• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.151-160
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• 2006

Anaerobic treatment of landfill leachate was studied to investigate the behaviors of pollutant and the characteristics of microorganism for 10 months. The upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor achieved about 90% chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal at organic loading rates(OLR) up to $20kgCOD/m^3.d$. At higher OLR ($8-20kgCOD/m^3.d$), the propionate concentration increased, indicating that converting propionate to acetate was the rate-limiting step. Nevertheless, increase in the precipitate inside and on the surface of granules as well as on the wall of the reactor resulted in operational problems. The main inorganic precipitate in the granule was calcium compound. Although specific methanogenic activity (SMA) was not affected seriously in this study, metals had to be removed prior to anaerobic treatment so as to be free from the excessive inorganic accumulation that resulted in operational problems.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.95-105
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• 1998

This research was investigated which denitrification of wastewater containing nitrate, using upflow anaerobic sludge blanket process. The upflow anaerobic sludge blanket process is also used for both artifical and industrial wastewater. Main ingredients investigated in the artifical and industrial wastewater experiment were the determination of optimum organism/nitrate ratios, nitrate removal efficiency by various hydrogen donor addition and characteristics of granular sludge and gas production in case of various hydrogen donor addition. From the experimental results the following conclusions were made: In case of adding methanol, ethanol and sodium acetate as hydrogen donor granular sludge was formed 50 days after seeding. Average diameter of granular sludge was 4.0 mm and settling velocity was 37 cm/min. Production rate of gas 3.3 L/d in case of adding methanol as hydrogen donor in wastewater containing 150mg/L nitrate. However adding ethanol and sodium acetate as hydrogen donor, gas production rate were 2.2-2.7L/d respectively. In case of adding methanol as hydrogen donor treatability of artifical wastewater contained 150mg/L as nitrate was about 93%. But in addition of sodium acetate in wastewater contained 40mg.L as nitrate, nitrate removal efficiency was 80%.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.993-997
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• 2007

The upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor can be effective for treating simple organic compounds containing high concentration of ammonia nitrogen. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was about 80% at ammonia nitrogen concentration up to 6,000 mg-N/L. This result also showed that it would be possible to treat propionate effectively at free ammonia nitrogen concentration up to 724 mg-N/L if sufficient time was allowed for adaptation. However the specific methanogenic activity (SMA) of granule was lower than that of granule in the reactor with lower ammonia nitrogen concentration. At 8,000 mg-N/L, the inhibition of high ammonia concentration was observed with evidence of increase of the volatile suspended solids (VSS) concentration in the effluent. It might be ascribed to the decrease in the content of extracellular polymer (ECP), which resulted to the sloughing off of obligated proton-reducing acetogens and heterogenotrophic methanogens from the exterior of granular sludge. This caused a great portion of the finely sludge to be easily washed out. Therefore, failure to maintain the balance between these two groups of microorganism cause accumulation of the hydrogen partial pressure in the reactor, which could have inhibited the growth of acetate utilizing methanogens.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.327-332
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• 2004

This study was carried out to examine the effect of gamma irradiation on the physico-chemical characteristics and ultimate anaerobic biodegradability of sewage sludge. The results found that the solubilization rates of SCOD in wasted activated sludge(WAS) and thickened sludge(T-S) with gamma irradiation of 3kGy were 8 times and 7 times greater than these of the raw WAS and T-S without the irradiation, respectively; each soluble concentration protein were 4 times and 3 times greater than these of the raw WAS and T-S; each soluble carbohydrate concentration was 8 times and 6 times greater than these of the raw WAS and T-S. The ultimate anaerobic biodegradabilities of WAS and T-S with gamma irradiation were 51 % and 50%, which corresponds to each 8% and 10% greater than these of the raw sludges. Approximately 83% and 81% of the each biodegradable substrates in the irradiated WAS and the T-S were degraded within 11 days with the first order decay rate coefficients, $k_1$ that ranged $0.143{\sim}0.164day^{-1}$ for WAS and $0.134{\sim}0.152day^{-1}$ for T-S. Based on the results, it can be concluded that when irradiated with gamma the solubilization of sewage sludge greatly increases resulting in substrates suitable for the subsequent biological treatment processes.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.20-29
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• 2014

The present study investigated the effects of thermal pre-treatment on the enhancement of anaerobic biodegradability of waste activated sludge at varied TS concentration levels. The activated sludges were thermally oxidized for 30 minutes at $80{\sim}200^{\circ}C$ with varied TS concentrations (2%, 4% and 6%). and then, sludge characteristics, solubilization efficiency and methane production yield of thermally pre-treated sludges were analyzed. The higher the temperature in the thermal pre-treatment, the higher the concentration levels of dissolved matters such as $SCOD_{Cr}$, $NH_4{^+}$ and VFAs, which indicates that the thermal pre-treatment facilitates the hydrolysis and acid fermentation. Furthermore, the solubilization efficiency was increased in proportion to the temperature rise at all TS concentrations and was reached at 68.9%, 55.6% and 53.1%, respectively, at $200^{\circ}C$. In the BMP test of the pre-treated sludges, higher methane production yields were observed as 0.313. 0.314 and $0.299m^3\;CH_4/kg\;VS_{add}$ at the condition of TS 2% ($160^{\circ}C$), 4% ($160^{\circ}C$) and 6% ($180^{\circ}C$), respectively, and degradation rate was increased by 84%, 79% and 65% compared with non-pretreated waste activated sludge. These findings suggest the effectiveness of thermal pre-treatment of waste activated sludge for anaerobic biodegradable process.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.542-546
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• 2009

