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Full-scale application of a down-flow hanging sponge reactor combined with a primary sedimentation basin for domestic sewage treatment

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Abstract

The down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor is advantageous for sewage treatment since it produces an effluent quality that complies with the standards for reuse and there is little excess sludge. A full-scale DHS module was efficiently employed for the treatment of domestic sewage (200 m3 day−1) flowing from a primary sedimentation basin (PSB), which was used to reduce the suspended solids loading rate and enhance the oxidation of organics by heterotrophs. The combined PSB-DHS was successfully operated at a total hydraulic retention time of 3.4 h (2.4 h for PSB and 1.0 h for DHS) for the relatively long period of 600 days at sewage temperatures of 10 °C to 32 °C. The PSB-DHS consistently produced an effluent quality with minimum values of chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, and suspended solids of 59 ± 15, 12 ± 3.0, and 15 ± 7 mg L−1, respectively. The proposed system performed exceptionally well at removing organics and particulate matter over a short hydraulic retention time.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant no. 17H04590) and the Program for the Strategic Promotion of International Cooperation to Accelerate Innovation in Developing Countries of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kisarazu College, 2-11-1 Kiyomidaihigashi, Kisarazu, Chiba, 292-0041, Japan

    Tsutomu Okubo & Shigeki Uemura

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kagawa College, 355 Chokushi, Takamatsu, Kagawa, 761-8058, Japan

    Tadashi Tagawa

  3. Suisui-Kikaku, 1-19-8 Miyahara, Yodogawa-ku, Osaka, Osaka, 532-0003, Japan

    Masanobu Takahashi

  4. Faculty of Applied Life Sciences, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, 265-1 Higashisima, Akiha-ku, Niigata, Niigata, 956-8603, Japan

    Akinori Iguchi

  5. Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13, West 8, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8628, Japan

    Mamoru Oshiki

  6. National Institute of Technology, Ichinoseki College, Takanashi, Hagisho, Ichinoseki, Iwate, 021-8511, Japan

    Nobuo Araki

  7. Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8579, Japan

    Kengo Kubota

  8. Water Pollution Research Department, National Research Centre, Giza, 12622, Egypt

    Ahmed Tawfik

  9. New Industry Creation Hatchery Centre, Tohoku University, 6-6-04 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8579, Japan

    Hideki Harada

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  1. Tsutomu Okubo
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Correspondence to Tsutomu Okubo.

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Okubo, T., Tagawa, T., Takahashi, M. et al. Full-scale application of a down-flow hanging sponge reactor combined with a primary sedimentation basin for domestic sewage treatment. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 45, 701–709 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-022-02689-w

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