• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2010

Removal and mineralization of dissolved uranium by bacteria in KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel), Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) was investigated. Two different bacteria, IRB (iron-reducing bacteria) and SRB (sulfate-reducing bacteria) was used, and minerals formed by these bacteria were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Compared to uranyl ions, ferric ions were preferentially reduced by IRB, showing that there is no significant reduction and removal of uranium. However, uranium concentration considerably decreased by addition of Mn(II). Results show that a sulfide mineral such as mackinawite (FeS) is formed by SRB respiration through combination of Fe(II) and S without manganese sulfide formation. In the presence of Mn(II), however, uranium is removed effectively, suggesting that the sorption and incorporation of uranium could be affected by Mn(II) onto the sulide minerals.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.52-55
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• 2000

The effects of environmental conditions, initial dissolved oxygen concentrations, pH, and the presence of electron carrier vitamin B$_{12}$ , on the reduction rate of TNT by Fe$^{0}$ was Quantitatively analyzed using a batch reactor. In all experiments, TNT reduction was best described with a first order reaction and the reduction rate decreased with the increase in the initial DO concentration. However, the specific reaction rate did not decrease linearly with the increase in the initial DO concentration. In the presence of HEPES buffer 0.2 and 2.0 mM(pH 5.7$\pm$0.2), the specific reaction rate increased more than 5.8 times, which showed reduction rate is rather significantly influenced by the pH of the solution. To test the possibility of reaction rate enhancement, well-known electron carrier(or mediator), vitamin B$_{12}$ has augmented besides Fe$^{0}$ . In the presence of 8.0 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L of vitamin B$_{12}$ , the specific reaction rate increased as much as 14.6 times. The results indicate that the addition of trace amount of vitamin B$_{12}$ can be a promising rate controlling option for the removal of organics using a Fe$^{0}$ filled permeable reactive barrier.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.3 s.99
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• pp.213-219
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• 2002

The CellCaSi, a porous silicate material, was tested for the removal of phosphorus (P as phosphate) in water. The effect of the CellCaSi was investigated on the basis of both particle size (under 1,2, and 4 mm) and added amount (0, 1, 2.5, 5, and 10 g/1) of the CellCaSi. The removal efficiency of phosphorus was highest with a particle size of under 1 mm and also increased with an increasing amount of the CellCaSi. The pH change showed little effect on the phosphorus removal of the CellCaSi. The calcium ion was eluted from the CellCaSi into the water, while the aluminium and iron were not. The eluted calcium ion was combined with dissolved phosphorus and then precipitated. The highest removal efficiency of phosphorus was obtained by the combined addition of the CellCaSi, calcium chloride, and ferric chloride. That is, the phosphorus concentrations of 0.10 and 1.0 mg/1 decreased to 0.03 and 0.47 mg/l by the addition of the CellCaSi (1 g/l), calcium ion (30 mg/l), and ferric ion (1 mg/l) at day 8 after treatment. The water qualities at the end of the experiment were as follows: pH was 8.1 and conductivity was 318 ${\mu}$S/cm (a registered maximum conductivity of 500${\mu}$S/cm for raw and potable wafers).

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.445-455
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• 2009

Microbiological sulfate reduction is the transformation of sulfate to sulfide catalyzed by the activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria using sulfate as an electron acceptor. Low solubility of metal sulfides leads to precipitation of the sulfides in solution. The effects of microbiological sulfate reduction on in-situ precipitation of arsenic and copper were investigated for the heavy metal-contaminated soil around the Songcheon Au-Ag mine site. Total concentrations of As, Cu, and Pb were 1,311 mg/kg, 146 mg/kg, and 294 mg/kg, respectively, after aqua regia digestion. In batch-type experiments, indigenous sulfate-reducing bacteria rapidly decreased sulfate concentration and redox potential and led to substantial removal of dissolved As and Cu from solution. Optimal concentrations of carbon source and sulfate for effective microbial sulfate reduction were 0.2~0.5% (w/v) and 100~200 mg/L, respectively. More than 98% of injected As and Cu were removed in the effluents from both microbial and chemical columns designed for metal sulfides to be precipitated. However, after the injection of oxygen-rich solution, the microbial column showed the enhanced long-term stability of in-situ precipitated metals when compared with the chemical column which showed immediate increase in dissolved As and Cu due to oxidative dissolution of the sulfides. Black precipitates formed in the microbial column during the experiments and were identified as iron sulfide and copper sulfide. Arsenic was observed to be adsorbed on surface of iron sulfide precipitate.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.493-501
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• 2007

