In this paper, the adsorption removal characteristic for 10 species of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) was investigated using GAC and modified GAC (GAC-Cu). After modification with Cu(II), the amount of copper was to 1.93 and 4.73 mg/g for GAC and GAC-Cu, respectively. The total amount of 10 species of PFAS per specific area was obtained to 0.548 and 0.612 ng/m² for GAC and GAC-Cu, respectively. A series of batch test confirmed lower efficiency was observed with a smaller number of carbon chain length and the removal efficiency of PFCA (perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids) was lower than that of PFSA (perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids) with the same carbon chain length. Regarding the pH effect, the adsorption capacity was decreased with increase of pH due to the increase of electrostatic repulsion. According to pseudo first and second order (PFO and PSO) kinetic models, while the values of equilibrium uptake and time did not show significant difference, a difference in uptake was observed between 24-48h. Furthermore, based on correlation analysis, Log K_ow and uptake have a high correlation with molecular weight (M.W.) and initial concentration, respectively. These results show that long-chain PFAS have higher removal efficiency due to their increased hydrophobicity.

This study explored effects of a sludge-based biochar addition on nitrogen removal of membrane bioreactor (MBR) for wastewater treatment. The membrane fouling reduction by the biochar addition was also investigated. A dose of 3 g/L of the biochar was applied to an MBR (i.e., BC-MBR) and treatment efficiencies of organic matter and nutrient were analyzed. The MBRs with powdered activated carbon (i.e., AC-MBR) and without any additives were also operated in parallel. The average removals of COD and TN were improved with the biochar addition compared to those with the control MBR. Interestingly, operational duration was also increased with biochar addition. The CLSM analysis revealed that biomass amounts of BC-MBR and AC-MBR were reduced by more than 40%, and thickness of the biofilm attached to the membrane surface also was decreased. The physical properties of biochar surfaces were compared with a commercial powdered activated carbon. The specific surface area with 38 m²/g and pore volume with 0.13 cm³/g of the biochar were much smaller than those of the powdered activated carbon, which were 1100 m²/g and 0.67 cm³/g, respectively. Manufacturing conditions for the biochar production needs to be further investigated for enhancing physical properties for adsorption and biological improvement.

This study was conducted to simulate the lifetime of the membrane by analyzing the performance of the membrane degraded by chlorine. Chlorine exposure under several conditions caused the degradation of the membrane, resulting in the absence of any salts and an extreme increase in permeability. When the n value was calculated and compared through CⁿT analysis and CTⁿ analysis, the p values were all less than 0.005, but CTⁿ analysis, which had a higher R² value, was adopted to simulate the membrane lifetime. Power coefficients take on values higher than 1, indicating that the exposure time to chlorine has a greater influence on membrane deterioration than the chlorine exposure concentration at 20℃ and 30℃. In particular, the process should be operated at less than 0.5 ppm at 30℃, and the chlorine exposure time of 1 cycle should be set to within 15 hours. In addition, the sensitivity to chlorine increased by 10.5 to 12.2 times when the chlorine exposure temperature increased by 10℃ through the correlation between the chlorine exposure cycle and membrane lifetime. The membrane lifetime investigated in this study is only an estimated value, entirely because of chlorine membrane deterioration, excluding raw water characteristics and the type of detergent. Accordingly, it is considered that the membrane lifetime simulation can be applied by comparing the membrane performance with the actual process based on the filtration performance of membrane deterioration by chlorine.

This study evaluates the potential of various coagulants to enhance the efficiency of total phosphorus removal facilities in a sewage treatment plant. After analyzing the existing water quality conditions of the sewage treatment plant, the coagulant of poly aluminium chloride was experimentally applied to measure its effectiveness. In this process, the use of poly aluminium chloride and polymers in various ratios was explored to identify the optimal combination of coagulants. The experimental results showed that the a coagulants combination demonstrated higher treatment efficiency compared to exclusive use of large amounts of poly aluminium chloride methods. Particularly, the appropriate combination of poly aluminium chloride and polymers played a significant role. The optimal coagulant combination derived from the experiments was applied in a micro flotation method of real sewage treatment plant to evaluate its effectiveness. This study presents a new methodology that can contribute to enhancing the efficiency of sewage treatment processes and reducing environmental pollution. This research is expected to make an important contribution to improving to phosphorus remove efficiency of similar wastewater treatment plant and reducing the ecological impact from using coagulants in the future.