• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.109-114
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of hydraulic retention time(HRT) on the power density in a horizontal flow microbial fuel cell(MFC) reactor. When HRTs were 15min, 30min, 60min and 180min, maximum power densities were $24.7mW/m^2$, $27.3mW/m^2$, $22.8mW/m^2$ and $17.2mW/m^2$, respectively. The highest power density was obtained at HRT of 30min. It was 59% improvement when compared to the power density at an HRT of 180min. When HRT was increased, COD removal rate increased whereas the coulombic efficiency remained constant. The result shows that the optimal performance of the horizontal flow MFC reactor could be achieved at HRT of 30min.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.1104-1116
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• 2019

In this study, we investigated the potential of using sediment bioelectrochemical systems (SBESs) for in situ treatment of the water and sediment in brackish aquaculture ponds polluted with uneaten feed. An SBES integrated into a laboratory-scale tank simulating a brackish aquaculture pond was established. This test tank and the control (not containing the SBES) were fed with shrimp feed in a scheme that mimics a situation where 50% of feed is uneaten. After the SBES was inoculated with microbial sources from actual shrimp pond sediments, electricity generation was well observed from the first experimental week, indicating successful enrichment of electrochemically active bacteria in the test tank sediment. The electricity generation became steady after 3 weeks of operation, with an average current density of $2.3mA/m^2$ anode surface and an average power density of $0.05mW/m^2$ anode surface. The SBES removed 20-30% more COD of the tank water, compared to the control. After 1 year, the SBES also reduced the amount of sediment in the tank by 40% and thus could remove approximately 40% more COD and approximately 52% more nitrogen from the sediment, compared to the control. Insignificant amounts of nitrite and nitrate were detected, suggesting complete removal of nitrogen by the system. PCR-DGGE-based analyses revealed the dominant presence of Methylophilus rhizosphaerae, Desulfatitalea tepidiphila and Thiothrix eikelboomii, which have not been found in bioelectrochemical systems before, in the bacterial community in the sediment of the SBES-containing tank. The results of this research demonstrate the potential application of SBESs in helping to reduce water pollution threats, fish and shrimp disease risks, and thus farmers' losses.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.181-190
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• 2019

Recently, Low impact development techniques, a form of nature-based solutions (NBS), were seen cost-efficient alternatives that can be utilized as alternatives for conventional stormwater management practices. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an infiltration trench (IT) and a small constructed wetland (SCW) in treating urban stormwater runoff. Long-term monitoring data were observed to assess the seasonal performance and cite the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing the facilities. Analyses revealed that the IT has reduced performance during the summer season due to higher runoff volumes that exceeded the facility's storage volume capacity and caused the facility to overflow. On the other hand, the pollutant removal efficiency of the SCW was impacted by the winter season as a result of dormant biological activities. Sediment data also indicated that fine and medium sand particles mostly constituted the trapped sediments in the pretreatment and media zones. Sediments in SCW exhibited a lower COD and TN load due to the phytoremediation and microbiological degradation capabilities of the system. This study presented brief comparison LID facilities equipped with pre-treatment zones. The identified factors that can potentially affect the performance of the systems were also beneficial in establishing metrics on the utilization of similar types of nature-based stormwater management practices.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.449-458
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• 2023

As an adsorption technology for dissolved organic matter, the adsorption capacity of granular activated carbon, GAC, can be applied, but activated carbon whose adsorption capacity is significantly reduced by use is inevitably replaced or regenerated. However, due to the economics of replacement cost, thermal regeneration method is used commercially, but high energy cost and loss of activated carbon occur under high temperature conditions above 800℃. In this study, the Sono-Fenton method, a multi-oxidation technology that combines Fenton oxidation and ultrasonic oxidation, was applied to improve the regeneration efficiency of spent GAC used to treat dissolved organic matter in combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and the regeneration efficiency of spent GAC by oxidant and ultrasonic frequency was investigated. In the applied Sono-Fenton treatment, the highest regeneration efficiency of 68.5% was obtained under the regeneration conditions of Fe²⁺ 10 mmol/L, H₂O₂ concentration 1,000 mmol/L, ultrasonic treatment time of 120 min, and ultrasonic frequency of 40 kHz. And similar efficiency was also obtained at 750 kHz, while ultrasonic waves of other frequencies had poor regeneration efficiency, and the magnitude of frequency and GAC regeneration efficiency did not show a linear relationship. In the case of continuous operation of the GAC adsorption tower with CSOs prepared by diluting raw sewage, about 700 hours of operation without regeneration was possible, and as a result of applying one Sono-Fenton treatment, 40-70% COD_cr removal efficiency was obtained during a total of 1,000 hours of GAC adsorption operation.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.167-177
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• 2024

