• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.717-724
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• 2016

Methane (CH₄) is the most abundant component in natural gas. To reduce its harmful environmental effect as a greenhouse gas, CH₄ can be utilized as a low-cost feed for the synthesis of methanol by methanotrophs. In this study, several methanotrophs were examined for their ability to produce methanol from CH₄; including Methylocella silvestris, Methylocystis bryophila, Methyloferula stellata, and Methylomonas methanica. Among these methanotrophs, M. bryophila exhibited the highest methanol production. The optimum process parameters aided in significant enhancement of methanol production up to 4.63 mM. Maximum methanol production was observed at pH 6.8, 30℃, 175 rpm, 100 mM phosphate buffer, 50 mM MgCl₂ as a methanol dehydrogenase inhibitor, 50% CH₄ concentration, 24 h of incubation, and 9 mg of dry cell mass ml^-1 inoculum load, respectively. Optimization of the process parameters, screening of methanol dehydrogenase inhibitors, and supplementation with formate resulted in significant improvements in methanol production using M. bryophila. This report suggests, for the first time, the potential of using M. bryophila for industrial methanol production from CH₄.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.602-609
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• 2015

In order to enhance a biogas production by the hydro-thermal pre-treatment of piggery manure, the effects of hydro-thermal reaction temperature at thermal hydrolysis of piggery manure on the methane potential and anaerobic biodegradability of thermal hydrolysate were analyzed. The increase of hydro-thermal reaction temperature from $170^{\circ}C$ to $220^{\circ}C$ caused the enhancement of hydrolysis efficiency, and most of organic matters were present in soluble forms. However, the methane potentials ($B_u-TCOD$) of hydrolysate were decreased from 0.239 to $0.188Nm^3kg^{-1}-TCOD_{added}$ by increasing hydro-thermal reaction temperature from $170^{\circ}C$ to $220^{\circ}C$, and also the anaerobic biodegradability (DTCOD) decreased from 74.6% to 58.6% with increase of hydro-thermal reaction temperature. The increase of hydro-thermal reaction temperature from $170^{\circ}C$ to $220^{\circ}C$ resulted in the decrease of easily biodegradable organic matter content, while persistent organic matter contents increased.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 2014

In order to investigate the effective pretreatment methods in WAS(=waste activated sludge) solubilization, the values of SCOD yield per unit SS (SCOD/gSS.hr) were compared. After the hydrodynamic cavitation with pH of 12.5, SCOD increased to 7800 mg/L, SS decreased to 45 % and the solubilization rate was 29 %. Combination of alkality (pH 12.5) and the cavitation seems to be the optimal condition for sludge solubilization. After the cavitational pretreatment, efficiencies of anaerobic digestion of the unfiltered sludge(the control), raw sludge and pretreated sludge were evaluated with BMP(=biochemical methane potential) tests. For evaluation of the biodegradability characteristics of pretreated sewage sludge, the methane production has been measured for 6 months. The methane production of pretreated sludge increased 1.4 times than that of untreated sludge. The result indicates that the cavitationally pretreated sludge was a better biodegradability substrate in anaerobic condition compared to raw sludge. It is obvious that cavitational pretreatment could enhance not only solubilization but also biodegradability of WAS. In conclusion, cavitational pretreatment of WAS to convert the particulate into soluble portion was shown to be effective in enhancing the digestibility of the WAS.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.264-270
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• 2010

Waste activated sludge from sewage treatment plants mainly consisted of flocs of bacterial cell, and thus hard to be stabilized anaerobically due to rigid cell walls. One of the pretreatment methods to overcome this barrier is the venturi cavitation system (VCS) adopting hydrodynamic cavitation. This research was conducted to investigate the effects of the pretreatment of waste activated sludge by VCS on the anaerobic digestibility. Depending on the pretreatment period with the VCS, methane production, COD removal and VS removal efficiency increased 41%~45%, 36.5%~43.1% and 18.4~24.1%, respectively, compared to the control case. The increase in methane production from digester was 3.3~4.2 times higher than the theoretical methane potential of the increased SCOD after the VCS pre-treatment. This suggests that the VCS pre-treatment not only increases SCOD but also improves the digestibility of solid fractions. The energy mass balance indicated that the energy consumed for sludge pre-treatment could be recovered by the increased methane production after pre-treatment, suggesting the high potential for field application.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.347-353
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• 2014

