• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.225-231
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• 2005

The characteristics of cell growth and medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (MCL-PHA) biosynthesis of Pseudomonas chlororaphis HS21 were investigated using plant oils as the carbon substrate. The organism was efficiently capable of utilizing plant oils, such as palm oil, corn oil, and sunflower oil, as the sole carbon source for growth and MCL-PHA production. When palm oil (5 g/L) was used as the carbon source, the cell growth and MCL-PHA accumulation of this organism occurred simultaneously, and a high dry cell weight (2.4 g/L) and MCL-PHA ($40.2\;mol{\%}$ of dry cell weight) was achieved after 30 hr of batch-fermentation. The repeating unit in the MCL-PHA produced from palm oil composed of 3-hydroxyhexanoate ($7.0\;mol{\%}$), 3-hydroxyoctanoate ($45.3\;mol{\%}$), 3-hydroxydecanoate ($39.0\;mol{\%}$), 3-hydroxydodecanoate ($6.8\;mol{\%}$), and 3-hydroxytetradecanoate ($1.9\;mol{\%}$), as determined by GC/MS. Even though glucose was a carbon substrate that support cell growth but not PHA production, the conversion rate of palm oil to PHA was significantly increased when glucose was fed as a cosubstrate, suggesting that bioconversion of some functionalized carbon substrates to related polymers in P chlororaphis HS21 could be enhanced by the co-feed of good carbon substrates for cell growth. In addition, the change of compositions of repeating units in MCL-PHAs synthesized from the plant oils was markedly affected by the supplementation of acrylic acid, an inhibitor of fatty acid ${\beta}-oxidation$. The addition of acrylic acid resulted in the increase of longer chain-length repeating units, such as 3-hydroxydodecanoate and 3-hydroxytetradecanoate, in the MCL-PHAs produced. Particularly, MCI-PHAs containing high amounts of unsaturated repeating units could be produced when sunflower oil and corn oil were used as the carbon substrate. These results suggested that the alteration of PHA synthesis pathway by acrylic acid addition can offer the opportunity to design new functional MCL-PHAs and other unusual polyesters that have unique physico-chemical properties.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.435-441
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• 1998

Optimal conditions for the production of natural color, betacyanin were investigated by varying light intensity, C/N ratio, concentrations of phosphate and kinds of elicitors. Batch cultivation was employed to characterize cell growth and betacyanin production of 32 days. The maximum specific growth rate, ${\mu}$$\sub$max/, was 0.3 (1/day) for batch cultivation. The maximum specific production rate, q$\^$max/$\sub$p/, was enhanced 0.11 (mg/g-cell/day) at 3 klux. A light intensity of 3 klux was shown to the best for both cell growth and betacyanin production. The maximum specific production rate was 0.125 (mg/g-cell/day) at 0.242 (1/day), the maximum specific growth rate. The dependence of specific growth rate on the light lintensity is fit to the photoinhibition model. The correlation between ${\mu}$ and q$\sub$p/ showed that the product formation parameters, ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$$\sub$p/ were 0.3756 (mg/cell) and 0.001 (mg/g-cell/day), respectively. The betacyanin production was partially cell growth related process, which is different from the production of a typical product in plant cell cultures. In C/N ratio experiment, high carbon concentration, 42.1 (w/w) improved cell growth rate while lower concentration, 31.6 (w/w) increased the betacyanin production rate. The ${\mu}$$\sub$max/ and q$\^$max/$\sub$p/ were 0.26 (1/day) and 0.075 (mg/g-cell/day), respectively. Beta vulgaris L. cells under 1.25 mM phosphate concentration produced 10.15 mg/L betacyanin with 13.46 (g-dry wt./L) of maximum cell density. The production of betacyanin was elongated by adding 0.1 ${\mu}$M of kinetin. This also increased the cell growth. Optimum culture conditions of light intensity, C/N, phosphate concentration were obtained as 5.5 klux, 27 (w/w), 1.25 mM, respectively by the response surface methodology. The maximum cell density, X$\sub$max/, and maximum production, P$\sub$max/, in optimized conditions were 16 (g-dry wt./L), 12.5 (mg/L) which were higher than 8 (g-dry wt./L), 4.48 (mg/L) in normal conditions. The ${\mu}$$\sub$max/ and q$\^$max/$\sub$p/ were 0.376 (1/day) and 0.134 (mg/g-cell/day) at the optimal condition. The overall results may be useful in scaling up hairy root cell culture system for commercial production of betacyanin.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.699-705
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• 2010

