Osmotic power is to produce electric power by using the chemical potential of two flows with the difference of salinity. Water permeates through a semipermeable membrane from a low concentration feed solution to a high concentration draw solution due to osmotic pressure. In a pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) process, river water and wastewater are commonly used as low salinity feed solution, whereas seawater and brine from the SWRO plant are employed as draw solution. During the PRO process using wastewater effluent as feed solution, PRO membrane fouling is usually caused by the convective or diffusive transport of PRO which is the most critical step of PRO membrane in order to prevent membrane fouling. The main objective of this study is to assess the PRO membrane fouling reduction by pretreatment to remove organic matter using coagulation-UF membrane process. The experimental results obtained from the pretreatment test showed that the optimum ferric chloride and PAC dosage for removal of organic matter applied for the coagulation and adsorption process was 50 mg/L as FeCl3 (optimum pH 5.5). Coagulation-UF pretreatment process was higher removal efficiency of organic matter, as also resulting in the substantial improvement of water flux of PRO membrane.

In this study, a manganese catalyst on the surface of a ceramic support was developed for the removal of odor emitted from barbecuing restaurants. Its ozone oxidation at room temperature was tested using acetaldehyde (CH3CHO), the most dominant compound in the barbecuing odor, and the ozonation efficiency under wet conditions was also studied. The manganese catalyst was made with the honeycomb-type ceramic support, and an acid pretreatment was applied to increase its specific surface area, resulting in an increase of the degree of dispersion of manganese oxide. The acetaldehyde removal efficiency using the manganese catalyst on the acidpretreated support (Mn/APS) increased by 49%, and the ozone decomposition rate and the CO2 conversion rate also increased by 41% and 27%, respectively. The catalyst without surface pretreatment (Mn/S) showed a low efficiency for the acetaldehyde ozonation, and other organic compounds such as acetic acid (CH3COOH) and nonanal (CH3(CH3)7CHO) were found as oxidation by-products. In comparison, CO2 was the most dominant product by the ozonation of acetaldehyde using the Mn/APS. When the relative humidity was increased to 50% in the influent gas stream, the acetaldehyde removal efficiency using the Mn/APS decreased, but only the production rates of CO2 and acetic acid were changed. As a result, the manganese oxide catalyst on the surface of the acid-pretreated honeycomb support manifested high acetaldehyde ozonation even at humid and room temperature conditions.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality characteristics of white pan bread added with wheat sprout powder without treatment (WP) and wheat sprout powder with only enzyme treatment (WPE), only lactic acid bacteria treatment (WPL) and enzyme and lactic acid bacteria treatment (WPE&L). The three different powder concentration levels of 1%, 3%, and 5% were added to flour to produce the white pan bread. The bread volume and specific volume of the WPE&L group were the highest among all the addition groups. The bread weight, a-value, and b-value of the WP group was highest among all the addition groups, but the bread baking loss and the L-value of the WP group was the lowest among all the addition groups. The texture measurements indicated that the hardness, gumminess, and chewiness values of the bread were the highest in the WP group. The sensory evaluation test showed that bread in the WPE&L group with 3% wheat sprout powder was the best among all the samples studied. Based on our findings, we suggest that the enzyme and lactic acid bacteria pretreated wheat sprout powder is an effective ingredient for improving the overall quality of white pan bread.

In this study, the effects of heat-moisture treatment (boiling or steaming for 45 min) prior to hot air drying (70 o C for 8 h) on water activity (Aw), moisture (MC), Brix, color, and texture of dried sweet potato slices were investigated to identify the best pretreatment condition for producing dried sweet potato with the best eating quality. Dried sweet potato slices pretreated by boiling (BL) showed significantly lower Aw, MC, and hardness while Brix was significantly higher than with steaming (ST) treatment. There were no significant differences for the color, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, and brittleness indexes. At 8 h drying, the Aw, MC, Brix, and hardness of the BL and ST samples were 0.81 and 0.82, 19.71% and 25.53%, 53.80% and 49.40%, and 20.49 kg/cm 2 and 31.98 kg/ cm 2 , respectively. This information will be useful for manufacturers in the production of dried sweet potato slices. These findings provide evidence of the feasibility of heat-moisture treatments in the production of dried sweet potato.

