Application of hybrid coagulation microfiltration with air backflushing to direct sewage concentration for organic matter recovery

The idea of sewage concentration is gradually being accepted as a promising and sustainable way of wastewater resource recovery. In this study, Hybrid coagulation microfiltration (HCM) with air backflushing (AB) was investigated to effectively concentrate organic matter. Compared to direct sewage microfiltration, the addition of coagulation process improved the filtration performance with less fouling trends and better concentration efficiency. The use of AB exhibited even better performance within the same 7-h preliminary concentration period by reducing to one tenth of the resistance and collecting around four times as much organic matter into the product concentrate as in direct sewage microfiltration. During 93-h lab-scale continuous concentration by HCM with AB, a product concentrate with the COD concentration over 15,000 mg/L was achieved and around 70% of total influent organic matter could be recovered. Compared to Direct Membrane Filtration (DMF) with Chemically Enhanced Backwash (CEB), HCM with AB achieved better concentration efficiency with higher concentration extent and concentration velocity along with less organic matter mineralization and the more concentrated product despite with lower organic matter retention. HCM with AB could be a promising effective sewage organic matter concentration for resource recovery under optimization. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.