• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2001.03a
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• pp.405-410
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• 2001

Bioremediation is a degradation process of existing organic contaminants in soils and groundwater by indigenous or inoculated microorganisms. This process can provide economical solution as well as safe and effective alternative in remediation technologies. However, it has been suggested that the rate of bioremediation process of organic contaminants by microorganisms can be limited by the concentration of nutrients and TEAs(Terminal Electron Accepters). In in-situ bioremediation, conventional pumping techniques have been used for supplying these additives. However, the injection of these additives is difficult in low permeable soils, and also hindered by preferential flow paths resulting from heterogeneities in high permeable ground. Therefore, the Injection of chemical additives is the most significant concern in in-situ bioremediation. Most recently, electrokinetic technique has been applied into the bioremediation and the injection characteristics under electrokinetics have not been examined in various soil types. Therefore, in this study, electrokinetic injection method is investigated in kaolinite and sand, and the concentration of ammonium(nutrients) and sulfate(TEAs) in soil is presented.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.15-24
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• 2002

Nowdays electrokinetic technique has been applied to supply nutrients and TEAs for in-situ bioremediation. However the Injection characteristics under electrical field have not been examined in various soil types. Therefore, The characteristics of electrokinetic injection into kaolinite and sand are investigated. During the 17 d of processing, There was a gradual increase in ammonium (nutrient) concentration from the anode compartment. However the ammonium concentration at the cathode increased beyond that at the anode in sand. A relatively constant profile of sulfate (TEA) was achieved specifically, the final sulfate concentration in each specimen were different. When EK injection technique is implemented in field, the most important consideration should be an assessment of the injection characteristics with respect to the soil types.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.326-329
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• 2003

When an electrokinetic process is applied to a HOC-contaminated soil, hybrid types combined with soil flushing, chemical oxidation, and bioremediation are generally used. Especially when the electrokinetic process is combined with bioremediation, the hybrid technology can solve several limits of bioremediation such as low microbial mobility, low soil temperature, and shortage of nutrients in subsurface circumstance. Because microbial surface is charged negatively, the microorganism moves from cathode to anode under electrical field. In this study, mixed culture mainly-consisted by Pseudomonas sp. was applied to remediate pentadecane-contaminated kaolinite with particle size less than 300${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. This remediation system was named ‘electrokinetic bioaugmentation’ and consisted of model aquifer, electrode reservoirs, bioreactor, power supply, and pump. The mixed culture above 0.5 of optical density in bioreactor was supplied to two reservoirs and penetrated soil when the electric current was applied. To enhance the removal efficiency, the optimal medium composition, electric current, and voltage were investigated.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.1038-1045
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• 2001

The electrokinetic technology was applied in bioremediation for the purpose of supplying a Pseudomonas strain capable of degrading diesel to contaminated soil bed, and their biodegradation of diesel was carried out after a desired cell distribution was obtained. Electrokinetic injection of the strain was made possible because the cells acted as negatively charged particles at neutral pH, and thus the cells were transported with a precise directionality through the soil mostly by the mechanism of electrophoresis and in part by electroosmosis. A severe pH change in the soil bed was formed due to the penetration of electrolysis products, which was harmful to the cell viability and cell transport. To achieve a desirable cell transport and distribution, the control of pH in soil bed by a recirculating buffer solution in electrode chambers was essential during the appliation of an electric field. The judicious selections of electrolyte concentration and conductivity were also important for achieving an efficient electrokinetic cell transport since a higher electrolyte concentration favored the maintenance of pH stability in soil bed, but lowered electrophoretic mobility on the other hand. With electrolyte solution of pH 7 phosphate buffer, a 0.05 M concentration showed a better cell transport buffer, a 0.05 M concentration showed a better cell transport than 0.02 M and 0.08 M. The cell under pH 8 were obtained, compared to the cells under pH 7 or pH 9 in a given time period Up to $60\%$ of diesel was degraded in 8 days by the Pseudomonas cell, which were distributed electrokinetically under the conditions of pH 8 ($1,800{\mu}S/cm$, a mixture of phosphate and ammonia buffers) and 40 mA in a soil bed of 15 cm length.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.181-185
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• 2004

