Dyeing and printing wastewater treatment using a membrane bioreactor with a gravity drain

A laboratory-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) with a gravity drain was tested for dyeing and printing wastewater treatment from a wool mill. The MBR was operated with continuous permeate by gravity and without chemical cleaning for 135 days. Results showed that excellent effluent quality could meet the reuse water standard in China. The average concentrations of COD, BOD₅, turbidity and color in the effluent were 36.9 mg l⁻¹, 3.7 mg l⁻¹, 0.2 NTU and 21 dilution times (DT), respectively. The average removal rates of COD, BOD₅, turbidity and color were 80.3%, 95.0%, 99.3% and 58.7%, respectively. The membrane flux increased with increasing of aeration intensity, and its increasing rate was related to pressure-heads. The higher the pressure-head, the greater the impact of aeration intensity on membrane flux. Statistical analysis also showed that both the pressure-head and aeration intensity significantly affected membrane flux. Due to its compact design, simple operation and easy maintenance, MBR with a gravitational filtration system hs low energy consumption and is cost-effective to build and operate. If the life expectancy of the membrane is set for 3–4 years and the membrane flux is set at 15 l/m²·h, such a MBR would be very competitive.     

High strength wastewater treatment in a jet loop membrane bioreactor: kinetics and performance evaluation

Treatment of wastewater containing high organic matter was investigated by means of a jet loop bioreactor combined with a membrane process. Volume of jet loop bioreactor and area of membrane filtration unit were 23 l and 155 cm² respectively. It was found that jet loop reactor had high mass transfer coefficient (K_La) varying from 58.8 to 486 h^-1 depending on the water flow rate (i.e. power input) and air flow rate. Oxygen transfer efficiency and oxygenation capacity of the reactor varied from 12 to 22.5% and from 0.2 to 1.8 , respectively. The efficiency of jet loop membrane bioreactor was found to be approximately 97% for a volumetric organic load of 2- over a period of 10 weeks. The reactor was not disturbed from the organic loads up to , but the treatment efficiency decreased to about 60% at higher organic loads. This decrease was due to insufficient oxygen transfer rate. The relationship between the effluent substrate concentration and the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) values was determined. Applied food/microorganism (F/M) ratio was varied between 2.5 and . Critical sludge age of the system () was evaluated to be 7.2 h. Sludge with unsatisfactory settling characteristics formed at high F/M values under turbulent conditions. Therefore, membrane process was used for solid-liquid separation and effluent solid concentration was approximately zero. Specific cake resistances (α) changed with F/M ratio. It was found that permeate fluxes were significantly effected with F/M ratio much more than mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS). Average flux was for pore sized cellulose acetate membrane. It was concluded that the jet loop membrane bioreactor has distinctive advantages such as the ability to treat high strength wastewater, low area requirements and easy operation.     

膜生物反应器(MBR)技术及其工程应用探讨

膜生物反应器(MBR)废水处理技术开发始于20世纪90年代,近年来MBR技术的应用在世界上维持着每年高于10%的增长率。随着对水资源利用水平要求的不断提高,我国已经成为世界上MBR工程应用增长最快的国家。特别是2005年以来,处理能力5 000m3/d以上的新建大中型MBR项目均保持大于100%的年增长率。作者介绍了膜生物反应器(MBR)污水处理技术工程应用的主要类型及特点,总结了膜污染的机理、主要影响因素及当前工程上对膜污染的主要控制手段,给出了当前几种典型的生活污水及工业废水MBR工艺的工程应用的技术经济情况,显示出MBR工艺的应用前景。     

Biological COD reduction and inorganic suspended solids accumulation in a pilot-scale membrane bioreactor for traditional Chinese medicine wastewater treatment