In this study, three different biological activated carbons (BACs) were prepared from activated carbons made of each coal (F400, Calgon), coconut (Samchully) and wood(Pica, Picabiol) which were run for two and half years in the pilot plant. The attached bio-film microorganisms in and on the BACs were isolated and identified. The results showed that nine different bacteria species (Chryseomonas luteola, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas vesicularis, Aeromonas hydrophila, Spingomonas paucimobilis, Agrobacterium radiobacter, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Spirillum spp., and Pasteurella haemolytica) were isolated and identified, the dominant species was Pseudomonas sp. that had occupied 56.5%. More specifically, it was observed that the populations of the microorganisms deceased in the order: Pasteurella haemolytica (18.9%) > Chryseomonas luteola (4.0%) > Agrobacterium radiobacter (3.5%) > Aeromonas hydrophila (2.0%) in and on the BACs. After isolating of 9 species of biofilm microorganisms, the growth curve for the biomass was investigated. During 24~96 hours, the biomass has the highest concentration, and activity of the biomass was the best to uptake geosmin as carbon resources. The operation temperatures for investigating the biodegradation of geosmin were set at $4^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$. Pseudomonas vesicularis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Agrobacterium radiobacter and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia played a maior role in removing the target compound as geosmin. However, geosmin was not biodegraded well by Chryseomonas luteola, Spingomonas paucimobilis, and Spirillum spp.. It is also interesting to evaluate kinetics of biodegradability of geosmin. The first-order rate constants for biodegradability of geosmin at $4^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$ were $0.00006{\sim}0.0002\;hr^{-1}$ and $0.0043{\sim}0.0046\;hr^{-1}$ respectively. Higher water temperature produced better geosmin removal rates. When concentrations of geosmin increased from 10 to 10,000 ng/L, the rate constants for biodegradability of geosmin increased from 0.0003 to $0.0882\;hr^{-1}$. As described earlier, higher geosmin concentration in the reactor produced higher rate constant.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.103-110
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• 2003

Stable production of fermented kanjang containing 1.8% (v/v) ethanol was obtained within four days using traditional kanjang containing 4% added glucose in packed-bed bioreactor systems filled with immobilized Zygosaccharomyces rouxii and Candida versatilis on porous alumina ceramic bead carrier at $28{\pm}0.5^{\circ}C$ and aeration rate of 0.05 vvm. Specific rates of alcohol production for Z. rouxii and C. versatilis were 0.0033 and 0.0031/day, respectively, and those of glucose consumption were both -0.0087/day in the batch type of alcoholic fermentation. In semi-continuous alcoholic fermentation at a dilution rate of 0.25/day, specific rates of alcohol production for Z. rouxii and C. versatilis were 0.0045 and 0.0029/day, and those of glucose consumption were -0.01 and -0.008/day, respectively, using identical bioreactor system. Similar specific rates of alcohol production were observed both in the batch or semi-continuous process and in the continuous one at the dilution rate of 0.25/day. Sensory characteristics of all alcoholic-fermented kanjang by Z. rouxii, C. versatilis, and a mixture of both yeasts (2:1, w/w) were shown to be significantly superior to those of home-made kanjang as revealed through organoleptic evaluation tests (p<0.05).

