• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.469-474
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• 2000

In order to enhance the degradation efficiency of waste activated sludge (WAS) by thermophilic aerobic digestion, an ultrasonic pretreatment was examined. It was observed that ultrasonic pretreatment increased the solubilization of organic matter in the WAS and that the solubilization ratio of the organics increased during the first 30 min but did not extensively increase thereafter. Therefore, a pretreatment time of 30 min was determined to be the economical pretreatment time from the experimental results. From the digestion experiments, which was conducted using the WAS collected from an oil refinery plant in Inchon, Korea, investigating the effects of an ultrasonic pretreatment on thermophilic aerobic digestion, it was confirmed that the proposed ultrasonic pretreatment was effective at enhancing the release of the cellular components in WAS and the degradation of released components in the thermophilic aerobic digestion.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.139-150
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• 2006

Landfilling is one of the most widely used methods for the final disposal of solid wastes. Landfilled wastes are degraded by residing microorganisms and the microbial degradation is affected by many factors such as moisture, oxygen, pH, alkalinity, sulphate, nutrient, temperature, and so on. Especially among these factor, oxygen and moisture within aerobic landfill play a major role in microbial degradation. In this study, 1) the effects of oxygen on the velocity of waste degradation and 2) the effect of moisture on the degradation of municipal solids waste (MSW) in aerobic condition were investigated. It was found that the BOD and CODcr concentration from the leachate of aerobic lysimeters dropped faster by 80 days after the start of the test compared to those from the anaerobic lysimeters. To see the effect of moisture, four aerobic lysimeters filled with MSW and four different levels of moisture (20, 30, 40, and 50%) were installed. From this test, higher moisture in MSW produced higher $CO_2$ concentration, meaning moisture was effective for the microbial degradation. thus, we concluded that higher moisture level in the aerobic landfill might help early-stabilization microbial degradation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.570-576
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• 2001

Thermophilic aerobic bacteria were applied in the degradation of industrial waste activated sludge (WAS) on a laboratory scale expreiment. The performance of digestion was estimated by measuring the reduction of total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and total organic carbon (TOC). Among three strains of Bacillus stearothermophilus and three strains of Thermus species, B. stearothemophilus ATCC 31197 showed the best overall efficiency level for the degradation of industrial WAS, which was collected from a wastewater treatment plant in an oil refinery factory. Industrial WAS coul be successfully detraded in a batch digestion with ATCC 31197. The stability of the digestion process with ATCC 31197 was successfully verified by semi-continuous (fill-and-draw) digestion experiment. From the results of this study, it was shown that the thermophilic aerobic digestion process with ATCC 31197 could efficiently be applied to the degradation of industrial WAS.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.199-215
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• 1992

Sources of organic waste materials for aerobic and/or anaerobic degradation, or for composting of solid wastes in Germany were estimated. The basic microbiology and the energetics of these processes were compared with special emphasis on anaerobic degradation, for which a general degradation scheme of carbohydrates is presented. Advantages of anaerobic over aerobic treatment processes are pointed out and conditions for maintaining a highly stable anaerobic process as well as producing a sanitized, hygienic product are discussed. Reactor systems suitable for efficient treatment of wastes with a high or low proportion of suspended solids are principally compared and results of laboratory studies on the degradation of several wastes and animal manures summarized. Finally, a piggery slurry treatment factory for an ultimate slurry processing to obtain a dry fertilizer and a harmless, disposable liquid, as it is in operation in Helmond/Holland, is presented and preliminary process data are presented.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.81-91
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• 2007

