• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.458-464
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• 2016

This study evaluated the dewatering efficiency of inorganic dehydrating agents that contain oyster shells. A filter press dehydrator was used for this study. The experiments were performed by the single injection of calcium-based chemicals, the single injection of oyster shells, and the mixed injection of oyster shells and calcium-based chemicals. The moisture content of the dewatered cake generated after dehydration confirmed that the best dewatering efficiency was found at the mixing ratios of CaCO₃ to sludge, oyster shell to sludge, and inorganic dehydrating agent to sludge of 3:1, 10:1, and 1.5:2.5:1, respectively. The moisture contents exhibited less than 58% when the injection mixing ratio of inorganic dehydrating agent to sludge was 1.5:2.5:1. From EPS, SEM, and EDX analysis, it was found that the calcium adsorbed on the sludge surface could reduce extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) and enhanced the dewaterbility. Based on the above results, it is considered possible to apply inorganic dehydrating agents containing recycled oyster shells in sludge dewatering in order to reduce sludge.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.550-558
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• 2003

Digestion of primary sludge was conducted to evaluate the effects of reactor configuration using UAD, CUAD, TPAD, and semi-continuos CSTR. Highest VSS reduction and gas production were obtained in CUAD at all HRT. More efficient digestion was accomplished in upflow digesters compared to TPAD and CSTR. Higher thickening of solids in reactor and longer solids retention were main reasons for the enhanced digestion in CUAD and UAD. Performance based on the SRT of CUAD was nearly identical to that of UAD. However, those of TPAD and CSTR were lower than that of CUAD. Particulate and soluble organics in upflow reactors were well adsorbed due to secreted extracellular polymeric substances from the sludge granules. These might result in close proximity of microorganisms and substrates and enhanced hydrolysis. Additionally, diverse anaerobic microorganisms and neutral pH in upflow reactor could induce more activity of hydrolytic enzymes and sludge granules might offer lower thermodynamic energy state. While, excessive mixing in CSTR could break conglomerates of enzymes and substrates into fine particles, which resulted in lowered hydrolysis. Low pH level in acid fermenter of TPAD lowered hydrolysis of the particulate substrates.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.179-189
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• 2019

This study aimed to investigate the effect of temperature and solid retention time (SRT) on membrane fouling in a membrane bioreactors (MBRs). For this purpose, a lab-scale submerged MBR system was used. This system operated at two SRTs of 15 and 5 days, three various temperatures (20, 25 and $30^{\circ}C$) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 8 h. The results indicated that decreased the cake layer resistance and increased particles size of foulant due to increasing temperature and SRT. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis show that the cake layer formed on the membrane surface, contained high levels of proteins and especially polysaccharides in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) but absorbance intensity of EPS functional groups decreased with temperature and SRT. EEM analysis showed that the peak on the range of Ex/Em=220-240/350-400 in SRT of 15 and temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ indicates the presence of fulvic acid in the cake. In addition, as the temperature rise from 20 to $30^{\circ}C$, concentration of soluble microbial products (SMP) increased and COD removal reached 89%. Furthermore, the rate of membrane fouling was found to increase with decreasing temperature and SRT.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.303-309
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• 2019

Earlier studies by our group revealed that gallic acid in phytochemicals stimulated biofilm production in epiphytes, while caffeic acid in phytochemicals inhibited biofilm production in non-epiphytes. It is well documented that antimicrobial secretion by some epiphytic bacteria inhibits non-epiphytic bacterial growth on leaf surfaces. These selection criteria help plants choose their microbial inhabitants. Calcium and iron in phytochemicals also stimulate biofilm formation and thus, may be selection criteria adopted by plants with respect to their native epiphytic population. Furthermore, the processing of leaves during phytochemical extraction impacts the composition of the extract, and therefore its ability to affect bacterial biofilm formation. Computation of the Hurst exponent using biofilm thickness data obtained from the Ellipsometry of Brewster Angle Microscopic (BAM) images is an efficient tool for understanding the impact of phytochemicals on epiphytic and non-epiphytic populations when compared to fluorescent microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and staining techniques. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that uses the Hurst exponent to elucidate the mechanism involved in plant microbe interaction.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2019

