• The Microorganisms and Industry
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.2-13
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• 1993

Some microorganisms, including actinomycetes, cyanobacteria, and other bacteria, algae, fungi, and yeast, can accumulate and retain relatively high quantities of heavy metals and radionuclides from their external environments (1-4). Both living and dead cells can be used for biosorptive metal/radionuclide removal from solution. Thus microorganisms and products excreted by or derived from microbial cells (2) may provide an alternative or adjunct to conventional techniuqes of metal removal and recovery. Recent approaches have separated the microbial growth and metal removal process to manipulate production of metal-adsorptive capacity of bacteria and metal removal process. If pre-grown cells are immobilized and used for metal removal, mathematical modeling can be applied to predict immobilized cell reactor behavior under specific process conditions. Waste and microbial adsorbent could be separated from the treated flow in one step. Once treated, the metal waste is concentrated in a small volume of sorbed form for easy metal disposal or recovery.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.373-380
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• 1993

When the cells of yeast K35 were immobilized in Ca-alginate gel, cell concentration and viability decreased as alginate concentration increased. Considering the results, 2% (w/v) Ca-alginate concentration would be suitable. Among various concentrations of additives and cross-lin-king agent, the addition of 1.67% (w/v) of bentonite together with 0.33% (v/v) of glutaraldehyde (ABG bead) resulted in the highest ethanol production of 1.8%(w/v), using YPD medium containing 2% glucose. ABG bead seemed to be more resistant to phosphate ion than Ca-alginate bead. 0.33%(w/v) of phosphate was a proper concentration for the ethanol production by ABG bead. Scanning electron microscopic observation depicted that the immobilized cells on the bead surface were coated by alginate gel and that the cells in the internal bead were cross-linked with alginate matrix. When repeated-batch culture was performed with ABG bead for 40 days in a packed-bed reactor, ethanol concentration of about 90~110 g/l-gel was maintained. Cell viability was maintained around 70%, and outgrowing cell concentration was below 6.3% of total cell concentration. Consequently, the results showed that ABG head was a potential carrier for continuous production of ethanol compared to conventional Ca-alginate bead.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.681-686
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• 1992

In the conversion of D.L-2-amino-$\Delta^2$-thiazoline-4-carboxylic acid(D,L-ATC) to L-cysteine using Pseudomonas sp. CU6. the effects of surfactants on whole cells and the stabilities of cellfree enzyme solution and continuous reactor packed with immobilized whole cells were investigated. The enzymatic reaction was little accomplished by whole cells without adding surfactants, whereas it was well carried out with SDS or Triton X-loo comparable to the case using cell-free enzyme solution. Enzyme activity of the cell-free solution was lost by 50% after 7 hours of storage at $30^{\circ}C$, but not at all under an anaerobic condition by sparging nitrogen gas. On the other hand. effect of nitrogen gas did not appear in a continuous reactor using immobilized whole cells, and hydroxylamine, an inhibitor of L-cysteine desulfhydrase, lowered the enzyme stability.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 1997

Removal of nitrogen compound from waste water is essential and often accomplished by biological process. To prevent washout and to develop an efficient bioreactor, immobilization of sutibal microorganisms could be sensible approach. Strains and permeabilized cell encapsulated in cellulose nitrate microcapsules and immobilized on polystyrene films were prepared by the method described in the previous study. In the wastewater treatment system, nitrification of ammonia component is generally known as rate controlling step. To enhance the rate of nitrification, firstly nitrifying strains Nitrosomonas europaea(IFO14298), are permeabilized chemically, and immobilized on polystyrene films and secondly oxidation rates of strain system and permeabilized strain system are compared in the same condition. with 30 minute permeabilized cells, it took about 25 hours to oxidize 70% of ammonia in the solution, while it took about 40 hours to treat same amount of ammonia with untreated cells. All the immobilization procedures did not harm to the enzyme activity and no mass transfer resistance through the capsule well was shown. In the durability test of immobilized system, the system showed considerable activity for the repeated operation for 90 days. With these results, the system developed in this study showed the possibility to be used in the actual waste water treatment system.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.211-223
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• 1994

In fermentations with a 4-liter stirred tank bioreactor, a better than two-fold enhancement of the gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient$(k_La)$ in the celite-immobilized fungal cultures of Tolypocladium in flatum over the parallel conventional free-cell was observed at identical biomass concentrations, despite the higher specific oxygen uptake rate of the immobilized fungi during exponential growth. As a result oxygen sufficient conditions, i. e., dissolve oxygen(D.O.) concentrations exceeding 75% air saturation, could be maintained throughout exponential growth period of the immobilized culture, in contrast to the suspended fungal culture, whose D.O. levels fell below 50% air saturation. A linear monotonic dependence of $k_La$ upon impeller agitaion rate was found for both immobilized and conventional cultivation modes over a range of 250 to 550rpm, the slope being a function of biomass concentration for the free but not for the immobilized cell system In contrasts oxygen transfer rate was a much weaker function of aeration rate up to about 2.5 vvm for both culture configurations. Above this level, aeration rate had no further effect on the mass transfer. In addition, the immobilized cultures sustained good morphological and physiological states, leading to almost two times higher cyclosporln A (CyA) productivity overt the parallel free cell system. These experiments suggest that the celite-immobilized fungal system in a stirred tank reactor has considerable promise for scaling up cyclosporin A production in terms of high-density cultivation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.74-80
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• 1989

