• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.599-606
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• 1998

Removal of toluene vapor from airstreams was studied in a biological reactor known as a biofilter. The biofilter was packed porous ceramic inoculated with thickened activated sludge (MLVSS 17,683 mg/L). The lab-scale biofilter was operated for 42 days under various experimental conditions including inlet toluene concentrations and flow rates of the contaminated air streams. Removal efficiency reached up 96.6% after 4 days from start up. Nutrient limitation was proposed as a reason for the decrease in biofilter performence. Biofilter performance decreased substantially, coincident with the buildup of back pressure due to accumulation of excess VSS within the medium bed. Practically, the bed needs to be backwashed when the overall pressure drop is greater than 460.6 Pa at SV (Space Velocity) 100 h-1. Periodic backwashing of the biofilter was necessary for removing excess biomass and attaining stable long -term high removal efficiency The removal efficiency of toluene in the biofilter decreased as the gas velocity and toluene concentration in the inlet gas increased. The maximum elimination capacity of ceramic biofilter could reach up to 444.85 g/m3. hr. When the loading of toluene exceed this critical value, substrate inhibition occurred.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2005

This research was investigated the applicability of the biofiltration technology for the removal of volatile organic carbons (VOCs) produced from the bioremediation of oil contaminated soil. Diesel was used as surrogate for oil and, two types of biofilter systems made of ceramic and polymer media were compared for the removal efficiencies of diesel VOCs at different inlet concentrations and space velocity (SV) conditions. During the first 30-d operation, the removal efficiencies of the biofilter packed with polymer and the biofilter packed with ceramic were investigated at constant SV of $153\;h^{-1}$ When inlet concentrations of diesel VOCs were below 10 ppmv, the average removal efficiencies of the polymer biofilter and the ceramic biofilter were average $67\%\;and\;75\%$, respectively. When the inlet concentration increased to 30 ppmv, the VOC removal efficiency in the polymer biofilter was $80\%$, while the average removal efficiency in the ceramic biofilter was $60\%. Effect of the inlet concentration and SV on the removal efficiency of total diesel VOCs was investigated. As SV increased from $153\;h^{-1}$ to $204\;h^{-1}$ and $306\;h^{-1}$, the removal efficiency of total diesel VOCs was decreased gradually. The average removal efficiency of the biofilter packed with polymer carrier was decreased from $82\%\;to\;80\%\;and\;77\%$. The biofilter packed with polymer carrier showed that the removal efficiency of benzene and toluene were maintained within the range of $81\%\~86\%$. In contrast, for the biofilter packed with ceramic carrier, when SV increased from $153\;h^{-1}$ to $204\;h^{-1}$ and $306\;h^{-1}$, the removal efficiency of benzene decreased from $87\%\;to79\%\;and\;74\% . respectively. The removal efficiency of toluene decreased from $80\%\;to\;77\%\;and\;76\%$ at SV of $153\;h^{-1},\;204\;h^{-1}\;and\;306\;h^{-1}$, and $306\;h^{-1}$, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.866-871
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• 2003

Malodorous gas of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) was biologically oxidized to sulfate by Thiobacillus thioparus TK-m (DSM5368) immobilized in/on ceramic beads. More than 99.99％ of DMS removal efficiency was obtained in a ceramic-biofilter reactor of 3.91 when the feed concentrations were about 27.5 and 55.0 mg DMS/1 at $30^{circ}C$. However, the removal efficiency of the biofilter at above $40^{circ}C$ decreased to 4.5 mg DMS/(lㆍmin) which was 85％ of that at $30^{circ}C$.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2000

Removal of ammonia using the porous ceramic biofilter inoculated with earthworm casts was characterized. By assuming a plug air flow in the biofilter and applying the Michaelis-Menten equation, the maximum removal rate of $NH_3$ was $280.7g-N{\cdot}m^{-3}{\cdot}h^{-1}$($18.0g-N{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\cdot}d^{-1}$) at $30^{\circ}C$. $NH_3$ removal rate was increased as temperature increases from $15^{\circ}C$ to $35^{\circ}C$. The maximum removal rate was $285.8g-N{\cdot}m^{-3}{\cdot}h^{-1}$($18.8g-N{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\cdot}d^{-1}$) at $35^{\circ}C$. At $15^{\circ}C$, the $NH_3$ removal rate was $122.8g-N{\cdot}m^{-3}{\cdot}h^{-1}$($8.1g-N{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\cdot}d^{-1}$). When 210 ppm $NH_3$ was supplied to the biofilter at space velocity of $220h^{-1}$, the removal efficiency of $NH_3$ at 15, 25, 30 and $35^{\circ}C$ was 80, 90, 95, and 96%, respectively. The removal rate of the ceramic biofilter was 3 to 15 times higher than other biofilters comparing the removal efficiency of $NH_3$ per unit volume of carrier. This result indicates that earthworm casts and porous ceramics are very good inoculum source and carrier, respectively, for the $NH_3$-degrading biofilter.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.843-849
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• 2005

