Performance Of Membrane Bioreactor Research Articles

Significant Study of Effect of Aeration Intensities on Membrane Bioreactor Performance

Significant Study of Effect of Aeration Intensities on Membrane Bioreactor Performance

Wastewater treatment by microalgal membrane bioreactor: Evaluating the effect of organic loading rate and hydraulic residence time

Current microalgal based photobioreactors focus on the secondary treated effluent while limited researches attempted for treating the raw domestic wastewater. This study aimed to assess the microalgal biomass production, removal performance, and fouling characteristics of microalgal membrane bioreactors (MMBRs) for treating synthetic wastewater under different conditions of organic loading rate (OLR) and hydraulic residence time (HRT). The 12h/12 h dark/light cycle continuous experiments were performed for four MMBRs at different OLRs and three MMBRs at different HRTs. Results showed that microalgal biomass production rate (as TSS and chlorophyll-a) decreased with increasing OLR and increased with decreasing of HRT. Regardless of the OLR and HRT conditions, MMBRs can achieve up to 94% organic removal by bacterial oxidation without external aeration. Total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) removals were significantly decreased with increasing OLR. Highest TN removal (68.4%) achieved at the OLR of 0.014 kg/(m3 d) which was reduced to 58.1% at 0.028 kg/(m3 d). Removals of total phosphorous significantly decreased from 48.2% to 37.7% with an increase in OLR from 0.011 to 0.014 kg/(m3 d). TN removal was reduced at shorten HRT (2 d), while, the effect of HRT was found insignificant at higher HRT. An effective removal of P can only be achieved at higher HRTs, i.e., 7 days. OLR up to 0.014 kg/(m3 d) and 2 days HRT was found suitable for maintaining the fouling frequency at an optimal level of 0.016/d. Overall the OLR and HRT need to be carefully selected to achieve optimal efficiency of MMBR. The results of this study provide guidelines for designing the microalgal-based membrane bioreactors for the treatment of domestic wastewater.

Long term performance of a pilot scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating beet molasses based industrial wastewater

Baker's yeast industries (BYI) generate highly polluted effluents, especially vinasse from yeast separators, with very high chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, sulphate and salts, mainly potassium and calcium. Anaerobic treatment is the most commonly applied method for treating BYI wastewaters. However, it is quite challenging to obtain a high performance due to the difficulties in biomass retention. Moreover, it does not provide compliance with COD and color discharge limits when used as a sole treatment process. In this context, a pilot scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor, which provides excellent biomass retention, was operated to investigate its treatment performance for vinasse from a BYI. The reactor achieved a COD removal between 48% and 92% up to a volumetric load of 10 kg COD m3 d−1. A specific methane production of 0.37 m3 CH4 kg−1 CODremoved was observed in the study. On the other hand, passage of inert organic compounds through membrane deteriorated permeate quality and treatment efficiency. High alkalinity and pH led to the accumulation of calcium precipitates, which reduced volatile solids fraction of sludge and biomass activity in the reactor. The present study showed the operational challenges and potential drawbacks of AnMBR systems for BYI wastewater treatment. The experience gained in the pilot system can be utilized in the design and operation of full scale AnMBRs for high strength industrial effluents.

The effect of sludge retention time and organic loading rate on performance and membrane fouling in membrane bioreactor

AbstractBACKGROUNDMembrane bioreactor (MBR) is commonly considered a promising technology for wastewater treatment due to its outstanding effluent quality, low sludge production, and smaller environmental footprint. However, membrane biofouling is regarded as the bottleneck of MBR processes preventing their universal application. Optimizing operating conditions and improving the antifouling properties of membranes have a substantial impact on the rate and characteristics of membrane fouling in MBR systems.RESULTSIn this study, a two‐step process was performed to mitigate membrane fouling by optimizing sludge retention time (SRT) and organic loading rate (OLR) and improving membrane characteristics in an MBR system developed for the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater. At first, pure membrane fouling and sludge characteristics were examined in three identical MBRs at different OLRs (40, 100, and 160 mg chemical oxygen demand(COD)/L.d) under various SRTs (7.5, 22.5, and 37.5 days). The investigation indicated that high protein concentration in loosely bound extracellular polymeric substances (LB‐EPS) caused more irreversible fouling at the OLR and SRT of 40 mgCOD/L.d and 7.5 days, respectively. In the second stage, a modified anti‐biofouling membrane was installed into the optimized submerged MBR at OLR = 100 mgCOD/L.d and SRT of 22.5 days for further mitigation of membrane fouling. Membrane fouling significantly reduced as the protein and gram negative bacteria on the surface of the modified membrane decreased.CONCLUSIONThe results showed that the reversible and irreversible membrane fouling were controlled successfully through the proposed optimization of operational conditions and by improving the membrane characteristics in MBR. Finally, the protein of LB‐EPS is a vitally important factor affecting the irreversible membrane fouling. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)

