Industry focus
MBR focus: the operators' perspective
Section snippets
Attitudes towards MBR – a users' survey
Notwithstanding the advantages of MBRs, the technology is applied more selectively than traditional wastewater treatment processes. This may be attributed to a suite of factors including the conservative nature of the municipal wastewater industry, the mechanical complexity of the membrane process compared with gravity separation, the proprietary nature of MBR equipment and anecdotal evidence and accounts of operational problems related to the membranes and ancillary equipment.
This feature
Conclusions
In general, MBR users are pleased with the effluent quality, the reduced chemical usage and the low maintenance required (around 1.7 working hours per MLD on average).
When decision makers select MBR technology, they are aware of its limitations and tend to accept the consequences related to membrane fouling (i.e. higher aeration cost, increased chemical cleaning).
And because of the current understanding of fouling in MBR processes, efficient fouling control can be asserted by the combined
Further Reading (4)
- et al.
Comparison of membrane options for water reuse and reclamation
Desalination
(2004) - et al.
Optimization of Various MBR Systems for Water Reclamation - Phase III”, Agreement No. 01-FC-81-0736, Program Final Report No. 103, April 2004
(2004)
Cited by (34)
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Advanced control of membrane fouling in filtration systems using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques: A critical review
2019, Process Safety and Environmental ProtectionCitation Excerpt :In fact, each color represented a given composition of the fouling layer (Thygesen et al., 2014). Membrane decision-makers usually face short-term deadline to decide between different options during strong fouling event (Le-Clech et al., 2005). Thus, the most relevant analytical parameters related to fouling potential can be selected by intelligent approaches to speed-up decision taking.
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Membrane Bioreactors for Wastewater Treatment
2018, Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry -
Treatment of palm oil mill effluent using combination system of microbial fuel cell and anaerobic membrane bioreactor
2017, Bioresource TechnologyCitation Excerpt :The conventional activated sludge process which comprises of activated sludge tank and settling tank are combined in the MBR system where the settling tank is replaced by membrane, rejecting the activated sludge from passing through the membrane and the sedimentation process is substituted by filtration process (Hoek and Tarabara, 2013). Such combination also results in higher concentration of activated sludge in the bioreactor and lower amount of wasted biosolids is produced (Le-Clech et al., 2005). The MBR system can be divided into aerobic and anaerobic process.
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Electrolysis-assisted mitigation of reverse solute flux in a three-chamber forward osmosis system
2017, Water ResearchCitation Excerpt :For example, ∼14% reduction in both water volume and maximum flux was observed with 3 V after three-time batch tests (Fig. S3). This reversible fouling could be controlled by osmotic backwashing with a recover rate of 98% (Le-Clech et al., 2005). Cross-membrane migration of ions (Na+, H+, SO42−, and OH−) also led to pH variation in both the draw and feed solutions, highly depending on the applied voltage (Fig. 3A).
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Osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) technology for wastewater treatment and reclamation: Advances, challenges, and prospects for the future
2016, Journal of Membrane ScienceCitation Excerpt :For example, the length of the filtration-cleaning cycle in conventional MBR systems varies between 4 and 90 min depending on the membrane configuration and operating conditions [6], while OMBRs are typically operated at substantially longer filtration-cleaning cycle with greatly reduced cleaning frequency (every several days to weeks) [16]. The need of less frequent backwashing is a substantial benefit of OMBRs because cleaning duration and intervals markedly affect energy requirements, operational costs, system productivity and membrane integrity [16,107]. Although OMBRs have better product water quality and lower fouling propensity over MBRs, it also has a main shortcoming, low water flux.