• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.289-296
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to evaluate various pre-treatment methods and proprieties of water quality for wastewater reuse using reverse osmosis (RO) processes. Secondary effluents were sampled from wastewater treatment plants and lab scale pre-treatments and RO filtration test were conducted systematically. Specifically, different types of pre-treatments, such as coagulation, microfiltration and ultrafiltration, were employed to evaluate the removal efficiency of particle and organic matters which may affect the membrane fouling rate. RO process was later added to eliminate trace amounts of remaining organic matters and salt from the raw water for wastewater reclamation. The permeate through the RO process satisfied water quality regulations for industrial water uses. The experimental results showed that the initial fouling tendency differed not only by the feed water properties but also by the membrane characteristics. Membrane fouling was greater for the membranes with large surface roughness, regardless of the hydrophobicity and zeta potentials. Thus both careful consideration of pre-treatment options and proper selection of RO membrane are of paramount importance for an efficient operation of wastewater treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.46-52
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• 2007

As flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater contains high concentrations of nitrate and is very low in organic carbon, the feasibility of nitrate removal by autotrophic denitrification using Thiobacillus denitrificans was studied. This autotrophic bacteria oxidizes elemental sulfur to sulfate while reducing nitrate to elemental nitrogen gas, thereby eliminating the need for addition of organic compounds such as methanol. Owing to the unusually high concentrations of dissolved salts $(Ca^{2+},\;Mg^{2+},\;Na^+,\;K^+,\;B^+,\;SO_4^{2-},\;Cl^-,\;F^-,)$ in the FGD wastewater, extensive laboratory-scale and pilot-scale tests were carried out in sulfur-limestone reactors (1) to determine the effect of salinity on autotrophic denitrification, (2) to evaluate the use of limestone for pH control and as source of inorganic carbon for microbial growth, and, (3) to find the optimum environmental and operational conditions for autotrophic denitrification of FGD wastewater. The experimental results demonstrated that (1) autotrophic denitrification is not inhibited up to 1.8 mol total dissolved salt content; (2) inorganic carbon and inorganic phosphorus must be present in sufficiently high concentrations; (3) limestone can supply effective buffering capacity and inorganic carbon; (4) the high calcium concentration may interfere with pH control, phosphorus solubility and limestone dissolution, hence requiring pretreatment of the FGD wastewater; and, 5) under optimum conditions, complete autotrophic denitrification of FGD wastewater was obtained in a sulfur-limestone packed bed reactor with a sulfur:limestone volume ratio of 2:1 for volumetric loading rates up to 400g $NO_{3^-}N/m^3.d$. The interesting interactions between autotrophic denitrification, pH, alkalinity, and the unusually high calcium and boron content of the FGD wastewater are highlighted. The engineering significance of the results is discussed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.1-16
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• 1993

This paper describes an investigation to determine whether the activated sludge (AS) process could be used for the treatment of wastewater at the Union Carbide Coporation (UCC) plant in Seadrift, Texas. This plant presently utilizes a waste stabilization pond (WSP) system for treatment of the wastewater. The treatment system consists of an in-plant primary WSP and two off-plant WSPs (secondary and tertiary WSPs), run in series. The total hydraulic detention time of the WSP system is approximately 150 days. Several laboratory-based treatability studies have been conducted to evaluate the performace of the WSP system and the degradability of specific chemical compounds. From an additional study, it was determined that the WSP system was stressed and occasionally operating near the limit of its treatment capacity. The existing primary WSP plays an important role in the overall treatmemt system, because it not only functions as a pH and organic-strength equalization basin, but also serves as a "preconditioning" basin by fermenting high strength organic wastes to volatile organic acids for subsequent degradation in the escondary WSP. However, in view of pending RCRA legislatin conerning the "proposed organic toxicity characteristics limits" (40 CFR Part261: Federal Register, July, 1988), it is possible that the primary WSP will have to be abandoned in favor of alternative treatment options. Therefore the main purpose of this study was to perform activated sludge treatability evaluations for the development of an alternative to the existing primary WSP treatment ststem. In addition, another purpose was to determine the degradability of bis(2-chloroethyl)ether (Chlorex or CX) and benzene(BZ) in the activated sludge process. The presence of these two chemicals in the wastewater of the plant prompted the question of whatedether they could be degraded in an activated sludge system.

• 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.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2022

Growing industrialization leads to severe water pollution. Organic effluents from pharmaceuticals and textile industries released in wastewater adversely affect the environment and human health. Presence of antibiotics used for antibacterial treatment in wastewater leads to the growth of drug resistance bacteria, which is very harmful for human being. Various small organic molecules are used for the preparation of organic dye molecules in the textile industries. These molecules hardly degrade, which is present in the wastewater effluents from printing and dyeing industries. In order to address these problems, photoactive catalyst is embedded in the membrane and wastewater are passed through it. Through this process, organic molecules are photodegraded and at the same time, the degraded compounds are separated by the membrane. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is a semiconductor which behave as excellent photocatalyst. Photocatalytic ability is enhanced by the making its composite with other transition metal oxide and incorporated into polymeric membrane. In this review, the degradation of dye and drug molecules by photocatalytic membrane are discussed.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.279-284
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• 2013

