• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.310-316
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• 2006

In this study, activated carbon in a powder form was used to remove dissolved ammonia which causes a fouling smell in water. Since the adsorption capacity of common powder activated carbon is not high enough, we prepared powder activated carbon deposited on an acid solution to enhance the adsorption capacity. The acid-impregnated activated carbon was applied on the surface of porous fibril support ($10{\sim}50{\mu}m$) by which adsorption and separation processes take place simultaneously by varying effective pressure. As the result, the ammonia removal efficiency is above 60% in the mixing process which is 10~15% higher than general powder activated carbon. From the result of an experiment on the pure permeable test of a dynamic membrane, its transmittance is 400~700 LMH (liter per hour), indicating that the prepared membrane works as a microfiltration membrane. Therefore, it is expected that the membrane prepared in this way would improve the efficiency of water treatment than conventional membranes.

• Clean Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2015

We have introduced switching poles in the conventional electrolysis for the removal of ammonia in aquaculture wastewater to prevent the fouling on the electrode surface by the deposition of insoluble metallic compounds. We have also tried to locate the optimal period of switching poles considering the effect of the current loss during switching poles on the free chlorine generation. First, we have observed the decrease of free chlorine generation with the decrease of the period of switching poles due to the expected current loss, and this would lead to the decrease of ammonia removal efficiency. Meanwhile, the measurement of calcium and magnesium concentration in wastewater vs. the period of switching poles have demonstrated that a properly low level of fouling on the electrode surface could be retained with a period of switching poles of less than 60 sec by the decomposition of metallic compounds during switching poles. In a summary, we have optimized the period of switching poles to gain a high level of free chlorine generation and a high level of fouling prevention on the electrode at the same time.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.541-547
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• 2023

The effect of temperature and influent alkalinity/ammonia (K/A) ratio on the start-up of the partial nitrification (PN) process for an activated sludge-based domestic wastewater treatment was studied. Two different sequence batch reactors (SBR) were operated at 26 ℃ and 32 ℃. The relationship between temperature and the concentration of free ammonia (FA) and free acid nitrite (FNA) was investigated. A stable PN process was achieved in the 32 ℃ reactor when the influent ammonium concentration was lower than 150 mg-N/L. In contrast, the PN process in the 26 ℃ reactor had a higher nitrite accumulation rate (NAR) and ammonium removal efficiency (ARE) when the influent ammonia concentration was increased to more than 150 mg-N/L. Then three different ranges of the K/A ratio were applied to an SBR reactor. In the K/A range of 2.48~1.65, the SBR reactor achieved the highest NAR ratio (75.78%). This ratio helps to achieve the appropriate level of alkalinity to maintain a stable pH and provide a sufficient amount of inorganic carbon source for the activity of microorganisms. At the same time, FA and FNA values also reached the threshold to inhibit nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) without a significant effect on ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). Results showed that the control of temperature and K/A ratio during the start-up period may be important in establishing a stable and steady PN process for the treatment of domestic wastewater.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.261-271
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• 1997

Ammonia removal capacities of five submerged filter media, 2~3mm sand, 30~50mm gravel, 20~40mm coral sand, polythylene net, and corrugated plastic plate in a seawater recirculating system were tested. A rotating biological contactor (RBC) was also tested for comparison. Oxygen consumption rates were measured along with the ammonia removal efficiencies. The ammonia concentrations in the system were maintained from 0.052 to 0.904 mg/l (mean 0.338$\pm$0.219 mg/l) and the water temperature was ranged from 19.2 to $21.4^{\circ}C\;(mean 20.2^{\circ}C\pm0.58^{\circ}C$). The 1/2-order kinetic model (Y:g/$m^3$/day) and the mean ammonia removal rates (g/$m^3$/day) of the filter media were : Sand : Y=135.5X0.5-25.1(r2=0.8110), 45.1 Coral sand : Y=125.1X0.5-33.0 (r2=0.7307), 31.8 Polyethylene net : Y=87.4X0.5-20.1 (r2=0.6780), 25.2 Corrugated plastic plate : Y=87.4X0.5-20.1(r2=0.5206), 19.2 Gravel : Y=4307X0.5-5.5 (r2=0.2596), 17.1 RBC : Y=127.6X0.5-33.4 (r2=0.7146), 32.8 where X is the concentration of ammonia. Oxygen consumption rates well corresponded to the ammonia removal capacities of each filter medium, thus the sands showing the highest value (442g/$m^3$/day) followed by coral sands (291.1g/$m^3$/day), polyethylene nets (236.9g/$m^3$/day), gravels (135.6g/$m^3$/day) and corrugated plastic plates (134.2g/$m^3$/day). Oxygen consumption rate of the RBC was unable to measure because of the characteristics of the structure.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.162-167
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• 2007

Ammonia gas is one of the major pollutants which cause environmental pollution and damage to the human and the livestock. The objective of this study was to investigate the important parameters for the development of efficient removal of ammonia gas by Bacillius subtilis IB101 and to optimize the medium composition for the mass production of B. subtilis IB101. The ammonia gas removal efficiency was evaluated at different growth phases and by changing culture conditions (temperature, pH). The effect of $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ concentration in preculture medium was examined. Medium optimization for the mass production of B. subtilis IB101 was performed by using Plackett-Burman design and one factor at a time method. The removal of ammonia gas was more efficient at exponential phase by 20% than at stationary phase. The ammonia gas removal was the highest at pH 4 and 30 $^{\circ}C$. There was not any significant influence of concentration of $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ on the removal of ammonia gas. The components of optimized medium for the production of viable Bacillus subtilis IB101 was yeast extract 10 g/l, soluble starch 2.5 g/l, $MgSO_4$ 6 g/l, $CaCl_2$ 1.55 g/l, $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ 5 g/l, $KH_2PO_4$ 0.75 g/l, soy bean meal 8 g/l.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2004