A pilot-scale test was conducted in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for 452 days to treat high-strength traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) wastewater from two-phase anaerobic digest effluent. This study focuses on the chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and inorganic suspended solid (ISS) accumulation. The wastewater was high in COD, varying daily between 259 and 12,776 mg L⁻¹. Almost all the COD was removed by the MBR system, leaving a COD of <50 mg L⁻¹ in the MBR effluent. This indicated a great potential of the MBR in TCM wastewater reuse. ISS produced in the bioreactor by metabolism of microorganism increased from 265 to 4912 g h⁻¹, which showed that there were large numbers of ISS accumulation in the bioreactor. Two models, built on the material balances of COD and ISS, were developed for the simulation of MBR system performance in the biodegradation of TCM wastewater. Consequently, the kinetic constants including the maximum substrate specific biodegradation rate (V_max), the half-saturation coefficient (K_s) and the inorganic suspended solids growth rate (k) were calculated as V_max, 3.64, 3.82, 4.39 d⁻¹, K_s, 56.4, 225, 394 mg L⁻¹ and k, 265, 888, 4912 mg L⁻¹ d⁻¹ using the operational data at different hydraulic retention times (HRTs). The models well fitted the pilot-scale experimental data, and were able to simulate the COD reduction and ISS accumulation.     

膜生物反应器在废水处理中的优势

在查阅大量国内外文献资料的基础上,论述了膜生物反应器与传统好氧生物处理方法相比所存在的优势,以期为好氧生物处理方法的改进提供有益参考。     

New configuration of a membrane bioreactor for effective control of membrane fouling and nutrients removal in wastewater treatment

Excess aeration to membrane surface is common for controlling membrane fouling in a submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) system, but significant energy is consumed for excess air production. Therefore, an alternative strategy for membrane fouling control is currently needed. A new configuration of MBR was proposed in this study to control membrane fouling effectively. To reduce biosolids concentration near the membrane surface, the position of the membrane module in MBR was elevated from the bottom to the top in the reactor. This could divide the reactor to two different zones: upper and lower zone. Air was not supplied at the lower zone whereas aeration was given to the upper zone where the membrane filtration was carried out. Biosolids concentration was reduced in the upper zone because the mixed liquor was settled down to the lower zone. Membrane fouling could be lessened in the upper zone due to the reduced biosolids concentration. Therefore, to verify if this new configuration of MBR could mitigate membrane fouling, the effect of changing vertical position of the membrane module in MBR on membrane fouling was investigated. Prior to verification the effect of elevation of membrane module on membrane fouling, influence of MLSS concentration on membrane fouling was investigated first. Transmembrane pressure (TMP) increase became steep as MLSS concentration increased. And the immersed membrane module was elevated from the bottom to the top of the MBR. When the upper membrane was located in the bioreactor, less membrane fouling was observed. This could demonstrate a possibility of new MBR design to control membrane fouling. In addition, reduced dissolved oxygen level in the returned sludge to anoxic tank could increase denitrification efficiency if this configuration is directly applied to biological nutrient removal processes.     

无磷条件下膜生物反应器处理化工废水

在进水不含磷条件下,对膜生物反应器(MBR)系统的运行情况进行了研究。结果表明:微生物充分利用体内储存的聚磷酸盐及死亡细胞和碎片中的磷进行生长,因此混合液悬浮固体(MLSS)仍能增加,最后稳定在8.5 g/L;化学需氧量(COD)处理效果一直较好;氨氮和总氮去除率可达90％及70％;系统经历了丝状菌膨胀和非丝状菌膨胀两个阶段。在缺磷的情况下,MBR系统的处理结果并未受到很大影响。     

Potential for reuse of high cellulose containing wastewater after membrane bioreactor treatment

It is difficult to adequately treat wastewater with a high cellulose content with the traditional anaerobic and aerobic activated sludge processes. In this study we used microfiltration (MF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes combined with an anaerobic or aerobic activated sludge process to treat high cellulose containing wastewater for different hydraulic retention times (HRTs). The potential target applications for reuse of the treated wastewater are also compared. Six bioreactors, which were configured as anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ANSBR), aerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR), aerobic membrane bioreactor (AMBR), AMBR plus RO (AMBR/RO), anaerobic activated sludge plus aerobic MBR (AOMBR), and AOMBR plus RO (AOMBR/RO), was operated in this study. The experiment results showed that, as expected, no effluents from the ASBR or the ANSBR could meet the Taiwan EPA criteria for effluent and wastewater reuse, no matter what the HRT was. However when the HRT was 12 h or more, the effluent from the AMBR and AOMBR processes did meet the criteria for effluent, but still did not meet the treated wastewater reuse criteria , primarily due to the color, total alkalinity, and total dissolved solid parameters. Finally, the effluents from the AMBR/RO and AOMBR/RO processes did meet the Taiwan criteria for both effluent and treated wastewater reuse when the HRT for the AOMBR/RO and AMBR/RO processes was equal to or longer than 12 h and 8 h, respectively. For the HRT of 4 h for both the AOMBR/RO and AMBR/RO process, and an HRT of 8 h for the AOMBR/RO process, neither the effluent criteria nor the treated wastewater reuse criteria were met.     

