The frequent detection and occurrence of micropollutants (MPs) in aquatic ecosystems has raised public health concerns worldwide. In this study, the behavior of 50 MPs was investigated in three different domestic wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Furthermore, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to assess the geographical and seasonal variation of MPs in the WWTPs. The results showed that the concentrations of 43 MPs ranged from less than 0.1 to 237.6 μg L-1, while other seven MPs including 17-ethynylestradiol, 17-estradiol, sulfathiazole, sulfamethazine, clofibric acid, simvastatin, and lovastatin were not detected in all WWTPs. Among the detected MPs, the pharmaceuticals such as metformin, acetaminophen, naproxen, and caffeine were prominent with maximum concentrations of 133.4, 237.6, 71.5, and 107.7 μg L-1, respectively. Most perfluorinated compounds and nitrosamines were found at trace levels of 1.2 to 55.3 ng L-1, while the concentration of corrosion inhibitors, preservatives (parabens), and endocrine disruptors ranged from less than 0.1 to 4310.8 ng L-1. Regardless of the type of biological treatment process such as MLE, A2O, and MBR, the majority of pharmaceuticals (except lincomycin, diclofenac, iopromide, and carbamazepine), parabens (except Methyl paraben), and endocrine disruptors were removed by more than 80%. However, the removal efficiencies of certain MPs such as atrazine, DEET, perfluorinated compounds (except PFHxA), nitrosamines, and corrosion inhibitors were relatively low or their concentration even increased after treatment. The results of statistical analysis reveal that there is no significant geographical difference in the removal efficacy of MPs, but there are temporal seasonal variations in all WWTPs.

Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) do not fully remove micropollutants. Enhanced treatment of sewage effluents is being considered or implemented in some countries to minimize the discharge of problematic micropollutants from WWTPs. Representative enhanced sewage treatment technologies for micropollutant removal were reviewed, including their current status of research and development. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) such as ozonation and UV/H2O2 and adsorption processes using powdered (PAC) and granular activated carbon (GAC) were mainly discussed with focusing on process principles for the micropollutant removal, effect of process operation and water matrix factors, and technical and economic feasibility. Pilot- and full-scale studies have shown that ozonation, PAC, and GAC can achieve significant elimination of various micropollutants at economically feasible costs(0.16-0.29 €/m3). Considering the current status of domestic WWTPs, ozonation and PAC were found to be the most feasible options for the enhanced sewage effluent treatment. Although ozonation and PAC are all mature technologies, a range of technical aspects should be considered for their successful application, such as energy consumption, CO2 emission, byproduct or waste generation, and ease of system construction/operation/maintenance. More feasibility studies considering domestic wastewater characteristics and WWTP conditions are required to apply ozonation or PAC/GAC adsorption process to enhance sewage effluent treatment in Korea.

Due to the large-scale production and use of synthetic chemicals in industralized countries, various chemicals are found in the aquatic environment, which are often termed as micropollutants. Effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as one of the major sources of these micropollutants. In this article, the current status of occurrence and removal of micropollutants in WWTPs and their management policies and options in domestic and foregin countries were critically reviewed. A large number of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and industrial chemicals are found in WWTPs’ influent, and are only partially removed by current biological wastewater treatment processes. As a result, some micropollutants are present in WWTPs’ effluents, which can negatively affect receiving water quality or drinking water source. To better understand and assess the potential risk of micropollutants, a systematic monitoring framework including advanced analytical tools such as high resolution mass spectrometry and bioanalytical methods is needed. Some Western European countries are taking proactive approach to controlling the micropollutants by upgrading WWTP with enahnced effluent treatment processes. While this enahnced WWTP effluent treatment appears to be a viable option for controlling micropollutant, its implementation requires careful consideration of the technical, economical, political, and cultural issues of all stakeholders.

Large amounts of oily wastewater discharged from various industrial operations (petroleum refining, machinery industries and chemical industries) cause serious pollution in the aquatic environment. Although dissolved air flotation (DAF) separating oil pollutants using microbubbles represents current practice, bubble size cannot be selectively controlled, and lots of power is required to generate microbubbles. Therefore, to investigate performance of the DAF process, this study examined the distribution of different sizes of microbubbles resulting from changes in physical shear force via modifying shapes of a slit-nozzle without an additional power supply. Three types of slit-nozzles (different angle, shape and length of the slit-nozzle) were used to analyze the distribution of bubble size. At a slit angle of 60°, shear force was 4.29 times higher than a conventional slit, and particle size distribution (PSD) in the range between 2 and 20 μm more than doubled. Treatment efficiency of synthetic oily wastewater through the coagulation-DAF process achieved 90% removal of COD by injecting FeCl3 and PACl of 250 mg/L and 100 mg/L, respectively, and the same performance resulted using FeCl3 of 200 mg/L and PACl of 80 mg/L employing a slit-nozzle angle of 60°. This study shows that a coagulation-DAF process using a modified slit-nozzle can improve the pre-treatment of oily wastewater.

