• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.235-242
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• 2018

The function of vertical subsurface flow wetlands can potentially be reduced with time due to clogging and are often assumed to be occurring when ponding and overflow is observed during rainfall. To investigate their clogging potential, three pilot-scale vertical subsurface flow (VSF) wetland systems were constructed employing woodchip, pumice, and volcanic gravel as main media. The systems received stormwater runoff from a highway bridge for seven months, after which the media were taken out and divided into layers to determine the amount and characteristics of the accumulated clogging matters. Findings revealed that the main clogging mechanism was the deposition of suspended solids. This is followed by the growth of biofilm in the media which is more evident in the wetland employing woodchip. Up to more than 30% of the clogging matter were found in the upper 20 cm of the media suggesting that this layer will need replacement once clogging occurs. Moreover, no signs of clogging were observed in all the wetlands during the operation period even though an estimation of at least 2 months without clogging was calculated. This was attributed to the intermittent loading mode of operation that gave way for the decomposition of organic matters during the resting period and potentially restored the pore volume.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2016

Sand filters are widely used in infiltration systems to manage polluted urban runoff. Clogging, which is mainly caused by the deposition of sediments on the filter media, reduces the filter system's infiltration capacity, which further limits its lifespan and function. The physical, chemical and biological clogging characteristics of sand filter, therefore, need to be known for effective design and maintenance. Physical clogging behavior and variations in the characteristics of sand filters according to different media depths are examined in this paper. The variations were observed from laboratory column infiltration tests conducted in a vertical flow and fluctuating head condition. It can be seen that an increase in filter media depth results in a high sediment removal performance; however, it leads to a shorter lifespan due to clogging. In the choice of filter media depth to be used in field applications, therefore, the purpose of facilities as well as maintenance costs need to be considered. At all filter media depth configurations, premature clogging occurred because sediments of 100~250 μm clogged the top 15% of filter media depth. Thus, scrapping the top 15% of filter media may be suggested as the first operational maintenance process for the infiltration system.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.681-685
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• 2013

A pilot-scale sand-box experiment was performed in order to investigate the effect of cross-flow velocity on the clogging of the filter sand in a model filtration pond. The clogging phenomenon was observed during the operation with the cross-flow varied in stages in a range of 0~40 cm/sec, and the experimental result was analyzed using a numerical code. Results showed that the cross-flow velocity in this range had no influence on the development of clogging and that clogging occurred mostly on the filter-surface. It was found that while the production rate decreased from $5m^3/m^2-day$ to $3m^3/m^2-day$ the clogging coefficient of the top 50 cm layer increased up to about 30,000 sec, which corresponded to 87% of the clogging coefficient of the total 2.4 m layer. Of the clogging coefficient of the top 50 cm layer, surface clogging constituted 90% while the other 10% was intermediate clogging. It was also found that the surface clogging increased while the intermediate clogging remained constant as the operation continued, and that filtrate turbidity along the filtration depth remained constant in spite of the increase in clogging.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.31-35
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• 2001

The effects of the ratio of effective size of filter media and diatom size on filter run time were evaluated by using both reported data and experimental results from several water treatment plants. For single media at several WTPs, the range of probability of the filter run time less than 15hr was 10~60%, and for dual media, that of the filter run time less than 30hr was 10~20%. The major filter clogging algae was Synedra acus of which dominant ratio was in the range of 64~92%. The effective size(ES) of filter medium for dual media filter was 0.71~1.40mm and uniformity coefficient of the filter was 1.25~1.67. The effective size(ES) of filter medium for single medium filter was 0.52~0.65mm and uniformity coefficient of the filter was 0.25~1.40. The range of calculated penetration depth was 2.58~15.4cm for dual media and 1.29~2.17cm for single media, and average filter run time was 40.1~83.3hr and 13.9~34.9hr, respectively. When Synedra counts were over 400cells/ml for single media, filter run time was below 5hr, while filter run time for dual media filter, remained as high as 70hr.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.483-490
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• 2009

The aims of this study were to evaluate the removal efficiency for various pollutants in urban storm runoff by a filtration device, and to determine design parameters depending on filter media properties. Appropriate selection of filter media will affect the size and life time of the filtration device. Sets of column tests were performed in order to evaluate the removal efficiency by perlite and a synthetic resin. An investigation of surface properties including CEC (cation exchange capacity) and zeta-potential suggested that the perlite had a superior adsorption capability for cationic pollutants. TCODcr and turbidity were analyzed to investigate the removal characteristic of particulate pollutant. In both columns, the particles in the collected storm runoff was almost completely capture with a small EBCT (empty bed contact time) of 2.5 minutes. Complete clogging at the EBCT of 2.5 minutes occurred after 630 minutes in the perlite column and 810 minutes in the resin column. The removal efficiency of TCODcr and turbidity at the EBCT of 2.5 minutes decreased to below 70% due to an wall effect. The removal efficiency for dissolved pollutant (SCODcr) was negligible due to the insufficient contact time for adsorption. The removal of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb) was mostly ascribed to the filtration of particles containing metals, since the relationship between CEC and the removal efficiency was not apparent. The result of this study would be valuable for the application of filtration device to control of urban storm runoff.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.684-693
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• 2012