Application of MBR for hospital wastewater treatment in China

In China, the number of hospitals has increased to 19,712 in 2008, with the production of hospital wastewater reaching 1.29 × 10⁶ m³/d. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology presents a more efficient system at removing pathological microorganism compared with existing wastewater treatment systems. In the past 8 yr, over 50 MBR plants have been successfully built for hospital wastewater treatments, with the capacity ranging from 20 to 2000 m³/d. MBR can effectively save disinfectant consumption (chlorine addition can decrease to 1.0 mg/L), shorten the reaction time (approximately 1.5 min, 2.5-5% of conventional wastewater treatment process), and attain a good effect of inactivation of microorganism. Higher disinfection efficacy is achieved in MBR effluents at lower dose of disinfectant with less disinfection by-products (DBPs). Moreover, when capacity of MBR plants increases from 20 to 1000 m³/d, their operating cost decreases sharply.     

膜生物反应器处理餐饮废水的试验研究及经济核算

采用膜生物反应器处理餐饮废水,污泥泥龄50～60d,水力停留时间4～5h,MBR可长期运行。MBR工艺对污染物的去除率高,对COD,油,SS和浊度的去除率分别为99．2％,98％,100％,98．2％。系统抗冲击负荷能力强,出水水质优良;对废水处理进行经济核算,每处理1t餐饮废水所需费用为0．65元。     

膜处理工艺在焦化废水深度处理中的应用

针对焦化废水生化处理后出水成分复杂、污染物种类多、可生化性差等特点,应用超滤、纳滤膜处理工艺对其进行深度处理,出水可回用于循环水。从进水水质、运行方式及膜清洗方面对影响膜处理系统运行的因素进行了总结。     

Short-term fouling propensity and flux behavior in an osmotic membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment

The short-term fouling behavior of forward osmosis (FO) membrane in an osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) was investigated, using NaCl or MgCl₂ as the draw solutions. The effect of membrane orientation, mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration and draw solution (DS) osmotic pressure on water flux and membrane fouling behaviors was examined, along with the effects of simulated elevated salinity on sludge properties and on membrane fouling. Water flux and membrane fouling were not significantly affected by both MLSS concentration (4.91–12.60 g/L) and osmotic pressure (3.0–15.0 MPa), but were severely affected by elevated salinity, due to changes in activated sludge properties, in particular the increase in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and sludge hydrophobicity. MgCl₂ as the DS showed more significant influence on activated sludge properties and membrane fouling than NaCl but gave rise to lower salt accumulation. Analyses of the membrane foulants showed that small sludge floc/particles and EPS (in particular, proteins) were enriched in the fouling layer. UPLC–MS/MS analyses of the proteins showed that hydrophobic proteins were the main cause of membrane fouling.     

Research and applications of membrane bioreactors in China: Progress and prospect

In the past 15 years, remarkable progress has been achieved on the research and commercial applications of membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology in China. The objective of this paper is then to critically review the research achievements and to specifically present commercial applications of MBR in China. A total of 722 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals (600 Chinese papers and 122 English papers) written by Chinese authors from 1991 to 2006 and 254 full-scale MBR plants constructed in China were used as the analysis database. The number of articles published in journals together with organizations involved in MBR research saw a significant increase from 2001 to 2006, and much research progress was made during this period. From geographic distribution of these studies, it was found that the majority of the studies were carried out in North China, East China and North-East China. The research mainly focused on biomass separation MBR (BSMBR) with limited studies on extractive MBR (EMBR) and membrane aeration bioreactor (MABR), etc., and research contents included MBR configuration and type, membrane material and module, membrane fouling and control, characteristics of various wastewater treatment and other aspects like gas removal and microbial fermentation, etc. For commercial applications in China, a total of 254 MBR plants for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment were constructed by a lot of home-grown companies such as Tianjin Motimo Membrane Technology Co., Ltd. and Beijing Origin Water Technology Co., Ltd. and overseas-funded companies like Toray (Japan), Zenon (Canada), Mitsubishi-Rayon (Japan), etc. MBR plants with large treatment capacity will be built in future especially in North China due to the great need of water reclamation and reuse. Potential areas of MBR application include surface/drinking water treatment, gas diffusion and removal, membrane assisted fermentation for biological substance transformation and production, etc.     