하수처리과정에서 발생하는 슬러지의 부피를 줄이는 동시에 이들의 유기물 성분을 메탄 등의 바이오가스로 전환하기 위해 중온(35℃)에서의 혐기소화 공정이 널리 적용되고 있다. 혐기소화공정의 안정성이나 에너지 투입량 측면에서는 중온혐기소화가 적합하다고 알려져 있지만, 높은 유기물 부하량(organic loading rate, OLR)을 처리하기 위해 반응속도를 상승시키거나 SRT(sludge retention time)을 줄이기 위해 고온(55℃) 혐기소화를 적용하기도 한다. 고온 혐기소화공정을 새롭게 시작할 때 접종물을 기존의 고온 혐기소화공정으로부터 얻기 힘든 경우 중온혐기소화액을 고온에서 적응시켜 접종하기도 한다. 이때 온도를 적응시키는 방법에 따라 공정 효율이 달라지는데, 연구에서는 중온혐기소화액으로부터 고온 혐기소화 접종물을 제작하기 위한 방법으로 온도를 올리는 방법을 달리하였을 때 이들의 메탄 생산과 미생물 군집에 미치는 영향을 살펴보고자 하였다. 본 연구수행을 위해 광주 제 1 하수처리장에서 중온혐기소화액, 1, 2차 농축 슬러지 등을 샘플링 하여 두 대의 반응기(Working volume : 3L)를 설치하여 회분식(Batch)운전 후 연속교반탱크형반응기(CSTR)로 운전(SRT 20, 40일)하였다. 먼저 한 대의 반응기는 35℃에서 55℃로 한 번에 온도변화를 주었고, 다른 반응기의 경우에는 35℃에서 하루에 1도씩 올려서 약 20일에 걸쳐 55℃로 올린 뒤 55℃로 유지하였다. 반응기의 효율을 확인하기 위해 메탄 발생량, total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD), soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD), soluble components (protein, carbohydrate), pH 등을 측정하였으며, NGS (next generation sequencing)를 활용하여 혐기소화 전/후의 소화액의 미생물 군집변화를 알아보았다.

A (5 wt.%)Mn-(1 wt.%)V2O5/TiO2 catalyst were prepared by co-precipitation method and used for low-temperature selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with ammonia in the presence of oxygen. The properties of the catalysts were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed reduction (TPR) and scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The experimental results showed that (5 wt.%)Mn-(1 wt.%)V2O5/TiO2 catalyst yielded 81% NO conversion at temperature as low as 150℃ and a space velocity of 2,400 h-1. Crystalline phase of Mn2O3 was present at ≥15% Mn on V2O5/TiO2. XRD confirmed the presence of manganese oxide (Mn2O3) at 2θ=32.978°(222). The XRD patterns presented of (5 wt.%)Mn-(1 wt.%)V2O5/TiO2 did not show intense or sharp peaks for manganese oxides and vanadia oxides. The TPR profiles of (5 wt.%)Mn-(1 wt.%)V2O5/TiO2 catalyst showed main reduction peak of a maximum at 595℃.

V2O5/TiO2 catalysts promoted with Mn were prepared and tested for selective catalytic reduction of NOx in NH3. The effects of promoter content, degree of catalyst loading were investigated for NOx activity while changing temperatures, mole ratio, space velocity and O2 concentration. Among the various V2O5 catalysts having different metal loadings, V2O5(1 wt.%) catalyst showed the highest activity(98%) under wide temperature range of 200-250℃. When the V2O5 catalyst was further modified with 5 wt.% Mn as a promoter, the highest activity(90-47%) was obtained over the low temperature windows of 100-200℃. From Mn-V2O5/TiO2, it was found that by addition of 5 wt.% Mn on V2O5/TiO2 catalyst, reduction activity of catalyst was improved, which resulted in the increase of catalytic activity and NOx reduction. According to the results, NOx removal decreased for 10%, but the reaction temperature down to 100℃.

The objective of this research was to test whether, under controlled laboratory conditions, hybrid SNCR/SCR process improves NOx removal efficiency in comparison with the SNCR only. The hybrid process is a combination of a redesigned existing SNCR with a new downstream SCR. NOx reduction experiments using a hybrid SNCR/SCR process have been conducted in simple NO/NH3/O2 gas mixtures. Total gas flow rate was kept constant 4 liter/min throughout the SNCR and SCR reactors, where initial NOx concentration was 500 ppm in the presence of 5% or 15% O2. Commercial catalysts, V2O5-WO3-SO4/TiO2, were used for SCR NOx reduction. The residence time and space velocity were around 1.67 seconds and 2,400 h-1 or 6000 h-1 in SNCR and SCR reactors, respectively. NOx reduction of the hybrid system was always higher than could be achieved by SNCR alone at a given value of NH3SLIP. Optimization of the hybrid system performance requires maximizing NOx removal in the SNCR process. An analysis based on the hybrid system performance in this lab-scale work indicates that a equipment with NOxi=500 ppm will achieve a total NOx removal of about 90 percent with NH3SLIP ≤ 5 ppm only if the SNCR NOx reduction is at least 60 percent. A hybrid SNCR/SCR process has shown about 26～37% more NOx reduction than a SNCR unit process in which a lower temperature of 850℃ turned out to be more effective.

