Abstract
A newly installed MBR plant requires domestic sludge inoculation and operation start-up from unsteady state and gradually ends up at steady state condition after the sludge is acclimatized according to influent raw wastewater characteristics. So far, very limited information has been reported in the literature about this initial condition. In this study, treatment performance, sludge characteristics and membrane fouling evaluation of full scale MBR plant was conducted from unsteady to steady state condition. Purpose of the study was to determine an optimum combination of solids retention time (SRT) and flux with desired MLSS range of 8–10–g/L exhibiting excellent treatment performance with good sludge characteristics, and minimum membrane fouling. Membrane fouling at different SRTs was investigated in terms of trans-membrane pressure (TMP). Overall, more than 90% removal of COD was achieved in all combinations of steady state SRTs and fluxes. Complete nitrification (NH4+-N < 1 mg/L) was achieved between 3 and 4 days after startup and NH4+-N remained undetected in effluent throughout the run. PO4−3-P removal of 80% was achieved between 4 and 5 days of startup and remained stable. Sludge characteristics varied at different combinations of SRT and flux combinations. After achieving steady-state, 20 days SRT and 20 LMH flux exhibited the most optimum sludge characteristics and moderate membrane fouling with MLSS between 8 and 10 g/L.
Published Version
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