억새와 같은 초본계 바이오매스로부터 cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin 등 주요성분을 추출하기 위해서는 알칼리 전처리가 효율적이며, 본 연구에서는 수산화칼륨(KOH)을 이용한 전처리 조건을 최적화하였다. 전처리 변수의 최적화는 반응표면분석법(RSM)을 적용하였다. RSM의 변수는 3개였으며, 변수범위는 각각 KOH 0.2∼0.8M, 반응온도 110∼190℃ 및 반응시간 10∼90min 이었다. 억새의 알칼리 전처리를 위한 최적조건은 KOH 농도 0.47M, 반응온도 134℃ 및 반응시간 65min 이었다. 최적 전 처리 조건에 따라 전처리를 수행한 후 고형물의 cellulose 함량은 66.1±1.1% 이었으며, hemicellulose 및 lignin 함량은 각각 26.4±0.4%, 3.7±0.1% 이었다. RMS 모델식에 따라 계산된 예측값은 실제값 대비 95% 범위 내에서 유효하였다. 최종적으로 전처리물을 동시당화발효를 통해 검증한 결과 에탄올 생산 수율은 96% 이었다.

Pretreatment system of desalination process using seawater reverse osmosis(SWRO) membrane is the most critical step in order to prevent membrane fouling. One of the methods is coagulation-UF membrane process. Coagulation-UF membrane systems have been shown to be very efficient in removing turbidity and non-soluble and colloidal organics contained in the source water for SWRO pretreatment. Ferric salt coagulants are commonly applied in coagulation-UF process for pretreatment of SWRO process. But aluminum salts have not been applied in coagulation-UF pretreatment of SWRO process due to the SWRO membrane fouling by residual aluminum. This study was carried out to see the effect of residual matal salt on SWRO membrane followed by coagulation-UF pretreatment process. Experimental results showed that increased residual aluminum salts by coagulation-UF pretreatment process by using alum lead to the decreased SWRO membrane salt rejection and flux. As the salt rejection and flux of SWRO membrane decreased, the concentration of silica and residual aluminum decreased. However, when adjusting coagulation pH for coagulation-UF pretreatment process, the residual aluminum salt concentration was decreased and SWRO membrane flux was increased.

We examined the efficacy of various pretreatment solutions on the postharvest longevity and quality of ‘Hessa’ cut spray roses (Rosa hybrida L.) to develop an inexpensive and innocuous preservative solution for the cut flower industry. Cut flowers were pretreated with 4 preservatives for 10 hours: Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi extract (SC) at 300 μL·L-1, hydrosol (H), S. baicalensis Georgi extract 300 μL·L-1 + sucrose 1% (SC + Suc), and H + sucrose 1% (H + Suc). The results showed that pretreatment with all the solutions except H + Suc improved the postharvest longevity and extended the longevity of cut rose flowers. We found that 300 μL·L-1 of SC was the most effective preservative, which significantly prolonged the postharvest longevity in cut flowers from 9.7 days (control) to 14.1 days. The beneficial effects of 300 μL·L-1 SC pretreatment were associated with inhibition of bacterial accumulation at the basal portion of cut stems, enhanced water uptake, improved fresh weight, and a positive water balance. SC also effectively maintained chlorophyll fluorescence ratios in the leaves and reduced water stress in cut roses. The results demonstrate the potential of SC as an alternative preservative in the cut rose flower industry.