Biofilms facilitate communication among microorganisms for nutrients and protect them from predators and harmful chemicals such as antibiotics and detergents. Biofilms can also act as cores for the development of clogs in many agricultural irrigation systems and in porous media. In this study, we deployed glass units at a depth of 20 m below the ground surface in the groundwater-surface water mixing zone, and retrieved them after 4 months to investigate the potential colonization of indigenous microbial community and possible mineral-microbe assemblages. We observed the periodic formation of microbial colonies by fluorescence dye staining and microscopy, and analyzed the composition of the microbial community in both the mineral-microbe aggregates and groundwater, by next generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene amplicons using MiSeq platform. During the course of incubation, we observed an increase in both the mineral-microbe aggregates and content of extracellular polymeric substances. Interestingly, the microbial community from the aggregates featured a high abundance of iron redox-related microorganisms such as Geobacter sp., Comamonadaceae sp., and Burkholderiales incertae sedis. Therefore, these microorganisms can potentially produce iron-minerals within the sediment-microbe-associated aggregates, and induce biofilm formation within the groundwater borehole and porous media.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2023

The incidence of melioidosis cases caused by the gram-negative pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei (BP) is seeing an increasing trend that has spread beyond its previously known endemic regions. Biofilms produced by BP have been associated with antimicrobial therapy limitation and relapse melioidosis, thus making it urgently necessary to understand the mechanisms of biofilm formation and their role in BP biology. Microbial cells aggregate and enclose within a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) to form biofilm. The transition mechanism of bacterial cells from planktonic state to initiate biofilm formation, which involves the formation of surface attachment microcolonies and the maturation of the biofilm matrix, is a dynamic and complex process. Despite the emerging findings on the biofilm formation process, systemic knowledge on the molecular mechanisms of biofilm formation in BP remains fractured. This review provides insights into the signaling systems, matrix composition, and the biosynthesis regulation of EPSs (exopolysaccharide, eDNA and proteins) that facilitate the formation of biofilms in order to present an overview of our current knowledge and the questions that remain regarding BP biofilms.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.152-158
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• 2015

This paper investigated the membrane fouling potential at the state of passive adsorption which is no permeation with the test modules on COD (Chemical oxygen demand) loading rates, examined the recovery rate and resistance on membrane fouling by three cleaning manners of hydrophobic membrane in a bioreactor. The results showed that high COD loading led to the increase of extra-cellular polymeric substances and filtration resistance. The permeability resistance from 1st day to 63rd day was getting increased, however, the value of permeability resistance after 63th day during the operation period was almost same level at three COD loading rates, it was due that the biomass adhesion on membrane surface at the state of passive adsorption reached to the critical state. Also, the final recovery rates after three cleaning manners were 78%, 72% and 69% at the COD loading concentrations of 250 mg/L, 500 mg/L and 750 mg/L respectively, and then recovery rate by physical cleaning at Run 2 and Run 3 was decreased after 40th day, it proved that biomass cake, which is not easily removed, was formed on the membrane surface because of high COD loading rate and EPS concentration.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1908-1919
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• 2015

