• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.11-23
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• 2020

The effectiveness of in situ sediment capping as a technique for heavy metal risk mitigation in Hyeongsan River estuary, South Korea was studied. Sites in the estuary were found previously to show moderate to high levels of contamination of mercury, methylmercury and other heavy metals. A 400 m × 50 m section of the river was selected for a thin layer capping demonstration, where the total area was divided into 4 sections capped with different combinations of capping materials (zeolite, AC/zeolite, AC/sand, zeolite/sand). Pore water concentrations in the different sites were studied using diffusive gradient in thin film (DGT) probes. All capping amendments showed reduction in the pore water concentration of the different heavy metals with top 5 cm showing %reduction greater than 90% for some heavy metals. The relative maxima for the different metals were found to be translated to lower depths with addition of the caps. For two-layered cap with AC, order of placement should be considered since AC can easily be displaced due to its relatively low density. Investigation of methylmercury (MeHg) in the site showed that MeHg and %MeHg in pore water corresponds well with maxima for sulfide, Fe and Mn suggesting mercury methylation as probably coupled with sulfate, Fe and Mn reduction in sediments. Our results showed that thin-layer capping of active sorbents AC and zeolite, in combination with passive sand caps, are potential remediation strategy for sediments contaminated with heavy metals.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.453-457
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• 2009

Contamination of marine environment with hazardous and toxic chemicals is more common these days. Bioremediation is the application of microorganism or microbial processes to degrade environmental contaminant. Because of low water solubility and volatility of diesel, bioremediation is more efficient than physical and chemical methods. The objective of this study is biodegradation of diesel in sea water by using Rhodococcus fascians which is isolated petroleum-contaminated soil. R. fascians was cultured on sea water containing diesel to determine the diesel degradability. Changes in biodegradability of diesel with various inoculum sizes, diesel concentrations, initial pH, and culture temperature were analyzed by TPH analysis using gas chromatography. The inoculum size 2% was effective for biodegrdation of diesel in sea water by R. fascians. When diesel concentration was 5%, the growth of cell was inhibited by the toxicity of diesel. The optimal temperature and initial pH for degradation of diesel in sea water were $27^{\circ}C$ and pH 8.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.125-130
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• 1997

Microbial reduction of hexava1ent(VI) to trivalent(lII) chromium is regarded as one of the mechanisms that confers resistance to bacteria. In order to verify this hypothesis, we compared Cr(VI) resistance with Cr(VI) reduction among 20 phenotypically distinct environmental isolates from Cr-contaminated and uncontaminated soils. With glucose as an electron donor, Cr(VI) reduction by washed cell suspensions ranged from 0.014 to 0.305 mM Cr(VI) reduced $h^1$. Cr(VI) resistance of the isolates were measured by growth inhibitions on a liquid medium containing 2 mM Cr(VI) based on their decrease of $A_{630}1$ as compared to the controls without Cr(VI). The isolates had a broad range of resistance from no inhibition to 93.4% inhibition of their growth. Upon correlation analysis, there was no significant relationship between those two phenomena. At a population level, a comparison of % resistant viable counts among the Cr-contaminated and uncontaminated soils showed 19.1 % and 0.4% of their total viable counts, respectively. The difference of % resistance between two site,. strongly suggested that the Cr(VI) present in the soils influences natural selection for resistant phenotypes. However, it is unlikely that the Cr(VI) resistance is dependent solely on the reduction as judged by the correlation analysis.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.479-483
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• 2008

The environmental contamination by organic pollutants is a widespread problem. The most widely distributed pollution can be attributed to oil contamination. Bioremediation, the use of microorganism or microbial processes to degrade environmental contaminant, is one of the new technologies. The objective of the present study is to study the degradation of JP-8 in soil by microorganism. The degradation of JP-8 was analysed by TPH using gas chromatography. Rhodococcus fascians isolated from the petroleum contaminated site was applied for the degradation of JP-8 in the soil column system. Air flow rate of 30 ml/min was sufficient to degrade JP-8 in the soil column as much as 70% of JP-8 in the soil column. The addition of nitrogen source resulted in the increase in JP-8 degradability to 75% of JP-8 and the C:N ratio for JP-8 degradation was 100:10.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.1-14
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• 2014