The stormwater runoff from the increasing paved roads and vehicles resulted in the increase in the pollutants load to adjacent water bodies. The granular media filtration facilities are the most widely adopted to minimize the non-point source pollution from motorways. It is essential to consider the severe variation of hydraulic condition, suspended solid (SS) characteristics, and the medium characteristics for stormwater management filter. In this study, different types of media, including sand, were tested and the performance of downflow sand filters was investigated under various linear velocity and influent solid particle size. Results showed that the best medium is the coarse sand with large grain size, which showed the specific SS removal before clogging of more than $8.498kg/m^2$, the SS removal of higher than 95%, and minimum head loss. Linear velocity did not affect the total solid removal, while the performance was improved when fine solid was introduced. It is suggested that the life of a downflow sand filter bed can be extended by deep bed filtration when influent particles are fine. However, the captured particles can be washed out after a long period of operation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.518-524
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• 2013

A pilot-scale test-bed was operated employing three soils with different grain sizes dredged from the Nakdong River to obtain the design and operation parameters of the multi-purpose filtration pond, such as the filtrate productivity of the filter sand, the appropriate removal period of the surface clogging and the contaminant removal efficiency. The cross-flow velocities were applied stepwise ranging from 0 to 40 cm/sec in order to simulate the various velocities in the artificial stream of the pond. Results showed that a filtrate production rate of 5~3 $m^3/m^2-day$ was maintained by removing the surface clogging every 7 to 13 days and that the filtrate quality was not affected by the factors of the filtrate production rate, the grain size of the filter sand and the cross-flow velocity. Results also showed that most of the removal occurred within 50 cm of the top soil and that the removal efficiencies with the filtration distance of 2.4 m were 80~95% for turbidity, 20~30% for COD, 75~90% for BOD, 5~20% for total nitrogen and 20~60% for total phosphorus, which suggested that particulate matters had a high removal efficiency.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.68-75
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• 2016

A set of lab-scale polymer synthetic fiber packed column wetlands composing three columns (CW1, CW2 and CW3) with different hydraulic regimes, recirculation frequencies and pollutant loading rates, were operated in 2012. Synthetic fiber tested as an alternative wetland medium for soil mixture or gravel which has been widely used, has very high pore size and volume, so that clogging opportunity can be greatly avoided. The inflow to the wetland was artificial stormwater. All the wetlands achieved effective removal of TSS (94%~96%), TCOD (68%~73%), TN (35%~58%), TKN (62%~73%) and NH4-N (85%~ 99%). Particularly, it was observed that COD was released from the fiber during one distinct period in all wetlands. This was probably due to the degradation of polymer fiber, and the released organic matters were found to serve as carbon source for denitrification. In addition, with longer retention time and frequent recirculation, lower effluent concentration was observed. With higher pollutant loading rate, higher nitrification and denitrification rates were achieved. However, although organic matters were released from the fiber, the lack of carbon source was still the limiting factor for the system since the release persisted only for 40 days.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.56-63
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• 2018

The management of Combined Sewer Overflows(CSOs) and Separated Sewer Overflows(SSOs) discharge directly to the effluent system in an untreated state, which occurs when the facility capacity is exceeded due to heavy rain, has become an important issue in recent years as the heavy rain becomes a regular phenomenon. Despite the continuous development of filtration technology, targeting densely populated urban areas, CSOs are rarely applied. Therefore, this study was carried out to optimize the process to apply CSOs in a pilot-scale horizontal flow filtration system with a rope-type synthetic fiber. The research was carried out in two steps: a preliminary study using artificial samples and a field study using sewage. In the preliminary study using an artificial sample, head loss of the filter media itself was analyzed to be approximately 1.1cm, and the head loss was increased by approximately 0.1cm as the linear velocity was increased by 10m/hr. In addition, the SS removal efficiency was stable at 81.4%, the filtration duration was maintained for more than 6 hours, and the average recovery rate of 98% was obtained by air backwashing only. In the on-site evaluation using sewage, the filtration duration was approximately 2 hours and the average removal efficiency of 83.9% was obtained when belt screen (over 450 mesh) was applied as a pre-treatment process to prevent the premature clogging of filter media. To apply the filtration process to CSOs and SSOs, it was concluded that the combination with the pre-treatment process was important to reinforce the hydraulic dimension for the stable maintain of operation period, rather than efficiency. Compared to the dry season, the quality of incoming sewage was lower in the rainy season, which was attributed to the characteristics of the drainage area with higher sanitary sewerage. In addition, the difference in removal efficiency according to the influent quality of the wet season and dry season was small.