• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.277-289
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• 2011

Since 1980s, wastewater treatment facilities in Korea have been rapidly expanded by 90 percent as the government invested them continuously. Considering social and environmental factors such as the needs of alternative water resources for water shortages, energy saving and new energy production sources for decrease of greenhouse gases, and the demand for the improvement of the water quality in rivers and lakes, advanced technologies in wastewater treatment are essential in the 21st century. In this aspect, new conceptual technology is systematically combined with the advanced treatment technology such as the control and treatment technology of hazardous and toxic material, customized reusing skill, and energy saving/recovery technology. The new R&D project for advanced technology of wastewater treatment and reuse will focus on these advanced technologies which will improve the water quality and foster the competitiveness in world environmental markets, building a solid foundation particularly in the market of developing countries. The project will be divided up into high quality reusing of wastewater, energy self-sufficiency, and integrated management system. It will be carried out for five years, 2011~2015, as Phase I.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.399-408
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• 2012

The overall goal of this study was to characterize and quantify ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in four different full-scale sequence batch reactor (SBR) wastewater treatment plants. Also, this study focused on assessing the occurrence of the alternative ammonia-oxidizing microbes such as anammox (anaerobic ammonia oxidation) bacteria (AMX) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in these systems. Based on total AOB numbers and the estimated cell density in the mixed liquor samples, AOB constituted 0.3 - 1.8% of the total bacterial population in the four WWTPs. Based on clone library, Nitrosomonas ureae-like AOB were dominant in plant A and B, while plant C and D had Nitrosomonas nitrosa-like AOB as major AOB group. The four different AMX primer sets targeting AMX 16S rRNA gene produced PCR amplicons distantly related to Chlamydia and Planctomycetales group bacteria. However, it was not clear these groups of bacteria perform anammox reaction in the SBR plants. Also, molecular evidence of AOA was found in one of the SBR plants, with a sequence located in the deep branch of the sediment creanarchaeota group.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.24-44
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• 2013

The MBR technology has evolved rapidly over the past two decades with significant gains in performance and reliability, and reductions in costs. Membrane bioreactors (MBR) technology is widely recognised as offering a key option for enhanced wastewater treatment or reuse. The objective of this paper is then to critically review the remarkable achievement on the research and commercial applications of membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology and to present current and potential MBR markets on a global scope. This brief review of the technology incorporates five key aspects : 1) evolution of MBR practice, 2) the commercial technologies of MBRs, 3) the largest MBR installations globally (e.g. > $10,000m^3/day$), 4) MBR market growth, and 5) directions for future research. Finally, the development directions of economical, environmental and technical aspects in MBRs; 1) investment costs; 2) effluent water quality; 3) membrane materials and modules; 4) MBR equipment and treatment process; 5) operating costs (higher energy & chemical consumption); and 6) sustainability such as anaerobic MBRs in the coming years were addressed.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.69-76
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• 2005

An Absorbent Biofilter System (ABS) combined with the recirculation process was investigated for the feasible application in additional removing of organics (BOD, SS) as well as nutrients (TN, TP) from small Community wastewater in Korea. Polyurethane biofilter media with high porosity and large surface area were /used for the aerobic system. A part of treated wastewater was recirculated into the anoxic septic tank to promote removal of nutrients. The concentrations of BOD and SS of treated wastewater satisfied the regulations for small on-site wastewater treatment facility (10 mg/L) during the overall experimental period. The effluent concentrations of BOD and SS were decreased with enhancement of removal efficiencies of 95.7 and $96.7\%$. The nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies by the recirculation increased to $52.9\%\;and\;43.2\%$ in average during the overall experimental period, respectively. With the improvement, these values were increased as much as additional 42 and $18\%$ compared with those of non-recirculation. The rates of nitrification and denitrification were enhanced showing $65\~77\%\;and\;42\~92\%$, respectively. The described process modification is a low cost and effective method of enhancing nitrogen and phosphorus removal, especially on existing systems without changing major design components of a treatment facility.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.673-678
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• 2011

Water samples from several wastewater treatment plants and two industry drains in Gyeongsangbukdo were investigated for concentration levels of micropollutants. Samples were taken totally four times from May to November of 2008 and tested for seven factors including pesticide, 1,4-Dioxane and Perchlorate which had been big issues for Nakdong river because of their contaminations. As results, 2,4-D, Alachlor, and BEHA were not detected while BEHP was detected at some sampling sites. 1,4-Dioxane and Perchlorate were also detected in wide ranges from several sampling sites. Therefore, continuous supervising and monitoring systems needed to be invested for proper management for micropollutants since those micropollutants could affect human health and aquatic system with low concentration levels.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.398-402
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• 2005

