Membrane Bioreactor For Treatment Research Articles

Evaluating the feasibility of pyrophyllite-based ceramic membranes for treating domestic wastewater in anaerobic ceramic membrane bioreactors

This study laid great emphasis on anaerobic ceramic membrane bioreactor (AnCMBR) treatment of domestic wastewater for facile and enhanced energy recovery. To this end, the performance of the natural-based ceramic (i.e., pyrophyllite-based) membranes was mainly explored in this study by evaluating filtration and treatment performances. 92.9±5.5% chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and stable methane production were successfully achieved in a bench-scale AnCMBR while maintaining a slightly long hydraulic retention time (HRT). Comparative filtration experiments with commercialized ceramic membranes suggested that the pyrophyllite-based membrane separation in AnCMBR treatment of wastewater at long HRT is feasible. However, short HRT operations resulted in substantial levels of sludge washout. Future improvements of AnCMBR technology in cost-effective ceramic membrane development, increased flux, and harsh environmental conditions would make AnCMBR competitive with anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) technology.

A comparison between two full-scale MBR and CAS municipal wastewater treatment plants: techno-economic-environmental assessment.

A holistic assessment procedure has been used in this study for comparing conventional activated sludge (CAS) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) processes for the treatment of municipal wastewater. Technical, social, administrative, economic and environmental impacts have been evaluated based on 1year of operational data from three full-scale lines (one MBR and two CAS) working in parallel in a large municipal treatment plant. The comparative assessment evidences a slight advantage of the conventional process in the studied case, essentially due to lower costs, complexity and energy consumption. On the other hand, the MBR technology has a better social acceptance and similar overall environmental footprint. Although these results are influenced by site-specific parameters and cannot be generalized, the assessment procedure allowed identifying the most important factors affecting the final scores for each technology and the main differences between the compared technologies. Local conditions can affect the relative importance of the assessed impacts, and the use of weighting factors is proposed for better tailoring the comparative assessment to the local needs and circumstances. A sensitivity analysis on the weighted final scores demonstrated how local factors are very important and must be carefully evaluated in the decision making process.

Removal characteristics of pharmaceuticals and personal care products: Comparison between membrane bioreactor and various biological treatment processes

We investigated the concentrations of 57 target compounds in the different treatment units of various biological treatment processes in South Korea, including modified biological nutrient removal (BNR), anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic (A2O), and membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems, to elucidate the occurrence and removal fates of PPCPs in WWTPs. Biological treatment processes appeared to be most effective in eliminating most PPCPs, whereas some PPCPs were additionally removed by post-treatment. With the exception of the MBR process, the A2O system was effective for PPCPs removal. As a result, removal mechanisms were evaluated by calculating the mass balances in A2O and a lab-scale MBR process. The comparative study demonstrated that biodegradation was largely responsible for the improved removal performance found in lab-scale MBR (e.g., in removing bezafibrate, ketoprofen, and atenolol). Triclocarban, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and tetracycline were adsorbed in large amounts to MBR sludge. Increased biodegradability was also observed in lab-scale MBR, despite the highly adsorbable characteristics. The enhanced biodegradation potential seen in the MBR process thus likely plays a key role in eliminating highly adsorbable compounds as well as non-degradable or persistent PPCPs in other biological treatment processes.

MBR 공정 적용을 위한 전처리 오존산화에 의한 형광증백제 제거 연구

In this study, ozone oxidation experiment was carried out for the removal of fluorescent whitening agent which is widely used in textile dyeing and paper industry. The stilbene fluorescent whitening agent has been industrialized since the earliest, and the amount of current production is the highest. Due to the characteristics of the fluorescent whitening agent that can not be removed by conventional wastewater treatment methods, the fluorescent whitening agent in wastewater treatment has difficulty in using as recycled water in the process. Pre-treatment ozone oxidation experiment was conducted prior to the introduction of Membrane Bio Reactor(MBR) treatment process by converting biodegradable materials into biodegradable materials. The removal efficiencies of fluorescent whitening agents, a diaminostilbenedisulfonic acid derivative by ozone oxidation were evaluated by <TEX>$UV_{254}$</TEX> Scan, <TEX>$COD_{Mn}$</TEX>, T-N and color using a synthetic wastewater sample (<TEX>$COD_{Mn}=433.0mg/{\ell}$</TEX>) and paper and paper mill wastewater (<TEX>$COD_{Mn}=157.2mg/{\ell}$</TEX>).

