• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.505-510
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• 2008

Excess sludge and raw sludge were treated by ball mill in order to promote solubilization, and it was known that the level of solubilization was higher in excess sludge rather than raw sludge. About solid concentration, with the increase of TS, the amounts of solubilization was increased. And excess sludge was solubilized more effectively with the increase of ball mill treatment time. Especially, in case of excess sludge, within 5 min of ball mill treatment, 6 times of solubilization was achieved compared with raw sludge. The effect of bead size was also tested and 1 mm bead was most desirable when applied to the TS 4% of excess sludge. Particle size decrease by the ball mill treatment was more effective in raw sludge, nevertheless the level of solubilization was always higher in excess sludge. This means that the results of particle analysis could not be understood as a indicator for sludge solubilization. Generally, excess sludge and raw sludge are mixed at the thicker in the STP, but considering a ball mill pretreatment as an alternative for sludge solubilization, it is desirable to treat not raw sludge but excess sludge alone in the aspect of solubilization yield and economical process.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.233-239
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• 2008

A new approach to the solubilization of excess activated sludge by the inoculation of lactic acid bacteria was studied to reduce the amount of sludge produced in the activated sludge treatment process. Aerobic microorganism in sludge was lysed in anaerobic condition and the cytoplasmic substance eluted was utilized as a carbon source by lactic acid bacteria. On the basis of sludge solubilization efficiency, Lactobacillus brevis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp mesenteroides were selected the best candidates among five kinds of Lactobacillus sp. and seven kinds of Leuconostoc sp. The sludge solubilization efficiency by heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria was more efficient than that of homofermentative bacteria. Initial value of soluble COD (sCOD) was 1050 mg/L at the initial inoculation time increased to 3070 mg/L (192% solubilization) at 96 h of the incubation time. The inoculation of lactobacillus brevis to the sludge resulted in 2824% increase in sCOD value after 96 h of incubation than the control experiment. Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp mesenteroides showed 152% increase of solubilization and 30% increase of S-COD/T-COD on 96 h of incubation time. Considering the increase of S-COD by the inoculation of Leuconostoc sp. on 24 h, 10% inoculation of lactic acid bacteria to the sludge was most effective.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.675-682
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• 2009

Sludge minimization from wastewater treatment plant is becoming more important to save disposal costs and to contribute to sustainable development. For the reduction of sludge production, solubilization and dewaterability of sludge are important factors in sludge processing. Ultrasonic treatment has been used to enhance sludge solubility and dewaterability with anaerobic digestion sludge, primary sludge, and activated sludge. At the ultrasonic power of 0.2 kW/L for 1 hour, anaerobic sludge and activated sludge showed higher solubilization efficiency than the primary sludge in terms of COD, proteins, and suspended solids. Ultrasonic treatment decreased sludge dewaterability and sludge settling characteristics up to 720 kJ/L of ultrasonic energy. In conclusion, ultrasonic treatment was effective for sludge solubilization but it deteriorate dewaterability (specific resistance) and settling characteristics (SVI) of sludge at the experimental conditions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.763-770
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of mechanical(ball-mill) solubilization of excess sludge especially focused on the TSS(total suspended solid) reduction during the conventional aerobic digestion of sewage sludges including primary and/or excess sludge, HRT was examined at the 10 days and 20 days. According to the results of this study, TSS removal efficiency of solubilized excess sludge was almost two times higher than that of non-solubilized excess sludge. And as the proportion of the primary sludge increased, TSS removal efficiency became worse because primary sludge rarely contained microbial cells which could be easily solubilized physically. It was also proved that by the application of proper solubilization techniques to the excess sludge, HRT for the aerobic digestion could be lessened(above 50%) dramatically keeping the same or better digestion performance. The fact that between primary and excess sludges, only the excess sludge is quite effective in the sludge solubilization and in it's reduction says that excess sludge releasing sources are key-point in the sludge cake reduction field as a source control.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.40-46
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• 2010

In this study, microwave irradiation, which is reflected by metals, was used to reduce the amount of sewage sludge, and the results were used to verify solubilization efficiency and determine optimum operation conditions. Biogas production and methane content of the gas under optimized conditions were measured with the biochemical methane potential (BMP) test. The sludge was taken from a thickened sludge tank at J sewage treatment plant (JSTP) in Seoul, Korea. For the experiments, 50 mL of sludge was filled in vessels and the vessels were irradiated with the power of 500, 600, 700, and 800W for 2~5 min. In addition, Fe powder was added by 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 g to compare the efficiency with and without Fe powder. The results confirmed that solubilization efficiency was higher in the presence of Fe powder. The optimum conditions of 0.01 g addition of Fe powder with 800W irradiation for 5 min, yielded nearly 22.95% higher solubilization efficiency than without Fe powder. The BMP tests were carried out using sludge obtained from the experiments carried out under the optimum conditions. As a result, sludge subjected by 800W with 0.01 g of Fe powder for 5 min displayed the highest level of gas production and methane content. Through this study, it could be confirmed that solubilization efficiency increased by addition of Fe powder.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.117-126
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• 2000