The enzyme Xeronine was investigated as a microbial activating substance in biological wastewater treatment processes. Xeronine as bio-stimulant was injected in the anaerobic sludge and the activated sludge treating wastewater in order to examine the effect of hidden benefits. Bio-stimulant did not show significant improvement of anaerobic treatablity. In the aerobic system, higher bio-stimulant dose condition resulted in slightly more removal of nitrogen and phosphorus. Floc aggregation and zone settling velocity as solid-liquid separation factors in activated sludge systems was enhanced by bio-stimulant. Effects of bio-stimulants injection on improvement of water quality and microbial activity did not clear in terms of normal operation conditions.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.242-257
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• 2022

Microalgae is becoming a vital component for a circular economy and ultimately for sustainable development. Herein, recent developments in different outcomes of microalgae for wastewater treatment and biorefinery were reviewed. From its primary function as a third-generation resource of biofuel, the usage of microalgae has been diversified as an integral element for the CO₂ sequestration and production of economically valuable products (e.g., pharmaceuticals, animal feeds, biofertilizer, biochar, etc.). Principles and recent challenges for each microalgae application were presented to suggest a motivation for future research and the direction of development. The integration of microalgae within the concept of the circular economy was also discussed with various routes of microalgae-based biorefinery.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.101-105
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• 2018

With the rapidly growing of the population and industrization of cities, the clean and affordable water resources have gained immense interest because of remaining about 780 million people still lack access to it. However, present wastewater treatment systems have been faced with various issues, such as low processing efficiency, high operational costs and the requirement of a large area for manufacturing. It is therefore urgently required to develop an inexpensive and efficient wastewater treatment system. As the one of these efforts, we suggested and successfully demonstrated the wastewater treatment system using and electrochemical method via a dimensionally stable anode (DSA) based on rutile type $RuO_2$. Our system achieved biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiently at the respective rates of 52.0%, 77.8%, and 65.6% from household wastewater. In addition, we were able to remove BOD, COD, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) from animal husbandry wastewater at rates of 92.9%, 75.6%, 35.1%, and 100%, respectively, thereby achieving dramatic reductions. Considering the excellent removal efficiency and the small size of this device, electrochemical wastewater treatment using a DSA coated in rutile $RuO_2$ presents a promising option for the treatment of both household and animal husbandry wastewater.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2009

Under the supply-oriented policy, efficiency and rationale have not been fully considered in planning of water supply facilities in Korea. As a case, this study shows that large-size systems are suffering from overcapacity problem of water treatment plants, and thus discusses what options should be applied to deal with inefficiency. Water demand of large-size systems has suddenly decreased for the last 10 years while water demand has been often assumed to increase at a regular rate in planning of plants according to excess capacity hypothesis. This inconsistency led to a serious overcapacity. In 2006, total excess capacity of nine large-size systems was more than 1.2 times as large as maximum daily demand of total customers in Seoul. However, their options are expected to stay ex post facto. To prepare the risk of overcapacity, and draw large benefits out of the plants, the authors and other professionals in Korea should further discuss the more adaptive method for prediction of water demand, and systems integration between a large-size system and adjoining systems.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.181-190
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• 2019

Constructed wetlands are improvised man-made systems, designed for adopting the principle of natural wetlands for purifying wastewater - the elixir of life. They are used widely as a cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for treating greywater generated from different tertiary treatment sources. It provides an elaborate platform for research activities in an attempt to recycle earth's natural resources. Among the several organic impurities removal mechanisms existing in constructed wetland systems, the earth's active microbial population plays a vital role. This review deals with the recent advancements in constructed wetland systems from a microbiological perspective to (effect/ devise/ formulate) chemical and physical treatment for water impurities. It focuses on microbial diversity studies in constructed wetlands, influence of wetland media on microbial diversity and wetland performance, role of specific microbes in water reuse, removal of trace elements, some heavy metals and antibiotics in constructed wetlands. The impurities removal processes in constructed wetlands is achieved by combined interactive systems such as selected plant species, nature of substrate used for microbial diversity and several biogeochemical effected reaction cycles in wetland systems. Therefore, the correlation studies that have been conducted by earlier researchers in microbial diversity in wetlands are addressed herewith.