• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.629-637
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• 2000

A two-phase anaerobic reactor with a submerged microfiltration system was tested for its ability to produce methane energy from organic wastewater. A membrane separation system with periodic backwashing with compressed air was submerged in the acidogenic reactor. The cartridge type of microfiltration (MF) membrane with pore size of $0.5{\mu}m$ (mixed esters of cellulose) was tested. An AUBF (Anaerobic Upflow Sludge Bed Filter: 1/2 packed with plastic media) was used for the methanogenic reactor. Soluble starch was used as a substrate. The COD removal was investigated for various organic loading with synthetic wastewater of 5,000 mg starch/L. When the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the acidogenic reactor was changed from 10 to 4.5 days, the organic loading rate (OLR) varied from 0.5 to $1.0kg\;COD/m^3-day$. When the HRT of the methanogenic reactor was changed from 2.8 to 0.5 days, the OLR varied from 0.8 to $5.8kg\;COD/m^3-day$. The acid conversion rate of the acidogenic reactor was over 80% in the 4~5 days of HRT. The overall COD removal efficiency of the methanogenic reactor showed over 95% (effluent COD was below 300 mg/L) under the highly fluctuating organic loading condition. A two-phase anaerobic reactor showed an excellent acid conversion rate from organic wastewater due to the higher biomass concentration than the conventional system. A methanogenic reactor combined with sludge bed and filter, showed an efficient COD and SS removal.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2008

This work was performed to evaluate the effect of membrane material and structure on fouling in a submerged membrane bioreactor(MBR). Three types of microfiltration membranes with the same pore size of 0.1 $\mu$m but different materials, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polycarbonate(PCTE) and polyester(PETE), were used. While PETE membrane exhibited the most rapid flux decline throughout the operation, PCTE and PTFE had a similar tendency with regard to permeability. Difference in permeability between PETE and the other membranes gradually decreased with time, which was probably due to chemical cleaning. The higher TOC rejection of PETE membrane could be attributable to its faster fouling, resulting from a larger amount of foulants to get attached to the membrane in a shorter time. DOC fractionation using a DAX-8 resin showed that the composition of each fraction between the supernatant and permeates did not change significantly with operation time, indicating that membrane hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity was not a dominant factor affecting to MBR fouling in this study. Compared to other membranes, the fouling of PETE membrane was more influenced by pore clogging (irreversible fouling), which would probably contribute to a higher organic rejection of the PETE membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.149-156
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• 2004

This work focused on the degradation of natural organic matter (NOM) present in lake water using a combined pkotocatalysisimicrofiltration (MF) process. The system performances were investigated in terms of organic removal efficiency and membrane permeability. The addition of iron oxide particles (IOP) into the photocatalytic membrane reactor improved initial NOM removal by sorption, but during photocatalysis the removal efficiency was reversed, probably due to the scattering of UV light by IOP. The modification of TiO$_2$ surfaces by IOP deposition was conducted to enhance the photocatalytic NOM removal efficiency. A minimal amount of Impregnation of IOP on TiO$_2$ surfaces was required to prevent the light scattering effect as well. The coating of MF membranes with IOP helped to improve the NOM removal efficiency while sorbing NOM by IOP. Regardless of tile operating conditions and particles addition examined, no significant fouling was occurring at a flux of 15 L/$m^2$-h during entire MF operation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.195-201
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• 2007

A submerged flat-sheet membrane separation system integrated with PAC (powdered activated carbon) was used in this research in order to investigate the effects of PAC on the efficiencies of operation and treatment and to evaluate the performance of the system. The experiments were carried out under operating conditions of a filtration rate of 0.38 m/d, water temperature of $20-28^{\circ}C$, and PAC dose of 0 g/L (Run-A) and 20 g/L (Run-B). The influent concentrations of TOC (total organic carbon), $NH_4{^+}-N$ (ammonia nitrogen) and $UV_{254}$ (UV absorbance at 254 nm) were 2.48 mg/L, 1.4 mg/L and 2.53 1/m, respectively. TOC removal of 43.2 and 73.6%, ammonia nitrogen removal of 4.9 and 15.9%, and $UV_{254}$ removal of 20.6 and 31.6% were obtained for Run-A and Run-B, respectively. During an experimental period of 33 days, no change was found in TMP (Run-B), but the TMP in Run-A increased by 5 kPa after 29 days. This research showed that the filtrate quality and the performance efficiency were enhanced when PAC was introduced into the filtration system.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.521-526
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• 2006

A membrane bioreactor (MBR) is an effective tool for wastewater treatment with recycling. MBR process has several advantages over conventional activated sludge process (ASP); reliability, compactness, and quality of treated water. The resulting high-quality and disinfected effluents suggest that MBR process can be suitable for the reused and recycling of wastewater. An anoxic/oxic (A/O) type MBR was applied to simultaneous removal of organics and nutrients in sewage. At first, the efficiency of submerged MBR process was investigated using a hollow fiber microfiltration membrane with a constant flux of $10.2L/m^2{\cdot}h$ at each solids retention time (SRT). Results showed that protein/carbohydrate (P/C) ratio increased and total extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) remained constant with SRT increased. Secondly, A/O type MBR with a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane was employed to treat the municipal wastewater. The performance of A/O type MBR-RO process is better for the treatment of organics and nutrients than ASP-MF-RO process in terms of consistent effluents quality.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.46-54
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• 2011

In this study, combined effect of airflow rate, $TiO_2$ concentration, solution pH and $Ca^{+2}$ addition on HA (humic acid) fouling in submerged, photocatalytic hollow-fiber microfiltraiton was investigated systematically. Results showed that UV irradiation alone without $TiO_2$ nanoparticles could reduce HA fouling by 40% higher than the fouling obtained without UV irradiation. Compared to the HA fouling without UV irradiation and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles, the HA fouling reduction was about 25% higher only after the addition of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles. Both adsorptive and hydrophilic properties of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles for the HA can be involved in mitigating membrane fouling. It was also found that the aeration itself had lowest effect on fouling mitigation while the HA fouling was affected significantly by solution pH. Transient behavior of zeta potential at different solution pHs suggested that electrostatic interactions between HA and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles should improve photocatalytic efficiency on HA fouling. $TiO_2$ concentration was observed to be more important factor than airflow rate to reduce HA fouling, implying that surface reactivity on $TiO_2$ naoparticles should be important fouling mitigation mechanisms in submerged, photocatalyic microfiltraiton. This was further supported by investigating the effect of $Ca^{+2}$ addition on fouling mitigation. At higher pH (= 10), addition of $Ca^{+2}$ can play an important role in bridging between HA and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles and increasing surface reactivity on nanoparticles, thereby reducing membrane fouling.