• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.643-648
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to remove the ammonia by using the ion exchange effect of natural zeolite (clinoptilolite in this system) and artificial zeolite and remove the organic material by using the Absorbent Biofilter. On the removal of ammonia, natural zeolite is the more effective than artificial zeolite But on the simultaneous removal of ammonia and phosphorus, artificial zeolite is the more effective than natural zeolite.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.281-285
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• 2001

Biofiltration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was performed for 80 days in a biofilter packed with peat. The empty bed residence time was 3.2 min. for a gas mixture of isoprene, dimethyl sulfide, chloroform. benzene, trichlorethylene, toluene, m0xylene, o-xylene and styrene. After 34 days of acclimatization the removal efficiency for a 83 g/㎥ gas input was 93% at $25^{circ}C$ and 73% at $45^{circ}C$, respectively. The maximum cell density at $25^{circ}C$ was 1.12$\times$10(sup)8 cells/g. Removal efficiencies of m-xylene and toluene (91%) were better than that of benzene (86%). The first quarter of the packed column removed 60% of the incoming VOCs.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.160-170
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• 2003

A pilot study was performed to examine the feasibility of intermittent slow sand filtration for agricultural reuse of reclaimed water. The effluent of biofilter for 16-unit apartment was used as influent to the slow sand filtration system at 0.6 $m^3$/day loading rate using 15 seconds spray in every 10 minutes on the about 1 $m^2$ surface area and 0.5 m depth. The influent concentrations of total coliform (TC), fecal coliform (FC) and E. coli were in the range of 10.000 MPN/100 mL. and they were reduced to less than 1,000 MPN/100 mL after filtration with average of 320, 270, and 154 MPN/100 mL, respectively, showing over 95 % removal. Turbidity and SS were improved effectively and their average concentration was reduced to 0.8 NTU and 1.7 mg/L, respectively, and removal rate was about 50 %. Average BOD and COD concentrations were also reduced substantially to 2.6 and 25.8 mg/L with about 55 and 21 % removal rate, respectively. Nutrients removal was relatively low and removal rate for T-N and T-P was low however, remaining nutrients might be beneficial and less concerned in case of agricultural reuse. The concentration of biofilter effluent used in this experiment was in the range of secondary treatment effluent but slightly stronger than the one from existing wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Therefore, intermittent slow sand filtration might be also applicable to the effluent from WWTPs as long as its agricultural reuse is available. Considering stable performance and effective removal of bacterial indicators as well as other water quality parameters, low maintenance, and cost-effectiveness, the intermittent slow sand filtration was thought to be an effective and feasible alternative for agricultural reuse of reclaimed water. This paper is a preliminary result from pilot study and further investigations are recommended on the optimum design parameters before full scale application.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.94-106
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• 2003

A pilot study was performed to examine the feasibility of UV disinfection system and the reactivation of indicator microorganisms (TC, FC, E. coli) after UV irradiation for agricultural reuse of reclaimed water. Photoreactivation and dark repair enable UV-inactivated microorganisms to recover and may reduce the efficacy of UV inactivation, which might be drawbacks of the UV disinfection method. The effluent of biofilter for 16-unit apartment house was used as input to the UV disinfection system, and average SS and BOD concentration were 3.8 and 5.7 mg/L, respectively, and the mean level of total coliform was in the range of $1.0\times10^4$ MPN/100mL. UV disinfection was found to be effective and it reduced mean concentration of indicator microorganisms (total coliform, fecal coliform, and E. coli) to less than 100 MPN/100mL within 60s exposure using 17, 25, and 40W lamps. Two UV doses of 6 and 16 mW$\cdot$s/$\textrm{km}^2$ were applied and microorganisms reactivation was monitored under the dark, photoreactivating light, and solar irradiation. Microorganisms reactivation was observed in the UV dose of 6 mW$\cdot$s/$\textrm{km}^2$, and numbers increased up to 5% at the photoreactivating light and 1% at the dark. However, microorganisms were inactivated rather than reactivated at the solar radiation and numbers decreased to non-detectible level about below 2 MPN/100mL in 4 hours. In the case of 16 mW$\cdot$s/$\textrm{km}^2$, microorganism reactivation was not observed indicating that UV dose might affect the reactivation process such as photoreactivation and dark repair. Therefore, concerns associated with microorganism reactivation could be controlled by sufficient UV dose application. Agricultural reuse of reclaimed water might be even less concerned due to exposure to the solar irradiation that could further inactivate microorganisms. The pilot study result is encouraging, however, sanitary concern in water reuse is so critical that more comprehensive investigation is recommended.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.151-158
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• 2004

