• Advances in environmental research
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.251-262
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• 2016

The biodegradability and decomposition efficiencies increase with the pre-treatment of sludge in a digestion process. In this study, the feasibility of ultrasound coupled with potassium permanganate oxidation as a disintegration method and digestibility of aerobic reactor fed with disintegrated sludge with ultrasound coupled potassium permanganate were investigated. The first stage of the study focused on determining the optimum condition for ultrasonic pre-treatment for achieving better destruction efficiency of sludge. The second part of the study, the aerobic digestibility of sludge disintegrated with ultrasound and potassium permanganate oxidation alone and combined were examined comparatively. The results showed that when 20 min of ultrasonic pre-treatment applied, the specific energy output was 49384 kJ/kgTS with disintegration degree of 58.84%. During the operation of aerobic digester, VS/TS ratios of digesters fed with disintegrated sludge decreased indicating that disintegration methods could obviously enhance aerobic digestion performance. The highest reduction in volatile solids was 75% in the digester fed with ultrasound+potassium permanganate disintegrated sludge at the end of the operation compared to digester fed with raw sludge. Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) levels in sludge supernatant increased with this combined method significantly. Besides, it promoted the production of ${\bullet}OH$, thus enhancing the release of Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) from the sludge. Disintegration with all methods used in this study could not improve Capillary Suction Time (CST) reduction in disintegrated digesters during the operation. The results demonstrated that the combined ultrasound treatment and potassium permanganate oxidation method improves the biodegradability compared to control reactor or their single application.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.96-102
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• 2009

The effect of ultrasonic and alkaline pre-treatments on waste activated sludge (WAS) disintegration was investigated for improved anaerobic digestion. As WAS was treated by either methods, longer capillary suction time (CST) was required due to the break-up of cell walls, and its supernatant demonstrated increase in soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), protein content and turbidity. Ultrasonic process combined with alkaline pre-treatment demonstrated higher SCOD and protein content in the supernatant as compared with ultrasonic pre-treatment only. However, the degree of disintegration (DDCOD) of WAS decreased with increasing solid concentration as both WAS disintegration methods employed simultaneously.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 2015

This study was performed to optimize the integrated thermal-alkali pre-treatment of flotation scum for the enhanced biodegradability. The optimum conditions of the integrated thermal-alkali pre-treatment were obtained using response surface methodology. The disintegration degree of carbohydrate (69.2%) and protein (57.3) were estimated under the optimum conditions. Although the optimum conditions were different, the disintegration degrees were similarly. A fermentative hydrogen batch test was conducted to evaluate the hydrogen production from scum with and/or without. The maximum hydrogen production from scum with pre-treatment was of 0.64 mol H2/mol hexoseadded, which about 1.4 times higher than without pre-treatment.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.83-89
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• 2014

The effects of initial solid concentration and microwave irradiation (MWI) time on the hydrolysis of waste activated sludge (WAS) were investigated. MWI time strongly influenced WAS hydrolysis for all initial solid concentrations of 8.20, 31.51, and 52.88 g VSS/L. For all WAS, the volatile suspended solids (VSS) solubilization degree ranged from 35.6% to 38.4% during a total MWI time of 10 min. Soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) concentration increased at a rate proportional to the decrease of VSS during the MWI. However, the clearly different VSS solubilization patterns that were observed during the MWI were explained by the 2-step hydrolysis of WAS, consisting of the initial disintegration of the easily degradable part of the sludge, followed by the subsequent disintegration of the hardly degradable part of the sludge. WAS hydrolysis rates for 3 to 6 min of MWI were significantly lower than those for less than 3 min, or more than 6 min. From these results, 3 min MWI time and WAS of 31.51 g VSS/L (centrifugal thickener WAS) showed the most efficient hydrolysis of WAS at 36.0%. The profiles of total nitrogen (T-N) concentrations corresponded well to the SCOD increases in terms of the empirical formula of bacterial cell mass ($C_5H_7O_2N$). The negligible T-N increase and pH decrease during WAS hydrolysis by MWI will allow the application of this process to subsequent biological processes, such as anaerobic digestion.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.200-208
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• 2019

Probiotics show low cell viability after oral administration because they have difficulty surviving in the stomach due to low pH and enzymes. For the oral delivery of probiotics, developing a formula that protects the probiotic bacteria from gastric acidity while providing living cells is mandatory. In this study, we developed tablets using a new pH-sensitive phthalyl inulin (PI) to protect probiotics from gastric conditions and investigated the effects of different compression forces on cell survival. We made three different tablets under different compression forces and measured survivability, disintegration time, and kinetics in simulated gastric-intestinal fluid. During tableting, there were no significant differences in probiotic viability among the different compression forces although disintegration time was affected by the compression force. A higher compression force resulted in higher viability in simulated gastric fluid. The swelling degree of the PI tablets in simulated intestinal fluid was higher than that of the tablets in simulated gastric fluid due to the pH sensitivity of the PI. The probiotic viability formulated in the tablets was also higher in acidic gastric conditions than that for probiotics in solution. Rapid release of the probiotics from the tablet occurred in the simulated intestinal fluid due to the pH sensitivity. After 6 months of refrigeration, the viability of the PI probiotics was kept. Overall, this is the first study to show the pH-sensitive properties of PI and one that may be useful for oral delivery of the probiotics.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.14 no.2 s.49
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• pp.29-36
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• 2005

