• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.72-81
• /
• 2013

The objective of this study was to verify whether SCB(Slurry Composting & Bio-filtration) system can be applied for the treatment of anaerobic digestion(AD) wastewater and also, to identify the most effective set among three filtration compost beds tested. Results can be summarized as these; (a) When AD wastewater was sprayed on the top of beds which were mainly composed of sawdust and/or other media and, subsequently, filtrates collected and analyzed, there were large drop in the values of Electric Conductivity(EC), Total Suspended Solid(TSS), Biochemical Oxygen Demand(BOD), and Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD). In contrast, Total Nitrgen(T-N) and Total Phosphorus(T-P) were progressively elevated. We consider these changes as positive if the filtrate are to be utilized as liquid fertilizer. (b) When three sets of filtration beds (T1, T2, T3) were compared for their effectiveness, no significant difference was found among them. These indicate that expensive sawdust can be replaced in part with cheaper media such as woodchip, rice husks, or others. (c) At early stage of operation (within 20 days), BOD in filtrates were maintained at high level probably due to the lack of microbial activity. During the same stage, T-N, T-P was at low level but, were elevated to higher levels thereafter. These data, when combined, indicate that the filtration system needs at least a couple of weeks for the optimized microbial functioning. (d) The temperatures of the experimental beds were progressively dropped as the experiment continued through the fall season, although filtration effectiveness was not noticeably influenced.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.213-222
• /
• 2014

In this study, 2-stage recirculation membrane process was developed for purification of high purity bio-methane for the vehicle fuel application. Pure gas permeation and mixture gas permeation test were done as a function of methane content and pressure in the feed using polysulfone membrane modules. 2-stage membrane plant was designed, constructed in a food waste treatment cite. Dehumidification, dry desulfurization, and desiloxane plants are installed for the removal of $H_2O$, $H_2S$ and siloxane in the biogas. Permeation test were done with the pre-treated methane mixture in terms of methane purity and recovery by adjusting the ratio of membrane area (1:1, 1:3, 2:2) in the first and second membrane modules in the plant. When membrane area of 2 stage increased to $3m^2$ from $1m^2$ at 1-stage membrane area of $1m^2$, the feed rate and $CH_4$ recovery at 95% methane purity were increased from 47.1% to 92.5% respectively. When the membrane area increased two-fold (1:1 to 2:2), $CH_4$ recovery increased from 47.1% to 88.3%. When the feed flow rate was increased, in 1:3 ratio, final purity of the methane is reduced, the methane recovery is increased. When operating pressure was increased, the feed rate was increased and recovery was slightly decreased. From this result, membrane area, feed pressure and feed rate could be the important factor to the performance of the membrane process.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.90-96
• /
• 2000

The composition of leachates varies depending on the waste characteristics, landfill age and landfilling method. Generally, leachates contain high dissolved organic substance and ammonia nitrogen whereas phosphorus concentration was very low. Leachate A produced from young landfill is characterized by high BOD5/COD ratio (0.8) whereas leachate C produced from old landfill has lower BOD5/COD ratio (0.1). Maximum biochemical methane potential of leachate A, B (from medium landfill) and C were 271,106 and 4 ml CH4/g-COD, respectively. On the other hand, the maximum biodegradability of leachate A, B, and C were 75,30, and 1%, respectively. These results indicated that anaerobic treatment of leachate from young landfill was effective in removing organic pollutants. In case of leachate C, carbon might reside in the form of large molecular weight organic compounds such as lignins, humic acids and other polymerized compounds of soils, which are resistant to biodegradation. The lag-phase period increased with the increasing organic concentration in leachate. In case of leachate A of concentration greater than 25%, the lag-phase period increased sharply. This implied that the start-up period of anaerobic process using an unacclimated inoculum could be extended due to the higher concentration of leachate. This relatively long lag-phase is probably related to the fact that most of the inhibitory compounds have been diluted beyond their inhibitory concentrations of less than 50%. Furthermore, the ultimate methane yield and methane production rate decreased as leachate concentration increased. It was anticipated the potential inhibition was related with the steady-state inhibition as well as the initial shock load.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.307-312
• /
• 2005