This work investigated the potential of curcumin (CCM) and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) to inhibit N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL)-mediated biofilm formation in gram-negative bacteria from membrane bioreactor (MBR) activated sludge. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of CCM alone against all the tested bacteria were 200-350 μg/ml, whereas those for EGCG were 300-600 μg/ml. Biofilm formation at one-half MICs indicated that CCM and EGCG alone respectively inhibited 52-68% and 59-78% of biofilm formation among all the tested bacteria. However, their combination resulted in 95-99% of biofilm reduction. Quorum sensing inhibition (QSI) assay with known biosensor strains demonstrated that CCM inhibited the expression of C4 and C6 homoserine lactones (HSLs)-mediated phenotypes, whereas EGCG inhibited C4, C6, and C10 HSLs-based phenotypes. The Center for Disease Control biofilm reactor containing a multispecies culture of nine bacteria with one-half MIC of CCM (150 μg/ml) and EGCG (275 μg/ml) showed 17 and 14 μg/cm² of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on polyvinylidene fluoride membrane surface, whereas their combination (100 μg/ml of each) exhibited much lower EPS content (3 μg/cm²). Confocal laser scanning microscopy observations also illustrated that the combination of compounds tremendously reduced the biofilm thickness. The combined effect of CCM with EGCG clearly reveals for the first time the enhanced inhibition of AHL-mediated biofilm formation in bacteria from activated sludge. Thus, such combined natural QSI approach could be used for the inhibition of membrane biofouling in MBRs treating wastewaters.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2020

Lead is a highly toxic heavy metal that causes serious health problems. Nonetheless, it is increasingly being used for industrial applications and is often discharged into the environment without adequate purification. In this study, Pb(II) was removed by powdered waste sludge (PWS) based on the biosorption mechanism. Different PWSs were collected from a submerged moving media intermittent aeration reactor (SMMIAR) and modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) processes. The contents of extracellular polymeric substances were similar, but the surface area of MLE-PWS (2.07 ㎡/g) was higher than that of SMMIAR-PWS (0.82 ㎡/g); this is expected to be the main parameter determining Pb(II) biosorption capacity. The Bacillaceae family was dominant in both PWSs and may serve as the major responsible bacterial group for Pb(II) biosorption. Pb(II) biosorption using PWS was evaluated for reaction time, salinity effect, and isotherm equilibrium. For all experiments, MLE-PWS showed higher removal efficiency. At a fixed initial Pb(II) concentration of 20 mg/L and a reaction time of 180 minutes, the biosorption capacities (q_e) for SMMIAR- and MLE-PWSs were 2.86 and 3.07 mg/g, respectively. Pb(II) biosorption using PWS was rapid; over 80% of the maximum biosorption capacity was achieved within 10 minutes. Interestingly, MLE-PWS showed enhanced Pb(II) biosorption with salinity values of up to 30 g NaCl/L. Linear regression of the Freundlich isotherm revealed high regression coefficients (R² > 0.968). The fundamental Pb(II) biosorption capacity, represented by the K_F value, was consistently higher for MLE-PWS than SMMIAR-PWS.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.389-395
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• 2017

In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of membrane fouling caused by water temperature in the Membrane bioreactor(MBR) process and try to derive the membrane fouling control by chemical enhanced backwashing(CEB). The extracellular polymeric substances(EPS) concentration was analyzed according to the water temperature in the MBR, and the membrane fouling characteristics were investigated according to the conditions, with sludge & without sludge, through a lab-scale reactor. As shown in the existing literature the fouling resistance rate was increased within sludge with the water temperature was lowered. However, in the lab-scale test using the synthetic wastewater, the fouling resistance increased with the water temperature. This is because that the protein of the EPS was more easily adsorbed on the membrane surface due to the increase of entropy due to the structural rearrangement of the protein inside the protein as the water temperature increases. In order to control membrane fouling, we tried to derive the cleaning characteristics of CEB by using sodium hypochlorite(NaOCl). We selected the condition with the chemicals and the retention time, and the higher the water temperature and the chemical concentration are the higher the efficiencies. It is considered that the increasing temperature accelerated the chemical reaction such as protein peptide binding and hydrolysis, so that the attached proteinaceous structure was dissolved and the frequency of the reaction collision with the protein with the chemical agent becomes higher. These results suggest that the MBRs operation focus on the fouling control of cake layer on membrane surface in low temperatures. On the other hand, the higher the water temperature is the more the operation strategies of fouling control by soluble EPS adsorption are needed.