• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.588-596
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• 2020

This study was carried out to increase the treatment efficiency through the improvement of the conventional biological process, and to propose the optimal treatment direction. The optimal treatment conditions were derived based on the results of the spike damage tests in each single process. The removal efficiency of micropharmaceuticals was further increased when an ozone treatment process was added to the biological process compared to the single process. The soil and activated carbon adsorption process was introduced in the post-treatment to remove the micropharmaceutical residues, and the removal efficiency of the pharmaceduticals in the final effluent was more than 85% in spike damage experiment. In particular, the continuous process of biological treatment-ozone-adsorption could ensure the stable treatment of micropharmaceuticals, which had not been efficiently removed in the single process, as it showed more than 80% removal efficiency. Therefore, it is expected that the addition of the ozone oxidation and activated carbon adsorption process to the existing sewage treatment facilities can contribute to the efficient removal of micropharmaceuticals.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.69-77
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• 2020

Former studies revealed that sepiolite thermally treated at high temperature have high adsorption capacity for phosphate. However, its micron size (75 ㎛) limits its application to water treatment. In this study, we synthesized sepiolite impregnated polysulfone (PSf) beads to separate it easily from an aqueous solution. PSf beads with different sepiolite ratios were synthesized and their efficiencies were compared. The PSf beads with 30% impregnated sepiolite (30SPL-PSf bead) possessed the optimum sepiolite ratio for phosphate removal. Kinetic, equilibrium, and thermodynamic adsorption experiments were performed using the 30SPL-PSf bead. Equilibrium adsorption was achieved in 24 h, and the pseudo-first-order model was suitable for describing the phosphate adsorption at different reaction times. The Langmuir model was appropriate for describing the phosphate adsorption onto the 30SPL-PSf bead, and the maximum adsorption capacity of the 30SPL-PSf bead obtained from the model was 24.48 mg-PO₄/g. Enthalpy and entropy increased during the phosphate adsorption onto the 30SPL-PSf bead, and Gibb's free energy at 35 ℃ was negative. An increase in the solution pH from 3 to 11 induced a decrease in the phosphate adsorption amount from 27.30 mg-PO₄/g to 21.54 mg-PO₄/g. The competitive anion influenced the phosphate adsorption onto the 30SPL-PSf bead was in the order of NO₃^- > SO₄^2- > HCO_3^-. The phosphate breakthrough from the column packed with the 30SPL-PSf bead began after ~2000 min, reaching the influent concentration after ~8000 min. The adsorption amounts per unit mass of 30SPL-PSf and removal efficiency were 0.775 mg-PO₄/g and 61.6%, respectively. This study demonstrates the adequate performance of 30SPL-PSf beads as a filter for phosphate removal from aqueous solutions.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.171-177
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• 2020

Removal through adsorption is the most widely used and effective treatment method for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaust gases. However, at high temperatures and humidity, adsorption is competitive due to the presence of moisture and unsmooth physical adsorption thereby deteriorating adsorption performance. Therefore, water adsorption honeycomb (WAH) and VOCs adsorption honeycomb (VAH) were prepared to improve VOCs adsorption at high temperatures and humidity. Adsorbed toluene amounts on single honeycomb (SH), containing only VAH, and combined honeycomb (CH), containing WAH and VAH, were determined. Further, the toluene adsorption rates of honeycomb adsorbents mounted on rotary systems, VAH-single rotor (SR) and WAH/VAH-dual rotor (DR) were determined. Toluene adsorption by WAH/VAH-CH (inlet temperature: 40-50℃; absolute humidity: 28-83 gH₂O/kg-dry air) was 1.6 times that by VAH-SH, and the water adsorption efficiency of WAH/VAH-CH was 1.7 times that of VAH-SH. The adsorption/removal efficiency of the WAH/VAH-DR (inlet temperature: 45℃; absolute humidity: 37.5 gH₂O/kg-dry air) was 3% higher than that of VAH-SR. This indicates that the WAH at the rotor inlet selectively removed water, thereby improving the adsorption efficiency of the VAH at the outlet.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.425-434
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• 1994

