• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.395-401
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• 2002

Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) have been widely used as solvents in various industries. Biodegradation of MEK and MIBK by Pseudomonas putida KT-3, which could utilize MEK or MIBK as a sole carbon source, was characterized, and the cosubstrate interaction in MEK/MIBK mixture was also studied. Within the range of initial MEK concentration (from 0.5 to 5.5 mM), an increased substrate concentration increased the specific degradation rate of MEK by P putida KT-3 (from 3.15 to 10.58 mmol/g DCW$\cdot$h), but the rate sightly increased at 11.0 mM of initial MEK concentation (11.28 mmol/g DCW$\cdot$h). The similar degradation rates of MIBK (4.69-4.92 mmol/g DCW$\cdot$h) were obtained at more than 3.0 mM of initial MIBK concentation. Kinetic analysis on the degradation of MEK/MIBK mixture by P. putida KT-3 showed that MEK or MIBK acted as a competitive inhibitor. Maximum degradation rate ($V_{max}$), saturation constant ($K_{m}$) and inhibition constant ($K_{1}$) were as follows: $V_{max,MEK}$=12.94 mmol/g DCW$\cdot$h; $K_{m,MEK}$=1.72 mmol/L; $K_{l,MEK}$=1.30 mmol/L; $V_{max,MIBK}$=5.00 mmol/g-DCW$\cdot$h; $K_{m,MIBK}$=0.42 mmol/L; $K_{l,MEK}$=0.77 mmol/L.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.468-475
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• 2005

Biofilters packed with various materials have emerged as a sustainable technology for the treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); however, problems including low performance and clogging are commonly encountered. Recently, a bioactive foam reactor (BFR) using surfactants has been suggested to ensure efficient and stable VOCs removal performance. This study was mainly conducted to investigate the feasibility of BFRs using toluene as a model compound. Prior to bioreactor studies, a series of bottle tests were used to select a suitable surfactant for the BFR application. Experimental results of the batch bottle tests indicated that TritonX-100 was the most appropriate one among the surfactants tested, since it showed a minimal effect on the toluene biodegradation rate while the other surfactants lowered the toluene biodegradation rate significantly. Using the selected surfactant, the BFR performance was determined by changing operating parameters including gas residence time and toluene loading. As the gas residence time increased from 0.5 minutes to 2 minutes, the toluene removal efficiency increased from approximately 50% to 80%. In addition, an increase of the toluene loading from $38\;g/m^3/hr$ to $454\;g/m^3/hr$ resulted in a decrease of toluene removal efficiency from approximately 70% to 20%. The BFR had a maximum elimination capacity of $108\;g/m^3/hr$ for toluene, which was much higher than those generally reported in the literature. The high toluene-elimination performance indicates that the BFR be a potential alternative to the conventional, packed-type biofilters. However, the limitation of toluene solubilization and foam stability at either high or low gas flow rate are still problems to be challenged.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.927-932
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• 2009

Toxic and recalcitrant organic pollutants in wastewaters can be effectively treated when advanced oxidation and biodegradation are combined, ideally with intimate coupling, in which both processes occur simultaneously in the same system. One means to achieve intimate coupling is to coat nanoscale $TiO_2$ on the outside of macroporous biofilm carriers. This study investigated the kinetics of photocatalysis with $TiO_2$-coated porous carriers. The carriers were made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and coated with $TiO_2$ using a low-temperature sol-gel process. The $TiO_2$-coated carriers catalyzed the oxidation of methylene blue (MB) effectively under irradiation of UV light. The overall reaction rate with adsorption and photolysis saturated at high MB concentration, and approached the adsorption rate, which was first order for all MB concent rations. This result indicates that adsorbed MB may have slowed photocatalysis by blocking active sites for photocatalysis. The overall kinetics could be described by a quasi-Langmuir model. The estimated maximum specific (per unit mass of $TiO_2$) transformation rate of MB by the $TiO_2$-coated carriers was four times larger than that obtained from slurry-$TiO_2$ reactors. This observation demonstrated that the $TiO_2$ present as a coating on the carriers maintained high efficiency for transforming recalcitrant organic matter via photocatalysis. These findings serve as a foundation for advancement of an intimate coupling of photocatalysis to biodegradation.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 1987

This study is to evaluate the potential use of aclarubicin-loaded gelatin microspheres as an intravascular biodegradable drug delivery system for the regional cancer therapy. The diameter of the microspheres prepared by water in oil emulsion polymerization could be controlled by adjusting the stirring rate in the range of 10-50 $\mu$m : D(in $\mu$m) = -73.8 log (rpm) + 262.7. The addition of proteolytic enzyme increased the in vitro aclarubicin release but it did not change the amount of the initial burst release which reached about 45%. Microspheres injected intravenously into the mouse tail vein embolized only to the lung when observed by fluorescence microscopy. From histological examination following injection of gelatin microspheres into mouse femoral muscle, mild inflammation was observed from the appearance of neutrophils after 2 days and rapid repair process was confirmed thereafter. Biodegradation process of gelatin microspheres lodged on the pulmonary capillary bed was followed up by microscopic observation; degradation was taking place by about 36 hrs, followed by severe damage on the spheerical shape and microspheres was no longer found 10 days after injection.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.547-551
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• 1998