Since alpine upland in Pyungchang-gun has been typically applied every two or three years with saprolite, agricultural by-products are inputted to raise soil properties. Therefore, the effect of saprolite application on water quality in runoff and leachate should be monitored. To investigate water quality in runoff and leachate with various treatments of agricultural by-product, lysimeter with dimension of $0.85m{\times}1.75m{\times}0.30m$ was installed in Kangwon National University. Control, mixed compost with cow, chicken and sawdust by-product (CCSC), chicken manure by-product compost (CC), food waste by-product compost (FWC), and beer sewage sludge by-product compost (BSSC) at the rate of $10Mg\;ha^{-1}$ were mixed with soil in 25 cm depth, and water qualities in runoff and leachate were monitored from Jun. 4, 2004 to Oct. 18, 2004. EC ($0.8-2.2dS\;m^{-1}$) and concentrations of total N ($25-75mg\;L^{-1}$) and total P ($0.12-0.43mg\;L^{-1}$) were highest in both runoff and leachate of CC treatment. EC values in CC and FWC treatments continuously increased during lysimeter experiment, while total N and total P concentrations continuously decreased. Average total N concentrations in runoff taken from CCSC, FWC and BSSC treatments were 41, 34 and $37mg\;L^{-1}$, and in leachate were 35, 28 and $34mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. Average total P concentrations were not different with different treatments. EC values in leachate were higher than those in runoff, and total N concentrations in runoff were higher than those in leachate.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.219-226
• /
• 2006

The wastes (the needle leaves and branches) produced from thinning the forest were fermented under an anaerobic condition (pine silage) to utilize as a forage source of ruminants. An in situ trial was conducted with two ruminally fistulated Korean native cows by 4 replicates (2 bags per cow), and in vivo digestibility of pine silage was estimated with five Korean native steers by 5 replicates in incomplete double turn-over design. In order to investigate feed efficiency and carcass traits, forty eight Korean native bulls were assigned to four treatments (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% of pine silage) with a completely randomized design in 12 pens accommodating 4 animals per pen. The amounts of concentrate and roughage allowed to experimental animals were in the range of 2.5% and 0.6% of body weight, respectively. Animals had freely accessed to mineral block and water in stanchion barn.An in situ crude protein digestibility of the roughage sources when suspended for 48 hrs in the rumen was higher for feeding the pine silage than the rice straw, whereas NDF digestibility was vice versa. No differences between the treatments were observed in in vivo digestibilities of dry matter, crude protein and NDF. Daily body weight gain was significantly (P<0.01) higher for the pine silage substitutions compared with the rice straw feeding except for the 25% silage feeding. The pine silage feeding did not affect feed efficiency.In carcass traits, marbling score tended to be higher for the 50% pine silage treatment than the other treatments while back fat thickness tended to be the thinnest for the rice straw feeding. From these results, it may be recommended to substitute pine silage, as a forage source, for rice straw by 50 percent.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.5-10
• /
• 1998