It is necessary to decide the pumping rate and pumping well location together with the capture zone in order to determine an appropriate groundwater remediation strategy to manage the contaminated groundwater. The relationship between the capture zone and the drawdown radius of influence ($ROI_s$) was considered. $ROI_{cs}$ is defined as the distance where the criteria of drawdown is cs meter from pumping well in this paper. A method to decide the required pumping rate for the remediation of contaminated groundwater in order to create appropriate $ROI_{cs}$ is suggested by using the Theis equation (1935) and Cooper-Jacob equation (1946). It was shown in this study that $ROI_{cs}$ is in proportion to the pumping rate and the criteria of drawdown, which decides $ROI_{cs}$, is inversely proportional to Ti value (transmissivity ${\times}$ hydraulic gradient). The pumping rate which creates the required $ROI_{cs}$ could be planned through the relationship between the $ROI_{cs}$ and pumping rates ($ROI_{cs}$-Q curve) of the field sites 1, 2 and 3. If the drawdown is investigated along with Ti value and pumping rate at a specific site where pump and treat remediation is planned, it is expected that the required criteria of drawdown can be evaluated by using the relationship between the cs and Ti (cs-Ti curve).

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.48-55
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• 2013

This study aimed at characterizing unsaturated zone at the source zone area contaminated by DNAPL and investigating feasibility of soil vapor extraction (SVE). Five boreholes with three multi-level screens at the depth of 3.0~4.5 m, 5.5~7.0 m, and 8.0~12.0 m were installed at the source zone. Pneumatic tests were performed to determine the permeability of porous medium. Permeability was estimated to be 81.6 to 203.7 darcy, depending on the applied solutions, which was contradicted by grain size analysis of cored soil samples leading to 3.51 darcy. This is due to air flow through gravel pack during the early stage of pneumatic test. Pressure-drawdown curve in the late stage also well showed the leaky aquifer type, indicating air leakage to the ground. Air flow tests were also carried out to investigate air flow connectivity between multi-level wells, indicating that the horizontal air flow was well developed between the lower screens of the wells, not between the upper and middle screens due to the leakage to the surface. For the SVE test, there was no noticeable variation in TCE vapor concentration between three different test runs: 1. 8 hours daily for 5 days, 2. 24 hours together with air blowing at another well (BH1), 3. five consecutive days. Even for five-day consecutive test, total amount of removed TCE was estimated only to be as low as 46.5 g.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.15-22
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• 2018

Aqua regia extraction for the quantification of heavy metals and As in contaminated soils was investigated as one of preliminary steps for on-site monitoring using sensor technology. Soil samples were taken from closed railway depot, closed mines, and closed refinery and various extraction conditions including $30^{\circ}C/15min$, $30^{\circ}C/30min$, $30^{\circ}C/60min$, $30^{\circ}C/120min$, $80^{\circ}C/15min$, $80^{\circ}C/30min$, $80^{\circ}C/60min$, $80^{\circ}C/120min$ were tested. The optimal extraction condition was determined as $80^{\circ}C/60min$ because the extraction efficiencies of Zn were relatively low and did not reach the targeted level (80-100% of original concentrations) for $30^{\circ}C$ conditions. It was found that the fractionation of heavy metals and As using the sequential extraction method was useful to understand the degree of metal extraction. In order to enhance the extraction efficiency within short extraction time, ultrasound technology using a 20 kHz horn-type sonicator was additionally used for $30^{\circ}C/15min$. It was revealed that ultrasound could significantly enhance the extraction efficiency and pulsed irradiation showed higher efficiency than continuous irradiation due to the less formation of bubble clouds. However high temperature condition ($80^{\circ}C$) was required to achieve high extraction efficiency for Zn in spite of the use of ultrasound.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.10-17
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• 2022