Effects of electrocoagulation on membrane fouling and treatment performance of a membrane bioreactor operated without sludge discharge

This study evaluated the effects of the electrocoagulation on membrane fouling and treatment performance in a membrane bioreactor operated with prolonged solids retention time. The membrane bioreactor was fed with synthetic wastewater, and its operation was conducted at three different experimental runs. Initially, the reactor was operated without electric current application (run 1), named as control period, and subsequently using electric current density of 5 A m−2 (run 2) and 15 A m−2 (run 3). Hence, the reactor performance was evaluated for the impact of electrocoagulation on fouling mitigation and pollutant removal (chemical oxygen demand, phosphorus and ammonium) as well as for the use of two different current densities. The results showed that the use of the lower current density (run 2) was able to significantly improve the membrane bioreactor performance on organic matter and phosphorus removal, showing average efficiencies of 95 and 99%, respectively. Particularly for ammonium removal, the membrane bioreactor exhibited a gradual increase from run 1 to 3, attaining the highest ammonium removal efficiency (86%) during run 3. Compared to run 1 and 3, the use of 5 A m−2 resulted in a better mixed liquor filterability conditions and consequently in a lower membrane fouling rate (0.107 bar d−1). Therefore, the integration of electrocoagulation with the membrane bioreactor technology proved to be an interesting alternative to improve the treatment performance and attenuate the fouling process, even operating the reactor without sludge discharge.

Performance and Microbial Community of Different Biofilm Membrane Bioreactors Treating Antibiotic-Containing Synthetic Mariculture Wastewater.

The performance of pollutant removals, tetracycline (TC) and norfloxacin (NOR) removals, membrane fouling mitigation and the microbial community of three Anoxic/Oxic membrane bioreactors (AO-MBRs), including a moving bed biofilm MBR (MBRa), a fixed biofilm MBR (MBRb) and an AO-MBR (MBRc) for control, were compared in treating antibiotic-containing synthetic mariculture wastewater. The results showed that MBRb had the best effect on antibiotic removal and membrane fouling mitigation compared to the other two bioreactors. The maximum removal rate of TC reached 91.65% and the maximum removal rate of NOR reached 45.46% in MBRb. The addition of antibiotics had little effect on the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N)—both maintained more than 90% removal rate during the entire operation. High-throughput sequencing demonstrated that TC and NOR resulted in a significant decrease in the microbial diversity and the microbial richness MBRs. Flavobacteriia, Firmicutes and Azoarcus, regarded as drug-resistant bacteria, might play a crucial part in the removal of antibiotics. In addition, the dynamics of microbial community had a great change, which included the accumulation of resistant microorganisms and the gradual reduction or disappearance of other microorganisms under antibiotic pressure. The research provides an insight into the antibiotic-containing mariculture wastewater treatment and has certain reference value.

Advanced methanogenic performance and fouling mechanism investigation of a high-solid anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for the co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge

