Jaehoon Cho

Volatile fatty acids derived from waste organics provide an economical carbon source for microbial lipids/biodiesel production

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) derived from organic waste, were used as a low cost carbon source for high bioreactor productivity and titer. A multi‐stage continuous high cell density culture (MSC‐HCDC) process was employed for economic assessment of microbial lipids for biodiesel production. In a simulation study we used a lipid yield of 0.3 g/g‐VFAs, cell mass yield of 0.5 g/g‐glucose or wood hydrolyzates, and employed process variables including lipid contents from 10–90% of cell mass, bioreactor productivity of 0.5–48 g/L/h, and plant capacity of 20000–1000000 metric ton (MT)/year. A production cost of USD 1.048/kg‐lipid was predicted with raw material costs of USD 0.2/kg for wood hydrolyzates and USD 0.15/kg for VFAs; 9 g/L/h bioreactor productivity; 100, 000 MT/year production capacity; and 75% lipids content. The variables having the highest impact on microbial lipid production costs were the cost of VFAs and lipid yield, followed by lipid content, fermenter cost, and lipid productivity. The cost of raw materials accounted for 66.25% of total operating costs. This study shows that biodiesel from microbial lipids has the potential to become competitive with diesels from other sources.

Improvement of enzymatic biodiesel production by controlled substrate feeding using silica gel in solvent free system

A silica gel-based substrate feeding system was developed to prevent methanol inhibiting the catalyst during enzymatic biodiesel synthesis. In the system, silica gel swelled upon methanol addition and subsequently released it in a controlled manner to prevent excess methanol affecting the enzyme. Biodiesel was synthesized by the enzymatic transesterification of canola oil with methanol. For this reaction, enzyme loading, methanol/oil molar ratio, silica gel dosage, glycerol content, and methanol feeding method were tested using commercial immobilized enzymes (Novozym 435 and Lipozyme RM IM from Novozymes). The results showed that conversion was highest with controlled substrate feeding rather than direct methanol addition, suggesting that the method developed here can easily prevent enzyme inhibition by limiting methanol concentration to an acceptable level.

Production and characterization of cellobiose dehydrogenase from Phanerochaete chrysosporium KCCM 60256 and its application for an enzymatic fuel cell

The enzyme cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH), with high ability of electron transport, has been widely used in enzymatic fuel cells or biosensors. In this study, the cellobiose dehydrogenase gene from Phanerochaete chrysosporium KCCM 60256 was amplified and expressed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris X-33. The recombinant enzyme (PcCDH) was purified using a metal affinity chromatography under non-denaturing conditions. The purified enzyme was analyzed by SDS-PAGE, confirming a corresponding band about 100 kDa. The enzyme activity of this purified PcCDH was determined as 1,845U/L (65mg/L protein). The enzyme showed the maximum activity at pH 4.5 and high activity in broad ranges of temperature from 30°C to 60°C. Moreover, the application of PcCDH to enzymatic fuel cell (EFC) was demonstrated. Lactose was used as the substrate in the EFC system; anode and cathode were immobilized with PcCDH and laccase, respectively. The cell’s open circuit voltage and maximum power density of the EFC system were, respectively, determined as 0.435 V and 314 μW/cm2 (at 0.247 V) with 10 mM lactose.

Spontaneous and applied potential driven indium recovery on carbon electrode and crystallization using a bioelectrochemical system

Indium removal and recovery on a carbon electrode under a microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based oxidation/reduction reaction were examined using synthetic wastewater. More than 90% of In3+ ions were removed after continuous operation of the MFC for 14 days with an average current generation of ∼50 μA. During operation, indium particulates formed on the cathode carbon electrode. Scanning electron microscopy equipped with X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy showed that they were composed of amorphous and crystalline indium hydroxides (In(OH)3 and In(OH)·H2O). When the current flow was reversed to drive the oxidation of the particles to recover the indium from indium hydroxides, a few indium oxide (In2O3) nanocrystals with a rectangular platelet shape formed on the electrode, while the majority of the amorphous and crystalline indium hydroxides re-dissolved into the aqueous environment. Overall, these results demonstrate a feasible route towards the MFC-based recovery of indium with the simultaneous generation of bioelectricity.

Electropolishing Characteristics of Stainless Steel for Industrial Application

For the industrial application of electropolishing process, we investigated electropolishing characteristics of stainless steel through increasing the specimen size or electrode gap. In this study, we performed a set of experiment with the specimen size of 10 cm × 10 cm and the electrode gap of 1 cm or more. In the view of the electropolishing process, the electrolyte temperature and the polishing time were most important factors compared with the current density and the electrode gap. Especially, the electrolyte temperature most importantly affected surface roughness and current efficiency on electropolishing characteristics. For the industrial application of electropolishing process, it should be considered for important factors such as electrolyte temperature, polishing time, current density and electrode gap, etc.

Process Optimization for Reduction of Waste Acids of Electropolishing Solution using Round Bus Bar

In this study, we attempted to reduce the generation of waste acids in the electropolishing process by improving the current efficiency. The optimum conditions of the electropolishing process when using the round bus bar were determined by the Taguchi method. The current density, polishing time, electrolyte temperature and flow rate were selected as the control factors for the current efficiency in the electropolishing process. An orthogonal array was created by considering three levels for each factor and experiments were carried out. The larger-the-better SN ratios were calculated by the Taguchi method. The current density was the most important factor affecting the current efficiency and the polishing time was the least important one. The optimum conditions to minimize the generation of waste acids were a current density of 45 A/dm, polishing time of 4 min, electrolyte temperature of 65 °C and flow rate of 7 L/min. The results of the ANOVA confirmed that the effects of the current density, electrolyte temperature and flow rate are significant at the 95% confidence level. The increase in the contact area and contact force afforded by using the round bus bar improved the current efficiency which, in turn, reduced the amount of waste acids generated. Further research is planned to investigate the effect of the type of bus bar on the current efficiency.