This research was conducted to study the offensive odor adhesion efficiency of filter bed materials using the experimental column that was designed and constructed in this work. The offensive odor adhesion experiment was conducted using mixture of high physical adhesion efficiency material, and the fixity of deodorization microorganism of selected filter bed material was tested using ammonia exclude microorganism A4-2 and sulfur oxidation microorganism S5-5.2 those were cultured at the Agricultural Chemical Department of Chungnam National University, and deodorization efficiency of selected filter bed material mixture was tested. Followings are summary of these tests results. 1) Amount of elimination of the offensive odor gas ammonia and hydrogen sulfide per unit volume were 0.054 and 0.016 $\ell$/㎤ in rice hull, 0.01 and 0.004 $\ell$/㎤ in rice straw, 0.158 and 0.01 $\ell$/㎤ in coconut, 0.014 and 0.02 $\ell$/㎤ in perlite, 0.004 and 0.003 $\ell$/㎤ in high road ball, and 0.112 and 0.015 $\ell$/㎤ chaff of pine, respectively. 2) Amount of elimination of offensive odor gas of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide per unit vloume were 0.079 and 0.016 $\ell$/㎤ in mixture 1, 0.045 and 0.014 $\ell$/㎤ in mixture 2, 0.123 and 0.017 $\ell$/㎤ in mixture 3, 0.055 and 0.016 $\ell$/㎤ in mixture 4, 0.031 and 0.015 $\ell$/㎤ in mixture 5, and 0.111 and 0.020 $\ell$/㎤ in mixture 6, respectively. 3) The offensive odor elimination microoraganism inoculated to the mixture of chaff of pine (70%) and pert (30%) showed the elimination efficiency of 99.06% and 96.61% against the ammonia and hydrongen sulfide, respectively, during 24 hours period.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.77-87
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• 2006

The reuse of wastewater for agricultural irrigation may cause human health risk as a result of exposure to pathogens. This study conducted the quantitative microbial risk assessment in paddy field irrigated with treated wastewater. Six treatments were used to irrigate the paddy field from Year 2003 to Year 2005: biofilter-effluent, UV-disinfected water (6, 16, 40, 68 $mW s cm^{-2}$), pond-treated water, wetland-treated water, conventional irrigation water and tap water. Total coliforms, fecal coliforms and E. coli were monitored during rice growing period. Beta - Poisson model was employed to calculate the microbial risk of pathogens ingestion that may occur to farmers and neighbor children. Uncertainty of risk was estimated using Monte Carlo simulation. In this study, the microbial risk was higher during initial cultivation (end of May$\sim$June), and it decreased with time. Biofilter effluent (secondary effluent) irrigation showed higher risk values than others (>$10^{-4}$) and irrigation with UV-disinfected water has the lowest risk range ($10^{-6}{\sim}10^{-5}$). The risk value estimated in 2005 was lower than risk value in 2003 and 2004, it is likely due to clean tap water irrigation in initial transplanting stage. It is suggested that irrigation with UV-disinfected water and pond-treated water would reduce the microbial risk associated with wastewater irrigation in paddy field. In addition, the first irrigation water quality significantly affected the subsequent microbial risk.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.527-532
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• 2001

Trichlooethylene (TCE) has become a widespread contaminant in air, soil, and underground water due to extensive industrial used and improper disposals. Since TCE is a suspected carcinogen and constitutes public health concerns, many treatment systems have been investigated to remove this hazardous waste. One of the most premising reactor systems for the treatment of TCE is trickling biofilter (TBF), in which monooxygenase (MO), the corresponding enzyme for initiating primary substrate oxidation, fortuitously degrades TCE via cometabolism. TCE, however, is not easily treated by simple TBF. This is mainly due to the toxicities of TCE and its degradation products to microbial film in TBF. In this paper, recent progresses on the development of bioreactor system for the treatment of TCE, especially gas-phase TCE, are reviewed. The potentials of novel biofilm reactor systems were also discussed for the long-term continuous treatment of TCE.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2006

