• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.231-238
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• 2008

This study proposed the method of phosphate recovery from municipal wastewater by using ferrous iron waste, generated from the mechanical process in the steel industry. In the analysis of XRD, ferrous iron waste was composed of $Fe_3O_4$ (magnetite), practically with $Fe^{2+}$ and $Fe^{3+}$. It had inverse spinel structure. In order to identify the adsorption characteristic of phosphate on ferrous iron waste, isotherm adsorption test was designed. Experimental results were well analyzed by Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm theories. Empirical constants of all isotherms applied increased with alkalinity in the samples, ranging from 1.2 to 235 $CaCO_3/L$. In the regeneration test, empirical constants of Langmuir isotherm, i.e., $q_{max}$ (maximum adsorption capacity) and b (energy of adsorption) decreased as the frequency of regeneration was increased. Experiment was further performed to evaluate the performance of the treatment scheme of chemical precipitation by ferrous iron waste followed by biological aerated filter (BAF). The overall removal efficiency in the system increased up to 80% and 90% for total phosphate (TP) and soluble phosphate (SP), respectively, and the corresponding effluent concentrations were detected below 2 mg/L and 1 mg/L for TP and SP, respectively. However, short-circuit problem was still unsolved operational consideration in this system. The practical concept applied in this study will give potential benefits in achieving environmentally sound wastewater treatment as well as environmentally compatible waste disposal in terms of closed substance cycle waste management.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.201-212
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• 2002

The objective of this study was to investigate the treatment efficiency, kinetics, and morphological characteristics of biofilm in upflow $Biobead^{(R)}$ process, a kind of biological aerated filter(BAF). The $Biobead^{(R)}$ system showed high removal rates of $COD_{Mn}$(76~83%), $BOD_5$(67~88%) and SS(71~91%) for food wastewater with high salt concentration ($>4,000mg/{\ell}$) under short reaction times(2~3hrs). Even at aerobic condition, the system had high treatment efficiency for both T-N (51~63%) and T-P(62~81%). The removal kinetics of $COD_{Mn}$, $BOD_5$, T-N, T-P, and $Cl^-$ in the $Biobead^{(R)}$ system showed a plug-flow pattern with reaction rate constants($hr^{-1}$) of 0.58, 0.63, 0,30, 0.48, and 0.38 respectively. A backwashing process to remove excess biomass and filtered solids was needed at least once during 22-hour operation at $0.5kg\;BOD\;m^{-3}{\cdot}d^{-1}$ loading. At the higher loading($1.0kg\;BOD\;m^{-3}{\cdot}d^{-1}$) the backwashing interval was shorten by 8 hours. The COD, BOD, T-N, and T-P were removed from 43 to 66% only by aerobic biodegradation. The SS was removed over 70% by the filtering of $Biobead^{(R)}$ media in the treatment system. The first one of three serial Biobead reactors showed the highest removal values for $COD_{\alpha}$(52.3%), $COD_{Mn}$(38.8%), BOD(62.5%), and T-N(40.0%). The SS and T-P had the highest removal values(47.5% and 29.2%) at the second one of the serial reactors. The biofilm had non-homogeneous spatial distribution and the colonies were embedded in the sunk area of the Biobead. The thickness of the biofilm was very thin ($5.0{\sim}29.4{\mu}m$) compared to the biofilm thickness($200{\sim}300{\mu}m$) used in other BAF systems.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.605-609
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• 2001

Low density ceramic supporter was prepared by using fly ash as a starting material for the application to the biological aerated filter (BAF) system, and the effect of additives and sintering atmosphere on the apparent and bulk density of the carrier was examined. Borax, Na$_2$O and glass powders were added to produce liquid phase. The density of the supporter decreased as the amount of borax increased. The bulk density of 0.79 g/㎤ and the apparent density of 1.10 g/㎤ were obtained when the fly ash with 15% of borax was sintered at 116$0^{\circ}C$ for 15 minutes. The density also decreased as the plate glass powders past through 22${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ size were mixed. When the fly ash with 12% of grass powder was sintered at 128$0^{\circ}C$ for 10 minutes, the bulk and apparent density were 0.90g/㎤ and 1.00 g/㎤, respectively. Apparent density of 1.6~1.8g/㎤ was obtained when the fly ash was sintered at 120$0^{\circ}C$ in a weak reducing atmosphere. By maintaining the reducing atmosphere and sintering at a high heating rate, the liquid phase was farmed from the reduced composition of fly ash. This resulted in the formation of closed pores that enabled the low apparent density.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2008

Nitrogen is one of the major pollutants that should be removed by wastewater treatment systems. Biological nitrogen removal (BNR) is a key technology in advanced wastewater treatment systems operated by bacterial populations. Nitrification is the first step of microbiological processes in BNR system. Ammonia is oxidized to nitrite by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and then nitrite is subsequently oxidized to nitrate by nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). The diversity of NOB in nitrification reactors of 3 BNR systems, Edited biological aerated filter system, Nutrient removal laboratory system, and the Rumination type sequencing batch reactor system, was investigated by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of 16S rRNA genes. Cluster analysis of T-RF profiles showed that communities of Nitrobacter group in each system were different depending upon the process of systems. However, the clusters of Nitrospira group were divided by the habitat of aqueous and solid samples.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.329-334
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• 2009

Bacterial numbers, such as endospore-formers, and treatment efficiencies were investigated for Rotating Activated Bacillus Contactors (RABC) and other advanced wastewater treatment processes including anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (A2O), sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and biological aerated filter (BAF). Endospore-forming bacterial numbers in the RABC showed 129-fold higher levels than those of the existing advanced systems. RABC process demonstrated the highest bacterial numbers in its bioreactors (paired t-test, p<0.01). RBC biofilms and aeration tanks of the RABC system showed 131- and 476-fold higher than other existing advanced processes, respectively. Mean treatment efficiencies of the existing systems were 83.5% for chemical oxygen demand (COD), 59.1% for total nitrogen (TN) and 76.8% for total phosphorus (TP). However, RABC process removed 96.9% for COD, 96.9% for TN and 91.9% for TP for highly concentrated food wastewater (COD>1,500 mg/L, TN>150 mg/L, TP>50 mg/L). Treatment efficiency was significantly reduced when the numbers of Bacillus genus in the bioreactors decreased below $10^6CFU/mL$. The automated RABC (A-RABC), in which dissolved oxygen concentrations are automatically controlled, showed higher treatment efficiencies compared to the RABC process. The RABC system maintained sufficient bacterial numbers for the effective treatment of highly concentrated food wastewater. Moreover, final effluent was in agreement to water quality standards.