ASSIGNMENT

Assigned By:
Dr. AYYAZ AHMED
Prepared By:
MUHAMMAD BILAL
Reg. No.
2017-CH-738
Subject:
ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING
Topic:
Membrane Bioreactor for Sewage
Waste Treatment
Session:
8th semester (2k17-Morning)

Dated: 21-June-2021
 Industrial Wastewater Treatment by Using MBR
(Membrane Bioreactor)

Introduction
Industries have usually different production and large changes in product categories,
which increases the difficulty of industrial wastewater treatment. Industrial wastewater
treatment methods commonly used chemical and biological methods. Among these methods,
biological treatment is currently widely used in industrial wastewater treatment, which is the
most economical and environment friendly.

Industrial wastewater contains large amounts of suspended material, through the

efficient separation membrane these suspended solids and turbidity of the wastewater come
close to zero. In addition, due to the wastewater contains toxic substances, which easily lead to
sludge swelling phenomenon occurs at the membrane separation, not resorted to water quality
is affected.

Membrane Bioreactor (MBR):

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is generally a term used to define wastewater treatment
processes where a perm-selective membrane, e.g. microfiltration or ultrafiltration, is integrated
with a biological process, specifically a suspended growth bioreactor.

MBR (Membrane bioreactor) technology is an excellent modern wastewater treatment

technology, having the several advantages over conventional activated sludge processes.
Membrane bioreactor technology is a membrane separation technology and bioorganic
combination of new wastewater treatment technology.

It utilizes membrane separation activated sludge and biochemical components of the

reaction cell. Organic molecules trapped in place of the secondary settling tank, increase the
concentration of activated sludge and ensure water quality, thus greatly strengthening the
function of the bioreactor.

Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) process is a hybrid system amalgamating membrane

separation with biological treatment. Operating as an MBR allows conventional activated
sludge plants to become single step processes, which produce high quality effluent potentially
suitable for reuse. Almost all of the activated sludge in the reactor can stay inside membrane
instead of the secondary settling tank and effectively improve the sludge concentration up to
MBR 18000 - 19000 mg/L.

Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) Process:

 MBRs differ from ‘polishing’ processes where the membrane is employed as a discrete
tertiary treatment step with no return of the active biomass to the biological process.

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is a biochemical engineering process involving the use of

both:

1) A suspended growth bioreactor for biochemical reactions (such as fermentation, bio-

oxidation, nitrification, and denitrification),
2) A membrane separator for subsequent solids, liquid separation.

Use of micro and ultra-filtration membranes combined with anaerobic reactors will be
another post-treatment option. A combined lab scale system consisting of up flow anaerobic
sludge blanket and Membrane bioreactor has shown the approximately COD removal efficiency
of 98% and 100% in TSS (total suspended solids) removal of high strength enriched municipal
wastewater.

Almost all commercial MBR processes available today use the membrane as a filter,
rejecting the solid materials which are developed by the biological process, resulting in a
clarified and disinfected product effluent.

A membrane bioreactor is essentially a version of the conventional activated sludge (CAS)

system. While the CAS process uses a secondary clarifier or settlement tank for solid/liquid
separation, an MBR uses a membrane for this function. This provides a number of advantages
relating to process control and product water quality.

Principal of Membrane Bioreactor:

The Principle of this technique is nearly the same as activated sludge process, except that
instead of separation the water and sludge through settlement, the MBR method uses the
membrane which is more efficient and less dependent on oxygen concentration of the water.

Applications of Membrane Bioreactor:

Membrane Bioreactor systems are widely used in municipal and industrial wastewater
treatment plants. Furthermore, Applications of MBR technology for industrial wastewater
treatment has also gained attention because of:

 The robustness of the process,

 High organic loadings and very specific bio refractory,
  Inhibiting and difficult to treat compounds are the major characteristics of industrial
waste streams that render alternative treatment techniques such as the MBR desirable,
 MBRs are also suitable for landfill leachate treatment,
 It plays an important role in solid separation and biomass selection.

Efficiency of Membrane Bioreactor:

The efficiency of Membrane Bioreactor in the removal of the organic load depends on the
type of industrial process that has been implemented and consequently on the quantity of non-
biodegradable compounds.

Waste Water Treatment Process and Basic Design Principles

Membrane Bioreactors combine conventional biological treatment (e.g. activated sludge)
processes with membrane filtration to provide an advanced level of organic and suspended
solids removal. When designed accordingly, these systems can also provide an advanced level
of nutrient removal. In an MBR system, the membranes are submerged in an aerated biological
reactor. The membranes have porosities ranging from 0.035 microns to 0.4 microns (depending
on the manufacturer), which is considered between micro and ultrafiltration. 

This level of filtration allows for high quality effluent to be drawn through the membranes
and eliminates the sedimentation and filtration processes typically used for wastewater
treatment. Because the need for sedimentation is eliminated, the biological process can
operate at a much higher mixed liquor concentration. This dramatically reduces the process
tankage required and allows many existing plants to be upgraded without adding new tanks. To
provide optimal aeration and scour around the membranes, the mixed liquor is typically kept in
the 1.0-1.2% solids range, which is 4 times that of a conventional plant.

