Abstract
The application of anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) process for low-carbon and sustainable municipal wastewater (MWW) treatment is still hindered by membrane fouling and dissolved methane issues, while optimizing operational mode for efficient fouling mitigation and modelling the liquid-gaseous phase equilibrium of multicomponent biogas are still not well understood. To address this gap, a 20-L submerged AnMBR was operated for the treatment of real MWW over a 200 d operation period, divided into three phases according to the variations of operational flux (5, 8 and 11 L/m2h) and intermittent filtration mode (filtration to relaxation time (F/R) ratios of 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 and 9:1). The AnMBR showed a stable COD removal (∼85%), satisfactory methane production (∼0.07 LCH4/L-wastewater), and a high methane content of 80% regardless of filtration mode. A theoretical model was successfully developed to simulate the liquid-gaseous phase equilibrium of the multicomponent biogas, which can quantitatively predict the origin and phase distribution of biogas with high accuracy and also determine the saturation index of dissolved methane in the range of 0.8–1.1. At low-flux conditions (5 and 8 LMH), the transmembrane pressure (TMP) remained at low values of 0.5–1.0 kPa, and was not affected by changed F/R ratios. However, at the higher flux of 11 LMH, the TMP increase was obvious at F/R ratios of 3:1 and 9:1, and larger than that at F/R ratios of 4:1 and 5:1. A higher instantaneous flux and shorter relaxation time resulted in substantial irreversible fouling caused by a high-flux induced drag force and insufficient detachment of foulants, while periodical in-situ chemical cleaning allowed a sustainable operation with irreversible fouling successfully mitigated. The results recommended optimized filtration mode for cost-effective fouling control and highlighted the importance of dissolved methane management, which are expected to support large-scale AnMBR implementations for mainstream MWW treatment towards low fouling operation and efficient bioenergy recovery.
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