Disposal of the increasingly huge amounts of sewage sludge (SeS) has become an impending problem worldwide. To solve this problem, a high-solid anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) was used for the anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) of SeS and food waste (FW). This study investigated the effects of SeS ratio on the methanogenic performance of the AcoD with a gradual increase value from 0 to 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% (total solids based). The results showed that the highest methanogenic performance was achieved at mono FW digestion. As for the co-digestion, the optimal FW/SeS ratio for methanogenic performance was 75%:25% among all the mixing ratios. The COD based biogas yield and methane yield were 0.498 L-biogas/g-CODfed and 0.295 L-CH4/g-CODfed at this optimal mixing ratio, which were 67.7% and 67.6% higher than those of the mono SeS digestion, respectively. The upgraded values were attributed to the improved hydrolysis ratio (by 8.14%) and the balanced carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio by co-digestion with FW, which synergistically stimulated methanogenesis ratio by 81.0%. The continuous membrane filtration property was investigated and four typical trans-membrane pressure (TMP) variation curves at different fouling degrees were determined. The membrane could sustainably operate at a flux of 6 L/m2/h (LMH) at the mixed liquor total solids (MLTS) concentration of 25 - 30 g/L. The combination of continuous membrane filtration property, particle size distribution of the mixed liquor and the external forces analysis was firstly applied to unravel the membrane fouling mechanism of a high-solid AnMBR. The result of this study will contribute to the establishment of an efficient FW and SeS treatment strategy.

Effects of surfactant addition to draw solution on the performance of osmotic membrane bioreactor

This study investigated the effects of surfactant addition to the draw solution on the performance of osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR). Forward osmosis (FO) tests were conducted with the addition of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), a representative surfactant, to both inorganic and ionic organic draw solutions, including sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium acetate (NaOAc), and sodium propionate (NaPro), to determine the desirable draw solution for OMBR operation. Results show that SDBS impacts were more notable for inorganic draw solution in comparison to its ionic organic counterparts at the same osmotic pressure (60 bar) in FO operation. In specific, SDBS addition up to 5 mM considerably reduced the reverse diffusion of NaCl draw solute (approximately 69.7%) with insignificant impact on water flux. Thus, salinity build-up in the bioreactor could be effectively mitigated when SDBS was added to the NaCl draw solution in OMBR operation. This mitigation led to stable sludge characteristics and biological treatment to sustain OMBR performance regarding water production (approximately 10 L/m2h) and contaminant removal (e.g. over 90% for pharmaceutically active compounds).

Effects of Solids Retention Time on the Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor with Yttria-Based Ceramic Membrane Treating Domestic Wastewater at Ambient Temperature.

The effects of solid retention times (SRTs) (100 days, 50 days, 25 days) on the performance, microbial community, and membrane fouling of a lab-scale anaerobic yttria-based ceramic membrane bioreactor (AnCMBR) treating synthetic domestic wastewater at ambient temperature (31.2 ± 2.7 °C) were examined. The soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) removal was higher (89.6%) at 25 days SRT compared with 50 days (39.61%) and 100 days (34.3%) SRT. At 100 days SRT, more Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were present in the microbial community. At 25 days SRT, more Chloroflexi, Synergistetes, and Pastescibacteria emerged, contributing to the stable performance. The SRT of 25 days has resulted in a more stable microbial community compared with 50 days and 100 days SRT. Both bacterial and archaeal community diversities were higher at 25 days SRT, and the specific production of soluble microbial by-products (SMPs) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) were higher at 25 days SRT as well. Consequently, the membrane flux was lower at 25 days SRT with the increased particle size and the enhanced SMPs and EPSs production. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis (FTIR) and three-dimensional excitation and emission matrix (3D-EEM) analysis showed that protein and SMPs were the major membrane foulants at all SRT stages. In this study, SRT at 25 days was favorable for the stable operation of an AnCMBR treating domestic wastewater at ambient temperature.

Anaerobic membrane bioreactor performance at different wastewater pre-concentration factors: An experimental and economic study

This research evaluated the performance of a lab-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) treating municipal sewage pre-concentrated by forward osmosis (FO). The organic loading rate (OLR) and sodium concentrations of the synthetic sewage stepwise increased from 0.3 to 2.0 g COD L−1 d−1 and from 0.28 to 2.30 g Na+ L−1 to simulate pre-concentration factors of 1, 2, 5 and 10. No major operational problems were observed during AnMBR operation, with COD removal efficiencies ranging between 90 and 96%. The methane yield progressively increased from 214 ± 79 to 322 ± 60 mL CH4 g−1 COD as the pre-concentration factor increased from 1 to 10. This was mainly attributed to the lower fraction of methane dissolved lost in the permeate at higher OLRs. Interestingly, at the highest pre-concentration factor (2.30 g Na+ L−1) the difference between the permeate and the digester soluble COD indicated that membrane biofilm also played a role in COD removal. Finally, a preliminary energy and economic analysis showed that, at a pre-concentration factor of 10, the AnMBR temperature could be increased 10 °C and achieve a positive net present value (NPV) of 4 M€ for a newly constructed AnMBR treating 10,000 m3 d−1 of pre-concentrated sewage with an AnMBR lifetime of 20 years.

