• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.363-369
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• 2011

Total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) removal efficiencies of a sand filter (SF), polystyrene microbead filter (PF), and Kaldnes bead filter (KF) media were evaluated under ammonia loading rates of 5, 25, and 50 g $m^{-3}day^{-1}$. The volume of each filter media tested was 7 L, and the water flow rate for all filter media was 24 L/min. The specific surface areas of the SF, PF, and KF were 7,836, 3,287, and 500 $m^2/m^3$, respectively. Sand was fluidized and the other two media were trickle filtered. The volumetric TAN removal rate increased with increasing ammonia loading rate for all filter media. Mean volumetric TAN removal rates under the ammonia loading rates of 5, 25, and 50 g $m^{-3}day^{-1}$ in SF (39.3, 168.6, and 322.7 g $m^{-3}day^{-1}$, respectively) were higher than those in PF (35.0, 157.4, and 310.5 g $m^{-3}day^{-1}$, respectively) and KF (32.1, 142.5, and 288.1 g $m^{-3}day^{-1}$, respectively). These results were related to differences in the specific surface areas of the filter media. PF was the most economic media for efficiently removing TAN.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.583-590
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• 2011

The effect of the physical parameters in the reactor (aeration depth, bubble size, and surface area) and the alkalinity of the solution on the ammonia stripping by bubbling were evaluated. When an airflow of 30 L/min was bubbled below the solution surface in the range 6-53 cm, the ammonia removal rate were observed to be the same regardless of the bubbling depths. At pH 10.0 and a temperature of $30^{\circ}C$, the average rate constant and the standard deviation were $0.178h^{-1}$ and 0.004. No appreciable changes in the ammonia removal rate were also observed with varying the bubble size and the air-contacting surface area. Alkalinity of the solution was found to affect the ammonia removal rate indirectly. This is expected because the pH of the solution would vary with dissolution of gaseous $CO_2$ by air bubbling. The real wastewaters from landfill site and domestic wastewater treatment plant were tested. In the case of domestic wastewater (pH = 7.1, alkalinity = 75 mg/L), the ammonia removal rate was poor even with the control of pH to 9.3. The raw landfill leachate (pH = 8.0, alkalinity = 6,525 mg/L), however, showed the appreciable removal rate with increasing pH during aeration. When the initial pH of the leachate was adjusted 9.4, the removal rate was significantly increased without changing the pH during aeration.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.457-464
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to develop a pilot scale bio-filter system removing ammonia gas with microorganisms. The system consisted of chaff(filter medium), a blower, a temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, a solenoid valve, and a heating system. Temperature and moisture contents were controlled via a PC to provide the microorganisms with proper environment. The microorganisms used in this study were Bacillius. coagulans NLRI T-6 and Pseudononas. putida NLRI S-21 of bacilli. Performance tests were performed to evaluate gas removal rate during 20 days. The result was shown that the removal rate was high in early days and gradually dropped below 90% without injecting the microbes. However, it was shown that when injecting the microbes, the removal rate was almost 100% and pH value was maintained at between 7 and 9 during the whole twenty-day period.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.353-358
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• 2011

In this study, ammonia removal characteristics in membrane contactor system under various operating conditions were evaluated. The mass transfer coefficient was used to quantitatively compare the effect of various operation conditions on ammonia removal efficiency. Effective removal of ammonia was possible with the tubular PTFE membrane contactor system at all tested conditions. Among the various operation parameters, contact time and solution pH showed significant effect on ammonia removal mechanism. Overall ammonia removal rate was not significantly affected by influent suspended solution concentration unlike other pressure driven membrane filtration processes. Also the osmotic distillation phenomena which deteriorate the mass transfer efficiency can be minimized by preheating of strip solution. Membrane contactor system can be a possible alternative to treat high strength nitrogen wastewater by optimizing operation conditions such as stripping solution flow rate, influent wastewater temperature, and influent pH.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.8665-8672
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• 2015

In this study, to investigate the feasibility of malodorous substance and organic matter removal by digest sludge in sewage treatment plants, ammonia, methyl mercaptan(MMC), and hydrogen sulfide($H_2S$) in a reactor submerged with BIO-CLOD(BIO-CLOD) and a reactor not submerged with BIO-CLOD(Non BIO-CLOD) were measured at 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours after the submergence of BIO-CLOD. Whereas the reactor in which BIO-CLOD was submerged showed an ammonia removal rate of 48% and high $H_2S$ and MMC removal rates exceeding 98% in 24 hours, the reactor in which BIO-CLOD was not submerged showed an ammonia removal rate of 45%, an $H_2S$ removal rate of 71%, and an MMC removal rate of 84% in 24 hours indicating the possibility of removal of malodor using BIO-CLOD. A nitrification was shown in which ammonia concentrations decreased over time while nitrate nitrogen concentrations increased and sulfur based malodor components were oxidation decomposed indicating that BIO-CLOD had effects to increase sulfate concentrations in the solution and that sulfate concentration increases and atmospheric $H_2S$ removal rates were correlated with each other. With regard to decreases in organic matter in reactor effluents, BIO-CLOD did not affect in a short period of time and when reactors were operated with HRT 12 hours and HRT 24 hours, HRT 12 hours was considered desirable in terms of economy.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1265-1271
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• 2008

