• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.670-675
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• 2004

Humic acids are macromolecules originated from natural water, soil, and sediment. The characteristics of humic acid enable it to change the distribution of metals as well as many kinds of organic contaminants and to determine the sorption of them from soil solution. To see the effect of humic acid on the removal rate of organic contaminants and heavy metals, batch-scale experiments were performed. As a natural geosorbent, black shale was used as a sorbent media, which showed hight sorption capacity of trichloroethylene (TCE), lead, cadmium and chromium. The effect of sorption-desorption, pH, ionic strength and the concentration of humic acid was taken into consideration. TCE sorption capacity by black shale was compared to natural bentonite and hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) modified bentonite. The removal rate was good and humic acid also sorbed onto black shale very well. The organic part of humic acid could effectively enhance the partition of TCE and it act as an electron donor to reduce Cr(VI) to Cr(III). Cationic metal of Pb(II) and Cd(II) also removed from the water by black shale. With 3 mg/L of humic acid, both Pb(II) and Cd(II) were removed more than without humic acid. That could be explained by sorption and complexation with humic acid and that was possible when humic acid could change the hydrophobicity and solubility of heavy metals. Humic acid exhibited desorption-resistivity with black shale, which implied that black shale could be an alternative sorbent or material for remediation of organic contaminants and heavy metals.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.843-849
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• 2007

Monitoring of NOM characteristics is important for improving removal efficiency of natural organic matter (NOM) in water treatment processes. In this study, several NOM characteristics, which include specific UV absorbance (SUVA), total carbonate content, molecular weight distribution, and fluorescence properties, were measured using samples collected from a pilot-scale water treatment plant consisting of coagulation/flocculation (C/F), filtration, ozonation and granular activated carbon (GAC) processes. The highest removal of NOM was observed in C/F and filtration processes as demonstrated by the reduction of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by 25% and 21%, respectively. Despite nearly no change in DOC, however, the lowest SUVA value and the highest total carbohydrate content were observed in the sample from ozonation process. This indicates that non-degradable aromatic compounds become depleted and biodegradable organic compounds are enriched during the process. Comparison of synchronous fluorescence spectra of the samples showed that ozoation process increased protein-like fluorescence while it decreased fulvic-like and terrestrial humic-like fluorescence. Consistently, a slight peak of protein-like fluorescence was observed in the sample from ozonation process. The greatest change in molecular weight distributions of the samples was observed in C/F process. Comparison of size exclusion chromatogram of the samples revealed that NOM fractions with the molecular weight greater than 2000 Da were reduced by over 90% after C/F process. SUVA values and total carbohydrate content of the samples were well correlated with a ratio of protein-like fluorescence and terrestrial humic-like fluorescence intensities with the correlation coefficients of 0.99 and 0.91, respectively. This suggests that synchronous fluorescence properties of NOM could be used as useful tolls for monitoring changes of some NOM characteristics during water treatment processes.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.415-422
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• 2008

Drinking water treatment is enhanced by coagulant dosages and chlorine injection because of pH increase in raw water in droughty seasons such as spring and fall. But water quality deterioration is occurred by increase in residual aluminium and disinfection by-products. Coagulation process can be used to control natural organic matter (NOM) during water treatment. The effect of coagulation process appeared to depend on the pH of water rather than coagulant dosages. In this study, for water treatment in high pH season $H_2SO_4$ was applied for pH adjustment at full scale. Before and after pH adjustment by $H_2SO_4$ injection, water quality of drinking water was evaluate. In the result of investigation of total organic carbon (TOC) removal in high pH season, TOC was removed approximately 30~40%, which showed decrease in water treatment efficiency. Also, it is increased both particle numbers and residual Al concentration in the water. After $H_2SO_4$ injection for adjustment to pH<7.5 in settled water, treated water turbidity decreased in 0.047 NTU from 0.059 NTU, and particle numbers of filtered water decreased in 20/mL from 90/mL. On the other side, TOC removal efficiency increased in approximately 10% after adjustment of pH. In the result of decrease in pH in raw water through more coagulants and prechlorine without $H_2SO_4$ injection, trihalomethanes (THMs) concentration increased in $16{\mu}g/L$ from $8{\mu}g/L$.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.65-70
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• 2003

