• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.96-103
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• 1996

The objectives of this study were to examine the biodegradation of phenol using the anaerobic fluidized bed reactor(AFBR). Mixed microorganisms were selected from the anaerobic digestion tank, and could be adapted to high concentration of phenol by increasing the phenol concentration 600-3600 mg/l step by step. The results were summarized as follows: 1. The average removal efficiency of phenol was 90%, decreased by increasing concentration of phenol, and then a shock range was 1200~2400 ppm. 2. The production rate of biogas in overall limits was proportional to the concentration of influent phenol. 3. At steady state, compositions of gases were $CH_4$ 55~60%, $C0_2$ 34~43%, respectively. These were similar to that of the theoretical estimates. 4. The production rates of biogas and methane per the molarity of phenol removed were linearly increased, 56.45 l gas/mol-phenol and 29.20 l $CH_4/mol$-phenol. Using this biogas, the recoverable energy was 269.1 kcal/mol phenol. It was 120.2 kcal/g-COD, transforming into the chemical oxygen demand. 5. The bulk of microorganisms existed in suspended section of fluidized bed with type of biofilm and its concentration was 340 mg/g-media. In conclusion, the anaerobic treatment of pure phenol was possible and its removal efficiency, introducing the AFBR, was successful. Also toxic organic compound such as phenol was biodegradable and was recoverable as resource of energy.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.75-82
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• 2016

Objective of this experiment was to predict the potential methane production with crop residues at different loading rates. Anaerobic digestion of barley and rapeseed straw substrates for biogas production was performed in Duran bottles at various biomass loading rates with crop residues. Through kinetic model of surface methodology, the methane production was fitted to a Gompertz equation. For the biogas production at mesophilic digestion with crop residues, it was observed that maximum yield was 37.2 and 28.0 mL/g at 6.8 and 7.5 days after digestion with 1% biomass loading rates of barley and rapeseed straws, respectively. For the methane content of mesophilic digestion, there were highest at 61.7% after 5.5 days and 75.0% after 3.4 days of digestion with barley and rapeseed straw on both 5% biomass loading rates, respectively. The maximum methane production potentials were 159.59 mL/g for 1% barley straw and 156.62 mL/g for 3% rapeseed straw at mesophilic digestion. Overall, it would be strongly recommended that biomass loading rate was an optimum rate at mesophilic digestion for using 1% barley and 3% rapeseed straws for feed stocks.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.465-469
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• 2006

Two mesophilic trickling bed bioreactors filled with two different types of media, hydrophilic- and hydrophobic-cubes, were designed and tested for hydrogen production via anaerobic fermentation of sucrose. Each reactor consisted of a column packed with polymeric cubes and inoculated with heat-treated sludge obtained from anaerobic digestion tank. A defined medium containing sucrose was fed with changing flow rate into the capped reactor, hydraulic retention time and recycle rate. Hydrogen concentrations in gas-phase were constant, averaging 40% for all conditions tested. Hydrogen production rates increased up to $10.5 L{\cdot};h^{-1}{\cdot}L^{-1}$ of reactor when influent sucrose concentrations and recycle rates were varied. Hydrophobic media provided higher value of hydrogen production rate than hydrophilic media at the same operation conditions. No methane was detected when the reactor was under a normal operation. The major fermentation by-products in the liquid effluent of the both trickling biofilters were acetate and butyrate. The reactor filled with hydrophilic media became clogged with biomass and bio gas, requiring manual cleaning of the system, while no clogging occurred in the reactor with hydrophobic media. In order to make long-term operation of the reactor filled with hydrophilic media feasible, biofilm accumulation inside the media in the reactor with hydrophilic media and biogas produced from the reactor will need to be controlled through some process such as periodical backwashing or gas-purging. These tests using trickling bed biofilter with hydrophobic media demonstrate the feasibility of the process to produce hydrogen gas in a trickle-bed type of reactor. A likely application of this reactor technology could be hydrogen gas recovery from pre-treatment of high carbohydrate-containing wastewaters.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1993-2005
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• 2019

Thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) is characterized by higher biogas production rates as a result of assumedly faster microbial metabolic conversion rates compared to mesophilic AD. It was hypothesized that the thermophilic microbiome with its lower diversity than the mesophilic one is more susceptible to disturbances introduced by alterations in the operating factors, as an example, the supply of nitrogen-rich feedstock such as poultry manure (PM). Laboratory scaled TAD experiments using cattle slurry and increasing amounts of PM were carried out to investigate the (in-) stability of the process performance caused by the accumulation of ammonium and ammonia with special emphasis on the microbial community structure and its dynamic variation. The results revealed that the moderate PM addition, i.e., 25% (vol/vol based on volatile substances) PM, resulted in a reorganization of the microbial community structure which was still working sufficiently. With 50% PM application, the microbial community was further stepwise re-organized and was able to compensate for the high cytotoxic ammonia contents only for a short time resulting in consequent process disturbance and final process failure. This study demonstrated the ability of the acclimated thermophilic microbial community to tolerate a certain amount of nitrogen-rich substrate.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.331-339
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the biodegradability and performance of organic removal and methane production rate when treating piggery wastewater using a pilot scale two-phase anaerobic system operated up to a volumetric rate of $10m^3/day$. The pilot scale two-phase anaerobic process is consisted of a continuous-flow stirred-tank reactor (CFSTR) for the acidification phase and an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket reactor (UASB) for the methanogenesis. The acidogenic reactor played key roles in reducing the periodically applied shock-loading and in the acidification of the influent organics. The acidogenic CFSTR was operated at organic loading rates (OLR) between 1.8 and $14.4kgCOD/m^3{\cdot}day$, and the UASB reactor was operated between 0.5 and $5.6kgCOD/m^3{\cdot}day$. A stable maximum biogas production rate was $81m^3/day$ and the methane conversion rate of the organic matter varied from 0.30 to $0.42L\;CH_4/g\;COD_{removed}$(0.40) at hydraulic retention time (HRT) above 3.5days. The methane contents ranged from 73 to 82% during the experimental period. It is known that most of the removed organic matter was converted to methane gas, and the produced biogas might be high quality for its subsequent use.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.366-376
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• 2014

Purpose: In the process of anaerobic digestion, stirring of the digester and feeding of organic waste into the digester have been considered important factors for digestive efficiency. The objective of this study was to determine the most appropriate conditions for both stirring interval of the digester and organic feeding frequency in order to improve anaerobic digestion performance. Methods: A 5-L anaerobic digester was used to conduct continuous batch tests to process swine manure and food waste. Four different stirring intervals of the digester were used: 5 min/h, 10 min/2 h, 15 min/3 h, and 20 min/4 h. Results: The application of swine manure to the digester every 5 min/h resulted in the highest production of biogas as well as the highest removal rates of volatile solids (VS) and total chemical oxygen demand. Stirring the digester with a mixture of swine manure and food waste at intervals of 5min/h and 10min/2 h produced the highest biogas yields of 515.3 mL/gVS and 521.1 mL/gVS, respectively. To test different supply frequencies, organic waste was added to the digester in either a 12-hor 24-h cycle. The 24-h cycle produced 1.5-fold greater biogas production than that during the 12-h cycle. Conclusions: Thus, from the above results, to optimize anaerobic digestion performance, the ideal stirring condition must be 5min/h for swine manure feeding and 10min/2h for co-digestion of food waste and swine manure in a 24-h cycle.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2005

Anaerobic decomposition is one of the most common processes in nature and has been extensively used in waste and wastewater treatment for several centuries. New applications and system modifications continue to be adapted making the process either more effective, less expensive, or suited to the particular waste in question and the operation to which it is to be applied. Animal manure is a highly biodegradable organic material and will naturally undergo anaerobic fermentation, resulting in release of noxious odors, such as in manure storage pits. Depending on the presence or absence of oxygen in the manure, biological treatment process may be either aerobic or anaerobic. Under anaerobic conditions, bacteria carry on fermentative metabolisms to break down the complex organic substances into simpler organic acids and then convert them to ultimately formed methane and carbon dioxide. Anaerobic biological systems for animal manure treatment include anaerobic lagoons and anaerobic digesters. Methane and carbon dioxide are the principal end products of controlled anaerobic digestion. These two gases are collectively called biogas. The biogas contains $60\~70\%$ methane and can be used directly as a fuel for heating or electrical power generation. Trace amounts of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide ($100\~300\;ppm$) are always present in the biogas stream. Anaerobic lagoons have found widespread application in the treatment of animal manure because of their low initial costs, ease of operation and convenience of loading by gravity flow from the animal buildings. The main disadvantage is the release of odors from the open surfaces of the lagoons, especially during the spring warm-up or if the lagoons are overloaded. However, if the lagoons are covered and gases are collected, the odor problems can be solved and the methane collected can be used as a fuel. Anaerobic digesters are air-tight, enclosed vessels and are used to digest manure in a well-controlled environment, thus resulting in higher digestion rates and smaller space requirements than anaerobic lagoons. Anaerobic digesters are usually heated and mixed to maximize treatment efficiency and biogas production. The objective of this work was to review a current anaerobic biological treatment of animal manure for effective new technologies in the future.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.327-332
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• 2023

