• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.277-284
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• 2015

Experiments for highly concentrated contaminants in pig waste slurry were carried out for the feasibility test of a pilot-scale innovative process scheme of engaging autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) and expended granular sludge bed (EGSB) followed by sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system. Contaminants in pig waste slurry such as organic substance, total nitrogen (TN), ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus (TP) contents were successfully reduced in the system. Total volatile solids (TVS) and chemical oxygen demands (COD) for organic matter in the feed were 32.92 g/L and 42.55 g/L respectively, and they were reduced by about 98.7% and 99.2%, respectively in the system. The overall removal efficiencies for TN and ammonium nitrogen were found to be 98.1 and 98.5%, respectively. The overall removal efficiency for total phosphorus was also found to be 92.5%. Faecal coliform density was reduced to <$1.2{\times}10^4CFU/g$ total solids. Biogas and $CH_4$ were produced in the range of 0.39-0.85 and $0.25-0.62m^3/kg$ [VS removed], respectively. The biogas produced in the system comprised of $295{\pm}26ppm$ (v/v) [$H_2S$].

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.290-308
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• 1999

In this study a system for the treatment or recyling of organic wastes from both urban and rural area was recommended. It was developed based on the resource recovery system regarding human being by four tectnologies; forage, methane production, high-grade composting and complete decomposition. High quality compost can be produced by combining several kind of wastes produced from urban and agricultural areas. High quality compost must possess not only general characteristics of ordinary compost, but also a superior ability to improve the soil properties and must contain more nutrients for plant. Cedar chips were recommended as the main bulking agent to adjust moisture contents and air permeability. Charcoal and zeolite can be used not only as the second bulking agent but also as fertilizer for improve the soil amendment. Complete decomposition of organic wastes is defined by organic matter being completely converted to $CO_2$ and water. All the input water was evaporated by the heat produced through the oxidation of organic matter, In the present study, the complete treatments were successfully achieved for Shochu wastewater, swine wastes, thickened excess sewage sludge, wastes produced by Chinese restaurant and anaerobic digested sludge. First of all, recycling center of organic wastes should be established for the protect the environments and effective recovery of organic resources. This may means the way to derive the recovery of human value.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.356-362
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• 2015

Many burial sites were constructed in a short time to prevent the rapid spread of foot and mouth disease in infected livestock carcasses in Korea. More than 4,700 carcass burial sites were constructed in 2011. Approximately seven million poultry and 3.5 million livestock, including cattle and swine, were buried on farmland. Some burial sites were suspected of leachate leakage and were excavated and carcasses redisposed in a bioaugmentation process. This study performed interviews in order to understand the economic issues related to carcass burial and redisposal. The internal data from local government and the assumption data from online sites were analyzed to evaluate the costs; the focus was on burial site construction. The results showed that the local government paid $4.7 and $10.9 per carcass for traditional burial and redisposal. The comparable costs shown online were $4.5. This study found that the standard operating procedures should be carried out to reduce environmental impact and avoid additional costs. We estimated that the cost could be reduced by the advance preparations of materials against the emergency situations such as catastrophe of epidemics. In addition, the innovative technology for the stabilization of carcasses should be established through a future study.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.167-170
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• 2000

Proteolytic hydrolysis is one of the main enzymatic reaction of waste activated sludge (WAS) digestion. Pretense excreted from Bacillus stearothermophilus (ATCC 31197) showed optimum temperature of $75^{\circ}C$ for maxium heat stable proteolytic activity against azo casein. The dependency of $Ca^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$ on heat stability of proteolytic enzymes were measured with various concentrations. It was shown that $Ca^{2+}$ ion enhanced heat stability of these enzymes. Then thermophilic aerobic digestion (TAD) was performed using B. sterothermophilus with the addition of divalent ions. Performance of TAD process with ATCC 31197 activated by $Ca^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$ions in terms of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, extracellular protein concentration, and scanning electrion microscopy (SEM) analysis. The best result of protein reduction concentration in digestion test was obtained with the addition of 2 mM $Ca^{2+}$ ion.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.3521-3524
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• 2010

MTH1880 is a hypothetical protein derived from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum, thermophilic methanogen. The solution structure determined by NMR spectroscopy showed that it has a novel $\alpha+\beta$-fold with a highly acidic ligand binding pocket. Since MTH1880 maintains its ultra-stable structural characteristics at both high temperature and pressure, it has been considered as an excellent model for studying protein folding. To initiate the structural and folding study of MTH1880 in proving its unusual stability, we performed the site directed mutagenesis and biochemical analysis of MTH1880 mutants. Data from circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopy suggest that the point mutations perturbed the structural stability of protein even though the secondary structure is retained. This study will provide the useful information in understanding the role of participating residues during folding-unfolding process and our result will be used in designing further folding experiments for hyper-thermopile proteins like MTH1880.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.419-428
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• 2019