Shihwa tidal freshwater marsh was constructed recently to treat pollutants entering Shihwa lake. In this study, we examined the spatial and temporal patterns of heavy metal accumulation in soils of Shihwa marsh and sought correlations between several soil variables (pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, and acid ammonium oxalate-extractable Fe and Al contents) and the heavy metal concentration of soils. Surface soil samples (0∼20 cm) were collected in June 2000, November 2000, and July 2001, and were analyzed for heavy metals (Zn, Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr, As, and Hg) and soil chemical properties. The neutral pH and water-saturated conditions of Shihwa marsh appeared to favor immobilization of heavy metal through adsorption onto soils. The concentrations of heavy metal (especially Zn, Cu, and Cr) in soils of Shihwa marsh increased along the sampling occasions, suggesting that soils of Shihwa marsh serve as a sink of heavy metal. Among the sub-marshes, metal concentrations were highest in Banweol high marshes and lowest in Samhwa marshes. The temporal and spatial variations in the heavy metal concentrations of soils were correlated positively with organic matter and oxalate extractable Fe and Al contents, but negatively with electrical conductivity. These results suggest that organic matter and hydrous oxide of Fe/Al may playa key role in removing heavy metals in soils of Shihwa marsh, and that heavy metal removing capacity would increase with desalinization. However, the removal patterns of heavy metal by reeds warrant further studies to evaluate the total removal capacity of heavy metals by Shihwa marsh.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.23-29
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• 2008

It has been mentioned that CSTR (Completely Stirred Tank Reactor) and UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket) processes, the existing anaerobic processes, have problems in the treatment of highly concentrated particulate organic wastewater (HCPOW). Therefore, this paper discusses the treatment possibility of distillery wastewater which is a typical HCPOW using ADEPT (anaerobic Digestion Elutriated Phased Treatment) process. In the comparison of CSTR and ADEPT, ADEPT produced much higher gas than that of CSTR removing more organic matters and suspended solids in ADEPT process, ADEPT had no effect on the decrease in pH by volatile fatty acids and showed steady pH in spite of relatively short HRT. In the results of removal rate according to recycle ratios between 6Qin and 2Qin in ADEPT, 6Qin showed high removal rate during the operation time. Therefore it appears that ADEPT had an applicability for the treatment of distillery wastewater. ADEPT could be a economical process, due to the short HRT, the energy recovery by the methane production, and the utilization for carbon source of produced organic acid from the ADEPT-acid reactor.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.59-66
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• 2008

A biological study was conducted to evaluate the enhancement of landfarming of soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) applying organic composite nutrients and a chemical oxidation during bioremediation. The target value of soil TPH after treatment was 500 mg/kg TPH. Addition of an organic compost and liquid swine manure for the removal of soil THP showed higher efficiency as 84.4% and 92.2% respectively than inorganic nutrients of 80.2%. In addition to the removal of non-biodegradable portion of residual hydrocarbons in soil, a chemical oxidation was applied during tailing period of the biological remediation, which showed high remediation efficiency as 98.1% compared with single bioremediation efficiency of 84.7%.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1473-1480
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• 2011

Perchlorate ($ClO_4^-$) is a contaminant found in surface water and soil/ground water. Microbial removal of perchlorate is the method of choice since microorganisms can reduce perchlorate into harmless end-products. Such microorganisms require an electron donor to reduce perchlorate. Conventional perchlorate-removal techniques employ heterotrophic perchlorate-reducing bacteria that use organic compounds as electron donors to reduce perchlorate. Since continuous removal of perchlorate requires a continuous supply of organic compounds, heterotrophic perchlorate removal is an expensive process. Feasibility of autotrophic perchlorate-removal using elemental sulfur granules and activated sludge was examined in this study. Granular sulfur is relatively inexpensive and activated sludge is easily available from wastewater treatment plants. Batch tests showed that activated sludge microorganisms could successfully degrade perchlorate in the presence of granular sulfur as an electron donor. Perchlorate biodegradation was confirmed by molar yield of $Cl^-$ as the perchlorate was degraded. Scanning electron microscope revealed that rod-shaped microorganisms on the surface of sulfur particles were used for the autotrophic perchlorate-removal, suggesting that sulfur particles could serve as supporting media for the formation of biofilm as well. DGGE analyses revealed that microbial profile of the inoculum (activated sludge) was different from that of the biofilm sample obtained from enrichment culture that used sulfur particles for $ClO_4^-$-degradation.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.97-102
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• 2007