The aim of this study was to evaluate pretreatment methods for 27 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in various sewage samples using a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) and online solid-phase extraction with LC-MS/MS. Extraction efficiencies of PPCPs in the solid phase under different experimental conditions were evaluated, showing that the highest recoveries were obtained with the addition of sodium sulfate and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt dehydrate in acidified conditions. The recoveries of target compounds ranged from 91 to 117.2% for liquid samples and from 61.3 to 137.2% for solid samples, with a good precision. The methods under development were applied to sewage samples collected in two sewage treatment plants (STPs) to determine PPCPs in liquid and solid phases. Out of 27 PPCPs, more than 19 compounds were detected in liquid samples (i.e., influent and effluent) of two STPs, with concentration ranges of LOQ-33,152 ng/L in influents and LOQ-4,523 ng/L in effluents, respectively. In addition, some PPCPs such as acetylsalicylic acid, ibuprofen, and ofloxacin were detected at high concentrations in activated sludge as well as in excess sludge. This methodology was successfully applied to sewage samples for the determination of the target compounds in STPs.

본 실험에서는 실제 원수와 모사 원수를 이용하여 유기막(PES, PVDF 및 PTFE)을 이용하여 재질에 따른 막오염 특성을 분석하고자 하였다. 먼저 원수를 운전압력 1kgf/cm2로 여과하였다. 재질별 소요된 여과 시간은 약 5분, 약 13분, 약 17분으로 각각 나타났다. 또한 모사 원수 실험을 진행하였고, 원수 실험과 동일한 결과를 나타냈다. Jucker 와 Clark(1994)에 따르면 소수성 재질의 막이 유기물 흡착에 의한 Flux 감소가 크다고 보고하였고, 본 실험에서도 소수성 재질의 막이 높은 Flux 감소율을 나타났다. 실험 결과를 통해 막 재질 특성이 조류 유입에 따른 Flux 감소율에 영향을 미치는 것을 확인하였다. 본 연구는 환경부의 “환경정책기반공공기술개발사업”으로 지원받은 과제입니다.

In this study, various physical cleaning methods such as physical washing and osmotic backwash, were conducted to understand membrane fouling properties by employing real secondary wastewater effluent (SWWE). In addition, microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) pretreatments were compared to maximize removal of organic matter and to control membrane fouling efficiently. Organic foulants deposited on the active layer of FO membrane were observed by fouling behavior test. The relationship between concentrations of natural organic matter and membrane fouling was also investigated from the bench-scale FO tests.

Climate change is believed to increase the amount of dissolved organic matter in surface water, as a result of the release of bulk organic matter, which make difficult to achieve a high quality of drinking water via conventional water treatment techniques. Therefore, the natural water treatment techniques, such as managed aquifer recharge (MAR), can be proposed as a alternative method to improve water quality greatly. Removal of bulk organic matter using managed aquifer recharge system is mainly achieved by biodegradation. Biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) and assimilable organic carbon (AOC) can be used as water quality indicators for biological stability of drinking water. In this study, we compared the change of BDOC and AOC with respect to pretreatment methods (i.e., ozone or peroxone). The oxidative pretreatment can transform the recalcitrant organic matter into readily biodegradable one (i.e., BDOC and AOC). We also investigated the differences of organic matter characteristics between BDOC and AOC. We observed the decreases in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and the tryptophan-like fluorescence intensities. Liquid chromatographic - organic carbon detection (LC-OCD) analysis also showed the reduction of the low molecular weight (LMW) fraction (15% removed, less than 500 Da), which is known to be easily biodegradable, and the biopolymers, high molecular weight fractions (66%). Therefore, BDOC consists of a broad range of organic matter characteristics with respect to molecular weight. In AOC, low molecular weight organic matter and biopolymers fraction was reduced by 11 and 6%, respectively. It confirmed that biodegradation by microorganisms as the main removal mechanism in AOC, while BDOC has biodegradation by microorganism as well as the sorption effects from the sand. O3 and O3 + H2O2 were compared with respect to biological stability and dissolved organic matter characteristics. BDOC and AOC were determined to be about 1.9 times for O3 and about 1.4 times for O3 + H2O2. It was confirmed that O3 enhanced the biodegradability by increasing LMW dissolved organic matter.