The microbial degradation, photosensitizer-mediated photolysis, and bioceramic- accelerated degradation of the herbicide imazapyr were investigated using four types of soil. 1. Seven strains of microorganisms isolated from the soil A and the active sludge collected from the waste water disposal plant in CheongJu did not give any distinct degradation products in pure culture. When imazapyr (10ppm) was incubated for 14days with each of the 6strains of the known bacteria, they did not produce any noticeable products, either, suggesting that imazapyr was degraded very little by microorganisms in aqueous media. Meanwhile, when 50ppm of imazapyr was incubated in soil A and B for 6months, a degradation product of m/z 279 was detected. It turned out to be 2-[(1-carbamoyl-1,2-dimethylpropyl)carbamoyl]nicotinic acid, which was formed by the hydrolytic cleavage of the imidazolinone ring and by tautomerism. When imazapyr was exposed to sunlight, degradation rates were 14.6% under the control and 66.0, 76.5, 26.7, and 90.0% in the presence of PS-1 (100ppm), PS-1 (200ppm), PS-2(100ppm), and PS-3(100ppm), respectively, and a degradation product of m/z 149 was tentatively identified in the treatment of PS-1. 2. When soil C and D treated with bioceramic were incubated for 7weeks, the $^{14}C$-activities of $^{14}CO_2$ evolved were 2.03 and 1.12% of the originally applied ones, respectively, whereas those in control soils without bioceramic were 1.88 and 0.82% showing no significant defferences.After 5 weeks, however,the differences in the amounts of $^{14}CO_2$ between the two treatments increased gradually, suggesting the bioceramic effect.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.28 no.10
• /
• pp.1031-1037
• /
• 2006

The main purposes of this study were to compare the characteristics of fractionated natural organic matters(NOM) from Han River water and Wangsuk(W) stream water, and to investigate the relationships between NOM and the formation of disinfection by products(DBPs). Three types of resin such as XAD-4, XAD-7HP and IRC-50 were used to isolate the water samples into three organic fractions. The DOC concentrations of raw waters were relatively low($1.5{\sim}3.3$ mg/L) at all seasons. The hydrophilic was the major constituent, contributing $44{\sim}63%$ of the total NOM and hydrophobic $21{\sim}33%$, transphilic $16{\sim}31%$, respectively. The formation of trihalomethans(THMs) was highly influenced by particulated NOM especially in the rainy season, whereas haloaceticacid forming potentials(HAAFPs) depended more on the hydrophilic fraction of dissolved NOM which is known to be difficult to be removed through conventional processes. The NOM of W stream was characterized as 15% hydrophobic, 9% transphilic, and 76% hydrophilic. In the fractionation of NOM using resins, $20{\sim}40%$ of the NOM in W tributary water could not be clearly isolated, whereas, 85% of the NOM in the raw water was recovered. Although the DOC concentration of tributary water was higher than the raw waters from the Han River, the DBPFPs was approximately 40% of the raw waters. In DBPFPs aspect, W stream has less effect than Han River water itself. Bromide in tributary waters discharged from waste water treatment plants has been found to shift the distribution of THMs and HANs to the more brominated DBPs.

• The Korean Journal of Vision Science
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.553-560
• /
• 2018

Purpose : To investigate a disposal method of disposing contact lenses and the recognition of environmental pollution by micro plastics which may be caused by the wrong disposal method of domestic contact lens wearers. Methods : Two hundred sixty one adults(124 males, 137 females, mean age $21.48{\pm}3.14years$) were participated in this study. They were given the questionnaire survey on contact lenses purchasing place, type of contact lenses, duration of wearing contact lenses, the disposal method of disposing contact lenses and the recognition of the occurrence of environmental pollution. Results : It appeared that eyeglass shop(50.0%) and contact lens shop(48.3%) were the main purchasing places, and the most common type of contact lenses were disposable lenses(38.5%) and daily wearing lenses(52.5%). On the duration of wearing contact lenses they answered more than 5 years(29.3%), less than 1 year (26.0%), less than 1 year to less than 3 years (26.0%), and on wearing a contact lens during a week they did 1-2 days (32.0%), 1 week (28.0%), 5-6 days (22.4%) and 3-4 days (17.6%). It was shown "no(78.3%)" and "yes(21.7%)" to the questionnaire of whether they received information or education about a disposal method at the place where the contact lens was purchased, and "no(87.5%)" and "yes(12.5%)" to the questionnaire of whether they received information or education from schools, public institutions or public media such as the internet. As for the disposal methods, landfill waste(45.6%), recycled garbage(29.6%), and drainage(16.8%) from the sink or toilet responded in order. Although men were more educated and informed about disposal than women (t=3.63189, p<0.00001), women were more aware of environmental pollution(t=2.44269, p=0.01605). Conclusion : In order to reduce the environmental pollution issue caused by the contact lens which does not decompose at the sewage treatment facility and become micro plastics, it is urgent to provide information about correct disposal methods after using contact lenses and to educate contact lens wearers.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.152-168
• /
• 2019

