• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.1263-1271
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• 2000

This study investigated the floc structure and removal of turbidity and organic matter by alum coagulation. Results of this study indicated that sweep floc and charge neutralization area were shifted to more acidic region than that in the Amirtharajah's diagram. This was caused by organic matter present in the raw water. Removal regions of turbidity and organic matter were generally overlapped. However, organic matters was removed better at lower pH than turbidity. Floc structure was characterized by measuring fractal dimension and volume diameter using AIA and SALLS. SALLS method was found to be more reliable than AIA method. Floes in sweep floc region had larger size and fractal dimension than flocs in charge neutralization region. As pollutant removal increased, larger fractal dimension and size of floc were measured.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.459-468
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• 2000

This study is to investigate the floc structure and removal of turbidity and organic matter by PACI coagulation. The turbidity removal by PACI coagulation was obtained at larger pH range than alum coagulation. And the removal of organic matter was obtained at smaller pH range than that of turbidity. The organic matter was removed by the adsorption of $Al(OH)_3$ precipitates. Floc structure was characterized by measuring fractal dimension and volume diameter using AIA and SALLS. Fractal dimension measured by AIA did not show the different characteristics of floc produced in sweep floe and charge neutralization region. Using SALLS, floes in sweep floc region were found to be larger size and fractal dimension than flocs in charge neutralization region. As pollutant removal increased. larger fractal dimension and size of floc were measured. SALLS method was found to be more useful method to characterize flocs in coagulation than AIA method.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.234-240
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• 2010

The effectiveness of adding powdered zeolite and granular activated carbon (GAC) before starvation into biological reactor for recovering its performances was investigated. Two types of carrier addition in Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) system for non-saline and saline wastewater were evaluated after starvation periods. During the experiment, settleablity (SVI), floc size, fractal dimension, $COD_{Mn}$, T-N, T-P removal efficiencies and recovery time were monitored. When the wastewater feeding was resumed after starvation period for 5days, the SVI increased at the beginning of resumption and then decreased with time in both types. And the larger the floc size and fractal dimension of floc, the more increased removal efficiency for $COD_{Mn}$, T-N and T-P was also. Its performance recovery was strongly correlated with floc size and fractal dimension of activated sludge. After resuming the wastewater feeding, the SVI, floc size, fractal dimension, $COD_{Mn}$, T-N, T-P removal efficiency of SBR with carrier improved and reached its initial value faster compared to those of SBR without carrier.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.362-364
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• 2006

Starvation 동안 슬러지를 폭기시킨 경우 floc의 크기감소가 더 크게 일어났다. SBR의 재운전으로 회복된 floc의 크기는 슬러지를 폭기시키지 않은 경우 starvation 이전과 비교하여 더 커졌으며, 슬라지를 폭기시킨 경우 starvation 이전보다 작아졌다. Starvation 동안 슬러지를 폭기하지 않은 경우 fractal dimension은 큰 폭으로 감소하지만, 폭기하였을 때는 감소폭이 매우 작았다. 이후 SBR의 재운전으로 인한 fractal dimension은 증가하였다. 슬러지의 침강성은 starvation 동안 폭기한 경우 폭기하지 않은 경우보다 SBR 재운전 직후 슬러지의 침강성이 더 불량하였으며, starvation 동안 폭기하지 않았을 때 슬러지 침강성의 회복현상이 나타났지만, 폭기를 수행한 경우 침강성의 회복이 느리게 일어났다. Starvation 동안 슬러지의 폭기 및 비폭기 수행결과 침강성은 fractal dimension보다 floc의 크기에 더 크게 좌우되는 것으로 나타났다.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.343-348
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• 2010

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of starvation periods with aerobic or non-aerobic conditions on the organic removal efficiencies and physical characteristics of activated sludge for treating saline and non-saline wastewater. During the experiment, MLSS, MLVSS, sludge volume index (SVI), floc size and fractal dimension, $COD_{Mn}$ removal efficiencies were monitored. The reductions of MLSS, MLVSS and SVI with maintaining the sludge under a non-aerobic condition during starvation periods were smaller than those under a aerobic condition. Floc size, fractal dimension and $COD_{Mn}$ removal efficiencies were less decreased under non-aerobic condition than under aerobic condition. And SVI were strongly correlated with floc size and fractal dimension. Consequently, the result showed that maintaining the activated sludge under non-aerobic starvation conditions was better strategy than that under aerobic starvation conditions as it adapted and resisted to starvation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.107-113
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• 2009

