Joo-Youp Lee

Removal of Ammonia from Wastewater Effluent by Chlorella Vulgaris

Abstract The capability of Chlorella vulgaris to remove nitrogen in the form of ammonia and/or ammonium ions from wastewater effluent in a local wastewater treatment plant (i.e., the Mill Creek Plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.) was studied. The wastewater effluent leaving the plant was found to include high concentrations of nitrogen (7.7±0.19 mg/L) (ammonia (NH 3 ) and/or ammonium ion (NH 4 + )) and total inorganic carbon (58.6±0.28 mg/L) at pH 7, and to be suitable for growing Chlorella vulgaris . When Chlorella vulgaris was cultivated in a batch mode under a closed system, half of the nitrogen concentration was dramatically removed in 48 h after a 24-h lag-phase period. Total inorganic carbon concentration also concomitantly decreased during the rapid growth-phase. The total biomass weight gained during the entire cultivation period balanced out well with the total amount of inorganic carbon and nitrogen removed from the culture medium. These results indicate that wastewater can be synergistically used to polish residual nutrients in wastewater as well as to cultivate microalgae for biofuel production.

Potential Flue Gas Impurities in Carbon Dioxide Streams Separated from Coal-Fired Power Plants

Abstract For geological sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2) separated from pulverized coal combustion flue gas, it is necessary to adequately evaluate the potential impacts of flue gas impurities on groundwater aquifers in the case of the CO2 leakage from its storage sites. This study estimated the flue gas impurities to be included in the CO2 stream separated from a CO2 control unit for a different combination of air pollution control devices and different flue gas compositions. Specifically, the levels of acid gases and mercury vapor were estimated for the monoethanolamine (MEA)-based absorption process on the basis of published performance parameters of existing systems. Among the flue gas constituents considered, sulfur dioxide (SO2) is known to have the most adverse impact on MEA absorption. When a flue gas contains 3000 parts per million by volume (ppmv) SO2 and a wet flue gas desulfurization system achieves its 95% removal, approximately 2400 parts per million by weight (ppmw) SO2 could be included in the separated CO2 stream. In addition, the estimated concentration level was reduced to as low as 135 ppmw for the SO2 of less than 10 ppmv in the flue gas entering the MEA unit. Furthermore, heat-stable salt formation could further reduce the SO2 concentration below 40 ppmw in the separated CO2 stream. In this study, it is realized that the formation rates of heat-stable salts in MEA solution are not readily available in the literature and are critical to estimating the levels and compositions of flue gas impurities in sequestered CO2 streams. In addition to SO2, mercury, and other impurities in separated CO2 streams could vary depending on pollutant removal at the power plants and impose potential impacts on groundwater. Such a variation and related process control in the upstream management of carbon separation have implications for groundwater protection at carbon sequestration sites and warrant necessary considerations in overall sequestration planning, engineering, and management.

Herceptin conjugated PLGA-PHis-PEG pH sensitive nanoparticles for targeted and controlled drug delivery

A dual functional nano-scaled drug carrier, comprising of a targeting ligand and pH sensitivity, has been made in order to increase the specificity and efficacy of the drug delivery system. The nanoparticles are made of a tri-block copolymer, poly(d,l lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)-b-poly(l-histidine) (PHis)-b-polyethylene glycol (PEG), via nano-precipitation. To provide the nanoparticle feature of endolysosomal escape and pH sensitivity, poly(l-histidine) was chosen as a proton sponge polymer. Herceptin, which specifically binds to HER2 antigen, was conjugated to the nanoparticles through click chemistry. The nanoparticles were characterized via dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Both methods showed the sizes of about 100nm with a uniform size distribution. The pH sensitivity was assessed by drug releases and size changes at different pH conditions. As pH decreased from 7.4 to 5.2, the drug release rate accelerated and the size significantly increased. During in vitro tests against human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and SK-BR-3 showed significantly increased uptake for Herceptin-conjugated nanoparticles, as compared to non-targeted nanoparticles. Herceptin-conjugated pH-sensitive nanoparticles showed the highest therapeutic effect, and thus validated the efficacy of a combined approach of pH sensitivity and active targeting.

