwashing (CEB) procedure, were separately collected during a pilot plant experiment and their limiting solid flux ($SF_L$) measured. Batch thickening experiments showed that the BW and CEB residual had $SF_L$ of 10 and $25kg/m^2{\cdot}d$, respectively. Continuous operation of a pilot-scale gravity thickener proved that a mixed BW and CEB residual could be successfully thickened at the solid loading rate (SLR) of $12kg/m^2{\cdot}d$, allowing the concentration of the thickened residual to be about $15kg/m^2{\cdot}d$. From the experimental results and consideration of the seasonal thickening characteristics of the residual, SLR of $15kg/m^2{\cdot}d$ was proposed as a design parameter for full-scale gravity thickeners.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.747-753
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• 2006

Air flotation is a solid-liquid separation process that utilizes up-flow microbubbles to thicken activated sludge and enhance clarification efficiency. Continuous air flotation experiments were performed to investigate the effect of operation parameters such as initial MLSS (mixed liquor suspended solid) concentration, air pressure, surface loading rate, air to solid (A/S) ratio, and flotation time on thickening efficiency. An initial activated sludge concentration ranged from 3,000 to 12,000mgSS/L and thickened sludge concentration varied from 6,400 to 28,100mgSS/L. The result showed that the thickening efficiency was mainly dependent on surface loading rate, A/S ratio, and flotation time. The pressure did not affect the thickening efficiency when it kept in the range of 1.6 to 1.8 bar. Experimental results showed that the thickening efficiency of activated sludge was increased only when the feed sludge concentration exceeded 5,000mgSS/L and the thickened concentration was over 20,000mgSS/L. At this time, SS concentration in the clarified liquid was ranged from 5 to 10mg/L.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.6B
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• pp.661-667
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• 2006

In this study, an experiment of sewage sludge dewatering is carried by using electrokinetic method, and the electrokinetic dewatering efficiency of digested sludge is analyzed. Digested sludge without coagulants is selected and gravitational and pressing dewatering methods are applied in combination with electro-osmotic and electro-osmotic pulse technology. After the test of digested sludge, dewatering test of thickened sludge is carried to evaluate the electrokinetic dewatering feasibility of thickened sludge. Under the condition of constantly applied voltage, however, electrical resistance increases with decreasing of water content so that dewatering rate decreases with time. To reduce such a hindrance caused by constantly applied voltage, electro-osmotic pulse technology which is considered to reduce the difference of water content with height, is applied. For the application of electro-osmotic pulse, the dewatered flow rate and the dewatered volume became more increasing from the middle of the dewatering process than that of continuous voltage. Through the test of thickened sludge, electro-osmotic dewatering combined with gravitational and expression also showed high dewatering rate, which proved the possibility of using electrokinetic dewatering.