Assessing the removal of organic micro-pollutants from anaerobic membrane bioreactor effluent by fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis

In this study, the behavior of organic micro-pollutants (OMPs) transport including membrane fouling was assessed in fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis (FDFO) during treatment of the anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) effluent. The flux decline was negligible when the FO membrane was oriented with active layer facing feed solution (AL-FS) while severe flux decline was observed with active layer facing draw solution (AL-DS) with di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer as DS due to struvite scaling inside the membrane support layer. DAP DS however exhibited the lowest OMPs forward flux or higher OMPs rejection rate compared to other two fertilizers (i.e., mono-ammonium phosphate (MAP) and KCl). MAP and KCl fertilizer DS had higher water fluxes that induced higher external concentration polarization (ECP) and enhanced OMPs flux through the FO membrane. Under the AL-DS mode of membrane orientation, OMPs transport was further increased with MAP and KCl as DS due to enhanced concentrative internal concentration polarization while with DAP the internal scaling enhanced mass transfer resistance thereby lowering OMPs flux. Physical or hydraulic cleaning could successfully recover water flux for FO membranes operated under the AL-FS mode but only partial flux recovery was observed for membranes operated under AL-DS mode because of internal scaling and fouling in the support layer. Osmotic backwashing could however significantly improve the cleaning efficiency.

Toxic compounds biodegradation and toxicity of high strength wastewater treated under elevated nitrogen concentration in the activated sludge and membrane bioreactor systems

This research has assessed the removal efficiencies of toxic compounds in the high strength wastewater (the leachate and agriculture wastewater mixture) using the activated sludge (AS) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) technologies under two carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios (C/N 14 and 6) and two toxic compounds concentrations (8–396μg/L and 1000μg/L). In addition, the toxicity evaluations of the AS and MBR effluents to the aquatic environment were undertaken at five effluent dilution ratios (10, 20, 30, 50 and 70% v/v). The findings indicate that the AS treatment performance could be enhanced by the elevation of the nitrogen concentration. Specifically, the C/N 6 environment helps promote the bacterial growth, particularly heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria (HNB) and nitrifying bacteria (NB), which produce the enzymes crucial to the toxic compounds degradation. The improved biodegradation makes the effluents less toxic to the aquatic environment, as evidenced by the lower mortality rates of both experimental fish species raised in the nitrogen-elevated diluted AS effluents. On the other hand, the elevated nitrogen concentration minimally enhances the MBR treatment performance, given the fact that the MBR technology is in itself a biological treatment scheme with very high compounds removal capability. Despite its lower toxic compounds removal efficiency, the AS technology is simple, inexpensive and operationally-friendly, rendering the system more applicable to the treatment operation constrained by the financial, manpower and technological considerations.

Survival, reproduction, growth, and parasite resistance of aquatic organisms exposed on-site to wastewater treated by advanced treatment processes