Aerated submerged bio-film (ASBF) pilot plant has been developed. The presented studies optimized an inexpensive method of enhanced wastewater treatment. The objectives of this research were to describe pilot scale experiments for efficient removal of dissolved organic and nitrogen compounds by using ASBF reactor in plug-flow reactor (PFR) and improve understanding of dissolved organic matter and nitrogen compounds removal rates with dynamic relationships between heterotrophs and autotrophs in the fixed-film reactor. This research explores the possibility of enhancing the performance of shallow wastewater treatment lagoons through the addition of specially designed structures. This direct gas-phase contact should increase the oxygen transfer rate into the bio-film, as well as increase the micro-climate mixing of water, nutrients, and waste products into and out of the bio-film. This research also investigated the efficiency of dissolved organic matter and ammonia nitrogen removals in the ASBF. As it was anticipated, nitrification activity was highest during periods when the flow rate was lower, but it seemed to decline during times when the flow rate was highest. And ammonia nitrogen removal rates were more sensitive than dissolved organic matter removal rates when flow rates exceeded 2.2 L/min.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2000

Removal of ammonia using the porous ceramic biofilter inoculated with earthworm casts was characterized. By assuming a plug air flow in the biofilter and applying the Michaelis-Menten equation, the maximum removal rate of $NH_3$ was $280.7g-N{\cdot}m^{-3}{\cdot}h^{-1}$($18.0g-N{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\cdot}d^{-1}$) at $30^{\circ}C$. $NH_3$ removal rate was increased as temperature increases from $15^{\circ}C$ to $35^{\circ}C$. The maximum removal rate was $285.8g-N{\cdot}m^{-3}{\cdot}h^{-1}$($18.8g-N{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\cdot}d^{-1}$) at $35^{\circ}C$. At $15^{\circ}C$, the $NH_3$ removal rate was $122.8g-N{\cdot}m^{-3}{\cdot}h^{-1}$($8.1g-N{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\cdot}d^{-1}$). When 210 ppm $NH_3$ was supplied to the biofilter at space velocity of $220h^{-1}$, the removal efficiency of $NH_3$ at 15, 25, 30 and $35^{\circ}C$ was 80, 90, 95, and 96%, respectively. The removal rate of the ceramic biofilter was 3 to 15 times higher than other biofilters comparing the removal efficiency of $NH_3$ per unit volume of carrier. This result indicates that earthworm casts and porous ceramics are very good inoculum source and carrier, respectively, for the $NH_3$-degrading biofilter.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 2012

This study investigates the complete removal of nitrate and the recovery of valuable ammonium salt by the combination of nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) and a membrane contactor system. The NZVI used for the experiments was prepared by chemical reduction without a stabilizing agent. The main end-product of nitrate reduction by NZVI was ammonia, and the solution pH was stably maintained around 10.5. Effective removal of ammonia was possible with the polytetrafluoroethylene membrane contactor system in all tested conditions. Among the various operation parameters including influent pH, concentration, temperature, and contact time, contact time and solution pH showed significant effects on the ammonia removal mechanism. Also, the osmotic distillation phenomena that deteriorate the mass transfer efficiency could be minimized by pre-heating the influent wastewater. The ammonia removal rate could be maximized by optimizing operation conditions and changing the membrane configuration. The combination of NZVI and the membrane contactor system could be a solution for nitrate removal and the recovery of valuable products.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.311-316
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• 2008

This study aimed to obtain equilibrium concentration on adsorption removal of ammonia nitrogen by activated carbon, to express the adsorption characteristics following Freundlich isotherm and also, based on the value obtained, to investigate the relationship between physical characteristics of activated carbon and dynamics of ammonia nitrogen removal by obtaining rate constant and effective pore diffusivity. The results summarized from this study are as follows. It was noted that powdered activated carbon showed better adsorption ability than granular activated carbon. The value of constant (f) of Freundlich isotherm of powered activated carbon was $4.6{\times}10^{-8}$ which is bigger than that of granular activated carbon. The adsorption rate constant on ammonia nitrogen of powered activated carbon with high porosity and low effective diameter was highest as 0.416 hr-1 and the effective pore diffusivity ($D_e$) was lowest as $1.17{\times}10^{-6}cm^2/hr$, and the value of ammonia nitrogen adsorption rate constant of granular activated carbon was $0.149{\sim}0.195hr^{-1}$. It was revealed that, with the same amount of dosage, the adsorptive power of activated carbon with lower effective diameter and bigger porosity was better and its rate constant was also high. With a little adsorbent dosage of 2 g, there was no difference removal ability of ammonia nitrogen as change of adsorption properties.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.195-201
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• 2006

The operational characteristics of anaerobic bioreactors in treating swine wastewater were evaluated upto hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 day and organic loading rate (OLR) of $5.1kg-COD/m^3{\cdot}d$ for 200 days. The bioreactors were effective in treating swine wastewaters with COD removal efficiency of $78.9{\sim}81.5%$ and biogas generation of $0.39{\sim}0.59m^3/kg-COD_r$ at OLR of $1.1{\sim}2.2kg-COD/m^3{\cdot}d$. The two-stage ASBF anaerobic bioreactors was effective in treating different 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. The effects of ammonia on anaerobic digestion were investigated by operating two-stage ASBF reactors using swine wastewaters as influent without and with ammonia removal at HRT of $1{\sim}2$ days and OLR of $2.2{\sim}9.6kg-COD/m^3{\cdot}d$ for 250 days. The COD removal efficiency and biogas generation of two-stage ASBF reactors was decreased by increasing influent ammonia concentrations to 1,580 mg (T-N)/L with increasing OLR to $6.3kg-COD/m^3{\cdot}d$, while those were increased by maintaining influent ammonia concentrations below 340 mg (T-N)/L by MAP precipitation with increasing OLR to $9.6kg-COD/m^3{\cdot}d$. Initial inhibition of ammonia on anaerobic processes was observed at a concentration of 760 mg (T-N)/L and the COD removal efficiency and biogas generation dropped to 1/2 at ammonia concentration ranges of $1,540{\sim}1,870mg$ (T-N)/L. It is essential to remove ammonia in swine wastewaters to an initial inhibition level before anaerobic processes for the effective removal of COD.