Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)
7Two-phase Activated Sludge Systemwith Doubled Processing Capacity and80% Reduction of Excess Sludge Production
M i ts u b i s h i H e a v y I n d u s t r i e sM e c h a t r o n i c s S y s t e m s , LT D .
Business Headquarters
Environmental Plant BusinessD e pa r t m e n t
Wa t e r Tr e a t m e n t B u s i n e s s S e c t i o nCurrently, there are many wastewater treatment facilities both in Japan and abroad. Morethan half of them employ a method called the “activated sludge process” in which biochemicaltreatment is conducted using microorganisms (hereafter referred to as an activated sludge facility).
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Mechatronics Systems, Ltd. (MHI-MS) has developed a“two-phase activated sludge system (hereafter referred to as the two-phase system)” which can beinstalled by conducting simple modifications of the activated sludge facilities in operation. With
this system, as much as an 80% reduction in excess sludge production can be achieved, while theprocessing capacity can be as much as doubled. Deliveries of this system to major food factories,
chemical plants, etc., are increasing steadily (Figure 1). Our product is highly valued because wehave received comments from our clients, including “The running costs were substantially cut
down,” “It is helpful to fulfill corporate social responsibility (CSR)” and “The processing capacity
remained the same even under increased unsteady loading conditions.”

Figure 1

Structure of the two-phase activated sludge system|1. Production development background and market needs
1.1Outline of the activated sludge process (conventional technology)

In the activated sludge process, dissolved organics in wastewater are biodegraded byactivated sludge (i.e., a mix of bacteria and animalcules such as protists and metazoa). The processproceeds as follows:(1) Wastewater flows into a biological treatment tank called the “aeration tank” where activatedsludge is retained. Air is then sent into the tank, increasing the concentration of dissolved
oxygen in the tank (for the respiration of the activated sludge) while keeping themicroorganisms and the dissolved organics in wastewater mixed/agitated.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)
8(2) The bacteria decompose/assimilate the dissolved organics.
(3) The animalcules (protists and small metazoa) then prey on the bacteria. However, as thebacteria in the activated sludge take the form of flocks(floating aggregates), some of themescape from the predators. Consequently, both bacteria and animalcules are present in theactivated sludge.
(4) The mixed liquor of the activated sludge and the treated water enters the settling tank. It iskept still there to allow the activated sludge with a specific gravity larger than water tosettle, discharging the supernatant water as treated water.
(5) The activated sludge settled and separated in the settling tank is recycled back to theaeration tank for biological treatment. The increase of the sludge is discharged as “excesssludge.”(6) The discharged excess sludge is dehydrated (occasionally dried/burnt) to reduce the volume
before being disposed of as industrial waste.
The solids retention time (SRT), which is an indicator of the time span for activated sludge todecompose organics and grow is approximately 5 days. On the other hand, the time for bacteria todecompose organics and double the population ranges from several tens of minutes to a few hours.
This indicates that the bacteria in activated sludge are prey for animalcules and their capability oforganic decomposition is considerably hampered. As SRT is included as a design criterion for theactivated sludge facility, a large area is needed for installation.
Furthermore, thirty to 50 wt% of the treated dissolved organics in wastewater end up being
excess sludge, demanding enormous amounts of energy and costs for the dewatering, drying,burning and disposal of industrial waste.

1.2

Problems of the activated sludge method (conventional technology) and market
needs

(1)

Demand for the enhancement of capacity and space-saving
Domestically, changes in the circumstances surrounding production have created demandfor enhancement of processing capacity.
There are projects for new construction because of aging facilities in Japan and many
new/additional facilities will be built overseas. In every case, there is a need for space saving
solutions.
(2) Need for reduced sludge production
The expense incurred in excess sludge disposal accounts for a large portion of the total
running costs for a wastewater treatment facility. Excess sludge discharges from domestic
activated sludge facilities are increasing every year, raising the issues of disposal sites andincreased disposal expenses. Thus, there is a growing need for reduced sludge production.

1.3

Problems with existing technologies for reduced sludge production

Most existing technologies for reduced sludge production convert microorganisms in excess
sludge soluble to substrates, which are then biodegraded by activated sludge to reduce the weight.
The technologies for sludge dissolution include ozone treatment, the alkali dissolution method, thehigh temperature decomposition method and mechanical crushing. All of them are costly in termsof facility construction and require proper operation control techniques.
Because of the increased load resulting from dissolution, 10% to 20% of the processing
capacity of an activated sludge facility has to be left unused when such technologies are introduced.
This is one of the main obstructive factors to the prevalence of the technologies.

|2. Product features and advantages
2.1

Division of microorganisms in activated sludge into two phases

The two-phase system is a biological treatment technology in which bacteria and animalculesin activated sludge are divided into two phases according to the following procedure and theadvantages of each biota are utilized.
(1) The biological treatment tank (aeration tank) is divided into two. In the upstream tank, theretention time is set to be shorter than the SRT of animalcules and longer than the bacterial
doubling time, creating an environment in which only bacteria can reproduce themselves.
Accordingly, bacteria are the dominant biota here.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)
9(2) The upstream tank contains special carriers which have a porous structure with a continuumof passages 10 to 20 μm in diameter and that can exclusively hold densely-populated
bacterial inhabitants. Consequently, the number of bacteria in the upstream tank (hereafterreferred to as the carrier tank) can be steadily maintained high.
(3) The downstream tank is the activated sludge tank. As there is an inflow of many bacteria
from the carrier tank, the biota of the downstream tank is dominated by animalcules thatprey on the bacteria and decompose/assimilate them.

