A Critical Review of Biomass Kinetics and Membrane Filtration Models for Membrane Bioreactor Systems

The biological sulfate removal in the acidogenic bioreactor with an ultrafiltration membrane system was investigated at 35°C. Sucrose was used as the sole organic substrate. The sulfate concentration in the substrate ranged from 0 to 600mgS·1−1. The chemostat reactor was operated to compare with the membrane bioreactor. The fouling phenomenon caused by FeS precipitate was observed at higher concentration of sulfate. However, it was possible to continuously operate the membrane bioreactor by cleaning the membrane. The efficiency of sulfate removal by sulfate reduction reached about 100% in the membrane bioreactor, and 55 to 87% of sulfide was removed from the permeate by the membrane filtration. The composition of the metabolite was remarkably changed by the change in sulfate concentration. When the sulfate concentration increased, acetate and 2-proponol significantly increased while n-butyrate and 3-pentanol decreased. The sulfate-reducing bacteria play the role as acetogenic bacteria consuming volatile fatty acids and alcohols as electron donors under sulfate-rich conditions. The results show that the acidogenesis and sulfate reduction simultaneously proceed in the membrane bioreactor.

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Current status of the pilot-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor treatments of domestic wastewaters: A critical review

Bioresource Technology ◽

10.1016/j.biortech.2017.09.002 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 247 ◽

pp. 1038-1046 ◽

Cited By ~ 86

Author(s):

Chungheon Shin ◽

Jaeho Bae

Keyword(s):

Critical Review ◽

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Pilot Scale ◽

Current Status ◽

Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor

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Blood apheresis technologies – a critical review on challenges towards efficient blood separation and treatment

Materials Advances ◽

10.1039/d1ma00859e ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christine Bacal ◽

James Wainaina Maina ◽

Harshal Nandurkar ◽

Maryam Khaleel ◽

Rosanne Marieke Guijt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Critical Review ◽

Membrane Filtration ◽

Blood Donation ◽

Blood Separation ◽

Toxin Removal ◽

Purification Methods

Blood apheresis technologies are crucial during blood donation and toxin removal. Current purification methods such as leukacytapheresis, erythrocytapheresis, thrombocytapheresis and plasmapheresis primarily rely on centrifugation and membrane filtration to separate...

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Comparative study on membrane fouling between membrane-coupled moving bed biofilm reactor and conventional membrane bioreactor for municipal wastewater treatment

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2013.823 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 69 (5) ◽

pp. 1021-1027 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

W. Yang ◽

W. Syed ◽

H. Zhou

Keyword(s):

Membrane Fouling ◽

Membrane Filtration ◽

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Municipal Wastewater ◽

Biofilm Reactor ◽

Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽

Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor ◽

Reactor Unit ◽

Polyaluminum Chloride ◽

Moving Bed

This study compared the performance between membrane-coupled moving bed biofilm reactor (M-MBBR) and a conventional membrane bioreactor (MBR) in parallel. Extensive tests were conducted in three pilot-scale experimental units over 6 months. Emphasis was placed on the factors that would affect the performance of membrane filtration. The results showed that the concentrations of soluble microbial product (SMP), colloidal total organic carbon and transparent exopolymer particles in the M-MBBR systems were not significantly different from those in the control MBR system. However, the fouling rates were much higher in the M-MBBR systems as compared to the conventional MBR systems. This indicates membrane fouling potential was related not only to the concentration of SMP, but also to their sources and characteristics. The addition of polyaluminum chloride could reduce the fouling rate of the moving bed biofilm reactor unit by 56.4–84.5% at various membrane fluxes.

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Optimization of In Situ Backwashing Frequency for Stable Operation of Anaerobic Ceramic Membrane Bioreactor

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr8050545 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 545 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rathmalgodage Thejani Nilusha ◽

Tuo Wang ◽

Hongyan Wang ◽

Dawei Yu ◽

Junya Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Membrane Fouling ◽

Membrane Filtration ◽

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Ceramic Membrane ◽

Pure Water ◽

Ex Situ ◽

Stable Operation ◽

Chemical Cleaning ◽

Cake Layer

The cost-effective and stable operation of an anaerobic ceramic membrane bioreactor (AnCMBR) depends on operational strategies to minimize membrane fouling. A novel strategy for backwashing, filtration and relaxation was optimized for stable operation of a side stream tubular AnCMBR treating domestic wastewater at the ambient temperature. Two in situ backwashing schemes (once a day at 60 s/day, and twice a day at 60 s × 2/day) maintaining 55 min filtration and 5 min relaxation as a constant were compared. A flux level over 70% of the initial membrane flux was stabilized by in situ permeate backwashing irrespective of its frequency. The in situ backwashing by permeate once a day was better for energy saving, stable membrane filtration and less permeate consumption. Ex situ chemical cleaning after 60 days’ operation was carried out using pure water, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), and citric acid as the order. The dominant cake layer was effectively reduced by in situ backwashing, and the major organic foulants were fulvic acid-like substances and humic acid-like substances. Proteobacteria, Firmucutes, Epsilonbacteria and Bacteroides were the major microbes attached to the ceramic membrane fouling layer which were effectively removed by NaOCl.

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The First Two Years of Full-Scale Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) Operation Treating High-Strength Industrial Wastewater

Water Practice & Technology ◽

10.2166/wpt.2011.032 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Scott Christian ◽

Shannon Grant ◽

Peter McCarthy ◽

Dwain Wilson ◽

Dale Mills

Keyword(s):

Industrial Wastewater ◽

Membrane Filtration ◽

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

High Strength ◽

System Capacity ◽

Superior Performance ◽

Organic Load ◽

Design Parameters ◽

Innovative Technology ◽

Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor

The anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) incorporates anaerobic digestion and membrane filtration in one process to form an innovative technology for treating high-strength industrial wastewater. The first AnMBR installation in North America, also known as the largest AnMBR installation in the world, was built at Ken's Foods in Massachusetts, USA. Ken's Foods existing anaerobic process was upgraded to AnMBR in July 2008 to treat raw wastewater from the production of salad dressings and barbeque sauces. The system was converted to AnMBR due to lack of space, positive economics, and the ability to provide additional capacity for flow and organic load beyond the original anaerobic system design parameters. This AnMBR system has a design influent flow rate of 475 m3/d with 39,000 mg/l COD, 18,000 mg/l BOD, and 12,000 mg/l TSS. The AnMBR system consistently produces a high quality effluent with non-detectable TSS concentrations and average COD and BOD concentrations of 210 and 20 mg/l, with removals of 99.4 and 99.9 percent, respectively. The AnMBR system provides superior performance and a very low rate of membrane fouling with the aid of biogas scour across the membrane surface. The first 20 months of AnMBR operating expenses were reduced by 50 compared to the prior 12-month fiscal period due to increased system capacity, ability to treat wastewater with higher biomass, and elimination of the need to dewater and dispose of dewatered solids.

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