Biological performance and sludge filterability of anaerobic membrane bioreactors under nitrogen limited and supplied conditions

The impact of nitrogen on biological performance and sludge filterability of anaerobic membrane bioreactors was investigated in two lab-scale cross-flow anaerobic membrane bioreactors that were fed with cheese whey at two different COD:TKN ratios (50 and 190). Nitrogen deprivation adversely affected the biological treatment performance and...

Development of a single-stage mainstream anammox process using a sponge-bed trickling filter

Anaerobic ammonia oxidation to nitrogen gas using nitrite as the electron acceptor (anammox process) is considered a cost-effective solution for nitrogen removal after an anaerobic pre-treatment process. In this study, we conducted a laboratory-scale experiment to develop a single-stage partial nitritation–anammox process in a sponge-based...

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...

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...

Optimising the Flux Enhancer Dosing Strategy in a Pilot-Scale Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor by Mathematical Modelling

Flux enhancers (FEs) have been successfully applied for fouling mitigation in membrane bioreactors. However, more research is needed to compare and optimise different dosing strategies to improve the filtration performance, while minimising the use of FEs and preventing overdosing. Therefore, the goal of this research is to develop an...