There have been a little attempts to draw analogy between architecture and music. There are many objective and subjective factors for this to be true. If, however, the two arts are out of much the same social conditions, they show a degree of conformity in design and general organization. Our study shows the interrelationship between Otto Wagner and Gustav Mahler in Belle Epoque. In order to clarify the interrelationship between architecture and music, this study examines works of Otto Wagner on the basis of the characteristic of Gustav Mahler. This comparison between Otto Wagner and Gustav Mahler follows : in Belle Epoque, they have the same tendency to 1) the disintegration of historicism, 2) the style of description, 3) the reversion, 4) the giganticness, 5) the change of materials and 6) the proportion.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.70-85
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• 2012

Uiseong Tamni-ri Five-storied Stone Pagoda is composed of andesitic tuff and partially combined with tuff breccia and fine-grained granite. The andesitic tuff is identical to basement rock of Geumseongsan Mountain based on lithological, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics. The pagoda has suffered physical weathering such as crack and scaling, discoloration and biological colonization with complex reaction. Expecially, dark gray and brown discoloration appeared whole over the surface of the pagoda, and three to five-layered exfoliation and granular disintegration dominantly occurred in the fourth and fifth roof stones. It is assuming that the stone elements of the pagoda are evaluated as third to forth grades (average third grade) of weathering compared to fresh rock in Geumseongsan Mountain. The physical strength of the stone elements shows low values in the south and west sides of the pagoda that corresponds high weathering degree of the west side due to exfoliation, crack and granular disintegration. It is necessary to investigate the pagoda for precise deterioration assessment, monitoring and conservation treatment.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 2011

This work experimentally determined the effect of thermal and microwave pretreatments on the anaerobic digestion of mixtures of municipal primary and secondary sludges in semi-continuous mesophilic digesters at hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 20, 15, 10, 7, and 5 days. The ratio of soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) to total COD in thermally pretreated and microwaved sludges at $80^{\circ}C$ was 2.7 and 3.2 times higher than that of raw sludge, respectively. The volatile solids (VS) and COD removal efficiencies in all three digesters fed with raw (control), thermally pretreated (TM), and microwaved (MW) sludges decreased as the HRT was reduced. The highest relative improvement in VS removal compared to the control occurred at the HRT of 5 days in the TM and MW (29 and 41% higher than the control, respectively). At this HRT, improvement in the COD removal efficiencies in the TM and MW compared to the control was 28 and 53%, respectively. Improvements in biogas production compared with the control increased in both the TM and MW as the HRT was reduced to 5 days. The relative improvement in daily biogas production compared to the control from the TM and MW was 33 and 53% higher than the control at the HRT of 5 days, respectively. The results show that microwave pretreatment is more effective than thermal pretreatment in increasing the solubilization degree and mesophilic anaerobic biodegradability of sewage sludge.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.305-309
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• 2003

We report on the formation and chemical leaching of non-equilibrium $Al_{0.6}(Fe_{75}Co_{25})$ alloy produced by rod milling. X-ray diffractometry, transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry were used to characterize the as-milled and leached specimens. After 400 h, only the $Al_{0.4}Fe_{0.6}$ peak of the body-centered cubic type was present in the XRD pattern. The entire rod milling process could be divided into three different stages of milling: agglomeration, disintegration, and homogenization. The saturation magnetization, $M_s$ decreased with increased milling time, the $M_s$ of the powders before milling was about 113.8 emu/g, the $M_s$ after milling for 400 h was about 11.55 emu/g. Leaching of the Al in KOH of the Al at room temperature from the as-milled powders did not induce any significant change in the diffraction pattern. After the leached specimen had been annealed at $600^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour, the nanoscale crystalline phases were transformed into the bcc Fe, cubic Co, and $CoFe_2O_4$ phases. On cooling the specimen from 85$0^{\circ}C$, the degree of magnetization increased slightly, then increased sharply at approximately 364.8$^{\circ}C$, indicating that the bcc $Al_{0.4}Fe_{0.6}$ phase had been transformed to the Fe and Co phases.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.51-64
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• 2023

The sustainable management of rice straw is essential for protection of human health and environment. This study assesses the impact of stock density of earthworm (Eisenia fetida) and Neem leaves (Azadirachta indica) on the quality of the final vermicompost. The vermicompost is produced using different combinations of rice straw, Neem leaves, and cow dung (bulking agent) by varying stock density of earthworms. The vermicomposting experiments are performed in plastic containers (32 cm × 28 cm × 28 cm) in open for 90 days under laboratory conditions. The stock density of the earthworm is found to be an important factor to influence nutritional quality of the final vermicompost. There is observed significant improvement in the total nitrogen (91.8%), phosphate (73.4%), potassium (38.8%), and calcium (59.05%) content of the vermicompost produced with the highest stock density of the earthworms. All the treatments showed decrease in TOC and C:N content after 90 days of vermicomposting. The treatment with Neem leaves showed maximum growth of earthworms (2.65 fold). Neem leaves brought positive changes in the quality of final vermicompost by enhancing the growth and reproduction of the earthworms. The calcium content increased by 39% in the final vermicompost with the addition of Neem leaves at the same stock density of the earthworms. The stock density of the earthworms and Neem leaves are found to significantly improve quality of the final vermicompost as compared with the compost (control). The surface morphology in SEM images showed high degree of fragmentation in the vermicompost as compared with the compost. The combined action of microbes and earthworms resulted in high degree of disintegration in the vermicompost.