• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.10-19
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• 2021

In the flotation process to remove microplastic (MP) particles, the attachment and separation efficiency is determined by the basic physicochemical characteristics of MP particles as well as bubbles. To evaluate the flotation characteristics of MP particles, we carried out a series of simulations using the population balance (PB) model. The initial attachment coefficient (αo) of MP particles was in the range of 0.2-0.275, and it was slightly lower than that of typical particles, such as clay, debris and algae particles, which exist in water bodies, αo, 0.3-0.4. The relative bubble number (RBN) attached to the surface of the typical number of bubbles was 0.30 and 0.32 for MP 30 ㎛ and MP 58 ㎛, respectively. In comparison, the RBN of larger MP particles (138 ㎛) was as high as 0.53. Furthermore, smaller microbubbles were required to separate properly or additional treatment needed to be applied to enhance collision and attachment efficiency since the flotation of MP particles was found to be difficult to treat as high-rate. As a result of comparing the removal rate (experimental value) of MP particles obtained from the batch-type flotation apparatus and the flotation removal rate (predicted value) of MP obtained through the PB model, the final particles by the particle size of MP overall except for the initial separation time area. With respect to the removal efficiency, the observed and predicted values were similar, and it was confirmed that the floating separation characteristics and evaluation of the MP particles through the PB model could be possible.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.1393-1406
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• 2018

In this study, three parameters (Pressure ($X_1$), Airflow rate ($X_2$), Operation time ($X_3$)) were experimentally designed and the predicted model and optimal conditions were established by using the terminal rise velocity of the microbubbles as the response value. The polynomial regression analysis showed that the optimum value for the terminal rise velocity at the Pressure ($X_1$) of 4.5 bar, Airflow rate ($X_2$) of 3.3 L/min and Operation time ($X_3$) of 2.2 min was 5.14 cm/min ($85.7{\mu}m/sec$). Also, the highest microbubble diameter size distribution in the range of 2 to $5{\mu}m$ and 25 to $50{\mu}m$ was confirmed by using a laser particle counting apparatus.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.479-485
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• 2018

Large amounts of oily wastewater discharged from various industrial operations (petroleum refining, machinery industries and chemical industries) cause serious pollution in the aquatic environment. Although dissolved air flotation (DAF) separating oil pollutants using microbubbles represents current practice, bubble size cannot be selectively controlled, and lots of power is required to generate microbubbles. Therefore, to investigate performance of the DAF process, this study examined the distribution of different sizes of microbubbles resulting from changes in physical shear force via modifying shapes of a slit-nozzle without an additional power supply. Three types of slit-nozzles (different angle, shape and length of the slit-nozzle) were used to analyze the distribution of bubble size. At a slit angle of $60^{\circ}$, shear force was 4.29 times higher than a conventional slit, and particle size distribution (PSD) in the range between 2 and $20{\mu}m$ more than doubled. Treatment efficiency of synthetic oily wastewater through the coagulation-DAF process achieved 90% removal of COD by injecting $FeCl_3$ and PACl of 250 mg/L and 100 mg/L, respectively, and the same performance resulted using $FeCl_3$ of 200 mg/L and PACl of 80 mg/L employing a slit-nozzle angle of $60^{\circ}$. This study shows that a coagulation-DAF process using a modified slit-nozzle can improve the pre-treatment of oily wastewater.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.84-91
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• 2021

Effervescent tablets generate gas bubbles when chemical reaction occurs between water and tablets. Most of previous studies have been focused on pharmaceutical characteristics of tablets. However, for their applications in disinfectants, cleaners, and pesticides, physical characteristics of bubbles released from the effervescent tablets when they are in water are important. In this study, we experimentally investigated the characteristics of microbubbles generated by an effervescent tablet made of sodium bicarbonate and tartaric acid using PDPA and high-speed camera. Microbubbles were generated using different weights of effervescent tablet as well as in different water temperature. The experimental study shows increase in reaction time, bubble concentration and rise velocity as the weight of effervescent tablet increases from 1 to 20 g. The decrease in average bubble diameter was observed when the temperature of water increased from 25 to 45 ℃. Further, reaction time varies inversely with increase in water temperature, while bubble rise velocity is directly proportional to increase in water temperature. Effervescent table continuously generates the bubble with approximately constant diameter (235 ㎛) in the water. However, bubble concentration and bubble rise velocity decreased over time.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.501-506
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• 2022

Echogenic liposome contains both liquid and gas inside the shell. In ultrasound mediated drug delivery, sonoporation, these new microbubbles can be an attractive drug carrier since they can be loaded water soluble drugs and drug molecules can be unloaded at the specific location with ultrasound sonication. In this paper, the structure of the echogenic liposome was confirmed with EF-TEM and the positive effect of sonoporation with echogenic liposome was comparatively evaluated on MDA-MB-231 cells which is a type of breast cancer cell with Doxorubicin. Control group (Group 1), Doxorubicin only (Group 2), sonoporation with Doxorubicin and hollow microbubbles (Group 3), sonoporation with Doxorubicin loaded echogenic liposome (Group 4) were classified and experiments were conducted. According to the results, Group 4 is at least 1.4 times better in inducing necrosis of cancer cells. Therefore, we conclude echogenic liposome could be one of the most useful form of microbubbles in sonoporation.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.93-102
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• 2023

