• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.798-807
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• 2008

Due to economic impairment derived from metal corrosion of pumping station installed around coastal area, it was needed for related cause-effect to be investigated for understanding practical corrosion behavior and providing proper control. This research was thus carried out to determine whether the microbe can influence on metal corrosion along with its control in the laboratory. For this study, groundwater was sampled from the underground pump station(i.e. I Gas Station) where corrosion was observed. Microbial diversity on the samples were then obtained by 16S rDNA methods. From this, microbial populations showing corrosion behaviors against metals were reported as Leptothrix sp.(Iron oxidizing) and Desulfovibrio sp.(Sulfur reducing) Iron oxidizing bacteria were dominantly participating in the corrosion of iron, while sulfate reducing bacteria were more preferably producing precipitate of iron. In case of galvanized steel and stainless steel, iron oxidizing bacteria not only enhanced the corrosion, but also generated its scale of precipitate. Sulfate reducing bacteria had zinc steel corroded greater extent than that of iron oxidizing bacteria. In the inactivation test, chlorine or UV exposure could efficiently control bacterial growth. However as the inactivation intensity being increased beyond a threshold level, corrosion rate was unlikely escalated due to augmented chemical effect. It is decided that microbial corrosion could be differently taken place depending upon type of microbes or materials, although they were highly correlated. It could be efficiently retarded by given disinfection practices.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.553-559
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• 2007

The vertical distributions of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) in sediments of lakes in Korea (Lake Sihwa and Lake Soyang) and China (Lake Aha and Lake Erhai) were investigated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). SRB from sediment of Lakes of China were located to deeper layer than those in Lakes of Korea. SRB were not detected below 19 cm and 10 cm depth in sediments of Lake Sihwa and Lake Soyang, respectively. SRB numbers were, however, detected at all observed sediments in Lake Aha and Lake Erhai. In case of lakes in Korea, the proportion of SRB ranged from 2.9 to 25.6% (Lake Sihwa) and ranged from 0.6 to 7.1% (Lake Soyang). For lakes in China, the proportions of SRB were from 0.6 to 19.4% and from 2.9 to 11.2% within sediments from Lake Aha and from Lake Erhai, respectively. The high peaks of SRB numbers in sediments of all lakes were appearing at depths between 0 cm and 2 cm.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.75-82
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• 2008

Two UASB reactors were operated to investigate the effect of high concentration of sulfate on anaerobic digestion of propionate using an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. An organic loading rate of $1.2kg\;COD/m^3{\cdot}d$ and a hydraulic retention time of 1.6 d were maintained during this study. In the absence of sulfate, the UASB reactor achieved about 95% removal of chemical oxygen demand whereas in the presence of $2,000\;SO_4^{2-}mg/L$, the COD removal rate decreased to 83% due probably to the inhibition of dissolved sulfide inhibition. Interactions between the methane producing bacteria (MPB) and sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) were measured to investigate the competition between MPB and SRB. The MPB consumed average 58% of the available electron donors at $COD/SO_4^{2-}$ ratio of 1. Propionate was consumed mainly by SRB, converting sulfate into sulfide and suppressing the methane production. The specific methanogenic activity (SMA) using acetate and propionate increased as microorganism acclimated to the substrate.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.110-121
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• 2022

The effluents from industries processing vegetable oils are extremely rich in sulfates, often exceeding the maximum concentration allowed to release them to the environment. Biological sulfate reduction is a promising alternative for the removal of sulfates in this type of wastewater, which has other particularities such as an acidic pH. The ability to reduce sulfates has been widely described for a particular bacterial group (SRB: sulfate-reducing bacteria), although the reports describing its application for the treatment of sulfate-rich industrial wastewaters are scarce. In this work, we describe the use of a natural SRB-based consortium able to remove above 30% of sulfates in the wastewater from one of the largest edible oil industries in Peru. Metataxonomic analysis was used to analyse the interdependencies established between SRB and the native microbiota present in the wastewater samples, and the performance of the consortium was quantified for different sulfate concentrations in laboratory-scale reactors. Our results pave the way towards the use of this consortium as a low-cost, sustainable alternative for the treatment of larger volumes of wastewater coming from this type of industries.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2007

Two phase UASB reactors for treating wastewater with sulfate were operated to assess the performance and competition of organics between sulfate reducing bacteria(SRB) and methane producing bacteria(MPB), and the change of characteristics of microorganisms. The reactors were fed in parallel with a synthetic wastewater of 4,000-5,000 mgCOD/L and sulfate concentration of $800-1,000\;mgSO_4/L$. In the MPR(methane producing reactor) and CR(control reactor), COD removal efficiencies were 90% and 60%, respectively, at the OLR(organic loading rate) of 6 gCOD/L, while the amount of biogas and methane content were 6.5 L/day and 80%, and 3 L/day and 50%, respectively. However, the portion of electron flow used by SRB at the OLR of 6 gCOD/L day in MPR and CR was 3% and 26%, respectively. This indicated that the increase of OLR of wastewater containing high sulfate like CR resulted in activity decrease and cell decay of MPB, while SRB was adapted immediately to new environment. The MPB activities in MPR and CR were 2 and $0.38\;kgCH_4-COD$/gVSS day at the OLR of 6 gCOD/L. This indicated hat SRB dominated gradually over MPB during long-term operation with wastewater containing sulfate as a consequence of outcompeting of SRB over MPB. In addition, the solution within AFR was maintained around pH 5.0, the MPB such as Methanothrix spp. which was very important to formation of granules was detached from the surface of granules due to the decrease of activity by limitation of substrate transportation into MPB. Therefore, a significant amount of sludge was washed out from the reactor.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2014