The objective of this research was to investigate the removal efficiencies ofVOCs and odors with newly developed biofilter which was designed to sustain the biofilm constantly on the packed media. Initially, four types of media, for example, fiber, activated carbon, ceramic and the mixture of activated carbon and ceramic(AIC mixture J, were used for packed materials of biofilter. When ethylalcohol was selected as a test gas for media efficiency, fiber and AIC mixture had better removal efficiencies of ethyl alcohol than others. Removal efficiencies for acetaldehyde, ethyl alcohol, butylalcohol, ethylacetate and diethylamine in biofilter with fiber and AIC mixture as packed media were increased as the residence time increased. Butylalcohol, especially, showed the maximum removal efficiency among all used VOCs and odors. In case of ethyl acetate, the difference of removal efficiencies between low and high residence times was wide remarkably.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.373-382
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• 2013

In this study, a biological odor treatment system was proposed to remove odor(foul smell) materials causing several problems in the closed sewage treatment plant. This odor treatment system was composed of a two-step biofilter system in one reactor. The two-step biofilter reactor was constructed with natural purification layer in upper part and artificial purification layer in lower part. The reed grasses of water purification plants were planted in the surface area and mixed porous ceramic media were filled with the lower part of biofilter reactor. By using the above experimental apparatus, the ammonia gas removal efficiency was attained to 98.3 % and the hydrogen sulfide gas removal efficiency was appeared more than 97.7 % which shows more effective than the conventional odor removal process.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.649-655
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• 1999

Biofiltration of polluted gas streams contained $H_2S$ was studied. The experiments were performed in a laboratory-scale reactor with a porous ceramic media inoculated with sulfur oxidizing bacterium, TAS which was isolated from activiated sludge. The concentration of $H_2S$ in the inlet gas varied from 109 to 3,841 ppm, at the various space velocities(SV) of 50 $h^{-1}$ to 250 $h^{-1}$. Various tests have been conducted to evaluate the effects of such parameters as pH, concentration of sulfate ion and retention time on the pressure drop and maximum elimination capacity. The removal efficiency of $H_2S$ decreased as the $H_2S$ concentration or gas velocity increased in the inlet gas. Pressure drop was insignificant in this system. The maximum elimination capacity could reach up to 16.35g-S/kg-dry packing material/day.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.347-350
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• 2002

The petrochemical products can cause soil and groundwater contamination during their transportation and the use of the products, and while being contained in underground storage tanks(USTs) throughout the leakage. To treat the contaminated soil, the bioventing method is suitable for the remediation of semi-volatile compounds, such as diesel and kerosene. Biofiltration is one of possible method to treat the off-gas produced in the process of the bioventing. This study is related to the usage, effectiveness of treatment, and feasibility of two types of biofilter system made of ceramic-compost and polymer respectively to treat diesel VOCs at constant retention time of 20 sec. Compost biofilter showed the average removal efficiency of 73 % when the inlet concentration increased to 20 ppmv. Increased the inlet concentration decreased the microbial activities as well as the removal efficiency. On the contrary, the removal efficiency of the polyurethane biofilter was maintained at 88 % at the inlet concentration of 13 ppmv during ten days and was obtained to 80 % at the inlet concentration of 30 ppmv in spite of the drop of the efficiency in the sudden increase of the inlet concentration. At the beginning of the experiment it showed low removal efficiency at low inlet concentration due to the low microbial activity, however, as experiments proceed the removal efficiency could be obtained more than 80% at high inlet concentration.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 2001.02a
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• pp.387-392
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• 2001

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2009

Biofilters use porous solid media to support microorganisms and allow access to the contaminants in the airflow. The characteristics of media used in biofilters vary greatly, and therefore it is important to select the appropriate media in order to obtain a large enough surface attachment area and uniform pore. This study was performed to compare hydrogen sulfide ($H_2S$) removal efficiencies of three biofilter media; coconut fiber, ceramic, and polyurethane. The biofilter packed with coconut fiber showed stable removal activity when inlet loading was changeable, and was restored rapidly when the moisture content decreased. However, the coconut fiber suffered from low durability. To cope with this problem a media of fibrinous polypropylene was developed to strengthen the durability of the coconut fiber. Biofilter column experiments using the fibrinous polypropylene media demonstrated over 99% of removal efficiencies at pH as low as 3 and 6 seconds of EBRT (empty bed gas residence time). Due to its superior physical characteristics, it is expected that the $H_2S$ treatment performance will increase when the new fibrinous polypropylne media is applied in commercial biofilter systems.