• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.747-753
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• 2010

A series of experiments with a laboratory scale ultrasound treatment system for MTBE polluted groundwater was performed to increase the efficiency of MTBE degradation in groundwater. This study evaluated several factors to increase the efficiency of MTBE treatment for artificial and natural groundwater. The treated volume of groundwater, ultrasound frequency and power, and pollutant concentrations have been changed to evaluate its effects on the degradation efficiency of MTBE in batch and continuous flow reactor. For the specific experimental conditions on this paper, MTBE degradations are more efficient at 580 kHz than those at 1 MHz. The efficiency of MTBE degradation is proportional to the intensity of ultrasound power per unit volume of MTBE polluted groundwater. The concentration of ions in groundwater does not much affect the efficiency of MTBE degradation. The $1^{st}$ order degradation constant of MTBE for different power per unit volume at 580 kHz shows linear relationship at same concentration. The $1^{st}$ order degradation constant for 0.1 mM MTBE solution is higher than that for 1 mM MTBE solution. These experimental results could be helpful to seek optimal conditions for relatively large volume of polluted groundwater treatment.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.669-676
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• 2006

PAHs are major pollutants that are widely distributed in soil and groundwater environment, so that may be regarded as carcinogens. We investigated the degradation kinetics of PAH in aqueous solution when low pressure UV energy and ultrasonic irradiation were applied. Phenanthrene and pyrene were used as model compounds. The degrees of degradation of these compounds with time were analyzed with a GC/MSD (SIM-mode). UV photolysis experiments showed that phenanthrene was reduced by 90 -67% at initial concentrations of 1 ppm to 8ppm whilst it decreased to 50% at 10 ppm. Under the same conditions pyrene was degraded up to about 75% at lower initial concentrations but the reduction efficiency dropped to a level of 34 to 29% at the higher concentrations above 8 ppm. The reaction orders for phenanthrene and pyrene were found to be zero-th and ca. -0.4th order, respectively, thus implying that the reported assumption of pseudo 1st order reaction for some PAHs would be no longer valid. PAH degradation was roughly proportional to the intensity of UV (number of lamps), exhibiting maximum 92.5% of the degradation efficiency. The solution pH was lowered to 4.4 from 6.4 during the experiments partially because the carbons decomposed by the energy reacted with oxygen radicals to produce carbon dioxides. Ultrasonic irradiation on phenanthrene solutions gave relatively poor results which matched to 50 to 70% of degradation efficiency even at 2 ppm of initial concentration. Phenanthrene was found to be degraded more efficiently than pyrene for the two energy sources. Ultrasound also followed the same reaction kinetics as UV energy on PAH degradation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.522-529
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• 2009

To supply safe drinking water to areas lacking in water supply and drainage system, such as rural area and military bases in proximity to Demilitarized Zone, effective method for treating organic contaminants such as MTBE is required. This study focuses on seeking optimal conditions for effective degradation of MTBE using a bath type ultrasound reactor. Effectiveness of MTBE degradation by ultrasound is dependent on the frequency, power, temperature, treatment volume, initial concentration, catalyst, etc. In this study the degradation rate of MTBE by ultrasound was proportional to power/unit volume ratio and removal is relatively more efficient for 0.1 mM than for 1 mM of MTBE solution. Efficiency of ultrasound treatment for 1 mM MTBE solution was enhanced under bath temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ compared to $4^{\circ}C$, but the temperature effect was negligible for 0.1 mM MTBE solution. Also for 0.1 mM MTBE solution, effect of catalyst such as $TiO_2$ and $Fe^0$ on treatment speed was negligible, and zeolite even increases the time taken for the degradation. Under these specific experimental conditions of this study, the most determinant factor for degradation rate of MTBE in solution was frequency and power of ultrasound. The results have shown that a continuous ultrasound reactor system can be used for small scale remediation of organically polluted groundwater, under optimal conditions.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.68-74
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• 1994

