Membrane bioreactors in industrial wastewater treatment – European experiences, examples and trends

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Cornel ◽  
S. Krause

In wastewater treatment, micro- and ultra-filtration membranes are used for the separation of the activated sludge (biomass) from the treated water. This offers the advantages of a complete removal of solids and bacteria, as well as most of the viruses, namely those attached to the suspended solids. Compared to the conventional activated sludge process (CAS) this technology allows a much higher biomass concentration (MLSS) whereby the reactor volume and the footprint decreases. With increasing MLSS, the viscosity of the sludge increases, which leads to reduced oxygen transfer rates. Depending on the type of membrane and membrane module, the pre-treatment has to be more sophisticated to prevent clogging and sludging of the modules. Due to fouling and scaling, the flux through the membranes will decrease with time. The decrease depends on the water quality as well as on the measurements taken to minimize fouling. Mainly, three strategies are available: lowering the flux, increasing the “crossflow” and cleaning of the membranes. Different strategies including backwash and chemical cleaning “in situ”, “on air” and “ex situ” can be applied. It has been proven more effective to apply preventive regular cleaning. Besides the energy demand for oxygen supply – which is typically in the range of 0.3 kWh/m3 for municipal wastewater – the energy for fouling prevention is substantial. Immersed membranes need approximately 0.4 to 1 kWh/m3 for the coarse bubble aeration, whereas tubular modules require 1 to 4 kWh/m3 pump energy. For proper design of industrial wastewater treatment, the verification of applicability and the development of adequate cleaning strategies, it is a precondition to run pilot tests for a sufficient period of time with the wastewater to be treated. More than 100 industrial wastewater treatment membrane bioreactors (MBR) are in operation in Europe. Data of three case studies for a sewage sludge dewatering plant in UK (12,000 m3/d), a plant for the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater in Germany (3,600 m3/d), as well for revamping of an chemical WWTP >2,000 m3/d in Italy, are given. MBRs will be used in future wherever high quality effluent is required, because of a sensitive receiving water body or due to the fact of water reuse as process water. MBRs are a perfect pre-treatment in industrial applications when further treatment with nanofiltration or reverse osmosis is considered. The technique is advanced and can be applied both in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. Higher operational costs must be balanced by superior effluent quality.

Membranes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 231
Author(s):  
Yi Ding ◽  
Zhansheng Guo ◽  
Zhenlin Liang ◽  
Xuguang Hou ◽  
Zhipeng Li ◽  
...  

In this study, the characteristics of activated sludge flocs were investigated and their effects on the evolution of membrane fouling were considered in the anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR), which were operated at 25 and 35 °C for municipal wastewater treatment. It was found that the membrane fouling rate of the AnMBR at 25 °C was more severe than that at 35 °C. The membrane fouling trends were not consistent with the change in the concentration of soluble microbial product (SMP). The larger amount of SMP in the AnMBR at 35 °C did not induce more severe membrane fouling than that in the AnMBR at 25 °C. However, the polysaccharide and protein concentration of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) was higher in the AnMBR at 25 °C in comparison with that in the AnMBR at 35 °C, and the protein/polysaccharide ratio of the EPS in the AnMBR at 25 °C was higher in contrast to that in the AnMBR at 35 °C. Meanwhile, the fouling tendencies measured for the AnMBRs could be related to the characteristics of loosely bound EPS and tightly bound EPS. The analysis of the activated sludge flocs characteristics indicated that a smaller sludge particle size and more fine flocs were observed at the AnMBR with 25 °C. Therefore, the membrane fouling potential in the AnMBR could be explained by the characteristics of activated sludge flocs.


1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 201-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Matsui ◽  
Y. Okawa ◽  
R. Ota

Twenty-eight process wastewaters and thirty-seven organic substances identified in the wastewater of the Kashima petrochemical complex were subjected to biodegradability tests. The tests consisted of the activated sludge degradability method and a supplementary test using the respiration meter method. Both tests utilized the activated sludge of the Fukashiba industrial wastewater treatment plant, which was acclimatized to the wastewater and organic substances. The 28 process wastewaters were classified into biodegradable, less biodegradable, and non-biodegradable according to the percentage TOC removal and the BOD5/TOC ratio of the wastewater. The 37 organic substances were also classified into biodegradable, less biodegradable and non-biodegradable according to TOC and CODMn removal. In general, chlorinated compounds, nitro-aromatics and polymerized compounds were difficult to biodegrade. From the biodegradability tests of the factory wastewaters, it was found that the refractory CODMn loads of these factories contributed to the load remaining in the effluent of the wastewater treatment plant. Various improvements were made to reduce the discharge of refractory substances from the factories.


2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Salerno ◽  
Dirk Benndorf ◽  
Sabine Kluge ◽  
Luigi Leonardo Palese ◽  
Udo Reichl ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 551-556
Author(s):  
Mamdouh Y. Saleh ◽  
◽  
Gaber El Enany ◽  
Medhat H. Elzahar ◽  
Mohamed Z. Elshikhipy ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Thanh-Binh Nguyen ◽  
Xuan Thanh Bui ◽  
Thi-Dieu-Hien Vo ◽  
Ngoc-Dan-Thanh Cao ◽  
Bao-Trong Dang ◽  
...  

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (11) ◽  
pp. 289-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Peng ◽  
C. Gao ◽  
S. Wang ◽  
M. Ozaki ◽  
A. Takigawa

Deficiency in the nutrient supply such as nitrogen usually results in activated sludge bulking and this phenomenon often takes place in the industrial wastewater treatment plants with activated sludge process. The effects of nitrogen deficiency on activated sludge bulking were studied specially in some experiments carried out in a sequencing batch reactor fed with brewing process wastewater in this paper. The experimental results showed that the sludge settled properly at an influent BOD/N value of 100/4. When the value of BOD/N was 100/3, filaments had an excessive growth at one time during the reaction process. Afterwards, the number of filamentous bacteria began to reduce and simultaneously an excessive growth of viscous Zoogloea with high percentage of moisture was observed and non-filamentous activated sludge bulking occurred. When the influent BOD/N value was 100/2, the excessive growth of filamentous microorganisms could not be observed at all times and the sludge characterization was similar to the case in which BOD/N value was 100/3. When the value of influent BOD/N was 100/0.94, more serious non-filamentous bulking occurred. Furthermore, the effects of nitrogen deficiency on the nitrogen sources and phosphorus sources utilization rate and the COD removal rate were investigated in the experiments.


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