Performance of Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors for the Co-digestion of Sewage Sludge and Food Waste

A laboratory-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) was used for the co-digestion of sewage sludge and food waste to investigate its organic matter removal characteristics, biogas production performance, and microbial community composition. The results showed that the degradation rate of volatile solids (VS) increased from 17.5% for a single digestion to 40% for the total digestion, and that the COD removal was 95.3% when the organic loading rate (OLR) was stabilized at 0.59-0.64 kg·(m3·d)-1. The solids content of the digested sludge increased by a factor of 3.9. The final CH4 content was 60% and the CH4 yield was 78.7 mL·g-1 of CODadded. The transmembrane pressure (TMP) and average flux were maintained at between -3.1 and -2.7 kPa and 0.106 L·(m2·h)-1, respectively, and membrane fouling was not serious. According to an analysis of the microbial diversity using 16S rRNA, the anaerobic bacterium in the AnMBR were mainly phylum Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Cloacimonetes, and the dominant methanogens included the Methanobacterium family, Methanosaeta genus, and Methanolinea genus. This study provides a strong theoretical basis for research into the stability and performance of AnMBRs for the co-treatment of sludge and other high-solid waste streams, and provided an effective solution for biomass resource utilization and the energy crisis.

Effects of Sludge Retention Time on the Performance of Anaerobic Ceramic Membrane Bioreactor Treating High-Strength Phenol Wastewater

Anaerobic ceramic membrane bioreactor (AnCMBR) is an attractive alternative for the treatment of high-strength phenol wastewater, but the effects of sludge retention time (SRT) on the performance and membrane fouling are still unclear. The results indicated that the AnCMBR was successfully employed to treat high-strength wastewater containing 5 g phenol L−1. The removal efficiencies of phenol and chemical oxygen demand (COD) reached over 99.5% and 99%, respectively, with long SRT and short SRT. SRT had no obvious effect on the performance of the AnCMBR treating high-strength phenol wastewater with long time operation. The strong performance robustness of AnCMBR benefited from the enrichment of hydrogenotrophic methanogens and syntrophic phenol-degrading bacteria. However, the decline of SRT led to a more severe membrane fouling in the AnCMBR, which was caused by the small size of sludge flocs and high concentration of protein in the biopolymers. Therefore, this work presented a comprehensive insight to the feasibility and robustness of the AnCMBR for treating high-strength phenol wastewater.

Performance and process simulation of membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating petrochemical wastewater

Mathematical modelling of biological treatment is an effective tool to predict effluent quality. Model calibration is critical to improve the accuracy of simulation, which is normally carried out by fine-tuning the values of parameters according to the practical data. It indicated that huge amount of practical date will be consumed, and it cannot predict the treatment performance of new wastewater. In this study, the main objective was to investigate the feasibility of application BioWin software coupled with determination of sensitive parameters to predict the treatment performance of membrane biological reactors (MBRs) treating real petrochemical wastewater (PW). Model calibrations, i.e., COD fractions of petrochemical wastewater and kinetic parameters of biomass, were carried out using the respirometry method and the relationship between observed and true growth yield coefficients of the three lab-scale MBRs which were operated under different solid retention time (SRT). All the three MBRs had good organic and ammonium removal, with removal efficiencies higher than 80% and 99.9%, respectively. Simulation using the calibrated model also obtained good fit for effluent COD concentration, effluent nitrate concentration and bioreactor's MLSS concentration of all the three MBRs. The mean absolute percentage errors (MAPE) of the simulation mostly were lower than 22%. The results indicated that it is feasible to using BioWin, incorporated with appropriate determination methods of sensitive parameters, to simulate and monitor the treatment performance of MBR treating petrochemical wastewater. This is more time-saving and effective than fine-tuning values of all parameters. This study provides a valuable reference for simulation of industrial wastewater treatment using BioWin.