Electrokinetic bioremediation was conducted on phenanthrene-contaminated soil to study the effects of soil temperature and pH on microbial population and removal efficiency at different current densities from 0.63 to 3.13 mA cm$^{-2}$ . Microorganism used in the biodegradation of phenanthrene was Sphingomonas sp. 3Y, which was isolated from a diesel-contaminated site. The microorganism was successfully penetrated into the contaminated soil by electrokinetic phenomena and the highest microbial population was observed in the middle region of soil specimen where soil pH was near neutral. Therefore, phenanthrene removal occurred mainly at anode and middle parts of soil specimen due to a relatively high microbial population. Also, the highest removal efficiency of 68.8% was obtained at 1.88 mA cm$^{-2}$ while low degradation was detected at 3.13 mA cm$^{-2}$ . It was presumably because the soil temperature at 1.88 mAcm$^{-2}$ was close to the appropriate temperature of about 30'c while the temperature increase to above 45$^{\circ}C$ at 3.13 mA cm$^{-2}$ inhibited the microbial activity severely.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.21 no.6 s.101
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• pp.428-432
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• 2006

This study investigated the effect of sulfate source on removal efficiency in electrokinetic bioremediation which needs sulfate to degrade contaminants by an applied microorganism. The representative contaminant and the applied microorganism were phenanthrene and Sphingomonas sp. 3Y, respectively. When magnesium sulfate was used, the magnesium ion combined with hydroxyl ion electrically-generated at cathode to cause the decrease of electrolyte pH, and then the microbial activity was inhibited by that. When ammonium sulfate and disodium sulfate were used to solve the pH control problem, the pH values of electrolyte and soil solution were maintained neutrally, and also the high microbial activity was observed. With the former sulfate source, however, ammonium retarded the phenanthrene degradation, and so the removal efficiency decreased to 12.0% rather than 21.8% with magnesium sulfate. On the other hand, the latter improved the removal efficiency to 27.2%. This difference of removal efficiency would be outstanding for an elongated treatment period.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.764-769
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• 2006

In the electrokinetic(EK) process, oxygen production by electrolysis was proportional to current density. The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in anode tank and bioreactor increased with the circulation rate of electrolyte. The bacterial population in bioreactor rapidly increased by the supplement of current, but the DO concentration deceased by the increased bacterial oxygen consumption. From the results of EK bioremediation for pentadecane-contaminated soil, the bacterial population and removal efficiency at 1.88 $mA/cm^2$ were lower than those at 0.63 $mA/cm^2$. This is because the high oxygen production rate largely increased the production rate of organic acids, which reduced the electrolyte pH and bacterial activity. At 0.63 $mA/cm^2$, the highest bacterial population and removal efficiency could be obtained due to the appropriate oxygen production and small decrease in pH.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.181-187
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• 2006

In this study, problems related with pH control in electrokinetic(EK) bioremediation of phenanthrene contaminated soil were observed, and the effects of pH control methods on the removal efficiency were investigated to search a further application strategy. In a preliminary experiment, it was found out by flask cultivation that a certain sulfate concentration was needed to degrade phenanthrene well using Sphingomonas sp. 3Y. However, when $MgSO_4$ was used as sulfate source in EK bioremediation, the bacterial activity reduced seriously due to the abrupt decrease of pHs in soil and bioreactor by the combination of magnesium and hydroxyl ions. When another strong buffering compound was used to control the pH problem, the good maintenance of the bacterial activity and pHs could be observed, but the removal efficiency decreased largely. When a low concentration of $MgSO_4$ was added, the removal efficiency decreased somewhat in spite of the good maintenance of neutral pHs. With the addition of NaOH as a neutralizing agent, the removal efficiency also decreased because of the increase of soil pH. Consequently the selection of electrolyte composition was a very important factor in EK bioremediation and some sulfate sources suitable for both bacterial activity and contaminant degradation should be investigated.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.278-278
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.186-190
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• 2004

The electrokinetic bioremediation employing electrolyte circulation method was carried out for the cleanup of phenanthrene-contaminated kaolinite, and microorganism used in the biodegradation of phenanthrene was Sphingomonas sp. 3Y. The electrolyte circulation method supplied ionic nutrientsand the microorganism into soil, and inhibited the significant pH change of soil by increasing the soil buffering capacity by providing phosphate buffer compounds. When the remediation process was conducted without surfactant, the removal efficiency of phenanthrene, at the initial concentration of 200 ppm, was 69% for only 7 days. Higher microbial population and lower phenanthrene concentration were observed in the anode and middle regions of soil specimen than in the cathode region. The higher density of microorganism was because the microbial movement was in the direction of the anode part due to the negative surface charge. When Triton X-100 and APG of 20 g/1 were used to improve the bioavailability of phenanthrene strongly adsorbed onto soil surface, about 90 and 39% of phenanthrene removal were obtained. Consequently, it was confirmed that the microorganism preferred APC to phenanthrene as carbon source and so the removal efficiency with APG decreased less than that without APG.