The seeding sources and concentration of ammonia on anaerobic digestion were investigated by batch culture bioreactors. The sources of seeding on anaerobic digestion were from swine wastewater collection pit of a hog raising farm and from anaerobic digestion sludge of a municipal sewage treatment plant. The inhibition of ammonia on anaerobic microorganisms was initiated at ammonia concentration of $1,500\;mgNH_4-N/L$ and it's effect was increased by increased by increasing ammonia concentration up to $3,500\;mgNH_4-N/L$ regardless the sources of seeding as evidenced by decreases in COD removal efficiencies and biogas yields. The inhibition occurred to not only methanogens but also acidogens since the concentration of volatile fatty acids was maintained at 50 mg/L The COD removal efficiency and biogas yield were Maintained constantly while increasing ammonia concentration up to $3,500\;mgNH_4-N/L$ when swine wastewater collection pit was used as a seeding; however, those were decreased while increasing ammonia concentration when anaerobic digestion sludge was used as a seeding. The results indicate that the seeding acclimated to high concentrations of ammonia for long time was easy in adaptation to high ammonia concentration and less subjective to ammonia inhibitory effects.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2018

We have developed an electrostatic precipitation (ESP) type air cleaner for indoor air quality and investigated its performances regarding CADR (Clean air delivery rate), single-pass efficiency and gas removal efficiency. The ESP air cleaner used an ACF (Activated carbon fiber) filter for gas removal and the ACF as a high voltage electrode for particle removal. The ESP air cleaner was tested in a chamber with the volume of $1m^3$ regarding CADR and gas removal efficiency. The applied CADR area of the ESP was $1.8m^2$. Gas removal efficiency was tested with 3 gases (Acetaldehyde, Acetic acid, Ammonia). As the results of the gas removal efficiency, the ESP air cleaner shows the removal efficiencies of 90, 98 and 85% for acetaldehyde, acetic acid and ammonia, respectively.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.135-146
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• 2020

This study was aimed to investigate the possibility of using raw and anaerobically-digested piggery wastewater as culture media for a green microalga Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris). Due to high concentration of ammonia and dark color, the microalga did not grow well in this wastewater. In order to solve this problem, air stripping and NaOCl-treatment were applied to reduce the concentration of NH₃-N and the color intensity from the wastewater. Algal growth was monitored in terms of specific growth rate, biomass productivity, and nutrient removal efficiency. As a result, C. vulgaris grew without any sign of inhibition in air-stripped and 10-folds diluted anaerobically-digested piggery wastewater with enhanced biomass productivity of 0.57 g/L·d and nutrient removal of 98.7-99.8% for NH₃-N and 41.0-62.5% for total phosphorus. However, NaOCl-treatment showed no significant effect on growth of C. vulgaris, although dark color was removed greatly. Interestingly, despite that the soluble organic concentration after air stripping was still high, the biomass productivity was 4.4 times higher than BG-11. Moreover, air stripping was identically effective for raw piggery wastewater as for anaerobic digestate. Therefore, it was concluded that air stripping was a very effective method for culturing microalgae and removing nutrients from raw and anaerobically-digested piggery wastewaters.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.383-390
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• 2008

Recently, the interests on economical nitrogen removal from wastewater are growing. As a method of the novel nitrogen removal technology, nitrogen removal via nitrite pathway by selective inhibition of free ammonia and free nitrous acid on nitrite oxidizing bacteria have been intensively studied. The inhibition effects of free ammonia and free nitrous acid are low when domestic wastewater is used, however, because of its relatively lower nitrogen concentration than the wastewater from industry and landfill, etc. In this study, a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) is proposed for nitrogen removal to investigate the effect of the low nitrogen concentration on nitrite accumulation. Nitrification efficiency reached almost 100% during the aerobic cycle and the maximum specific nitrification rate ($V_{max,nit}$) reached $17.8mg\;NH_4{^+}-N/g\;MLVSS{\bullet}h$. During the anoxic cycle, average denitrification efficiency reached 87% and the maximum specific denitrification rate ($V_{max,den}$) reached $9.8mg\;NO_3{^-}-N/g\;MLVSS{\bullet}h$. From the analysis the main reason of nitrite accumulation in the SBR was free nitrous acid rather than free ammonia. Nitrite accumulation increased with the decrease of organic content in the wastewater and the mechanism is not well understood yet. From the result of fluorescent in situ hybridization, the distribution of nitrite oxidizing bacteria was in equilibrium with ammonium oxidizing bacteria when nitrite accumulation did not occur.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.419-422
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• 2000

A three-phase fluidized-bed bioreactor including Thiobacillus sp. IW was tested to remove H_2S and $NH_3$ simultaneously. The inlet $H_2S$ was oxidized to $SO_4^{2-}$ by Thiobacillus sp. IW, and the $NH_3$ reacted with the $SO_4^{2-}$ to form $(NH_4)_2SO_4$. The removal efficiency of $H_2S$ was 98.4-99.9% for an inlet concentration of 36-730 ppm and that of $NH_3$ was 60.2-99.2% for an inlet concentration of 45-412 ppm. The removal efficiency of $NH_3$ was reduced when the inlet loading rate of $NH_3$ was increased above 10 mg/l/h. When the bioreactor was operated for 25 days with a lower inlet concentration of $NH_3$ compared with the of $H_2S$, the bioreactor exhibited an excellent performance with a stable pH, dissolved oxygen content, and cell concentration.