For improvement of photobiological hydrogen production, Rhodopseudomonas El5-1, a photo-synthetic becterium capable of producing n high yield of hydrogen, was immobilized and conditions for hydrogen production by immobilized cells were examined. The optimum concentration for the combined matrix was obtained when sodium alginate was used at final concentration of 4%. The immobilized cells may reduce the inhibitory effects of nitrogen or oxygen. To minimize the diffusion resistance of the nutrients in alginate gel, the bend size less than 2 mm in diameter was desirable. The immobilized cells were also able to utilize n wide range of organic substrates for the production of hydrogen. The hydrogen producing activity of the immobilized cells was maintained for 20 days without loss of activity during semi-continuous operation of the reactor by feeding of new medium periodically and continuous production of hydrogen could be successfully performed for 30 days.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.13-19
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• 1996

Packed bed reactor containing immobilized microorganisms which degraded phenol without growth was used to remove phenol from the synthetic wastewater. The effects of temperature, retention time(reactor volume/flow rate) and phenol concentration on the removal efficiency of phenol were investigated. The effect of temperature in the range of 20-30$\circ $C was negligible while retention time and phenol concentration influenced the removal of phenol significantly. When retention time was in the range of 1-1.5 hour, the removal efficiency of phenol was affected not by phenol concentration but by retention time itself while it was influenced by phenol concentration above 1.5 hour of retention time. The beads after 720 hours operation were swelled by 40 % in diameter which could be prevented by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde at the expense of cell activity.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.181-187
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• 1991

Physiological and morphological characteristics of Anabaena azollae cells immobilized in a synthetic polymer, polyvinyl(PV), were investigated. The cell density of the non-immersed PV foam reached 4.4mg Chl/g dry wt. PV foam. This is 8 times higher than that of PV-immobiliz action in immersed batch system. And MSX-induced ammonia productivity and the photosynthectic oxygen evolution activity are higher than that of free cells after short-term dark storage. Nitrogenase activity and thermostability of photosynthetic activity are also higher than that of free Anabaena cells after immobilization. Total hydrogen production reached to 1.6ml $H_2$ per reactor (total 4mg Chl) after 6 days.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.917-922
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• 2005

The wastewaters from textile and dyeing industries are difficult to treat due to its high pH, temperature, color intensity and non-biodegradable organic contents. This study investigated the removal of recalcitrant organics in a dyeing wastewater by using a packed bed reactor (PBR) that contained cell-immobilized pellets. The feed, obtained from an effluent of a biological treatment plant, had $SCOD_{Cr}$ of 330 mg/L and $SBOD_5$ of 20 mg/L on average. In immobilizing the cells to a Polyethylene Glycol(PEG) based medium, activated sludges from either a sewage treatment plant or an industrial wastewater treatment plant were used. When the empty bed contact time (EBCT) was above 8 hrs in the PBR, the $COD_{Cr}$ removal efficiency was over 50% and the $COD_{Mn}$ concentration was 72 mg/L or lower on average, which was substantially lower than the discharge standard of 90 mg/L. The results indicated that the optimum EBCT in the PBR was 8 hrs. The PBR with cell-immobilized pellets was effective as an advanced treatment process after an activated sludge process for treating dyeing wastewaters.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.243-255
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• 1993

In this study, it was observed that hydrogen Productivity varied with stirrer speed, bead radius, input glucose concentration and dilution rate in a continuous stirred tank reactor in which immobilized R. rubrum KS-301 was used as a hydrogen-producing bacterium The mass transfer resistance due to cell immobilization was also studied. In order to estimate an effectiveness factor, Des of glucose was first obtained, which was subsequently represented by the correlation equation between Dos and Xb, As a result external mass transfer resistance could be neglected for stirrer speeds greater than 400rpn With bead radius increasing, the hydrogen productivity and internal effectiveness factor decreased. With input 91ucose concentration increasing, the hydrogen productivity and interval and external effectiveness factor increased. Although an Internal effectiveness factor was not affected, hydrogen productivity Increased with dilution rate increasing. An overall effectiveness factor remained nearly constant for the dilution rates investigate4 but increased with input 91ucose concentration increasing.