• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.173-184
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• 1990

A mathematical model was proposed to predict the predominant reactions and transport pathways of anthracene in a conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment system. The model consists of five differential equations with seven kinetic parameters and eighteen input variables. Volatilization, biodegradation, adsorption/desorption as well as the convective inputs and outputs are included in the model. The steady state calculations showed that volatilization (61%) in aeration tank and the withdrawal of primary sludge (33%) were two major pathways for removal of anthracene from the system. The overall removal was about 97%. The system reached a practical steady state at about 160 hours via dynamic modeling. The proposed model can give plausible predictions of the fate of priority organic pollutants in activated sludge processes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1765-1773
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• 2016

Wastewater containing kraft lignin (KL) discharged from pulp and paper industries could cause serious environmental contamination. Appropriate effluent treatment is required to reduce the pollution. Investigations on anaerobic bacteria capable of degrading KL are beneficial to both lignin removal and biofuel regeneration from the effluent. In this paper, an anaerobic strain capable of degrading KL was isolated from the sludge of a pulp and paper mill and identified as Dysgonomonas sp. WJDL-Y1 by 16S rRNA analysis. Optimum conditions for KL degradation by strain WJDL-Y1 were obtained at initial pH of 6.8, C:N ratio of 6 and temperature of 33℃, based on statistical analyses by response surface methodology. For a 1.2 g/l KL solution, a COD removal rate of 20.7% concomitant with biomass increase of 17.6% was achieved after 4 days of incubation under the optimum conditions. After the treatment by strain WJDL-Y1, KL was modified and degraded.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.42-48
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• 1998

For the effective operation of complex dyeing wastewater treatment plant, the biodegradability of various dyeing agents were investigated. For experiments in biodegradability, activated sludge from aeration tank of wastewater treatment plant was used. Biodegradability of dyeing agents were compared by measuring the $BOD_5/COD_{Cr}$ ratios and $BOD_5$ removal efficiency. $COD_{Cr}$. removal efficiency of dyeing agents was less than 80% , while $BOD_5$ removal efficiency was less than 60% after of days. Therefore, biodegradation by activated sludge were found very difficult. Judging from this, it is necessary to isolate strains biodegrading dyeing agents in order to operate activated sludge process safely.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.97-108
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• 2000

A Gram-type negative bacteria that can utilize crude oil as the sole source of carbon and energy was isolated from an activated sludge of a local sewage treatment plant and identified tentatively as belonging to the genus Acinetobacter. The isolate could degrade n-alkanes and unidentified hydrocarbons in crude oil and utilize n-alkanes, hydrophobic substrates, as sole carbon and energy sources. n-Alkanes from tridecane (Cl3) to triacontane (C30) in crude oil were degraded simultaneously with no difference in degradation characteristics between the two close odd and even numbered alkanes in carbon numbers. The linear growth of the isolate and the degradation characteristics of Pr-alkanes suggested that the transport of substrates from the oil phase to the site where the substrates undergo the initial oxidation in microorganism might be the rate limiting in the biodegradation process of crude oil constituents. The remainder fraction of substrates after cultivation was considered to reflect the hydrocarbon inclusions in the cell mass, characteristics in Acinetobacter species, and to control the transport of substrates from crude oil phase. On the basis of the results, the isolate was considered to play an important role in the degradation study of hydrophobic environmental pollutants.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.497-505
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• 2005

Domestic Sewage Treatment Plants are mostly based on biological treatment, in which large amounts of excess sludge are generated and occupy about 40 ~ 60% of the total sewage treatment costs. Several methods for sludge treatment has been so far reported as upgrading biodegradation of sludge; heat treatment, chemical treatment, including thermo-alkali and ozone, mechanical treatment including ultrasonic pulverization. But, it has a limitation in case of reducing the amount of excess sludge which are already producted. In this study, application of excess sludge reduction process using thermophilic aerobic bacteria for activated sludge was examined. The research was carried out two different stage. one for a biological wastewater treatment and the other for a thermophilic aerobic solubilization of the waste sludge. A portion of excess sludge from the wastewater treatment step was into the thermophilic aerobic sludge solubilization reactor, in which the injected sludge was solubilized by thermophilic aerobic bacteria. The solubilized sludge was returned to the aeration tank in the wastewater treatment step for its further degradation. Sludge solubilization reactor was operated at $63{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ with hydraulic retention time(HRT) of 1.5 ~ 1.7 day. Control group was operated with activated sludge process(AS) and experiment group was operated with three conditions(RUN 1, RUN 2, RUN3). RUN 1 was operated with AS without sludge solubilization reactor. RUN 2 were operated with AS with sludge solubilization reactor to examine correlation between sludge circulation ratio and sludge reduction ratio by setting up sludge circulation ratio to 3. RUN 3 was operated with sludge circulation ratio of 3 and MLSS concentration of 1,700~2,000mg/L to examine optimum operation condition. The quantity of excess sludge production was reduced sharply and in operation of RUN 3, sludge The quantity of excess sludge production was reduced sharply and in operation of RUN 3, sludge solubilization ratio and sludge reduction ratio were 53. 7%, 95.2% respectively. After steady state operation, average concentration of TBOD, SBOD, $TCOD_{Cr}$, $SCOD_{Cr}$, TSS, VSS, T-N, T-P of effluent were 4.5, 1.7, 27 .8, 13.8, 8.1, 6.2, 15.1, 1.8mg/L in the control group and were 5.6, 2.0, 28.6, 19.1, 9.7, 7.2, 16.1, 2.0mg/L in the experimental group respectively. They were appropriate to effluent standard of Sewage Treatment Plants.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1343-1351
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• 2008