Adsorption kinetic and equilibrium study for removal of mercuric chloride by CuCl2-impregnated activated carbon sorbent.

The intrinsic adsorption kinetics of mercuric chloride (HgCl2) was studied for raw, 4% and 10% CuCl2-impregnated activated carbon (CuCl2-AC) sorbents in a fixed-bed system. An HgCl2 adsorption kinetic model was developed for the AC sorbents by taking into account the adsorption kinetics, equilibrium, and internal and external mass transfer. The adsorption kinetic constants determined from the comparisons between the simulation and experimental results were 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5m(3)/(gs) for DARCO-HG, 4%(wt), and 10%(wt) CuCl2-AC sorbents, respectively, at 140 °C. CuCl2 loading was found to slightly increase the adsorption kinetic constant or at least not to decrease it. The HgCl2 equilibrium adsorption data based on the Langmuir isotherm show that high CuCl2 loading can result in high binding energy of the HgCl2 adsorption onto the carbon surface. The adsorption equilibrium constant was found to increase by ~10 times when CuCl2 loading varied from 0 to 10%(wt), which led to a decrease in the desorption kinetic constant (k2) by ~10 times and subsequently the desorption rate by ~50 times. Intraparticle pore diffusion considered in the model showed good accuracy, allowing for the determination of intrinsic HgCl2 adsorption kinetics.

Calcium phosphate-polymer hybrid nanoparticles for enhanced triple negative breast cancer treatment via co-delivery of paclitaxel and miR-221/222 inhibitors

In this study, a development of a novel calcium phosphate-polymer hybrid nanoparticle system is reported.The nanoparticle system can co-encapsulate and co-deliver a combination of therapeutic agents with different physicochemical properties (i.e., inhibitors for microRNA-221 and microRNA-222 (miRi-221/222) and paclitaxel (pac)).miRi-221/222 are hydrophilic and were encapsulated with calcium phosphate by co-precipitation in a water-in-oil emulsion.The precipitates were then coated with an anionic lipid, dioleoylphosphatidic acid (DOPA), to co-encapsulate hydrophobic paclitaxel outside the hydrophilic precipitates and inside the same nanoparticle.The nanoparticles formed by following this approach had a size of about ≤100nm and contained both lipid-coated calcium phosphate/miRi and paclitaxel.This nanoparticle system was found to simultaneously deliver paclitaxel and miRi-221/222 to their intracellular targets, leading to inhibit proliferative mechanisms of miR-221/222 and thus significantly enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of paclitaxel.

Dissolution kinetics of magnesium hydroxide for CO2 separation from coal-fired power plants

The dissolution of magnesium hydroxide in water for the release of magnesium and hydroxyl ions into the solution to maintain suitable alkalinity is a crucial step in the Mg(OH)2-based CO2 absorption process. In this study, the rate of dissolution of Mg(OH)2 was investigated under different operating conditions using a pH stat apparatus. The dissolution process was modeled using a shrinking core model and the overall Mg(OH)2 dissolution process was found to be controlled by the surface chemical reaction of Mg(OH)2 with H(+) ions. Under the chemical reaction control regime, the dissolution of Mg(OH)2 in alkaline conditions was found not to follow a first-order reaction, and the fractional order of reaction was estimated to lie between 0.20 and 0.31. This suggests that the dissolution reaction is a non-elementary reaction, consisting of a sequence of elementary reactions, via most likely forming a surface magnesium complex. The true activation energy value of 76 ± 11 kJ/gmol was found to be almost twice as much as the observed activation energy value of 42 ± 6 kJ/gmol determined at pH 8.6, and was comparable with the previously reported values. The particle sizes predicted from the intrinsic kinetics determined from the model were in good agreement with the experimentally measured particle sizes during the dissolution process.

Removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from municipal wastewater effluent using Chlorella vulgaris and its growth kinetics

ABSTRACTChlorella vulgaris was used for the removal of residual ammonia/ammonium ion (NH3/) and orthophosphate ion () from secondary wastewater effluent collected from a municipal wastewater treatment plant. The uptake rates for nitrogen and phosphorus were studied with different initial algal cell densities and the addition of CO2 gas for pH control and supply of inorganic carbon. Our result showed that typical NH3/ and concentrations could be readily removed within 48 h. It was found that the culture with an initial algal cell density of ∼350 mg/L and CO2 gas supply could significantly enhance both the rates of cell growth and nutrient uptake. The Monod equation well described the algal cell growth under substrate-limiting conditions, and could be used for the design and operation of photobioreactors for potential tertiary wastewater treatment.

