• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.383-390
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• 2011

In this study, a process combined biofiltration with sulfur-utilizing autotrophic denitrification and membrane separation was proposed to examine the efficiency of nitrogen removal. As an experimental device, hollow-fiber module was installed in the center of reactor to generate the flux forward sulfur layer in the cylinder packed with granular sulfur. In addition, a simple module was installed in activated sludge aeration tank which inside and outside of sulfur-using denitrification module was covered with microfilter and the module was considered as an alternative of clarifier. The experiment for developing new MBR process was carried out for three years totally. As the results of first two-year experiment, successful nitrogen removal performance was revealed with lab-scale test and pliot scale plant using artificial wastewater and actual plating wastewater. In this year, pilot scale test using actual domestic wastewater was performed to prove field applicability. As the results, high-rate nitrogen removal performance was confirmed with about 0.19 kg ${NO_3}^--N/m^3$ day of rate. Also significant fouling and pressure increase were not found during the experiment. And, the production ratio of sulfate and the consumption ratio of alkalinity showed a slightly higher value about 311 mg ${SO_4}^{2-}/L$ and 369 mg $CaCO_3$/L, respectively. In conclusion, the developed MBR process can be utilized as an alternative for retrofiting existing wastewater plants as well as new construction of advanced sewage wastewater treatment plants, with cost-effective merit.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 2003

$TAO^{TM}$ System is an auto-heated thermophilic aerated digestion process using a proprietary microbe called as a Phototropic Bacteria (PTB). High metabolic activity results in heat generation, which enables to produce a pathogen-free and digested liquid fertilizer at short retention times. TAO$^{TM}$ system has been developed to reduce a manure volume and convert into the liquid fertilizer using swine manure since 1992. About 100 units have been installed and operated in Korean swine farms so far. TAO$^{TM}$ system consists of a reactor vessel and ejector-type aeration pumps and foam removers. The swine slurry manure enters into vessel with PTB and is mixed and aerated. The process is operated at detention times from 2 to 4 days and temperature of 55 to $65^{\circ}C$. Foams are occurred and broken down by foam removers to evaporate water contents. Generally, at least 30% of water content is evaporated, 99% of volatile fatty acids caused an odor are removed and pathogen destruction is excellent with fecal coliform, rotavirus and salmonella below detection limits. The effluent from TAO$^{TM}$ system, called as the "TAO EFFLUX", is screened and has superb properties as a fertilizer. Normally N-P-K contents of screened TAO Efflux are 4.7 g/L, 0.375 g/L and 2.8 g/L respectively. The fertilizer effect of TAO EFFLUX compared to chemical fertilizer has been demonstrated and studied with various crops such as rice, potato, cabbage, pumpkin, green pepper, parsley, cucumber and apple. Generally it has better fertilizer effects and excellent soil fertility improvement effects. Moreover, the TAO EFFLUX is concentrated through membrane technology without fouling problems for a cost saving of long distance transportation and a commercialization (crop nutrient commodity) to a gardening market, for example.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2004

This study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of ultrafiltration and spray drying process for crude protein bound polysaccharide(CPBP) isolated from Agaricus blasei Murill. In ultrafiltration process, the permeate flux increased with the increase of operating pressure and temperature. The permeate flux declined continuously while the fouling materials were accumulated on the membrane as the operation time increased. In comparing of raw CPBP and filtered CPBP, the viscosity of CPBP treated UF was decreased and $\Delta$E value of treated samples was increased. Thermal efficiencies of spray drying process were increased by increasing inlet temperature, feed rate and feed concentration.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.83-91
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• 2012

Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-to-cell communication system, which is used by many bacteria to regulate diverse gene expression in response to changes in population density. Bacteria recognize the differences in cell density by sensing the concentration of signal molecules such as N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL) and autoinducer-2 (AI-2). In particular, QS plays a key role in biofilm formation, which is a specific bacterial group behavior. Biofilms are dense aggregates of packed microbial communities that grow on surfaces, and are embedded in a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). QS regulates biofilm dispersal as well as the production of EPS. In some bacteria, biofilm formations are regulated by c-di-GMP-mediated signaling as well as QS, thus the two signaling systems are mutually connected. Biofilms are one of the major virulence factors in pathogenic bacteria. In addition, they cause numerous problems in industrial fields, such as the biofouling of pipes, tanks and membrane bioreactors (MBR). Therefore, the interference of QS, referred to as quorum quenching (QQ) has received a great deal of attention. To inhibit biofilm formation, several strategies to disrupt bacterial QS have been reported, and many enzymes which can degrade or modify the signal molecule AHL have been studied. QQ enzymes, such as AHL-lactonase, AHL-acylase, and oxidoreductases may offer great potential for the effective control of biofilm formation and membrane biofouling in the future. This review describes the process of bacterial QS, biofilm formation, and the close relationship between them. Finally, QQ enzymes and their applications for the reduction of biofouling are also discussed.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.438-443
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• 2011