A membrane bioreactor (MBR) was used to investigate the aerobic degradation of foam active substance - non-ionic surfactant, APG 2000 UP. The surface aeration using the propeller loop reactor (PLR) guaranteed sufficient $O_2$ for substrate removal and bacteria growth and avoided foam development. Moreover, the cross-flow membrane filtration enabled the separation of the bacteria still loaded with surfactant in the collecting container. The biological degradation of the surfactant with varying hydraulic retention time (HRT) and influent concentration $c_{S0}$ showed high substrate removal of nearly 95% at high volumetric loading rates up to $7.4\;kgCOD\;m^{-3}d^{-1}$ and at sludge loading rates up to 1.8 kgCOD $(kgVSS\;d)^{-1}$ for biomass concentration $c_B\;{\approx}\;constant $. The increasing $c_B$ from 3.4 to $14.5\;gL^{-1}$ TSS respectively sludge retention time (SRT) from 5.1 to 442 d under complete biomass retention by the membrane filtration resulted in high removal of substrate ${\alpha}\;>\;90%$ with reducing excess sludge production.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.316-319
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• 2011

Biopiles which offer the potential for cost-effective treatment of contaminated soils are above-ground, engineered systems that use oxygen to stimulate the growth and reproduction of aerobic bacteria for degradation of the petroleum constituents adsorbed to soil in excavated soils. This technology involves heaping contaminated soils into piles and stimulating aerobic microbial activity within the soils through the aeration and/or addition of minerals, nutrients, and moisture. Inside the biopile, microbially mediated reactions by blowing or extracting air through the pipes can enhance degradation of the organic contaminants. The influence of a aeration system on the biopile performance was investigated. Air pressure made to compare the efficiency of suction in the pipes showed that there were slightly significant difference between the two piles in the total amount of TPH biodegradation. The normalised degradation rate was, however, considerably higher in the aeration system than in the normal system without aeration, suggesting that the vertical venting method may have improved the efficiency of the biological reactions in the pile.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.89-91
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• 2000

Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds are highly carcinogenic chemicals and common groundwater contaminants that are observed to persist in soils. The adherence and slow release of PAHs in soil is an obstacle to remediation and complicates the assessment of cleanup standards and risks. Biological degradation of PAHs in soil has been an area of active research because biological treatment may be less costly than conventional pumping technologies or excavation and thermal treatment. Biological degradation also offers the advantage to transform PAHs into non-toxic products such as biomass and carbon dioxide. Ample evidence exists for aerobic biodegradation of PAHs and many bacteria capable of degrading PAHs have been isolated and characterized. However, the microbial degradation of PAHs in sediments is impaired due to the anaerobic conditions that result from the typically high oxygen demand of the organic material present in the soil, the low solubility of oxygen in water, and the slow mass transfer of oxygen from overlying water to the soil environment. For these reasons, anaerobic microbial degradation technologies could help alleviate sediment PAH contamination and offer significant advantages for cost-efficient in-situ treatment. But very little is known about the potential for anaerobic degradation of PAHs in field soils. The objectives of this research were to assess: (1) the potential for biodegradation of PAH in field aged soils under denitrification conditions, (2) to assess the potential for biodegradation of naphthalene in soil microcosms under denitrifying conditions, and (3) to assess for the existence of microorganisms in field sediments capable of degrading naphthalene via denitrification. Two kinds of soils were used in this research: Harbor Point sediment (HPS-2) and Milwaukee Harbor sediment (MHS). Results presented in this seminar indicate possible degradation of PAHs in soil under denitrifying conditions. During the two months of anaerobic degradation, total PAH removal was modest probably due to both the low availability of the PAHs and competition with other more easily degradable sources of carbon in the sediments. For both Harbor Point sediment (HPS-2) and Milwaukee Harbor sediment (MHS), PAH reduction was confined to 3- and 4-ring PAHs. Comparing PAH reductions during two months of aerobic and anaerobic biotreatment of MHS, it was found that extent of PAHreduction for anaerobic treatment was compatible with that for aerobic treatment. Interestingly, removal of PAHs from sediment particle classes (by size and density) followed similar trends for aerobic and anaerobic treatment of MHS. The majority of the PAHs removed during biotreatment came from the clay/silt fraction. In an earlier study it was shown that PAHs associated with the clay/silt fraction in MHS were more available than PAHs associated with coal-derived fraction. Therefore, although total PAH reductions were small, the removal of PAHs from the more easily available sediment fraction (clay/silt) may result in a significant environmental benefit owing to a reduction in total PAH bioavailability. By using naphthalene as a model PAH compound, biodegradation of naphthalene under denitrifying condition was assessed in microcosms containing MHS. Naphthalene spiked into MHS was degraded below detection limit within 20 days with the accompanying reduction of nitrate. With repeated addition of naphthalene and nitrate, naphthalene degradation under nitrate reducing conditions was stable over one month. Nitrite, one of the intermediates of denitrification was detected during the incubation. Also the denitrification activity of the enrichment culture from MHS slurries was verified by monitoring the production of nitrogen gas in solid fluorescence denitrification medium. Microorganisms capable of degrading naphthalene via denitrification were isolated from this enrichment culture.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.757-766
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• 2016