Methane production using the mixed organic wastes of peel-type fruit wastes from apple or orange and sewage sludge was investigated in the batch anaerobic degradation process. When apple or orange peels with sewage sludge were used as mixed substrates, higher methane production was achieved under the condition of 3 : 7 (fruit peel : sewage sludge) mixing ratio. However, above the 3 : 7 mixing ratio, the pH of mixture was decreased from 8.0 to 4.5~4.7 due to organic acid production from the fruit wastes. Subsequently, methane production was low. The results in this study could be effectively applied to the methane gas production system as a bioenergy in the mixed batch anaerobic digestion process using the peel-type fruit wastes and sewage sludge.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.104-116
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• 1996

Anaerobic digestion is generally used for the treatment of volatile organic solids such as manure and sludge from waste water treatment plants. However, the reaction rate of anaerobic process is slow, and thus it requires a large reactor volume. To minimize such a disadvantage, physical and chemical pre-treatment is generally considered. Another method to reduce the reactor size is to adopt different reactor system other than CSTR. In this paper, the effects of heat pre-treatment and reactor configurations on the anaerobic treatability of volatile solids was studied. Carrot, kale, primary sludge, and waste activated sludge was chosen as the test materials, and the BMP method was used to evaluate the maximum methane production and first order rate constants from each sample. After the heat treatment at $130^{\circ}C$ for 30min., the measured increase in SCOD per gram VS was up to 394 mg/L for the waste activated sludge. However, the methane production potential per gram VS was increased for only primary and waste activated sludge by 17-23%, remaining the same for carrot and kale. The overall methane production process for the tested solids can be described by first order reactions. The increased in reaction constant after heat pre-treatment was also more significant for the primary and waste activated sludge than that for carrot and kale. therefore, the heat pre-treatment appeared to be effective for the solids with high protein contents rather than for the solids with high carbohydrate contents. Among the four reactor systems studied, CSTR, PFR, CSTR followed by PFR, and PFR with recycle, CSTR followed by PFR appeared to be the best choice considering methane conversion rate and the operational stability.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.322-331
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• 2020

By introducing chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) in the first stage of sewage treatment, organic matter in sewage can be effectively recovered. Because CEPT sludge contains a high biodegradable organic matter in volatile solids (VS), it is feasible to convert the collected CEPT sludge into energy through anaerobic digestion. This study examined the properties and biochemical methane potential (BMP) of the CEPT sludge obtained from a sewage treatment plant located in an ocean area. The CEPT sludge contains a VS content of 37,597 mg/L, which is higher than that of excessive sludge (ES), i.e., 33,352 mg-VS/L. In the methane generation reaction, the lag period was as short as 1 to 2 days. The BMP for the CEPT sludge was 0.57 ㎥-CH₄/kg-VS_removed which is better than that of ES, i.e., 0.36 ㎥-CH₄/kg-VS_removed. Unfortunately, the CEPT sludge showed a high salinity as 0.56~0.75% probably due to the saline sewage. Due to the salinity, repeated BMP testing in a sequencing batch reactor showed significantly low methane production rates and BMPs. Also, the ES showed a strongly reduced BMP when the salinity was adjusted from 0.20 to 0.70% by NaCl. The ES mixture with higher CEPT content showed a better BMP, which is suitable for co-digestion. Besides, anaerobic digestion for 100% CEPT sludge can be a considerable option instead of co-digestion.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.71-81
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• 2005

Anaerobic digestion is employed worldwide as the oldest and most important process for sludge stabilization. An additional advantage is the production of methane during anaerobic digestion. However, the waste activated sludge(WAS) has poor anaerobic degradability and less gas production due to the cell wall of bio-solid. In order to improve and enhance stabilization and dewatering of the WAS, a number of pretreatment processes have been developed and investigated. In this research, a pilot-scale study of pulse power pretreatment was performed to improve anaerobic degradability and dewaterability of the WAS. A pilot plant was designed and operated based on a previous laboratory study. Change of the sludge characteristics by pulse power pretreatment was estimated to assess the increasing soluble organics. The increased soluble organics could be used as a good substrate in the anaerobic digesion process. Gas production and methane potential of the anaerobic digestion were estimated as the parameters of anaerobic degradability. For evaluation of the dewaterability of pretreated WAS, capillary suction time(CST) and specific resistance were measured. The efficiency of energy recovery was also estimated by calculating energy balance.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.136-146
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• 2007

Landfill leachate was successfully treated in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors regardless of the addition of granular sludge. Initial operating period was significantly reduced by the addition of granular sludge. At hydraulic retention time (HRT) of one day, chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates in Control and Granule reactor were maintained over 90%, respectively with organic loading rate (OLR) of $4-8kgCOD/m^3.d$. During the experiment, the inorganic precipitates were accumulated in and around the sludge, and in the wall of the reactors were formed in both reactors regardless of addition of granular sludge. Specific methanogenic activity (SMA) increased as adaptation of microorganism to the substrate and OLR were increased. The maximum SMA value of the sludge for Granule reactor was about $0.57gCOD/g{\cdot}VSS{\cdot}.d$. The SMA value was not decreased because of excessive inorganic accumulation, however, it was needed to have pre-treatment process of influent to remove the inorganic metals.