After two highly weathered soils were treated with glucose, ammonium nitrate, monobasic potassium phosphate and biocides, and incubated for 4 or 6 weeks, adsorption tests were carried out to determine their effect on P adsorption. Glucose addition generally decreased P adsorption. The addition stimulated microbial activity, which might contribure to the reduced adsorption, probably through chelation and anion competition. Consistent endency was not observed with N treatment. Addition of P initially decreased P adsorption, probably through blockage of adsorption sites. Biocides generally decreased adsorption, probably because the microbes that 몬 been killed. Soil 1 with naturally lower levels of C and higher levels of aluminium adsorbed more P than soil 2. These results suggest that in highly weathered soils, which are low in available P and high in exchangeable Al, cultivation techniques which increase soil organic matter will also result in higher levels of plant-available P.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.555-571
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• 2016

Heavy metal contamination has attracted considerable attention during recent decades due to the potential risk brought about for human beings and the environment. Several adsorbent materials are utilized for the purification of contaminated water resources among which chitosan is considered as an appropriate alternative. Copper is a heavy metal contaminants found in several industrial wastewaters and its adsorption on porous and macroporous chitosan membranes is investigated in this study. Membranes are prepared by phase inversion and particulate leaching method and their morphology is characterized using SEM analysis. Batch adsorption experiments are performed and it is found that copper adsorption on macroporous chitosan membrane is higher than porous membrane. The iso-steric heat of adsorption was determined by analyzing the variations of temperature to investigate its effect on adsorption characteristics of macroporous chitosan membranes. Furthermore, desorption experiments were studied using NaCl and EDTA as eluants. The mechanism of copper adsorption was also investigated using XPS spectroscopy which confirms simultaneous occurrence of chelation and electrostatic adsorption mechanisms.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.328-332
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• 2006

Fe(III)-impregnated activated carbon (Fe-AC) was applied in the treatment of synthetic wastewater containing Cu(II). To investigate the stability of Fe-AC at acidic condition, dissolution of Fe was studied with a variation of solution pH ranging from 2 to 4. Fe-AC was unstable at pH 2, showing a gradual increase of the dissoluted Fe as reaction time increased, while negligible amount of Fe was dissoluted above pH 3. This stability test suggests the applicability of Fe-AC in the treatment of wastewater above pH 3. Adsorption capacity of Cu(II) onto activated carbon (AC) and Fe-AC was investigated in a batch and a column test. In the adsorption kinetics, rapid adsorption of Cu(II) onto AC and Fe-AC was noted at initial reaction time and then reached a near complete equilibrium after 6 hrs. Adsorption trends of Cu(II) onto AC and Fe-AC were similar, showing an increased Cu(II) adsorption at higher pH. Compared with AC, Fe-AC showed a greater Cu(II) adsorption over the entire pH range studied in this research. From the adsorption isotherm obtained with variation of the concentration of Cu(II), the maximum adsorption capacity was identified as 61,700 mg/kg.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.323-334
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• 2020

Adsorption by granule activated carbon(GAC) is recognized as an efficient method for the removal of perfluorinated compounds(PFCs) in water, while the poor regeneration and exchange cycles of granule active carbon make it difficult to sustain adsorption capacity for PFCs. In this study, the behavior of PFCs in the effluent of wastewater treatment plant (S), the raw water and the effluents of drinking water treatment plants (M1 and M2) located in Nakdong river waegwan watershed was monitored. Optimal regeneration and exchange cycles was also investigated in drinking water treatment plants and lab-scale adsorption tower for stable PFCs removal. The mean effluent concentration of PFCs was 0.044 0.04 PFHxS g/L, 0.000 0.00 PFOS g/L, 0.037 0.011 PFOA g/L, for S wastewater treatment plant, 0.023 0.073 PFHxS g/L, 0.000 0.00 PFOS g/L, 0.013 0.008 PFOA g/L for M1 drinking water treatment plant and 0.023 0.073 PFHxS g/L, 0.000 0.01 PFOS g/L, 0.011 0.009 PFOA g/L for M2 drinking water treatment plant. The adsorption breakthrough behaviors of PFCs in GAC of drinking water treatment plant and lab-scale adsorption tower indicated that reactivating carbon 3 times per year suggested to achieve and maintain good removal of PFASs. Considering the results of mass balance, the adsorption amount of PFCs was improved by using GAC with high-specific surface area (2,500㎡/g), so that the regeneration cycle might be increased from 4 months to 10 months even if powdered activated carbon(PAC) could be alternatives. This study provides useful insights into the removal of PFCs in drinking water treatment plant.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.31-39
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• 2009

