Ultrafiltration Membrane Bioreactor Research Articles

Enhancement of Bleached Kraft Organochlorine Removal by Coupling Membrane Filtration and Anaerobic Treatment

This paper illustrates the feasibility of the anaerobic membrane bioreactor concept for the treatment of segregated kraft bleach plant wastewaters by comparing AOX removal achievable by anaerobic biological treatment, ultrafiltration, and coupled anaerobic/ultrafiltration treatment. If high rate anaerobic treatment (UASB) is used as the base case for comparison, then long term AOX removal efficiencies of more than 48% in the other two systems would be indicative of superior performance. Similarly, the accumulation of less than 5% of the influent AOX in the reactor contents would result in lower levels of AOX in any waste streams removed from the systems for disposal. Judging from the long term cumulative mass balance data, AOX removal efficiencies were improved with the application of both ultrafiltration (54%) and anaerobic membrane bioreactor treatment (61%). However, the improvement in AOX removal achieved with ultrafiltration and anaerobic membrane bioreactor treatment was, at best, modest. Since it w...

Optimal operating policy of the ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor for enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose

The dilution rate of an ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor in the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was optimized using the kinetic model developed by Fan and Lee.(4) The sequence of optimal dilution rates was found to generally consist of an initial period of a minimal value (batch period), a subsequent period of maximum dilution rate, a period of a second batch, and a final period of a singular dilution rate. The effects of operating conditions, such as beta-glucosidase activity, operating time, maximum dilution rate, substrate feeding rate, and enzyme-to-substrate ratio on both the conversion yield and the sequence of optimal dilution rates were investigated. To evaluate the validity of kinetic model employed in this work, enzymatic hydrolysis was carried out using alpha-cellulose as a substrate in the ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor. The experimental data were well consistent with the simulation results.

An ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor for the lipolysis of olive oil in reversed micellar media

The enzymatic hydrolysis of olive oil using Chromobacterium viscosum lipase B encapsulated in reversed micelles of dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) in isooctane was investigated in an ultrafiltration ceramic membrane reactor of tubular type, operating in a batch mode. Water concentration was found to be a critical parameter in the enzyme kinetics and hydrolysis yield of the reaction. The size of micelles, recirculation rate, and substrate concentration were found to be the major factors affecting the separation process. A correlation that enables the prediction of final conversion degrees in this bioreactor from the initial reaction conditions was established.

Enzymatic production of cyclodextrins from milled corn starch in an ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor

Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) was found to be severely inhibited by cyclodextrins. In order to increase the conversion yield by reducing product inhibition and reuse the CGTase in the production of cyclodextrins from milled corn starch, an ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor system was employed. In a batch operation with ultrafiltration, the conversion yield was increased 57% compared with that without ultrafiltration. Operating conditions for the continuous production of cyclodextrins in the membrane bioreactor were optimized by taking into consideration the filtration rate and the conversion yield as follows: initial starch concentration, 7% (w/v); starch feeding rate, 240 mg/h; CGTase loading, 350 units/initial gram starch. When cyclodextrins were continuously produced in the membrane bioreactor under optimized conditions, 340 units of CGTase was require to produce 1 g of cyclodextrins for 48 h, while in the case of conventional batch operation, 1 g of cyclodextrins was produced for 24 h by 1410 units of CGTase.