The effect of fine bubble aeration intensity on membrane bioreactor sludge characteristics and fouling

Water Research
L De TemmermanIngmar Nopens

Abstract

While most membrane bioreactor (MBR) research focuses on improving membrane filtration through air scour, backwashing and chemical cleaning to physically counteract fouling, relatively few studies have dealt with fouling prevention, e.g. minimizing the impact of operational settings that negatively impact sludge filterability. To evaluate the importance of those settings, the effects of bioreactor aeration intensity variations on membrane fouling have been studied in a lab-scale MBR setup while simultaneously monitoring a unique set of key sludge parameters. In particular, this paper focuses on the impact of shear dynamics resulting from fine air bubbles on the activated sludge quality and flocculation state, impacting membrane fouling. When augmenting the fine bubble aeration intensity both the total and irreversible fouling rate increased. Major indications for sludge filterability deterioration were found to be a shift in the particle size distribution (PSD) in the 3-300 μm range towards smaller sludge flocs, and increasing concentrations of submicron particles (10-1000 nm), soluble microbial products and biopolymers. When lowering the aeration intensity, both the sludge characteristics and fouling either went back to backgr...Continue Reading

References

Jul 18, 2003·Water Research·Britt-Marie WilénPaul Lant
Oct 8, 2009·Water Science and Technology : a Journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research·R GovoreanuP A Vanrolleghem
Oct 12, 2010·Water Research·Markus GreschWilli Gujer
Nov 8, 2011·Water Science and Technology : a Journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research·N RatkovichI Nopens
Jun 19, 2012·Bioresource Technology·Lutz BöhmMatthias Kraume

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Citations

Mar 30, 2016·Journal of Environmental Management·T AlvarinoS Suarez
Oct 9, 2016·Bioresource Technology·Lijuan DengYun Wu
Aug 2, 2017·Water Science and Technology : a Journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research·Benai ChengHongwei Zhang
May 24, 2018·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Xiaojie MeiZhichao Wu
Jul 28, 2021·Water Science and Technology : a Journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research·Er Li, Xiangying Zeng

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