Advanced wastewater treatment technologies are generally known to be an effective tool for reducing micropollutant discharge into the aquatic environment. Nevertheless, some processes such as ozonation result in stable transformation products with often unknown toxicity. In the present study, whole effluents originating from nine different steps of advanced treatment combinations were compared for their aquatic toxicity. Assessed endpoints were survival, growth and reproduction of Lumbriculus variegatus, Daphnia magna and Lemna minor chronically exposed in on-site flow-through tests based on standard guidelines. The treatment combinations were activated sludge treatment followed by ozonation with subsequent filtration by granular activated carbon or biofilters and membrane bioreactor treatment of raw wastewater followed by ozonation. Additionally, the impact of treated wastewater on the immune response of invertebrates was investigated by challenging D. magna with a bacterial endoparasite. Conventionally treated wastewater reduced reproduction of L. variegatus by up to 46%, but did not affect D. magna and L. minor with regard to survival, growth, reproduction and parasite resistance. Instead, parasite susceptibility was significantly reduced in D. magna exposed to conventionally treated as well as ozonated wastewater in comparison to D. magna exposed to the medium control. None of the three test organisms provided clear evidence that wastewater ozonation leads to increased aquatic toxicity. Rather than to the presence of toxic transformation products, the affected performance of L. variegatus could be linked to elevated concentrations of ammonium and nitrite that likely resulted from treatment failures.

Methanogenic degradation of toilet-paper cellulose upon sewage treatment in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor at room temperature

Toilet-paper cellulose with rich but refractory carbon sources, are the main insoluble COD fractions in sewage. An anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) was configured for sewage treatment at room temperature and its performance on methanogenic degradation of toilet paper was highlighted. The results showed, high organic removal (95%), high methane conversion (90%) and low sludge yield (0.08gVSS/gCOD) were achieved in the AnMBR. Toilet-paper cellulose was fully biodegraded without accumulation in the mixed liquor and membrane cake layer. Bioconversion efficiency of toilet paper approached 100% under a high organic loading rate (OLR) of 2.02gCOD/L/d and it could provide around 26% of total methane generation at most of OLRs. Long sludge retention time and co-digestion of insoluble/soluble COD fractions achieving mutualism of functional microorganisms, contributed to biodegradation of toilet-paper cellulose. Therefore the AnMBR successfully implemented simultaneously methanogenic bioconversion of toilet-paper cellulose and soluble COD in sewage at room temperature.

Effects of ZnO nanoparticle exposure on wastewater treatment and soluble microbial products (SMPs) in an anoxic-aerobic membrane bioreactor

The effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on the performance of an anoxic-aerobic submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR), and the characterization of the soluble microbial products (SMPs) produced in the presence of ZnO NPs was evaluated. Continuous operation over 144 days showed that ZnO NPs at concentrations of 10 and 50 mg/L exerted a negative impact on chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nitrogen removal, although ZnO NPs were efficiently removed in the MBR (>92%). 10 and 50 mg/L ZnO NPs decreased COD removal substantially from 93.1± 0.6% to 90.1± 0.8% (<0.05) and 86.3± 2.3% (<0.05), respectively. Similarly, with 10 and 50 mg L ZnO NPs, the decreased in NH4N removal was 8.1% and 21.1%, respectively. Exposure to 1, 10 and 50 mg/L ZnO NPs increased SMP concentrations by 12.8%, 42.4% and 51.5%, respecti. High performance size exclusion chromatograph (HP-SEC) analysis revealed that the presence of ZnO NPs caused a significant increase in high-molecular weight (MW) (583 kDa) SMPs at 1 and 10 mg/L ZnO NP concentration. A substantial decrease in the concentration of high-MW compounds in the MBR effluent was observed at the end of the experiment. Excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence contours revealed that SMPs were dominated by amino acid-, tryptophan protein-, polyaromatic-, and polycarboxylate-type substances. The presence of ZnO NPs enhanced the production of amino acid-like (7.5–25.1%) and tryptophan protein-like compounds (31.7–38.1%), compared to the control (6.0–20.2% for amino acid-like compounds; and 28.5–36.7% for tryptophan protein-like compounds). In contrast, the fulvic and humic acid-like compounds decreased with exposure to ZnO NPs. This work may help better understanding the effect of nanoparticle exposure on wastewater treatment performance and SMP characteristics.