The membrane pilot plant has being operated in the Hyeondo pumping station to find the optimal operation technique of Gong-Ju membrane water treatment plant (WTP) which is constructing in $250m^3/d$ scale. The pilot plant was consisted of two trains which can treat $30,000m^3/d$ per train. First train was operated for one year under the condition of flux $1m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$ while the effects of flux variation and addition of powdered activated carbon(PAC) were evaluated in second train. The turbidity of membrane product water of first train which is operated on Flux $1m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$ was always below 0.05 NTU regardless of raw water turbidity. And also, the trance-membrane pressure(TMP) was maintained at $0.3{\sim}0.5kgf/cm^2$ for about 9 months and increased rapidly to $1.8kgf/cm^2$ which is maximum operating TMP. However, TMP was rapidly increased to $1.8kgf/cm^2$ within 2 months as flux was increased from 1 to $2m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$, especially, within 10 days under high turbidity(30~50NTU). This reault means that if Gongju membrane WTP is operated in flux $1m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$, chemical cleaning period can be maintained over 6 months. Only 10% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was removed in membrane process while the removal efficiencies of manganese and iron were 60% and 77% respectively. However, because only solid manganese and iron were removed in membrane process, an additional process for treating soluble manganese is required if souble manganese is high in raw water. 70% of 70ng/L 2-MIB which is causing taste & odor was removed in powdered activated carbon (PAC) tank with 50mg/L PAC which is design concentration of Gongju WTP. In addition, TMP was reduced with addition of 50mg/L PAC regardless of flux. Because TMP was not influenced even if 100mg/L PAC was added, the high taste and odor problem can be controled by additional injection of PAC.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.413-419
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• 2011

Nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) particles were tested as remediation media for groundwater contaminated by organic pollutants (e.g., TCE, trichloroethylene). The contaminated groundwater contained anions ($NO_3^-$, $Cl^-$, $SO_4^{2-}$, and $HCO_3^-$) and natural organic matter (NOM). Treatability of commercial NZVI particles (NANOFER 25, Nanoiron, Czech) was tested by using a synthetic groundwater and the field groundwater samples. More than 95% of 1.8 mM TCE was removed within 20 hours with a NZVI dosage of 25 g/L ($k=0.15hr^{-1}$). Repetitive degradation experiments revealed that the removal capacity of NANOFER 25 was 0.19 mmole TCE/g NZVI. TCE degradation reactions were not substantially affected by the presence of each anion with concentrations as high as 100 times the average field concentrations. However, when the four anions ($NO_3^-$, $Cl^-$, $SO_4^{2-}$, $HCO_3^-$) were present simultaneously. the degradation reactivity and removal capacity were decreased by 60% ($k=0.069hr^{-1}$) and 10%, respectively. The k value of TCE degradation in the presence of NZVI (25 g/L) with dissovled organic carbon of 2.5 mg/L was also decreased by 84% ($k=0.025hr^{-1}$). In the experiments with the field groundwater, more than 90% of $1.8{\mu}M$ TCE, which is the concentration of TCE at the source zone, was removed within 10 hours with a NANOFER 25 dosage of 25 g/L. The results imply that the contaminated groundwater can effectively be treated by NANOFER 25 with more information on the hydrogeology of the site.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.680-687
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• 1999