Physical and economical evaluation of laboratory-scale membrane bioreactor by long-term relative cost–benefit analysis

Abstract Two laboratory-scale single-stage submerged membrane bioreactors (MBRs) were operated in parallel to examine the effect of different flux conditions and several fouling mitigation methods. After control operation (filtration only), three fouling control methods (relaxation, standard backwash and chemical backwash) at 27 litres per m2 per hour (LMH) flux and four different flux conditions (54, 36, 27 and 18 LMH) with standard backwash were applied. Physical performance of MBRs was evaluated based on the operational duration to reach maximum transmembrane pressure and the volume of permeate produced during the operational duration. Then relative cost–benefit analysis was carried out. Results showed that the combination of chemical backwash and standard backwash was the most effective for fouling mitigation in terms of physical improvement of MBR performance. However, the combination proved less economical (400% + α relative cost) than standard backwash alone (343% relative cost), because of the additional cost for pumps and chemicals. It also showed that lower flux (18 LMH) is desirable as it showed better physical performance (1,770% improvement as compared to the highest flux, 54 LMH) and proved more economical than higher flux configuration. Therefore, it is concluded that the operation with standard backwash at the lowest possible flux is the best combination to improve MBR performance as well as long-term cost–benefit.

Application of membrane bio-reactor for municipal wastewater treatment: A review

Critical position of total accessible fresh water resources makes non-conventional water resources valuable to meet ever-increasing global water requirement. In this issue, municipal waste water can be a solution to reduce the pressure on fresh water reservoirs in number of nations. But, raw waste water poses serious threats to human health. Over the years, several treatment methods, e.g., constructed wetlands, waste stabilisation pond, vermi-filtration, membrane bio-reactor, up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor have been experimented to treat different types of waste water. The current investigation reviewed the performance of membrane bio-reactor (MBR) for elimination of different physical, chemical and biological contaminants to make the wastewater suitable for irrigation purpose. The worldwide application of MBR suggested that this modern membrane filtration technique alone performed satisfactory for removal of all physical (Total suspended solids, Turbidity), chemical (BOD, COD) and biological (Faecal coliform) impurities from municipal wastewater.

Influence of immersion depth of membrane on filtration performance of anaerobic membrane bioreactor

Membrane fouling is still the main obstacle that hinders the development and implementation of anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR). In conventional upflow anaerobic reactors, sludge at different height usually presents certain differences in characteristics in terms of particle size, etc. The immersion depth of membrane modules in anaerobic reactors can also influence the fouling of membrane. Thus, it is of great interest to investigate the fouling mechanism with the membrane installed at different heights in reactors. The filtration performance and sludge properties were investigated at different heights of AnMBR. The fouling of membrane in the middle position was severer than that in the top and bottom positions. The total resistance of membrane in the top, middle, and bottom positions was 27.31 × 1011m-1, 34.67 × 1011m-1, and 25.29 × 1011m-1, respectively. By comparing the characteristics and structure of bulk sludge and cake layer at three heights, the bulk sludge in the middle position presented higher content of soluble microbial products (SMP) and finer flocs, and the cake layer was also denser. The results obtained in this study indicated that small size of sludge flocs as well as adhesion of SMP might be the major factors governing membrane fouling at different height in the AnMBR.

Performance of anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating landfill leachate.

Landfill leachate has been known as non-biodegradable/hardly-biodegradable wastewater, which contains significant amount of soluble organic and inorganic compounds. However, membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology have become a more viable treatment option for complex and recalcitrant compounds compared to activated sludge systems. This study aims at evaluating the performance of anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for the treatment of middle/old-aged landfill leachate (LFL).AnMBR was operated at different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) (48-12h) and relaxation and backwashing (30min-5min, 5min-0.5min) periods. Additionally, Air stripping (pH8, 24g lime/L, 1.4L/s air flow rate) as a pretreatment was evaluated prior to AnMBR. Air stripping removed about 90%, 25%, and 64% NH4 +, COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) and color (RES620), respectively. The best results were obtained in combined air stripping-AnMBR operation corresponding to 95%, and 83% overall removals of color, and COD removals, respectively. Maximum methane yield and COD removal rate in AnMBR were 0.35L methane/g COD removed and 5 gCOD removed /L.d, respectively. Pretreatment provided higher AnMBR flux that reached to 5.5LMH but increased fouling frequency due to the calcium precipitates in AnMBR which was verified with SEM-EDX analysis. Additionally, DEHP and DINP were not detected in permeate indicating AnMBR was successful for removing these micropollutants. This study showed that pretreatment clearly increased methane yield and COD removal rate.