This study investigated synthesis gas production via steam reforming of biogas. Ni-Al₂O₃ and Ni-CeO₂ catalysts were synthesized using the co-precipitation method, with controlled precipitation agent injection rates. Catalytic performances were tested at various temperatures, with a gas composition ratio of CH₄:CO₂:H₂O = 1:0.67:3 and a gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 647,000 mL h^-1 gcat^-1. The rate of precipitation agent injection influenced the characteristics of the catalysts depending on the type of support used. As the temperature increased, both the CO₂ reforming of methane and the reverse water gas shift reactions occurred. The Ni-Al₂O₃ catalyst, synthesized with a single injection of the precipitation agent, exhibited the best catalytic activity under conditions with sufficient steam supply among the prepared catalysts, due to its high Ni dispersion.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.5-13
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• 2022

The current environmental problem is that environmental pollution is accelerating due to the generation of large amounts of waste and indiscriminate consumption of energy. Fossil fuels, a representative energy production fuel, are burned in the process of producing energy, generating a large amount of greenhouse gases and eventually causing climate change. In addition, the amount of waste generated worldwide is continuously increasing, and environmental pollution is occurring in the process of waste treatment. One of the methods for simultaneously solving these problems is the energy recovery from and reduction of organic wastes. Sewage sludge generated in sewage treatment plants has been treated in various ways since ocean disposal was completely prohibited, but the amount generated has been continuously increasing. Since the sewage sludge contains a large amount of organic materials, it is desirable to recover energy from the sewage sludge and reduce the final discharged waste through anaerobic digestion. However, most of the excess sludge is a mass of microorganisms used in sewage treatment, and in order for the excess sludge to be anaerobically digested, the cell walls of the microorganisms must be destroyed first, but it takes a lot of time to destroy the cell walls, so high rates of biogas production and waste reduction cannot be achieved only by anaerobic digestion. Therefore, the pre-treatment process of solubilizing excess sludge is required, and the thermal solubilization process is verified to be the most efficient among various solubilization methods, and high rates of biogas production and waste reduction can be achieved by anaerobic digestion after destroying cell walls the thermal solubilization process. In this study, when pretreating TS 10% thickened excess sludge through a thermal solubilization system, a study was conducted on solubilization characteristics according to retention time and operating temperature variables. The experimental variables for the retention time of the thermal solubilization system were 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, and 120 minutes, respectively, while the operating temperature was fixed at 160℃. The soulbilization rates calculated through TCOD and SCOD derived from the experimental results increased in the order of 12.11%, 20.52%, 28.62%, and 31.40%, respectively. And the variables according to operating temperature were 120℃, 140℃, 160℃, 180℃, and 200℃, respectively, while the operating retention time was fixed at 60 minutes. And the solubilization rates increased in the order of 7.14%, 14.52%, 20.52%, 40.72%, and 57.85%, respectively. In addition, TS, VS, T-N, T-P, NH₄⁺-N, and VFAs were analyzed to evaluate thermal solubilization characteristics of thickened excess sludge. As a result, in order to obtain 30% or more solubilization rate through thermal solubilization of TS 10% thickened excess sludge, 120 minutes of retention time is required when the operating temperature is fixed to 160℃, and 170℃ or more of operating temperature is needed when the operating time is fixed to 60 minutes.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.487-496
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• 2021

Microalgae is one of the promising biodiesel feedstock with high growth rates compared to those of terrestrial oil crops. Despite its numerous advantages, biodiesel production from microalgae needs to reduce energy demand and material costs further to go to commercialization. During solvent extraction of microalgal lipids, lipid-extracted algae (LEA) cell residue is generated as an organic solid waste, about 80-85% of original algal biomass, and requires an appropriate recycling or economic disposal. The resulting LEA still contains significant amount of carbohydrates, proteins, N, P, and other micronutrients. This review will focus on recent advancement in the utilization of LEA as: (i) utilization as nutrients or carbon sources for microalgae and other organisms, (ii) anaerobic digestion to produce biogas or co-fermentation to produce CH₄ and H₂, and (iii) conversion to other forms of biofuel through thermochemical degradation processes. Possible mutual benefits in the integration of microalgae cultivation-biodiesel production-resulting LEA with anaerobic digestion and thermochemical conversion are also discussed.