• Journal of odor and indoor environment
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.139-149
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• 2017

In order to reduce odor and methane emission from the landfill, open biocovers and a closed biofilter were applied to the landfill site. Three biocovers and the biofilter are suitable for relatively small-sized landfills with facilities that cannot resource methane into recovery due to small volumes of methane emission. Biocover-1 consists only of the soil of the landfill site while biocover-2 is mixed with the earthworm casts and artificial soil (perlite). The biofilter formed a bio-layer by adding mixed food waste compost as packing material of biocover-2. The removal efficiency decreased over time on biocover-1. However, biocover-2 and the biofilter showed stable odor removal efficiency. The rates of methane removal efficiency were in order of biofilter (94.9%)>, biocover-1(42.3%)>, and biocover-2 (37.0%). The methane removal efficiency over time in biocover-1 was gradually decreased. However, drastic efficiency decline was observed in biocover-2 due to the hardening process. As a result of overturning the surface soil where the hardening process was observed, methane removal efficiency increased again. The biofilter showed stable methane removal efficiency without degradation. The estimate methane oxidation rate in biocover-1 was an average of 10.4%. Biocover-2 showed an efficiency of 46.3% after 25 days of forming biocover. However, due to hardening process efficiency dropped to 4.6%. After overturn of the surface soil, the rate subsequently increased to 17.9%, with an evaluated average of 12.5%.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.76-81
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• 2012

Removal of methane, benzene and toluene was evaluated in a lab-scale biocover packed with a soil mixture of forest soil and earthworm cast (75:25 weight ratio). The bacterial community in the biocover was characterized using quantitative real-time PCR and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism. Methane was removed at the upper layer of the biocover (-0.1 ~ -0.4 m), where the oxygen concentration was remarkably lower. The average removal efficiencies for methane and benzene/toluene were 90% and 99%, respectively. The pmoA gene copy numbers, responsible for methane oxidation, in the upper layer were higher than those in the lower layer. While type I methanotrohs dominated the lower layer, type II methanotrophs, such as Methylocystis and Methylosinus, were noted to be predominant in the upper layer. Benzene and toluene were removed from the lower layer (-0.6 ~ -0.9 m) as well as the upper layer. Moreover, the tmoA gene copy number, responsible for benzene/toluene oxidation, seen in the upper layer was not significantly different from those seen in the lower layer. These results suggest that a biocover packed with a soil and earthworm cast mixture is a promising method which could be utilized for the control of methane and volatile organic compounds such as benzene and toluene.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.803-814
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• 2021

A pilot-scale biocover was constructed at a sanitary landfill and the mitigation of methane and odor compounds was compared between the summer and non-summer seasons. The average inlet methane concentrations were 22.0%, 16.3%, and 31.3%, and the outlet concentrations were 0.1%, 0.1%, and 0.2% during winter, spring, and summer, respectively. The odor removal efficiency was 98.0% during summer, compared to 96.6% and 99.6% during winter and spring, respectively. No deterioration in methane and odor removal performance was observed even when the internal temperature of the biocover increased to more than 40℃ at midday during summer. During summer, the packing material simultaneously degraded methane and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) under both moderately thermophilic (40-50℃) and mesophilic conditions (30℃). Hyphomicrobium and Brevibacillus, which can degrade methane and DMS at 40℃ and 50℃, were isolated. The diversity of the bacterial community in the biocover during summer did not decrease significantly compared to other seasons. The thermophilic environment of the biocover during summer promoted the growth of thermotolerant and thermophilic bacterial populations. In particular, the major methane-oxidizing species were Methylocaldum spp. during summer and Methylobacter spp. during the non-summer seasons. The performance of the biocover remained stable under moderately thermophilic conditions due to the replacement of the main species and the maintenance of bacterial diversity. The information obtained in this study could be used to design biological processes for methane and odor removal during summer and/or in subtropical countries.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.293-305
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• 2009

Methane, as a greenhouse gas, is some 21~25 times more detrimental to the environmental than carbon dioxide. Landfills generally constitute the most important anthropogenic source, and methane emission from landfill was estimated as 35~73 Tg per year. Biological approaches using biocover (open system) and biofilter (closed system) can be a promising solution for older and/or smaller landfills where the methane production is too low for energy recovery or flaring and installation of a gas extraction system is inefficient. Methanotrophic bacteria, utilizing methane as a sole carbon and energy source, are responsible for the aerobic degradation (oxidation) of methane in the biological systems. Many bench-scale studies have demonstrated a high oxidation capacity in diverse filter bed materials such as soil, compost, earthworm cast and etc. Compost had been most often employed in the biological systems, and the methane oxidation rates in compost biocovers/boifilters ranged from 50 to $700\;g-CH_4\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$. Some preliminary field trials have showed the suitability of biocovers/biofilters for practical application and their satisfactory performance in mitigation methane emissions. Since the reduction of landfill methane emissions has been linked to carbon credits and trading schemes, the verified quantification of mitigated emissions through biocovers/biofilters is very important. Therefore, the assessment of in situ biocovers/biofilters performance should be standardized, and the reliable quantification methods of methane reduction is necessary.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.322-329
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• 2017

Two pilot-scale biocovers (PBCs) were installed in a landfill, and the methane ($CH_4$) concentrations at their inlets and outlets were monitored for 240 days to evaluate the methane removability. Consequently, the packing materials were sampled from the PBCs, and their potential $CH_4$ oxidizing abilities were evaluated in serum vials. The $CH_4$ concentration at the inlet of the biocovers was observed to be in the range of 23.7-47.9% (average = 41.3%, median = 42.6%). In PBC1, where a mixture of soil, earthworm cast, and compost (7:2:1, v/v) was employed as the packing material, the $CH_4$ removal efficiency was evaluated to be between 60.7-85.5%. In PBC2, which was filled with a mixture of soil, earthworm cast, perlite, and compost (4:2:3:1, v/v), the removal efficiency was evaluated to be between 29.2-78.5%. Although the packing materials had an excellent $CH_4$ oxidizing potential (average oxidation rate for $CH_4=180-199{\mu}g\;CH_4{\cdot}g\;packing\;material^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$), $CH_4$ removal efficiency in PBC1 and PBC2 decreased to the range of 0-30% once the packing materials in the PBCs were clogged and channeled. Furthermore, seasonal effects exhibited no significant differences in the $CH_4$ removal efficiency of the biocovers. The results of this study can be used to design and operate real-scale biocovers in landfills to mitigate $CH_4$ buildup.