厌氧膜生物反应器在废水处理中的研究进展

厌氧膜生物反应器是一种处理高浓度有机废水的有效工艺.综述了厌氧膜生物反应器的特征,在工业废水处理中的应用以及低温下厌氧处理低浓度废水的效果,并展望了厌氧膜生物反应器的应用前景.     

两种膜生物反应器工艺在养殖废水处理中的运行效果

采用动态膜生物反应器（dynamic membrane bioreactor,DMBR）和膜生物反应器（membrane bioreactor,MBR）两种处理工艺,研究在相同条件下对养殖废水的处理效果和运行条件。结果表明,不同溶解氧（dissolve oxygen,DO）条件下,DMBR和MBR对CODMn的去除率可达95%以上。DO为0～1 mg/L条件下,DMBR和MBR的总氮平均去除率分别达到71.4%、75.8%;在DO为2～3 mg/L条件下,DMBR和MBR的总氮平均去除率分别为46.3%、44.1%。DMBR和MBR两种工艺均能达到较好的污染物去除效果。MBR的过滤压差明显高于DMBR,低DO条件下（0～1 mg/L）的运行周期约为5天,DMBR采用重力流出水,运行周期约为10天,过滤压差最高时仅为3.97 kPa,在一定程度上克服MBR成本高、易污染等缺点。     

膜生物反应器中的膜污染及其再生

作为21世纪最具潜力的水处理技术之一,膜生物反应器受到越来越多的重视,在污水处理与回用中有着良好的应用前景,但膜污染和膜再生技术已成为制约其发展的瓶颈.介绍了膜污染的分类和机理,并从膜的性质、混合液的性质以及操作条件等方面对形成膜污染的影响因素及膜污染的防治进行了综述,同时阐述了几种常用的膜污染再生方法.     

膜生物反应器处理生活污水临界通量的研究

利用“通量阶式递增法”对临界通量进行了测定,得出MBR的3个水动力学操作区:超临界区、临界区和次临界区;在MLSS的质量浓度为6 000 mg/L、曝气量为0.5 m3/h的条件下,膜组件的临界通量区域为10.68～13.86 L/(m2.h),据此确定组件的次临界通量为12 L/(m2.h)。在此基础上研究了次临界通量下的运行特性,试验表明,次临界通量下的膜污染过程具有明显的两阶段特征:第一阶段的TMP呈平缓直线上升,第二阶段的TMP呈剧烈直线上升。     

膜生物反应器废水处理组合工艺的研究进展

膜生物反应器（MBR）是近年来发展起来的一种新型的废水处理工艺,作者阐述了膜生物反应器的应用类型、机理以及应用现状,并对膜生物反应器组合工艺的特点、存在的问题和应用前景进行了分析评价。     

软硬性填料对MBR处理效率和膜污染的影响

膜生物反应器（MBR）在污水处理领域的应用日益广泛,填料的投加对MBR污水处理效率和膜污染进程有一定的影响。本文分别向MBR中投加不同量的软性和硬性悬浮填料,研究了悬浮填料对MBR运行效率及膜污染的影响。结果表明,投加填料后MBR对COD、氨氮和总磷等污染物的处理效率有所提高,明显减缓了膜污染的进程。软性填料对MBR的改善效果优于硬性填料,投加20%的软性填料时,系统对COD、氨氮和总磷的去除率分别可达96.53%、98.21%和52.75%,系统运行30天时的膜污染情况比未投加填料的系统减缓了41.43%。通过对比发现软性填料能够为微生物提供更大的生存空间,提高反应器内的微生物量,从而提高MBR对污水的处理效率同时改善膜污染,是一种加强MBR系统的适宜填料,最佳投加量为反应器有效体积的20%。