Assessment of activated sludge, membrane bioreactors and vertical flow wetlands for upgrading sewage treatment works

ABSTRACTThis paper demonstrates that utilising a vertical flow (VF) wetland after a conventional activated sludge (CAS) delivers equivalent or better effluent quality to a membrane bioreactor (MBR) based on a side-by-side pilot trial. The CAS was operated under the solids retention times (SRT) of 6, 12, and 20 days, with the effluent from each pilot plant fed onto a soil aquifer treatment column to better understand their water reuse application potential. Results showed an upgraded CAS + VF system could deliver effluents with median values of 34 mgO2.L–1, 7 mg.L–1 and 1.9 mg.L–1 for organics, solids and ammonia nitrogen, respectively, which were statistically similar to those from the MBR. Water reuse standards were achieved by the upgraded system for most parameters, with the exception of total coliform removal. The upgraded system delivered superior metal removal when compared to the CAS. An economic analysis showed upgrading a CAS with a VF wetland was more favourable than investing in an MBR system for example works of 5000 and 50,000 population equivalents if the VF system was operated at hydraulic loading rates of 0.03 m.d–1 and 0.08 m.d–1, respectively. This was delivered for a tenth of the carbon footprint of the MBR treatment.

Fouling control using critical, threshold and limiting fluxes concepts for cross-flow NF of a complex matrix: Membrane BioReactor effluent

The optimization of permeate flux is a particularly interesting strategy to control fouling and, as a consequence, enhance productivity for nanofiltration (NF) processes. Critical flux, threshold flux and limiting flux theories represent significant advance in this strategy. The aim of this study was to apply these concepts to achieve fouling control during NF of a real complex matrix: hospital wastewater after Membrane BioReactor treatment (MBR permeate). At low pressure (3bar) no flux decline was observed, revealing no fouling conditions. By applying a range of transmembrane pressure and using the square-wave method, the critical flux for irreversibility (70Lh−1m−2) and the corresponding critical pressure (3.4bar) were then determined for the NF process in this complex matrix. Above these critical conditions, irreversible fouling started to occur. The threshold pressure and related flux (transition points between low and high fouling regions) were then searched by critical flux data conversion. Our results suggest, even if an exact value for the threshold pressure could not be determined, that it could be located in the range 3.4–10bar. Operating in this pressure range should lead to acceptable fouling rate and flux decline.During filtrations conducted above the critical flux in the MBR effluent, two stable fluxes behaviours were observed indicating that different fouling stages occur: pseudo stable flux was 67Lh−1m−2 at 5bar, whereas 33Lh−1m−2 at 10–35bar. It can be then confirmed that a limiting flux occurred in this system, the value of which 33Lh−1m−2 is rather lower than that of the critical flux. This flux behaviour was proved to be related to a severe fouling in the pressure range 10–35bar due to a combined effect of colloidal silica and organics fouling and calcium phosphate scaling. The early fouling stage at 5bar was expected to be solely related to colloidal silica and organics accumulation. To characterise this change in fouling behaviour, a method allowing the estimation of the permeability before scaling was proposed. The combination of the permeability before scaling and critical flux has enabled a NF working diagram to be drawn from which the fouling stage for a given transmembrane pressure and corresponding permeate flux was able to be determined.

Perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) in northern Spain municipal solid waste landfill leachates