Inorganic acids such as HCl, HNO₃, and H₂SO₄ have been commonly applied to soil washing of heavy metals-contaminated soil due to their cost-effectiveness. However, implementing the 'Chemical Substance Control Act' requires off-site risk assessment of the chemicals used in the soil washing. Therefore, in this study, organic acids or Fe(III)-based washing agents were evaluated to replace commonly used inorganic acids. Ferric removed heavy metals via H⁺ generated by hydrolysis, which is similar to the HCl used in the control group. Oxalic acid and citric acid were effective to remove Cu, Zn, and Cd from soil. Organic acids could not remove Pb because they could form Pb-organic acid complexes with low solubility. Furthermore, Pb could be adsorbed onto the iron-organic acid complex on the soil surface. Ferric could remove exchangeable-carbonate, Fe-Mn hydroxide, and organic matter and sulfides bound heavy metals (F1, F2, and F3). Organic acids could remove the exchangeable-carbonate and Fe-Mn hydroxide bound metals (F1&F2). Therefore, this research shows that the fractionation of heavy metals in the soil and the properties of washing agents should be considered in the selection of agents in the process design.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.273-284
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• 2022

PURPOSE. Computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD-CAM) of implant abutments has been shown to result in surface contamination from site-specific milling and fabrication processes. If not removed, these contaminants can have a potentially adverse effect and may trigger inflammatory responses of the peri-implant tissues. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the bacterial disinfection and cleaning efficacy of ultrasonic reprocessing in approved disinfectants to reduce the microbial load of CAD-CAM abutments. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Four different types of custom implant abutments (total N = 32) with eight specimens in each test group (type I to IV) were CAD-CAM manufactured. In two separate contamination experiments, specimens were contaminated with heparinized sheep blood alone and with heparinized sheep blood and the test bacterium Enterococcus faecium. Abutments in the test group were processed according to a three-stage ultrasonic protocol and assessed qualitatively and quantitatively by determination of residual protein. Ultrasonicated specimens contaminated with sheep blood and E. faecium were additionally eluted and the dilutions were incubated on agar plates for seven days. The determined bacterial counts were expressed as colony-forming units (CFU). RESULTS. Ultrasonic reprocessing resulted in a substantial decrease in residual bacterial protein to less than 80 ㎍ and a reduction in microbiota of more than 7 log levels of CFU for all abutment types, exceeding the effect required for disinfection. CONCLUSION. A three-stage ultrasonic cleaning and disinfection protocol results in effective bacterial decontamination. The procedure is reproducible and complies with the standardized reprocessing and disinfection specifications for one- or two-piece CAD-CAM implant abutments.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2023

Nanoparticles are known for their outstanding properties such as particle size, surface area, optical and electrical properties. These properties have significantly boasted their applications in various surface phenomena. In this work, calcium oxide nanoparticles were synthesized from periwinkle shells as an approach towards waste management through resource recovery. The sol gel method was used for the synthesis. The nanoparticles were characterized using X-Ray diffractometer (XRD), Fourier Transformed Infra-Red Spectrophotometer (FTIR), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ultra violet visible spectrophotometer (UV-visible). While DLS and SEM underestimate the particle diameter, the BET analysis reveals surface area of 138.998 m²/g, pore volume = 0.167 m³/g and pore diameter of 2.47 nm. The nanoparticles were also employed as an adsorbent for the purification of dye (methyl orange) contaminated water. The adsorbent showed excellent removal efficiency (up to 97 %) for the dye through the mechanism of physical adsorption. The adsorption of the dye fitted the Langmuir and Temkin models. Analysis of FTIR spectrum after adsorption complemented with computational chemistry modelling to reveal the imine nitrogen group as the site for the adsorption of the dye unto the nanomaterials. The synthesized nanomaterials have an average particle size of 24 nm, showed a unique XRD peak and is thermally and mechanically stable within the investigated temperature range (30 to 70 ℃).