PERFORMANCE OF A CIRCULATION TYPE PURIFICATION SYSTEM DURING THE TREATMENT OF SLUDGE FROM MANILA BAY AND TWO PORTS IN JAPAN

Abstract

Ocean sludge seriously exerts significant environmental load to local sea areas and has a
negative effect on the marine ecosystem. In this study, the use of fine-bubble technology for the purification
of sludge is being investigated. The principle behind this technology is that the bacteria that can degrade sludge
are activated by the aerobic conditions induced by the fine-bubbles. Fortunately, one of the authors successfully
developed a fine-bubble decomposition system (circulation type) for ocean sludge. Hence, to verify and check
the system’s performance it was used and tested in the treatment of sludge that was obtained from Manila Bay
and from Funabashi and Hidaka ports, in Japan. Interestingly, the results of the study showed that the system
performed very well in treating the sludge. It is noteworthy to mention that through this study, potentially
beneficial bacteria isolated from the sludge sample was successfully identified using 16S rRNA gene sequence
analysis.
Keywords: Fine-bubbles, Purification of Sludge, Circulation Type Purification System, Manila Bay