In this study, the feasibility of a single-stage thermophilic aerobic process for the treatment of high-strength food wastewater produced from the recycling process of food wastes was examined to substitute anaerobic digestion process. Also, the removal and stability of thermophilic aerobic process were assessed according to the changes of hydraulic retention times (HRTs) and organic loading rates (OLRs). When the OLR increased from 9.2 to $37.2kgCOD/m^3d$, a pH value in R1 (HRT : 5 d) significantly decreased to 5.0, due to the organic acid accumulation. On the other hand, the pH value in R2 (HRT : 10 d) was stable and R2 showed the high removal of COD, organic acid and lipid, even though the OLR increased from 4.6 to $18.6kgCOD/m^3d$. In R1, the COD loading rates for COD removal was suddenly dropped, as the COD loading rate increased from 18.6 to $28.4kgCOD/m^3d$. In contrast, R2 showed that the COD loading rates for COD removal increased with regard to increment in the loading rates of 3.61, 7.05, 9.43 and $12.2kgCOD/m^3d$, indicative of the high COD removal efficiency. Therefore, the results demonstrated that over 10-d HRT, the high concentration of raw food wastewater was efficiently treated in the single-stage thermophilic aerobic process.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1221-1228
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• 2005

Carbon electrode was applied to a wastewater treatment system as biofilm media. The spatial distribution of heterotrophic bacteria in aerobic wastewater biofilm grown on carbon electrode was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and biomass measurement. Five volts of electric oxidation and reduction potential were charged to the carbon anode and cathode of the bioelectrochemical system, respectively, but were not charged to electrodes of a conventional system. To correlate the biofilm architecture of bacterial populations with their activity, the bacterial treatment efficiency of organic carbons was measured in the bioelectrochemical system and compared with that in the conventional system. In the SEM image, the biofilm on the anodic medium of the bioelectrochemical system looked intact and active; however, that on the carbon medium of the conventional system appeared to be shrinking or damaging. In the AFM image, the thickness of biofilm formed on the carbon medium was about two times of those on the anodic medium. The bacterial treatment efficiency of organic carbons in the bioelectrochemical system was about 1.5 times higher than that in the conventional system. Some denitrifying bacteria can metabolically oxidize $H_{2}$, coupled to reduction of $NO_{3}^{-}\;to\;N_{2}$. $H_{2}$ was produced from the cathode in the bioelectrochemical system by electrolysis of water but was not so in the conventional system. The denitrification efficiency was less than $22\%$ in the conventional system and more than $77\%$ in the bioelectrochemical system. From these results, we found that the electrochemical coupling reactions between aerobic and anaerobic reactors may be a useful tool for improvement of wastewater treatment and denitrification efficiency, without special manipulations such as bacterial growth condition control, C/N ratio (the ratio of carbon to nitrogen) control, MLSS returning, or biofilm refreshing.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1019-1027
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• 2009

A noncompartmented microbial fuel cell (NCMFC) composed of a Mn(IV)-carbon plate and a Fe(III)-carbon plate was used for electricity generation from organic wastewater without consumption of external energy. The Fe(III)-carbon plate, coated with a porous ceramic membrane and a semipermeable cellulose acetate film, was used as a cathode, which substituted for the catholyte and cathode. The Mn(IV)-carbon plate was used as an anode without a membrane or film coating. A solar cell connected to the NCMFC activated electricity generation and bacterial consumption of organic matter contained in the wastewater. More than 99% of the organic matter was biochemically oxidized during wastewater flow through the four NCMFC units. A predominant bacterium isolated from the anode surface in both the conventional and the solar cell-linked NCMFC was found to be more than 99% similar to a Mn(II)-oxidizing bacterium and Burkeholderia sp., based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The isolate reacted electrochemically with the Mn(IV)-modified anode and produced electricity in the NCMFC. After 90 days of incubation, a bacterial species that was enriched on the Mn(IV)-modified anode surface in all of the NCMFC units was found to be very similar to the initially isolated predominant species by comparing 16S rDNA sequences.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.857-870
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• 2020

In this study, the antibiotic components in the final effluent from the 12 wastewater treatment facilities located in the Nakdong River basin were investigated, and the correlation between organic matters, nutrients and antibiotics was analyzed. In the final effluent of the wastewater treatment facilities, three sulfonamides antibiotics (sulfamethazine, sulfathiazole, sulfachlorpyridazine) and tetracyclines antibiotics (oxytetracycline, doxycycline) were detected. Sulfamethazine were detected at all points and ranged from 10.398 to 278.784 ng/L. Sulfathiazole were detected at 6 points (Andong, Gumi, Hapcheon, Miryang, Uiryeong, Haman), and ranged from 23.773 to 144.468 ng/L. The correlation coefficients between sulfathiazole and TSS, COD, TOC, NH₃-N, NO₂-N, and T-N components were high in the range of 0.73 to 0.92. The correlation coefficient between sulfamethazine and T-N was 0.48, and the correlation with the rest of the water quality components was low. The correlation coefficient between sulfamethazine and sulfathiazole was 0.78. Through this study, it was confirmed that the concentration of sulfonamides antibiotics was higher than the concentration of tetracyclines antibiotics in the final effluent of 12 wastewater treatment facilities in the Nakdong River basin, and the concentration of sulfathiazole increased with organic matters and nutrients.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.275-284
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• 1992

A generated problem in treated highly concentrated organic wastewater by activated sludge process is the limitation of biomass concentration and oxygen transfer capability in aeration tank. To overcome the limitation, the deep shaft activated sludge process which has high oxygen transfer capability was applied to the wastewater treatment process. This paper investigated the characteristics of liquid circulation, oxygen transfer and biological treatment of paper mill wastewater by the deep shaft activated sludge process. From the obtained results, it was found that the oxygen transfer capability in the deep shaft system was much greater than those in the conventional aeration systems and almost tantamount to the pure oxygen system. The deep shaft system could treat highly concentrated organic wastewater by higher biomass concentration and organic loading rate.