Investigation of a mercury speciation technique for flue gas desulfurization materials.

Abstract Most of the synthetic gypsum generated from wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubbers is currently being used for wallboard production. Because oxidized mercury is readily captured by the wet FGD scrubber, and coal-fired power plants equipped with wet scrubbers desire to benefit from the partial mercury control that these systems provide, some mercury is likely to be bound in with the FGD gypsum and wallboard. In this study, the feasibility of identifying mercury species in the FGD gypsum and wallboard samples was investigated using a large sample size thermal desorption method. Potential candidates of pure mercury standards including mercuric chloride (HgCl2), mercurous chloride (Hg2Cl2), mercury oxide (HgO), mercury sulfide (HgS), and mercuric sulfate (HgSO4) were analyzed to compare their results with those obtained from FGD gypsum and dry wallboard samples. Although any of the thermal evolutionary curves obtained from these pure mercury standards did not exactly match with those of the FGD gypsum and wallboard samples, it was identified that Hg2Cl2 and HgCl2 could be candidates. An additional chlorine analysis from the gypsum and wallboard samples indicated that the chlorine concentrations were approximately 2 orders of magnitude higher than the mercury concentrations, suggesting possible chlorine association with mercury.

Performance of copper chloride-impregnated sorbents on mercury vapor control in an entrained-flow reactor system.

Abstract An entrained-flow system has been designed and constructed to simulate in-flight mercury (Hg) capture by sorbent injection in ducts of coal-fired utility plants. The test conditions of 1.2-sec residence time, 140 °C gas temperature, 6.7 m/sec (22 ft/sec) gas velocity, and 0–0.24 g/m3 (0–15 lbs of sorbent per 1 million actual cubic feet of flue gas [lb/MMacf]) sorbent injection rates were chosen to simulate conditions in the ducts. Four kinds of sorbents were used in this study. Darco Hg-LH served as a benchmark sorbent with which Hg control capability of other sorbents could be compared. Also, Darco-FGD was used as a representative raw activated carbon sorbent. Two different copper chloride-impregnated sorbents were developed in our laboratory and tested in the entrained-flow system to examine the possibility of using these sorbents at coal-fired power plants. The test results showed that one of the copper chloride sorbents has remarkable elemental mercury (Hg0) oxidation capability, and the other sorbent demonstrated a better performance in Hg removal than Darco Hg-LH.

Influence of Foreign Metal Dopants on the Durability and Performance of Zr/Ca Sorbents during High Temperature CO2 Capture

The effect of foreign metal on the adsorption performance and stability of the Zr/Ca sorbents has been investigated for high temperature CO2 capture. For this purpose, M/Zr/Ca (M˭Al, W, Hf, Ce, and Y) sorbents are prepared by the flame spray pyrolysis method with the molar ratio 0.5:0.5:10. Improvement in the stability and sorption capacity were observed in Zr/Ca sorbents after doping with some foreign metals. The Al-doped Zr/Ca sorbent (Al/Zr/Ca) with the molar ratio of 0.5:0.5:10 exhibits excellent performance and remarkable stability among all the sorbents tested. The sorbent was stable up to about 50 carbonation-decarbonation cycles due to its high resistance towards sintering. The sorbent shows CO2 capture capacity of 0.54 g/g which is comparable to Zr/Ca (1/10) sorbent (0.53 g/g). Surface area measurements show that addition of a second metal to the Zr/Ca sorbents greatly influences both the surface area and pore volume of the sorbents. Our TPD results indicate that addition of second metal lowers the decarbonation temperature. XRD results show that the improved resistance of the Al/Zr/Ca (0.5/0.5/10) sorbent was attributed to the formation of structures like CaZrO3 and Ca12Al14O33, which provided a stable framework to the sorbent during the adsorption process.