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.468-475
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• 2015

Various methods to degrade explosives efficiently in natural soil and water that include trinitrotoluene (TNT) have been studied. In this study, TNT in water was degraded by reduction with palladium (Pd) catalyst impregnated onto alumina (henceforth Pd-Al catalyst) and formic acid. The degradation of TNT was faster when the temperature of water was high, and the initial TNT concentration, pH, and ion concentration in water were low. The amounts of Pd-Al catalyst and formic acid were also important for TNT degradation in water. According to the experimental results, the degradation constant of TNT with unit mass of Pd-Al catalyst was $8.37min^{-1}g^{-1}$. The degradation constant of TNT was higher than the results of previous studies which used zero valent iron. 2,6-diamino-4-nitrotoluene and 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene were detected as by-products of TNT degradation showing that TNT was reduced. The by-products of TNT were also completely degraded after reaction when both Pd-Al catalyst and formic acid existed. Even though there are several challenges of Pd-Al catalyst (e.g., deactivation, poisoning, leaching, etc.), the results of this study show that TNT degradation by Pd-Al catalyst and formic acid is a promising technique to remediate explosive contaminated water and soil.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2012

We demonstrated that reductive degradation of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (Royal Demolition Explosive, RDX) can be enhanced by bio-reduced iron-bearing soil minerals (IBSMs) using Shewanella putrefaciens CN32 (CN32). The degradation kinetic rate constant of TNT by bio-reduced magnetite was the highest (0.0039 $h^{-1}$), followed by green rust (0.0022 $h^{-1}$), goethite (0.0017 $h^{-1}$), lepidocrocite (0.0016 $h^{-1}$), and hematite (0.0006 $h^{-1}$). The highest rate constant was obtained by bio-reduced lepidocrocite (0.1811 $h^{-1}$) during RDX degradation, followed by magnetite (0.1700 $h^{-1}$), green rust (0.0757 $h^{-1}$), hematite (0.0495 $h^{-1}$), and goethite (0.0394 $h^{-1}$). Significant increase of Fe(II) was observed during the reductive degradation of TNT and RDX by bio-reduced IBSMs. X-ray diffraction and electron microscope analyses were conducted for identification of degradation mechanism of TNT and RDX in this study. 4-amino-dinitrotoluene were detected as products during TNT degradation, while Hexahydro-1-nitroso-3,5-dinitro-1,3,5-triazine, Hexahydro-1,3-dinitroso-5-nitro-1,3,5triazine, and Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitroso-1,3,5-triazine were observed during RDX degradation.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.649-659
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• 2023

This study was initiated to evaluate the phosphorus (P) removal and diesel oil degradation by bacteria isolated from industrial wastewater. The bacteria isolated were identified as Bacillus sp. The P removal efficiencies by Bacillus sp. were 99% at the initial 20 mg/L P concentration. The diesel degradation efficiencies by Bacillus sp. were 86.4% at an initial 1% diesel concentration. Lipophilicity by bacteria was the highest in the log phase, whereas it was the lowest in the death phase. As the diesel was used as a carbon source, P removal efficiencies by Bacillus sp. were 68%. When glucose, acetate, and a mixture of glucose and acetate as second carbon sources were added, the diesel degradation efficiencies were 69.22%, 65.46%, and 51.46%, respectively. The diesel degradation efficiency was higher in the individual additions of glucose or acetate than in the mixture of glucose and acetate. When P concentration increased from 20 mg/L to 30 mg/L, the diesel degradation efficiency was increased by 7% from 65% to 72%, whereas when P concentration was increased from 30 mg/L to 40 mg/L, there was no increase in diesel degradation. One of the five proteins identified by proteome analysis in the 0.5% diesel-treated samples may be involved in alkane degradation and is known as the cytochrome P450 system. Also, two of the sixteen proteins identified in the 1.5% diesel-treated samples may be implicated in the fatty acid transport system and alcohol dehydrogenation.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.86-91
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• 2000

