• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2000

Upon the Preparation of activated carbon fiber(ACF) using chemical activation method and vapour activation method, the fiber obtained from the vapour activation method shows excellent surface Properties. The preparation of antibacterial activated carbon fiber was tried to open the new areas in application of carbon materials. The BET specific surface area and the average pore radius of the antibacterial ACFs were in the range of 844.27~1575.6 $cm^2$/g and 10.6~12.9 (equation omitted), respectively. From the adsorption studies on the antibacterial ACFs, typical Type I isotherms were obtained. And, from the SEM morphology results, it was observed that the surface of ACFs was partially coated by antibacterial materials after the treatment. Finally, from the antibacterial effects of antibacteral ACFs against E. coli, excellent antibacterial activity was shown. Concerning the above results, antibacterial ACFs can have wide application in the areas of sterilization, anti-fragrant. anti-insects.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2013

To improve the energy efficiency of conventional thermal treatment, soil remediation with microwave has been studied. In this study, the remediation efficiency of contaminated soil with semi-volatile organic contaminants were evaluated with microwave oven and several additives such as water, formic acid, iron powder, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, and activated carbon. For the experiment, loamy sand and sandy loam collected from Imjin river flood plain were intentionally contaminated with hexachlorobenzene and phenanthrene, respectively. The contaminated soils were treated with microwave facility and the mass removals of organic contaminants from soils were evaluated. Among additives that were added to increase the remediation efficiency, activated carbon and NaOH solution were more effective than water, iron powder, and formic acid. When 10 g of hexachlorobenzene (142.4 mg/kg-soil) or phenanthrene (2,138.8 mg/kg-soil) contaminated soil that mixed with 0.5 g iron powder, 0.5 g activated carbon and 1 ml 6.25 M NaOH solution were treated with microwave for 3 minutes, more than 95% of contaminants were removed. The degradation of hexachlorobenzene during microwave treatments with additives was confirmed by the detection of pentachlorobenzene and tetrachlorobenzene. Naphthalene and phenol were also detected as degradation products of phenanthrene during microwave treatment with additives. The results showed that adding a suitable amount of additives for microwave treatments fairly increased the efficiency of removing semi-volatile soil organic contaminants.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.205-212
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• 2008

This study aimed to investigate the biofilm formation, bacterial regrowth, and bacterial community structure in the granular-activated carbon (GAC) filter adsorbers (FAs) used in water treatment plants. In 2005 and 2006, raw water, settled water, GAC FA by depth, and filtered water were collected twice a year from water treatment plants (WTPs) B and S. The number of heterotrophic bacteria, including mesophilic and psychrophilic bacteria, in such collected waters was investigated along with the total number of coliforms therein. Heterotrophic bacteria were detected in most samples, mainly at the surface layers of the GAC FAs, and fewer such bacteria were found in the lower and bottom layers. An increase in the bacterial number, however, was observed in the samples from various depths of the GAC FAs in WTPs B and S compared with the surface layers. An increase in the bacterial number was also detected in the filtered water. This may indicate that there is a regrowth of the bacteria in the GAC FA. Considering, however, that heterotrophic bacteria were not found in the filtered water, it can be deduced that most bacteria are removed in the chlorination process. Coliforms were detected at the surface layer of the GAC FAs, but their regrowth was not observed. MicroLog systems were used to identify the bacteria community distribution. Eight genera and 14 species, including Pseudomonas spp., were detected in WTP B, and 8 genera and 9 species, including Aeromonas spp., in WTP S. Further studies are required to elucidate their role in the biofilms in water treatment processes.

• Carbon letters
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2016

Lignocellulosic biomass conversion to biofuels such as ethanol and other value-added bio-products including activated carbons has attracted much attention. The development of an efficient, cost-effective, and eco-friendly pretreatment process is a major challenge in lignocellulosic biomass to biofuel conversion. Although several modern pretreatment technologies have been introduced, few promising technologies have been reported. Microwave irradiation or microwave-assisted methods (physical and chemical) for pretreatment (disintegration) of biomass have been gaining popularity over the last few years owing to their high heating efficiency, lower energy requirements, and easy operation. Acid and alkali pretreatments assisted by microwave heating meanwhile have been widely used for different types of lignocellulosic biomass conversion. Additional advantages of microwave-based pretreatments include faster treatment time, selective processing, instantaneous control, and acceleration of the reaction rate. The present review provides insights into the current research and advantages of using microwave-assisted pretreatment technologies for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars in the process of cellulosic ethanol production.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.442-448
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• 2022

Intermediate-level radioactive waste (ILW) is not subject to legal approval for cave disposal in Korea. To solve this problem, a spent resin treatment device that separates ¹⁴C-containing resin from zeolite/activated carbon and desorbs ¹⁴C through a microwave device has been developed. In this study, we evaluated the radiological safety of the operators performing repair work in the event of a failure in such a device treating 1 ton of spent resin mixture per day. Based on the safety evaluation results, it is possible to formulate a design plan that can ensure the safety of workers while developing a commercialized device. When each component of the resin treatment device can be repaired from the outside, the maximum and minimum allowable repair times are calculated as 263.2 h and 27.7 h for the ¹⁴C-detached resin storage tank and zeolite/activated carbon storage tank, respectively. For at least 6 h per quarter, the worker's annual dose limit remains within 50 mSv/year; further, over 5 years, it remained within 100 mSv. At least 6 h of repair time per quarter is considered, under conservative conditions, to verify the radiological safety of the worker during repair work within that time.