The element arsenic, which is abundant in the Earth's crust, is used for various industrial purposes including materials for disease treatment and household goods. Various human activities, such as the disposal of soil waste, metal mining and smelting, and combustion of fossil fuels, have caused the pollution of the environment with arsenic. Recently, guidelines for arsenic in rice have been adopted by the Korean ministry of food and drug safety to prevent health risks based on rice consumption. Because of the exposure to arsenic and its accumulation in the human body through various channels, such as air inhalation, skin contact, ingestion of drinking water, and food consumption, integrated multimedia risk assessment is required to adopt appropriate risk management policies. Therefore, integrated human health risk assessment was carried out in this study using integrated exposure assessment based on multimedia (e.g., air, water, and soil) and multi-route (e.g., oral, inhalation, and dermal) scenarios. The results show that oral uptake via drinking water is the most common pathway of arsenic into the human body, accounting for 57%-96% of the total arsenic exposure. Among various age groups, the highest exposures to arsenic were observed in infants because the body weight of infants is low and the surface areas of infant bodies are large. Based on the results of the exposure assessment, the cancer and non-cancer risks were calculated. The cancer risk for CTE and RME is in the range of 2.3E-05 to 6.7E-05 and thus is negligible because it does not exceed the cancer probability of 1.0E-04 for all age groups. On the other hand, the cancer risk for RME varies from 6.4E-05 to 1.8E-04 and from 1.3E-04 to 1.8E-04 for infants and preschool children, exceeding the excess cancer risk of 1.0E-04. The non-cancer risks range from 5.4E-02 to 1.9E-01 and from 1.5E-01 to 6.8E-01, respectively. They do not exceed the hazard index 1 for all scenarios and all ages.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.28 no.11
• /
• pp.1339-1346
• /
• 2018

In Korea, edible mushrooms are produced largely on commercial artificial media, so the annual production of spent mushroom substrate (SMS), as a by-product of the mushroom industry, is estimated at over 200 million tons. This SMS is assumed to contain abundant fungal mycelia and pre-fruiting bodies, as well as various nutritive and bioactive compounds that are presently discarded. This study examined the physico-chemical, nutritional, and enzymatic characteristics of uninoculated sterilized medium (USM) and SMS of shiitake mushrooms with the aim of developing a high-value added product from SMS. The contents of crude protein, crude lipid, and ash were higher after the third SMS harvest ($SMS-A-3^{rd}$) than in USM or $SMS-A-1^{st}$. The contents of Ca, Mg, and P in $SMS-A-3^{rd}$ were 2.95, 2.35, and 2.1-fold higher compared than in USM. No As or Cd was detected in USM or SMS. The pH, Brix, and acidity were 4.6, 20.0, and 1.4, respectively in $SMS-A-3^{rd}$, but 5.6, 6.0, and 0.0, respectively, in USM. These results suggest a highly active production of soluble components and organic acids in $SMS-A-3^{rd}$. The distinct color differences noted for USM, $SMS-A-1^{st}$, and $SMS-A-3^{rd}$ could be used as a mycelial growth indicator. Enzyme activity assays using the APIZYM system showed that SMS is a potent source of hydrolysis-related enzymes, especially esterase (C4) and ${\beta}$-glucuronidase. Our results suggested that the SMS of shiitake has a high potential for use in environmental, agricultural, and stock-breeding industries, for example, as active ingredients for sewage treatment, waste-polymer degradation, and feed additives.