MTBE and other gasoline additives contained in gasoline are known to be a refractory substance resistant to biodegradation. As a method of removing these substances, a research of method using native microbes of polluted soil was progressed and among these, bio-degradation possibility under aerobic condition was evaluated. All of the experiments were progressed based on batch experiment of lab scale and analyzed by GC-FID using HS-SPME technique. The result of bio-degradation experiment based on MTBE and other additives(ETBE, TAME) was observed below 1 mg/L, which initial concentration were 100 mg/L for each method. And through production of by-product and CO2, partial mineralization was confirmed. Degradation velocity of each additive was promptly represented in the order of TBA>ETBE>MTBE>TAME. Through this study, bio-degradation possibility of native microbes of oil polluted soil, MTBE and other gasoline additives was confirmed and it was considered that the result could be used for basic experiment data in removing oil pollutants of soil.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.243-247
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• 2009

The usage of ethanol (EtOH)-blended gasoline (gasohol), has been increasing in recent years. EtOH has influence on the distribution and biodegradation of aromatic compounds such as BTEX (benzene (B), toluene (T), ethylbenzene (B), and xylene (X)) that are gasoline compositions. In this study, the effect of EtOH on the aerobic biodegradation of B, T and E was investigated using a BTEX and EtOH-degrading bacterium, Rhodococcus sp. EH831. The degradation rates of B in the conditions of 1:1, 1:4, and 1:0.25 mixtures with EtOH (B:EtOH, mol:mol) were ranged from $3.82{\pm}0.20$ to $5.00{\pm}0.37{\mu}mol{\cdot}g-dry$ cell wight $(DCW)^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$. The degradation rate of T was the fastest in the 1:0.25 mixture ($6.63{\pm}0.06{\mu}mol{\cdot}g-DCW^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$), and it was the lowest in the 1:4 mixture ($4.41{\pm}0.04{\mu}mol{\cdot}DCW^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$). The degradation rates of E were increased with increasing the addition amount of EtOH: The degradation rate of E was the highest in the 1:4 mixture ($1.60{\pm}0.03{\mu}mol{\cdot}g-DCW^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$), and the rates were $1.42{\pm}0.06$, $1.30{\pm}0.01$, and $1.01{\pm}0.30{\mu}mol{\cdot}g-DCW^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$ in the 1:1, 1:0.25, 1.0 mixtures, respectively. In conclusion, the biodegradation of B, T, E by Rhodococcus sp. EH831 was not significantly inhibited by the co-existence of EtOH.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.99-107
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• 1991

Lignocellulose and lignolic compounds were absolutely given much weight In the biosphere, and their degradation was essential for continuous biological carbon circulation. Whereas aerobic cellulolytic microorganism dissolved the cellulose into their elements in the first stage, strict anaerobic cellulolytic microorganism's role was taken I increasing interest through the recent research. It was reviewed that anaerobic microbial degradation process of lignocellulose and its derivatives (cellulose, lignin, oligolignol and monoaromatic compound), and function of anaerobic microorganism on the. environmental ecology.