Solubilization pretreatments were conducted to enhance the anaerobic digestion of the waste activated sludge. Four pretreatment techniques including heating, sonication freezing and thawing, and enzyme addition were employed to solubilize the waste activated sludge under various conditions. Thermal pretreatment by heating showed the highest efficiency compared with other methods, and freezing and thawing was confirmed as a feasible alternative of solubilization as well as the pretreatment of dewatering. There is a clear correlation between the solubilization efficiency of the waste activated sludge and the gas production. Batch digestion results showed the cumulative gas production as much as four times after thermal pretreatment as compared with that by the control sludge without pretreatment. As a result, hydrolysis or solubilization pretreatment might play a significant role in the high rate digestion of the waste activated sludge.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.567-573
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• 2003

The pretreatment process was carried out to solubilize the sewage sludge for enhancing its biodegradability using alkaline treatment, ultrasonic treatment(15kHz), ozone treatment and different combination of these three methods: alkaline followed by ultrasonic as well as ozone, and ultrasonic followed by alkaline. The solubilization efficiency was evaluated based on the SCOD/TCOD ratio and VSS/TS ratio. In results, the proper condition of alkaline treatment was shown as 30meq/l of NaOH, pH 12 and 3hours of reaction time. Solubilization efficiency increased to 17% from initial 2% based on SCOD/TCOD ratio under this condition. In ultrasonic treatment, the higher ultrasonic power, the longer treatment time and the lower sludge volume resulted in higher solubilization respectively. There was a rapid increase in solubilization efficiency after 20 minute, then it was measured as 32% of SCOD/TCOD ratio in 1 hour at a ultrasonic power of 1,300W with 1/sludge. Solubilization efficiencies in combined treatment using alkaline and ultrasonic were 47-53% higher than single treatment at a sonicated time of 1 hour. Ozone treatment followed by alkaline treatment also represented the enhanced solubilization compared to ozone treatment. Therefore, ultrasonic or ozone treatment assisted by alkaline could achieve the short treatment time as well as high solubilizetion efficiency.

• 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 Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.257-262
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• 2017

Several disposal processes for waste sludge from wastewater treatment plants such as landfill, ocean dump, incineration, reuse as fuels or fertilizers are practiced. However, ocean dumping is prohibited by international treat. New constructions of landfill sites or incineration facilities are limited by NIMBY and reuse processes are still suffering from low energy yield. Therefore, development of alternative processes for sludge disposal are currently needed. In this study, alternative technique for sludge solubilization using HVI (high voltage impulse) was suggested and verified experimentally. Sludge solubilization was carried out for 90 minutes using HVI discharge with peak voltage of 16 kV and pulse duration for 40 microsecond. About 3~9 % of MLSS and MLVSS concentration were reduced, but the soluble COD, TN, TP of the sludge increased to 372 %, 56 % and 102 % respectively. It indicates that the flocs and/or cells of the sludge were damaged by HVI. These resulted in flocs-disintegration and cells-lysis, which means the internal matters were bursted out of the flocs as well as the cells. Thus, electrical conductivity in bulk solution was increased. All of the results verified that the HVI could be used as an alternative technique for sludge solubilization processes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.737-744
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• 2007

Recently, one of the most interesting topic in the field of wastewater treatment is the disposal of excess sludge. The new concept of excess sludge reduction with recirculation of solubilized sludge via effective microorganisms for cell disruption within the wastewater treatment process has been developed in this study. The alkalophiles for degradation of sludge cell wall were isolated as Exiguobacterium sp., which could be more effectively solubilized sludge in the anaerobic condition. The SCOD of solubilized excess sludge by Exiguobacterium sp. was up to about 2,000mg/L and average TN and TP concentration of solubilized component were 117mg/L and 58mg/L, respectively and C/N ratio was more than 17. To investigate the effects of solubilized sludge by alkalophiles on excess sludge reduction and nutrient removal efficiency, the pilot plant of $DF^{(S)}-MBR$ process, combined with membrane bioreactor and sludge solubilization tank, was operated. In the control run(without sludge solubilization), the daily sludge production was about 4.54 kgMLVSS/day. However, in the $DF^{(S)}-MBR$(with sludge solubilization), the daily sludge production was decreased to 1.39kgMLVSS/day. The effluent quality satisfied the effluent regulation in both cases. Furthermore, the $DF^{(S)}-MBR$ showed relatively better TN removal efficiency in spite of high influent loading. So we concluded that the solubilized excess sludge by alkalophiles was effectively degraded in the MBR process as the carbon source and 70% of sludge reduction efficiency can be achieved.