• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.50 no.4
• /
• pp.684-689
• /
• 2012

Poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) microspheres is one of the widely-used polymeric materials for the bio-field application and the electric materials. For the synthesis of PAA microspheres, the polymerization technique using surfactants is applied. After the synthesis, the purification and separation processes are required for the removal of surfactant. When general organic solvents were used, many problems, such as huge amount of waste solvent, additional separation processes, and the possibility of residual media, were occurred. Thus, High-pressure Soxhlet extraction using liquid $CO_2$ was developed to solve these problems. In this study, High-pressure Soxhlet extraction of the synthesized PAA microspheres using liquid $CO_2$ was conducted for the removal of Monasil PCA which is used for the dispersion polymerization of acrylic acid in compressed liquid Dimethyl ether (DME). The morphology of the extracted PAA particles was checked by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and the residual concentration of Monasil PCA was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES). For studying the effect of the solvent effect, Soxhlet extraction was conducted using n-hexane, liquid DME, and liquid $CO_2$. In case of n-hexane, some extracted PAA microspheres were produced. However, deformation was also occurred due to the high thermal energy of n-hexane vapor. Liquid DME could not remove Monasil PCA. When using liquid $CO_2$, the extracted PAA microspheres which were free for the residual solvent were produced without deformation. For finding the optimum operating condition, high-pressure Soxhlet extraction was conducted for 8 hours with changing the temperature of reboiler and condenser. When the extractor temperature is $19.6{\pm}0.2^{\circ}C$ and the pressure is $51.5{\pm}0.5$ bar, the best removal efficiency was obtained.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.11
• /
• pp.2047-2058
• /
• 2000

The effects of operating parameters on performance of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket(UASB). anaerobic filter(AF), and two-stage anaerobic sludge bed filter (ASBF) bioreactors in treating swine wastewater were evaluated by operating the lab-scale bioreactors upto hydraulic retention time(HRT) of 1 day and organic loading rate (OLR) of $5.1kg-COD/m^3{\cdot}d$ for 200 days. Swine wastewaters of which characteristics were affected by types of hog raising and seasons contained high concentrations of COD, SS, and ammonia. Inoculation of the bioreactors with waste sludge from anaerobic treatment facility of local municipal wastewater treatment plant was effective in developing biomass in the bioreactors. Acclimation period of the bioreactors with swine wastewaters required approximately 40 days, but that for AF and two-stage ASBF, which were filled with media, was faster than VASB. The bioreactors showed high and stable COD removal efficiency of 77~91% at influent T-N concentrations of 370~800mg/L but low and unstable COD removal efficiency of 24~94% at influent T-N concentrations of 760~1,310mg/L. It is essential to remove ammonia prior to anaerobic treatment since the concentrations of ammonia in swine wastewaters showed toxic effects to methanogenic bacteria. The bioreactors were effective in treating swine wastewaters with COD removal efficiency of 78.9~81.5% and biogas generation rate of $0.39{\sim}0.59m^3/kg-COD_r$ at OLR of $1.1{\sim}2.2kg-COD/m^3{\cdot}d$: however, an increase of OLR by reducing HRT and increasing influent COD caused decrease of COD removal efficiency. The extent of decrease in COD removal efficiency was higher in UASB than AF and two-stage ASBF. AF and two-stage ASBF anaerobic bioreactors were effective in treating varing characteristics of swine wastewaters since they showed high and stable COD removal efficiency at high OLR due to effective retention of biomass by media and staging.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.31 no.11
• /
• pp.997-1006
• /
• 2009

Organic removal efficiency and methane production rate, a feasibility of power generation from biogas, and the optimum conditions for membrane operation were evaluated for the pilot scale (5 tons/day) two-phase anaerobic digestion coupled with ultra filtration (TPADUF) system fed with garbage leachate. The TPADUF system is consisted of a thermophilic acidogenic reactor, a mesophilic methanogenic reactor, and an UF membrane. When garbage leachate with 150 g/L of TCOD was fed to the TPADUF up to organic loading rate (OLR) of 11.1 g COD/L/d, the effluent TCOD was lower than 6 g/L and the average removal efficiencies of TCOD and SCOD were higher than 95%. The methane composition of the gas was 65%, and the methane yield was 39 $m^3/m^3$ garbage leachatefed, 260 $m^3$/tons $COD_{added}$, or 270 $m^3$/tons $COD_{removed}$, even there was some gas leak. The power production per consumed gas was 0.96 kWh/$m^3$ gas or 1.49 kWh/$m^3$ methane. This lower power production efficiency mainly due to the small capacity of gas engine (15 kW class). The membrane was operated at the average flux of 10 L/$m^2$/hr. When the flux decreased, washing with water and chemical (NaOCl) was conducted to restore the flux. In the TPADUF system, optimum pH could be maintained without alkali addition by recycling the membrane concentrate or mixed liquor of the methanogenic digester to the acidogenic reactor. Also, partial production of methane in the acidogenic reactor had a positive effect on lowering the OLR of the methanogenic reactor.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.47 no.6
• /
• pp.768-774
• /
• 2009

