Effects of inorganic particles and their interactions with biofilms on dynamic membrane structure and long-term filtration performance

In present study, the effects of inorganic particles and their interaction with biofilms on the filtration behavior of dynamic membrane bioreactor (DMBR) were investigated. When no inorganic particles were included in the simulated domestic wastewater, a porous biofilm DM was formed on support materials. As a result, the trans membrane pressure (TMP) did not increase (< 10 Pa) during the 97 days' experiment and the effluent turbidity was consistently lower than 1.0 NTU. When sands (1.3-69.2 mu m; 50 mg/L) were the only inorganic particles contained in wastewater, the effluent turbidity became instable and ranged from 0.31 to 3.88 NTU, probably because the DM structures were disturbed by sand scouring. The natural clays (0.5-2.7 mu m) in wastewater were very liable to deposit on the support materials of DMBRs to form thick and compact DMs with greater contents of biomass and EPS, especially co-existing with sands. Due to the existence of natural clays, the DM porosity decreased significantly and rapid rising in TMP occurred frequently. This study demonstrated that pure biofilms without containing inorganic particles were ideal materials for DMs, which could achieve long-term stable operation with low effluent turbidity (< 1 NTU) and low TMP (< 10 Pa), while inorganic particles with any size could deteriorate the filtration performance. Therefore, removing the inorganic particles in wastewater as many as possible prior DMBR is critically important for achieving long-term stable operation. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study showed that pure biofilms are ideal materials for DMBRs, while the presence of inorganic particles of any size can deteriorate filtration performance. Natural clays were found to decrease DM porosity and lead to significant increases in TMP, highlighting the importance of removing inorganic particles from wastewater to achieve long-term stable operation.