Byung-Ran Lim

BIOLOGICAL DEGRADATION AND CHEMICAL OXIDATION CHARACTERISTICS OF COKE-OVEN WASTEWATER

Biological and chemical oxidation characteristics of two kinds ofcoke-oven wastewaters, A and B, discharged from a conventional batch coke-oven and a newly developed continuous coke-oven, respectively, were studied for selecting effective treatment processes of the wastewaters. Pollutants contained in Wastewater-A could be removed by biological process with a sufficient effluent quality, while those which existed in Wastewater-Bcould not be satisfactorily removed. Microbial community structure investigation using the respiratory quinone profile clarified that Pseudomonas putida (dominant quinone: ubiquinone-9) was a dominant species in the biological treatmentsystem. The refractory organic pollutants, existed in Wastewater-B,were mineralized more effectively by Fentons reagent than by ozone. A wastewater treatment process, in which Fentons oxidation is followed by a biological treatment, was proposed forthe treatment of Wastewater-B based on the experimental results.

Microbial community structure in an intermittently aerated submerged membrane bioreactor treating domestic wastewater

The microbial community structure in an intermittently aerated submerged membrane bioreactor treating domestic wastewater was investigated using the respiratory quinone profiling method. The operating cycle consisted of feeding the domestic wastewater into a 90-min oxic condition and a 60-min anoxic condition. A slight difference was observed in the microbial community structure of the suspended microorganisms in anoxic and oxic conditions. The dominant quinone type of anoxic and oxic conditions was ubiquinone (UQ)-8 followed by UQ-10 and menaquinone (MK)-6. The quinone profiles of the suspended microorganisms in the intermittently aerated SMBR with anoxic and oxic cycling showed that Nitrosomonas species, Alcaligenes species, and Thiobacillus, the dominant quinone of there are UQ-8 actively contributed to the biological nitrification/denitrification. The microbial diversities of suspended microorganisms in the anoxic and oxic conditions calculated on the molar fraction basis of all quinone compositions were 8.79–10.38 and 10.03–11.82, respectively.

Nitrogen removal using recycled polystyrene bottles as biofilm media

The performance of an attached growth wastewater treatment process was investigated in an effort to improve nitrogen removal efficiency. Recycled Yakult (lactic acid fermentation drink) bottles made of polystyrene were used as a biofilm media. The use of Yakult bottles as a biofilm media has been attempted by numerous researchers in Japan for the removal of solids and organics. However, these studies focused only on the removal of solids and organics. This study extended their application to the removal of nitrogen for domestic sewage treatment. Yakult media was placed in a reactor with 70% apparent reactor volume in a conventional A/O process. The bottom of the Yakult media was removed, and randomly filled Yakult media were effectively able to reduce the flow in tanks, resulting in an increase in the contact time between pollutants and microorganisms. With higher HRT, the nitrogen removal efficiency was increased by up to 83% with 12 hr of HRT. Nitrification appeared to be the limiting factor of nitrogen removal at an HRT that is less than 12 hr, indicating that the Yakult process requires more retention time to achieve nitrification compared to other biofilm processes. The removal efficiencies of organics and solids were high regardless of the change of operational parameters.

Potential Use of Microalgae Scenedesmus acuminatus for Tertiary Treatment of Animal Wastewater

The green algae Scenedesmus acuminatus was cultured in different media: animal wastewater and an artificial culture medium in order to evaluate potential use for tertiary treatment. The experiments were conducted with air flowrate 1~2 L/min at . The nitrogen and phosphorus showed very similar removal efficiencies (68~77 % and 69~80 % for nitrogen and phosphorus respectively). The optimal fed period was estimated as three days in the semi-continuous experiment. The effects of (4.5 %) injection on nutrient uptake from animal wastewater (biological treatment effluent) were compared to an air injection under the same conditions of light and photoperiod. The uptake rates of nutrient with air injection were observed 0.009 gN/gChl-a/day, 0.028 gN/gChl-a/day and T-P 0.003 gP/gChl-a/day for nitrate, total nitrogen and phosphorus respectively. The rates were enhanced by addition of to 0.026 gN/gChl-a/day, 0.076 gN/gChl-a/day and T-P 0.018 gP/gChl-a/day. This study establishes that addition during nutrient deprivation of microalgal cells may accelerate tertiary wastewater treatment.