In order to enhance water permeability through the improvement of fouling phenomena and wettability of hydrophobic porous membranes, various adsorption materials, i.e., poly(vinyl amine), poly (styrene sulfonic acid), poly(vinyl sulfonic acid), and poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) were adsorbed onto the surface of polyethylene (PE) porous membrane. The concentration of adsorption solutions, adsorption time, the sort of salts and their ionic strength were varied, and the pure water permeability of their resulting adsorbed membranes was measured. In general, water permeability increased with an initial increase in the concentration of adsorption solution, adsorption time, and ionic strength and then decreased with a further increase. The pure water permeability of 375 $L/m^2h$(LMH), 35% enhancement, was obtained at a condition of poly(vinyl sulfonic acid) 1000 ppm, $Mg(NO_3)_2$ ionic strength(IS) 0.1, and adsorption time 150 sec, while the 50% (411 LMH) and 35% (374 LMH) enhancements were obtained at conditions of poly(styrene sulfonic acid) 1000 ppm, adsorption time 60 sec, and NaCl IS 0.1 and 0.2, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1298-1304
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• 2005

This study was performed to evaluate the characteristics of the competition between two electron acceptors, perchlorate and nitrate, with Citrobacter Amalonaticus strain JB101. In addition, the applicability of membrane bioreactor(MBR) for perchlorate removal was evaluated. The maximum growth rate of strain JB101 on perchlorate and nitrate are 0.27 and 0.58 $hr^{-1}$, and maximum substrate utilization rates were 35.1 mg $ClO_4^-/g$ protein-day and 45.6 mg $NO_3^-/g$ protein-day, respectively. Nitrate was a competitive inhibitor for perchlorate, and strain JB101 prefer nitrate to perchlorate as electron acceptor. Complete removal of perchlorate could be achieved up to the surface leading rate of 4.6 g $ClO_4^-/m^2-day$ with the MBR fed with 20 mg $ClO_4^-/L$(HCMBR). When 5 mg/L of nitrate was added to the same influent, perchlorate removal efficiency decreased to 96.5%, while nitrate was completely removed. For the MBR fed with 0.7 mg/L of perchlorate (LCMBR), the maximum perchlorate removal efficiency was 100% up to the loading rate of 0.23 g $ClO_4^-/m^2-day$. Membrane fouling was found to be a problem at high leading rate for both MBRs. The acetate consumption ratio per perchlorate was $13.7{\sim}51.7\;e^-eq./e^-eq.$ in LCMBR, while the value was $2.5{\sim}3.6\;e^-eq./e^-eq.$ in HCMBR. This difference could be related to the acetate consumption with oxygen as electron acceptor. Therefore, the amount of acetate addition must be determined considering the concentrations of other electron acceptors in the influent.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.645-654
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• 2009