• 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.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.91-104
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• 2019

The taxonomic and functional characteristics of bacterial communities in the pre-chlorinated rapid filters and ozonated biological activated carbon (BAC) filters were compared using Illumina MiSeq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and community-level physiological profiling (CLPP) based on sole-carbon-source utilization patterns. Both the rapid filters and BAC filters were dominated by Rhizobiales within ${\alpha}-proteobacteria$, but other abundant orders and genera were significantly different in both types of filter. Firmicutes were abundant only in the intermediate chlorinated rapid filter, while Acidobacteria were abundant only in the BAC filters. Bacterial communities in the rapid filter showed high utilization of carbohydrates, while those in the BAC filters showed high utilization of polymers and carboxylic acids. These different characteristics of the bacterial communities could be related to the different substrates in the influents, filling materials, and residual disinfectants. Chlorination and ozonation inactivated the existing bacteria in the influent and formed different bacterial communities, which could be resistant to the oxidants and effectively utilize different substrates produced by the oxidant, including Phreatobacter in the rapid filters and Hyphomicrobium in the BAC filters. Bradyrhizobium and Leptothrix, which could utilize compounds adsorbed on the GAC, were abundant in the BAC filters. Ozonation increased taxonomic diversity but decreased functional diversity of the bacterial communities in the BAC filters. This study provides some new insights into the effects of oxidation processes and filling materials on the bacterial community structure in the biological filters of drinking water treatment plants.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.488-495
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• 2022

Activated carbon (AC) and carbon molecular sieve (CMS) have attracted attention as porous materials for recovery and separation of greenhouse gases. The carbon molecular sieve having uniform pores is used for collecting and separating gases because it may selectively adsorb a specific gas. The size and uniformity of pores determine the performance of the CMS, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is widely used to coat the surface with a predetermined thickness in order to control the CMS's micropores. This CVD method can be used to control the size of pores in CMS manufacturing, but it must be optimized because of its various experimental variables. Therefore, in order to produce AC and CMS for gas adsorption and separation, this review focuses on various activation processes and pore control technologies by CVD and surface treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.165-171
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• 2002

The study on the adsorption, the surface properties and the antibacterial effects of the metal-treated pitch based activated carbon fibers was carried out. From the adsorption studies on the series of metal-treated activated carbon fiber, the specific surface areas of the metal treated activated carbon fiber obtained from BET equation were in the range of 113.2~1574 $m^2$/g for the Ag-ACFs. And that of Cu treated ACF are distributed to 688.2-887.8 $\m^2$/g. And, the specific surface areas of the Ni-treated pitch based ACFs were in the range of 692.6~895.2 $\m^2$/g. From the ${\alpha}_s$- method, 0.06~1.1 cm^3/g of the micropore volumes were obtained from Ag-ACFs. And, 0.1~0.2 cm^3/ and 0.2~0.6 cm^3/g of the micropore volumes were obtained from Cu and Ni-ACFs, respectively. And, from the SEM morphology results, it was observed that the surface of activated carbon fiber are partially blocked and coated by metal after the treatment. Finally, from the antibacterial effects of metal-treated activated carbon fiber against E. coli, the areas of antibacterial effect become larger with the increase in mole ratio of metal treated. And, from the antibacterial effects using Shake flask method against E. coli, the percentage of the effects was 92.5~100 % and the antibacterial effect was increased with the increase in mole concentration of metal treated.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.619-627
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• 2004

Purposes of this study were to examine closely the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) which was a membrane fouling contaminant, to control detected EPS by powdered activated carbon (PAC) dosage etc. and to evaluate the possibility of practical reuse facility. With high removal efficiency of general pollutants, when the PAC is added to MBR, improvement of removal efficiency of $COD_{cr}$, and color was expected and treated wastewater can be reused. It was judged that the correlation between EPS and membrane fouling was very high. Carbohydrate and DNA in the EPS were judged to be cause of membrane fouling. If EPS could be controled, not only membrane fouling would be decreased but also operation time would be extended. In experiment of powdered activated carbon (PAC), characteristics of the best PAC for membrane fouling control were the particle size of $7{\mu}m$, lodine Number of 1,050, surface area of peat of $1,150m^2/g$. In lab test, operation time of MBR by PAC dosage of 200mg/gVSS was longer than one of MBR by without PAC dosage. Because EPS, especially carbohydrate and DNA, was controled successfully by PAC, membrane fouling in MBR could be decreased.