Performance evaluation of membrane bioreactor coupled with self-forming dynamic membrane

In the present study, Conventional Membrane Bioreactor (C-MBR) and Modified Membrane Bioreactor (M-MBR) were run consequently to compare the fouling reduction through incorporated modification. M-MBR was developed by introducing a Self-forming dynamic membrane (SFDM) formed on a nylon cloth filter ahead of a flat sheet membrane. The coarse cloth filter and fine cloth filter had a pore size of 125 mu m and 37 mu m, respectively and it took 45 min and 12 min to form a dynamic membrane on them. The C-MBR experienced frequent fouling with cake layer resistance (R-C) as the dominant one which contributed to 83.98% of total resistance (RT). Whereas in M-MBR the cake layer resistance (67.86% of RT) and pore blocking resistance (R-P) (1.31% of RT) was less compared to C-MBR. The formed SFDM on nylon cloth filters led to the reduced R-C and R-P in M-MBR. Therefore, the operation of M-MBR was prolonged, which took 150 days to reach 8.6 KPa (0.057 KPa/day). Eventually, it was concluded that the modification made in this study significantly reduced the fouling.

Automated summary

In this study, the reduction of fouling in Conventional Membrane Bioreactor (C-MBR) and Modified Membrane Bioreactor (M-MBR) was compared through incorporated modification. The introduction of Self-forming dynamic membrane (SFDM) in M-MBR successfully reduced fouling and prolonged the operation time.