The activated sludge obtained from wastewater coke oven plant was immobilized by entrapment with polyethylene glycol (PEG). The effects of several factors on the biodegradation of $CN^-$ from. synthetic wastewater were investigated using batch and continuous reactors. The degradation rate of $CN^-$ increased with increasing of the immobilized bead volume in the reactor. Approximately 7.65mg/L of $NH_4-N$ was produced upon the degradation of 35mg/L of $CN^-$. When high concentrations of the toxic cyanide complex were used in the testing of cyanide degradation, the free activated sludge could be inhibited more than that of the immobilized activated sludge. When the phenol concentration was higher than 400mg/L in the synthetic wastewater, approximately 98.4% of $CN^-$ was removed within 42 hours by the immobilized activated sludge. However, the cyanide was not completely degraded by the tree activated sludge. This indicates that high phenol concentrations can act as a toxic factor for the free activated sludge. A $CN^-$ concentration of less than 1mg/L was achieved by the immobilized sludge at the loading rate of 0.025kg $CN^-/m^3-d$. Moreover, it was found that the HRT should be kept for 48 hours in order to obtain stable treatment conditions.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.299-305
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• 2000

Degradation behavior of the three commercial biodegradable polymers, namely poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) Sky-Green/sup R/ (SG) and Mater-Bi/sup R/ (MB) was investigated using bacteria isolated from activated sludge and farm soil. Three PHB degrading bacteria, three SG degrading bacteria and one MB degrading bacteria were isolated. The PHB degrading bacteria were identified to be Flavimonas oryzihabitans, Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum and Micrococcus diversus, while Pseudomonas vesicuraris, Pasteurlla multocida and Flavobacterium odoratum were identified as SG degrading bacteria. As for MB, Pseudomonas vesicuraris was isolated. The shake flask test for 28 days indicated that the rate of biodegradation of PHB, SG and MB in terms of weight loss were about 44∼69% 25∼32% and 29% respectively. The surface morphology of PHB, SG andMB films before and after degradation by microorganisms in an activated sludge soil was observed under SEM, demonstrating that the film surface had a very porous structure, and that microorganisms colonized heavily on the film surface. TOC and pH variation as a result of abiotic hydrolysis, or microbial growth in the absence of the polymers were compared to those due to degradation by F. oryzihabitans. Abiotic hydrolysis of PHB was three times as fast as that of SG and MB. Addition of yeast extract to the basal liquid medium accelerated the biodegradation of the polymers. Biodegradation of PHB was always faster than that of SG and MB irrespectively of the presence of yeast extract in the basal liquid medium.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.629-636
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• 2012

This study focuses on the feasibility of bio-gas production using anaerobic digestion by measuring methane generation and biodegradability through the BMP test of industrial organic wastes. Organic wastes consist of entrails of pigs and organic residues of rumen generated from slaughter houses, wastewater sludge from slaughter waste water, fish offal and residues of vegetables from public wholesale markets, and wastewater sludge from the process of wastewater treatment in paper mill. The cumulative methane production by BMP test ranges from 149.3 ml/g-VS to 406.6 ml/g-VS and this is similar to methane generation of the normal wastewater sludge and food waste. As a result of measurement of biodegradability, wastewater sludge (S1 ~ S4) is low, ranging from 27.1% to 58.9 % and organic residues of rumen (G1) is low at 49.6 %. In conclusion, it turned out that raising the hydrolysis by various pre-treatments is necessary in order to produce bio-gas by using industrial organic wastes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1270-1280
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• 2001

In this research of biodegradable polymers, it is essential to investigate the relation between biodegradability and molecular structure such as chemical constitution, hydrophilicity, molecular weight, crystallinity, chain orientation, and so on. It is also expected that hydrophilicity of polymer can affect biodegradability because biodegradation occurs with the help of enzymes and microorganisms. This study is to investigate the effect of hydrophilicity on biodegradability of polyesters. Hydrophilicity was varied by adding 5~30 mol% of amide groups, since amide groups are hydrophilic and used for improving thermal and mechanical properties. Surface energies and nitrogen contents by ESCA were measured to determine their hydrophilicity. The biodegradation was examined in activated sludge, enzyme and natural soil by $CO_2$evolution, TOC, weight loss, and observation through microscopy. The results showed that hydrophilicity of polyesteramide films increased with the addition of amide, PBAD series of shorter methylene units showed maximum hydrophilicity at 15~20 mol% of amide contents, but PBSE exhibited maximum values at 5~15 mol% of amide contents. The biodegradability increased as the hydrophilicty on surface increased. The biodegradation rate of PBAD series was higher than that of PBSE series. Therefore, it can be concluded that the addition of appropriate contents of hydrophile enhanced the biodegradability of aliphatic polyesters as well as their physical properties. Also, the experimental results revealed the relation between hydrophilicity and biodegradability of polyesteramides.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.159-165
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• 1999

Pseudomonas aeruginosa JRT-4 strain was used as a biosurfactant-producing microorganism in this study. It was one of the microorganisms isolated from the sewage sludge, the main and branch streams of Han river. The surface tension of the culture broth of P. aeruginosa JRT-4 decreased to 30mN/m. The crude biosurfactant was obtained from the culture broth by acid precipitation, solvent extraction, evaporation, and freeze drying. The CMC value of the crude biosurfactant was 0.006%(w/v). From analysis of the chemical structure of biosurfactant, it was determined as rhamnolipid 1 and 3 structures by FAB mass spectrometer. In the washing test for artificially contaminated textiles, the biosurfactant showed better bleachness than the two chemically synthesized surfactant, LAS and SLES. Finally, the biodegradation and ecotoxidolorical tests showed that the biosurfactant was readily biodegradable in the environment and a mild material for microorganisms and green algae.