Reaeration coefficient is the physical absorption of oxygen from the atmosphere by water. It is the most important natural means by which a stream replaces the oxygen consumed in the biodegradation of organic wastes, and the rate constant describing this process is the reaeration coefficient, It. Reaeration coefficient is the dominant parameter affecting the use of water quality model. Therefore accurate estimation of the reaeration coefficient is essential for optimum water quality management. There is several method to estimate stream reaeration coefficient. In this study, it would be concluded that SI-peak method is of practical use when applied to small stream, and CRI method is adequate to large stream.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.269-276
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• 2001

The objective of this study was to investigate the biodegradation of ethylene in an biofilter inoculated with ethylene-oxidizing microorganisms. The biofilter performance was monitored in terms of ethylene removal efficiency and carbon dioxide production. The biofilter was capable of achieving the ethylene removal efficiency as much as 100% at a residence time of 14 min and an inlet concentration of 290 ppm. Under the same conditions, carbon dioxide with a concentration of up to 546 ppm was produced. It was found that carbon dioxide was produced at a rate of 87 mg/day, which corresponded to a volume of 0.05 L/day. Observable features of the ethylene-oxidizing microorganisms, meaning microbial activity occurrence in the biofilter, were investigated with the microscopy analysis.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.316-319
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• 2011

Biopiles which offer the potential for cost-effective treatment of contaminated soils are above-ground, engineered systems that use oxygen to stimulate the growth and reproduction of aerobic bacteria for degradation of the petroleum constituents adsorbed to soil in excavated soils. This technology involves heaping contaminated soils into piles and stimulating aerobic microbial activity within the soils through the aeration and/or addition of minerals, nutrients, and moisture. Inside the biopile, microbially mediated reactions by blowing or extracting air through the pipes can enhance degradation of the organic contaminants. The influence of a aeration system on the biopile performance was investigated. Air pressure made to compare the efficiency of suction in the pipes showed that there were slightly significant difference between the two piles in the total amount of TPH biodegradation. The normalised degradation rate was, however, considerably higher in the aeration system than in the normal system without aeration, suggesting that the vertical venting method may have improved the efficiency of the biological reactions in the pile.

• Environmental Sciences Bulletin of The Korean Environmental Sciences Society
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.169-175
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• 1999

2,4-Dinitrophenol(DNP) is a metabolic uncoupler that prevents cells from creating energy for growth and it has been suggested that the availability of sodium ions may be important in mitigating the effects of uncouplers. Accordingly, the degradation of DNP was investigated using activated sludge which had been adapted to mineralize DNP. After the acclimation of the activated sludge, the effect of sodium ions on the toxicity of high concentrations(80 to 100mg/L) of DNP was investigated over a sodium ion concentration range of 9.3$\times$10-5 to 94mM. The concentration of sodium ions in the activated sludge mixed liquor seemed to have little effect on the DNP toxicity. However, a lack of sodium in the grwoth media resulted in a reduction of the DNP degradation rate by a bacterial isolate from the activated sludge culture identified as Nocardia asteroides.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2004.03b
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• pp.461-468
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• 2004

The amount of $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ that were produced during biodegradation with were measured as function of time. Also, the settlements of landfill lysimeters were measured at the same time, and the relation with LFF(landfill gas) production was investigated. The effects of leachate recycle on the acceleration of settlement were studied by comparing two lysimeters. The gas production rate constant, $^{\kappa}_{LFG}$ is obtained to predict future gas production and settlement. These will be key role factors to predict gas production patterns and residual long-term settlement.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.307-311
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• 2004

The objective of this work is to evaluate the hypothesis that a good technique for supplying oxygen to the saturated zone in the presence of light nonaqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) pool contamination at the water table is to pass air through the unsaturated zone above the pool. This hypothesis was evaluated in experimental studies performed using a bench-scale, sand-tank reactor, Steady-state abiotic experiments in the sand-tank reactor with air flowing through the reactor headspace demonstrated that oxygen supply through the water table interface into the saturated zone was enhanced when an LNAPL (dodecane) pool was present at the water table. These experimental results confirmed the hypothesis that an LNAPL pool can serve as a high concentration oxygen source to the oxygen-limited area beneath the pool and, as a result, enhance the in situ biodegradation rate.