The piggery wastewater is the major source of the water pollution problem in the rural area. The treatment alternatives for piggery wastewater are limited by the characteristics of both high organic and nitrogen(N) content. In order to investigate an efficient N removal system, the thermophilic aerobic digestion process was examined. The experiment was investigated organic and nitrogen removal efficiency at various HRTs and air supply volume. The results of semi-continuous experiment indicated that a higher removal of the soluble portion of COD was achieved with the longer HRTs. However, the inert portion of COD in piggery wastewater was not much changed by thermophilic aerobic digestion. In addition, with the higher HRT of 3 days, up to 79% of NH4-N removal efficiency was achieved. Lower the HRTs, a decrease of NH4-N removal was founds. The gas samples from the lab reactor were analyzed along with the N content in influent and effluent. The N2O formation in our system indicates a novel aerobic deammonification process occurred during the thermophilic aerobic digestion. Both N02 and N03 were not presented in the effluent of thermophilic aerobic digester. With the HRT of 3 days, 36.4% of influent N(or 57.5% removal N) was aerobically converted to N2O gas. The ammonium conversion to N2O gas significantly decrease to 4.5% at low HRT of .05 day..

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.460-465
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• 2007

In this study, the removal characteristic of ammonia nitrogen and behavior of nitrogen was investigated using Leclercia adecarboxylata, which was derived from the culture contaminated by ammonia nitrogen of high concentration. The method of ammonia nitrogen removal was not biological nitrification and denitrification but elimination of nutrient salt with internal synthesis of microorganisms which use ammonia nitrogen as substrate. L. adecarboxylata(one of ammonia synthesis microorganisms) was highly activated and showed the most high removal efficiency in free salt condition but the removal efficiency decreased badly in salt concentration of more than 4%. About 80 mg/L of $NH_3-N$ was mostly removed within 20 hours and 500 mg/L of $NH_3-N$ showed less then removal efficiency of 50% because carbon source was not enough. However, ammonium nitrogen concentration was decreased again when the carbon source was inserted additionally thus, ammonium nitrogen removal efficiency by L. adecarboxylata, was related to amount of carbon source. pH decreased from 8.0 to 6.36 according to growth of L. adecarboxylata. Concentration of nitrite nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen did not increase and TKN concentration showed no variation while ammonia nitrogen was removed by L. adecarboxylata. In addition to, when content of protein in organic nitrogen was measured, protein was not detected at the beginning of microorganism synthesis but protein of 193.1 mg/L was detected after 48 hours. Hence, ammonium nitrogen was not decomposed as nitrate nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen but synthesized by L. adecarboxylata, which has excellent ability of nitrogen synthesis and can threat ammonia nitrogen of high concentration in wastewater.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.657-665
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• 2014

This study was carried out to study the effect of eggplant (EG203) grafting and strawberry removal time on succeeding tomato cropping in high temperature season. In non tillage culture, bacterial wilt incidence was 30% and 0% in nongrafting and eggplant (EG203) grafting while 25% in non-grafting and 0% in eggplant (EG203) grafting in tillage culture. Commercial yield was similar in tillage and non-tillage culture using EG-203 grafting as 2,693 kg/10a and 2,657 kg/10a respectively with no difference in soluble solid content and hardness. Strawberry removal time after tomato planting enhanced plant height and internode length in 20days and 30days later removal while no difference in other growth characters. Commercial yield was higher as 1,885 kg/10a in strawberry removal before tomato planting than 1,678 kg/10a in 30days later removal. From this research, strawberry removal time should be determined by considering strawberry price and growth and expecting profit by succeeding tomato cropping.