Typical schematic for membrane bioreactor system. Source: FITZGERALD (2008)

Membrane:
During MBR wastewater treatment, solid–liquid separation is achieved
by Microfiltration (MF) or Ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. A membrane is simply a two-
dimensional material used to separate components of fluids usually on the basis of their
relative size or electrical charge. The capability of a membrane to allow transport of only
specific compounds is called semi-permeability (sometimes also permselective). This is a
physical process, where separated components remain chemically unchanged. Components
that pass through membrane pores are called permeate, while rejected ones form concentrate
or retentive.
There are five types of membrane configuration which are currently in operation:

 Hollow fiber (HF)

 Spiral-wound

 Plate-and-frame (i.e. flat sheet (FS))

 Pleated filter cartridge

 Tubular

Hollow-fiber (HF) membrane module (Zenon, Canada) filtrating activated sludge under vacuum
Source: RADJENOVIC et al. (2008)

Pre-treatment:
To avoid unwanted solids in the waste stream, which enters the membrane tank, fine
screening is an essential pre-treatment step. This minimizes an accumulation of solids and
protects the membrane from damaging debris and particles, extends the membrane life,
reduces operating costs and guarantees a higher sludge quality as well as a trouble free
operation.
Membrane Fouling in MBR:
Modern systems (e.g. KUBOTA systems) are maintained with chemicals, i.e. it is not
necessary to remove the membranes from the membrane tank. Organic fouling can be cleaned
with as sodium hypochlorite and inorganic fouling with oxalic acid.

Fouling mechanisms. Source: RADJENOVIC et al. (2008)

Classification of Foulants:
Membrane foulants in MBR can be grouped into biofoulants, organic foulants and
inorganic foulants based on their biological and chemical characteristics.

a. Biofoulants:

Biofoulants refer to the bacteria or flocs whose deposition, growth and

metabolism on the membrane results in fouling. For a start, one bacteria cell may attach
to the membrane surface or inside its pores and, after some time, the cell multiplies into a
cluster of cells, leading to the formation of bio-cake, and hence reduced permeability. The
bacteria (biofoulants) and their metabolic products contribute to fouling. Essentially,
membrane biofouling is a two-step process, starting with early bacterial attachment,
followed by multiplication of bacteria on the membrane surface. Some publications
expand the definition of biofoulants to include the metabolic products of these clusters of
bacteria cells. However, in this paper, the organic substances produced by
microorganisms are considered organic foulants for the purpose of research on their
mitigation strategies. Membrane biofouling is one of the most important operational
problems in membrane-based systems.
b. Organic Foulants:

Organic foulants in MBRs refer to biopolymers, e.g., polysaccharides and proteins,

of which deposition on the membrane results in a decline of membrane permeability.
These foulants are found in metabolic products of bacteria, which are collectively called
EPS. Compared to large particles, such as sludge floc, the deposition of organic foulants on
the membrane surface is more difficult to remove. In an experiment to investigate
membrane fouling under various operational conditions using a laboratory-scale
submerged MBR with a hollow-fiber membrane module, Wang and Li reported that
biopolymers are important foulants and have a significant impact on membrane fouling.
Findings from their experiment further revealed that the rate of membrane fouling in the
reactor correlated with the biopolymer concentration in the sludge suspension under
different conditions.

c. Inorganic Foulants:

Inorganic foulants are a group of inorganic substances that precipitate onto the
membrane surface or into the membrane pores, resulting in membrane fouling. Examples
of such substances include cations and anions such as Ca 2+, Mg2+, Fe3+, Al3+, SO42−, PO43−,
CO32−, OH−, etc. These species precipitate onto the membrane surface due to hydrolysis
which leads to pH change, and oxidation. Essentially, inorganic fouling is produced from
the chemical precipitation of inorganic species and/or biological precipitation of inorganic-
organic complexes. While moderate amounts of metal ions, such as Ca 2+ (up to 280 mg/L),
can be beneficial in controlling and improving biofouling due to binding and bridging EPS
(hence, enhanced bio flocculation), high concentrations (above 800 mg/L) have been
shown to significantly increase inorganic fouling due to high inorganic precipitate content
of the MBR mixed liquor. Inorganic fouling is also termed “mineral scale” in order to
differentiate it from biofouling and organic fouling. Crystallization and particulate fouling
are the two key mechanisms that play critical roles during inorganic membrane fouling in
MBR. In crystallization, precipitation of ions is the pathway to deposition at the
membrane surface; while particulate fouling is the deposition following convective
transportation of colloidal particulate matter in the solution to the membrane surface. To
remove inorganic precipitation from the membrane surface, chemical cleaning is usually
the adopted procedure, as it is more effective than physical cleaning.
Factors Affecting Membrane Fouling in MBR:
Various factors affect membrane fouling in MBRs. These factors can be grouped into three
categories, namely: membrane characteristics, operating conditions, and feed and biomass
characteristics. Figure, below, is an illustration of the different factors, followed by their discussion in
the subsections that follow.

Factors Affecting Membrane Fouling In MBRs