Impact of support material type on performance of dynamic membrane bioreactors treating municipal wastewater

AbstractBACKGROUNDMembrane bioreactor (MBR) applications have been limited by high cost of membrane modules and fouling problems. Dynamic membrane (DM) technology can be a solution for these problems. Low‐cost filters can be used as support materials for dynamic (cake) layer formation. The characteristics of support material play an important role on dynamic layer formation behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of support material type on dynamic membrane bioreactor (DMBR) performance for municipal wastewater treatment. Hollow fiber support materials, made of polyester fabrics and glass fiber materials, were used for DM formation.RESULTSSimilar treatment performances were obtained with each membrane achieving high removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (>97%) and total suspended solids (>99%) parameters. Higher transmembrane pressure (TMP) was observed for glass fiber material in comparison to polyester material. Based on morphological analyses, dynamic layers formed on both support materials had similar composition, organic and inorganic materials. A homogeneous layer was formed on polyester support material, while fine particles were deposited between the filaments of glass fiber support material, which caused clogging.CONCLUSIONBased on TMP results and morphological analyses, polyester support material provided better formation of DM layer. Thus selection of proper support material type is very important to achieve stable DM layer in DMBRs. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

Treatment of municipal wastewater in AnMBRs with powdered activated carbon addition under psychrophilic temperatures.

The performance of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) at psychrophilic temperatures commonly observed in temperate climates (10-24°C) was assessed. A unique aspect of the research was operation at controlled SRT with regular membrane cleaning. COD removal and permeate VFA concentrations were similar at 15 and 24°C and deteriorated at 10°C. As temperature decreased, the COD mass flow to methane decreased and COD mass flows in the permeate and waste sludge increased. At 24°C, rapid membrane TMP increases were not observed while at 15 and 10°C rapid increases occurred at 11.7±0.46 and 7.6±0.45days, respectively, indicating a greater fouling propensity of the mixed liquor at lower temperatures. When the temperature was reduced from 15°C to 10°C in a transient test, CH4 production was reduced and VFA concentrations increased. A 2-3 SRT lag in the responses suggested that the delayed response was due to long-term changes in microbial population. The permeate VFA content in a PAC-dosed reactor was lower than that without PAC dosing, and PAC addition increased the time to rapid TMP development to 11.3±0.46days from 7.4±0.49days. The primary benefit of PAC addition at low temperatures is enhanced membrane performance. PRACTITIONER POINTS: AnMBRs can produce high-quality effluents at temperatures of 15°C Membrane fouling increases as temperature decreases Bioreactor performance was sustained for 2-3 SRTs after temperature decrease PAC addition reduced the permeate VFA concentrations Membrane fouling at 10°C was reduced through PAC addition.

Long-term operation performance and fouling behavior of a high-solid anaerobic membrane bioreactor in treating food waste

A high-solid anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) treating food waste was continuously operated to investigate AnMBR performance and membrane fouling behavior. The optimal methane yield of 0.57 ± 0.08 L-CH4/g-VSin and organic loading rate (OLR) of 6.00 ± 0.59 g-VS/L/d indicated that a high-rate methane fermentation of food waste was achieved by the AnMBR. The resistance-in-series (RIS) model was applied to delineate the resistances of different fouling fractions and elucidate fouling behavior under different filtration modes. The results showed that organic pore blocking was the dominant fouling at the low filtration to relaxation (F/R) ratio, accounting for 60% of the total resistance. By contrast, the cake layer governed the fouling when the F/R ratio became larger, accounting for 54% of the total resistance. To better understand membrane fouling behavior, the characteristics of cake sludge were investigated and compared with those of bulk sludge. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) analysis revealed that soluble microbial by-products played a comparably significant role as aromatic protein in membrane fouling in the high-solid AnMBR. This work provided a deep understanding of the membrane fouling behavior of a high-solid AnMBR in treating food waste and proposed the most appropriate membrane cleaning methods under different filtration modes, which is expected to contribute to the design, operation and further application of the high-solid AnMBR.