In this study, conventional biofilters packed with flexible synthetic polyurethane (PU) foam carriers were operated to remove toluene from a contaminated air stream. PU foams containing various adsorbents (e.g., zeolite, sepiolite, dolomite and barite) were synthesized for the biofilter media and their adsorption characteristics of toluene were determined. Adsorption capacity of PU-adsorbent foam was in the order of PU-dolomite ${\approx}$ PU-zeolite > PU-sepiolite > PU-barite. During the biofiltration experiment, influent toluene concentration was in the range of 0-160 ppm and EBRT (i.e., empty bed residence time) was 45 seconds. Pressure drop of the biofilter bed was 4-5 mm $H_2O/m$ column height. The maximum removal capacity was in the order of PU-dolomite > PU-zeolite > PU-sepiolite > PU-barite, while the complete removal capacity was in the order of PU-dolomite > PU-sepiolite > PU-zeolite > PU-barite. The better biofiltration performance in PU-dolomite foam was because PU-dolomite foam had lower density and higher porosity than the others providing favorable conditions for microbial growth. The results of biodegradation kinetic analysis showed that PU-dolomite foam had higher maximum removal rate ($V_m\;=\;11.04\;g$ toluene/kg dry material/day) and saturation constant ($K_s\;=\;26.57\;ppm$) than the other PU foams. This supports that PU-dolomite foam was better than the others for biofilteration of toluene.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.347-352
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• 2005

These experiments investigated the conditioning pattern and the nitrification efficiency of a fluidized sand biofilter (FSB) for seawater application. The FSB fed artificial nutrient was fully conditioned within 22 weeks. The maximum nitrification efficiency of the FSB was achieved at a superficial water velocity (SWV) of 1.0 cm/sec. After fixing the superficial water velocity at 1.0 cm/sec, the nitrification rates of the FSB were assessed at 3 total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) loading rates (250, 500, 1,000 g TAN/$m^3$/day) and 3 water temperatures (12, 16, $20^{\circ}C$). The TAN concentration in the simulated culture tank ranged from 2.87 to 9.72 mg/L at TAN loading rate of 1,000 g TAN/$m^3$/day, while that ranged from 0.45 to 1.26 mg/L at TAN loading rate of 500 g TAN/$m^3$/day. The ranges of TAN concentration in the former were too high for aquatic organisms and those in the latter were acceptable. Therefore, the safe TAN loading rate for the FSB in seawater conditions was decided as 500 g TA/$m^3$/day. From these results, daily TAN removal rates (g TAN/$m^3$/day) of FSB under conditions of inlet TAN concentration (C, mg/L) and water temperature (T, $^{\circ}C$) were calculated by the following non-linear multi-regression equation: TAN removal rate: f(z)=-1,311.295+655.714LnT+225.775LnC ($r^2=0.962$).

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.21 no.3 s.54
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• pp.219-228
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• 2006

폴리우레탄, 폴리에스테르, 바이페놀, PVC 외 각종 농약 등을 생산하는 울산의 모 화학공장에서, 다양한 종류의 휘발성유기화합물질들(VOCs)이 배출되고 있다. 평균적인 휘발성유기화합물질의 배출 농도는 7283 ppm으로, 톨루엔, 페놀을 포함하여 Trimethyl-pentene, trimethyl-hexene, dimethyl-cyclohexane 등이 검출되었다. Trimethyl-pentene, trimethyl-hexene, dimethyl-cyclohexane등은 인화성이 강하며 화재를 일으킬 위험성이 매우 큰 것으로 알려져 있고, 특히 톨루엔과 페놀의 경우는 호흡이나 피부접촉 등을 통한 인체로의 유입이 있을 경우 유독성을 나타내게 된다. 이러한 VOCs제거를 위하여 겨울철 기간에 파이로트-규모의 바이오필터 적용 실험이 진행되어 졌다. 본 연구의 목적은 바이오필터 운영이 진행되는 가운데 온도, 함수비, 하중, 압력손실 등의 제한요소들이 미디어 내부에서 변화하는 상황에 대한 관찰 및 평가에 있다. 이러한 제한요소들은 바이오필터의 디자인과 오염물질 제거에 심대한 영향을 미치게 된다. 바이오필터는 옥외에 설치되어 총 44일간 운영되어 졌는데, 외부 영하온도의 영향을 최소화하기 위하여, 7cm두께의 파이버-글래스 소재 단열설비가 반응기 외부에 설치되었고 또한 $150^{\circ}C$의 스팀이 바이오필터 반응기와 단열설비 사이에 제공되어 졌다. 바이오필터 반응기 내부에는 23개의 온도 측정 센서와 함수비 센서, 공기샘플포트, 습도계 등이 각기 다른 장소에 설치되어 온도, 함수비 등의 제한요소 영향연구가 진행되었다. 미디어 내부 같은 높이의 서로 반대되는 위치에서 온도차가 13.7도에서 -8.3도까지 차이가 나는 것으로 관찰되었으며, 미디어 높이 위치의 변화에 따라서도 21도에서 2도가지 차이를 나타냈다. 바이오필터 함수비는 실험기간 동안 지속적으로 변화가 발생하였는데, 스팀이 제공되는 동안에는 미디어 함수비가 훨씬 빠른 속도로 증가됨이 관찰되어 졌다.