The purpose of this was to investigate the degradation efficiency of phenol compounds(catechol, ferulic acid, protocatechuic acid, syringic acid, vanillic acid) by Streptomyces halstedii scabies SAI-36, Streptomyces avendulas SA2-14, and Strptomyces badius(ATCC 39117, control group). The results were as follows: Catechol showed the degradation efficiency that is lower than 50% in three strains. Ferulic acid and vanillic acid showed high degradation efficiency of 98.8% and 94.5% respectively by Streptomyces lavendulas SA2-14. protocatechuic acid and syringicacid showed high degradation efficiency of 89.6% and 77.9%. The degradation efficiency of catechol by Streptomyces halstedii scabies SAI-36, Streptomyces lavendulas SA2-14 and Streptomyces badius(ATCC 39117) was low as 49.2%, 40.2% and 20.2% respectively. But the degradation of other phenolic compoumds except catechol by Streptomyces laven-dulas SA2-36 and Streptomyces badius(ATCC 39117). The results demonstrated that two experimental strains are superior ability to control group in degradation of phenol compounds and Streptomyces lavendulas SA2-14 was superior of two experimental strain. This results were consistent with previous research results that Streptomyces lavendulas SA2-14 was the best strain in degradation ability for lignin, decoloration abilities for variousdyes, and various enzyme production abilities. Therefore, it is suggested that lignin can be used as a indicator when selecting Actinomycetes for degradation of non-degradable materials such as phenol compounds.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.415-421
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• 2003

Chlorophyll-a and its degradation products (pheopigment) contained in the sediment were determined to evaluate the eutrophication status in the downstream of Nakdong River. The chlorophyll-a and pheopigment concentrations of sediment ranged 11-646 mg $\mu \textrm m^{-2}$ (mean 172 mg $\mu \textrm m^{-2}$) and 48-1,564 mg $\mu \textrm m^{-2}$ (mean 454 mg $\mu \textrm m^{-2}$) over 11 sampling stations of the Nakdong River. The chloropigment concentrations in this local area were higher than other values reported previously and this river waters showed hypertrophic status in view of sedimentary chloropigment. Total chloropigment standing crops of sediment, which are the residuals after the longterm degradation, were 2.2-3.6 fold higher than chlorophyll-$\alpha$ contents of overlying water. The amounts of chloropigments of sediment suggest a large contribution of phytoplankton to the sediment. While chloropigment standing crops are evaluated with organic-C and nitrogen contents, the algal contribution to the carbon and nitrogen pool of the sediment were estimated to be approximately 30% and 40%, respectively.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.374-382
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• 2018

Petroleum hydrocarbons pollutants, such as diesel fuel, have caused ecosystem damage in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. They have been recognized as one of the most hazardous wastes. This study was designed to optimize the effect of Tween 80 concentration, nitrogen (N)/phosphorus (P) ratio and salinity level on diesel biodegradation by Vibrio alginolyticus (V. alginolyticus). Response surface methodology with Box-Behnken design was selected with three factors of Tween 80 concentration (0, 5, 10 mg/L), N/P ratio (5, 10, 15) and salinity level (15‰, 17.5‰, 20‰) as independent variables. The percentage of diesel degradation was a dependent variable for 14 d of the remediation period. The results showed that the percentages of diesel degradation generally increased with an increase in the amount of Tween 80 concentration, N/P ratio and salinity level, respectively. The optimization condition for diesel degradation by V. alginolyticus occurred at 9.33 mg/L of Tween 80, 9.04 of N/P ratio and 19.47‰ of salinity level, respectively, with percentages of diesel degradation at 98.20%. The statistical analyses of the experimental results and model predictions ($R^2=0.9936$) showed the reliability of the regression model and indicated that the addition of biostimulant can enhance the percentage of diesel biodegradation.