This study aimed to assess the efficacy of an adsorption process in removing organic matter and micropollutant residuals. After a full-scale water circulation system, the adsorption process was considered a post-treatment step. The system, treating anthropogenically impacted surface waters, comprises a hydro-cyclone, coagulation, flocculation, and dissolved air flotation unit. While the system generally maintained stable and satisfactory effluent quality standards over months, it did not meet the highest standard for organic matter (as determined by chemical oxygen demands). Adsorption experiments utilized two granular activated carbon types, GAC 830 and GCN 830, derived from coal and coconut-shell feedstocks, respectively. The assessment encompassed organic materials along with two notable micropollutants: acetaminophen (APAP) and acid orange 7 (AO7). Adsorption kinetics and isotherm experiments were conducted to determine adsorption rates and maximum adsorption amounts. The quantitative findings derived from pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm models suggest the effectiveness of the adsorption process. The findings of this study propose the potential of employing the adsorption process as a post-treatment to enhance the treatment of contaminants that are not satisfactorily treated by conventional water circulation systems. This enhancement is crucial for ensuring the sustainability of urban water cycles.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.41-49
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• 2023

This study examined the effect of input substrate concentration on hydrogen production of microbial electrolysis cells. To compare the performance of MEC according to the input substrate concentration, six laboratory-scale MEC reactors were operated by sequentially increasing the input substrate concentration from 2 g/L of sodium acetate, to 4 g/L, and 6 g/L. The current density, hydrogen production, and SCOD removal rate were analyzed, and energy efficiency and cathodic hydrogen recovery were calculated to compare the performance of MEC. The maximum volumetric current density was obtained at 4 g/L condition (76.3 A/m³) and it decreased to 19.0 A/m³, when the input concentration was increased to 6 g/L, which was a 75% decrease compared to the 4 g/L input condition. Maximum hydrogen production was obtained also at 4 g/L condition (47.3 ± 16.8 mL), but maximum hydrogen yield was obtained at 2 g/L input condition (1.1 L H₂/g COD_in). Energy efficiencies were also highest in 2 g/L condition; the lowest result was observed at 6 g/L condition. Maximum electrical energy efficiency was 76.4%, and the maximum overall energy efficiency was 39.7% at 2 g/L condition. However, when the substrate concentration increased to 6 g/L, the performance was drastically decreased. Cathodic hydrogen recovery also showed a similar tendency with energy efficiency, with the lowest concentration condition showing the best performance. It can be concluded that operating at low input substrate concentration might be better when considering not only hydrogen yield but also energy efficiency.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.91-102
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• 2009

In this study, to estimate the transforming (runoff and leachate) rate of the organic fertilizer made of livestock resources to farm land, laboratory scale test was conducted and the results were obtained as follows: The runoff volume from farm land showed the tendency of increase according to the increase of rainfall intensity. The most rainfall leachated into the underground at the rainfall intensity of 20mm/hr, and rainfall of 5L or less leachated at the rainfall intensity of > 32.4 mm/hr. This shows that surface runoff largely depends on the rainfall intensity when soil characteristic and hardness are similar in each site. When liquid compost was fertilized, the surface runoff was similar with the results from the reactor fertilized by compost, and leachate flow was found to be lower than compost. The runoff ratio of contaminant parameters from farm land were BOD 0.00003,, $COD_{cr}$ 0.00006, TN 0.00056, TP 0.00011, TOC 0.00005, Especially, the runoff ratio of TN showed 10 folds higher than other parameters. On the other hand, the runoff ratio of SS showed higher value of 0.001, and colloid particles of soil caused this result rather than the leachate from compost fertilizer. At all ranges of rainfall intensity, fertilizer removal ratio by farm land was found to be 94.9~98.4% for compost and 85.8~98.1% for liquid compost in terms of BOD. For TN, it resulted in 96.6~98.4% for compost and 97.2~98.5% for liquid compost, and thus the most fertilizer from livestock resources were shown to be reduced through farm land application.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.994-1001
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• 2001