To understand the role of shelf sediment in phosphorus biogeochemical cycle, we carried out sequential sediment extraction (SEDEX) of P and porewater analysis on 14 core samples collected in the South Sea of Korea, SEDEX classified P-pools into 5 phases and results are grouped into two categories: reactive P (loosely sorbed-P and Fe bound-P) and refractory P (detrital inorganic-p, authigenic mineral-P and organic-P). Total P concentrations are decreased with sediment depth in all samples as a result of dissolution to porewater. Reactive P comprises about $20\~50\%$ of total P, and iron bound-P is the major form consisting $70\~80\%$ of reactive P-pool. Iron bound-P decreases sharply with depth. Depth profiles of dissolved P concentration in porewater show mirror image of iron bound-P, revealing the role of FeOOH as a regulator of reactive P supply to overlying water column. Authigenic mineral-P consists less than $5\%$ of total P, thus removal of reactive P by converting into refractory P seems inefficient in shelf sediment. This implies that continental shelf sediment sequesters P temporarily rather than permanently. Results show local variation. Nakdong estuary receiving large amount of terrigenous input shows the highest concentration of total P and reactive P. Here iron oxyhydroxides at the surface sediment control the water column flux of P from sediment. Although total P content at the surface is comparable (500$\~$600 ${\mu}g{\cdot}g^{-1}$) between the South Sea and East China Sea, the former contains more iron bound-P and less derital inorganic-P than the latter. Reasons for the difference seem due in part to particle texture, and to biological productivity which depends roughly on the distance from land.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2000

The effects of environmental conditions, initial dissolved oxygen concentrations, pH, and the presence of electron carrier vitamin $B_{12}$, on the reduction rate of Tn by $Fe^0$ was quantitatively analyzed using a batch reactor In all experiments, TNT reduction was best described with a first order reaction and the reduction rate decreased with the increase in the initial DO concentration. However, the specific reaction rate did not decrease linearly with the increase in the initial DO concentration. In the presence of HEPES buffer 0.2 and 2.0 mM(pH 5.7$\pm$0.2), the specific reaction rate increased more than 5.8 times, which showed reduction rate is rather significantly influenced by the pH of the solution. To test the possibility of reaction rate enhancement, well-known electron carrier(or mediator) , vitamin $B_{12}$, has augmented besides $Fe^0$. In the presence of 8.0 $mu\textrm{g}$/L of vitamin $B_{12}$, the specific reaction rate increased as much as 14.6 times. The results indicate that the addition of trace amount of vitamin $B_{12}$ can be a promising rate controlling option for the removal of organics using a $Fe^0$ filled permeable reactive barrier.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2003

The removal of chromate from aqueous solution using finely ground pyrite and biotite was investigated by batch experiments and the kinetics and the mechanism of chromate reduction were discussed. The chromate reduction by pyrite was about hundred times faster than that by biotite and was also faster at pH 3 than at pH 4. When pyrite was used, more than 90% of initial chromate was reduced within four hours at pH 4 and within 40 min. at pH 3. However, more than 400 hours was taken for the reduction of 90% of initial chromate by biotite. The results indicate that the rate of chromate reduction was strongly depending on the amount of Fe(II) in the minerals and on the dissolution rate of Fe(II) from the minerals. The reduction of chromate at pH 4 resulted in the precipitation of (Cr, Fe)(OH))$_3$$_{ (s)}$, which is believed to have limited the concentrations of dissolved Cr(III) and Fe(III) to less than expected values. When biotite was used, amounts of decreased Fe(II) and reduced Cr(Ⅵ) did not show stoichiometric relationship, which implying there was not only chromate reduction by ferrous ions in the acidic solution but also heterogeneous reduction of ferric ions by the structural ferrous iron in biotite. However, the results from a series of the experiments using Pyrite showed that concentrations of the decreased Fe(II) and the reduced Cr(Ⅵ) were close to the stoichiometric ratio of 3:1. It was because the oxidation of pyrite rapidly created ferrous ions even in oxygenated solutions and the chromate reduction by the ferrous ions was significantly faster than ferrous ion oxygenation.