Effect of sludge characteristics on optimal required dosage of flux enhancer in anaerobic membrane bioreactors

Fouling is a major challenge for the economic feasibility and applicability of membrane bioreactors. Several strategies have been proposed for fouling control, and among them, addition of flux enhancers (FE) have shown promising results. Previous research revealed a high variability of the required optimal dosage of FE for different types of...

Fouling mitigation by cationic polymer addition into a pilot‐scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor fed with blackwater

Cationic polymers have proven to be suitable flux enhancers (FEs) in large‐scale aerobic membrane bioreactors (MBRs), whereas in anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) research is scarce, and so far, only done at lab‐scale. Results from MBRs cannot be directly translated to AnMBRs because the extent and nature of membrane fouling under...

Identification of the methanogenesis inhibition mechanism using comparative analysis of mathematical models

The application of cationic polymers to enhance membrane fluxes in anaerobic membrane bioreactors has been proposed by several authors. However, literature shows contradictory results on the influence of those chemicals on the biological activity. In this research, we studied the effect of a cationic polymer on the production of methane from...

Filtration Characterization Method as Tool to Assess Membrane Bioreactor Sludge Filterability—The Delft Experience

Prevention and removal of fouling is often the most energy intensive process in Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs), responsible for 40% to 50% of the total specific energy consumed in submerged MBRs. In the past decade, methods were developed to quantify and qualify fouling, aiming to support optimization in MBR operation. Therefore, there is a need...

Microbial population analysis of nutrient removal-related organisms in membrane bioreactors

Membrane bioreactors (MBR) are an important and increasingly implemented wastewater treatment technology, which are operated at low food to microorganism ratios (F/M) and retain slow-growing organisms. Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR)-related organisms grow slower than ordinary heterotrophs, but have never been studied in detail in...

Filterability and Sludge Concentration in Membrane Bioreactors

The Thesis entitled “Filterability and Sludge Concentration in Membrane Bioreactors” aims at explaining the relation between Mixed Liquid Suspended Solids (MLSS) concentration, the amount of solids in the wastewater being treated, also designated as sludge, and filterability, being the ability of the sludge to be filtrated through a membrane, in...