Lab-scale Electrodialysis(ED) system with different membranes combined with before or after pyroma process were carried out to remove nitrate from two pickling acid wastewater containing high concentrations of $NO_3\;^-$(${\approx}$150,000 mg/L) and F($({\approx}$ 160,000 mg/L) and some heavy metals(Fe, Ti, and Cr). The ED system before Pyroma process(Sample A) was not successful in $NO_3\;^-$ removal due to cation membrane fouling by the heavy metals, whereas, in the ED system after Pyroma process(Sample B), about 98% of nitrate was removed because of relatively low $NO_3\;^-$ concentration (about 30,000 mg/L) and no heavy metals. Mono-selective membranes(CIMS/ACS) in ED system have no selectivity for nitrate compared to divalent-selective membranes(CMX/AMX). The operation time for nitrate removal time decreased with increasing the applied voltage from 10V to 15V with no difference in the nitrate removal rate between both voltages. Nitrate adsorption of a strong-base anion exchange resin of $Cl\;^-$ type was also conducted. The Freundlich model($R^2$ > 0.996) was fitted better than Langmuir mode($R^2$ > 0.984) to the adsorption data. The maximum adsorption capacity ($Q^0$) was 492 mg/g for Sample A and 111 mg/g for Sample B due to the difference in initial nitrate concentrations between the two wastewater samples. In the regeneration of ion exchange resins, the nitrate removal rate in the pickling acid wastewater decreased as the adsorption step was repeated because certain amount of adsorbed $NO_3\;^-$ remained in the resins in spite of several desorption steps for regeneration. In conclusion, the optimum system configuration to treat pickling acid wastewater from stainless-steel industry is the multi-processes of the Pyroma-Electrodialysis-Ion exchange.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.14-21
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to inhibit biofouling on a selectively permeable membrane (SPM) and increase biomass productivity in marine photobioreactors (PBRs) for microalgal cultivation by chemical treatment. Surfaces of a SPM, composed of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), was sulfonated to decrease hydrophobicity through attaching negatively charged sulfonic groups. Reaction time of sulfonation was varied from 0 min to 60 min. As the reaction time increased, the water contact angle value of SPM surface was decreased from $75.5^{\circ}$ to $44.5^{\circ}$, indicating decrease of surface hydrophobicity. Furthermore, the water permeability of sulfonated SPM was increased from $5.42mL/m^2/s$ to $10.58mL/m^2/s$, which reflects higher nutrients transfer rates through the membranes, due to decreased hydrophobicity. When cultivating Tetraselmis sp. using 100-mL floating PBRs with sulfonated SPMs, biomass productivity was improved by 34% compared with the control group (non-reacted SPMs). In addition, scanning electron microscopic observation of SPMs used for cultivation clearly revealed lower degree of cell attachment on the sulfonated SPMs. These results suggest that sulfornation of a PET SPM could improve microalgal biomass productivity by increasing nutrients transfer rates and inhibiting biofouling by algal cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• 2006.06b
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• pp.221-226
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• 2006

This study is about backwash condition and membrane fouling at continuous filtration process in ballast water treatment. Displayed result that handle particle contaminant and hydrospace organism included a number of ballast that is happened in ship using automatic back washing filter. Reason that removes first contaminant that is included in number of ballast is that heighten processing effect of after processing process of the filter. Another advantage is to drop off the solids with controlling revolution of drum screen in pretreatment filtration process. The capacity of pilot plant was $10m^3/h$. The result of the test, Backwash cycle time and duration time and a signification effect on the efficiency of system and backwash Backwash duration time was determined to be fixed in 6 seconds of the system with more than 95% removal rate, It needed 1hour backwash frequency. Filtration system removal aquatic organism over $70{\mu}m$ in ballast water. This study shows that the filtration treatment system has a potential for the treatment of ballast water.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.654-661
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• 2007

The goal of this research was to identify the impact of silicate polymerization on the formation of insoluble aluminiumsilicate salts which could be a cause of irreversible fouling in the membrane process by lab-scale test. For this, the amount and characteristics of precipitates that were formed in six samples with different Al and Si concentration were analyzed. And the particles was also observed by SEM-EDS(Scanning Electron Microscope - Electron Dispersion Spectrophotometer) to compare morphology and ratio of Al and Si in each precipitates. Finally the reactive and nonreactive silicate contents in the solution and precipitates were analyzed to calculate silicate form content in each fraction. The amount of precipitates was in proportion to the total concentration of both element in solution. And the amount of insoluble particle that was not dissolved in the acid solution was recorded the highest in the sample 2 of which Si concentration was lower than the saturation concentration, 50 mg/L. The content of reactive silicate in precipitates was also recorded the highest value in sample 2 of which almost silicate form was reactive. When the silicate concentration is same, that value was recorded the highest in the sample with highest Al concentration. The SEM morphology of the precipitates was similar to that of Aluminiumhydroxide and the insoluble precipitates was not dissolved in acidic solution with pH 2.7 was able to observed only in sample 2. The ratio of Al and Si in the precipitates was ranged $0.48\sim3.14$, thai of sample 2 was recorded the highest value, 3.14. It is concluded that the insoluble aluminiumsilicate could be easily formed in the solution of which silicate exist as a reactive form and coexisting Al is sufficient.