In this research, I carried out the adsorption and removal test of Pb, Ni, Co and Cu ions using organic substances spread out any where in the nature which can be obtained easily from our neighbor-such as Paulownia coreana, Pinus densiflora, Juniperus chinesis, Quercus dentata, Magnolia kobus, Platanus occidentalis, Gingko biloba, Diospyros kaki leaves. As the result of the research to find the best optional condition for the adsorption and removal, shows that the adsorption and removal ratio of Pb ion by a Paulownia coreana raw leaves is 99% at $70^{\circ}C$, those of Ni ion and Co ion by Magnolia kobus formalin treatment leaves are 79% at $70^{\circ}C$, 97% at $40^{\circ}C$ respectively. And that of Cu ion by Platanus occidentalis treatment leaves is 97% at $50^{\circ}C$ in mixed solution. As the result of comparing the removal ratio by raw leaves and formalin treatment leaves, the removal ratio of treatment is 30~90% more effective than raw leaves in most cases. And I concluded Pb > Cu > Co > Ni ion in multiple solution and Co > Ni > Cu >Pb ion in single solution after testing adsorption and removal ratio of mixed solution separately as time goes by. In general, the reactions were completed within first 5 minutes. The test result of measuring the hydrolysable tannin content of each leaf shows that an overcup Quercus dentata is 11.36%, a Diospyros kaki is 10.81% and the rest of them are 2.49~4.12% in raw leaves cases. In treatment leaves cases, an overcup Quercus dentata is 3.23% and the others are less than 1%.

• Carbon letters
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.21-23
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• 2003

In this work, the effect of anodic oxidation treatment on Cr(VI) ion adsorption behaviors of activated carbon fibers (ACFs) was investigated. The aqueous solutions of 10 wt% $H_3PO_4$ and $NH_4OH$ were used for acidic and basic electrolytes, respectively. Surface characteristics and textural properties of ACFs were determined by XPS and $N_2$ adsorption at 77 K. The heavy metal adsorption of ACFs was conducted by ICP. As a result, the adsorption amount of the anodized ACFs was improved in order of B-ACFs > A-ACFs > pristine-ACFs. In case of the anodized treated ACFs, the specific surface area was decreased due to the pore blocking or pore destroying by acidic electrolyte. However, the anodic oxidation led to an increase of the Cr(VI) adsorption, which can be attributed to an increase of oxygen-containing functional groups, such as, carboxylic, lactonic, and phenolic groups. It was clearly found that the Cr(VI) adsorption was largely influenced by the surface functional groups, in spite of the reduced specific surface area of the ACFs.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.231-235
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• 2020

Industrialization and modern developments have led to an influx of toxic heavy metals into the aquatic environment, and the accumulation of heavy metals has serious adverse effects on humans. Among the various heavy metal treatment methods, adsorption is very useful and frequently used. Plastic materials, such as polypropylene and polyethylene, have been widely used as filter media due to their mechanical and chemical stability. However, the surface of plastic material is inert and therefore the adsorption capability of heavy metals is very limited. In this study, granular media and fiber media composed of polypropylene and polyethylene are used, and the surface modification was conducted in order to increase adsorption capability toward heavy metals. Oxygen plasma generated hydroxyl groups on the surface of the media to activate the surface, and then acrylic acid was synthesized on the surface. The grafted carboxyl group was confirmed by FT-IR and SEM. Heavy metal adsorption capability of pristine and surface modified adsorbents was also evaluated. Overall, heavy metal adsorption capability was increased by surface modification due to electrostatic interaction between the carboxyl groups and heavy metal ions. Fibrous PP/PE showed lower improvement compared to granular PP media because pore blockage occurred by the surface modification step, thereby inhibiting mass transfer.