• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.970-975
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• 2003

Microbial trichloroethylene (TCE) degradation using trickling biofilter (TBF) is a cost-effective treatment method, in which monooxygenase (MO) fortuitously transforms TCE via cometabolism. Simple TBF, however, could not be stably operated for long-term treatment of TCE due to the contradictory characteristics of cometabolism. In this paper, microbial biocatalyst and biofilm reactor system, a two-stage continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR)/TBF system using Burkholderia cepacia G4 and Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b, are evaluated for the long-term continuous treatment of TCE. The maximum TCE elimination capacities were in the range of 28 and 525 mg TCE/1$.$day. The reactor systems were stably operated for more than 3∼12 months.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.188-193
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• 2006

A new type of biofilter, a rotating drum biotrickling filter(RDBF), was developed and operated for the removal of styrene from industrial waste gas. The porous polyurethane foam sheet was used as a packing materials for the RDBF and a pure culture of Gram-positive bacterium Brevibacillus sp. SP1 was used as an inoculum. The reactor showed a short start-up period of 18 days, during which uniform biofilms were developed on the packing. During a steady operation at an incoming styrene concentration of $200ppm_v$ and a retention time of 0.5 min, a high and stable removal of styrene over 95% was observed. The maximum elimination capacity was estimated to be $125g/m^3{\cdot}hr$. The outstanding performance was attributed to an efficient gas-liquid mass transfer and the appropriate supply of nutrient solution to the biofilm microorganisms on the packing by the rotation of the drum.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.31 no.4 s.85
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• pp.309-315
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• 2005

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odor materials are major sources of air pollution in Ulsan city, where much chemical plants are located. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new reactor which can remove VOCs and odor materials effectively and be equipped at the end of pipe easily. A modified reactor (bioscrubber trickling filter, BSTF), which have both characteristics of biofilter and bioscrubber, was developed and tested on its reactivity with several VOCs using two types of media, fiber and activated carbon 4- ceramic(A/C). It was observed that the removal efficiencies of several types of VOCs such as acetaldehyde, ethylalcohol, butanol, diethylamine and triethylamine were up to $95\%$ when they had about 100 ppm of initial concentration and 80 seconds of residence time. Good attachment of microorganisms to both media, where it is thought the reaction efficiency can be determined according to the amount of microorganisms attachment, observed with scanning electron microscopy(SEM). Initial pressure drops of the packed bed with both media were 229 $mmH_2O/m$ at A/C column and 670 $mmH_2O/m$, respectively. However, maximum pressure drop of fiber column during the operation was over 1,647 $mmH_2O/m$. Therefore, it was thought that the fiber material would not suitable to use in the local plant as a packed bed media.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 2002

Four inorganic packing materials (zeocarbon, porous celite, porous glass, zeolite) and a earthworm cast were compared with regard to the removal of ammonia in a biofilter inoculated with earthworm cast. Physical adsorption of ammonia on packing materials were negligible except zeocarbon (23.5 g-$NH_3$/kg), and cell immobilization capacity have similar values irrespective of packing materials. Pressure drops of the packed bed were in order of earthworm cast zeocarbon zeolite porous glass porous. The maximum elimination capacity ($g-Nkg^{-1}$ $d^{-1}$ ) of ammonia, which were based on a unit volume of packing material, were in order of zeocarbon (526) earthworm cast (220) porous celite (93) > zeolite (68) > porous glass (53). By using kinetic analysis, the maximum removal rates ($V_{m}$ ) and the saturation constant ($K_{s}$ ) for ammonia were determined, and zeocarbon showed superior performance among the five materials.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.820-825
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• 2007

Earthworm casting was the natural fertilizer that contained high concentrations of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphate and potassium and of over $10^8$ CFU/ml of microorganisms. Greater than 80% of feed was excreted through the fermentation by the intestinal enzyme, after worm had eaten feeds such as fallen leaves and rotten roots under the ground. Also, the soil structure of casting was known to be very efficient in the aspects of the porosity, the water permeability, and deodorizing activities. In this research, the biofilter packed with a biomedia made of casting and waste polyurethane foam, a binder, which helped to improve the durability and perpetuity of casting, was investigated to degrade malodorous hydrogen sulfide gas. The biomedia had no need of extra supply of nutrients and of microbial inoculations. On the beginning of the operations, it showed 100% removal of hydrogen sulfide gas without lag phase. At SV of 50 $h^{-1}$, hydrogen sulfide gas from the outlet of the biofilter was not detected, when inlet concentration increased to 450 ppmv. After that, removal efficiency decreased as increasing inlet hydrogen sulfide concentration. Hydrogen sulfide removal was maintained at almost 93% until inlet concentration was increased up to 950 ppmv, at which the elimination capacity of $H_2S$ was 61.2 g $S{\cdot}m^{-3}{\cdot}h^{-1}$. Maximum elimination capacity guaranteing 90% removal was 61.2, 65.9, 84.7, 89.4 g $S{\cdot}m^{-3}{\cdot}h^{-1}$ at SV ranging from 50 $h^{-1}$ to 300 $h^{-1}$, but was 59.3 g $S{\cdot}m^{-3}{\cdot}h^{-1}$ at SV of 400 $h^{-1}$. The results calculated from Michaelis-Menten equation revealed that $V_m$ increased from 66.04, 88.96, 117.35, 224.15, to 227.54 g $S{\cdot}m^{-3}{\cdot}h^{-1}$ with increasing space velocity in the range of 50 $h^{-1}$ to 400 $h^{-1}$. However, saturation constant$(K_s)$ decreased from 79.97 ppmv to 64.95 and 65.37 ppmv, and then increased to 127.72 and 157.43 ppmv.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.837-845
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• 2017

