• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.559-567
• /
• 2014

Since the ocean dumping of organic wastes is prohibited under the London Convention, the need for land treatment of food waste leachate (FWL) has significantly been growing in recent years. This study was conducted to use thermal solubilization to turn FWL into a form that can easily be degraded during the anaerobic digestion process, thereby reducing the percentage of solids and increasing the production of methane. To derive the optimal operating conditions of thermal solubilization, a laboratory-scale reactor was built and operated. The optimal reaction temperature and time turned out to be $190^{\circ}C$ and 90 min, respectively. The BMP test showed a methane production of 465 mL $CH_4/g$ $COD_{Cr}$ and a biodegradation rate of 90.1%. The production of methane rose by about 15%, compared with no the application of thermal solubilization. To reduce the solid content of FWL and improve the methane production, therefore, it may be helpful to apply thermal solubilization to pre-treatment facilities for anaerobic digestion.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 1995

This study was carried to investigate the biodegradability of phenol in the wastewater with the two sludge blanket-packed bed reactor in series. Each reactor had a dimension of 0.09 m i.d. and 1.5 m height and consisted of two regions. The lower region was a sludge blanket of 0.5 m height and the upper region was a packed-bed of 1 m height. The packed bed region was charged with ceramic raschig rings of 10 mm i.d., 15 mm o.d. and 20 mm length. The reactors were operated at 35$\circ$C and the hydraulic retention time(HRT) was maintained 24 hours. The synthetic wastewater composed of glucose and phenol as major components was fed into the reactor in a continuous mode with incereasing phenol concentration. In addition, the nutrient trace metals($Na^+, Mg^{2+}, Ca^{2+}, PO_4^{3-}, NH_4^+, Co^{2+}, Fe^{2+}$ etc.) were added for growing anaerobes. The phenol concentration of the effluent, the overall gas production, the composition of product gas, the efficiency of COD reduction and the duration of acclimation period were measured to determine the performance of the anaerobic wastewater treatment system as the phenol concentration of the influent was increased from 600 to 2400 mg//l. Successfully stable biodegradation of phenol could be achieved with the anaerobic treatment system from 600 to 1, 800 mg/l of the influent phenol concentration. The upper level of influent phenol loading was high enough to meet most of the practical requirement. The duration of acclimation increased with the phenol loading. At steady state of the influent phenol concentration of 1800 mg/l, the treatment performance indicated the phenol reduction efficiency of 99%, the COD reduction efficiency of 99% and the gas production rate of 37 l/day. At the influent phenol concentration of 2400 mg/l, however, the operation of the treatment system was noted unstable. While the concentration of methane in biogas decreased with increasing the influent phenol loading, the carbon dioxide was increased. However, the concentration of hydrogen was varied negligibly. The concentration of methane was high enough to be used as a fuel. As a result, it is suggested that anaerobic phenol wastewater treament was economical in the sense of energy recovery and wastewater treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
• /
• 2004.04a
• /
• pp.73-76
• /
• 2004

Rusted iron could retain activity to redox-sensitive pollutants in batch reactor. Flow-through columns packed with permeable reactive iron filings (Fe$^{0}$ ) between soil and sand layers were used to evaluate the applicability of bio-enhanced iron barriers to treat explosives-contaminated groundwater. One column was bioaugmented with municipal anaerobic sludge to evaluate the enhancement of biodegradation. Military contaminants (RDX, HMX, TNT, 2,4DNT, 2,6DNT), which coexist in soils at military sites, were completely removed in the bioaugmented Fe$^{0}$ layer after 8 months of operation. Overall, this research suggests that Fe$^{0}$ barriers can effectively clean up groundwater contaminated with military explosives, and that treatment efficiency can be enhanced by bioaugmentation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
• /
• 2004.04a
• /
• pp.153-157
• /
• 2004

다양한 혐기성 조건에서 다환방향족탄화수소(PAHs)로 오염된 토양의 미생물 분해 연구를 수행하였다. 대표적인 다환방향족탄화수소인 phenanthrene과 fluorene을 토양과 물에 오염시켜서 약 100일 동안 저감정도를 관찰하였고, 실제 다환방향족탄화수소로 오염된 현장 토양을 이용 혐기성하에서 다환방향족탄화수소의 생분해 가능성을 확인하였다. 미생물 접종원은 혐기성 조건에서 다환방향족탄화수소에 노출시킨 슬러리가 사용되었다. 황산염 환원조건, 질산염 환원조건, 메탄생성조건 등의 다양한 혐기성 조건에서 실험을 수행한 결과, 메탄생성조건 > 질산염 환원조건 > 황산염 환원조건의 순서로 분해가 잘 일어났다. 또한 현장오염토양의 경우 34일간 처리 후 메탄생성조건에서 최대 72%의 분해율을 보였다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.22 no.10
• /
• pp.1311-1323
• /
• 2012

In the present work, current knowledge on the potential fate, microbial degradation, and toxicity of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) was thoroughly reviewed, focusing on the toxicological assessment of a variety of potential RDX degradation pathways in bacteria and fungi. The present review on microbial degradation pathways and toxicities of degradation intermediates suggests that, among aerobic RDX degradation pathways, the one via denitration may be preferred in a toxicological perspective, and that among anaerobic pathways, those forming 4-nitro-2,4-diazabutanal (NDAB) via ring cleavage of 1-nitroso-3,5-dinitro-1,3,5-triazinane (MNX) may be toxicologically advantageous owing to its potential mineralization under partial or complete anoxic conditions. These findings provide important information on RDX-degrading microbial pathways, toxicologically most suitable to be stimulated in contaminated fields.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.114-121
• /
• 2012