This study investigated the possibility of treating heavy metal pollutants existing in the air in addition to simultaneously removing NOx and SOx by injecting oxidizing and reducing agents into a scrubber into a microbubble device to create an eco-friendly method that does not generate secondary pollutants. Lead compound (Pb) was selected as the heavy metal substance in the air to be treated with microbubbles, and the removal efficiency was confirmed. By treating microbubbles by connecting them to a scrubber, it was confirmed that not only NOx and SOx but also heavy metal substances in the air were reduced, cost was reduced, and secondary environmental pollutants were not generated. Through this study, it was possible to simultaneously remove NOx, SOx, and heavy metals at low cost by applying an eco-friendly method, rather than the existing high-cost treatment method such as SCR. If oxidizing agent, reducing agent, and microbubbles are used appropriately, economical and efficient air pollution can be achieved. Since material processing was possible, it is expected to be helpful in the technological development of environmental prevention facilities.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.109-117
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• 2017

In the production of organic Panax ginseng, the morphological changes were confirmed by providing general water and microbubble water, respectively. Analysis of seedling ginseng treated with general water and bubbles water revealed that many seedlings were formed in the seedling treated with bubble water, and about 15% weight increase occurred in the growing period. The growth rate of stem, leaf, and root was about 15% higher than that of all. Taken together, the growth of seedling cultivation using bubble water was about 15% overall. In order to process ginseng, the dried ginseng was higher in dry weight than the general water seedling seedlings grown in bubble water. This suggests that more processed products will be produced per unit weight at the time of producing the processed products at the farm, which can directly increase the farm income.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.291-296
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• 2023

DIWS system was employed to treat hydrochloric acid gas from cold rolling mill process of iron and steel industry. Chlorine gas generated from the acid regeneration system was combined with hydrogen gas and hydrogen chloride gas was increased to 50%. After the injection of Na₂S₂O₃ to remove chlorine gas, the removal of hydrogen chloride was stably kept 87.5~88.8%, where the inflow was 13.1~13.4ppm and the outflow was 1.5~1.7ppm. DIWS system can be recommended for the real iron and steel plant because it was stably maintained not only the air emission standards but also the reduction of chemical usage.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.253-259
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• 2023

Bioreactors are devices used by sewage treatment plants to process sewage and which produce active sludge, and sediments separated by solid-liquid are treated in anaerobic digestion tanks. In anaerobic digestion tanks, the volume of active sludge deposits is reduced and biogas is produced. After dehydrating the digestive sludge generated after anaerobic digestion, anaerobic digested wastewater, which features a high concentration of organic matters, is generated. In this study, the decomposition of organic carbon and nitrogen was studied by advanced oxidation process. Ozone-microbubble flotation process was used for oxidation pretreatment. During ozonation, the TOC decreased by 11.6%. After ozone treatment, the TOC decreased and the removal rate reached 80.4% as a result of the Ultra Violet-Advanced Oxidation Process (UV-AOP). The results with regard to organic substances before and after treatment differed depending on the organic carbon index, such as CODMn, CODCr, and TOC. Those indexes did not change significantly in ozone treatment, but decreased significantly after the UV-AOP process as the linkage treatment, and were removed by up to 39.1%, 15.2%, and 80.4%, respectively. It was confirmed that biodegradability was improved according to the ratio of CODMn to TOC. As for the nitrogen component, the ammonia nitrogen component showed a level of 3.2×10² mg/L or more, and the content was maintained at 80% even after treatment. Since most of the contaminants are removed from the treated water and its transparency is high, this water can be utilized as a resource that contains high concentrations of nitrogen.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2023

Due to water shortages caused by water pollution and climate change, total organic carbon (TOC) standards have been implemented for wastewater discharged from public sewage treatment facilities. Furthermore, there is a growing interest and body of research pertaining to the reuse of sewage treatment water as a secure alternative water resource. The membrane bio-reactor (MBR) method is commonly used for advanced wastewater treatment because it can remove organic and inorganic ions and it does not require or emit any chemicals. However, the MBR process uses a separation membrane (MF), which requires frequent film cleaning due to fouling caused by a high concentration of mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS). In this study, process improvement and microbubble cleaning efficiency were evaluated to improve the differential pressure, water flow, and MF fouling, which are the biggest disadvantages of operating the MF. The existing MBR method was improved by installing a precipitation tank between the air tank and the MBR tank in which raw water was introduced. Microbubbles were injected into a separation membrane tank into which the supernatant water from the precipitation tank was introduced. The microbubble generator was operated with a 15 day on, 15 day off cycle for 5 months to collect discharged water samples (4L) and measure TOC. As the supernatant water from the precipitation tank flowed into the separation membrane tank, about 95% of the supernatant water MLSS was removed so the MF fouling from biological contamination was prevented. Due to the application of microbubbles to supernatant water from the precipitation tank, the differential pressure of the separation membrane tank decreased by 1.6 to 2.3 times and the water flow increased by 1.4 times. Applying microbubbles increased the TOC removal rate by more than 58%. This study showed that separately operating the air tank and the separation membrane tank can reduce fouling, and suggested that applying additional microbubbles could improve the differential pressure, water flow, and fouling to provide a more efficient advanced treatment method.