We present a synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWNTs) for enhancement of parallel-alignment and density using chemical vapor deposition with methane feed gas. As-purchased ST-cut quartz substrates were heat-treated and line-patterned by electron-beam lithography in order to grow SWNTs with parallel alignment. We investigated the effects of various synthesis parameters such as catalyst oxidation, reduction, and synthesis conditions in order to enhance both tube density and degree of parallel alignment. The condition of $1{\AA}$ of Fe catalyst film, atmospheric oxidation at $750^{\circ}C$ for 10 min, reduction under 400 Torr for 5 min, and growth at $865^{\circ}C$ under 300 Torr yields $33tubes/10{\mu}m$, which is the highest tube density with parallel alignment. Based on the results of atomic force microscope and Raman spectroscopy, it was found that SWNTs have diameter range of 0.8-2.0 nm. We believe that the present work would contribute to the development of SWNTs-based flexible functional devices.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.137-142
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• 2003

In order to investigate the effect of fuel mixing on PAH and soot formation, four species of methane, ethane, propane and propene have been mixed in counterlfow ethylene diffusion flame. Laser-induced incandescene and laser-induced fluorescene techniques were employed to measure soot volume fraction and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentration, respectively. Results showed that the mixing of ethane (or propane) in ethylene diffusion flame produces more PAHs and soot than those of propene, even though the propene diffusion flame produces more PAHs and soot than that of propane and ethane. Considering that propene directly dehydrogenates to propargyl radical, this behavior implied that the enhancement of PAH and soot formation by the fuel mixing of ethylene and ethane (or propane) cannot be explained by propargyl radical directly dehydrogenated from ethane (or propane).

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2003.05b
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• pp.421-422
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• 2003

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), methane (CH$_4$), nitrous oxide ($N_2$O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF$_{6}$), together with water vapour ($H_2O$) and ozone play an important role in determining the earth's climate. The primary cause of the enhancement of GHGs is the global use of fossil fuels to generate heat, power, and electricity for a growing world population, as well as the changes in the land use, especially for agriculture. In addition, biomass buring and biofuel emissions play major roles in the GHG emissions in the Asian region because they produce large amounts of carbon monoxide (CO), nonmethane volatile organic compounds(NMVOC), black carbon(BC) and other gases. (omitted)d)

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.07b
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• pp.1270-1273
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• 2004

The combination of methane-chemical activation and Self-propagating High-temperature synthesis (SHS) has widened the possibilities for both methods. For YBCO systems the investigation showed that a short-term mechano-chemical activation of initial powders before SHS leads to single-phase and ultra-fine products. A new technique for preparation ultra-fine high-temperature superconductors of YBCO composition with a grain size d < $1{\mu}m$ is developed. The specific feature of the technique is formation of the $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-x}$ crystalline lattice directly from an X-ray amorphous state arising as a result of mechanical activation of the original oxide mixture. The technique allows the stage of formation of any intermediate reaction products to be ruled out. X-ray and magnetic studies of ultra-fine high temperature superconductors (HTS) are carried out. Dimension effects associated with the microstructure peculiarities are revealed. A considerable enhancement of inter-grain critical currents is found to take place in the ultra-fine samples investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.8-14
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• 2003

In order to investigate the effect of fuel mixing on PAH and soot formation, four species of methane, ethane, propane and propene have been mixed in counterlfow ethylene diffusion flame. Laser-induced incandescene and laser-induced fluorescene techniques were employed to measure soot volume fraction and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentration, respectively. Results showed that the mixing of ethane (or propane) in ethylene diffusion flame produces more PAHs and soot than those of propene. Considering that propene directly dehydrogenates to propargyl radical, this behavior implied that the enhancement of PAH and soot formation by the fuel mixing of ethylene and ethane (or propane) cannot be explained solely by propargyl radical directly dehydrogenated from ethane (or propane). Thus, combination reactions between C1 and C2-species for the formation of propargyl was suggested to identify the synergistic effect occurring in the flames of ethylene and propane (or ethane) mixtures.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.137-143
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• 2006

The effect of electric fields on flame speed has been investigated experimentally by observing propagating premixed flames in a tube for methane/air mixtures. The flame speeds were measured in both the normal and micro gravity conditions to substantiate the measurements. The results show that the flame speeds were enhanced by both the AC and DC electric fields, as the flame approached to the high voltage electrode located on the one end of the tube. The enhancement of flame speed was proportional to the square root of the electric field intensity, defined as the voltage applied divided by the distance of flame from the high voltage electrode, when the electric field intensity is sufficiently large. When the electric field intensity was low, there existed critical intensities, below which the electric fields did not influence the flame speed. This critical electric field intensity correlated well with the flame speed.