An easier way of understanding the BNR system was proposed from the study on substrate, nutrient removal tendency, microbial community and its metabolic function by applying the municipal settled sewage. During the anaerobic period, the phosphorus release rate per VFACOD we varied depending on the phosphorus content in the sludge. When the phosphorus content in the sludge was $6\%$ VSS, according to influent VFACOD, the phosphorus release rate and PHA production were $0.35 gPO_4P/gVFACOD$ and 1.0 gPHA/gVFACOD, respectively. The $NO_3N$ requirement for the phosphorus uptake as an electron acceptor was about $0.5 gNO_3N/gPO_4P_{uptake}$ based on the proposed equation with PHA, biomass, production, and the concentration of phosphorus release/uptake. Bacterial-community analysis of the sludge, as determined by FISH and 16SrDNA characterization FISH, revealed that the beta-subclass proteobacteria were the most abundant group ($27.9\%$ of the proteobacteria-specific probe EUB338), and it was likely that representative of the beta-subclass played key roles in activated sludge. The next dominant group found was the gamma-protebacteria ($15.4\%$ of probe EUB338). 16S rDNA clone library analysis showed that the members of${\beta}$- and ${\gamma}$-proteobacteria were also the most abundant groups, and $21.5\%$ (PN2 and PN4) and $15.4\%$ (PN1 and PN5) of total clones were the genera of denitrifying bacteria and PAO, respectively. Prediction of the microbial community composition was made with phosphorus content (Pv, $\%$ P/VSS) in wasted sludge and profiles of COD, PHA, $PO_4P,\;and\;NO_3N$ in an anaerobic-anoxic SBR unit. Generally, the predicted microbial composition based upon metabolic function, i.e., as measured by stoichiometry, is fairly similar to that measure by the unculturable dependent method. In this study, a proposal was made on he microbial community composition that was more easily approached to analyze the reactor behavior.

• Environmental Sciences Bulletin of The Korean Environmental Sciences Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.99-108
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• 1998

Results obtained from this research showed that the anaerobic contact process was applicable to pear waste with COD removal efficiencies of up to $95\%$ depending on conditions, provided ammonium and phosphate salts were added as well as other nutrients, present in the commercial fertilizer, Milorganite or in yeast extract. These latter materials were required in minimum concentrations of 5 and 1.5 g/L, respectively, in the feed independent of HRT and volatile solids loading rate, with part of the effect due to the mineral fraction. Digestion was satisfactory over the whole range of volatile solids loading rates and liquid retention time of 30 to 0.5 days tested, although treatment efficiency dropped off noticeably between 1 and 0.5 day liquid retention time because of poorer flocculation and separation of anaerobic bacteria. Settling of anaerobic bacteria including methane producing bacteria was related to settling of mixed liquor suspended solids only at 1 to 5 days liquid retention times, at other liquid retention times anaerobic microorganism settled markedly less efficiently than mixed liquor suspended solids. Further studies are being made to provide information of practical and basic interest. Data on the composition of the active fraction of yeast extract might solve many practical nutrient problems encountered with the anaerobic contact process and improve its economics. Further improvement in the flocculation and settling of anaerobic bacteria as well as other bacteria would improve overall performance and allow the use of shorter liquid retention times with dilute waste. Knowledge about the numbers of methane formers present would allow a degree of understanding and control of the process not presently attainable.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.541-550
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• 2008

In this investigative study, the unit mass discharge for the major water quality parameters such as flowrate, SS, BOD, CODmn, CODcr, TN, TP from textile spinning/weaving industry nearby Nakdong river basin was estimated. To represent the respective industries, three companies from hundreds of textile spinning/weaving industries located in Nakdong river basin was carefully selected based on its manufacturing goods, flowrate and location for the estimation of unit mass discharge based on unit operation and process. There was a drastic decrease of unit mass discharge estimation between influents and effluents of water quality parameters, which represents the removal capacity of wastewater treatment plant. With the advent of new regulation on the imposed payment proportional to the total amount of pollutants discharge into the water body, the concept of cleaner production technology should be employed in the unit operation/process in wastewater treatment plant as well as textile manufacturing procedure to minimize the levy on the pollutants discharge. Unit mass discharge estimations of unit process (estimated in this study) in major water quality parameters (SS, BOD, COD, TN and TP) based on land were similar to those of composite process (estimated by National Institute of Environmental Research). But the unit mass discharge estimations of unit process in BOD and CODmn based on total sale were much higher than those of composite one while in SS, TN and TP similar to each other. For the detailed estimation of the imposed payment, unit mass estimation based on unit process should be further emphasized.