Landfill leachates have been recognized as significant secondary sources of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). This study presents data on the occurrence and concentration of 11 perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs) and 5 perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFSAs) in leachates from 4 municipal solid waste landfill sites located across northern Spain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of PFASs in Spanish landfill leachates. Two of the landfill sites applied on-site treatment using membrane bioreactors (MBR), and its effect on PFASs occurrence is also reported. Total PFASs (∑PFASs) in raw leachates reached 1378.9 ng/L, while in treated samples ∑PFASs was approximately two-fold (3162.3 ng/L). PFCAs accounted for the majority of the detected PFASs and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was the dominant compound in raw leachates (42.6%), followed by shorter chain PFHxA (30.1%), PFPeA and PFBA. The age of the sites might explain the PFASs pattern found in raw leachates as all of them were stabilized leachates. However, PFASs profile was different in treated samples where the most abundant compound was PFHxA (26.5%), followed by linear perfluorobutane sulfonate (L-PFBS) (18.7%) and PFOA (17.7%). The overall increase of the PFASs content as well as the change in the PFASs profile after the MBR treatment, could be explained by the possible degradation of PFASs precursors such as fluorotelomer alcohols or fluorotelomer sulfonates. Using the volume of leachates generated in the landfill sites, that served 1.8 million people, the discharge of 16 ∑PFASs contained in the landfill leachates was estimated as 1209 g/year.

Performance investigation of a jet loop membrane bioreactor for the treatment of an actual olive mill wastewater

In this study, following the pre-treatment of olive mill wastewater (OMW), its treatment in a jet loop membrane bioreactor (JLMBR) was investigated. Among the pre-treatment options, the configuration composed of physical settling, cartridge filter and ceramic membrane showed the best performance in terms of investigated parameters. For the JLMBR that was fed by pretreated OMW, up to 93 and 87% removal efficiencies were achieved for the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total phenol, respectively, at volumetric organic load (VOL) of 17.8 kg COD/m3 day. The calculated specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) values were in the range 7.7–34.7 g O2/kg MLVSS h. When even hydraulic retention times (HRT) values decreased by a factor of 1:24, system performance in terms of COD and total phenol removal remained almost stable. Decreasing the sludge retention time (SRT) to three days made considerable perturbations for the system performance, increasing the effluent COD and total phenol values in 900 and 80 mg/L, respectively. The JLMBR showed a high overall performance for the treatment of an actual OMW under the evaluated operational conditions.

Refuse leachate exposure causes changes of thyroid hormone level and related gene expression in female goldfish (Carassius auratus).

To elucidate the potential thyroid disrupting effects of refuse leachate on females, female goldfish (Carassius auratus) were exposed to 0.5% diluted leachates from each step of a leachate treatment process (i.e. raw leachate before treatment, after membrane bioreactor treatment, and the final treated leachate) for 21days. Raw leachate exposure caused disturbances in the thyroid cascade of female fish, as evidenced by the elevated plasma 3,3',5-triiodo-l-thyronine (p<0.05) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (p<0.01) levels as well as up-regulated hepatic and gonadal type I deiodinase (p<0.01), type II deiodinase (p<0.01) and thyroid receptor (p<0.05) mRNA levels. Thyroid disrupting potency decreased markedly as raw leachate progressed through the "membrane bioreactor + reverse osmosis" treatment but could still be detected in the treated leachate. As our results indicated, thyroid system in female goldfish was more sensitive to leachate exposure than that of the male fish.

Correlation between microbial community structure and performances of membrane bioreactor for treatment of palm oil mill effluent

River pollution from the agriculture industry has become an important cause of unscheduled water disruptions in Malaysia. Thus, rigorous control and treatment of high strength wastewater prior to discharge into the river are needed. This study aims at evaluating the performance of a pilot membrane bioreactor (MBR) for the treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME). POME was subjected to MBR operating in an aerobic environment for 40 days, followed by 10 days without aeration and water pumping to simulate failure event, and finally resumed to operational condition. Higher proportions of protein (-PN) compared to polysaccharides (-PS) were present in both the mixed liquor and biofilm, indicating that protein was the main constituent of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Biological samples from the mixed liquor and biofilm on the membrane surfaces were collected on day 25, 50 and 75 to investigate taxonomic distribution of microbial community. High throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was used to investigate the composition of microbial communities in the MBR. Microbial groups such as the phyla Proteobacteria (19–23%), OD1 (11–15%), Chloroflexi (11–13%) were the dominant members in biofilm under operational condition while OD1 (20%), Proteobacteria (18%) and Planctomycetes (16%) were found to be dominant in biofilm under static and non-operational conditions. The taxonomic profile of the microbial community on day 75 is more similar to that of day 25, compared to day 50, suggesting the capability of the microbial communities to revert to the operational state despite a period of downtime.