As we are trying to in-situ treat (purify or immobilize) heavy metals or radionuclides in groundwater, one of the geochemical factors to be necessarily considered is the value of oxidation/reduction potential (ORP) of the groundwater. A biogeochemical impact on the characteristic ORP change of groundwater taken from the KAERI underground was observed as a function of time by adding electron-donor (lactate), electron-acceptor (sulfate), and indigenous bacteria in a laboratory condition. There was a slight increase of Eh (slow oxidation) of the pure groundwater with time under a $N_2$-filled glove-box. However, most of groundwaters that contained lactate, sulfate or bacteria showed Eh decrease (reduction) characteristics. In particular, when 'Baculatum', a local indigenous sulfate-reducing bacterium, was injected into the KAERI groundwater, it turned to become a highly-reduced one having a decreased Eh to around -500 mV. Although the sulfate-reducing bacterium thus has much greater ability to reduce groundwater than other metal-reducing bacteria, it surely necessitated some dissolved ferrous-sulfate and finally generated sulfide minerals (e.g., mackinawite), which made a prediction for subsequent reactions difficult. As a result, the ORP of groundwater was largely affected even by a slight injection of nutrient without bacteria, indicating that oxidation state, solubility and sorption characteristics of dissolved contaminants, which are affected by the ORP, could be changed and controlled through in-situ biostimulation method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.207-210
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• 2004

Effect of electron accepters on anaerobic degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by an anaerobic sludge taken from a sludge digestion tank in a soil artificially contaminated with 10,000 mg/kg soil of diesel fuel was tested. Treatments of soil with 30 mL of the digestion sludge (2,000 mg/L of vss (volatile suspended solids)) were incubated under several anaerobic conditions including nitrate reducing, sulfate reducing, methanogenic, and mixed electron accepters conditions for 120 days. Treatments with the digested sludge showed significant degradation of diesel fuel under all anaerobic conditions compare to control treatments with an autoclaved sludge and without the sludge. The amount of TPH degradation after 120days incubation was the largest in the treatment with the sludge and mixed electron accepters (75% removal of TPH) followed in order by sulfate reducing, nitrate reducing, methanegenic condition as 67%, 53％, 43%, respectively. However, the rate of TPH degradation in the nitrate- and sulfate reducing condition within 105 days were comparable with that of the mixed electron accepters condition. Microorganisms in each electron acceptor condition were plated on solid mediums containing nitrate or sulfate as sole electron acceptor and several nitrate- and sulfate reducing bacteria showed effective degradation of diesel fuel within 30 days incubations. These results suggest that anaerobic degradation of diesel fuel in soil with digested sludge is effective for practical remediation of soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2013

There was a study for biological characteristics, except for physico-chemical and mineralogical properties, on the natural bentonite that is considered as a buffer material for the high-level radioactive waste disposal site. A bentonite slurry that was prepared from a local 'Gyeongju bentonite' in Korea was incubated in a serum bottle with nutrient media over 1 week and its stepwise change was observed with time. From the activated bentonite in the nutrient media, we can find a certain change of both solid and liquid phases. Some dark and fine sulfides began to be generated from dissolved sulfate solution, and 4 species of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were identified as living cells in samples that were periodically taken and incubated. These results show that sulfate-reducing (or metal-reducing) bacteria are adhering and existing in the powder of bentonite, suggesting that there may be a potential occurrence of longterm biogeochemical effects in and around the bentonite buffer in underground anoxic environmental conditions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.417-427
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• 2000

The substrate metabolism and bacterial population in an anaerobic digestion with the submerged separation membrane were investigated by using a laboratory-scale reactor at the hydraulic retention time(HRT) 1.0 and 0.5 day. The removal efficiencies of carbohydrate at the HRT 1.0 and 0.5 day were 99.8~99.9% and 98.0~99.6%, respectively. After the 58 days, the mixed liquor volatile suspended solids(MLVSS) concentration at the HRT 1.0 and 0.5 day were approximately 6,050 and 7,750 mg/L, respectively. According to the measurement by the most probable number(MPN) method, the numbers of acidogenic bacteria, $H_2$-utilizing and acetate-utilizing methc.nogenic bacteria were found to be $10^9$, $10^7{\sim}10^8$ and $10^6{\sim}10^8MPN/mL$, respectively. The composition of $CH_4$ in the produced gas was 46~50%. It is suggested that sulfate-reducing bacteria $10^7{\sim}10^8MPN/mL$ play an important role in producing $H_2$ and acetate in sulfate-depleted environment.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.139-144
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• 2014

Microorganisms play a significant role in bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated seawater. In this study, we reported an effective removal of Cu and Zn in marine envionment by using Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (D. desulfuricans) which belong to sulfate reducing bacteria. D. desulfuricans showed stable growth characteristics in high salt concentration and had resistance to heavy metals. Cu and Zn was removed not only by physical adsorption on the surface of bacteria but also by precipitation reaction of microbial metabolism by D. desulfuricans in seawater. In case of different heavy metal concentration, Cu was effectively removed 85% at 25 ppm and 60% at 50 ppm and Zn was effectively removed 54% at 50 ppm and 46% at 200 ppm, respectively.