In this study, the effect of chemically enhanced backwash(CEB) coping with algal(Heterosigma Akashiwo) inflow was evaluated in the seawater desalination pretreatment process using ceramic membrane. In order to confirm the possibility of long-term filtration operation, the recovery rate of transmembrane pressure(TMP) due to the CEB using NaOCl was examined. When the membrane flow rate was 83.3 LMH, the TMP was maintained within 200 kPa for 84 hours in seawater influent. As the algal counts of 30,000 cell/mL were injected into the influent of seawater, however, the TMP rapidly increased and exceed maximum value. Membrane fouling caused by the algae was very poorly recovered by usual physical backwash. The CEB was performed for 30 min(3 min circulation / 27 min immersion) with 300 mg/L of NaOCl. As a result of the CEB application, it was possible to maintain a stable operating of filtration during 10 days and the average recovery rate of TMP by the CEB was 98.1%. It has been confirmed that the CEB using NaOCl is very effective in removal of membrane fouling by algae, resulted in stable membrane filtration for the long-term operation.

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) are widely used as active agents for electrodes in Li-ion secondary battery cells, supercapacitors, and fuel cells. Nanoscale coatings on CNF electrodes can increase the output and lifespan of battery devices. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) can control the coating thickness at the nanoscale regardless of the shape, suitable for coating CNFs. However, because the CNF surface comprises stable C–C bonds, initiating homogeneous nuclear formation is difficult because of the lack of initial nucleation sites. This study introduces uniform nucleation site formation on CNF surfaces to promote a uniform SnO2 layer. We pretreat the CNF surface by introducing H2O or Al2O3 (trimethylaluminum + H2O) before the SnO2 ALD process to form active sites on the CNF surface. Transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy both identify the SnO2 layer morphology on the CNF. The Al2O3-pretreated sample shows a uniform SnO2 layer, while island-type SnOx layers grow sparsely on the H2Opretreated or untreated CNF.

In this study, it is estimated that ceramic membrane process which can operate stably in harsh conditions replacing existing organic membrane connected with coagulation, sedimentation etc. . Jar-test was conducted by using artificial raw water containing kaolin and humic acid. It was observed that coagulant (A-PAC, 10.6%) 4mg/l is the optimal dose. As a results of evaluation of membrane single filtration process (A), coagulation-membrane filtration process (B) and coagulation-sedimentation-membrane filtration process (C), TMP variation is stable regardless of in Flux 2 m3/m2･day. But in Flux 5 m3/m2･day, it show change of 1-89.3 kpa by process. TMP of process (B) and (C) is increased 11.8, 0.6 kpa each. But, the (A) showed the greatest change of TMP. When evaluate (A) and (C) in Flux 10 m3/m2･day, TMP of (A) stopped operation being exceeded 120 kpa in 20 minutes. On the other hand, TMP of (C) is increased only 3 kpa in 120 minutes. Through this, membrane filtration process can be operated stably by using the linkage between the pretreatment process and the ceramic membrane filtration process. Turbidity of treated water remained under 0.1 NTU regardless of flux condition and DOC and UV254 showed a removal rate of 65-85%, 95% more each at process connected with pretreatment. Physical cleaning was carried out using water and air of 500kpa to show the recovery of pollutants formed on membrane surface by filtration. In (A) process, TMP has increased rapidly and decreased the recovery by physical cleaning as the flux rises. This means that contamination on membrane surface is irreversible fouling difficult to recover by using physical cleaning. Process (B) and (C) are observed high recovery rate of 60% more in high flux and especially recovery rate of process (B) is the highest at 95.8%. This can be judged that the coagulation flocs in the raw water formed cake layer with irreversible fouling and are favorable to physical cleaning. As a result of estimation, observe that ceramic membrane filtration connected with pretreatment improves efficiency of filtration and recovery rate of physical cleaning. And ceramic membrane which is possible to operate in the higher flux than organic membrane can be reduce the area of water purification facilities and secure a stable quantity of water by connecting the ceramic membrane with pretreatment process.