• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.544-550
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• 2013

This work investigated the environmental application of an underwater dielectric barrier discharge plasma reactor consisting of a porous hydrophobic ceramic tube to the decolorization of an azo dyeing wastewater. The reactive species generated by the plasma are mostly short-lived, which also need to be transferred to the wastewater right after the formation. Moreover, the gas-liquid interfacial area should be as large as possible to increase the decolorization rate. The arrangement of the present wastewater treatment system capable of immediately dispersing the plasmatic gas as tiny bubbles makes it possible to effectively decolorize the dyeing wastewater alongside consuming less amount of electrical energy. The effect of discharge power, gas flow rate, dissolved anion and initial dye concentration on the decolorization was examined with dry air for the creation of plasma and amaranth as an azo dye. At a gas flow rate of $1.5Lmin^{-1}$, the good contact between the plasmatic gas and the wastewater was achieved, resulting in rapid decolorization. For an initial dye concentration of $40.2{\mu}molL^{-1}$ (volume : 0.8 L; discharge power : 3.37 W), it took about 25 min to attain a decolorization efficiency of above 99%. Besides, the decolorization rate increased with decreasing the initial dye concentration or increasing the discharge power. The presence of chlorine anion appeared to slightly enhance the decolorization rate, whereas the effect of dissolved nitrate anion was negligible.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.103-110
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• 2003

Stable production of fermented kanjang containing 1.8% (v/v) ethanol was obtained within four days using traditional kanjang containing 4% added glucose in packed-bed bioreactor systems filled with immobilized Zygosaccharomyces rouxii and Candida versatilis on porous alumina ceramic bead carrier at $28{\pm}0.5^{\circ}C$ and aeration rate of 0.05 vvm. Specific rates of alcohol production for Z. rouxii and C. versatilis were 0.0033 and 0.0031/day, respectively, and those of glucose consumption were both -0.0087/day in the batch type of alcoholic fermentation. In semi-continuous alcoholic fermentation at a dilution rate of 0.25/day, specific rates of alcohol production for Z. rouxii and C. versatilis were 0.0045 and 0.0029/day, and those of glucose consumption were -0.01 and -0.008/day, respectively, using identical bioreactor system. Similar specific rates of alcohol production were observed both in the batch or semi-continuous process and in the continuous one at the dilution rate of 0.25/day. Sensory characteristics of all alcoholic-fermented kanjang by Z. rouxii, C. versatilis, and a mixture of both yeasts (2:1, w/w) were shown to be significantly superior to those of home-made kanjang as revealed through organoleptic evaluation tests (p<0.05).

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.375-382
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• 2014

This work investigated the plasma-catalytic decomposition of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and the behavior of the byproduct compounds over monolith-supported metal oxide catalysts. Iron oxide ($Fe_2O_3$) or copper oxide (CuO) was loaded on a monolithic porous ${\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ support, which was placed inside the coaxial electrodes of plasma reactor. The IPA decomposition efficiency itself hardly depended on the presence and type of metal oxides because the rate of plasma-induced decomposition was so fast, but the behavior of byproduct formation was largely affected by them. The concentrations of the unwanted byproducts, including acetone, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, methane, carbon monoxide, etc., were in order of $Fe_2O_3/{\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ < $CuO/{\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ < ${\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ from low to high. Under the condition (flow rate: $1L\;min^{-1}$; IPA concentration: 5,000 ppm; $O_2$ content: 10%; discharge power: 47 W), the selectivity towards $CO_2$ was about 40, 80 and 95% for ${\alpha}-Al_2O_3$, $CuO/{\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ and $Fe_2O_3/{\alpha}-Al_2O_3$, respectively, indicating that $Fe_2O_3/{\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ is the most effective for plasma-catalytic oxidation of IPA. Unlike plasma-alone processes in which tar-like products formed from volatile organic compounds are deposited, the present plasma-catalyst hybrid system did not exhibit such a phenomenon, thus retaining the original catalytic activity.