A recirculating integrated system composed of a fluidized biofilter filled with waste-tire crumb media fixed with return sludge from wastewater treatment facility of D dyeing industrial center, and a UV/photocatalytic reactor packed with calcined $TiO_2$ coated-glass beads as photocatalyst-support, was constructed and was run to treat authentic textile-dyeing wastewater from D-dyeing industrial center, which was mixed with an alkaline polyester-weight-reducing wastewater and a wastewater from sizing process. As a result, its total removal efficiency(RE(tot)) of $COD_{cr}$ and colors were ca. 81% and 55%, respectively. The synergy effect of the recirculating integrated system to enhance total removal efficiency(RE(tot)) of $COD_{cr}$ and colors were evaluated at most ca. 7% and 3%, respectively. The fluidized biofilter and the UV/photocatalytic reactor were responsible for ca. 94% and 6% of the total $COD_{cr}$ removal efficiency, respectively, and were also responsible for ca. 86% and 14% of the total color-removal efficiency, respectively. Thus, the degree of the UV/photocatalytic reactor-unit process's contribution to RE(tot) of color, was about 2.4 times of that to RE(tot) of $COD_{cr}$. Therefore, the UV/photocatalytic reactor facilitated the more effective elimination of colors by breaking down the chemical bonds oriented from colors of dyes such as azo-bond, than $COD_{cr}$. In addition, the effect of the removal efficiency of each unit process(i.e., the fluidized biofilter or the UV/photocatalytic reactor) of the recirculating integrated system on RE(tot) of $COD_{cr}$ and colors, was analysed by establishing its model equation with an analytic correlation.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.47-56
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• 1999

Denitrification by anaerobic bacteria is one of the most common processes of removing nitrate from recirculating aquaculture systems. This process is affected by many factors such as external carbon sources, hydraulic retention time (HRT), and $COD/NO_3-N$ ratio. Although external organic carbon sources are essential for the denitrification process, these also contribute to increase dissolved organic carbon concentration in recirculating aquaculture systems. So these external organic carbons must be removed from the systems. This study was conducted to find out the optimum operating conditions for the removal of external organic carbons in a submerged denitrification biofilter. Combinations of two external carbon sources (glucose and methanol), two HRT (4- and 8-hour), and four different C:N ratios (3, 4, 5, and 6) were used in this experiment. The removal efficiencies of organic carbon sources at 8-hour HRT were always better than those at 4-hour's (P<0.05). Maximum removal efficiencies were achieved when C:N ratio was 5 in both glucose and methanol. The removal efficiencies of methanol were always better than those of glucose. The maximum removal efficiencies of glucose and methanol were 76.5% and 84.0%, respectively and the removal rates were 223.5 $g/m^2/day$ and 247.1$g/m^2/day$. The maximum removal rates of glucose (290.9 $g/m^2/day$) and methanol (355.6 $g/m^2/day$) were achieved at 4-hour HRT and 5 C:N ratio. But the concentrations of SCOD in the effluent of both glucose ($52.5 mg/\ell$) and methanol ($40.9 mg/\ell$) were too high for rearing fish. Therefore, the optimum operating conditions for the removal of external carbon in a submerged denitrification biofilter were 8-hour HRT and 5 C:N ratio. And methanol showed better efficiency as an external carbon sources.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.541-544
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• 2001

One of the most promising TCE treatment systems is trickling biofilter (TBF), in which monooxygenase, the corresponding enzyme for initiating growth substrate oxidation, fortuitously transforms TCE via cometabolism. TCE. however. is not easily treated by simple cometabolic biotransformation. This is mainly due to the toxicity of TCE to microbial cell and monooxygenase. In this study, we cleveloped and operated a two-stage CSTR/TBF system for the long-term continuous treatment of TCE. In the two-stage biotransfon11ation system, CSTR with cell recycle from TBR was coupled to the TBR for the reactivation of the cells deactivated during TCE degradation.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.101-112
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• 2003

Biological methods are frequently used for treatment of contaminated air, containing volatile organic compounds and odor compounds in low concentrations and high flow rate of air streams. For more than 20 years. biofilter has been recognized as a cost effective technology for the purification of contaminated air. Most commercial applications before 1990 were for control of odors. In the past decades major progress has been accomplished in the development of vapor phase bioreactor. in particular biotrickling filers. Biotrickling filters are more complex than biofilters. but are usually more effective, especially for the treatment of compounds which are difficult to degrade or compounds that generate acidic by-products. While the level of understanding of biotrickling filtration process for VOCs still remains limited. the evidence success of biotreatment of VOC in air resulted in pursuing active research. This paper presents fundamental and practical aspert of VOCs treatment from air in biotrickling filter. Special emphasis is given to the operating parameters and the factors influencing performance for biotrickling filter.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.137-140
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• 2002

The monitoring system for integrated management of on-site wastewater treatment plants(biofilter) was designed and its operation program was developed. In design process, the research on monitoring parameters which will be able to represent condition and operation of the pilot plants was accomplished, and these parameters came to reveal with ORP(Oxidation-Reduction Potential), water level, pump and power on/off. Proposed monitoring system is composed with measurement, control, communication and display device, and PCB(Prototype Circuit Boards) and microcontroller (PIC16F877) technique are applied to its design of control device for performing specific function. also, The operation program of PC setup is developed in order to provide a convenience to the manager.