Phytases are enzymes that can hydrolyze phytate and its salts into inositol and phosphoric acid, and have been utilized to increase the availability of nutrients in animal feed and mitigate environmental pollution. However, the enzymes' low thermostability has limited their application during the feed palletization process. In this study, a combination of B-value calculation and protein surface engineering was applied to rationally evolve the heat stability of Escherichia coli phytase. After systematic alignment and mining for homologs of the original phytase from the histidine acid phosphatase family, the two models 1DKL and 1DKQ were chosen and used to identify the B-values and spatial distribution of key amino acid residues. Consequently, thirteen potential amino acid mutation sites were obtained and categorized into six domains to construct mutant libraries. After five rounds of iterative mutation screening, the thermophilic phytase mutant P56214 was finally yielded. Compared with the wild-type, the residual enzyme activity of the mutant increased from 20% to 75% after incubation at $90^{\circ}C$ for 5 min. Compared with traditional methods, the rational engineering approach used in this study reduces the screening workload and provides a reference for future applications of phytases as green catalysts.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2004

The changes of microflora and chemical characteristics during fermentation process of cotton waste for oyster mushroom cultivation were investigated with 5 l bench-scale reactors placed in an incubator at different temperatures ($40,\;50\;and\;60^{\circ}C$). Cotton waste was wetted to 70% moisture, and air flow rates to the substrate were 50, 100 and 300 cc/min. In processing of composting, the mesophilic bacterial population decreased sharply but thermophilic bacterial population increased. In case of fungi, both mesophilic and thermophilic population decreased. The daily $CO_2$ evolution showed little difference in all treatments, while $NH_3$ dropped sharply after 3 days. The desirable composting temperature and air flow based on the mycelial growth of oyster mushroom were $50^{\circ}C$ and 100 cc/min, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.8
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• pp.452-458
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• 2016

The study on pH control at the themophilic solubilization (pretreatment process) was investigated in order to improve the methane gas production of two phase anaerobic digestion of food waste. From a batch experiment, it was observed that the solubilization efficiency was increased from 26.2% to 47.1% and 55.6% by the pH increament from $4.20{\pm}0.40$ (without pH control) to $7.00{\pm}0.50$, and $12.00{\pm}0.50$, respectively. However there was immaterial increase (8.5%) in solubilization efficiency when the pH was increased from $7.00{\pm}0.50$ to $12.00{\pm}0.50$. The two phase anaerobic digestion system was operated for laboratory scale experiment under the solubilization condition of pH $4.20{\pm}0.40$ (Run1) and $7.00{\pm}0.50$ (Run2). Higher soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) and total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) concentration were observed in Run2 throughout the system resulted by the solubilization effect at the pH $7.00{\pm}0.50$. The TVFA concentration in acidogenic reactor was 18.4 g/L which was 1.8 times higher than the result of Run1. Consequently the methane gas production was enhanced to 0.333 L/g VS in the methanogenic reactor, which is 18% higher than the result (0.282 L/g VS) of Run1.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.368-372
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• 2008

Composting is a good strategy for management of livestock manure. However, it leads to large ammonia emissions and has a potential phosphorus runoff due to high content of soluble phosphorus. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of alum on reducing ammonia emissions and stabilizing phosphorus during composting of pig manure. For this study, alum was applied at rates of 0 (No-Alum), 1.0 (Alum-L), and 3.0 (Alum-H) g Al $kg^{-1}$ pig manure and sawdust mixture (fresh matter basis). The thermophilic stage was quickly achieved in Alum-L and No-alum treatment, but it was delayed to 5 days in Alum-H treatment. The thermophilic stage was maintained for 2 weeks in all treatment. The pH of compost treated with alum remained below 8.0 for the 35 d but it was above 8.0 in No-Alum treatment. For the first 15 days of composting process, 93, 87, and 58% of total ammonia emissions were occurred in No-Alum-L and Alum-H, respectively. The Alum-H and Alum-L treatments reduced $NH_3$ volatilization by 31 and 78% compared with No-Alum treatment. Alum treatments shifted manure P form $H_2O$ and $NaHCO_3$ extractable P into NaOH extractable P which is very stable under acid and alkaline condition. Therefore, alum is a good chemical amendment for reducing ammonia emission during composting and potential losses of P following compost applications.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.299-308
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• 2020

Composting is among the most effective integrated waste management strategies used to recycle sewage sludge (SS) waste and generate a useful product. An encapsulated lifting system is a relatively new industrial-scale composting technology. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of composting dewatered stabilized SS mixed with green waste using this new technology. The composting process was monitored by changes in the physico-chemical properties, UV-visible spectra, and fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. The composting temperature was steady in the thermophilic range for 24 and 12 d in the intensive and maturation phases, respectively, which fulfilled the disinfection requirement. Moreover, the temperature increased rapidly to 76.8℃ within three days, and the thermophilic temperatures peaked twice and lasted longer than in traditional composting, which accelerated SS degradation and decreased the composting period necessary to obtain mature compost. FTIR spectroscopic analysis showed a diminished in methyl group derived from methylene C-H aliphatic groups because of organic matter degradation by microorganisms and an increased number of aromatic chains. The new technology may be a viable and sustainable alternative for SS management that converts waste into compost that is useful as a soil amendment.