Abstract
Performance of membrane reactor in combination with moving-bed-biofilm reactor (BF-MBR) for treatment of municipal wastewater was investigated in relation to different organic loading rates; high and low rates. The membrane was operated with a constant flux of 50 LMH and 96% recovery. The fouling rate was evaluated as development of the trans-membrane pressure (TMP) during the operational time. Suspended solids (SS) concentrations, organic matter (COD/FCOD), particle size distributions (PSD), capillary suction time (CST) and time to filter (TTF) were measured daily and further related to TMP in order to determine major fouling factors. A higher fouling potential was observed for high-rate operating conditions. A fraction of organic matter below 1.2 im was mostly related to changes in TMP. Furthermore, a higher amount of particulate fraction below 0.1 im in membrane reactors during high-rate operating conditions presented a dominant contribution to membrane fouling and colloidal fouling.
Highlights
Membrane bioreactors (MBR) combine the biological treatment processes with membrane filtration to provide an advanced level of organic and SS removal
moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) effluent values show a difference in effluent quality where lower COD and FCOD values are achieved under low rate conditions, pointing to better removal of organic matter during the low rate operation
A significant difference is noticed in the SS concentration in the membrane reactor as a function of operating mode, showing that the composition and characteristics of the SS in the MBBR effluent is a function of organic loading rate
Summary
Membrane bioreactors (MBR) combine the biological treatment processes with membrane filtration to provide an advanced level of organic and SS removal. The current and most commonly used MBR reactor design employed in municipal wastewater treatment is the submerged process configuration where the membrane modules are immersed in an aerated biological reactor (AS-MBR). An alternative treatment scheme to the AS-MBR is combining a biofilm reactor with membrane filtration for enhanced biomass separation (BF-MBR) (Leiknes et al, 2005; Åhl et al, 2005; Melin et al, 2005). Biofilm processes are used in wastewater treatment and several reactor designs can be applied, i.e. trickling filters, rotating biological contactors, fluidised bed reactors etc. Compared to other biofilm reactors the MBBR tolerates high particulate and organic loading rates and is not susceptible to clogging by particulates (Ødegaard et al, 2000).
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