• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.213-218
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• 2011

The two-stage intermittent aeration activated sludge process (IAP) and dynamic-flow intermittent aeration activated sludge process (DFP) were investigated for the nutrient removal of domestic wastewater. Three sets of IAP and one set of DFP were operated. The fermented settled sludge taken from the primary settling tank was added to two IAP and one DFP as an external electron donor, with one IAP, in which an external carbon source was not added, as a control. All the systems were operated at a sludge retention time of 20 days and a hydraulic retention time of 12 hr. A Higher denitrification rate was observed with the fermented settled sludge for the denitrification compared to the process without the addition of the organic source. The result indicates that the fermented acid from the primary domestic sludge has been proved to be an excellent electron donor for denitrification and biological phosphorus removal with IAP and DFP in treating relatively low C/N ratio(Carbon / Nitrogen ratio) wastewater. Phosphate accumulating organisms have a capability of competing with denitrifiers in the presence of volatile organic acids under anoxic conditions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.47-54
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• 1999

SRB(Sulfate Reducing Bacteria) converts sulfate into sulfide using an organic carbon source as the electron donor. The sulfide formed precipitates the various metals present in the AMD (Acid Mine Drainage). This study is the fundamental research on heavy metal removal from AMD using SRB. Two completely mixed anaerobic reactors were operated for cultivation of SRB at the temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ and anaerobic batch reactors were used to evaluate the effects of carbon source, COD/sulfate($SO_4^=$) ratio and alkalinity on sulfate reduction rate and heavy metal removal efficiency. AMD used in this study was characterized by low pH 3.0 and 1000mg/l of sulfate and dissolved high concentration of heavy metals such as iron, cadmium, copper, zinc and lead. It was found that glucose was an organic carbon source better than acetate as the electron donor of SRB for sulfate reduction in AMD. Amount of sulfate reduction maximized at the COD(glucose)/sulfate ratio of 0.5 in the influent and then removal efficiencies of heavy metals were 97.5% of Cu, 100% of Pb, 100% of Cr, 49% of Mn, 98% of Zn, 100% Cd and 92.4% of Fe. Although sulfate reduction results in an increase in the alkalinity of the reactor, alkalinity of 1000mg/1 (as $CaCo_3$) should be should be added continuously to the anaerobic reactor in order to remove heavy metals from AMD.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.41-49
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• 2022

This study utilized citric acid as a floating agent in biological denitrification process and assessed its role under different carbon supplying conditions. Several microcosm tests including citric acid active (CAA), precipitating tablet release active (PTRA) and floating tablet release active (FTRA) were conducted to evaluate nitrate denitrification efficacy. In CAA reactors, nitrate removal was accompanied by the formation of denitrification by-products such as nitrite and nitrous oxide, with the extent of nitrate removal being proportional to citric acid concentration. These results suggest that citric acid induced heterotrophic biological denitrification. PTRA reactor that incorporated CAA and the same electron donor showed a similar denitrification efficiency to CAA reactor. FTRA reactor, which contained the same amount of fumarate as PTRA, enhanced denitrification by 7% as compared to the PTRA reactor. The overall results of this work indicate that surplus citric acid can be efficiently utilized in heterotrophic denitrification.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.192-195
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• 2003

As a part of our research project for in-situ bioremediation of nitrate contaminated. groundwater, screening studies to determine an effective electron donor (EO) and/or carbon source (CS) such as acetate, ethanol, formate, fumarate, lactate, and propionate were conducted. To evaluate the feasibility for the biological degradation of nitrate, soil microcosm studies using nitrate-contaminated soil and groundwater were performed. The nitrate removal percentage in the order from the highest to the lowest was: formate, fumarate, and ethanol > lactate > propionate. Essentially no nitrate consumption was observed In acetate-fed microcosms. The order of nitrate removal rate from the highest to lowest was fumarate, formate, lactate, ethanol, and propionate. These results suggest that fumarate and formate are promising EDs/CSs for in-situ bioremediation of nitrate - contaminated oxygenated groundwater.

• Clean Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.134-141
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• 2011

The effects of the compounds and concentrations of nitrogenous electron acceptor, the ratio of electron donor/electron acceptor (C/N), and the complexity of electron donor on the emission of $N_2O$ during wastewater denitrification were quantitatively investigated in this study. The higher ${NO_3}^-$ and ${NO_2}^-$ concentrations, the more $N_2O$ emission was observed. ${NO_2}^-$ has strong effect on $N_2O$ emission as it emitted morc $N_2O$ than ${NO_3}^-$, 50 mg/L of ${NO_2}^-$-N gave the highest conversion (9.3%) and yield (9.8%) of $N_2O$ while ${NO_3}^-$-N (50 mg/L) gave 5.6% conversion and 11.0% yield. Lower C/N ratio decreases nitrogen removal efficiency, but it increases the conversion of $N_2O$ because of the incomplete denitrification by the limited organic carbon. When real domestic wastewater is used as the electron donor of the denitrification, $N_2O$ emission is reduced to 1/10 of the emission when single carbon (acetate) is used. It is thought that multiple carbon source utilizes many denitrification pathways and it seems to be helpful for the reduction of $N_2O$ emission.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.131-134
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• 2005