The potential for ochratoxin A (OTA) degradation by swine intestinal microbiota was assessed in the current study. Intestinal content that was collected aseptically from swine was spiked with 100 ppb OTA and incubated for 6 and 12 h at $39^{\circ}C$. An OTA assay was conducted using the incubated samples, and it was found that 20% of the OTA toxin was detoxified, indicating the presence of microbes capable of OTA degradation. Twenty-eight bacterial species were isolated anaerobically in M 98-5 media and 45 bacterial species were isolated using nutrient broth aerobically. Screening results showed that one anaerobic bacterial isolate, named MM11, detoxified more than 75% of OTA in liquid media. Furthermore, 1.0 ppm OTA was degraded completely after 24 h incubation on a solid 'corn' substrate. The bacterium was identified by 16S rDNA sequencing as having 97% sequence similarity with Eubacterium biforme. The isolation of an OTA-degrading bacterium from the swine natural flora is of great importance for OTA biodegradation and may be a valuable potential source for OTA-degradation enzymes in industrial applications.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.150-155
• /
• 1993

This study describes biodegradation of dyes which are used in textile industries. Dyes released into the environment from industrial waste water are considered to be a serious pollution problem because of the wide spread into environment with a variety of colors. The microorganisms used in this experiment were Pseudomonas species, which had been screened from aeration tank of waste water treatment. It was found that optimum concentrations for culture media were 14g of glucose, 6g of peptone, 160 mg of Na2HPO4, 200mg of KCl, 140mg of MgSO4,.7H2O,1.0g of KH2PO4, 400mg of NaCl, 200mg of CaCl2 and dye 10ppm per litre of distilled water. The high efficiency of dye degradation was obtained at pH 7-8 and $30-35^{\circ}C$. Strains screened are excellent for removal of azo and reactive dyes, which are relatively stable and difficult to degrade. Dyes of 10ppm such as mono-azo (Lot No. 180), di-azo (Lot No. 138) and reactive red(Lot No. 2) were mostly decolorlzed within 2 days and di-azo (Lot No. 151) and reactive red(Lot No. 34, No. 00166) were decolorized within 5 days in the controlled fermenter. In the case of reactive dyes, oxygen supplies showed lower biodegradability compared to anaerobic culture.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.308-320
• /
• 2022

The high internal resistance (R_int) that develops across the sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFC) limits their power production (~4/10 mW m^-2) that can be recovered from an initial oil-contaminated sediment (OCS). In the anolyte, R_int is related to poor biodegradation activity, quality and quantity of contaminant content in the sediment and anode material. While on the catholyte, R_int depends on the properties of the catholyte, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and the cathode material. In this work, the main factors limiting the power output of the SMFC have been minimized. The power output of the SMFC was increased (47 times from its initial value, ~4 mW m^-2) minimizing the SMFC R_int (28 times from its initial value, 5000 ohms), following the main modifications. Anolyte: the initial OCS was amended with several amounts of gasoline and kerosene. The best anaerobic microbial activity of indigenous populations was better adapted (without more culture media) to 3 g of kerosene. Catholyte: ORR was catalyzed in birnessite/carbon fabric (CF)-cathode at pH 2, 0.8M Na₂SO₄. At the class level, the main microbial groups (Gammaproteobacteria, Coriobacteriia, Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria) with electroactive members were found at C-anode and were associated with the high-power densities obtained. Gasoline is more difficult to biodegrade than kerosene. However, in both cases, SMFC biodegradation activity and power output are increased when ORR is performed on birnessite/CF in 0.8 M Na₂SO₄ at pH 2. The work discussed here can focus on bioremediation (in heavy OCS) or energy production in future work.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.339-346
• /
• 2017

The objective of this study is the evaluation of the performance of a large-scale respirometer (LSR) of 17.7 L in the determination of the methane generation rate constant (k) values. To achieve this objective, a comparison between anaerobic (GB21) and LSR tests was conducted. The data were modeled using a linear function, and the resulting correlation coefficient ($R^2$) of the linear regression is 0.91. This result shows that despite the aerobic conditions, the biodegradability values that were obtained from the LSR test produced results that are similar to those from the GB21 test. In this respect, the LSR test can be an indicator of the anaerobic biodegradability for landfill waste. In addition, the results show the high repeatability of the tests with an average coefficient of variance (CV) that is lower than 10%; furthermore, the CV for the LSR is lower than that of the GB21, which indicates that the LSR-test method could provide a better representation of waste samples. Therefore, the LSR method allows for both the prediction of the long-term biodegradation potential in a shorter length of time and the reduction of the sampling errors that are caused by the heterogeneity of waste samples. The k values are $0.156y^{-1}$ and $0.127y^{-1}$ for the cumulative biogas production (GB21) and the cumulative oxygen uptake for the LSR, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.31 no.10
• /
• pp.839-844
• /
• 2009

This research investigates the importance of the microbial metabolic pathways such as denitrification, iron reduction, and methanogenesis, in the degradation of organic matters of the sediments. There are statistically significant differences( P < 0.05) in the rates of denitrification, iron reduction, and methanogenesis according to the location: Site A has no plant, Site B is dominated by Scirpus, and Site C is dominated by Phragmites. Among them, Site C showed different methanogenesis rate depending on the sediments depth. The organic matter content increased from Site A to Site C. Site A had the smallest organic matter content whereas it showed the largest denitrification rate and iron reduction rate. Site C had the largest methanogenesis rate. Denitrification is the dominant pathways based on the assumption that anaerobic degradation of organic matter is mainly carried out through denitrification, iron reduction, and methanogenesis.