2.2

Advantages of our product

Table 1 shows the outcomes after the introduction of the two-phase system by modifying theexisting facility of a major seasonings factory.
Table 1The effects of the introduction of our two-phase system by modifying anexisting facility
Existing facility
3Quantity of treated water

640 m /d

BOD level in raw water

1,500 mg/L

BOD level in treated water
SVISludge production rate(organics)≤ 25 mg/L≥ 200100%After modification
720 m3/d(Max: 840 m3/d)
1,500 mg/L
(Max: 2,600 mg/L)≤ 25 mg/L≈40
20% to 40%(i.e., 60% to 80% reduction)

The product advantages are best characterized by the simultaneous realization of many
improvements such as enhanced capacity (space saving), the usability of existing facilities, thereduced production of excess sludge and an improved sludge volume index (SVI; an indicator ofsludge sedimentability).
(1) Enhanced capacity (space saving)
In the two-phase system, the treatment process of dissolved organics in wastewater
proceeds as described below. Compared with the activated sludge process, the processing
capacity can be enhanced up to as much as double. (In the case of new construction, the spatial
allocation for the installation of the biological treatment tank can be reduced by as much as half
the area of the activated sludge process).
[1] In the carrier tank, bacteria can decompose/assimilate organics and multiply without thepresence of predators and therefore get dispersed throughout (hereafter referred to assuspended bacteria). The speed of decomposition/assimilation of organics in wastewaterby the suspended bacteria is 10 to 20 times faster than the activated sludge. As thesuspended bacteria can quickly respond to influent load fluctuations (substrate changeand load variation), the two-phase system is less affected by load variations.
[2] In the treated water of the carrier tank (regarding the suspended bacteria and some typesof dissolved organics), the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), which is an indicator oforganic concentration, can be reduced down by as much as 30% to 40% relative to theraw water (e.g., BOD level in raw water: 1,000 mg/L Æ BOD level in the treated waterof carrier tank: 300 to 400 mg/L).
[3] The suspended bacteria in the treated water of the carrier tank are then preyed on,decomposed and assimilated by animalcules in the downstream tank of activated sludge.
As the suspended bacteria are dispersed and have a poorer flock structure, they are easy
prey for animalcules. Thus, compared with conventional activated sludge, a larger
quantity of animalcules with greater diversification will appear and dominate the biota,
making the two-phase system less affected by load variations.
(2) Usability of existing facilities
When modifying an existing activated sludge facility for the installation of the two-phasesystem, by following the procedure given below, the modification can be completed within ashort period with almost no discontinued operation of the wastewater treatment facility.
[1] If the aeration tank is not divided, install a partition (its construction method withoutwater drainage is patent pending).
[2] Install a screen on the partition for carrier separation.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)10[3] Charge carriers in the upstream tank.
[4] Modify part of the return sludge line.
(3) Reduced production of excess sludge
The production rate of excess sludge shrinks by as much as 20% to 40% of the activatedsludge process according to the following mechanism (i.e., the produced amount of excess
sludge is reduced by 60% to 80%).
[1] In the downstream tank of activated sludge, excess sludge is produced depending on thelevels of inflowing organics. The organic concentrations in the treated water of the carriertank are decreased by as much as 30% to 40% of the raw water.
[2] Many of the animalcules in the downstream tank of activated sludge are large in size.
Therefore, more of the obtained energy is consumed for purposes other than assimilation
and reproduction, lowering the assimilation/reproduction rate (i.e., produced amount ofexcess sludge).
(4) Improved SVI of the settling tank (volume per unit weight)
The downstream tank of activated sludge contains many diversified animalcules andmany of them are large in size. This lowers the SVI, improving the solid-liquid separability inthe settling tank and making maintenance and management easy.

|3. Short payback period and CSR contribution
Figure 2 shows an example of running cost reductions.
The cost incurred in the modification of an existing activated sludge facility to install thetwo-phase system is expected to be recovered within 3-5 years because of the reduced running costof the modified facility.
As the use of our product can reduce industrial waste and energy consumption, it also helps
our clients to fulfill their CSR. For this reason, demand for our product is increasing every year
both domestically and overseas, in spite of the current financial situation for investment in
non-production facilities such as wastewater treatment facilities remaining severe.

Figure 2Comparison of the annual running costs