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.40-50
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• 1978

Effects of Zn, P and Fe on Cd uptake and accumulations by tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill) and also their interactions on the uptake of Zn, Fe, Mn, P and Cd were investigated using batch type solution culture technique. Experiment 1 was a factorial scheme with 3 levels of Zn (0, 0.5, 2.5 ppm) and 3 levels of Cd (0, 0.2, 1.0 ppm). At 1.0 ppm Cd, significant yield reduction of dry matter and visual toxicity symptoms (yellowing and necrosis) of Cd was observed for all zinc levels. At this Cd level, increasing Zn treatment from 0 to 2.5 ppm increased Cd concentration from 199 to 235 ppm in leaves and from 124 to 145 ppm in stems. Similarly, Cd treatment did not suppress Zn uptake in leaves, and rather significantly increased in stems. Fe concentrations in leaves and stems were significantly reduced due to Cd treatment while Mn were increased by both Zn and Cd treatment. The results of experiment 2 with 3 levels of P (0.5, 2.0, 4.0m Mol) and 3 levels of Cd (0, 1.0, 2.0 ppm) in a factorial scheme also showed a growth reduction and visual toxic symptons from 1.0 ppm Cd level. Increasing P treatment tend to increase Cd concentrations in leaves and stems although it was not statistically significant. Increasing P concentration due to Cd treatment could be the 'concentration' effect as a result of reduced growth, while there was significant decrease in Fe concentration due to Cd treatment in spite of possible 'concentration' effect. Mn concentration was increased at 1.0 ppm Cd level and then dropped at 2.0 ppm Cd level. Zu concentration in leaves and stems showed significant increase as Cd treatment increased as observed in experiment 1. Experiment 3 had 3 levels of Fe (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 ppm) and 3 levels of Cd (0, 0.8, 1.6 ppm) treatments in a factorial design. Significant growth reduction and visual toxic symptoms as observed in experiment 1 and 2 were also observed from 0.8 ppm Cd level. Increasing Fe treatment obviously alleviated toxic symptoms, improved growth and significantly increased dry matter yield. At 0.8 ppm Cd treatment level, increasing Fe treatment from 0.5 to 2.0 ppm significantly decreased Cd concentration from 141 to 92 ppm in leaves and from 101 to 46 ppm in stems. At 1.6 ppm Cd treatment level the decrease was from 224 to 167 ppm in leaves and from 124 to 109 ppm in stems. As in the case of experiment 1 and 2, Fe concentration in leaves and stems were reduced as Cd treatment increased to 1.6 ppm at 0.5 and 1. 0 Fe treatment levels, whereas at 2.0 ppm Fe level, Cd treatment increased Fe concentration in leaves and stems showing significant interactions of Fe and Cd on Fe uptake. Cd effect on Zn and Mn showed similar results to experiment 1 and 2 and Fe treatments reduced Zn and Mn concentrations in plant tissue. The results of 3 experiments show that P and Zn did not manifest suppressive effect on Cd uptake, Fe significantly demonstrated it. Fe also alleviated Cd toxicity symptoms significantly in terms of visual symptoms and dry matter yield. Visual toxicity symptoms were definitely related to Fe status in plant tissue as well as possible physiological effect of Cd itself, and the results suggest that Fe requirement for normal growth increase as Cd element is present in plant tissue. Zn accumulated more in stems than in leaves whereas Cd, Fe and Mn showed the opposite trend in all experiments.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.36-43
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• 2011

Plant biomass has been proposed as an alternative source of petroleum-based chemical compounds. Especially, aromatic chemical compounds can be obtained from lignin by depolymerization processes because the lignin consist of complex aromatic materials. In this study, kraft lignin, the largest emitted substance among several kinds of lignin in Korea, was used as a starting material and was characterized by solid-state $^{13}C$-Muclear Magnetic Resonance($^{13}C$-NMR), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FT-IR), Elemental Analysis(EA). The depolymerization of kraft lignin was studied at water-phenol mixture solvent in near critical region and the experiments were conducted using a batch type reactor. The effects of water-to-phenol ratio and reaction temperature($300-400^{\circ}C$) were investigated to determine the optimum operating conditions. Additionally, the effects of formic acid as a hydrogen-donor solvent instead of $H_2$ gas were examined. The chemical species and quantities in the liquid products were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy(GC-MS), and solid residues(char) were analyzed using FT-IR. GC-MS analysis confirmed that the aromatic chemicals such as anisole, o-cresol(2-methylphenol), p-cresol(4-methylphenol), 2-ethylphenol, 4-ethylphenol, dibenzofuran, 3-methyl cabazole and xanthene were produced when phenol was added in the water as a co-solvent.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.211-216
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• 2008

