• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.71-75
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• 1996

A bacterium, capable of the degradation of trimethylamine(TMA), dimethylamine, and methylamine, was isolated from an enrichment culture on TMA basal mineral medium. The isolate was identified as Methylobacterium some carbon-carbon bonds compounds like malate, succinate, betaine. When the strain was immobilized to earthworm cast, the biofilter could remove the gaseous TMA of SV $30h^{-1}$, concentration of 120ppm, continuously.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.127-136
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the removal of high odor concentration from swine wastewater treatment facility by full scale biofilter using liquid with deodorant mixed with earthworm cast and distillery sludge. Methods: The supply of the culture liquid to the microorganism on the media in the biofilter increases the activity and growth of biomass. The experimental equipment was biofilter tower with treatment capacity of 90 m 3/min. The experimental conditions included gas flow of $60m^3/min$, retention time of 20 sec, and gas/liquid ratio of 67. Results: With changing season from winter to summer, the inlet odor concentration of ammonia increased from 2.5 ppm to 29 ppm, and of hydrogen sulfide from 21 ppm to 91 ppm, respectively. The odor treatment system with biofilter using the culture liquid was stable when the high loading rate increased and showed excellent removal grade with an average of 96.7% for ammonia, and an average of 93.7% for hydrogen sulfide. The pH and SCOD in the recirculating culture liquid near the bottom of the biofilter tower decreased with operation time, but its influence on the odor removal rate was negligible, because the organic matter (SCOD) was replaced by some culture liquid supplied 2-4 times per day. Conclusions: The biofilter using culture liquid could successfully remove high odor concentration which was generated from swine wastewater treatment facility.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 2002

Four inorganic packing materials (zeocarbon, porous celite, porous glass, zeolite) and a earthworm cast were compared with regard to the removal of ammonia in a biofilter inoculated with earthworm cast. Physical adsorption of ammonia on packing materials were negligible except zeocarbon (23.5 g-$NH_3$/kg), and cell immobilization capacity have similar values irrespective of packing materials. Pressure drops of the packed bed were in order of earthworm cast zeocarbon zeolite porous glass porous. The maximum elimination capacity ($g-Nkg^{-1}$ $d^{-1}$ ) of ammonia, which were based on a unit volume of packing material, were in order of zeocarbon (526) earthworm cast (220) porous celite (93) > zeolite (68) > porous glass (53). By using kinetic analysis, the maximum removal rates ($V_{m}$ ) and the saturation constant ($K_{s}$ ) for ammonia were determined, and zeocarbon showed superior performance among the five materials.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.293-305
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• 2009

Methane, as a greenhouse gas, is some 21~25 times more detrimental to the environmental than carbon dioxide. Landfills generally constitute the most important anthropogenic source, and methane emission from landfill was estimated as 35~73 Tg per year. Biological approaches using biocover (open system) and biofilter (closed system) can be a promising solution for older and/or smaller landfills where the methane production is too low for energy recovery or flaring and installation of a gas extraction system is inefficient. Methanotrophic bacteria, utilizing methane as a sole carbon and energy source, are responsible for the aerobic degradation (oxidation) of methane in the biological systems. Many bench-scale studies have demonstrated a high oxidation capacity in diverse filter bed materials such as soil, compost, earthworm cast and etc. Compost had been most often employed in the biological systems, and the methane oxidation rates in compost biocovers/boifilters ranged from 50 to $700\;g-CH_4\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$. Some preliminary field trials have showed the suitability of biocovers/biofilters for practical application and their satisfactory performance in mitigation methane emissions. Since the reduction of landfill methane emissions has been linked to carbon credits and trading schemes, the verified quantification of mitigated emissions through biocovers/biofilters is very important. Therefore, the assessment of in situ biocovers/biofilters performance should be standardized, and the reliable quantification methods of methane reduction is necessary.