Characterization of soluble microbial products (SMPs) in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating synthetic wastewater containing pharmaceutical compounds

This study investigated the behaviour and characteristics of soluble microbial products (SMP) in two anoxic-aerobic membrane bioreactors (MBRs): MBRcontrol and MBRpharma, for treating municipal wastewater. Both protein and polysaccharides measured exhibited higher concentrations in the MBRpharma than the MBRcontrol. Molecular weight (MW) distribution analysis revealed that the presence of pharmaceuticals enhanced the accumulation of SMPs with macro- (13,091 kDa and 1587 kDa) and intermediate-MW (189 kDa) compounds in the anoxic MBRpharma, while a substantial decrease was observed in both MBR effluents. Excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence contours indicated that the exposure to pharmaceuticals seemed to stimulate the production of aromatic proteins containing tyrosine (10.1–32.6%) and tryptophan (14.7–43.1%), compared to MBRcontrol (9.9–29.1% for tyrosine; 11.8–42.5% for tryptophan). Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed aromatics, long-chain alkanes and esters were the predominant SMPs in the MBRs. More peaks were present in the aerobic MBRpharma (196) than anoxic MBRpharma (133). The SMPs identified exhibited both biodegradability and recalcitrance in the MBR treatment processes. Only 8 compounds in the MBRpharma were the same as in the MBRcontrol. Alkanes were the most dominant SMPs (51%) in the MBRcontrol, while aromatics were dominant (40%) in the MBRpharma. A significant decrease in aromatics (from 16 to 7) in the MBRpharma permeate was observed, compared to the aerobic MBRpharma. Approximately 21% of compounds in the aerobic MBRcontrol were rejected by membrane filtration, while this increased to 28% in the MBRpharma.

The environmental footprint of a membrane bioreactor treatment process through Life Cycle Analysis

This study includes an environmental analysis of a membrane bioreactor (MBR), the objective being to quantitatively define the inventory of the resources consumed and estimate the emissions produced during its construction, operation and end-of-life deconstruction. The environmental analysis was done by the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, in order to establish with a broad perspective and in a rigorous and objective way the environmental footprint and the main environmental hotspots of the examined technology. Raw materials, equipment, transportation, energy use, as well as air- and waterborne emissions were quantified using as a functional unit, 1m3 of urban wastewater. SimaPro 8.0.3.14 was used as the LCA analysis tool, and two impact assessment methods, i.e. IPCC 2013 version 1.00 and ReCiPe version 1.10, were employed. The main environmental hotspots of the MBR pilot unit were identified to be the following: (i) the energy demand, which is by far the most crucial parameter that affects the sustainability of the whole process, and (ii) the material of the membrane units. Overall, the MBR technology was found to be a sustainable solution for urban wastewater treatment, with the construction phase having a minimal environmental impact, compared to the operational phase. Moreover, several alternative scenarios and areas of potential improvement, such as the diversification of the electricity mix and the material of the membrane units, were examined, in order to minimize as much as possible the overall environmental footprint of this MBR system. It was shown that the energy mix can significantly affect the overall sustainability of the MBR pilot unit (i.e. up to 95% reduction of the total greenhouse gas emissions was achieved with the use of an environmentally friendly energy mix), and the contribution of the construction and operational phase to the overall environmental footprint of the system.