Anaerobic reductive dechlorination of tetrachloroethylene(PCE) to ethylene was investigated by performing laboratory experiments using semi-continuous flow two-in-series soil columns. The columns were packed with soils obtained from TCE-contaminated site in Korea. Site ground water containing lactate(as electron donor and/or carbon source) and PCE was pumped into the soil columns. During the first operation with a period of 50 days, injected mass ratio of lactate and PCE was 620:1 and incomplete reductive dechlorination of PCE to cis-DCE was observed in the columns. However, complete dechlorination of PCE to ethylene was observed when the mass ratio increased to 5,050:1 in the second operation, suggesting that the electron donor might be limited during the first operation period. During the degradation of cis-DCE to ethylene, the concentration of hydrogen was $22{\sim}29mM$. These positive results indicate that the TCE-contaminated groundwater investigated in this study could be remediated through biological anaerobic reductive dechlorination processes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 2004

It is necessary to supply external carbon source for enhancement of biological nitrogen removal from domestic wastewater with low influent C/N ratio. Sulfide was chosen as a cost effective electron donor and reaction stoichiometry for autotrophic denitrification was investigated by conducting bench-scale experiments in this study. Higher sulfur to nitrogen (S/N) ratio than the calculated value from theoretical reaction stoichiometry was required when the anoxic reactor was operated at open condition because dissolved oxygen introduced by surface aeration reacted with sulfide with ease. In addition, higher sulfate production and lower yield of microorganism could be observed under the same condition. It was possible to obtain reliable reaction stoichiometry for autotrophic denitrification by establishing pure anoxic condition. Linear relationship between bacterial growth and consumption of nitrate, sulfide, alkalinity, and sulfate production enabled to derive a relatively correct reaction stoichiometry for autotrophic denitrification when sulfide was used as an electron donor.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.630-636
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• 2005

Groundwater contamination by nitrate exceeding water quality criteria (10 mg $NO_3{^-}-N/L$) occurs frequently. Fumarate, acetate, formate, lactate, propionate, ethanol, methane and hydrogen gas were evaluated for their nitrate removal efficiencies and removal rates for in situ bioremediation of nitrate contaminated groundwater. Denitrification rate for each substrate was in the order of: fumarate > hydrogen > formate/lactate > ethanol > propionate > methanol > acetate. Microcosm studies were performed with fumarate and acetate. When fumarate was used as a substrate, nitrate was removed 100 percent with rate of 0.66 mmol/day while conversion rate from nitrate to nitrogen gas or another by-product was 87 percent. 42 mg of fumarate was needed to remove 30 mg $NO_3{^-}-N/L$. When using acetate as carbon source, 31 percent of nitrate was removed during initial adjustment period. Among removed fraction, however, 83 percent of nitrate removed by cell growth. Overall nitrate removal rate was 0.37 mmol/day. Acetate showed longer lag time in consumption compared to that of nitrate, which implying that acetate would be better carbon source compared to fumarate as more amount was utilized for nitrate removal than cell growth.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1155-1160
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• 2012

Sulfur-utilizing autotrophic denitrification relies on an inorganic carbon source to reduce the nitrate by producing sulfuric acid as an end product and can be used for the treatment of wastewaters containing high levels of nitrates. In this study, sulfur-denitrifying bacteria were used in anoxic batch tests with sulfur as the electron donor and nitrate as the electron acceptor. Various medium components were tested under different conditions. Sulfur denitrification can drop the medium pH by producing acid, thus stopping the process half way. To control this mechanism, a 2:1 ratio of sulfur to oyster shell powder was used. Oyster shell powder addition to a sulfur-denitrifying reactor completely removed the nitrate. Using 50, 100, and 200 g of sulfur particles, reaction rate constants of 5.33, 6.29, and $7.96mg^{1/2}/l^{1/2}{\cdot}h$ were obtained, respectively; and using 200 g of sulfur particles showed the highest nitrate removal rates. For different sulfur particle sizes ranging from small (0.85-2.0 mm), medium (2.0-4.0 mm), and large (4.0-4.75 mm), reaction rate constants of 31.56, 10.88, and $6.23mg^{1/2}/l^{1/2}{\cdot}h$ were calculated. The fastest nitrate removal rate was observed for the smallest particle size. Addition of chemical oxygen demand (COD), methanol as the external carbon source, with the autotrophic denitrification in sufficiently alkaline conditions, created a balance between heterotrophic denitrification (which raises the pH) and sulfur-utilizing autotrophic denitrification, which lowers the pH.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.61-75
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• 2023

Denitrifying bacteria convert nitrate to nitrogen gas using an external carbon source as an electron donor. The external carbon source affects the denitrification performance and bacterial community structure. Although methanol is a cheap and effective external carbon source, the addition of diverse carbon sources may improve the total nitrogen removal rate and biomass characteristics, such as settleability. In this study, denitrifying reactions were performed using solely methanol and mixed carbon sources of methanol, glucose, and acetate in a sequencing batch reactor. The denitrifying reactor using methanol resulted in a total nitrogen removal rate of 0.39 ± 0.025 kg-N/m³-day while the suspended biomass transformed into dark brown granules. Methyloversatilis discipulorum had the highest predominance at 43.84%. The individual denitrifying biomasses, which were separately enriched with methanol, glucose, and acetate, showed the same total nitrogen removal performance of 0.39 ± 0.016 kg-N/m³-day. However, the addition of mixed carbon sources showed an improved total nitrogen removal rate of 0.42 ± 0.043 kg-N/m³-day, with the domination of Candidatus Saccaribacteria at 25.61%. The denitrifying granules turned pale yellow color. Influent COD/NO₃^--N ratios of 3.5, 5, and 7.5 exhibited COD/NO₃^--N consumptions of 4.3 ± 0.4, 4.4 ± 0.8, and 5.2 ± 0.7, and the consistent predominance of Candidatus Saccharibacteria.