This paper have examined the optimum combination of SNCR and SCR by varying SNCR injection temperature and NSR ratio along with SCR space velocity. NOx reduction experiments using a SNCR/SCR combined process have been conducted in simple NO/NH3/O2 gas mixtures. Total gas flow rate was kept constant 4 liter/min throughout the SNCR and SCR reactors, where initial NOx concentration was 500 ppm in the presence of 5% O2. Commercial catalyst, sulfated V2O5-WO3/TiO2, was used for SCR NOx reduction. The residence time and space velocity were around 1.67 sec, 2,400 h-1 and 6,000 h-1 in the SNCR and SCR reactors, respectively. SNCR NOx reduction effectively occurred in a temperature window of 900～950℃. About 88% NOx reduction was achieved with an optimum temperature of 950℃ and NSR=1.5. SCR NOx reduction using commercial V2O5-WO3-SO4/TiO2 catalyst occurred in a temperature window of 200～450℃. 80～98% NOx reduction was possible with SV=2400 h-1 and a molar ratio of 1.0～2.0. A SNCR/SCR(SV=6000 h-1) combined process has shown same NOx reduction compared with a stand-alone SCR(SV=2400 h-1) unit process of 98% NOx reduction. The NH3-based chemical could routinely achieve SNCR/SCR combined process total NOx reductions of 98% with less than 5 ppm NH3 slip at NSR ranging from about 1.5 to 2.0, SNCR temperature of 900℃～950℃, and SCR space velocity of 6000 h-1. Particularly, more than 98% NOx reduction was possible using the combined process under the conditions of TSNCR=950℃, TSCR=350℃, 5% O2, SV=6000 h-1 and NH3/NOx=1.5. A catalyst volume was about three times reduced by SNCR/SCR combined process compared with SCR process under the same controlled conditions.

Air quality monitoring data and meteorology data which had collected from 1995. 1. to 1999. 2. in six areas of Daegu, Manchondong, Bokhyundong, Deamyungdong, Samdukdong, Leehyundong and Nowondong, were investigated to determine the distribution and characteristic of ozone. A equation of multiple regression was suggested after time series analysis of contribution factor and meteorology factor were investigated during the day which had high concentration of ozone. The results show the following; First, 63.6% of high ozone concentration days, more than 60 ppb of ozone concentration, were in May, June and September. The percentage of each area showed that; Manchondong 14.4%, Bokhyundong 15.4%, Deamyungdong 15.6%, Samdukdong 15.6%, Leehyundong 17.3% and Nowondong 21.6%. Second, correlation coefficients of ozone, SO2, TSP, NO2 and CO showed negative relationship; the results were respectively -0.229, -0.074, -0.387, -0.190(p<0.01), and humidity were -0.677. but temperature, amount of radiation and wind speed had positive relationship; the results were respectively 0.515, 0.509, 0.400(p<0.01). Third, R2 of equation of multiple regression at each area showed that; Nowondong 45.4%, Lee hyundong 77.9%, Samdukdong 69.9%, Daemyungdong 78.8%, Manchondong 88.6%, Bokhyundong 77.6%. Including 1 hour prior ozone concentration, R2 of each area was significantly increased; Nowondong 75.2%, Leehyundong 89.3%, Samdukdong 86.4%, Daemyungdong 88.6%, Manchondong 88.6%, Bokhyundong 88.0%. Using equation of multiple regression, There were some different R2 between predicted value and observed value; Nowondong 48%, Leehyundong 77.5%, Samdukdong 58%, Daemyungdong 73.4%, Manchondong 77.7%, Bokhyundong 75.1%. R2 of model including 1 hour prior ozone concentration was higher than equation of current day; Nowondong 82.5%, Leehyundong 88.3%, Samdukdong 80.7%, Daemyungdong 82.4%, Manchondong 87.6%, Bokhyundong 88.5%.

PCBs have been measured using GC-ECD, GC-MS, GC-ELCD, HPLC, TLC, NMR and Immunoassay. The analysis of PCBs using GC- ECD include the peak pattern method as none derivatization and the perchlorination method as derivatization. This study was conducted to establish the perchlorination method with SbCl_5 from PCBs to decachlorinated biphenyl(DCB). The aroclor 1242 of PCBs was chlorinated and then, converted into the DCB which showed a single peak in GC-ECD chromatogram. The detection limit of DCB was 2pg. The quantification detection concentration of PCBs extracted with soxhlet was 0.5ng/g in the soil. PCBs were not detected in the suburban soil, but 174ng/g in the soil of industrial complex. Mean PCBs concentration of Shinchun stream at Kumho river and Jinchun stream at Nakdong river was calculated average 88ng/g in the sediment. PCBs concentration in the sediment of Kumho river near 2-7㎞ from conjunction with Nakdong river was average 154ng/g. PCBs concentration in the sediment of Nakdong river near conjunction with Kumho river was average 159ng/g.