Performance of Ozonation Process as Advanced Treatment for Antibiotics Removal in Membrane Permeate

Abstract There was an investigation into the removal of 6 types of antibiotics from hospital wastewater through membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment and ozonation processes. Six types of antibiotics, namely, Sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), Norfloxacin (NOR), Ciprofloxacin (CIP), Ofloxacin (OFL), Erythromycin (ERY), and Vancomycin (VAN) which had high detection frequencies in collected samples from hospital wastewater treatment plant (HWTPs). After MBR treatment, the removal efficiencies of SMZ, NOR, OFL, and ERY were 45%, 25%, 30%, and 16%, respectively. Among of them, almost no elimination was observed for CIP and VAN since their concentrations increased by 0.24 ± 0.18 (μg·l-1) and 0.83 ± 0.20 (μg·l-1), respectively. Then, residues of the antibiotics were removed from the MBR effluent by the ozonation process. The overall removal efficiencies of SMZ, NOR, CIP, OFL, ERY, and VAN were approximately 66 %, 88 %, 83 %, 80 %, 93 %, and 92 %, respectively. The reason might be depended on different ozone consumption of those antibiotics (ABS) in a range of 313 to 1681 μg ABS·gO--1. Consequently, the ozonation process performed better in the antibiotics removal (e.g. CIP and VAN) so ozonation could be considered as important support for the MBR treatment to reduce the risk of antibiotic residues.

Carbamazepine behaviour and effects in an urban wastewater MBR working with high sludge and hydraulic retention time

ABSTRACTThe behaviour and fate of carbamazepine (CBZ) in urban wastewater treatment by a membrane bioreactor (MBR) and its possible effects on the system's efficiency, and on mixed microbial communities, has been studied. The experimental microfiltration MBR system, with capacity to treat 10.8 m3 d−1 of urban wastewater, operated with a pre-denitrification configuration with high sludge and hydraulic retention time. The CBZ concentration assayed was higher than in the usual urban wastewater, in order to provoke a strong biomass reaction. Influent, effluent, and all bioreactors of the MBR system were analysed in order to calculate a CBZ balance. Bench-scale experiments and respirometric analyses were performed, with and without the presence of CBZ, to evaluate its influence on the bacterial activity. The respirometric assays showed variations in the oxygen uptake rate (OUR) in the presence of CBZ. Negative effects were detected in the MBR bacterial community during the initial period of dosing. However, the effects were not permanent and the biomass spiked with CBZ had behaviour similar to that of the biomass without CBZ after a few hours. Biodegradation was not detected during the MBR treatment. The system showed an inefficient elimination of CBZ (less than 10%) with a high concentration in the effluent. The small percentage of CBZ removal was associated with the sludge retention and eliminated by the purge. All CBZ present in the influent was accounted for, and even an increase in the total amount of CBZ was registered in the permeate. During and after the experimental process, CBZ did not significantly affect the efficiency of the MBR system, and the quality of the effluent was not affected by the dosing of CBZ in terms of COD and nitrogen removal.

Wastewater Treatment in Membrane Bioreactors: The Use of Polyelectrolytes to Control Membrane Fouling

The present study investigates the addition of several commercially available cationic (FO 4000 SSH and ADIFLOC series) and anionic (LT-25 Magnafloc) polyelectrolytes in a fully automated, pilot-scale Membrane Bioreactor (MBR), aiming to the development of an integrated methodology for the control of membrane fouling in MBR treatment systems. For this purpose, a series of batch experiments were conducted in order to evaluate their effectiveness on membrane fouling mitigation, using a typical hollow fiber, commercially available microfiltration membrane. Reversible fouling was assessed in terms of sludge filterability tests, whereas irreversible fouling was assessed in terms of SMPs (Soluble Microbial Products) concentration measurements. Results showed that the addition of cationic polyelectrolytes FO 4000 SSH series and ADIFLOC series were found capable to reduce both reversible and irreversible fouling. More specifically, the FO 4350 SSH type exhibited a remarkable performance, regarding both sludge filterability enhancement and SMP removal, when added at the concentration of 10 mg/L. Further comparison with the anionic polyelectrolyte LT-25 Magnafloc reinforced the allegation that cationic polyelectrolytes are preferable for control of membrane fouling, mainly due to charge neutralization mechanism.