The artificial lightweight aggregate (ALA) was manufactured in a rotary kiln at $1125^{\circ}C$ using green body formed by pelletizing the batch powder composing of coal bottom ash (CBA) produced from power plant, clay and dredged soil (DS). The TCLP (Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure) results showed that the dissolution concentration of heavy metal ions of ALA fabricated in this study was below the limitation defined by the enforcement regulations of wastes management law in Korea. The ALA containing 60$\sim$70 wt% CBA had a bulk density of 1.45$\sim$1.49 and a water absorption of 17.2$\sim$18.5 %. The impact values for oven-dry state and saturated-surface dry state of ALA were 27.4$\pm$1.3 and 23.4$\pm$2.6 % respectively. The 28-days compressive strength of concrete made with various ALA was $22.7\sim27.8 N/mm^2$. The slump of concrete with ALA containing CBA 60 and 70 wt% were 7.9 and 14.3 cm respectively. The unit weight of concrete made with any ALA fabricated in this study was satisfied with the standard specifications of lightweight concrete for the civil engineering and construction presented by Korea as below $1.84 ton/m^3$.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.173-179
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• 2014

This is an experimental study for recycling coal ash left over from coal use as a potential fine aggregate in concrete. Coal ash is generally divided into either fly ash or bottom ash. Fly ash has been utilized as a substitution material for cement in concrete mixes. On the other hand, bottom ash has the problem of low recycling rates, and thus it has been primarily reclaimed. This study partially substituted fine concrete aggregates with bottom ash to increase its application rate and therefore its recycling rate; its suitability for this purpose was confirmed. The concrete's workability dropped noticeably with increasing bottom ash content when a fixed water-cement ratio of concrete mix was used. Thus, concrete mixes with higher ratio levels are required. To address this problem, concrete was mixed using a polycarboxylate high-range water reducing agent. The fluidity and air entrainment immediately after mixing the concrete and 1 h after mixing were measured, thereby replicating the time concrete is placed in the field when produced either in a ready-mixed concrete or in a batch plant. As a result of this research, the workability and air entrainment were maintained 1 h after mixing for a concrete mixture with approximately 30% of its fine concrete aggregates substituted with the bottom ash. A slight drop in compression strength was seen; however, this confirmed that potential of using bottom ash as a fine aggregate in concrete.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.362-367
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• 2006

Waste activated sludge(WAS) collected from domestic wastewater treatment plant is biomass that contains large quantities of organic matter. However, relevant literature show that the bio-hydrogen yield using WAS was too low. In this study, the effect of pretreatment of WAS on hydrogen yield was investigated. Pretreatment includes acid and alkali treatments, grinding, heating, ozone and ultrasound methods. After pretreatment organic matters of WAS were solubilized and soluble chemical oxygen demand(SCOD) was increased by 14.6 times. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of pre-treatment methods and buffer solution, hydrogen partial pressure, and sodium ion on hydrogen production from WAS by using heated anaerobic mixed cultures. Experimental results showed that addition of buffer solution, efficient pre-treatment method with alkali solution, and gas sparging condition markedly increased the hydrogen yield to 0.52 mmol $H_2/g$-DS.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 2012

In this study, Application of sequencing batch reactor (SBR) process for RO retentate treatment was performed. Efficiency of treatment by load and temperature variation was tested. The SBR process was operated two types as HRT per one cycle was 8 and 12 hours, respectively. Methanol was injected for an effective denitrificaion owing to low C/N ratio of the RO retentate. TN removal efficiency of the SBR process was relatively stable at the change of flow-rate and temperature. The optimum time cycle of SBR process was 2 cycle/day for TN removal, and in the case of 3 cycle/day, the effluent TN concentration was found under the effluent quality standard. In the result of assessment, the application of SBR process for RO retentate treatment was effective and could be utilized to design for the wastewater treatment plant. The specific nitrification rate (SNR) and specific denitrification rate (SDNR) were $0.043{\sim}0.066kg\;NH_3-N/kg\;MLVSS{\cdot}day$ and $0.096{\sim}0.287kg\;NH_3^--N/kg\;MLVSS{\cdot}day$, respectively. The derived kinetic could be applied for design to the aerobic and anoxic tank in the RO retentate treatment.