This paper considers the influence of floc on the sedimentation rate for the cohesive material. The effects of floc density and size changes were also taking into consideration during the experiment. The settling velocity of a discrete floc was measured in a quiescent water column. Floc diameter and density were investigated using a modified Stokes equation with some constants such as water density, viscosity, material density and the floc fractal dimension $n_f$ obtained from the relationship between the floc diameter and the floc settling. The floc diameter of quartz and alumina increased at increasing initial concentrations. The floc size of quartz with increasing NaCl concentration varied between approximately 0.8 um to $10{\mu}m$. Floc density decreased as floc size increased. The floc settling velocity and the floc diameter have a straight line relationship on a logarithm. The floc fractal dimension nf was 2.65 with increasing of initial concentration and 2.93 with increasing of NaCl. The exponent n to predict the settling velocity was proposed and varied from 1 to 1.93.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.139-144
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• 2012

In this study, the effects of starvation on floc characteristics when treating saline wastewater using a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) were investigated. The effectiveness over 5 days of starvation for aerobic and non-aerobic strategies for maintaining the physical characteristics of floc-forming sludge and the recovery period needed to regain the initial pollutant removal efficiency were investigated. Experiment results revealed that the sludge volume index (SVI) increased and the floc size and fractal dimension decreased after starvation under both aerobic and non-aerobic conditions. Sludge settleability deteriorated faster under aerobic conditions compared to non-aerobic conditions. Under non-aerobic conditions, the SBR required less time to return to its initial pollutant removal efficiency and settleability. Floc size, fractal dimension, and SVI were observed to be fairly correlated with each other. The results demonstrated that it was better to maintain the sludge under non-aerobic rather than aerobic starvation, because it adapted to, resisted starvation and had a quicker re-start afterward.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.58-65
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• 2011

This study aims to investigate the settling velocity of aggregates of cohesive sediment (floc) and its relationship with sediment size, density and fractal dimension. A system of commercial camera and macro-lens is used for the experiment. Through the image-analysis technique, the image taken by the camera system is analyzed. For the experiment, kaolinite and a natural sediment sampled at Lake Apopka in Florida have been tested. From this study, it is known that kaolinite and Lake Apopka sediments show different behaviors mainly depending on the organic matter content. Samples of kaolinite with less organic contents show a more definite trend to follow a fractal theory and relatively strong relationships between the settling velocity, density, fractal dimension and floc size compared to the Lake Apopka sediments rich in organics.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.337-344
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• 2006

Characteristics of flocculent aggregates have great effects on membrane fouling. Floc from kaolin particles gave higher permeate throughputs than floc from natural particles at the same conditions. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to thoroughly analyze characteristics of flocculated aggregates and to investigate effects of flocculated aggregates on membrane fouling. Image analysis, specific rake resistance and cake compressibility were used for characterization of flocs. Different flocculent aggregates formed with natural and kaolin particles were employed in this study. The fractal dimensions from the image analysis were $D_2=1.79{\pm}0.07$ for floc from natural particles and $D_2=1.84{\pm}0.06$ for floc from kaolin particles. The lower fractal dimension($D_2$) of floc from natural particles indicated that the aggregates were more porous and less compact than floe from kaolin particles. In addition, both the specific cake resistances and compressible degrees of flocs from natural particles showed greater values than those of flocs from kaolin particles. The results implied that the porous and loose flocs from natural particles were more easily compressed on membrane surface than the dense and compact flocs from kaolin particles. The compressed flocs yielded the great hydraulic resistances by hindering the water flow through the cake layer.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.49 no.10
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• pp.887-901
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• 2016

Cohesive sediments form flocs through the flocculation process. The size and density of floc are variable whereas those of a fine sediment are always assumed to be constant. The settling velocity, one of main factors of sediment transport, is determined by size and density of particle. Therefore, the flocculation process plays an important role in transport of cohesive sediment. It is of great difficulty to directly measure the density of floc in the field due to technical limitation at present. It is a popular approach to estimate the density of floc by applying the fractal theory. The main assumption of fractal theory is the self-similarity. This study aims to examine the applicability of fractal theory to cohesive sediment in small rivers of Korea. Sampling sediment has been conducted in two different basins of Geum river and Yeongsan river. The results of settling experiments using commercial camera show that the sediment in Geum river basin follows the main concept of fractal theory whereas the sediment in Yeongsan river basin does not have a clear relationship between floc size and fractal dimension. It is known from this finding that the fractal theory is not easily applicable under the condition that the cohesive sediment includes the high content of organic matter.