To improve the productivity of 1,3-propanediol(1,3-PD) with K. pneumoniae DSM4799 using pure glycerol and crude glycerol derived from the biodiesel process, optimizing fermentation conditions was performed by changing environmental factors such as anaerobic/aerobic condition, temperature, glycerol concentration, and pH. When anaerobic conditions were maintained, there was an improved 1,3-PD production compared with that from aerobic/anaerobic 2-stage fermentation. From the results with temperature $26{\sim}37^{\circ}C$, the higher 1,3-PD production yield was observed at $30{\sim}33^{\circ}C$. For an initial glycerol concentration higher than 60 g/L, cell growth and 1,3-PD production were inhibited. When crude glycerol was used, the initial 1,3-PD production appeared to be inhibited. After 48 hr of incubation, however, 1,3-PD production with crude glycerol was even higher than that with pure glycerol, demonstrating the feasibility of 1,3-PD production using crude glycerol as a substrate. Fed-batch fermentation was applied for the high concentration of 1,3-PD without substrate inhibition. By regulating pH at 7 during the fed-batch with glycerol lower than 40 g/L, the yield of 1,3-PD was 25% higher than that without pH regulation(0.56 g/g vs. 0.45 g/g). In conclusion, based on our results, anaerobic conditions, temperature at $30^{\circ}C$, pure or crude glycerol lower than 40 g/L, and pH regulation at 7 were the optimized conditions for 1,3-PD production using K. pneumoniae DSM4799, making it more feasible to produce 1,3-PD at higher concentration and a lower price.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.624-632
• /
• 2012

As there have been lately many worldwide resource challenges such as potential exhaustion of fossil fuels, sudden rise of oil price and ever-rising grain pricing due to global food crisis, there have been more interests focused on recycling vegetable oils and fats into clean natural fuel and producing new resources based on waste cooking oil as a part of reusing waste resources. An Experiment was performed by using ratio of 50:50, 75:25 (w/w) mixture of based rapeseed oil, camellia oil, and olive oil. 50:50, 25:75 (w/w) mixture of based palm oil. The result was that the oleic acid ($C_{18:1}$) got the lowest percentage of 42.8%, when we combined the mixture of rapeseed oil and soybean oil. While the highest percentage of 72.1% was when the mixture of camellia oil and rapeseed oil were combined at 50:50 ratio. In 75:25 (w/w) case, mixture of rapeseed oil and soybean oil got the lowest. The highest ratio was the mixture of camellia oil and olive oil. Based on the component of palm oil, the total saturated fatty acid was decreased. It is expected that stabilizing oxidation through controlling of fatty acid after mixture and that liquidity at a low temperature. The acid value indicated that stabilizing oxidation got a range of highest to lowest. Camellia oil ranked as the highest, followed by olive oil, and the oil seeds as the lowest in rank. Controlling iodine value through mixture and improvement of stabilizing oxidation will provide a good quality. The quality of color has no significant change about mixture in ratio and maintenance. The reduction of the cost of refining process is expected by controling of mixture ratio at biodiesel production in the future.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.31-37
• /
• 2010

Livestock manures have a potential to be a valuable resource with an efficient treatment. In Korea, 42 million tons of livestock manure were generated in 2008, and 84 % of them were used for compost and liquid fertilizer production. Recently recycling of livestock manure for biogas production through anaerobic digestion is increasing, but its utilization in agriculture is still uncertified. In this study, there was applied co-digestate to the paddy for rice cultivation based on N supplement. Co-digestate was fertilizer fermented with pig slurry and food waste combined with the ratio of 70:30(v:v) in its volumetric basis. For assessing the safety of co-digestate, it was monitored the contents of co-digestate for seasonal variation, resulted in no potential harm to the soil and plant by heavy metals. The results showed that soil applied with co-digestate was increased in exchangeable potassium, copper and zinc mainly due to the high rate of pig slurry in co-digestate applied. Considering high salt content due to the combination with food waste, strict quality assurances are needed for safe application to arable land though it has valuable fertilizer nutrient. Leachate after treatment showed that the concentration of nitrate nitrogen washed out within two weeks. Considering the salt accumulation results in soil, it is highly recommended that the application rate of co-digestate should not exceed the crop fertilization rate based on N supplement. With these results, it was concluded that co-digestate could be used as an alternative fertilizer for chemical fertilizer. More study is needed for the long-term effects of co-digestate application on the soil and water environment.